Admiration for good deeds and committing sins to dispel it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: If I do a lot of good deeds, I sometimes feel that I have become one of the righteous servants of Allah.
The Shaykh:
Based on your deeds, consider yourself among the least of people in worship. Do not think your deeds are many, and do not boast with them. Consider yourself always falling short, and you will never fulfill the right of Allah upon you, but Allah is the One who forgives, Glorified and Exalted is He. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: So if I am afflicted with this self-admiration, I intentionally commit sins so that this state will go away. Is this...
The Shaykh:
What?
The questioner:
He says: So if I am afflicted with this love.
The Shaykh:
The question is from the beginning.
The questioner:
He says: I do a lot of good deeds, so I feel in my heart that I have become one of the righteous servants of Allah, and self-admiration takes hold of me, so I commit sins to get rid of this feeling.
The Shaykh:
It is Shaytan who dictates this talk to you. Do not commit sins, and do not corrupt acts of obedience with disobedience. You say this so that you can be humble. No. You must increase in good deeds and in the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. As for sins, they increase you in evil and distance from Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Yes.
And this talk we heard, that if a person fears self-admiration in good deeds, he commits sins so that this self-admiration goes away, this is from the dictation of Shaytan. We have heard a lot of this. He says: Do not go pray with the congregation so that you do not fall into showing off.
And whoever leaves the congregational prayer and prays at home so that he does not fall into showing off, this is from the dictation of Shaytan. He tells him: Do not stand in the night prayer, for fear that you will be pleased with your deed, so he leaves the night prayer. He tells him: Do not seek knowledge, because you are not one who acts upon knowledge, and whoever becomes an argument against you, do not seek knowledge.
All of this is from the dictation of Shaytan. The Muslim relies upon Allah, relies upon Allah and does good deeds, and seeks refuge in Allah from trials and from evils, and Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, protects him. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: If I do a lot of good deeds, I sometimes feel that I have become one of the righteous servants of Allah.
The Shaykh:
Based on your deeds, consider yourself among the least of people in worship. Do not think your deeds are many, and do not boast with them. Consider yourself always falling short, and you will never fulfill the right of Allah upon you, but Allah is the One who forgives, Glorified and Exalted is He. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: So if I am afflicted with this self-admiration, I intentionally commit sins so that this state will go away. Is this...
The Shaykh:
What?
The questioner:
He says: So if I am afflicted with this love.
The Shaykh:
The question is from the beginning.
The questioner:
He says: I do a lot of good deeds, so I feel in my heart that I have become one of the righteous servants of Allah, and self-admiration takes hold of me, so I commit sins to get rid of this feeling.
The Shaykh:
It is Shaytan who dictates this talk to you. Do not commit sins, and do not corrupt acts of obedience with disobedience. You say this so that you can be humble. No. You must increase in good deeds and in the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. As for sins, they increase you in evil and distance from Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Yes.
And this talk we heard, that if a person fears self-admiration in good deeds, he commits sins so that this self-admiration goes away, this is from the dictation of Shaytan. We have heard a lot of this. He says: Do not go pray with the congregation so that you do not fall into showing off.
And whoever leaves the congregational prayer and prays at home so that he does not fall into showing off, this is from the dictation of Shaytan. He tells him: Do not stand in the night prayer, for fear that you will be pleased with your deed, so he leaves the night prayer. He tells him: Do not seek knowledge, because you are not one who acts upon knowledge, and whoever becomes an argument against you, do not seek knowledge.
All of this is from the dictation of Shaytan. The Muslim relies upon Allah, relies upon Allah and does good deeds, and seeks refuge in Allah from trials and from evils, and Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, protects him. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، بداية من قول المُصَنِّف : والمقصود : أن من علامات أمراض القلوب عدولها عن الأغذية النافعة — islamhouse.com (1:01:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.