The Hypocrite’s Immorality and Ruses (7/7)

Hypocrites are jealous of all the blessings muslims possess

Muslims are informed of the envious character of the hypocrites with the following verse of the Qur'an; "If something good happens to you, it galls them." (Surah Al-‘Imran, 120). As God drew our attention by saying "it galls them", the comfort, peace, brotherhood of Muslims make the hearts of the hypocrites heavy. When anything good happens to them, the hypocrites become insanely jealous and angry. Muslims' success, their becoming more healthier, stronger and attractive would madden the hypocrites. Likewise, Muslims' getting richer, living in financial wealth, possessing even more blessings would also disturb the hypocrites terribly.

So much so that, when Muslims are blessed with any material or spiritual beauty, the hypocrites may even physically fall ill because of their anger and jealousy. Sometimes their blood pressure rises because of their anger, their heads ache, their stomachs fall ill. They would have a devastating stress and grievance on them. The spiritual pain they feel gets hold of their bodies. Muslims' love for one another, their being healthy, vigorous, young and beautiful, their effective works and achievements, their attaining new possibilities for preaching the faith, their articles, books, works spreading worldwide and their holding conferences with broad participation; in short their communicating Islam nicely and strongly, would all turn into a grave torment for the hypocrites.

Hypocrites' claim of being ‘in search of love’ is a lie; they use the concept of ‘love’ only to carry out even more of their immoral acts

One of the lies the hypocrites put forth to bother Muslims is their claim of being supposedly ‘in search of love.’ First of all, it is a clear fact that nobody who doesn't know love of God could ever be able to experience real, lasting and sincere love. That is why ‘to love and to be loved’ are feelings hypocrites 'know nothing of and could never experience.' It is not possible for the hypocrites who have no love for God to be able to feel a heartfelt love for anyone. With the sly and crooked, disgusting, quarrelsome, aggressive, snobbish, loveless and impertinent character they display, it is not possible for other people to love them in the real sense of the word either. Deep inside, the hypocrites are aware of this fact. The unrest and unhappiness of this fact prevails throughout their lives.

Despite all the troubles they experience because of their lack of love, the hypocrites are still not after 'love.' What is important for them in life is not love but their own interests. The hypocrites would never go after something, such as love, that they think would not bring them any benefits. They do not spend their energy, their time or tricks to attain something so intangible. The hypocrites only focus on what others could provide for them. If there seems to be personal gains such as money, power, reputation, creating a circle of friends, popularity, rank or post to be attained in a certain place, then the hypocrites would show an unprecedented effort to attain these. But they wouldn't move a finger for love.

But in spite of that, just for the sake of playing tricks against Muslims, they claim that 'their real goal is solely love.' They play their role in this play very finely. That is because such a claim would provide them with a continual ‘wealth of evil acts’ against Muslims. Claiming to be in search of love is a perfect 'trap' for the hypocrites 'to create unrest, dissension and tumult, to bother Muslims, to consume their time and energy, to tire them in a way that they won't be able to carry out their activities for Islam.' In this way, the hypocrites annoy decent, well-mannered and faithful Muslims by using so-called ‘love’ as a pretext. They imagine that they can emphasize their own superiority and discredit Muslims by blaming and speaking ill of them. Their only point is that they have been 'overshadowed' by these successful, good mannered Muslims. Their anger stems from the distress of having failed to create the image that they are the superlative, most remarkable, most splashy, most successful, most perfect ones.

In the Qur'an, God draws attention to this method of the hypocrites who try to use love as an element of aggression and immorality for their ignominious goals. How the hypocrites are dragged into a dissention and aberration with the claim of love is clearly seen in ‘the Story of Cain and Abel’ revealed in the Qur'an:

Both sons of the Prophet Adam (pbuh) presented a sacrifice to God. One of theirs was accepted and the other's was not. According to the historical accounts, Cain was consumed with jealousy when the sacrifice he presented was not accepted and thought that ‘God loved his brother more.’ (Surely God is beyond that). So he felt a grudge towards God (may God forbid) and ‘martyred his brother’.

This incident shows us the fierceness of a hypocrite's mentality. Cain martyred his brother ‘not because he wanted God to love him,’ but only ‘to satisfy his own pride, arrogance and egocentricity.’ The reason of his unruliness was not his desire for love but his feelings of rivalry and his wish to be superior.

It is obvious that the hypocrites are ready to do any kind of ignominy using love as a pretext. They might get aggressive, and even commit murder, when they feel necessary without batting an eye. However the hypocrites, who use this beautiful feeling God has created as a blessing, as a cover to keep on with their vileness and evil acts, would never be successful with these methods. Every vile, perfidious and fraudulent act they commit would certainly return them as torment both in this world and in the hereafter.

