The Shaykh’s clarification of the ruling on applying the terms of disbelief or hypocrisy to anyone who commits an act that appears to be a violation of the Shari'ah, which gives the impression of disbelief or hypocrisy.

The Shaykh : Here, I must mention a scholarly benefit that may be hidden from some people; if they learn it, their scholarly problems will be resolved. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said in an authentic hadith: Does this mean that the one who makes a promise and breaks it is a disbeliever, and is in the lowest depth of the Fire? As we mentioned earlier, this is the problem. The answer is: No. But how? How do we understand this, and how do we answer people when they find such a problem difficult? The solution to the problem is to remember another scholarly fact that is related to some aspects of the question the questioner raised, and there are many questions, each aspect of which requires a lecture. If we know that kufr (disbelief) has two types: doctrinal kufr and practical kufr, then we know that it is not permissible to apply the term kufr to everyone who contradicts the Shari'ah in a ruling or in a matter. Similarly, if we know that nifaq (hypocrisy) is like kufr, and that kufr is divided into doctrinal kufr and practical kufr, then nifaq is also divided into: doctrinal nifaq and practical nifaq. So, if a person’s nifaq is nifaq of the heart, his ruling is the ruling of the one who commits kufr of the heart; both are apostates from the religion, and both are in the Fire among those who will remain in it forever. As for the one whose kufr is practical kufr, or whose nifaq is practical nifaq, his testimony will save him on the Day of Resurrection: The essence of nifaq is that one displays the opposite of what one conceals. As for the nifaq and kufr whose owner is in the lowest depth of the Fire, what does he display? He displays Islam, but he conceals kufr. Practical nifaq is the exact opposite: he conceals Islam, he believes in Allah and His Messenger, he believes that breaking a promise is a sin, and betrayal, and so on, as mentioned in the hadith. He believes that this is not permissible in Islam, but his action is contrary to what is in his heart. The hypocrite’s action is contrary to what is in his heart, but there is a great difference between them. What is in the heart of the first one is kufr, while what is in the heart of this Muslim hypocrite is faith. But what is in the action of the first hypocrite, the disbeliever, is Islam, and what is in the action of the Muslim hypocrite is the action of a disbeliever. So, for example, he betrays, he does not fulfill a trust, he quarrels if he is provoked, and so on, up to all those characteristics. So, when we read this authentic hadith: we must keep in mind: the sign of the believing hypocrite, not the sign of the disbelieving hypocrite. The sign of the believing hypocrite: he is a believer in one aspect, but a hypocrite in another aspect. How is this? Because he displays that betrayal is not permissible, he believes that betrayal is not permissible, but he betrays. He does not fulfill a trust, and he believes that this is contrary to the Shari'ah, but he does not fulfill the trust. So, he is practically a hypocrite, not one of the heart. That one is practically a Muslim, but he is a disbeliever in his heart.