when he makes a promise, he breaks it; when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust; and when he makes a covenant, he acts treacherously.”

Also in the two Sahīh collections, Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Faith has sixty-odd or seventy-odd branches. The highest is the declaration that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and the lowest is removing something harmful from the road. Modesty is a branch of faith.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, thus explained that whoever possesses one of these traits has a trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it. It is also established in the two Sahīh collections that he said to Abū Dharr—who was among the finest believers:

“You are a man who still has some pre-Islamic ignorance in him.”

He asked, “O Messenger of Allah, even at my advanced age?”

He replied, “Yes.”

It is also established in the Sahīh that he said:

“Four practices in my community belong to pre-Islamic ignorance: boasting of ancestral distinction, disparaging people’s lineage, wailing over the dead, and seeking rain through the stars.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust.”

In Sahīh Muslim, the wording includes:

“Even if he fasts, prays, and claims to be a Muslim.”

Al-Bukhārī related that Ibn Abī Mulaykah said: “I met thirty of the Companions of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, all of whom feared hypocrisy for themselves.”

Allah Most High says:

“What befell you on the day the two armies met was by Allah’s permission, so that He might make evident the believers,”

“and make evident those who were hypocrites. They were told, ‘Come, fight in Allah’s cause, or help defend.’ They said, ‘Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you.’ They were closer that day to disbelief