Ramadan Checker Day 29

Self Check (2) : No one fears nifaaq (hypocrisy) but the believer.

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مِنْ عَلَامَاتِ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَاثَةٌ وَإِنْ صَامَ وَصَلَّى وَزَعَمَ أَنَّهُ مُسْلِمٌ إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَانَ

33 صحيح البخاري كتاب الإيمان باب علامة المنافق

59 صحيح مسلم كتاب الإيمان باب بيان خصال المنافق

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Among the signs of a hypocrite are three, even if he fasts and prays and claims to be a Muslim: when he speaks he lies, when he gives a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 33, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 59Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi (authenticity agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim

People of ilm have taught that the  above Hadith and others like it are to serve the believer in self reflecting and reform, not to point fingers at another, although the signs help him guard from the wrong kind of company and protect himself from fitnah as he concerns himself with his own faults before he looks beyond to fault find and point accusing fingers at others. 

Let's bring to focus the father of hypocrites of Madinah, Abdullah bin Ubay Ibn Salul. From the seerah we can see how and when he morphed from a man of nobility to one of the lowliests, losing morality and trading guidance for seeds of discord and fitnah he and his cohorts would spread, trying to work against the deen of the Almighty, and this was his undoing. 

Abdullah was a man of good social and political standing, vying to be chief of his tribe and according to narrations, Al madinah, until Allah's decree for the city to come under the rule of His Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Filled with envy, jealousy and malice, he set out to make himself the master plotter and others who were in his fellowship, pawns in his menacing plans to work against the messenger of Allah, all the while posing to be muslim.

Now, in our last checker we talked about nifaaq,the dangers and subtle ways it manifests in our words and behaviour. There are many reasons why the Munafiq is the dweller of the lowest depth of jahannam,from this is his seeking to deceive Allah and the muslims, and Allah is all aware. He devises the worst schemes that seem most innocuous to other than himself and seeks nothing of khair in it.

Abdullah led almost or over a third of the army back from the battle of Badr, hoping to leave the Muslims bare and vulnerable in their already scanty numbers compared to the 1000 horsemen and foot soldiers of  quraish. 

He sowed the whispers about Aisha's RA slander and tried to undermine Rasulullah every chance he got.

It is reported in an authentic hadith that the worst of people on the last day will be those who are two faced, appearing this way to a select people and that way to another group.

Nifaaq doesn't only render iman void, nullifying it, it makes the person worse than the one who commits shirk,and Allah's help is sought against that.

The Muslim is one who self judges, reprimands himself, returns to Allah every time he errs and seeks rectification in his affairs as he fears his sins may grow the height of a mountain that threatens to crumble on him.

The Muslim is one to self check his actions, inactions, words, thoughts, feelings and try to control all the above as much as is he able to while imploring Allah's help. 

As Hassan Al Basr in the tafsir of suratul qiyaamah says "An Nafsul lawwamah is the reproaching soul of the believer that makes him self blame, and reflect on his deeds," what did I mean by those words? " what were my reasons for doing that?"  

In an earlier post, we had also mentioned how riyaa' becomes a leeway to nifaaq, the continued absence of Ikhlaas in our dealing with Allah removes the link we have to Him, and He dissociates from such worship, and He is without partners. High above is He from that which they associate with Him. 

The Muslim feels most guilty for his wrongs and doesn't let the good Allah's saves him by cloud his vision to his sins, even if they be little, and is never succumbed by self righteousness.

However, all of these do not subdue him to becoming complacent with the wrong he sees and witnesses. He forbids evil and enjoins good, nevermind that he too falls sometimes, he is not one to comform to the "norm" that goes against the deen.

Umar ibn Al Khattab RA, after the demise of our prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, went to Hudhaifah bin Yaman RA in fear, to ask if his name was among the Munafiqun, as Hudhaifah was the secret keeper of the Rasul, the only one whom their names were disclosed to.

You can smell the distinction from miles away, while Abdullah thought himself smart and concealed from the scrutiny of people, forgetting that Allah sees what is within the breasts, Umar feared the fate of the hypocrite for himself, although he had been promised jannah long before.

It is from his sayings that he charges us thus; "Bring yourself to account before you are brought to account. Today there is action without judgement, tomorrow there shall be judgement without action." 

Hassan Al Basri RH says ; "No one fears nifaaq except the Muslim and none feels safe from it but the Munafiq."

The heart tends to harden when left on its for a short while,not being on guard to discern a self thought from waswas and working to be rid of it, being in the company of those who engage in unbeneficial things,practices, talks and so on, as soon as you're alone again, you can feel the effects, in the way your heart feels either more strongly about the wrong things or the things it whispers to you, being more appealed by desire,becoming heedless of what matters etc. 

Our dealing with people also tells the state of our hearts, the way the above Hadith mentions three traits to watch out for and hopefully correct, if one manifests in the person's character then he has a trait of the Munafiq and should rectify it, if all three are present then he possess enough traits to qualify him as one. 

May Allah aid us and safeguard our iman and keep us far away from nifaaq and kufr,  ameen. 

Self Checker points :

1. Don't be quick in making promises and keep promises you make. 

2. Be truthful at all times, as best as you can. A person tells the truth repeatedly until he is recorded with Allah that he is a siddiq, and a person persists in lying until he is recorded as a liar. Truthfulness leads to righteousness and lies lead to evil, and evil lead to Hell (Hadith) 

3. Never betray. The Muslim is trustworthy, remember the story of the youth charged with the killing of an old man (accidentally) on his travel, who got Abu Dharr to stand in as a surety for him so he takes care of affairs for his kins in his care before his execution was made? And how at the last minute he showed up, remember the words he'd uttered when asked by Ameer ul Mu'mineen, "Why did you come back when you've been marked for death?" 

His reason being that he did not want trust to be thought lost in the Ummah, and Abu Dharr when asked why he had offered to stand in for him when his life was barely held my a thread, the thread being his trust in a stranger facing execution by law, and his saying he didn't want it to be thought that the Ummah had lost its faith in humanity and the family of the deceased man granting their forgiveness, saying "We won't have it be said that the Ummah had lost its mercy." 

4. Practice what you learn. And preach what you practice. 

Al-Baqarah 2:44

أَتَأْمُرُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ بِٱلْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ 

Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?

5. Seek knowledge. 

6. Make du'a and seek Allah's aid against shirk, riyaa, nifaaq and all vices thought and unthought of. 

7. Concern yourself with the Akhirah, it is better and more lasting, for those who send before them worthy deeds. 

8. Vouche for yourself, your integrity with your actions.

I leave us with Abu Dharr's relating to us 7 advices Rasulullah صلى الله عليه gave him. 

“My close friend (i.e. Nabi sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ordered me with seven things:

1) To love the poor and to be close to them

2) To look to those who are less [fortunate] than me and not to those who are above me

3) To maintain the ties of kinship even if they break them off

4) To not ask anyone for anything (i.e. to abstain from begging)

5) To say the truth even if it is unpleasant

6) To not fear the censure of the critics

7) To increase in saying: ‘La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah’ (There is no might nor power except with Allah), as it is from the treasures that are underneath the Throne.”Imam Ahmad (rahimahullah) has recorded this Hadit with a reliable chain.

(Musnad Ahmad, vol. 5 pg. 159. Refer: Majma’uz Zawaid, vol. 10 pg. 263)

!  مع سلام