And in the two Sahīh collections, it is related by Abd Allah ibn Umar that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Four traits—whoever possesses all of them is a complete hypocrite, while whoever possesses one of them possesses a trait of hypocrisy until he gives it up: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it (1); when he makes a covenant, he betrays it; and when he quarrels, he transgresses all bounds” (2).

A full discussion of this belongs elsewhere.

The point here is that it cannot be said that hatred of Alī is the sole sign of hypocrisy. This is not said by any of the Companions. What may be said, however, is that hatred of him is one of the signs of hypocrisy, as in the hadith traced back to the Prophet:

“No one hates me except a hypocrite” (3).

This can be understood in a sound sense: whoever knows how Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—upheld faith in Allah and His Messenger and strove in His cause, yet hates him on that account, is a hypocrite.

The hypocrisy of anyone who hates the Ansār is even more evident, for the Ansār are a great tribe with a city of their own. They were the ones who had settled in the city and embraced the faith before the Emigrants. Through migration to their city, the faith grew strong and its adherents gained the upper hand. They gave Allah and His Messenger a measure of support unmatched by the people of any other city or by any other tribe. Thus, no one hates them except a hypocrite. Despite this, they are not superior to the Emigrants; rather, the Emigrants are superior to them.

It is therefore clear that for hatred of a person to be a sign of hypocrisy does not necessarily mean that he is superior to others. No one familiar with the history of the Companions can doubt that Umar was more intensely hostile to the disbelievers and hypocrites than Alī was, and that his impact in supporting and strengthening Islam