وعن محمود بن لبيد رضى الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: إن اخوف ما اخاف عليكم الشرك الاصغر: الرياء .
It is narrated from Mahmood bin Lubeed رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said: “The thing I fear most for you is minor shirk, which is showing off.” (Ahmad has narrated this with a good chain of narration)
Source: اسناد حسن
The full hadith is as follows:
إن أخوف ما أخاف عليكم الشرك الأصغر، قالوا : يا رسول الله و ما الشرك الأصغر ؟ قال الرياء، ان الله تبارك وتعاليٰ يقول يوم تحازي العباد باعمالهم: اذهبوا إلى الذين كنتم تراءون فى الدنيا، فانظروا هل تجدون عندهم جزاء ؟!
“The thing I fear most for you is minor shirk.” The people asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is minor shirk? He said: “Showing off? On the Day when people will be recompensed for their deeds, Allah Almighty will say to them: Go to those people for whom you used to perform deeds to show off, and see if you get any reward from them?”
Al-Albani said: “These chains of narration are excellent; all narrators are trustworthy and narrators of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), except Mahmood bin Lubeed who is only a narrator in Muslim. Hafiz Ibn Hajar رحمه الله said: ‘He is a minor companion and most of his narrations are from the companions. I say: In the Musnad, many narrations from him are reported from the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم.’ End.
Vocabulary:
الرياء is the verbal noun of the form مفاعلۃ. راءي يراءي مراءاة ورياء as قاتل يقاتل مقاتلة وقتالا is hamzated on the letter ‘ain because it is derived from the verb روى. It is also correct to read it by replacing the hamza with a ya, i.e., ريا.
In the lexicon, it means to present oneself before others as something one is not in reality. Initially, it means to perform a good deed or avoid a sin with the intention of others besides Allah in mind, or to do an act for a worldly purpose so that people know about it or to make it known to them.
Benefits:
Allah Almighty has condemned showing off (riya) in many places in the Qur’an and has described it as a characteristic of hypocrites.
Thus He said:
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّـهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَىٰ يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّـهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
“The hypocrites try to deceive Allah, but He is the one who deceives them. When they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing off to people and not remembering Allah except a little.”
And He said:
فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
“So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord.”
Here, righteous deeds mean those deeds that are according to the Book and Sunnah, and not associating anyone in the worship of the Lord means not to perform acts of worship to Allah for the sake of showing off to creation, not to ruin one’s deeds by riya. And Allah Almighty said:
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ٭ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ ٭ الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاءُونَ
“So woe to those who pray, but are heedless of their prayer, those who show off.”
There are many severe warnings about riya in the hadith as well. The one who shows off is actually worshipping other than Allah. Abu Saeed Khudri رضي الله عنه narrated that I heard the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم say: Our Lord will reveal His shin, and every believing man and woman will prostrate to Him, except those who used to prostrate in this world for showing off and boasting (سمعه). When they try to prostrate, their backs will become stiff and they will not be able to prostrate.
➋ In the hadith, riya is called minor shirk, which shows the severity of riya. Allah Almighty said:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ
“Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him, but He forgives anything else of whoever He wills.”
We should do every deed solely for the pleasure of Allah and be content with the fact that our Lord, for whom we struggle, is watching us. We should have no hope of benefit or fear of loss from anyone else, and we should try to conceal our deeds as much as possible to avoid riya.
➌ There are several forms of riya:
The first is to perform a good deed solely to show off to people without any intention of reward from Allah. For example, praying only to show off as the hypocrites used to do, or giving charity only to avoid being called stingy. This is the worst form of riya and is actually worship of creation and shirk with Allah.
The second is when the main purpose is to show off to people and gain something from them, but at the same time there is also an intention of reward from Allah, or the intention to show off to both people and Allah equally. This worship is also not accepted by Allah because it involves associating others with Allah. The Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said that Allah Almighty says:
انا اغني الشركاء عن الشرك من عمل عملا اشرك فيه معي غيري تركته وشركه
“I am more self-sufficient than all partners in a share; whoever performs an action in which he makes others partners with me, I leave him and his share.”
This narration in Ibn Majah comes with these words:
قال الله عزوجل : انا اغني الشركاء عن الشرك فمن عمل لي عملا اشرك فيه غيري فانا منه بري وهو للذي اشرك
“I am more self-sufficient than all partners in a share, so whoever does an action for me in which he makes others partners, then I disassociate from him, and it is only for the one he made a partner.”
