Sharh Hadith "Ayat al-Munafiq Thalath..." - Dimna "Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Sharh Hadith "Ayat al-Munafiq Thalath..." (Explanation of the Hadith "The Signs of the Hypocrite Are Three...") is a short scholarly treatise by Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE) analyzing the legal and linguistic meanings of the prophetic traditions regarding the signs of hypocrisy.
Title and Manuscript
The author did not assign a title to the work; modern editors gave it its descriptive designation. It is preserved in a single holographic manuscript in the library of the Holy Mosque in Mecca (Maktabat al-Haram al-Makki al-Sharif) under manuscript number 4691, spanning three large-format pages. It was published as the twelfth treatise in the fifteenth volume of al-Muallimi's collected works, Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya al-Muallimi al-Yamani.
Content and Method
The treatise opens with a grammatical inquiry into the Arabic conditional particle idhā (إذا), noting that when stripped of a future-oriented sense and used for continuity—taking the place of kullamā (كلما)—it signifies recurrence and habitual repetition.
Applying this linguistic principle to the hadith: «آية المنافق ثلاث: إذا حدث كذب، وإذا وعد أخلف، وإذا اؤتمن خان» ("The signs of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when he is entrusted he betrays") and the related narration listing four traits, al-Muallimi argues that the traits indicate pure hypocrisy in the technical legal sense (nifāq shar'ī) only when these characteristics habitually dominate over their opposites. He harmonizes the report mentioning four traits with that mentioning three by establishing that the four ultimately resolve into the three primary qualities.
Al-Muallimi responds to several interpretive objections:
- He rejects the position that the term hypocrisy in the text refers merely to lexical hypocrisy (nifāq lughawī, an outward discrepancy with inward reality), asserting that the statements of the Lawgiver must be understood according to their technical religious terminology unless proven otherwise.
- He evaluates a narration transmitted through Muqatil from al-Hasan al-Basri concerning the apprehension of the companions regarding this hadith, noting that breaking a promise only constitutes a sign of hypocrisy when it involves treacherous violation of a covenant (ghadr bi-l-'ahd), and that religious duties such as prayer are part of the divine trust (amānah).
- In an appended remark, he addresses the potential objection involving the brothers of Joseph (Yusuf), observing that although dishonesty and betrayal occurred from them, these acts were neither habitual nor dominant traits.
Al-Muallimi summarizes his core conclusion: anyone in whom habitual lying in speech, breach of covenants, and betrayal of trusts predominate is a pure hypocrite, whereas the opposites of these characteristics constitute branches of faith.
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