The hypocrisy and reputation between the perspective of psychology and the perspective of religion
Hypocrisy: When a person shows himself differently than he is for people to see.
The difference between hypocrisy and reputation
Hypocrisy is working to see people, and reputation: working to hear them, the hypocrisy is related to the sense of sight, and reputation is related to the sense of hearing, and it includes concealing one’s work for God and then telling people about it.
Why does this topic talk about hypocrisy from a psychological perspective? Because if you investigate why a person does this, you will find that it is in order for someone to see him as doing good and what is its origin? Love social acceptance and avoid social rejection. So what are their definitions and why does a person do this? let's start...
Social acceptance
Enjoyable, rewarding, and in moderate amounts, it is associated with various indicators of well-being
Social rejection
It frustrates the basic need for positive, lasting relationships, which strikes at the heart of well-being. Thus, the human need for social connection can be a sweet blessing when others accept us and a bitter curse when others reject us.
There is reason to believe that most people share the same desire for social acceptance.
How do people respond to social rejection?
Because social rejection frustrates a basic human need, it is not surprising that it affects a variety of outcomes—emotional, cognitive, behavioral, biological, and neurological. In terms of emotional responses, social rejection tends to increase different types of negative emotions. Feelings of hurt are the primary emotional indicator of social rejection, but rejection also increases anxiety, anger, sadness, depression, and jealousy. Social rejection also lowers one's self-esteem, which is defined as temporary feelings of self-worth
A conclusion Fifteen years ago
There has been almost no social psychological research examining how social acceptance and rejection affect people. As shown in this review, an explosion in theory and research has filled this void. This work has demonstrated how social rejection affects a wide range of outcomes—emotional, cognitive, behavioral, biological, and neurological. He highlights how desirable and undesirable responses to social rejection often hinge on the prospect of acceptance or some other tempting benefit.
She examined the ways in which people's social acceptance and rejection deal with social rejection and how medications designed to reduce physical pain can reduce the pain of rejection. Individual factors that predispose people to respond harshly or weakly to social rejection have been identified, and as this research enters its second generation, it is important for researchers to consider the impact of social acceptance and rejection in the context of ongoing relationship- ships. To date, researchers have focused almost entirely on the social acceptance and rejection experienced by strangers, leaving open the question of whether these findings pertain to existing relationships. Examining the time course of responses to social acceptance and rejection is also important, as most research to date provides a snapshot of immediate responses and does not investigate how responses strengthen or wane over time. Thus, the social acceptance and rejection literature provides fertile ground for psychologists to unleash the ideas behind the need to belong—and how satisfying or thwarting this need gives insight into human nature.
So from the above we conclude that:
It is a type of self-defense. We like to belong to a group, and hypocrisy only appears in groups of believers because others do not care at all about seeing or hearing good about them, even if this is genuine in the soul, but its origin is to be accepted and not rejected among groups of believers, isn’t it? so, if he is rejected from among the group, he has one of two solutions: to reject socially and live in social isolation, which sometimes leads to suicide and serious mental illness, or to resort to other non-believing groups in order to be accepted into their midst and be able to live because no one likes to live alone, in the past. They said: “A paradise without people will not be trampled upon.”
Omar bin Al-Khattab (Commander of the Faithful), may God be pleased with him, says
Most beloved to us among you before we see you, whose his biography is good and If you speak then the most spoken of you, and If we test you then the most do good deeds of you.
The words of our Master Omar are wonderful. Does this mean that we should build a certain biography for ourselves, even if it is fake, in order to have a biography? Most of us go through life devoid of mention/a quiet, simple, wonderful life that satisfies us in life. Do we strive to be mentioned among the people in this case so that our social acceptance increases? Do we help an oppressed person and say we are the ones who helped us? Do we fight a sinner in society and say, “Here we are the ones who did this”? Is this hypocrisy? Is it a love of belonging to a group of believers who are not inactive in remembrance like us? The truth is, we do not flatter yourself and I flatter myself, for the reckoning is difficult - we ask God for safety - and the words of our master Omar do not urge us to do so because he has several filters that people go by (the first filter: the best in conduct - the second filter: the best in logic - the third filter: the best in action)
We come to the Holy Qur’an and its view of hypocrisy
Allah says
﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَلَا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ ﴾ [محمد: 33]
“O you who have believed, obey God and obey the Messenger, and do not nullify your deeds” [Muhammad: 33]
Invalidating the work: canceling it, that is, making it ineffective and without effect.
