The Punishment of Showing Off and How to Get Rid of It
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Question:
He says: I fear showing off (riya') greatly, and I ask: does the one who shows off remain in the Fire forever? And when I give charity or pray, I fear showing off greatly. So what do you advise me regarding this difficulty? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
You must beware of showing off (riya') and strive against your self, fear Allah, and work for Allah alone, and do not show off to people, neither in your charities nor in your prayers nor in anything else. Striving is necessary. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Kahf: 110].
So shirk (associating partners with Allah) nullifies the deed, and showing off (riya') nullifies the deed with which it is mixed. So whoever prays while showing off has no prayer, whoever recites while showing off has no recitation, whoever enjoining good and forbidding evil while showing off has no reward, and so on. Rather, he has a sin, but it is not like major shirk. It is minor shirk. It may cause him to enter the Fire and be punished according to its degree, then he will come out of the Fire if he was a monotheist. And he may have great good deeds that outweigh his scale, in which case he will be saved.
So the point is that the showing off (riya') that befalls a person while he believes in Allah and the Last Day does not make him a hypocrite; he is a believer. But showing off (riya') befalls him in some of his prayers or recitation. This is minor shirk, and it does not take him out of the circle of Islam; rather, he is a Muslim. He must strive against his self; he must strive to abandon this showing off (riya') until he is sincere to Allah in his deeds. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
He says: I fear showing off (riya') greatly, and I ask: does the one who shows off remain in the Fire forever? And when I give charity or pray, I fear showing off greatly. So what do you advise me regarding this difficulty? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
You must beware of showing off (riya') and strive against your self, fear Allah, and work for Allah alone, and do not show off to people, neither in your charities nor in your prayers nor in anything else. Striving is necessary. Allah the Exalted said:
So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."
فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُوا لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًاSo shirk (associating partners with Allah) nullifies the deed, and showing off (riya') nullifies the deed with which it is mixed. So whoever prays while showing off has no prayer, whoever recites while showing off has no recitation, whoever enjoining good and forbidding evil while showing off has no reward, and so on. Rather, he has a sin, but it is not like major shirk. It is minor shirk. It may cause him to enter the Fire and be punished according to its degree, then he will come out of the Fire if he was a monotheist. And he may have great good deeds that outweigh his scale, in which case he will be saved.
So the point is that the showing off (riya') that befalls a person while he believes in Allah and the Last Day does not make him a hypocrite; he is a believer. But showing off (riya') befalls him in some of his prayers or recitation. This is minor shirk, and it does not take him out of the circle of Islam; rather, he is a Muslim. He must strive against his self; he must strive to abandon this showing off (riya') until he is sincere to Allah in his deeds. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.