A very good article i came across.


[size=14pt]Riyaa (showing off).[/size]

Riyaa' is when one intends to gain the people's pleasure [/b]when drawing close to Allah Tala. It is action of the heart and not the action of the tongue.

For example: One can draw closer to Allah Tala in worships ('Ibadaat) or many other things. So the one who prolongs his prostration [b]so that people can see him is showing off.

The one who writes an article so that people say he is a scholar is showing off.
The one who gives a lecture to impress the people is showing off.
The one who gives a khutbah so people say he is a good khateeb is showing off.
The one who wears rags so people say he is simple is showing off.
The one who grows a beard and wears jalbiyya so people say he is following sunah is showing off.
The one who walks with head down so people think he is pious is showing off.
The one who carries a small copy of the Quran and reads it in public to show people [/b]is showing off.

We live in a reality where there is no shame in showing off, rather the great majority of Muslims are naive and unaware of its reality and rules. The proof that we live in an age where there is no shame in riyaa` is the appearence of qalaamis al burood, which the prophet (saw) informed us about for example Al-Hakeem at-Tirmizi reported in an-Nawaadir about a hadith whose isnaad is sound, on the authority of Anas (ra) the prophet (saw) said:
", Then there will appear al-qalaanis ul-burood, and at that time there will be no shame of the showing off (riyaa')."

qalaamis al-burood means hood and outergarments.

Riyaa is not discovered by anyone except Allah Tala, even the one who is doing it at times is not aware of it unless he enjoys Khalis Ikhlaas.[b]Riyaa (showing off) is absolutly forbidden.

Ibn Majah and al-Bayhaqi reported wiht a hasan isnad on the authority of abu Saeed al-khudri that Prophet (saw) said when he saw them talking abt the Maseeha ad-dajjal, he said:
"shall I not inform you what i I fear of you more than the Maseeh ud-Dajjal? we said: Yes, Oh Messanger of Allah! he said: It is the hidden Shirk, which is when a man stands up for prayer, then beautifies his prayer for because of another man is looking (at him)."

in Another hadith the prophet (saw) said:
" A little showing off (riyaa') is shirk."

The Riyaa of shirk invalidates the action so by greater reasoning (Qayas Awla) an action should be invalidated if its purely showing off in techinal term Riyaa' Khalis as oppose to Ikhlaas Khalis as mentioned above.

Ahmed reported on the authority of Ubay b. Ka'ab with a hasan Isnad tha the prophet (saw) said:
"Give good tidings to this ummah of splendor, high ranks, victory and strengthening. Whoever of them worked the deeds of Akhirah for the sake of the dunya, he would not have any share/reward in the akhirah."

Riyaa` is shirk, Allah Tala will ignore the action done out of Riyaa' to the one who associates partners with Allah Tala (shirk), he Allah Tala on the day of judgement will ask the one who does Riyaa, ask for Riyaa from the Shareek (partner one associated with Allah) ie the one for whom the action was done to please other than Allah Tala.

[size=14pt]Trick of Shaytan with Riya to lessen our Ibadah
[/size]
In between our effort to avoid riya(show off) beware of the Devils whispers! For Example: In between the prayer the Shaytan will try to convince us to shorten the prayer, misguiding us with the reason of riya. Also when we are about to post a good article, the Shaytan will wishper 'Dont do it people might think you are a show off'. Do not leave an Ibadah inorder to avoid Riya, but instead do more of it, just be sincere and keep in mind that we do it ONLY to please Allah ta'ala.
So we have to be careful of both things:
1. Avoid riya(show off)
2. Do not avoid doing good deed for the fear of Riya.

Riya is a double edged sword indeed.

There is a technique ,which i have heard from an imam, to avoid both of it in one go. Whenever you are in situation when you have to do Ibadat(like salath or giving zakat) while there are people around you, just go ahead and do it while considering that you are surrounded by camels instead of people. In that way we can avoid Riya(showing off) and also will we be saved from decreasing the good deeds in the fear of showing off. The trick is not to care about what others think about your Imaan or good deeds. All that matters is what Allah (swt) thinks of us.


Ya Ar-ha-mar-Raahemeen
We intent to do Ibadah only to please you,
Save us from the trouble of Riya.
Ameen.

Dua against riya.


'AbAbu 'Ali, a man from Banu Kaalil, said, "Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari addressed us and said, "O people! Fear this shirk as it is more hidden than a crawling ant." 'Abdullah ibn Hazm and Qays bin al-Madaarib both stood and said, "By Allah! You should clarify what you have said, otherwise we shall bring 'Umar with authority on our behalf or without it". He then said, "Rather I will explain to you what I said. Allaah's Messenger (saw) addressed us one day and said, "O People! Fear this shirk as it is more hidden than a crawling ant." Then someone whom Allaah had willed to speak said: "And how shall we save ourselves from it when it is more hidden than a crawling ant, O Messenger of Allaah?".