So imagine that you were a housewife and you made a cake that had a strong smell and of course it would taste wonderful after it had just come out of the oven and suppose that you poured any liquid on it and it became too soft and everyone refused to eat it. this is what happens to us, we used to show off with our actions or ask for our reputation to precede people’s view of us - of course we ask God forgiveness - God will not accept this cake, if so to speak, even if we give it to others in exchange for the face of God. the only luck we had was the fatigue of work and the effects.
Allah says
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن نَّاصِرِينَ (22
Those are those whose deeds are worthless in this world and the hereafter, and they will have no helpers. (22)
Hobat: Stomach pain from bloating due to eating too much, or from eating something that is not appropriate, and among them is the abdomen of an animal if it dies and rots, and its stomach becomes bloated, not with useful fat meat,rather, it is a failure in which there is no benefit, and the verse here does not talk about polytheism, but rather it talks about the infidels harming Muslims and the prophets, so the result of their actions was abortion, and its meaning is as mentioned above.
Allah says
فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا ﴾ [الكهف: 110
So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him work, righteous deeds, and does not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord with anyone.” (Al-Kahf: 110)
The statement is clear: Who among us worships God for 60 years or less or more and then does not like to see who has worshiped Him throughout these years? We all fear death, and many of us have legal violations in which we fear God, But there are always a few who love to meet God without temptation that makes them want to die, but rather love for God and only, so whoever truly wants that must do good deeds: See, it is not good deeds, but God - the Almighty treats your deeds with one of His own. If something is righteous, such as (prayer), all of your deeds are righteous, and at the same time, He does not associate anyone with God, and what is the meaning of small polytheism?
The polytheism:
Belief in multiple gods or assigning a counterpart to God that you fear as you fear God or respect His gaze as you respect God Almighty.
Now, what are the types of polytheism in brief?
There are two types of polytheism (lesser and greater)
Major polytheism
To worship another god, such as a human, animal, or idol, with God
Minor polytheism
1 - Swearing by someone other than God - Almighty - Abdullah bin Masoud - may God be pleased with him - used to say that it is better for me to swear by God falsely than to swear by someone else truthfully.
2 - Slaughtering for someone other than God.
3 - A vow (to do good) to someone other than God.
4 - Wearing a bracelet to ward off harm (illness) or bring benefit (husband).
5 - Hypocrisy or reputation
6- Wearing a rosary or a chain with blue beads for fear of envy.
7 - Doing deeds for people, or for oneself, with the intention of warding off harm or bringing benefit, is considered by some scholars to be major sins, and among them are those who do it as blasphemy.
And many others: The decisive factor in this matter is related to intention and knowledge. If you wear a bracelet because its color matches your clothes and nothing more, then there is nothing wrong with it, but if you wear it because it will not give you cancer, you associate with God someone who will benefit you or harm you, or you wear or place a rosary at the entrance of your house for decoration, and there is nothing wrong with it. However, if you place it for fear of envy, then Sharia law is full of what is appropriate for this matter.
On the authority of Mahmoud bin Labid, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: The thing I fear most for you is minor polytheism. They said: What is minor polytheism, O Messenger of God? He said: Hypocrisy. God Almighty will say to them on the Day of Resurrection: When people are rewarded for their deeds: go to those whom you used to show off to in this world and see whether you will find in them a reward.) Narrated by Imam Ahmad and the quality of its chain of transmission is Al-Mundhiri.
On the authority of Shaddad bin Aws, may God be pleased with him, he said: (At the time of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, we used to consider hypocrisy to be minor polytheism.) Narrated by Al-Hakim, authenticated by Al-Dhahabi, and agreed with him.
And he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: (Whoever hears, God will hear about him, and whoever sees himself, God will see about him.) Narrated by Al-Bukhari and the wording is his and Muslim.
The reasons for hypocrisy
And let it be known that hypocrisy has reasons: Ibn Qudamah said: (Know that the origin of hypocrisy is the love of prestige and status, and when it is separated, it goes back to three foundations: They are: loving the pleasure of praise, fleeing the pain of censure, and coveting what is in people’s hands.) End quote.
A supplication for seeking refuge from polytheism and hypocrisy
On the authority of Maqil bin Yasar, may God be pleased with him, he said: (I set out with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, to the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “O Abu Bakr, the polytheism among you is worse than the crawling of an ant, Abu Bakr said: Is polytheism except the one who creates another god with God? The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “By the One whose my soul in His hands, polytheism is more subtle than the crawling of an ant, Shall I not tell you something that, if you say it, will go away from you, little or much of it? He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: Say: O God, I seek refuge in You from associating partners with You while I know, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know.) Narrated by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, and authenticated by Al-Albani:
in conclusion
We hope that we will not be people who show off for fear of social rejection or greed for social acceptance, We make our deeds, especially the religious ones, rise to the highest place of acceptance of deeds. Amen.