What is the cure for showing off, and does it diminish the reward of the deed?

The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the cure for the showing off (riya') that a person finds in himself? And does it diminish the reward of the deed in which he found it?

The Shaykh : Showing off (riya') means doing a deed for Allah so that people see it, meaning that a person worships so that people see him and praise him for his worship. There is no doubt that the one who shows off has done the deed for Allah and for other than Allah. He did it for Allah so that Allah the Exalted would see it and reward him for it, and he did it for people so that they would see it and reward him with praise. Thus, the deed is divided between Allah and people, and it becomes null and void, benefiting its doer not at all, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted, as narrated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding Him: .
Accordingly, every deed done with showing off (riya') is invalid. However, it should be known that this ruling applies to one who begins the worship as a show-off, being content with the showing off and intending it. As for one who begins the worship sincerely for Allah, and then showing off (riya') occurs to him afterwards, and he repels it as much as he can, turns away from it, and directs himself to sincerity for Allah, then this showing off does not harm him, because it is merely a thought that Satan has brought to his heart to corrupt his worship, and he is repelling it and not relying on it. This does not harm him. However, if showing off (riya') occurs during the worship, and he becomes content with it, submits to it, and considers the servants of Allah in his worship of Allah, does that invalidate the beginning of the worship, just as it invalidates the end which it accompanied? It is said regarding this that there is a distinction. If the worship is such that its end is built upon its beginning, meaning that the validity of its beginning is linked to the validity of its end, then it is invalidated by the shirk (associating partners with Allah) that occurred in it. And if the worship is such that the invalidity of its end does not invalidate its beginning, but rather some of it is distinct from some, then the invalidity of its end does not necessitate the invalidity of its beginning. An example of the first is prayer: a man enters prayer sincerely for Allah the Exalted, and during the prayer, showing off (riya') occurs to him. We say that your entire prayer is now invalidated, because it is not possible in prayer for the first rak'ah to be valid without the second, so the entire prayer becomes invalid. An example of the second is a man who intended to give one hundred riyals as charity, so he gave fifty of them sincerely for Allah. Then showing off (riya') occurred to him regarding the remaining fifty. We tell him that the first fifty was valid and brought you closer to Allah, but the remaining fifty was invalid and did not bring you closer to Allah the Exalted.
The summary is this: if showing off (riya') participates in the worship from its origin, then it is invalidated because it is not established with the presence of showing off. If showing off (riya') occurs during the worship, there are three cases. The first case is that the person repels it and does not rely on it; this does not affect the worship and does not harm him. The second case is that he relies on it, becomes content with it, and establishes it in his heart, while the worship is not such that its end is built upon its beginning; in this case, the corruption is in the end where the showing off occurred, while the beginning is valid. The third case is that it occurs during the worship, and the worship is such that its end is built upon its beginning; in that case, the whole thing is corrupted, because it is not possible to separate it into valid and corrupt parts. The examples were mentioned previously. Yes.
As for the cure for showing off (riya'), first, one must know that showing off (riya') is forbidden and shirk (associating partners with Allah), and no believer is pleased to associate partners with Allah the Exalted. Second, one must know that his deed is null and he has nothing from his deed except fatigue and hardship, and a rational person is not pleased to exhaust his body with work or destroy his wealth in a matter that does not benefit him. The third matter that necessitates the removal of showing off (riya') is to believe that the servants of Allah will not benefit him if they praise him for his worship, nor harm him if they say he is not a worshipper, for it is Allah the Exalted who benefits and harms. If people do not possess for you any benefit or harm, how do you consider them in what is the specific right of Allah, which is worship? Yes.