➍ Sometimes a person performs an action solely with the intention of reward from Allah Almighty, but does it openly so that others may also act upon it. This is permissible, and in fact, those who act by seeing it will also share in the reward, although doing it secretly is better because then there is no possibility of showing off. Allah Almighty has said:
إِن تُبْدُوا الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِيَ ۖ وَإِن تُخْفُوهَا وَتُؤْتُوهَا الْفُقَرَاءَ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ
“If you disclose your charity, it is good; but if you conceal it and give it to the poor, it is better for you.”
➎ Sometimes a person performs an action purely for Allah, but does it in front of a pious elder, such as a teacher, father, or a righteous person, so that they may be pleased and pray to Allah Almighty, and because Allah will also be pleased by their happiness. If there is no intention of reward from them or any worldly benefit, then this is not showing off, but the purpose of pleasing them is also that Allah Almighty becomes pleased. As Allah Almighty has said:
وَمِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَيَتَّخِذُ مَا يُنفِقُ قُرُبَاتٍ عِندَ اللَّـهِ وَصَلَوَاتِ الرَّسُولِ ۚ أَلَا إِنَّهَا قُرْبَةٌ لَّهُمْ ۚ سَيُدْخِلُهُمُ اللَّـهُ فِي رَحْمَتِهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Some of the Bedouins believe in Allah and the Last Day and consider what they spend as a means of nearness to Allah and to obtain the prayers of the Messenger. Indeed, it is a means of nearness for them. Allah will admit them to His mercy. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
Abu Musa Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) expressed his intention to recite the Qur’an beautifully for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not consider it showing off. The detail is that Abu Musa Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) had a very beautiful voice. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: “O Abu Musa, indeed you have been given one of the Psalms of the family of Dawud (David), meaning you have been given a beautiful and melodious voice like Dawud (peace be upon him), with which even mountains and birds glorify.”
In Sahih Muslim, it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him): “I wish you could have seen me last night when I was listening attentively to your recitation. Indeed, you have been given one of the Psalms of the family of Dawud.”
Abu Ya’la narrated from Sa’id ibn Abi Burda, who narrated from his father, who narrated from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) this hadith in more detail: The Prophet (peace be upon him) and Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) passed by Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was reciting the Qur’an in his house. They stood and listened attentively to his recitation, then left. The next morning, the Prophet (peace be upon him) met Abu Musa and said: “O Abu Musa, last night I passed by your place and Aisha was with me. You were reciting the Qur’an in your house, and we stood and listened to your recitation.” Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
اما اني يا رسول الله ! لو علمت لحبرت لك تحبيرا
“O Messenger of Allah! If I had known, I would have beautified the Qur’an for your sake.”
Ibn Sa’d narrated from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) with a chain meeting the conditions of Muslim that one night Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) was standing and praying. The wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) heard his voice. His voice was very sweet, so they stood and listened attentively. When morning came, they were told about it and said: “If I had known, I would have beautified it for them.”
Ruyani narrated the same hadith with the chain مالك بن مغول عن عبد الله بن بريدة عن ابيه like Sa’id ibn Abi Burda (the Abu Ya’la narration). It includes that Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
لو علمت ان رسول الله يستمع لقراءتي لحبرتها تحبيرا
“If I had known that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was listening to my recitation, I would have beautified it.”
The original of this narration is present with Ahmad.
➏ Sometimes a person feels more joyful in worship when doing good deeds together with others. He may think this is showing off. It is possible that sometimes his intention may become corrupt, but it will not always be so. The reality is that every believer’s heart desires goodness, but due to various worldly engagements, desires, and heedlessness, he cannot do good. When he sees others doing good, his enthusiasm is ignited, the veil of heedlessness is lifted, and doing good becomes easier.
When he is doing good solely for the reward from Allah Almighty, he cannot be called showing off. Being with the congregation and praying with the congregation has other benefits besides this, including that it maintains the spirit of competition in good deeds and prevents a person from becoming lazy. فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ
“So compete with one another in good deeds.”
➐ If a person acts purely for Allah, but Allah places love for him in the hearts of people and they praise him, this is Allah’s grace and mercy. If he feels happy about it, there is no harm. Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about a man who does good deeds for Allah and people praise him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
تلك عاجل بشري المومن “This is glad tidings that comes quickly to the believer.”