Hypocrites are loveless creatures; but they use love to attain personal gains and to emphasize their superiority

The hypocrites ‘know nothing about love.’ Likewise, they have ‘no goals to be loved’ either. They know that no one would ever love them because of their rude, bad-tempered, arrogant and impertinent character. For that reason they have ‘no such tendency to go after love, to try to make themselves loved or to desire love.’

Nevertheless, love is a ‘very important and effective weapon’ for the hypocrites. The mask they use most frequently while carrying on their immorality is ‘the mask of love’ because they are very well aware of the importance Muslims attach to love. They are very well aware of the fact that being in search of love, asking for Muslims' love is considered as a very reasonable and legitimate demand, a nice attitude that is encouraged by Muslims, moreover ‘a sign of Muslims.’ With an evil sharpness, they use this means to carry out their ignominy, to satisfy their earthly desires and to attain superiority.

In line with this demonic plan, when they have to give an account for the immoral acts they have done, they use the topic of love to cover up their immoralities telling lies such as “I did so, to make myself loveable,” “I said that to earn your love,” “I behaved like that because I love you.” They claim that they have ‘good intentions' and even if there is a mistake in their behaviors, the real reason that lies beneath it is always their 'search for love.' Thus they claim that they carry out many immoral acts such as 'being vexed, losing face, sulking, not speaking and grimacing’ only to be loved. In this manner they try to give their filthy and sly souls a 'so-called innocent' appearance.

In the Qur'an, God draws attention to hypocrites' ‘habit of carrying out immoral acts by using goodness as a pretext’:

When they are told, “Do not cause corruption on the earth,” they say, “We are only putting things right.” No indeed! They are the corrupters, but they are not aware of it. (Surat al-Baqara, 11-12)

God informs us in these verses that when these people with sick souls are told not to cause corruption on the earth they would reply saying, "We are only putting things right." When the hypocrites are asked why they committed such ignominy, such vileness, they only come up with fake excuses saying, “We merely want to experience goodness, beauty and love," and thus try to establish ‘a so-called legitimate foundation on which they can easily carry out any kind of ignominy.’

One other example of the hypocrites' desiring to lay the ground for their ignominy using ‘love’ as a pretext is provided in the Story of the Prophet Joseph (pbuh). As we are told in the Qur'an, the wife of the Egyptian Vizier in whose house Joseph (pbuh) lived wanted to approach Joseph (pbuh) and be intimate with him. Joseph's (pbuh) showing a faithful and chaste attitude and rejecting the woman, offended her immensely. Feeling humiliated, and wanting to save face and her prestige, she cast aspersions on the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) claiming that 'he was the one with the desire to approach her.' In order to take revenge against him, who had hurt her pride, she attempted to defame him by accusing him both of unchastity and of disloyalty to the Vizier. She thus devised a scheme that would cause the imprisonment of the Prophet Joseph (pbuh).

Obviously, right at the beginning of all these incidents, the woman hid behind the ‘lie of love’ to approach the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) and to persuade him to act in line with her desires. However, when he acted against her lower-self and interests, it became apparent that her claims about love was nothing but a big lie and that she basically wanted to ‘defame him with slanders and to have him imprisoned.’

The woman said that she ‘loved’ the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) a lot. In reality however, she was full of rage and hatred towards him because of his beauty, modesty and faith. His stunning beauty physically affected her. However the reason behind her attempts to him was not love. It was only a fancy and she imitated love temporarily merely to satisfy her pride. She merely wanted 'to make a splash and build up a reputation' among the women in her circle by being in personal contact with a man admired by all the women around. In real love, casting aspersions and wishing to defame a person one loves and trying to put that person in prison is absolutely out of question. Therefore it is obvious that this woman showing hypocritical characteristics 'merely wanted to attain the interests she longed for by using love as a pretext and thus to satisfy her feelings of superiority.'

This vile and fickle characteristic of hypocrites shows itself in all the hypocrites with all these traits in our time as well. That is why Muslims' having a good grasp of the games of the hypocrites that are described in the verses of the Qur'an is important; this will enable them to be alert to the traps they will come across and to easily thwart such games.

Hypocrites know that no one really loves them

Muslims are pleasant, agreeable, modest and understanding people. This nature of theirs is so obvious that even hypocrites can spot their mature demeanor, good rapport with people around them, and never fading glow and happiness on their faces. However, looking at themselves, hypocrites only see aggressive, rude, bad-tempered people, who never say anything good about anyone or know how to be kind. In other words, they can easily see the difference and notice ‘how unpleasant they actually are.’ They secretly know that people don't really enjoy their company. This deeply bothers them and makes them agitated but thinking about their irksome character makes them even more aggressive and bad-tempered. Nevertheless, since it’s never their intention to attain love, they try not to think about it. They convince themselves that if they lived amongst the unbelievers, that wouldn't have been a problem since everyone else would be like themselves too, and they wouldn't have felt so dejected among them.

