—lying, treachery, and breaking (1) promises as demonstrates their hypocrisy. It is reported in the two Sahih collections that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—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.”
Muslim adds:
“Even if he fasts, prays, and claims to be a Muslim.” (2)
Among the sects of the people of the qiblah, these three traits are found most of all in the Rāfidah.
It may also be said to this fabricator: Suppose those who pledged allegiance to al-Siddīq were as you have described—either seekers of worldly gain or ignorant. Yet after them, in the generations of the Muslim nation, there arose men whose intelligence and righteousness are acknowledged by all (3), such as Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, al-Hasan al-Basrī, ʿAtā ibn Abī Rabāh, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, ʿAlqamah, al-Aswad, ʿAbīdah al-Salmānī, Tāwūs, Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, and Abū al-Shaʿthā Jābir ibn Zayd (4),
(1) N and M read *wa-ikhtilāf* (“and inconsistency”).
(2) The hadith narrated by Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—is found in: al-Bukhārī, 1/12 (Book of Faith, chapter “The Sign of the Hypocrite”) and 3/180 (Book of Testimonies, chapter “One Who Is Instructed to Fulfil a Promise”); Muslim, 1/78–79 (Book of Faith, chapter “Clarifying the Characteristics of the Hypocrite”), through four chains of transmission. In the last two chains, Muslim adds: “Even if he fasts, prays, and claims to be a Muslim.” See also *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 4/130 (Book of Faith, chapter “The Sign of the Hypocrite”). Al-Tirmidhī said: “Reports on this subject are also narrated from Abd Allāh ibn Masūd, Anas, and Jābir.”
(3) A reads: *rakāhum wa-zakāhum*; B reads: *zakāʾahum wa-dhāʾahum*.
(4) N and M read “Jābir ibn Yazīd,” which is an error. Abū al-Shathā Jābir ibn Zayd al-Azdī al-Basrī was one of the leading Successors and a student of Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with him. He was born in 21 AH and died in 93 AH. For his biography, see *Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb*, 2/38–39; *Tabaqāt Ibn Sad*, 7/179–182; *Tadhkirat al-Huffāz*, 1/67–68; and al-Ziriklī, *al-Alām*, 2/91.