doubts about Allah’s religion, like the hypocrite, he will be thrown into confusion. When the angels ask him, “Who is your Lord?” he replies, “I do not know.” When they ask, “What is your religion?” he says, “I do not know.” When they ask, “Who is your Prophet?” he again says, “I do not know—hah, hah, I do not know. I only heard people say something and I repeated it.”

That is, while he was alive he merely echoed what others said without any faith. Such—may Allah protect us—is the hypocrite: he outwardly displays Islam yet does not believe it in his heart, doing so only for worldly gain. In this life he says, “My Lord is Allah,” though he does not believe it; inwardly he denies it. He says, “My religion is Islam,” yet he has no faith in Islam; his heart rejects it. He says, “My Prophet is Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,” while in his heart he does not believe in Muhammad’s messengership. He utters these words with his tongue alone.

This is the hypocrite. It will be said to him, “You neither knew nor recited.” Then he is struck with an iron sledgehammer, and he utters a scream that everything hears except human beings; if they were to hear it, they would faint—indeed, they would die of terror. His grave is compressed until his ribs interlock, and a gate is opened for him to the Fire; there reaches him its scorching heat and poisonous fumes. He pleads, “My Lord, do not let the Hour come!” Such is his life and condition in the grave—may Allah grant us refuge—because he did not give the correct answer.