Assalam Aleikum wa Rahmatu Allah wa barakatuhu.
Today I am going to cover a very important subject which bothers many of us.
And that is Al Reya’a (Showing Off)
What is Al Reya’a:
It is doing good for the people to praise you or increasing your good deeds so you can become famous among the people and they say so and so memoried the Quran, or prays a lot, or have a high knowledge in the matters of the religion.
Some people show certain characteristics in front of certain people, example: Showing that they are pious in front of their manager so they would trust them or show that they are religious in front of their clients so that they would buy more from them….etc.
The person who does this is not doing his good deeds for the sake of Allah but seeking the praise from the people, this is what we call Reya’a (Show off)
What will I lose if I fall into Reya’a?
The first thing, I would lose is the good deeds which I did….they will be simply gone like I did not do any!!….On the Day of Judgment when Allah SWT rewards the people who did good he will tell the people who fell into Reya’a: Go to those you were showing off to in dunia and see if they will reward you!!
That is why Ibn Al Jawzi said; if you are not sincere then don’t bother yourself and work hard without any reward!!
Why bother yourself and read the Qura’an or pray at night or fast to show off and in the end you get nothing, you are better off relaxing because in both cases you are earning zero reward.
The big misfortune about Reya’a is that the person who does it works so hard and in the end they will be punished! While if this person was sincere to Allah in their deed, Allah will accept their deed, they will enjoy the feeling of a good deed in this dunia, will be rewarded for it on the Day of Judgment and will enter Jannah in shaa Allah. Can you see the difference?
What is even more ironic that this person who is showing off will lose even the people he was showing off for!!
How?
The Prophet PBUH said:
Whoever sought the pleasure of Allah though it was displeasing to the people then Allah becomes pleased with him, and will make the people please with him, and whoever sought the pleasure of the people though it was displeasing to Allah then Allah becomes displeased with him and will make the people displeased with him
(Ibn Hibban/ Tirmidhi)
Losing the people is not the worst thing this person will go through but it is losing Allah SWT which will cost him a lot…..Allah SWT is Rich and he is in no need for any of us.
Allah says in the hadith Al Qudsi: “I am The Wealthiest, and in no need of associates at all, thus whoever perform deeds by which he associated anything to Me, I will certainly abandon him with his shirk.” (Narrated Muslim in hadith no. 46)
Imagine if the angels came down and said so and so is a Mura’ai (showing off) and he was doing all those deeds not for the sake of Allah but to show off in front of you!!!....What will happen?
We will all look down on that person and despise them……………There is a question which shook me when I heard it and I would like you to address it to every Mura’ai…..
Why would you work so hard for someone if they knew that you did what you did for them, they would look down on you and despise you?? And you leave the Ikhlaas (sincerity) to the creator whom if he knew you are working hard for the sake of him, he would love you and reward you?
My dear sister and brother Al Reya’a is a severe disease that needs to be cured very fast before it kills the heart.
How can the patient of Reya’a be cured?
The patient must contemplate and think daily about the following:
1. You must know, when people praise you, they did not actually praise you as a person but they praised the Sitr (covering) of Allah upon you. If this sitr or cover was removed from us, it would be impossible for anyone one to praise us. Imagine if those who are praising me now could see a small screen behind me with all my sins scrolling down a sin after the other…..do you think they will continue to praise me?
The answer: of course not….so this means that all this time they have been praising the cover which Allah SWT put on me…..so in reality they are praising the sitr of Allah SWT.
2. The second dose which the patient must take is to know when the people praise them, they are actually praising Allah SWT….I know they said you are pious and you are very generous but despite all that, they did not really praise you, they praised Allah SWT…..How?!!
Ask yourself: Who gave you all these blessings?
The answer in Surat Al Nahl aya 53 (And whatever you have of favor - it is from Allah .)
So how can you show off with something which doesn’t belong to you??!
Let’s imagine you had guests in your house and your neighbor brought you a nice dish and you served it to your guests…….Your guests loved it and started praising you….if you are honest you will simply say: I didn’t make it, it is a gift from my neighbor but if you accept the praise and act like it is you who made the dish then that would be terrible.
A very important question: What is the reason that makes us love to be praised by people?
It is because our hearts are so concerned and attached to the people and we give them so much importance and attention which should be given to Allah SWT instead.
If a sincere person stopped expecting and looking for the praising of others, nothing will affect them whether those people praised or dispraised them.
