Page 295 - The Profound Darkness of the Hypocrite

A D N A N O K TA R ( H A R U N Y A H Y A )

never arrive to a conclusion to say that a person is a hypocrite. Excluding a
person from the Muslim community by making such a decision and pushing
him toward irreligion would be "unlawful."
Why do Muslims communicate the message of Islam to the irreligious? To be
instrumental in helping unbelievers have faith. While Muslims patiently commu-
nicate the message of Islam to the irreligious, it would be contradictory and wrong
not to do the same thing for hypocrites. Just as Muslims make no discrimination
between atheists, the irreligious and those who are against the true Islam while
continuing to preach Islam, they therefore must explain Islam to the hypocrite. No
matter how abnormal, prickly, irritable and immoral the hypocrites may be, a
Muslim is responsible for being patient with him. The more patience he displays,
the more merits he earns.
Moreover no one other than God can know who is destined for heaven or hell.
Anyone assumed to be a "hypocrite" may repent and go to heaven while the one
making such an assumption may go to hell. The information regarding this only
rests in God's Sight. The Qur'an renders "despair" to be unlawful. In the Qur'an,
God decrees: "Do not despair of solace from God. No one despairs of solace
from God except for people who are disbelievers." (Surah Yusuf, 87) That is be-
cause God is Almighty; He has the might to do anything He wills. Therefore,
Muslims can never despair of one's guidance or his turning to the righteous path
after reforming himself.
This is why Muslims never ostracize hypocrites and leave them together
with the irreligious. Even if it lasts for a very long time, they patiently try to educate
hypocrites in line with the morality of the Qur'an. They persevere because hypocrites
can sometimes be healed. In some cases, however, in line with the verse, "If someone
shuts his eyes to the remembrance of the All-Merciful, We assign him to satan,
who becomes his bosom friend" (Surat az-Zukhruf, 36). Satan envelops hypocrites
and never leaves them. Yet in other cases, God removes satan's influence over the
hypocrites. Then that person is suddenly revived and comes to his senses as if
he had been dead.
This is similar to the case of a patient in coma, as the people around him
wait to pull the plug. Just as we can never lose hope for a person in coma, the
same holds true for hypocrites. It is unacceptable to unplug the patient and leave
him to die. Similarly, it would be wrong to "make a definitive decision" about hyp-
ocrites. Some patients never make it out of the coma. Some, on the other hand,
wake up after years and survive. For this reason, just like waiting for the patient to
come out of his coma, we need to show effort for hypocrites and patiently wait for
the possibility that they may be rightly guided and have sincere faith.

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