Every moment they spend in the company of Muslims, however, makes this contrast even clearer. Muslims can see the difference. Muslims are good-natured, gracious, conscientious people, who see the best in others. Their kindness and benevolence extend even to those who act with clear signs of hypocrisy. They don't hesitate to offer their compassion, protection and compliments even to these people. However, despite this gracious approach, hypocrites know in their hearts that Muslims don't really like them and on the contrary, are being especially careful and alert around them. This makes them sure that they are not truly liked, and even resented by Muslims.

The knowledge that they are unpleasant and unliked enrages them and fuels the hatred in their dark, loveless souls. They feel an ever-increasing desire to take revenge on Muslims, to hurt them, tire them, bother them, make them uncomfortable and misbehave for no reason. They step up their acts of sullenness, evil gazes and insolence, and respond to humanity and kindness with bad actions. The demonic electricity found in them creates a disturbing tension wherever they are. That’s why when a hypocrite enters a place, it’s like the devil himself has come.

It is impossible for a Muslim to actually love a hypocrite. However, Muslims continue to be patient, compassionate and kind towards them, hoping that one day they might give up on their evil behavior. However, even this lofty morality will not bring about any positive effects on the hypocrites. Since they only love themselves, and no one else, they will continue with their nefarious and treacherous behaviors and acts.

Hypocrites have no sense of love or respect in their souls

Hypocrites are truly appalling beings. They are completely devoid of lofty feelings such as love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, kindness or courtesy. However, they want to be shown love and kindness, yet it’s only for the purpose of supposedly proving their ‘superiority.’ They seek to be loved the most, because in this way they can prove ‘they are more worthy of love, more than everyone else’ and be able to show off to Muslims. They love to be the center of attention. All these desires stem not from their tendency towards love or good moral values, but only from their desire to beat everyone else.

Hypocrites hold a deep resentment against Muslims, even though there is no reason for that. On the contrary, they benefit from the constant protection and care provided by Muslims. Normally, anyone receiving this kind of favorable treatment would be expected to deeply love and care for Muslims. For instance, if they get sick, Muslims will take care of their all needs. They will take them to the doctor, cook for them and tend to their needs. Muslims are always and without an exception very compassionate towards the hypocrites. Even if they see the evil behavior of the hypocrites, this doesn't change their kind attitude and they follow their conscience for the sake of God’s good pleasure and continue to be affectionate. However, this attention and kindness will not propel the hypocrites to choose goodness and kindness. It’s because the hypocrites won’t know how to respond to love with love, to compassion with compassion. All this attention and care will only amplify their spoiled, unpleasant and rude characters.

There is no love in the demonic souls of the hypocrites. They are strange creatures that don't know how to love, and don't have any desire to be loved. There is not a single person in their lives whom they love or sincerely treat nicely. They don't love their parents, children or friends. To them, all those are people that they need to maintain contact with in order to further their interests. The scale of the lovelessness of the hypocrites is so immense that they cannot even love children, flowers, trees, animals; in short they love none of the beauties God creates.

Hypocrites do not have a sense of respect either since respect is the most beautiful expression of love and of the value one attaches to another. Since hypocrites don't value Muslims, they have neither love nor respect for them. God describes this feature of the hypocrites in the Qur’an, by calling them ‘gross and coarse’:

But do not obey any vile swearer of oaths, any backbiter, slandermonger, impeder of good, evil aggressor, gross, coarse and furthermore, despicable, (Surat al-Qalam, 10-13)

With these verses, God commands Muslims to shun from all sorts of immorality and attitude that is against Islam. The fact that hypocrites are ‘gross and coarse’ makes it clear that they try to solve their problems not with love, respect and kindness; but with aggression and hostility, by fighting and yelling and throwing tantrums. For instance, at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the hypocrites called out to the Prophet (pbuh) from behind doors, raised their voices or tried to come to the fore in his presence. Such behavior stem from the hypocrites’ gross, coarse and impertinent characters. They deal with everything ‘with aggression and crude behavior’ instead of kindness, love and respect. They try to stir up trouble by mistreating people, throwing tantrums, causing discomfort, and using offensive, threatening tones and voices.

