The Dark World of the Hypocrites

Hypocrites’ minds are wrapped up in their lives before they embraced faith and they long for those days they have spent as unbelievers

In the Qur’an, God reveals certain events that the Prophet Moses (pbuh) and his tribe went through, for us to ponder and find the wisdom in them. The following is an example from the parable of the Prophet Moses (pbuh):

When the Prophet Moses (pbuh) was sent as a messenger to the Israelites, they were living in Egypt under the rule of the Pharaoh. Egyptians were using Israelites as slaves and oppressing them with torture. The Prophet Moses (pbuh) rescued the Israelites from the persecution, tyranny and torture of the Pharaoh and helped them escape from his lands.

God granted great favor to Israelites by sending the Prophet Moses (pbuh) as their savior By struggling against the Pharaoh, the Prophet Moses (pbuh) brought salvation to the Israelites from the suffering they had under the rule of the Pharaoh. But instead of being grateful and happy for God's favor and the fact that they are rescued from the suffering, slavery and torture under the Pharaoh, the Israelites ungratefully said to Prophet Moses (pbuh): "We suffered harm before you came to us and after you came to us."

They said, ‘We suffered harm before you came to us and after you came to us.’ (Moses) He said, ‘It may well be that your Lord is going to destroy your enemy and make you the successors in the land so that He can see how you behave.’ (Surat al-A'raf, 129)

Nevertheless, Prophet Moses (pbuh) made this call to his tribe and said, ‘Let me save you from the cruelty of the Pharaoh’, ’Let me take you to the land God granted you, where you can live free’, ‘You are oppressed and humiliated here, you will live in prosperity there.’ Israelites who wanted to escape from the tyranny of the Pharaoh accepted the Prophet Moses (pbuh)'s proposition and they departed together.

The Israelites had been living under oppression and infliction of pain in the lands they abandoned; nevertheless they were yearning for their past lives. For this reason, they turned to Prophet Moses (pbuh) and said, ‘We want the civilization, the quality of life, the cuisine; in short we want back the life we left there. We can't find those here in the desert. We miss our old lives. Even though we were slaves and we were humiliated, we still want to go back to that culture, to the life Pharaoh offered to us.’

Instead of feeling grateful and delighted at the fact that they were saved from the brutality and tyranny they experienced under the Pharaoh's rule, they still longed for the life the Pharaoh had given them. They said, ’The quality way of life, the wealth and the Egyptian culture under the rule of Pharaoh were good; it was a modern environment, but now we are living in a desert,’ and they complained about their current condition, wanting to return to being under the Pharaoh's government. Yet, if they were people with sincere faith, their only purpose would be living for God, no matter the place or the circumstances. They would be thankful for the blessings God has bestowed upon them. However, because they didn't have sincere faith, at the expense of living under the Pharaoh's oppressive rule, they were still longing for the Pharaoh's flamboyant life, the pyramids, and the opportunities they wanted to take advantage of in their personal interest.

With examples like these from the Prophet Moses (pbuh)'s tribe, God informs us that in every era, hypocrites have always shown an admiration for the life of the unbelievers. Instead of standing together with those who have faith and being thankful for and delighted at the blessings God has given them, they desire to live like unbelievers, possess the things that blasphemers deem important, speak like them, dress like them, eat and drink like them; they desire the same flamboyance that the unbelievers put on airs with. Of course, an environment including modernity, civilization and magnificence is a beauty that will delight humans. However, the tribe of Prophet Moses (pbuh) preferred leaving the Prophet’s side distancing from the true religion, only in exchange for these opportunities. They found it more charming to live under Pharaoh’s unbearable tortures. In the Qur’an, God relates this behavior of the tribe of Prophet Moses (pbuh) as follows:

And when Moses was looking for water for his people, We said ‘Strike the rock with your staff.’ Then twelve fountains gushed out from it and all the people knew their drinking place. ‘Eat and drink of God's provision and do not go about the earth corrupting it.’

And when you said, ‘Moses, we will not put up with just one kind of food so ask your Lord to supply to us some of what the earth produces – its green vegetables, cucumbers, grains, lentils and onions,’ he said, ‘Do you want to replace what is better with what is inferior? Go back to Egypt, then you will have what you are asking for.’ Abasement and destitution were stamped upon them. They brought down anger from God upon themselves. That was because they rejected God’s Signs and killed the Prophets without any right to do so. That was because they rebelled and went beyond the limits. (Surat al-Baqara, 60-61)

As explained in the verses, God granted food and fountains of water to the Israelites who had escaped from Egypt with the Prophet Moses (pbuh). But instead of being thankful for these blessings, they said: Moses, we will not put up with just one kind of food so ask your Lord to supply to us some of what the earth produces – its green vegetables, cucumbers, grains, lentils and onions." But of course by saying ‘green vegetables, cucumbers, grains, lentils and onions’, they didn't just mean the food itself that they craved. In that period, the dynasty of the Pharaoh had specific methods for cooking these foods, so in fact they were in admiration of this flamboyant culture of food.