Let’s say you go to work and you hear that the cleaner dispraised you or said something bad about you, you wouldn’t bother but if you heard you manager dispraised you, that is when you start worrying….why?
Because your desire to please the manager is greater than your desire to please the cleaner and it is incomparable
Fight the Reya’a and don’t let it control you….you are a slave of Allah SWT…..you are not worshiping people and you are not working for them….this is a type of Shirk!!
So many people don’t think they could fall into shirk while they are actually falling into it every day…….and that is Reya’a
The Prophet PBUH named it Al Shirk Al Khafi (The hidden shirk) because it is hidden from so many people and this was the most thing that our Beloved Prophet PBUH was fearing for us. Shirk is the most sin which Allah SWT hates.
Watch out!!
If you stay away from Reya’a the Shaytaan will change his plans against you and will follow a different route. He knows if he tells you to do Reya’a you won’t follow him, instead he would start to make you suspect that you are doing Reya’a by telling you: You are not sincere…..you are doing Reya’a…..etc.
How can I deal with him?
You can deal with him by answering these three questions?
1. When you decide to do any form of worship or good deed, who is the one who decides whether to be sincere or to show off, you or the shaytaan?
The answer will be: Of course Me.
Correct answer
2. The one who comes and whispers in your ears and tells you, you are doing Reya’a and is spoiling your concentration during your worship, is it an angel or shaytaan?
The answer: For sure it is a shaytaan
Good
3. Will Allah SWT hold you accountable for the decision of the Ibadah (worship) or for the whispering of the Shaytaan?
The answer: Of course he will hold me accountable for the decision of the ibadah
If this is the case, why do you fear something which Allah will not hold you accountable for?
let him whisper until he burns…why should you bother?
There is no Reya’a by force……if you want to do Reya’a you will do and if you don’t you won’t, as simple as that.
You know what is the proof that you are not a Mura’ai (showing off)?
That it is bothering you and you are worried to fall into it. That is enough proof that you are not a Mura’ai. So don’t bother about the Shaytaan because if you do, he will grow so big in your heart…let him say whatever he wants to say and you continue doing what you are doing for the sake of Allah.
May Allah accept our deeds sincerely for his sake
Translated from one of my favorites Sheikhs Mushari Al Kharraz
Today I am going to cover a very important subject which bothers many of us.
And that is Al Reya’a (Showing Off)
What is Al Reya’a:
It is doing good for the people to praise you or increasing your good deeds so you can become famous among the people and they say so and so memoried the Quran, or prays a lot, or have a high knowledge in the matters of the religion.
Some people show certain characteristics in front of certain people, example: Showing that they are pious in front of their manager so they would trust them or show that they are religious in front of their clients so that they would buy more from them….etc.
The person who does this is not doing his good deeds for the sake of Allah but seeking the praise from the people, this is what we call Reya’a (Show off)
What will I lose if I fall into Reya’a?
The first thing, I would lose is the good deeds which I did….they will be simply gone like I did not do any!!….On the Day of Judgment when Allah SWT rewards the people who did good he will tell the people who fell into Reya’a: Go to those you were showing off to in dunia and see if they will reward you!!
That is why Ibn Al Jawzi said; if you are not sincere then don’t bother yourself and work hard without any reward!!
Why bother yourself and read the Qura’an or pray at night or fast to show off and in the end you get nothing, you are better off relaxing because in both cases you are earning zero reward.
The big misfortune about Reya’a is that the person who does it works so hard and in the end they will be punished! While if this person was sincere to Allah in their deed, Allah will accept their deed, they will enjoy the feeling of a good deed in this dunia, will be rewarded for it on the Day of Judgment and will enter Jannah in shaa Allah. Can you see the difference?
What is even more ironic that this person who is showing off will lose even the people he was showing off for!!
How?
The Prophet PBUH said:
Whoever sought the pleasure of Allah though it was displeasing to the people then Allah becomes pleased with him, and will make the people please with him, and whoever sought the pleasure of the people though it was displeasing to Allah then Allah becomes displeased with him and will make the people displeased with him
(Ibn Hibban/ Tirmidhi)
Losing the people is not the worst thing this person will go through but it is losing Allah SWT which will cost him a lot…..Allah SWT is Rich and he is in no need for any of us.