They make the mistake of thinking that they can get away with their evil behavior and that every evil act they do is a gain for them. However, each and every evil thing they do is recorded in the Sight of God. No hypocrite that ever lived got away with their nefarious deeds. Today, every hypocrite that targets Muslims and tries to hurt them will be duly punished in the hereafter. They will not be able to get away from the pain and punishment for eternity. God says in the Qur’an that the hypocrites will be punished ‘in the lowest level of the fire’, and that ‘there will be no one to help them’:

The hypocrites are in the lowest level of the Fire. You will not find any one to help them. (Surat an-Nisa’, 145)

Hypocrites retreat into their shells, as they can’t stand to see the Muslims

Even if the hypocrites may be bodily in a large group of Muslims, they have mentally retreated into their shells. Since they cannot silence the anger, hatred and envy in their souls, it is almost painful for them to be in the company of Muslims. That’s why they grow away from the Muslims over time. However, since they are like ‘chameleons’, capable of adapting to any situation at will, they may put on a show of being cheerful and happy when they are with Muslims. Yet, to an observing eye, it is clear that they are completely alone in their own, dark and friendless ‘bubble of a world.’ Because they cannot feel love, respect, friendship or brotherhood, and most importantly, because of their anger and jealousy towards Muslims, everything Muslims do bother them. Especially, Muslims’ love for one another, their close bonds, even more than biological siblings have, the fact that they are constantly happy with their faith in God, their wholehearted display of love and respect for each other slowly eat hypocrites away. That’s because hypocrites have a desire to ‘be in the spotlight, at the center of attention’ at all times.

Needless to say, Muslims direct their love and respect not towards such a being with immoral tendencies, but to those, who, they believe to be the most pious, who hold the highest moral virtues, and who are the most humble, gentle and honest. In other words, hypocrites can’t get the kind of respect they dream of from the Muslims and this irritates them to no end. Because ‘not being able to get an ego boost the way they want, and being just another person in the Muslim community’ is one of the things that is the hardest on hypocrites.

In addition, Muslims remembering and praising God all the time, and manifesting the morality of the Qur’an in everything they do or say, infuriates the hypocrites. They don't wish to hear the name of God, or praise of the morality of the Qur’an or see how the Muslims live by it. Witnessing the constant efforts of Muslims to serve Islam is yet another grievance for them. That’s why they ‘shut themselves away’ and take care to sulk in a corner, away from Muslims. In a happy environment of Muslims, hypocrites sit in a corner, frown and look around with blank eyes. They give the appearance of a schizophrenic person, who hates human beings. They frown while everyone else laughs. They keep quiet while everyone else is happily chatting. Their actions are unstable and psychotic.

This state of the hypocrites is one form of punishment that God inflicts on them for their immorality. Hypocrites do all these demonic acts only to disturb Muslims, only to take away their peace and happiness. Yet, what they do is nothing other than making themselves look like ‘mentally deranged people’ and condemning themselves to an ‘unhappy, angry and distressed life’ in a schizophrenic mood.

Hypocrites use everything they are given to cause unrest

Muslims have very peaceful, happy lives. Everyday, as they wake up to a new day, they look around and see beauties everywhere, and do their best to make a beautiful contribution to wherever they go. Hypocrites though, are the complete opposite. They cannot stand the fact that Muslims are happy, at peace and live beautiful lives. That’s why they start their day in a bad-tempered, foul mood. Even when things are perfect, they manage to find a reason to cause disturbance.

They use every opportunity to disturb the peaceful atmosphere around Muslims and to try to give them a hard time. They start with a ‘bad-tempered look’ on their face in the morning. Their faces are so irksome and unpleasant that no one would even want to look at them. They believe that with this ‘foul mood’ they can disturb the Muslims. Then they respond to pleasant greetings and attempts at conversation with terse and curt replies. They are extremely negative and gloomy. The reason why Muslims speak good words to them is not because they really want to have a conversation with them, but because this is what God will be pleased with and is a requirement of good manners. Despite the hypocrites’ ill-mannered and rude behavior, Muslims continue to respond kindly, as a reflection of their lofty morality.

This is only the beginning. Consorting with satan, they would find hundreds of more evil acts to do for the rest of the day. No matter how benevolently and kindly they are treated, they will view them from an evil perspective and try to use them as leverage for their wicked schemes.

They could exploit any detail or ordinary subject such as ‘a shortage of office supplies, cleaning of the house, a private conversation between two people, the high volume of the TV set, the illumination or the airiness of the room, or the food not being ready on time.’ The hypocrites will attempt to use and complain about these details during the day to cause trouble and stress. However, maybe more surprisingly, hypocrites will try to use even ‘gifts and treats they are offered to cause trouble and to harass Muslims.’ For instance, if a Muslim cooks a hypocrite’s favorite food and serves it in a very nice plate, instead of ‘kindly thanking, and complimenting him/her for the kindness, considerateness and beautiful virtues,’ the hypocrites will not say even a single word and display their dissatisfaction through their facial expressions. They will then go on to make it obvious that they are not happy with it, and start listing all the non-existent problems with the food. With an unpleasant tone of voice, they might say such rude things like, ‘the meat is too tough, it’s too salty, it’s undercooked, the bread is too toasted, the salad isn’t very nice.’ Hypocrites display on this unpleasant attitude because of their evil nature, not because there really is a problem with the food. They will never want to be in a position where they thank, praise or appreciate Muslims.

