Explanation of the author's statement: He said: "Hidden shirk (associating partners with Allah) is when a man stands to pray and beautifies his prayer because he sees the gaze of a man." Narrated by Ahmad.

The Shaykh : He said: What is the grammatical parsing of "shirk"? It is the predicate of the omitted subject, estimated to be "it is shirk." "Hidden" means that which is not apparent, because hidden shirk, which is riya' (showing off), as indicated by the example at the end of the hadith, is not apparent. Does anyone know what is in the hearts of creation? It is impossible. Two men stand and pray before you; one is showing off to you, and the other is sincere to Allah the Exalted and Majestic. Do you know who the show-off is and who the sincere one is? So shirk is hidden. However, the state of the show-off may be known by indications. It is inevitable that one who keeps a secret in his heart will have Allah reveal it through slips of the tongue and expressions on his face. It must become apparent. But in the case of riya' (showing off), it is hidden because its place is the heart, and what is in the heart cannot be known except by Allah the Exalted and Majestic. This is also called by another name: shirk al-sirr (shirk of the secret) or shirk al-sarair (shirk of the inner secrets). This is what Allah the Exalted and Majestic clarified in His saying: Because the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection is not based on the outward appearances in this world. The outward appearances in this world have gone to their owners, the people of this world. But on the Day of Resurrection, the reckoning is based on the inner secrets. We ask Allah to rectify our outward appearances and our inner secrets.
The student: Amen.

The Shaykh : The truth is that knowledge on the Day of Resurrection is based on what is in the inner secrets. How many people have been exposed on the Day of Resurrection because it becomes clear to people that their affair is contrary to what appeared in this world, as in the hadith where .
The result is that this is hidden shirk, and it is called shirk al-sarair (shirk of the inner secrets) or al-sarirah (the inner secret), because no one knows it except Allah. And we understand from the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): that there is manifest shirk, and it is so. It is what is done by speech or by action. So shirk can be by speech, by action, or by the heart. What is in the heart we call hidden, and what is in speech and action we call manifest. So bending to other than Allah out of reverence, is that manifest or hidden?
The student: Manifest.

The Shaykh : By action or by speech? By action. And swearing by other than Allah, and saying "what Allah willed and you willed" and the like, this is manifest shirk by speech.
So the categories of shirk (associating partners with Allah) are now two, and one of them is divided into two: hidden and manifest. The manifest is by action, what else? And by speech, yes. He said: Then he clarified it, saying: And what does the woman do, hmm? Is it the same? Yes, it is the same. For this reason, we say that scholars call this: mafhum al-laqab (the implication of the title), meaning that the ruling may be attached to what is more noble, not with the intention of restriction, but to give an example, to give an example not with the intention of restriction. So here the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend restriction, because the ruling includes men and women.
His saying: makes it adornment, beautifies it, meaning: he settles down and raises his hands at the takbir (saying Allahu akbar), and makes his head level with his back in ruku' (bowing), and so on, it is well known.
Okay, the 'illah (operative cause)? Do you see this here as a source (masdar) or a relative pronoun (mawsul)?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : It has a problem. The truth is, if we make it a source (masdar), because "min" (from) might prevent it. If we said "for his seeing the gaze of a man upon him," does the whole thing make sense?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Okay, if we say it is a relative pronoun (mawsul): "for the one he sees from the gaze of a man upon him," so it is a relative pronoun from which the referent (al-'awwad) has been omitted, meaning "for the one he sees from the gaze of a man upon him." Look now, when he sees from the gaze, this is the showing off (mura'ah). He associated partners with Allah to be seen by this man, or he worshipped to be seen by this man. And the explanation here, "because he sees the gaze of a man," is it for the beautification or for the prayer itself?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : The man stands and prays and beautifies his prayer because he sees.