The Reality of Sincerity and How to Cure Showing Off
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
With Allah’s blessing, we begin this session with a message received from Makkah al-Mukarramah. The questioner (S. A.) says: “Your Eminence! What is sincerity? And how does a servant attain sincerity for the sake of Allah? I, Your Eminence, see myself fearing showing off, as if something is blocking me and making showing off attractive to me. I have even left off some acts of obedience, and I find myself thinking about these things. What should I do? Please guide us. May Allah reward you with good.”
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
O questioner! May Allah guide me and you to all that is good, and protect us all from the whispers and suggestions of Shaytan.
Sincerity is intending the Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He) with one’s deeds. This is sincerity: that the Muslim intends the Face of Allah and the Hereafter with his deeds. This is the sincere one. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: [Al-Bayyinah: 5]. And He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Ghafir: 14].
The sincere one is the one who intends, in his deeds, the Face of Allah: in his prayer, in his fasting, in his charity, in his Hajj, and in other acts of worship, he intends the Face of Allah, seeking to draw near to Allah for no other reason, without showing off or seeking fame, and not for the sake of this world. Rather, he does what he does hoping for the reward of Allah and His bounty. This is sincerity.
As for showing off, where one does something in order to show off to people so that they will praise him, this is reprehensible and is a form of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: [An-Nisa: 142].
So showing off is reprehensible and is a form of shirk, and one must guard against it. If a person prays so that he will be praised, or gives charity so that he will be praised, or recites so that he will be praised, this is showing off, and it is not permissible. One must guard against it. It is obligatory for you to guard against these whispers, constantly, always. It is obligatory for you to make your deeds sincere for the sake of Allah, and for your intention to be the Face of Allah in your prayer, your recitation, your fasting, and other acts. You must strive against yourself in this, and seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan.
Whenever any of these whispers or thoughts of showing off occur to you, say: “I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan,” sincerely. And if you do this sincerely, Allah will suffice you against the evil of Shaytan and help you against him.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, Your Eminence the Shaykh.
With Allah’s blessing, we begin this session with a message received from Makkah al-Mukarramah. The questioner (S. A.) says: “Your Eminence! What is sincerity? And how does a servant attain sincerity for the sake of Allah? I, Your Eminence, see myself fearing showing off, as if something is blocking me and making showing off attractive to me. I have even left off some acts of obedience, and I find myself thinking about these things. What should I do? Please guide us. May Allah reward you with good.”
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
O questioner! May Allah guide me and you to all that is good, and protect us all from the whispers and suggestions of Shaytan.
Sincerity is intending the Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He) with one’s deeds. This is sincerity: that the Muslim intends the Face of Allah and the Hereafter with his deeds. This is the sincere one. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَSo invoke Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, although the disbelievers dislike it.
فَادْعُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَThe sincere one is the one who intends, in his deeds, the Face of Allah: in his prayer, in his fasting, in his charity, in his Hajj, and in other acts of worship, he intends the Face of Allah, seeking to draw near to Allah for no other reason, without showing off or seeking fame, and not for the sake of this world. Rather, he does what he does hoping for the reward of Allah and His bounty. This is sincerity.
As for showing off, where one does something in order to show off to people so that they will praise him, this is reprehensible and is a form of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:
Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allah except a little,
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَى يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًاSo showing off is reprehensible and is a form of shirk, and one must guard against it. If a person prays so that he will be praised, or gives charity so that he will be praised, or recites so that he will be praised, this is showing off, and it is not permissible. One must guard against it. It is obligatory for you to guard against these whispers, constantly, always. It is obligatory for you to make your deeds sincere for the sake of Allah, and for your intention to be the Face of Allah in your prayer, your recitation, your fasting, and other acts. You must strive against yourself in this, and seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan.
Whenever any of these whispers or thoughts of showing off occur to you, say: “I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan,” sincerely. And if you do this sincerely, Allah will suffice you against the evil of Shaytan and help you against him.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, Your Eminence the Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.