If a Muslim offers a beautiful piece of clothing as a gift, one that the hypocrite herself expressed adoration of previously, she may look at it with a disdainful look on her face, and rudely say “Wasn't there any other color?”, “it’s too long, too big, not well-tailored enough, the material isn’t soft enough” etc. All these are nothing but fake excuses since she herself liked that dress earlier and the hypocrite will say these things even though all the details have been chosen carefully to suit her. But, because of her evil nature, the hypocrite, instead of thanking, will use this opportunity to display her evil nature. It doesn't matter to her that the person who brought the outfit have spent time, effort and energy going to the store to offer this kindness to her.

On the other hand, if a Muslim is given a piece of clothing –even if she doesn’t like it at all, even if it is the lowest quality piece of clothing that she would never want to wear– she would immediately thank with the kindest words, praise the person for taking the time and making the effort to bring her a present. As a reflection of their good nature and morality, Muslims will express their happiness, praise and gratitude in the best way possible. There is no doubt, the hypocrites can also be kind and display a polite attitude if they want to. However, their sole intention is causing problems and therefore will refrain from such kindness and take the opportunity to show their evil attitude.

This vile attitude of the hypocrites continues throughout the day in almost every detail. Each kindness to make them happy and enjoy will be used by them as a new opportunity to carry out evil acts. However, despite this relentless campaign of vileness by the hypocrites, they always fail at their attempts to strip the Muslims of their happiness and joy. All the evilness comes back to haunt them, and condemn them to a lonely, loveless, sad life, without a single true friend or a person who loves them.

Our Lord explains in a verse that hypocrites ‘will pay for their evil acts with a painful punishment in the hereafter’ which “will suffice them”:

God has promised the men and women of the hypocrites and unbelievers the Fire of Hell, remaining in it timelessly, for ever. It will suffice them. God has cursed them. They will have everlasting punishment. (Surat at-Tawba, 68)

Hypocrites almost never say “thank God,” “praise be to God;” they never give thanks and appreciate the gifts God gives to them

One of the most definitive qualities of Muslims that sets them apart from the unbelievers is that they constantly praise ‘the name of our Lord’, both verbally and in their hearts, because they love God more than anyone else. Believers know that God creates everything and everyone, has the sole control over everything and everyone, and that He has the sole and infinite power. They also know that no one can either help or hurt them unless God wills so and that God will enrich whomever He wills and restrict His blessings for whomever He wishes. For this reason, Muslims turn to God for every desire in their hearts. When they have a problem, knowing that help can come only if God wills it, they turn to Him and appeal only to Him for help. When they wish to obtain something, they know that only God can make it happen, so they pray to Him. When something good happens, they know that it happened by the grace of God, so they give thanks to Him. When they are saved from something bad or when they escape a disaster, they also know that they were protected only because of God’s love for them and therefore give thanks to Him for this blessing.

This deep ‘love for God’ that the Muslims have is something hypocrites do not have. Since they have no love in their hearts, they don't ‘remember God’ in their words either. They don't believe that God has the sole power and that His power is infinite (Surely God is above that). They view the deep states of the world, demonic circles, other hypocrites and of course themselves, as far more ‘powerful and invincible’ than God (Surely God is above that). For this reason, they believe that they themselves or the deep powers have made anything good that happens to them possible; and when something bad happens to them, it’s because they didn't take shelter in those powers as much as necessary. Due to this twisted thinking, hypocrites don't give thanks to God for the good things happening to them or for the blessings they have. This is what makes hypocrites stick out so visibly. They almost never use the phrases “Alhamdulillah, thank God, praise be to the Lord.”

Muslims immediately give thanks to God, when for instance, they recover from an illness and say: “My Lord, if it hadn’t been for Your mercy and grace, I wouldn't have recovered from this illness. Only You can heal me.” When fellow Muslims give them presents, for example, they will very kindly thank them, but first and foremost give thanks to our Lord, knowing that God is the One giving them these beautiful gifts. When they see a beautiful scene, see flowers blossoming, beautiful waves hitting the beach, they will give thanks to God. Since they encounter beauties and blessings everywhere they turn, they will continuously express their gratitude to our Lord. When they slip and fall, and when they get back up, they will think about God’s grace and give thanks: “My Lord protected me; otherwise I could have been badly injured. God helped me, Alhamdulillah.”

Hypocrites never act along this morality though. They “constantly and merely grunt and complain” in every turn. Although they need God in every moment of their lives, even to breath, because of their ‘delusions of grandeur’ they will not want to remember God and give thanks to Him.

Needless to say, this ungrateful and unappreciative demonic character hurts no one but the hypocrites themselves. They continue to live unhappy, restless lives with their non-ending complaining and grumpy, foul moods. Muslims, on the other hand, live with the constant peace of mind brought upon by the knowledge that there is good in everything that happens to them, which may seem good or bad, that God creates everything with a perfect wisdom according to a destiny, and therefore nothing will make them sad. Hypocrites though, build a hell-like life for themselves and hurt no one but themselves with the choice they make.

