Harun Yahya – Secrets of the Hypocrites

Continuation of the book by Harun Yahya, The Secrets of the Hypocrites.

They Do Not Think

Not thinking is the best-known aspect of the Religion of the Ignorant. They have brought themselves to believe that by not pondering too deeply, they will be happy and remain mentally healthy. They imagine that thinking will actually harm them! Sometimes they are even unaware that there are certain things they should be thinking about.

One of these subjects they fail to consider is death. They are unaware that they are face to face with death at all times, and that Allah can take their souls whenever He so wishes. They deceive themselves into imagining that they will live for thousands of years and can make use freely of all the blessings of this world.

They also fail to consider the Day of Reckoning after death and the Hereafter. None of them thinks—or rather, doesn’t wish to think—about how he will be resurrected after death and held to account for what they did in this world. Most of them refuse even to admit the possibility of eternal life, Paradise and Hell.

They have literally programmed themselves not to think. This characteristic prevents their being thinking entities; they become unable to grasp even the simplest matters. Thinking people, on the other hand, will always seek after the truth. They will reflect on where they came from, and how the universe they inhabit and their own bodies came into existence, and of course, where they themselves are headed. Clinging tightly to the Qur’an, they thus attain the attributes of thinking human being.

Like deniers, however, hypocrites also bring down a “curtain of heedlessness” in front of their eyes by not thinking. Since they imagine that they will live more comfortably by not thinking they spend their lives in this world in emptiness. Since they are far removed from consideration, they cannot see the squalor and darkness in which they live and, most important of all, that they are deceiving only themselves.

They Do Not Use Their Intellect

Simply being human in appearance and possessing certain human attributes is insufficient proof that someone is really a wise entity. Wisdom is a very different concept; it emerges as the result of a number of features. Allah has revealed the secrets of wisdom in the Qur’an, and encourages people to become aware of them. Some of these conditions include unconditional submission to Allah, completely trusting in and surrendering to Him, seeking no other deity or helpmate than Him, feeling an awe filled with respect for Him, and never forgetting Him, not even for a moment. Only believers grasp all this and attain true wisdom.

Hypocrites, on the other hand, seek to imitate wisdom, although with this state of theirs, they exhibit a most facile and superficial attitude. No matter how much they may seek to imitate it, they can never show any real signs of it. Indeed, true wisdom is to be found only in believers.

All deniers—hypocrites included—are referred to in the Qur’an as “people who do not use their intellect”

Al-Hashr: 14

Another indication that they are unreasoning is the fact that they are closed to all warnings. They behave as if they have heard believers’ warnings about the imminence of death and the suffering of Hell, but still go on displaying the same wrong behavior. Recalling Allah awakens no reaction in their hearts, and they remain insensitive to the reminders issued to them. This is why Allah describes them in the Qur’an as follows:

Deaf, dumb, blind. They will not return.

Al-Baqara: 18

They Cannot Comprehend

By failing to think, as already mentioned, hypocrites have closed their consciences to understanding the truth and have literally placed a lock on their hearts. Allah, in turn, has bolted that lock. This matter is referred to in the Qur’an, in these terms:

Allah has sealed up their hearts and hearing, and over their eyes is a blindfold. They will have a terrible punishment.

Al-Baqara: 7

. . . Their hearts have been stamped so they do not understand.

At-Tawba: 87

One of the worst losses a human being can suffer is the loss of his reason and his ability to think. Hypocrites have lost all their reason and powers of comprehension in proportion to their own inauthenticity. Since they expend their energies in wickedness and rebellion, they are unable to comprehend even matters of closest concern to them. One of the best examples is their failure to grasp the imminence of death. It is evident that human beings are mortal and will one day die. Yet these people still busy themselves chasing after their own advantages in this world—clear evidence of their inability to think and comprehend. Allah introduces them thus in one of His verses:

… Allah has turned their hearts away because they are people who do not understand.

At-Tawba: 127

They Can Be Recognized by Their Faces and Their Words

Hypocrites make great efforts not to be recognized for what they are. In one verse, however, Allah addresses His Messenger as follows:

If We wished, We would show them to you and you would know them by their mark and know them by their ambivalent speech …

Muhammad: 30

Evidently, if Allah so chooses, hypocrites can be recognized by His messenger. The characteristics that chiefly give them away are their lack of a balanced soul, the absence of the brightness to be seen in the faces of believers, and how their speech lacks a believer’s awareness and consistency. Their faces are shrouded in darkness, as we are told in verses, and their words reflect the doubt and darkness in their hearts:

Those who oppose Allah and His messenger, such people will be among the most abased.

Al-Mujadala: 20

In the faces of believers there is a light, honest and serene expression, which represents an external manifestation of their trustworthiness. Yet the hypocrite’s face reflects the rejection and denial in his heart:

When Our signs are recited to them—clear signs—you can detect denial in the faces of those who disbelieve. . . .

Al-Hajj: 72

They are Unhappy

No matter how strongly hypocrites may hope to secure an advantage from the wickedness they perpetrate, actually they achieve nothing but trouble and sorrow. They have rejected the greatest opportunity to come their way, for which reason they have earned the wrath of Allah. Even if they expect to be happy after committing evil, unhappiness, limitations, troubles and disappointment will follow them throughout their lives and, more importantly, in the Hereafter. Allah reveals His punishment for their deeds:

Let them laugh little and weep much, in repayment for what they have earned.

At-Tawba: 82

No matter how proud hypocrites may be, no matter how much they regard themselves as superior to other people and in a better position, they actually live troubled lives, as revealed in the verse. This is a kind of punishment inflicted by Allah so that they may be recognized. Since they take no pleasure from the beauties of this world and have lost hope of the Hereafter, they are unable to know happiness and have a constant desire to weep. This may be a grief that is reflected externally from time to time, or else such negative emotions as trouble, dissatisfaction, self-pity and despair will dominate their souls.

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