Similar to that, the statue of the golden calf, which is a symbol of wealth and flamboyant life in Pharaoh's society, was also an item of admiration for them. They were really infatuated with the snobbish life of the Pharaoh. In the same vein, they adored the language the Egyptians spoke. Normally, Israelites' language was Hebrew, but they thought the language of the Pharaoh was more elitist, and they wanted to taste this elitist lifestyle by using the same language.

For this reason, at the expense of living under the tyrannous and brutish sway of the Pharaoh, they were risking their lives and they still thirsted to reap benefits from the extravagance and dazzling life style of that system. The admiration for that materialist system was always there in their subconscious minds. No matter how much the Prophet Moses (pbuh) explained the true path to them, they were still not convinced because they were yearning for the Pharaoh's system. This made them impossible to convince, and they were continuously -in secret or explicitly- expressing their desire to return to their old lives.

Indeed, the Israelites' thoughts and admiration is not exclusive to them. With their example, God introduces us to a certain type of character that we need to know well. In every period of time, these characteristics are manifested in people who simply do not adopt the true faith in perfection. In the contemporary world, these characteristics are manifested as a particular attribute in hypocrites.

In fact, we can encounter people who can't let past lives go and long for them, even though they are together with Muslims afterward. And throughout history, every Muslim community has had these kinds of people. In fact, when they start living among the Muslims, these people start living beautiful lives incomparable to the way of living of those who have no faith. Because in their past lives, these people were living in a community with no fear of God, and they witnessed and experienced all kinds of evil, relationships based on self-interest and instances of insincerity, lies, hypocrisy, cruelty, and lack of love and respect. They can clearly see the immense discrepancy between these two lives. On one side, they can experience love, respect, good morals, friendship, trust and sincerity in the most splendid way; while on the other, they only encounter pain, distress, misery and cruelty. Despite this clear truth, the reason that these people feel veneration and longing for their past lives, their lifestyles before living as Muslims, is only because of their love towards the unbelievers in their hearts.

If they ever get the opportunity to live again with unbelievers, even though they know they will be unhappy, humiliated, considered worthless, and they will be exploited selfishly for others’ egoistic interests, they would still think that returning to that life of humiliation is better for them. They continuously dream about being back, living that life, thinking “how would my life be if I were together with those people, in such settings?" and make plans about it. They fool themselves with erroneous thoughts such as, "Maybe here Muslims are protecting and helping each other, but if I were living with unbelievers, they would protect me more, love me more and show respect and love for me."

However, this is obviously wrong, and in fact they too know this truth very well. Because the lives of those people who have no faith are full of relationships that are based on self-interest and egoistic desires. Therefore, in a community of unbelievers, no one would do something good for another unless profitable compensation was presented. If someone with no faith or fear of God is approaching another person, certainly he has an expectation and a subtle plan for a personal benefit in his mind. Either he is expecting financial compensation, or planning to exploit that one in a certain way for some purpose. Either this person has someone in his circle that he wishes to reach and contact, or he is planning to gain profits from his family. There is no other reason. In any case, if this person were approaching him with pure, well-meaning and thoughtful intentions, he would display this auspicious attitude toward every person he meets. He would take every beggar he sees on the streets and buy them food and clothes, for instance if he were to encounter an orphaned child, he would make available his every financial means for him. But it is obvious he carries out no such effort. This is the proof for the fact that this person only approaches others for personal benefit and profits.

These examples are enough for someone to see hypocrites for what they are. However, hypocrites ignore these facts due to their admiration for the unbelievers, and their longing for the life they had with them. And as a result of this, they are doomed to live loveless, unhappy and worrisome lives in degradation.

ADNAN OKTAR: Hypocrites tend to return to their old lives and old beliefs at the first opportunity they get. It is always in their mind, they can't get rid of it. Even after becoming a Muslim, they still want to go back to their old treacherous, adventurous, thievish, despicable, dishonest and disreputable ways. For example, as soon as the Prophet Moses (pbuh) leaves, those who follow the Prophet Moses (pbuh) out of Egypt immediately built a statue of a calf due to their desire to go back for the Pharaoh's culture. They wanted to get back to their old religion, the religion of Egypt. They said, "We miss the food, we miss that life, we miss that culture." However, they were tortured there with whips. They were continuously humiliated in Egypt. Pharaoh made them work in 50 degrees Celsius under the sun; it is still the same in Egypt. They gave them ropes to pull, oily ropes with a diameter of 10 cm. They were told to hold onto those ropes to pull 50-60 tons of rocks. They slid the rocks over oily wooden planks and carried them on their backs; if they failed to do it, they were whipped. They were paid a small amount in the evenings, when the work was over. With that money, they went to buy onions, garlic and various Egyptian foods with lettuce and they ate that Egyptian food and basically were humiliated due to how little they were paid. The Prophet Moses (pbuh) said, "Do you desire this despicable thing?" and asked, "Do you do all that just for this?"