Hypocrites are very ungrateful towards Muslims, from whom they receive nothing but kindness and good manners

It can never be possible for a person in this life, other than the Prophets –who have this knowledge through revelation from God-, to know ‘who will go to heaven and who will go to hell’. For this reason, Muslims approach everyone in a hopeful and benevolent manner, believing that even those with the most persistent display of hypocritical attitude, an ugly daring and insistence can one day change and correct their behavior.

Muslims clearly recognize the vehement signs of disbelief on hypocrites and feel ‘resentment’ towards this dark and insidious side of the hypocrites that contradict with the Qur’anic morality. This resentment is a natural result of their faith. Despite that, listening to their conscience, they consistently treat the hypocrites with good manners in line with the Qur’an, in order to prevent them from causing strife and hoping that maybe this will be instrumental in softening their hearts, warming them toward religion and correcting their behavior.

Indeed, as we are told in the Qur’an, God told the Prophet Moses and his brother Prophet Aaron (peace be upon them both) to go to Pharaoh and ‘speak to him with gentle words’. In a similar manner, while trying to rehabilitate the hypocrites, Muslims always act with utmost compassion, love and forgiveness. But they never let their guard down against any danger or wickedness on the part of the hypocrites.

Despite all this generosity, benevolence, kindness and good manners they get from the Muslims, hypocrites are incredibly ungrateful. Since they see themselves as better than all Muslims in terms of intelligence, talent, manners and quality, and since they keep feeding this sense of arrogance in their souls, they take all the generosity on the part of Muslims for granted, as something which they ‘already deserve’. To them, a gift or a treat is just another thing they perfectly deserve, for which reason they think it is not necessary to thank. They believe that compliments and praises to them are their natural rights; they believe they deserve them since they are the best, the smartest, the most talented. They even might be delusional enough to think that Muslims treat them with generosity because they have to. For this reason, they don't feel like they have to be grateful or say ‘thank you’ to Muslims.

This wicked nature of the hypocrites reveals itself many times during the day. For instance, if they get ill, Muslims will all rush in to help them with all their needs. For God’s good pleasure, they will take care of everything during this time. They make doctor appointments, get necessary medication, check their fever, prepare their food, check them regularly to make sure they are OK, even forsake sleep and keep watch over them all night. Muslims, in doing these things, listen to their conscience and make efforts. Situations like this, though, quickly reveal the hypocrites. Having received this kind of treatment, Muslims love their fellow Muslims for the rest of their lives, for God’s sake. They repeatedly express their love, gratitude and appreciation.

Those who are basking in seas of hypocrisy, on the other hand, only half-heartedly thank Muslims, but only to make sure that they continue to take care of them until they get better. But their hearts and words completely clash. When one day they have a burst of anger, they may even say, ‘Muslims didn't take care of them even when they fell ill, and even if they did it, they did it only reluctantly and unwillingly’. In a show of ‘ingratitude and abject slander’, they claim that Muslims, who took care of them hinted and made them feel that this care-taking was done unwillingly. They may even blatantly lie saying that they were not taken care of at all, despite the presence of witnesses to the contrary. It is because hypocrites hate Muslims. Their goal is ‘to portray Muslims as supposedly cruel and loveless people’, ‘to create an image of being victimized’ and ‘to set a supposedly legitimate stage for their fresh wave of wickedness’.

The fact that hypocrites ‘constantly seek to find flaws and try to accuse Muslims for everything’ despite being constantly showered with generosity and blessings is a clear indication of their insincerity and ingratitude.

In fact, their ingratitude is actually towards God. They believe that attractiveness, health, youth and physical strength that God gives to them are their own achievements. They believe that they are good-looking because they work out a lot. They surmise that regular intake of vitamins makes them healthy, and reading books, brain exercises give them strong memory. Therefore, they don’t really feel the need to give thanks to God for these blessings. They don’t think about the possibility that God might take them any moment. This makes them even more spoiled, make them feel unapproachably great. God draws attention to this ungrateful character of the hypocrites in the Qur’an and says that –unless He wills otherwise– they will never be forgiven:

You can ask forgiveness for them, or not ask forgiveness for them. Even if you asked forgiveness for them seventy times, God still would not forgive them. That is because they have rejected God and His Messenger. God does not guide deviant people. (Surat at-Tawba, 80)

Hypocrites display their ungrateful behavior repeatedly during the day. Nevertheless, Muslims never compromise on their good manners and never condescend to act with a non-Qur’anic or childish vengeance. They know that they are watching events that are unfolding according to the destiny and adopt a patient and compassionate approach.

If it is in destiny for one to correct his behavior and die as a Muslim, then each selfless act and sacrifice on the part of Muslims will be a means for the guidance of that person. There is no doubt Muslims will be greatly rewarded for that. This is a great gift for Muslims.

