Arba'un 48 — four traits make a hypocrite

الأربعون 48 — أربع من كن فيه كان منافقاً

The hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) (may God be pleased with him) from the Prophet ﷺ: 'four traits — whoever has them all is a hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has a trait of hypocrisy until he gives it up: one who when he speaks lies, when he promises breaks his word, when he disputes behaves wickedly, and when he pledges betrays' — the sixth of Ibn Rajab's added hadiths, transmitted by al-Bukhari (34, 2459, 3178) and Muslim (58) through al-A'mash from Abdullah ibn Murra from Masruq from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, both also carrying Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him)'s report 'the hypocrite's sign is three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his word, and when entrusted he betrays', Muslim's routes adding 'though he fast and pray and claim to be a Muslim' and 'among the hypocrite's marks are three'; Ibn Rajab records that a group leaning to irja' carried the hadith onto the hypocrites of the Prophet's own time — who lied to him when he spoke to them, betrayed him when entrusted with his secret, and broke their promise to march with him — Muhammad al-Muharram narrating this interpretation from Ata' as told him by Jabir from the Prophet, with al-Hasan said to have retracted to Ata's view when it reached him; Ibn Rajab calls this a lie, al-Muharram being a known lying shaykh — al-Bukhari declared his hadith repudiated and Yahya ibn Ma'in called him nothing (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 901–913).

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«أربع من كن فيه كان منافقاً وإن كانت خصلة منهن فيه كانت فيه خصلة من النفاق حتى يدعها من إذا حدث كذب وإذا وعد أخلف وإذا خاصم فجر وإذا عاهد غدر»

A verbatim excerpt of the text, forty words at most; the full text is in the edition cited under sources

Summary

Hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As: "Four qualities make someone a hypocrite: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, when he disputes he is abusive, and when he makes a covenant he betrays it". It is the sixth of the hadiths Ibn Rajab added. He records a report attributing an interpretation to Ata, and rejects it as a lie. 1

Place in the museum

Source: Jami al-Ulum wal-Hikam. Mentions Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As and Abu Hurayra. Built on in the chapter on hypocrisy.

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Mentions
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As· Abu Hurayra
Basis for
Hypocrisy (nifaq)

People and things also explored

Muslim 58 — Four traits make a pure hypocrite· Muslim 59 — The hypocrite's three signs· Muslim 140 — Whoever is killed defending his property is a martyr· Muwatta 446· Iman (faith)· The Conquest of Khaybar· The capture of Thumama ibn Uthal al-Hanafi and his acceptance of Islam· Conquest of Egypt and Alexandria

Sources

  1. Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 48 — four traits make a hypocrite”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-48/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Muslim 58 — Four traits make a pure hypocrite