Allah has described in great detail the moral values, behavior and logical deficiencies of the hypocrites who come alongside Muslims and pretend to be one of them but who do all in their power to work against believers and Islam as soon as they take their leave from Muslims. One of the main characteristics of hypocrites revealed in the Qur’an is the way they greatly admire their own twisted logic and low intelligence. In the same way that, despite all his stupidity and immorality, satan sought to tell Allah what to do (surely Allah is beyond that), so hypocrites adopt the stupid and degraded behavior of trying to put ideas into the minds of Allah’s messengers and believers. So much so that they imagine they know the religion better than any prophet, think of things the prophet could not and that the prophet had a distorted perception of the religion.
Claiming, at least in their own eyes, to have a better understanding of the religion and to live by it better, their true aim is in fact to turn people away from the moral values of the religion. That is why they make Islam, of which Allah says in the Qur’an "... He has ... not placed any constraint upon you in the religion – the religion of your forefather Abraham” (Surat al-Hajj, 78), and which is actually the religion best suited to human nature, rational and honest one that is so easy to abide by, literally impossible to live by through making it difficult by adding superstitions and ideas of what is lawful and unlawful that they make up themselves. The hypocrite first gives shape to Islam in his own mind and seeks a religion that is oppressive and angry, full of prohibitions and blood shedding. The religion that hypocrites desire is one that is inimical to human beings, cleanliness, art, culture, love, affection, joy, reason, sincerity and profundity. They see no religion compatible with their own hypocrisy and fanaticism when they look at the Qur’an and the hadiths, which is why they start spreading distortions, as Allah reveals. They portray many things not part of the religion as if they were a component of it, while depicting virtues at the heart of the religion, such as sincerity, reason, conscience, cleanliness, beauty and nobility as incompatible with it. Prohibitions on what is unlawful really annoy hypocrites. Since they imagine that the more prohibitions there are, the more complex and impossible to live by it will be, they prohibit everything in their own minds. So much so, that people become incapable of doing anything at all. They thus imagine, in their own eyes, that people will be unwilling to live by such a religion, in which they are literally chained down, and will thus abandon the faith.
The position of those who elect to change the religion of Allah by making it difficult to live by, in their own eyes, is described as follows in verses:
Say: ‘What do you think about the things Allah has sent down to you as provision which you have then designated as lawful and unlawful?’ Say: ‘Has Allah given you authority to do this or are you inventing lies against Allah?’ (Surah Yunus, 59)
Do not say about what your lying tongues describe: ‘This is lawful and this is unlawful,’ inventing lies against Allah. Those who invent lies against Allah are not successful – (Surat an-Nahl, 116)
You who believe! do not make unlawful the good things Allah has made lawful for you, and do not overstep the limits. Allah does not love people who overstep the limits. (Surat al-Ma’ida, 87)
However, we must not forget that while the hypocrite lies and makes the religion impossible to live by through making lawful things unlawful, he never abides by these self-imposed rules himself. Because the hypocrite’s conception of religion is based solely on show. He prays and fasts under conditions in which he thinks people will see him and gives alms very reluctantly, but when he thinks he cannot be seen he performs none of these religious observances. When people are looking he appears to comply with the religion he has invented, but when he thinks he is out of sight he obeys none of these rules. Allah cites a conversation in the Qur’an between the Prophet Moses (pbuh) and the hypocrites from among his people, showing how pedantic, immoral they are, and the ugliness and stupidity of their words:
And when Moses said to his people, ‘Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow,’ they said, ‘What! Are you making a mockery of us?’ He said, ‘I seek refuge with Allah from being one of the ignorant!’ (Surat al-Baqara, 67)
The words, “Are you making a mockery of us?” used by the hypocrites is an important example that shows how insolent they can be in the face of Allah, the religion and His immaculate messenger. Hypocrites are always disobedient, rude and act in a way not compatible with respect toward Allah’s messengers and prophets, and their speech is always rude and priggish.
They said, ‘Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what it should be like.’ He said, ‘He says it should be a cow, not old or virgin, but somewhere between the two. So do as you have been told.’ (Surat al-Baqara, 68)
The base and impudent language of the hypocrites can again be seen in this verse. In speaking the name of Allah, they do not use a language that sincerely believes in and loves Him but refer in a way that is not compatible with respect to “your Lord.” There is no doubt that this stems from them being unintelligent and lacking the power of understanding.
They said, ‘Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what colour it should be.’ He said, ‘He says it should be a red cow, the colour of sorrel, a pleasure to all who look.’
They said, ‘Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what it should be like. Cows are all much the same to us. Then, if Allah wills, we will be guided.’ (Surat al-Baqara, 69-70)
Note how hypocrites always demand ever more detail and deny that Allah's command is easy to act on. By saying, “if Allah wills, we will be guided” as they do this they claim to want further detail in order to find the true path, for god reasons. The fact is, however, that Allah reveals their true intention in the very next verse:
He said, ‘He says it should be a cow not trained to plough or irrigate the fields – completely sound, without a blemish on it.’ They said, ‘Now you have brought the truth.’ So they sacrificed it – but they almost did not do it. (Surat al-Baqara, 71)
After demanding the greatest possible detail, they still refused to act on Allah’s command. But by saying “they almost did not do it,” Allah reveals these people’s true faces and immorality. These verses once again show how hypocrites exhibit a devilish stubbornness, are disobedient and proud, have the impudence, in their small minds, to dislike Allah’s commands and prophet (surely they are all beyond this), but try to give the impressions they have good intentions by copying the way Muslims speak when it suits them.