However, if that person dies as a hypocrite, all the goodness, kindness and sacrifices of Muslims will make the hypocrite even more heavily responsible for his acts and will be a means for increased punishment in the hereafter.

Hypocrites use every opportunity they are given to fraternize with the unbelievers in a bid to plot against the Muslims

Hypocrites use the blessings and opportunities they get by means of Muslims, ‘to consort with the unbelievers, strengthen their ties with them and secure a place amongst them’. Their final goal is ‘weakening the Muslims, strengthening the unbelievers and then guaranteeing a proper place amongst the unbelievers’. For this reason, they use all the ‘technologic means, financial powers and social connections’ of Muslims.

They act in line with ‘a thorough strategic plan’ to make use of the resources of Muslims as much as possible. They take care to make acquaintances with all the domestic and foreign connections of Muslims, try to be close with them. Sometimes they make up some pretexts to directly ask for their contact details, and sometimes secretly try to get ‘their e-mail addresses, phone numbers or social media accounts’ from the laptops, phones or tablets of Muslims. Then, coming up with various lies, they seek to cut the ties of Muslims with these people, so that they can later secretly remain in touch with them personally. For instance, about a devout, conscientious person, who fears God and who loves Muslims, hypocrites will tell evil lies to Muslims and say: “This person is known as a very dishonest, unreliable person. He is also averse to Muslims. You better not be friends with him, don't speak to him again otherwise he might harm you.” Hypocrites spread these lies because they wish to disturb the alliance of good people, and use that person for their own personal interests.

‘Technology’ that Muslims use to communicate the beautiful message of Islam is yet another tool that hypocrites use to contact the unbelievers. Hypocrites desire to benefit from such resources and means of Muslims as much as possible. They seek to take advantage of the benevolence and conscientious nature of the Muslims. For instance a hypocrite might say ‘that his phone broke down, he is in a difficult position because of that, that he wouldn't be able to call anyone if he got ill or something happened to him’. And then he implies that he needs a new phone with state of the art technology. He is perfectly aware that Muslims will feel responsible and will definitely help him using whatever means they have. For this reason, he puts particular emphasis on the lie that ‘he would be desperate if something happened to him’. And finally, he gets ‘a state-of-the-art phone that is the best on the market’, which he believes he achieved through his scheming. However, Muslims can perfectly see through the lies of the hypocrite, but they still provide him with this opportunity he wants, hoping that it will be the best thing to do in their constant quest to earn God’s pleasure, and continuing to carefully watch the schemes of the hypocrite.

Surely, the hypocrites don't stop there. Using his new phone, he takes action to ‘make speedier, stronger connections with the unbelievers’. Over this phone that he attained by the resources of the Muslims, he provides ‘intelligence’ to unbelievers about the Muslims. He cooperates with them against the Muslims, using this phone, and concocts evil plans against them.

As hypocrites see the rich resources of the Muslims, they step up their demonic games. Sometimes they seek to obtain these resources, even if they are of no personal benefit to them, merely ‘to support and get in the good graces of the unbelievers’. For instance, the ‘faith-related, cultural or scientific researches’ Muslims make in order to communicate the beautiful message of Islam and the morality of the Qur’an, and the ‘archives’ they collect in order to use to this end arouse the attention of hypocrites. They think that if they can pass that archive on to their associates among the unbelievers, they will be able to gain their approval, maybe get a “well done,” and will be able to ask for something from them in the future. Having these thoughts in mind, hypocrites try to somehow secretly get a hold of this data, even though it will be of no personal use to them. They make up pretexts, which seem reasonable, such as that “they will do something good for Islam and that they need the data for this reason,” or that “the archive is too disorderly and that he is very experienced in sorting things.” Later on, they pass on every bit of useful information and document to their demonic acquaintances.

This insidious struggle that the hypocrites carry out amongst the Muslims, a few examples for which struggle are given here, will continue until they find what they have been looking for amongst the unbelievers. These evil games that they have been playing amongst the Muslims will only serve to strengthen Muslims, even though that was never their intentions. Muslims become more attentive as they see the evil and sly aspects of the hypocrites, bond to each other more strongly and progress with firmer steps. The possibility of having a hypocrite amongst them prompts them to be more diligent and alert. As a result, by God’s will, their power and strength, as well as their achievements, increasingly grow further.

In everything hypocrites say, lies a trap; it is important to do the exact opposite of these words of hypocrites

God gives a very important secret to the Muslims in the Qur’an in foiling the plots of the hypocrites and advises them not to “follow their advises:”

O Prophet! Have fear of God and do not obey the unbelievers and hypocrites . God is All-Knowing, All-Wise. Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord. God is aware of what you do. (Surat al-Ahzab, 1-2)

It is God Who creates everything and everyone, including the hypocrites and satan, their leader: Therefore our Lord knows best the immorality, evil and wicked character of these dishonest people. God describes the characters of hypocrites in many verses of the Qur’an and shows the ways of ‘depriving them of the ability to hurt Muslims’ by means of wisdom of faith.

