SHAFAQNA – An evil characteristic which human being can suffer from is hypocrisy or double-dealing. Hypocrisy can be towards other people, for example a person who has a hypocritical friendship with others in public but is an enemy in secret. Sometimes the hypocrisy is towards the Creator, behaving hypocritically towards God the sake of exploiting other people.
It is narrated from Imam Jawad (AS) who said: “You do not be of those who pretend to be the friend of God, showing themselves to be religious and good person in public but an enemy of God in secret [1].” Meaning, do not be of those who in front of people, pretend to be very religious with good personality but act against the religion in secret, in fact disobeying God in secret is showing enmity towards the Supreme Being. This is the worst kind of human being.
Imam Jawad (AS) said: Do not be like those who behave hypocritically because they will face harder times than disbelievers on the Day of Judgment. Also in the holy verses of the Quran it is mentioned about the consequences of hypocrisy and hypocritical behaviour. Therefore, it is very important that a person does not pretend to be more than what he/she actually is from the point of view of religious matters, otherwise this may lead to hypocrisy (Nefaq)towards Allah (SWT) [2].
[1] Beharul Anwaar, Vol. 75, Page 365.
[2] Website of Ayatollah Sheikh Mojtaba Tehrani