asking, “Settle my claim,” but he replies, “You have nothing with me.” When the two stand before the judge and the claimant has no evidence, the lying denier swears that he owes him nothing, and the judge rules in his favor. Such litigation is sheer wickedness—Allah’s protection be sought.

The Prophet ﷺ has authentically stated: “Whoever swears a yamin ṣabr (a deliberate false oath) in order to seize the right of a Muslim will meet Allah while He is angry with him.” We seek refuge in Allah from that.

If these four traits come together in a person, he is a consummate hypocrite, for he has embodied every characteristic of hypocrisy—may Allah protect us. Should he possess only one of them, he carries a single trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it.

This ḥadīth, therefore, is an emphatic warning against four qualities: betraying a trust, lying in speech, treachery when bound by a covenant, and wickedness in dispute. It also shows that a person may combine within himself characteristics of faith and characteristics of hypocrisy, for the Prophet said, “he possesses a trait of hypocrisy.” This is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah: a person may simultaneously exhibit a trait of hypocrisy and a trait of faith.