Hypocrites are very debased and characterless. They can't forget their past lives, they go full circle and eventually still end up there. They always have their mind on the life of unbelievers, their past lives. In Egypt, calf statues are made by leaving some space in the front and in the back; in their mouths and at their back side. When the wind blows, these calf statues make a sound similar to a lowing sound. In strong winds of course, not normal ones. These statues are specifically made like that, just because they are wannabes. Hypocrites want that statue to experience that culture, that lifestyle. Calf statue, or bull statue, was a "symbol of wealth" back then. It was a sign of being rich and affluent. On the streets and squares there were a lot of bull statues. Because of that, unbelievers are really into those kind of things. The path that was leading to the palace of the Pharaoh were full of calf statues on each side. The Qur’an's longest verse is Surat al-Baqara. It means "bull, cow". And this is what it is talking about. (A9 TV, January 25th , 2016)

Hypocrites secretly communicate with their associates when they are among muslims

One of the reasons hypocrites want to remain among Muslims is that 'they seek to provide their friends among the unbelievers with support against Muslims by sharing with them the information they acquired from within'. They believe that by conveying all sorts of information they obtain from believers that is big or small, significant or insignificant, to the other hypocrites and blasphemers they are in contact with, they will gain a good reputation and prestige among them. They think that when they give these people the impression that 'they are prominent individuals who are in a strategic position and can provide intelligence', the unbelievers will feel admiration for them and present them substantial benefits in return. Thus, they strive hard to obtain vital information about Muslims and use them to their detriment.

However, hypocrites’ searching such information out of countenance of Muslims always hit the buffers since Muslims are living an honest, conscious, pure life with their fear of God. Believers are the ones who always endeavor for people’s salvation, who avoid any kind of sin or vile behavior, who even abstain from giving harm to an ant and who bring benevolence and abundance to each community they live in. Their beliefs, notions, actions and lives are all pure and sincere. Therefore, in this case the only thing that hypocrites can do is to fabricatescenarios based on slanders regarding Muslims. They try and make a mountain out of a molehill, transferring fabricated news to their irreligious friends.

In a verse of the Qur’an, God informs about how the hypocrites living among the Muslims 'carry information to the unbelievers':

If they had gone out among you, they would have added nothing to you but confusion. They would have scurried about amongst you seeking to cause conflict between you, and among you there are some who would have listened to them. God knows the wrongdoers. (Surat at-Tawba, 47)

In another verse of the Qur’an, by saying "…The satans secretly inspire their friends to dispute with you..." (Surat al-An'am, 121), God states that deriving personal interest is not the only reason the hypocrites provide information to the unbelievers. As emphasized in the verse with the expression "to dispute with you", what hypocrites aim to do by remaining among the Muslims is to 'contribute to the efforts and strength of the unbelievers, who constitute the army of satan in his struggle against God and religion 'by supporting them'. One of the major goals of the hypocrites is to prevent the moral values of Islam from spreading throughout the world by thwarting the beneficial activities of the Muslims. And they believe that the only power that is capable of achieving this is the unbelievers and their associates, who also act in a hypocritical manner. Thus, they deliberately spend time among Muslims, and during that time they maintain constant contact with the unbelievers and their hypocrite friends.

With the verse "The satans secretly inspire their friends to dispute with you..." (Surat al-An'am, 121), God points once more to the treachery of the hypocrites and informs the believers about the secret communications these duplicitous people have with unbelievers and other hypocrites.

This is one of the major reasons why the hypocrites, who harbor an intense hatred and grudge towards the Muslims, persistently try to stay among the Muslims. By supporting the unbelievers, and cooperating with the deep states and other shadow organizations in their fight against the Muslims, they intend to deal a devastating blow to Islam.

Hypocrites are like a magnet in their ability to seek out the hypocrites all around the world

Just as satan can easily get in touch with the people who share his moral values, in the same way, hypocrites can seek out and develop intimate relations with the hypocritical people just like themselves, without difficulty. Just like satan can immediately recognize his allies, the people with hypocritical personalities attract each other just like a magnet. As they all have the same evil personality and treacherous character, they do not have any difficulty identifying and recognizing each other.

In case this ploy of the hypocrites is thwarted and the other hypocrites, with whom they have become close hoping for personal gain, are ideologically overpowered; at that point, the hypocrites immediately begin to look for new lucrative hypocrite groups. Every time the Muslims pull them away from villainy and put them on the true path, instead of abandoning their hypocritical urges, they begin to seek out a new clan of hypocrites. Every time they are exposed, every time their schemes are defeated, altering their methods, they continue to maintain their hypocritical connections through other insidious tactics.

