Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. Dear brothers, today we continue discussing the traits of hypocrisy, which we ask Allah to purify our hearts from. The trait of the day is changing loyalty based on the balance of power. Whoever has hypocrisy in their heart, their calculations are earthly and muddy...they look where the scales of power tip...if the scale of their allies tips, they deny them, turn their backs on them, and ally against them as if there was no affection between them. The hypocrite does not understand the meaning of loyalty to an ally, chivalry, nobility, generosity, and aid...and whoever arouses these meanings in him is like one who barks at what he cannot hear. He is always "with the standing one" as they say. Allah the Almighty says: ("Have you not seen those who are hypocrites? They say to their brothers who disbelieved from the People of the Scripture, 'If you are expelled, we will surely go forth with you, and we will not obey anyone against you ever, and if you are fought, we will surely aid you.'") (Al-Hashr-11) Huge, resounding promises from the hypocrites to their allies of support and assistance. Allah then says: ("And Allah testifies that they are liars. (11) If they are expelled, they will not go forth with them, and if they are fought, they will not aid them. And if they aid them, they will turn their backs and flee, and they will not aid them. (12)") So as soon as the glory of the disbelievers is gone, the meanness of the hypocrite and his vileness appear...then Allah the Almighty explains the reason and says: ("Because you are more feared in their hearts than Allah.") For when the hypocrite allied with the disbeliever, he did not remember Allah's command...and when he left this alliance, he did not leave it for Allah, but out of fear of the believers. He did not mention Allah in any case! ("That is because they are a people who do not understand (13).") - Whoever has hypocrisy in his heart leans with the wind wherever it leans, and he is always with the standing one as they say. Allah the Almighty describes this type: ("Those who wait for you. If a victory comes to you from Allah, they say, 'Were we not with you?' And if the disbelievers have a share, they say, 'Did we not gain possession of you, and did we not prevent you from the believers?'") meaning, did we not protect you from the believers, so reward us for that and bring us closer. It is as if the hypocrite carries his tray and turns while his saliva drips, searching for the winner to beg him to fill the tray with food... If you say to him, "Allah's pleasure," "Paradise," "zeal for the religion," he opens his mouth and looks at you with a look of one who understands nothing, then turns away from you saying: ("Will these things fill my tray?")! Allah the Almighty says: ("And among you are some who hold back, and if a disaster befalls you, they say, 'Allah has favored me that I was not with them among the witnesses.'") So the hypocrite considers his betrayal of the religion a blessing and a favor from Allah the Almighty! ("And if a favor comes to you from Allah, they say, as if there was no affection between you and him, 'Oh, I wish I had been with them, so that I could attain a great victory.'") He will regret at that time and wish he was with the believers. Does he regret because he sees Allah's victory for His believing servants and knows that glory is for Allah and His Messenger and the believers, so he despises what he is in of laziness and hypocrisy, and his soul longs to soar in the ranks of the heroes? No! His aspirations do not exceed his fingertips! ("Oh, I wish I had been with them, so that I could attain a great victory.") He wants the spoils...a few dirhams and fleeting goods. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: ("The example of the hypocrite is like a sheep that wanders between two flocks, grazing with this one sometimes and with that one sometimes, and it does not know which one it follows.") (Muslim). O Allah, purify our hearts from hypocrisy and grant us sincerity and the love of sacrifice in Your path. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.