Allah says in the hadith Al Qudsi: “I am The Wealthiest, and in no need of associates at all, thus whoever perform deeds by which he associated anything to Me, I will certainly abandon him with his shirk.” (Narrated Muslim in hadith no. 46)
Imagine if the angels came down and said so and so is a Mura’ai (showing off) and he was doing all those deeds not for the sake of Allah but to show off in front of you!!!....What will happen?
We will all look down on that person and despise them……………There is a question which shook me when I heard it and I would like you to address it to every Mura’ai…..
Why would you work so hard for someone if they knew that you did what you did for them, they would look down on you and despise you?? And you leave the Ikhlaas (sincerity) to the creator whom if he knew you are working hard for the sake of him, he would love you and reward you?
My dear sister and brother Al Reya’a is a severe disease that needs to be cured very fast before it kills the heart.
How can the patient of Reya’a be cured?
The patient must contemplate and think daily about the following:
1. You must know, when people praise you, they did not actually praise you as a person but they praised the Sitr (covering) of Allah upon you. If this sitr or cover was removed from us, it would be impossible for anyone one to praise us. Imagine if those who are praising me now could see a small screen behind me with all my sins scrolling down a sin after the other…..do you think they will continue to praise me?
The answer: of course not….so this means that all this time they have been praising the cover which Allah SWT put on me…..so in reality they are praising the sitr of Allah SWT.
2. The second dose which the patient must take is to know when the people praise them, they are actually praising Allah SWT….I know they said you are pious and you are very generous but despite all that, they did not really praise you, they praised Allah SWT…..How?!!
Ask yourself: Who gave you all these blessings?
The answer in Surat Al Nahl aya 53 (And whatever you have of favor - it is from Allah .)
So how can you show off with something which doesn’t belong to you??!
Let’s imagine you had guests in your house and your neighbor brought you a nice dish and you served it to your guests…….Your guests loved it and started praising you….if you are honest you will simply say: I didn’t make it, it is a gift from my neighbor but if you accept the praise and act like it is you who made the dish then that would be terrible.
A very important question: What is the reason that makes us love to be praised by people?
It is because our hearts are so concerned and attached to the people and we give them so much importance and attention which should be given to Allah SWT instead.
If a sincere person stopped expecting and looking for the praising of others, nothing will affect them whether those people praised or dispraised them.
Let’s say you go to work and you hear that the cleaner dispraised you or said something bad about you, you wouldn’t bother but if you heard you manager dispraised you, that is when you start worrying….why?
Because your desire to please the manager is greater than your desire to please the cleaner and it is incomparable
Fight the Reya’a and don’t let it control you….you are a slave of Allah SWT…..you are not worshiping people and you are not working for them….this is a type of Shirk!!
So many people don’t think they could fall into shirk while they are actually falling into it every day…….and that is Reya’a
The Prophet PBUH named it Al Shirk Al Khafi (The hidden shirk) because it is hidden from so many people and this was the most thing that our Beloved Prophet PBUH was fearing for us. Shirk is the most sin which Allah SWT hates.
Watch out!!
If you stay away from Reya’a the Shaytaan will change his plans against you and will follow a different route. He knows if he tells you to do Reya’a you won’t follow him, instead he would start to make you suspect that you are doing Reya’a by telling you: You are not sincere…..you are doing Reya’a…..etc.
How can I deal with him?
You can deal with him by answering these three questions?
1. When you decide to do any form of worship or good deed, who is the one who decides whether to be sincere or to show off, you or the shaytaan?
The answer will be: Of course Me.
Correct answer
2. The one who comes and whispers in your ears and tells you, you are doing Reya’a and is spoiling your concentration during your worship, is it an angel or shaytaan?
The answer: For sure it is a shaytaan
Good
3. Will Allah SWT hold you accountable for the decision of the Ibadah (worship) or for the whispering of the Shaytaan?
The answer: Of course he will hold me accountable for the decision of the ibadah
If this is the case, why do you fear something which Allah will not hold you accountable for?
let him whisper until he burns…why should you bother?
There is no Reya’a by force……if you want to do Reya’a you will do and if you don’t you won’t, as simple as that.
You know what is the proof that you are not a Mura’ai (showing off)?
That it is bothering you and you are worried to fall into it. That is enough proof that you are not a Mura’ai. So don’t bother about the Shaytaan because if you do, he will grow so big in your heart…let him say whatever he wants to say and you continue doing what you are doing for the sake of Allah.
May Allah accept our deeds sincerely for his sake
Translated from one of my favorites Sheikhs Mushari Al Kharraz
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