He said, "Say "Allahumma inni a`udhu bika an ushrika bika wa ana a`lamu wa astaghfiruka lima la a`lamu"
[O Allah I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating partners with You, and I seek Your forgiveness for that which I do not know].



Ameen.

Wa alaikumusalaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.

Also May Allah bless the ones who originally wrote this article. I just copy pasted most of it.

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 [/b]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: `[b]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]

Best way to avoid Riya (showing off): Ikhlas (sincere devotion)


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.
[Quran: 2.264]

Subahanallah! How clearly and beautifully it is mentioned in the Quran 'His likeness is the likeness of a smooth rock on which is a little dust; on it falls heavy rain which leaves it bare. ' People who give Sadaqa to get appreciation are superficial.



According to a report from Idris al-Khawlani (ra), Allah's Messenger (saw) once said:
For every truth [haqq] there is a real meaning [haqiqa] to be experienced,
and a servant [of the Lord] will not experience the real meaning of sincere devotion [ikhlas],
until he no longer likes to be praised for any work he performs for the sake of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He).

Salam,

Exactly! Only a few of us escape this, wallahi. May Allah, the Exalted, give us the strength to resist Shaytaan temptation on that, amin.

Nice OP brother. Allah reward you, amin.

Ameen,
Wa alaikumusalaam warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.

May Allah also reward the persons who wrote the original article. Ameen.

Azharuddin,you are doing a good job here.
Salam.

Wa alaikumussalaam,
Lots of ppl posting good articles in this forum, i got inspired by them. May Allah increase our knowledge. Ameen.
Allah knows best.

It is reported from Ibn al-Mubaarak that he said: I heard Ja'far bin Hayyaan say:
"The foundations of these actions are the intentions. Indeed a man reaches with his intentions a position he does not reach with his actions."

Very good article. thanks for sharing bro.

mukina2:

Very good article. thanks for sharing bro.

: )
I hope we all can put this into practice. InshAllah.

Few opinions with regard to the meaning of sincere devotion [ikhlas].
For instance, it was[i] al-Hasan [al-Basri][/i] (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) who said:

"I asked Hudhaifa (Ra): 'What is meant by sincere devotion [ikhlas]?'
He replied: 'I once asked the Prophet (Saw): "What is meant by sincere devotion [ikhlas]?"
He(Prophet Saw) replied :" 'I once asked Gabriel (As): "What is meant by sincere devotion [ikhlas]?"
He(Gabriel) replied: "I once asked the Lord of Might and Glory [Rabb al-'Izza] (Majestic and Exalted is He): 'What is meant by sincere devotion [ikhlas]?'
So Allah told me : 'It is a secret, a part of My secret knowledge [sirr min Sirri], which[b] I entrust[/b] to the heart of anyone I love among My servants.'

It was Sa'id ibn Jubair [ibn Hisham al-Asadi] (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) who said:
"The meaning of sincere devotion [ikhlas] is that the servant [of the Lord] devotes his religion sincerely to Allah,
that he puts it into practice for the sake of Allah (Exalted is He), that he attributes no partner to Him in his religion, and
that he does not seek to impress anyone with his religious practice."

It was Yahya ibn Mu'adh [ar-Razi] (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) who said:
"Sincere devotion [ikhlas] means keeping one's religious practice uncontaminated by imperfections,
as in the process of milking a ruminant, when the milk must be preserved from contamination by the animal's droppings and blood."

Ruwaim (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) once said:

"Sincere devotion [ikhlas] means removing one's admiring gaze from the[b] action[/b] performed."

It was al-Fudail [ibn 'Iyad at-Talaqani] (rahimahullah) who said:

"To neglect one's religious practice[b] for the sake of other people[/b] is a form of hypocrisy [riya'].
To perform [/b]one's religious practice[b] for the sake of other peopl[/b]e is a form of [b]polytheistic idolatry [shirk].
As for sincere devotion [ikhlas],
it is being afraid that Allah might chastise you for either of these two offenses."

Nice. keep posting them

mukina2:

Nice. keep posting them

InshAllah sister.

azharuddin:

It was Abu Bakr ad-Daqqaq (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him) who said:
"The shortcoming [/b]of everyone who tries to be sincere [mukhlis] in his sincere devotion, [b]is the tendency to admire his sincere devotion [ikhlas].
If Allah (Exalted is He) wishes to purify his sincere devotion [an yukhallisa ikhlasa-hu], He will therefore rid [/b]his sincerity of that [b]tendency to admire his sincere devotion, so he will then be a mukhallas [one who has been made sincere through purification], rather than a mukhlis [one who [b]tries [/b]to be sincere]."