Al-Hasan al-Basri (21-110 AH/642-728 CE) was an influential Muslim scholar and ascetic of the Tabi'een (the generation that succeeded the Sahabah). His view as to who was a Munafiq is somewhat different from what many Muslims today think of as the Munafiqun, replica watches those hypocrites who lived in Madinah during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh). Hasan believed that his type of Munafiqun was all around him:If all the Munafiqs were to go out of Basrah, the city would remain vacant.
On the other hand, his description of a Believer is excellent; may we all aspire to be Believers as Hasan described them. Ameen.
The Believer is a man who is the best of all men in regard to work, the most fearful of all men. He is a man of such a nature that the more he does good works, pious deeds, and acts of serving God, the greater the fear he feels within himself, and feels that he will not be saved. The Munafiq is a man who says, 'There are so many people around me (i.e., who are doing the same thing). I shall be forgiven. Nothing bad will happen to me.' Thus he goes on doing evil while indulging a hope that God (will forgive him).
(From Hilyah al-Awliya as quoted in Toshihiko Izutsu's book, The Concept of Belief in Islamic Theology, pp. 65-66.)
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