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The_Foundations_of_the_Islamic_Belief, page : 226
from them.
This led `Umar ibn-Khattab to ask Hudhayfah about himself - whether or not he was numbered among
the hypocrites.
Abu Sulayman ad Darani said, "I heard a certain governor say something and I wanted to express my
disapproval of it but feared lest he order me to be killed. And although I did not fear death I was
afraid
lest I became tempted to boast before men when my spirit departs. For this reason I refrained from
expressing my disapproval of the governor's words."
This kind of hypocrisy strikes against the truth, perfection, and purity of belief, rather than
against its
reality.
(vii) Classification of Hypocrisy
For hypocrisy is of two kinds: The one results in parting with Religion, pursuing infidels and
joining the
company of those who are deemed eternally to Hell fire; the second leads the person to Hell fire
for a
certain period of time and puts him down from the high ranks of Paradise and demotes the people who
are close to Allah from their high ranks. It is a field open to doubt and therefore it is desirable
to resort
to the use of qualifications therein.
This kind of hypocrisy rises from the disparity and disagreement between the concealed and the
revealed, from feeling secure from the deep counsel of Allah, and from conceit and other things from
which only the people who are close to Allah are free.
The fourth reason for the use of these qualifications arises also from doubt. It is the fear of the
end, for
no one knows whether or not he will still have any belief at the hour of death.
If he should end with unbelief all his previous deeds would come to nothing and fail, because (the
value
of these deeds) depend entirely upon their good ending. Thus if a fasting person were asked early
in the
day concerning the validity of his fast and replied, "I am surely fasting," but later in the day he
broke his
fast, it would become evident that he was lying since the validity of his fast depends upon the
maintenance of the fast until sunset at the end of the day. And just as the day is the set period
for the
fulfillment of fasting, so the lifetime is the set period for the fulfillment of the validity of
belief. To
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describe it as valid before its conclusion simply because it has already been fulfilled in part is
very
doubtful and its end is frightful.
It was because of the end that most of those who fear Allah have wept. For the end is the outcome
of a
preordained event and the result of the Eternal Will which does not become known except when the
preordained event itself takes place and which no human being can ever tell.
The fear of the end is the result of the fear of that
This led `Umar ibn-Khattab to ask Hudhayfah about himself - whether or not he was numbered among
the hypocrites.
Abu Sulayman ad Darani said, "I heard a certain governor say something and I wanted to express my
disapproval of it but feared lest he order me to be killed. And although I did not fear death I was
afraid
lest I became tempted to boast before men when my spirit departs. For this reason I refrained from
expressing my disapproval of the governor's words."
This kind of hypocrisy strikes against the truth, perfection, and purity of belief, rather than
against its
reality.
(vii) Classification of Hypocrisy
For hypocrisy is of two kinds: The one results in parting with Religion, pursuing infidels and
joining the
company of those who are deemed eternally to Hell fire; the second leads the person to Hell fire
for a
certain period of time and puts him down from the high ranks of Paradise and demotes the people who
are close to Allah from their high ranks. It is a field open to doubt and therefore it is desirable
to resort
to the use of qualifications therein.
This kind of hypocrisy rises from the disparity and disagreement between the concealed and the
revealed, from feeling secure from the deep counsel of Allah, and from conceit and other things from
which only the people who are close to Allah are free.
The fourth reason for the use of these qualifications arises also from doubt. It is the fear of the
end, for
no one knows whether or not he will still have any belief at the hour of death.
If he should end with unbelief all his previous deeds would come to nothing and fail, because (the
value
of these deeds) depend entirely upon their good ending. Thus if a fasting person were asked early
in the
day concerning the validity of his fast and replied, "I am surely fasting," but later in the day he
broke his
fast, it would become evident that he was lying since the validity of his fast depends upon the
maintenance of the fast until sunset at the end of the day. And just as the day is the set period
for the
fulfillment of fasting, so the lifetime is the set period for the fulfillment of the validity of
belief. To
Page 55 of 56
describe it as valid before its conclusion simply because it has already been fulfilled in part is
very
doubtful and its end is frightful.
It was because of the end that most of those who fear Allah have wept. For the end is the outcome
of a
preordained event and the result of the Eternal Will which does not become known except when the
preordained event itself takes place and which no human being can ever tell.
The fear of the end is the result of the fear of that