Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-86a

The reciter: In what he transmitted of the hadiths in " The Chapter on the Prohibition of Riya' (Showing Off)
From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

Almighty Allah says, 'I am the One Who is most free from want of partners. He who does a thing for the sake of someone else beside Me, I discard him and his polytheism..

قال الله تعالى أنا أغنى الشركاء عن الشرك، من عمل عملاً أشرك فيه معي غيري، تركته وشركهُ

Riyad as-Salihin 1616

Narrated by Muslim
And from him, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say

The first person to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who was martyred. He will be brought to Him, and He will make him aware of His blessings, and he will acknowledge them. He will say: What did you do? He will say: I fought for You until I was martyred. He will say: You lie. But you fought to be called brave, and that has been said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged on his face until he is thrown into the Fire. And a man who learned knowledge and taught it, and recited the Qur'an. He will be brought to Him, and He will make him aware of His blessings, and he will acknowledge them. He will say: What did you do? He will say: I learned knowledge and taught it, and I recited the Qur'an for You. He will say: You lie. But you learned to be called a scholar, and you recited the Qur'an to be called a reciter, and that has been said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged on his face until he is thrown into the Fire. And a man whom Allah enriched and gave him from the various types of wealth. He will be brought to Him, and He will make him aware of His blessings, and he will acknowledge them. He will say: What did you do? He will say: I did not leave any path by which You love to be spent in, except that I spent in it for You. He will say: You lie. But you did it to be called generous, and that has been said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged on his face and then thrown into the Fire.

إن أول الناس يُقضى يوم القيامة عليه رجلٌ استُشهد، فأُتي به، فعرَّفهُ نعمتهُ، فعرفها، قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال: قاتلتُ فيك حتى استشهدتُ، قال: كذبت، ولكنك قاتلت لأن يُقال جريءٌ، فقد قيل، ثم أُمرَ به، فسُحب على وجهه حتى ألقي في النار.
ورجلٌ تعلم العلم وعلَّمهُ، وقرأ القرآن، فَأُتِيَ به، فعرَّفَهُ نعمهُ فعرفها. قال: فما عملت فيها قال: تعلَّمتُ العلم وعلمتهُ، وقرأتُ فيك القرآن، قال: كذبت، ولكنك تعلمتَ ليقال: عالمٌ وقرأت القُرآن ليقال: قارئٌ، فقد قيل، ثم أُمر به، فسُحب على وجهه حتى أُلقيَ في النار
ورجلٌ وسَّع الله عليه، وأعطاهُ من أصناف المال، فَأُتيَ به فعرَّفَهُ نعمهُ، فعرفها. قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال: ما تركت من سبيلٍ تُحب أن ينفق فيها إلا أنفقتُ فيها لك. قال: كذبت، ولكنك فعلت ليقال: جوادٌ، فقد قيل، ثم أُمرَ به فسُحبَ على وجهه ثم أُلقيَ في النار

Narrated by Muslim "