One of the most significant games that hypocrites try to play on Muslims is ‘misleading them with wrong information in an attempt to ambush them’. Hypocrites befriend the unbelievers and constantly provide them vital and accurate intelligence to make them stronger, but at the same intentionally provide misleading information to Muslims in a bid to ‘cause them fail’. This way, they try to protect deep structures, evil circles of power, and their hypocrite friends whom they trust and consider to be powerful. They know that if Muslims act in line with accurate information, the evil systems of the hypocrites will completely collapse and the irreligion, which unbelievers wish to spread all around the world, will be defeated. Hypocrites hate to think that this can happen. Their goal is weakening Muslims from within, ensuring their failure and even destroying them. This way, they will be able to live like unbelievers in comfort and without a guilty conscience; this is something that they long for.

When hypocrites are alone, or secretly contact their unbeliever friends, they will make elaborate plans to manipulate and direct events in line with their goals. First, they determine the topics to mention during discussions to help them express what they actually want to say. Later, they begin to set the stage for it. Throughout the day, they drop subtle hints in their conversations with Muslims. They subtly lead a conversation to a certain topic, at which point they perfectly emphasize what is actually important for them. Later on, they approach other Muslims and do the same thing with them, trying to slyly plant the idea in their heads. They will continue with this sly campaign until they believe they achieved sufficient public opinion.

When this phase is complete, they get on to the main part of their play. Because of their weak thinking, they imagine that they have created a significant public opinion in their favor and that they will now have these people’s support when that particular subject is raised in a crowd. But Muslims are very intelligent, and are perfectly capable of seeing through their demonic plans. Therefore, they have already realized that the ‘hypocrites are on to something, trying to set the stage for their games,’ and will have already taken their precautions. The hypocrites, completely oblivious, continue to put their plans into action.

For instance if the Muslims are going to carry out an auspicious and effective intellectual campaign somewhere and if that does not suit the hypocrites’ interests, hypocrites will try to prevent it. That is because Muslims’ communication of the message of Islam in that region in an effective way will weaken irreligion in that area. Hypocrites will want their associates, unbeliever friends, their allies in the deep state structures in that region to stay strong. Therefore, they occasionally talk to Muslims about the economy, politics and people of that certain city or country, pretending that they have made a research, read about it and wanted to share it with them. But in these talks they will make sure to say that the locals are very already very religious, most of the population believe in God, perform prayers and that the mosques are always full, even though it is not true. They tell these lies even though it is very easy to discover the true facts even with a simple internet search. But hypocrites lack the ability to estimate that their lies would be easily recognized. They don’t think that Muslims would easily notice their sly games. They try to mislead Muslims by saying such things like “You don't need to hand out books, or hold conferences in that area; that place is already religious. It’d be better to hold conferences in so-and-so city. It is people there who do not know much about Islam.” And they are quite persistent in their ill-advises.

Hypocrites have many other similar plots. Whenever there is an issue of use and benefit to Islam and Muslims, they seek to ‘mislead Muslims’ with the pretense of giving information. Or else, as a second method, they ‘seek to distract Muslims in order to prevent them from focusing on a certain important point. Instead, they try to attract their attention to a number of different points, and weaken the effect that would otherwise be achieved in a single point’.

In such cases, Muslims never follow the advises of the hypocrites. Remembering God’s command of ‘not obeying the hypocrites’, they know that hypocrites always have a demonic, ulterior motive and therefore act carefully. Muslims know that hypocrites always have a treacherous plan with their advises and try to mislead them. Therefore they are always suspicious of what hypocrites say. Indeed, when they do check the information provided by the hypocrites, they see that‘the information given by the hypocrites is nothing but a trap, always in favor of the unbelievers and always against the Muslims’.

“The beacon of satan will illuminate the darkness at your destination” ( Mason Dergisi [The Masonic Journal], vol.29, p.23) clearly describes the traps of the hypocrites acting with inspiration from satan. The right thing to do is not going to the direction where the beacon illuminates, but turn to the other way instead. This is the way to foil the traps of the hypocrites.

When hypocrites say something and Muslims do the exact opposite, this will hurt both hypocrites and satan to a great extent. This way, their intellectual basis will be destroyed; their games will be thwarted. Since hypocrites cannot discern how intelligent Muslims are, they fail to see that their traps already give hints to Muslims that will help them intellectually defeat hypocrites’ reasoning. When Muslims do the exact opposite of the advises of the hypocrites, it will be the most effective intellectual blow to their satanic system. In other words, with the schemes they have been concocting, they will inadvertently be the means for the achievements of the Muslims.