Beware of the Hypocrisy and Corruption of the Two-faced It was related by Abū Hurayrah (radhi Allaahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allāh (sallallaahu aaihi wa sallam) said, “Indeed the worst of the people are the two-faced, those who go to one group of people with one face and a different group with another.”[1] In his explanation of this narration, al-Hāfiz Ibn Hajr (rahimahullaah) says, “al-Qurtub stated, ‘Indeed the one who is two-faced is the worst of the people because he is similar to the hypocrite[2],using cajolery and lying to create fasād (corruption) between the people.’ Al-Nawawī said, ‘He is the one who goes to each group of people with that which will please them, so he gives them the impression that he is with them and against the other group, and his action is that of hypocrisy, lying, deceit and using trickery to uncover the secrets of each group; and it is from the prohibited sycophancy.’”[3] Also, in his book al-Zawājir, Al-Haythamī(rahimahullaah) considers the two-faced person from the people of major sin. He states, “The Two-hundred and Fifty-third Major Sin: the speech of the fork-tongued, i.e. the two-faced, who has no regard with Allāh.”[4] In another wording of the narration, ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir(radhi Allaahu anhu) related that the Messenger of Allāh (sallallaahu aaihi wa sallam) said, “Whoever had two-faces in the worldly life will have two tongues of fire on the Day of Resurrection.” [5] Azīm Ābadī(rahimahullaah) says: “Al-‘Alqamī stated: ‘This means that since he came to each group with different faces to cause corruption, he will be given two tongues of fire like the two tongues he had with each group in the worldly life.’”[6] Therefore, it is incumbent upon the believers to be wary of those who carry other people’s speech to them, “So and so said such and such about you,” only to turn around and take the second party’s speech back to the first. For how many close companions have been turned into enemies and much rancor has replaced love among us as a result of such machinations? And if these provocateurs truly understood what awaited them from punishment and humiliation, perhaps it would cause them to turn to All ā h in penitence and repair the bonds their whispers have destroyed. We ask Allāh (azzawajal), the Mighty and Majestic, to give us protection from the two-faced and to unite our hearts upon Islām and Sunnah. References: [1] Collected by al-Bukhārī in his al-Saheeh(no. 3232, 5719 and 6765) and Muslim in his al-Saheeh(no. 4566, 4693 and 4694) [2] Just as the hypocrite gives the outward appearance of Islām while harboring disblief and hatred in his heart, the two-faced person gives the outward appearance of love, fealty and reporation while harboring the desire to cause hatred and division in his heart. [3] Fath al-Bārī (10/475) [4] al-Zawājir(2/574-576) [5] Collected by Abū Dāwud in his Sunan(no. 4212). It has been authenticated by al-Albānī in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (no.992) [6] ‘Awn al-Ma’b ū d Sharḥ Sunan Abū Dāwud (13/150) By Abū al-Hasan Mālik Ādam al-Akhdar Dhul-Qadah 19, 1435/September 14, 2014
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 22:42:26 +0000