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
When the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in Riyad al-Salihin the verses that indicate the prohibition of shirk (associating partners with Allah), including riya' (showing off), he mentioned the hadiths, among which is:
The hadith of Abu Hurayrah, who said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) say This hadith is called by the scholars a hadith qudsi, which is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) narrates from his Lord, saying: Allah the Exalted said such and such. Because the hadiths narrated from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are either attributed by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to Allah, in which case they are called hadith qudsi, or not attributed to Allah, in which case they are called prophetic hadiths.
In this hadith qudsi, Allah the Exalted says Partners: every partner is in need of the other, and every partner is in need of his partner's share and portion. No one yields his share to the other. For example, a house between two people, each of whom is in need of the other. If there is a defect in the house or it needs renovation, the other must say to his partner: "Give me my share so that we can renovate the house." And each person holds on to his share of this house. But Allah the Exalted is self-sufficient in everything, self-sufficient in the worlds. If a person does a deed for Allah and for other than Allah, Allah abandons it. If a person prays for Allah and for people, Allah does not accept his prayer. It is not said that He accepts half of it and abandons half, or accepts it partially. No, He does not accept it at all. If a person gives charity with which he shows off to people, it is not accepted from him, because Allah the Exalted is the most self-sufficient of partners with regard to shirk. If a person does a deed in which he associates with Allah anyone other than Him, Allah does not accept it from him.
And in this is evidence that if riya' (showing off) participates in the worship, it is not accepted. So if a person prays from the very beginning of his prayer while showing off to people, so that they say, "So-and-so, what Allah willed, is a worshipper who prays and prays a lot," then he has no share in his prayer, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic does not accept it, even if he perfects its bowing, prostration, standing, and sitting, and he does not move, and his eye is at the place of his prostration. It is not accepted. Why? Because he associated with Allah other than Him. He prays for Allah and for people. Allah is self-sufficient in your worship, Glorified and Exalted is He. It is not accepted. Likewise, a man gives charity, so he walks among the poor and gives to them, but he shows off to people so that they say, "So-and-so, by Allah, what Allah willed, is a good, generous, and noble man who gives charity." This is also not accepted from him, even if he spends all his wealth, because Allah says And so infer the rest. But if riya' (showing off) overtakes a person, meaning a sincere man begins the prayer, and then something of riya' enters his heart, then if he repels it, it does not harm him. Because Satan comes to a person in his worship, in which he is sincere, in order to corrupt it for him with riya'. This does not harm him, and it should not be a reason to stop what Satan throws at him of riya'. Rather, he must remain silent and continue in his worship. He does not say, "By Allah, I have riya' now, and I am afraid it will be invalidated." No, he continues. And when Satan is repelled, he retreats. From the worst of the whisperer, what is the retreating one? The one who retreats and turns his back when he sees determination. So you must be determined and not worry. This does not harm you. But if riya' overtakes him after he began the prayer sincerely for Allah, and then riya' overtakes him and he persists in it, and I seek refuge in Allah, then the entire prayer is invalidated from its beginning to its end. Because the prayer, if its end is invalidated, its beginning is invalidated. So beware, beware of riya', and beware, beware of abandoning worship out of fear of riya'. Because some people, Satan also comes to them and says, "Do not stand to pray, do not recite. You see this is riya'. You will not have tranquility and dignity. This is riya'." For what purpose? For what purpose? In order to prevent him from this righteous deed. So he must not give Satan a chance to do this. He should proceed to pray, and he should have tranquility and dignity, and this does not harm him. And when he fights Satan and does not heed him, in the end, Satan retreats. Satan retreats and withdraws. So a person is actually surrounded by two things.
One thing before embarking on worship, where Satan discourages him, saying, "Do not do this. It is riya'. You see people praising you."
And a second thing after he begins the worship, where Satan also comes to him. So he must repel Satan, seek refuge in Allah from him, proceed on his path, and not be concerned.
If someone asks: If a person finishes his worship and hears people praising him and he rejoices in this, does it harm him?
The answer is that it does not harm him, because the worship occurred in a sound state. And the fact that people praise him is from the immediate glad tidings of the believer, that he is a place of praise from people. But this is after he has completely finished the worship. He hears people praising him and says, "Praise be to Allah who made me a place of praise in good."
Likewise, if a person does the worship and, when he finishes it, he is pleased with it, do we say this pleasure is self-admiration that invalidates the deed? No, it does not harm him. Because self-admiration, if a person finishes the worship and admires himself and boasts to Allah with it and boasts to people with it, that is what invalidates his deed, and I seek refuge in Allah. But this person never had this in his mind. Rather, he praised Allah and rejoiced that Allah guided him to good. This does not harm him. And for this reason, it came in the hadith May Allah make us and you among them.
As for the second hadith of Abu Hurayrah, I fear lengthening the session, and we will speak about it, if Allah wills, tomorrow, by the power of Allah.