Hidden Shirk - Riyaa

Ibn Uthaymin

Ibn Uthaymin

Junior member
Linguistically ‘Riyaa’ comes from the root ‘ra’aa’, which means “to see, to behold, to view.” The derived word ‘riyaa’ means “eye-service, hypocrisy, dissimulation.” From the Sharee’ah point of view, it means “to perform acts which are pleasing to Allaah with the intention of pleasing other than Allaah.” Thus, righteous deeds done for worldly gain have been transformed into evil deeds unacceptable to Allaah. Riyaa’ is one of the most powerful of such factors and its subtleness, makes it among the most dangerous and difficult to diagnose. Its importance cannot be over-stressed, because the character, which Islam seeks to build, would be incomplete without a clear understanding of this subject. Furthermore, it is extremely important for the God-fearing to know the Factors that contribute Riyaa’ to one’s Islam. Scholars of Ahl us-Sunnah have turned to the Qur’aan, the Sunnah, and the statements of our Salaf, seeking information on this disease: What is it? What are its Dangers and what is the Cure?

Is essential to explain briefly, the importance of sincerity as the Hadeeth below confirms the necessity of an Intention free from Riyaa’.Umar ibn al-Khattaab narrated the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said:
“Actions are by intention, and every person will receive what he intended. So whoever intended to migrate for the sake of Allaah and His Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), then his migration will be for Allaah and His Messenger. And whoever intended to migrate for the sake of some worldly benefit or in order to marry a woman, then his migration will be for that which he migrated.”

{Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.1, p.47, no.51, Sahih Muslim, vol.3, p.1056, no.4692 and Sunan Abu Dawud, vol.2, pp.593-4, no.2195}

The Qur’aan also addresses the importance of having correct and sincere intentions.
Allaah says: “And you do not spend (of your wealth) except seeking the pleasure of Allaah”

{Soorah Baqarah (2): 272}

The early generations of Muslims realised the importance of sincere and correct intentions; an example being in a narration of Abdullah ibn Mas’ood “Speech by itself is worthless, unless it is followed by action. Speech and Action by themselves are worthless, unless they have the right intention. And Speech, action and the right intention are worthless unless they agree with the Sunnah.” Therefore, we see that there are a number of prerequisites for any deed to be accepted by Allaah. The first condition is that the deed is done for the sake of Allaah, and only for the sake of Allaah. The second condition is that the deed is encouraged by the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and is not an innovation (bid’ah: invented after the Prophet’s death.)



The Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) out of his love and concern for the Ummah (nation), feared this calamity more than any other. Aboo Sa’eed reported that Allaah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) came to us while we were discussing about Dajjaal and said:
“Should I inform you of that which I fear for you even more than the dangers of Dajjaal ? It is hidden Shirk: A person stands to pray, and he beautifies his prayer because he sees the people looking at him.”

{Sahih Sunan ibn Maajah, vol.2, p.410, no.3389.}



“So woe unto those who perform their prayers (hypocrites), who delay their prayer from its stated time, those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men), and refuse even the smallest kindness.”

{Soorah Al-Maun: (107): 4-7}



Performing righteous acts for human praise can also lead to being barred from entering paradise. Aboo Hurayrah quoted the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) as saying,
"Whoever gains any knowledge that should be learnt for the sake of Allaah, (with) the intention of (benefit in) this world will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of Judgement.”

{Sunan Abu-Dawud, vol.3, p.1039, no.3656 and Sunan ibn-Majah, vol.1, p.144, no.252.}
 
D

DanyalSAC

Junior Member
JazakAllah Khairyn -

After Maghrib our shaykh will give a short lecture and one day last week it was on this very topic.
 
W

weakslave

Junior Member
:jazaak:

Cautious, but not scared. Shaytaan is clever, if you become over worried about riyaa' then you may get scared out of doing good deeds in front of others. The key here is to remember, and to constantly remind yourself I am doing this only for Allaah's sake. If you do not find this to be true, then stop, think carefully about your actions and why you have spent the last 5 or 10 or 20 or 50 years worshiping Allaah: it is to enter paradise. And remind yourself that those watching their testimony is worthless in comparison to Allaah's. From then on you fill your heart with love for Allaah, fear of Allaah's punishment, and willingness to strive only for Him jalla sha'noh.

And one more hadith to add to the collection:

Abu Hurayrah, who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah say,
‘ Verily, the first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I fought for Your Cause till I was martyred.’ Allah will say: `You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur’an will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur’an for Your sake.’ Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur’an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him: `What did you do to express gratitude for it?’ The man will reply: `I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spend liberally for Your sake’. Allah will say to him: `You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so.’ Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.”
 
Ibn Uthaymin

Ibn Uthaymin

Junior member
@Weakslave

Jazakallhu khayr, You are absolutely right. That hadeeeth was elaborated and explained more by my Shaykh. It just shows good people will also enter the fire. May Allah save us.

Lastly....

Ibraaheem an-Nakha'i said: "When Shaytaan comes to you while you are in prayer and says: 'You are showing off,' make it longer."
 
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