Hypocrites who rarely remember God and carefully avoid places where God is praised have another remarkable feature. They deplore and suffer torment from religious subjects while they astoundingly feel relieved as worldly matters are discussed. While anything that reminds them of God, the hereafter, being conscientious and following moral values of the Qur'an is a nuisance for them, matters that make them forget about all these vivify them. A verse in the Qur'an describes how hypocrites are relieved and refreshed while subjects other than God are mentioned; "When God is mentioned on His own, the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter shrink back shuddering, but when others apart from Him are mentioned, they jump for joy.' (Surat az-Zumar, 45)
Although hypocrites say they have faith in God with their tongue, they either have a very weak faith in the hereafter or they do not believe at all. The important thing for them is only the life of this world. Every detail of this life is very important for them. The world's leading countries, showy cities, people from those places, the most respected foreign languages, politicians, artists and writers of prominent countries and the ideas they support are all crucial for hypocrites. Even if they can't go to those places and don't know these people personally, inquiring about them makes them very excited because hypocrites see all of these as a part of their future. Indeed, what refreshes and revives them is the dream of being respected worldwide, reaching an eminent position, coming together with those whom they admire the most and being one of them. Therefore when such topics are of concern, they let their tongue run. Hypocrites, who cannot utter a few sentences when the subject is remembering God, and who aren't even grateful when they see a blessing or are saved from some trouble by the grace of God, start talking incessantly when it is a worldly matter which they consider as their future. Their joy and happiness come into their own instantly. They even talk about the most unnecessary details for hours.
Hypocrites are also very talented at keeping such worldly information in their minds and narrating them appealingly. In the Qur'an, God reported this ugly hypocritical feature:
Among the people there is someone whose words about the life of the world excite your admiration, and he calls God to witness what is in his heart, while he is in fact the most hostile of adversaries. (Surat al-Baqara, 204)
God reveals that their “words about the life of the world excite one’s admiration.” It means that hypocrites can talk on subjects related to worldly matters very fluently and appealingly.
On the other hand 'conversations on religion' don't excite their attention or delight them. They eagerly mention art, painting, sculpture, wealth, money, fashion, clothes, accessories, houses, cars, foods and drinks for hours. They babble about odd subjects such as a television show, a gossip on papers or who followed who on social media.
Hypocrites may use a manner which can attract people who don't have profound faith and do not evaluate things in line with moral values of Muslims. They can keep all detailed information about these subjects in their minds. They have a broad perspective on talking about useless and pointless matters. However, it is a hollow talent. It does no good for either themselves, or anyone else. Hypocrites' way of empty talk or speaking about nonsense may be described as 'babbling'. They don't use such information in an erudite way for an auspicious purpose. They only show a disturbing and repellent character who makes nonsensical talk when they are with aimless people who embrace a similar mindset.
On the other hand, when God is praised in a candid and sincere manner, hypocrites suffer a great torment. It is the most insufferable and agonizing subject for them. When there is a mention of God and religion, they go pale, despond and become unhappy. As it is stated in the Qur'an; "… they run from the Reminder like panicked donkeys fleeing from a lion'' (Surat al-Muddaththir, 49-51), when they hear the mention of God they 'they run away like panicked donkeys'.
With the verse in the Qur'an; "But there are some people who trade in distracting tales to misguide people from God's Way knowing nothing about it and to make a mockery of it. Such people will have a humiliating punishment." (Surah Luqman, 6), God reveals that hypocrites' aim with this 'empty and pointless' speech is 'constraining Muslims from living the moral values of the Qur'an'. Hypocrites want to prevent benevolent activities of Muslims with stealing their time and drawing them into empty conversations. At the same time, they aim at dissuading those who have meager faith or hypocritical characters and then distracting them from being a sincere believer.
However, God turns this evil effort of hypocrites into a mercy for Muslims. Muslims see the difference between those who praise God with profound love and those who avoid remembering God but liven up with empty and pointless talk. Thus, Muslims can recognize insincere hypocritical people among them and take precautions as they see who should be watched carefully.
