In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Musa Mosque
in al-Badi' presents
Musk of the Discourse
by Sheikh Usama Bahr,
may Allah preserve him.
Melting into the sweetest of feelings.
Faces and masks.
Hypocrisy has no colors or cosmetics,
yet hypocrisy has its paths and methods,
and all of that falls under the definition of hypocrisy.
There is also another type of hypocrisy,
which is the changing of faces.
You may find a person you consider a close friend,
while at the same time,
you find him to be a malicious enemy.
He comes to you with one face,
while behind your back, he has another.
It is as if his face has masks that he changes
according to the circumstances and occasions.
These are the two-faced people,
and they are the worst of creation.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"You will find the worst of people to be the two-faced one,
who comes to these with one face,
and to those with another."
Al-Qurtubi says:
The two-faced person is the worst of people
because his state is the state of a hypocrite,
as he is a flatterer through falsehood and lies,
a catalyst for corruption among people.
Al-Nawawi said:
He is the one who approaches every group with what pleases them,
showing them that he is one of them,
and opposed to their rivals.
His conduct is hypocrisy, pure lying, deception, and manipulation
regarding the secrets of both groups,
and it is a forbidden form of sycophancy.
In another hadith,
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, says:
"Indeed, the worst of people in status before Allah on the Day of Resurrection
is the one whom people avoid to escape his evil,"
meaning, to escape his indecency.
In this time, faces have appeared
that have various masks,
of all sizes and colors.
This is a group of people
who smile at you with one face,
while they have another face,
full of hatred and malice behind your back.
How often we encounter these people at work,
in forums, clubs, and public places.
They have harmed some with their malice,
and some of us have become unable to distinguish friend from foe,
or perhaps we even trust our enemy more than them,
because the enemy’s harm is manifest,
whereas the two-faced person’s
harm is hidden and concealed.
So be wary of these people,
for one of them may have a face before you,
and a honeyed tongue with you,
but he hides behind it
the hatred and animosity he conceals.
How well the poet said:
There is no good in the affection of a two-faced person,
whose tongue is sweet while his heart is ablaze.
He meets you swearing that he trusts you,
but when he turns away, he is a scorpion.
He gives you sweetness from the tip of his tongue,
and slips away from you as a fox slips away.
The Most Merciful draws near,
so that joy may embrace you.
Attach your soul
to your Lord and fill
the surroundings with light.
For whoever obeys the Almighty
melts into the sweetest of feelings.
Then darkness,
then light,
follows it.
If Allah wills a thing,
He says "Be," and it is,
the biting reality.