The difference between major hypocrisy and minor hypocrisy

Major hypocrisy
is the hypocrisy of one who conceals disbelief whilst making an outward
show of being a Muslim. Al-Jarjaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The hypocrite is the one who is a disbeliever in his heart but pays lip
service to faith outwardly. End quote. 

At-Ta‘reefaat,
p. 298 

The one who
pretends outwardly to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His
Messengers and the Last Day, whilst inwardly believing that which is
contrary to that or part of it, is the hypocrite in the sense of major
hypocrisy. 

These are the ones
who are referred to in the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): “Verily, the hypocrites will be in the
lowest depths (grade) of the Fire” [an-Nisa’ 4:145]. 

Some of the most
prominent of their characteristics are lying, treachery, deceit and
resorting to foul speech when disputing. 

With regard to
minor hypocrisy – which is also called hypocrisy of actions – this refers to
hypocrisy in deeds. That is when a person does righteous actions but they do
not truly represent what is in his heart, or he behaves differently in
private and in public, but that does not have to do with the fundamentals of
faith mentioned above. Such a person may fall into one of the branches of
hypocrisy of actions, or he may have some of the characteristics of the
hypocrites, such as lying, treachery and breaking promises. 

It was narrated
from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There are four
characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has
one of them has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it
up: when he is entrusted with something he betrays that trust, when he
speaks he lies, when he makes a covenant he breaks it, and when he disputes
he resorts to obscene speech.”

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (54) and Muslim (58). 

If any of those
who believe in Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah) has any of these
characteristics, he has fallen into minor hypocrisy to the extent to which
he has done such deeds or has that characteristic, because he resembles the
hypocrites in some of their actions, even if he is not exactly like them. 

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The word hypocrisy
refers to major hypocrisy which means concealing disbelief, or minor
hypocrisy which means behaving differently in private and in public with
regard to obligatory duties. … This is well known among the scholars and
this is how they interpreted the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), “The signs of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks
he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is entrusted with
something he betrays that trust.”  Narrated by at-Tirmidhi and others. More
than one of the early scholars said: A lesser form of kufr, a lesser form of
hypocrisy, a lesser form of shirk. 

Majmoo‘
al-Fataawa,
11/140 

Al-Haafiz Ibn
Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The interpretation
given by the respectable scholars is that hypocrisy in the linguistic sense
refers to a kind of treachery and betrayal, making an outward display of
goodness whilst inwardly concealing the opposite. In Islamic terms it may be
divided into two categories, the first of which is major hypocrisy, which is
when a person makes an outward show of believing in Allah, His Angels, His
Books, His Messengers and the Last Day, whilst inwardly concealing the
opposite of that in whole or in part. This is the kind of hypocrisy that
existed at the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him), and Qur’an was revealed condemning those hypocrites and
describing them as disbelievers, and stating that they would be in the
lowest level of Hell. The second type of hypocrisy is minor hypocrisy, which
is hypocrisy of deeds. That is when a person makes an outward show of being
righteous when inwardly he is the opposite of that. 

To sum up, minor
hypocrisy refers to behaving differently in private and in public, as was
stated by al-Hasan. Minor hypocrisy is a means that may lead to major
hypocrisy, just as sins are the harbinger of disbelief. Just as there is the
fear that the one who persists in sin may be deprived of faith at the time
of death, there is also the fear that the one who persists in one of the
characteristics of hypocrisy will be deprived of faith and will become a
pure hypocrite. Imam Ahmad was asked: What do you say about one who does not
fear hypocrisy for himself? He said: Who can be sure that he is safe from
hypocrisy? Al-Hasan used to call the one who did deeds of hypocrisy a
hypocrite, and something similar was narrated from Hudhayfah. End quote from
Jaami‘ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hukam, p. 430-434 

If a person has
any level of minor hypocrisy and dies in that state, he will not remain in
Hell for eternity. Rather the one who will remain in Hell for eternity is
the hypocrite in the sense of major hypocrisy. However, minor hypocrisy is a
means that may lead to major hypocrisy, as stated above. Hence the Sahaabah
and the early generations (may Allah be pleased with them) used to seek
refuge with Allah from it. 

Based on that, if
any Muslim has any of the characteristics of minor hypocrisy, he is not one
of those who will remain in Hell forever; rather he is subject to the will
of Allah, may He be exalted, in the Hereafter: if He wills, He will punish
him in Hell for his sin, then bring him forth from it because of his belief
in Tawheed, or if He wills, He will forgive him from the outset. His
situation is like that of sinners among the monotheists. As for the
hypocrite in the sense of major hypocrisy, he will abide forever in Hell –
we seek refuge with Allah from the Fire. 

And Allah knows
best.

For more
information please see the answers to questions no.
21249 and
145700.