Thus, it is crucial to unmask the deceitful groups the hypocrites draw support from and wisely block all the ways satan might use to get in touch with them. Because hypocrites will always look for a new way; and if one way is blocked, they will search for another. However, if the ploys of satan are resolutely frustrated, as the morals of the Qur’an necessitate, hypocrites will be rendered powerless to keep up with their schemes. Hypocrites who are exposed and whose ruses are always spoiled have to make a choice at some point. They either accept living an honest life with Muslims by choosing faith or take up a position on the side of unbelievers because they tire from thefailure of their ruses and not reaching theirevil goals.

Hypocrites insidiously and ceaselessly venture against muslims

All their lives, hypocrites ceaselessly work against Muslims. Day and night, they sit and contemplate what evil deeds they will commit. From the moment they wake up until they fall asleep, they pursue their insincere, insidious and treacherous agendas. They try to the best of their abilities to covertly wear down the efforts of Muslims and cause disturbance among them. But as they are incapable of blatantly carrying out these plans until their heart's content, they do so using sneaky methods to the best of their abilities. Otherwise, hypocrites are 'cowardly and malicious' creatures. When they have the means or when they get even the smallest chance, they engage in all sorts of evil activities that might harm the Muslims. They can do absolutely anything that, in their feeble minds, will be to Muslims' detriment.

God informs us, in a verse of the Qur’an, that the main purpose of the hypocrites is to conduct activities to the detriment of the Muslims:

As for those who have set up a mosque, causing harm and strengthening unbelief, to create division between the believers, and in readiness for those who previously made war on God and His Messenger, they will swear, ‘We only desired the best.’ But God bears witness that they are truly liars. (Surat at-Tawba, 107)

God informs us in this verse that hypocrites act with the purpose of ‘causing harm and strengthening unbelief’. The form of the harm they cause varies according to the capabilities the hypocrites possess. If they are capable, they seek to do the most material and spiritual damage as possible. Even when they do not have the means to do so, they will still absolutely try to do something to the detriment of the Muslims, even if it is on a small scale. Sometimes by ‘lying, defaming, speaking in an aggressive, offensive, snobbish and arrogant tone, or through selfish or lazy behavior’, or sometimes by ‘occupying Muslims by taking up their time with idle activities, and trying to wear them out by depriving them of sleep’, they make an effort to cause disturbance and discomfort among Muslims.

And another one of the hypocrites' efforts to the detriment of the Muslims that God informs about later on in the verse is ‘strengthening unbelief’. Hypocrites wish to be able to ‘harm Islam, to weaken the Muslims, to make profanity, insincerity, and the moral values of the irreligious prevalent’ to the best of their ability. They participate in all ventures and activities that, they believe, will be effective in their fight against Islam. They gather information from the Muslims and convey them to the unbelievers to help the unbelievers become more powerful. They carry out covert activities to help the atheistic ideologies become more prevalent. In order to thwart the efforts of the Muslims to establish the reign of the moral values of the Qur’an over the world and doom them to failure, hypocrites set up all sorts of schemes and stratagems.

As explained in the verse, another common practice hypocrites have to harm Muslims "is to create a division between the believers". Driving a wedge between Muslims, ‘making them disagree with each other, preventing them from forming close friendships or good-natured relationships by smearing, telling lies or playing tricks’ is again one of the treacherous tricks hypocrites play on Muslims.

Another technique hypocrites tend to employ is to be "in readiness for those who previously made war on God and His Messenger." In order to harm Muslims, hypocrites tend to seek out and find those who fought against Muslims before, and contact them. For example, if there is a group of hypocrites somewhere, or a group of those who deny God are gathered somewhere and plotting against Muslims, hypocrites immediately contact them and try to provoke them even further against the believers.

There is no limit to such treacherous activities and methods hypocrites tend to employ against Muslims. Based on the conditions and available opportunities, they continuously find new sinister ways and develop them. Nevertheless, when approached, they speak untruthfully and say they are good-natured and innocent people with the words: "We only desired the best." They always try to introduce themselves as clever, honest and well-behaved people who want nothing but good. But in fact, they are only interested in evil deeds, and their words are nothing but lies. God revealed hypocrites' despicable character at the end of the verse by saying, "But God bears witness that they are truly liars."

In the Qur’an, God informs us: "God will not give the unbelievers any way against the believers." And because of this reason, in their alliance with unbelievers, whatever they do, hypocrites can never attain the success they desire, as revealed by God's verses in the Qur’an. In the following verse from the Qur’an, God reveals that Muslims will certainly be victorious in the end:

Our Word was given before to Our servants, the Messengers, that they would certainly be helped. It is Our army which will be victorious. (Surat as-Saffat, 171-173)