The reason for specifying pure showing off (riya') in charity and Hajj, but not in prayer and fasting
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said, "This pure showing off rarely comes from a believer in the obligatory prayer and fasting." He said, "This occurs in visible deeds, such as Hajj and charity." So how did he exclude prayer and mention it along with fasting, when prayer is among the visible deeds, unlike fasting?
Answer:
Fasting and prayer are physical acts, whereas Hajj and charity are financial acts that are also physical. Hajj is a physical act and a financial act, and charity is a financial act. Showing off enters financial acts more than it enters physical acts, as you heard in the hadith about the one who gives charity so that it is said he is generous. It has been said that showing off enters financial acts more than physical acts because the benefit of physical acts is limited to their doer, whereas the benefit of wealth and spending extends to others, so showing off enters them more.
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said, "This pure showing off rarely comes from a believer in the obligatory prayer and fasting." He said, "This occurs in visible deeds, such as Hajj and charity." So how did he exclude prayer and mention it along with fasting, when prayer is among the visible deeds, unlike fasting?
Answer:
Fasting and prayer are physical acts, whereas Hajj and charity are financial acts that are also physical. Hajj is a physical act and a financial act, and charity is a financial act. Showing off enters financial acts more than it enters physical acts, as you heard in the hadith about the one who gives charity so that it is said he is generous. It has been said that showing off enters financial acts more than physical acts because the benefit of physical acts is limited to their doer, whereas the benefit of wealth and spending extends to others, so showing off enters them more.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين [39] — alfawzan.live (1:10:45)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
