"And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him).''(98:5)
"Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men.''(2:264)
"... and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.''(4:142)
Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "Almighty Allah says, `I am the One Who is most free from want of partners. He who does a thing for the sake of someone else beside Me, I discard him and his polytheism..'' [Muslim]
"He who does a thing for the sake of someone else beside Me'' here means to do something virtuous for mere show for worldly benefit, or to gain the reputation of being pious. "I discard him and his polytheism'' means that "I nullify his good deeds and deprive him of the reward.'' In this Hadith any virtue done for the sake of mere show has been likened to Shirk to make its viciousness and harm obvious.
However, this is Ash-Shirk Al-Asghar, and those who commit it will not be forbidden access to Jannah. They will, after the punishment in Hell, ultimately enter Jannah. Whereas, those who are guilty of Ash-Shirk Al-Akbar and sheer Shirk will abide in Hell forever.
Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said: I heard the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, "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.'' [Muslim]
No virtue will be accepted without Ikhlas (sincerity), no matter how great it may be. A pretender who does good deeds for mere show will be consigned to Hell rather than being rewarded with Jannah.
Jundub رضي الله عنه said: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "He who so acts to show off, Allah will disgrace him on the Day of Resurrection, and he who does good deeds so that people (may hold him in high esteem), Allah will expose his hidden evil intentions before the people on the Day of Resurrection.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "A person who acquires (religious) knowledge, which is (normally) acquired to gain the Pleasure of Allah, (for the sole reason) to secure worldly comforts will not even smell the fragrance of Jannah on the Day of Resurrection (i.e., will not enter Jannah).'' [Abu Dawud]
It is an act of great virtue to acquire religious knowledge provided it is attained for the Pleasure of Allah. If one acquires it for worldly gains, he will be in fact committing a grave sin for which he will not even smell the fragrance of Jannah, that is to say in the first instance because after suffering the punishment for it in Hell, he will be sent to Jannah when Allah will so desire it.
Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salih al-'Uthaymeen رحمه الله said,
"Concerning the ruling of worship when it is mixed with riyaa', then it is from three angles:
The first, that the basis is to be seen by people, like the one who stands to pray in order to be seen by people and not desiring the face of Allah. This is shirk and the worship is null and void.
The second, that he makes shirk in his worship in the latter part of the worship, so if the latter part of the worship is not built upon the first part, then the first part is correct in every circumstance and the latter part is null and void. For example, a man who has 100 riyals to give in charity, 50 riyals he gives with sincerity (to Allah), and he gives the remaining 50 in order to be seen. So the ruling of the first part is that it is correct, and the second part is null and void.
The third: as for when the latter part of worship is built upon the beginning part, then this has two conditions:
1) That the riyaa' is removed and one does not become at ease with it, rather, he rejects it. So indeed there is no effect upon him, due to the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, 'Indeed, Allaah has pardoned this nation concerning that which occurs to them as long as they don't act on it or speak it.' (al-Bukhari and Muslim)
An example of that: a man who stands to pray two rak'atayn, he senses riyaa' and prevents himself, indeed that does not harm him and does not affect his prayer at all.
2) That he becomes at ease with this riyaa' and does not prevent it, thus, it nullifies all of the worship because the latter part of it is built upon the beginning of it. An example of that is a man who stands to pray two rak'atayn sincerely for Allah, and in the second rak'ah riyaa' suddenly comes upon him due to him sensing that an individual is looking towards him, so he becomes at ease with that and desires it, so all of his prayer is nullified, due to part of it being built upon another part of it.
As for what occurs after the completion of the worship, indeed, it has no effect upon it except that it is in wrongdoing, like what is mentioned in the saying of Allah the Most High:
"O you who believe! Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men, and he does not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day. His likeness is the likeness of a smooth rock on which is a little dust; on it falls heavy rain which leaves it bare. They are not able to do anything with what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people."(2:264)
And it is not from riyaa' that a person is delighted with the people knowing about his worship, because this only occurs after the completion of the worship. And it is also not from riyaa' that a person is delighted with an action of obedience in himself, rather, that is evidence of faith. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: 'Whoever is pleased with his good deeds and saddened by his bad deeds is a believer.' (at-Tirmidhi) And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was asked concerning that and he said: 'That is advanced tidings for the believer.' (Muslim)"
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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