The Quran says:

إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُنَافِقُونَ قَالُوا نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ اللَّـهِ وَاللَّـهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُ وَاللَّـهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ

(63:1) – WHEN THE HYPOCRITES come unto thee, they say, 'We bear witness that thou art indeed God's Apostle! But God knows that thou art truly His Apostle; and He bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed false [in their declaration of faith].

When these Munafiqoon (hypocrites) come to the Prophet ﷺ, they swear that you are undoubtedly Allah's Messenger. Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger.

However, these people only say this verbally but do not really believe that you are a Messenger.

Therefore, they are liars. When someone’s words and mind are not in harmony then that person is lying, although what he may be saying is factually true. According to the Quran, when the heart and tongue are not in harmony, then what is spoken is a lie. This is also known as hypocrisy.

Conformation between tongue and heart

Why are these hypocrites are called liars, even though what they are saying is true? The Quran provides the answer:

بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ

(3:167) – uttering with their mouths something which was not in their hearts, Thus the hypocrites are liars. What they say is not what is in their hearts. Allah knows well what they conceal. They are uttering with their mouths which is not in their hearts. There is no harmony between appearance and reality in their hearts.

Applying this definition, we can say that a person is not liar who believes a wrong thing to be true within his heart and makes a statement that is wrong but there is conformation within his heart between appearance and reality. The thing he is saying is wrong but he is not a liar. No human being could have defined truth this way fourteen hundred years ago.

Moving on from human world to the world of Allah created sustenance that is required for nourishment and development of human beings, what do we find? Is anything pure these days; does anything tastes the same as these used to taste before? Not only hypocrisy has entered human hearts; but it has also made other things duplicitous compared to what they were before!

There is no conformation between appearance and reality anywhere anymore. Humans have changed the natural climate and even genetically modified the pure natural things.

The Quran has described (63:1) about the Hypocrites that O Messenger! what they are saying about you is true and Allah is the witness that you are indeed His Messenger – but these hypocrites are liars because there is no harmony between what is in their hearts and what comes out of their tongues! This is not just for the hypocrites of the time but this equally applies to the present societies. This is an eternal reality and universal principle that applies to all places and all times.

We make Islam as shield for our hypocrisy

So, hypocrisy has become part and parcel of the Sharia-based Islam and it has been normalized in society by religious authorities. Hypocrisy is no longer called as such but the proponents of Sharia sugarcoat it and present it as an ideology. They call this ideology Islamic. Where would people go if Islam has been made like this. When “Islam” teaches such things there is nowhere to go because Kufr has taken over society.

Such a society has been engulfed by falsehood: اللَّـهُ مُحِيطٌ بِالْكَافِرِينَ (2:19). And the Quran says with full force: إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ (63:1). And they are considered great “Islamic” scholars whereas the Quran says that they are the greatest barriers in the path of Islam.

The Quran says:
اتَّخَذُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ إِنَّهُمْ سَاءَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

(63:2) – They have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness], and thus they turn others away from the Path of God. Evil indeed is all that they are wont to do.

They have made their oaths a cover for their falsehood, so that they could stop people from the path of Allah in the name of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ. Whatever they are doing is indeed very harmful.

The self-crafted “Islam” is the greatest barrier in the path of Allah

This is what religious priesthood does:

فَصَدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ (63:2) –

It becomes a barrier in the path of Allah. They are drowned in hypocrisy. If someone wants to be honest; if one does not want to deceive anyone; and if one wants to follow the right path – then he is told what you think deception is not deception but it is Islam; this is according to Sharia; this is Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ – then won’t he start believing in such “Islam?”

May Allah protect us from this kind of “Islam”! So, they not only themselves follow the path of deception but they also deceive others and do not let others follow the path of Allah.

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا فَطُبِعَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ

(63:3) – this, because [they profess that] they have attained to faith, whereas [inwardly] they deny the truth - and so, a seal has been set on their hearts so that they can no longer understand what is true and what false is.

The psychological effect of this hypocritical attitude is the sealing of hearts, making it devoid of thinking or understanding anything!

As such it is all the same to them whether you warn them about their erroneous ways or not. They will never accept the truth (2:6; 36:10).

Religious priesthood has divided Islam into different sects and subsects whereas the Quran clearly declares that those who get divided into sects are Mushriks; and the Prophet ﷺ has nothing to do with them.

The Quran is very clear about it:

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّـهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا

And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Quran), and be not divided among yourselves.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّـهِ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ

As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with God. He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did. (6:159)

وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ ; مِنَ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ

And be not ye among Mushrikeen (those who join gods with God), - i.e., those who split up their Religion, and become Sects, - each party rejoicing in that which is with itself! (30:31-32)