A Comparative Study of the Two Concepts of Infāq (Alms-Giving) and Nifāq (Hypocrisy) in the Holy Qur ān

The two concepts of nifāq (alms-giving) and infāq (hypocrisy) are common in their roots, which in themselves show their semantic relation. This relation is also true concerning the verses of the Qur’ān. The writer attempts to explain this relation through a comparative study of these two concepts.With a library-descriptive method and analysis of the data obtained this way, the present research has concluded that these two concepts have contradictory relation to one another; that is to say, hypocrisy prevents alms-giving and the latter can be effective in uprooting the former, as well. That is because such attributes as miserliness and seeking worldly gains in the hypocrite cause him to become attached to the world, make it hard for him to break away from the worldly possessions, and abstain from alms-giving. On the other hand, alms-giving would cause love of this world to diminish and result in the gradual destruction of hypocrisy in the person, since the hypocrite’s main characteristic is his attachment to the world and by destruction of this attachment, alms-giving can prevent hypocrisy.