Part 9: Riya (Ostentation) – Heart Therapy

Read the Table of Contents of Heart Therapy

Read Part 8 (c): Exceptions to the prohibition of Lying

Concepts and definitions

Definition: This is from the third verbal form (meaning ‘to act hypocritically before others, to act in a certain manner in order to be seen by others’) of the Arabic verb ra’a’a (and gives the meaning of ‘he acted ostentatiously’; he did a deed in order that men might see it’ or ‘making a show of what one does to men, in order that they may see it and think well of it’; as well as ‘acting otherwise than for the sake of God.’

Proof: Qur’an

‘Those who spend their wealth hypocritically, to show off before others [Surah Nisa 4:38]

Hadith:

Abu hurayrah said ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) saying, “The first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought forward and Allah (SWT) will remind him of his blessings He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him; ‘What did you do with those blessings?’ The man will reply: ‘I fought for Your sake until I was martyred.’ Allah will say, ‘You have lied! You fought so that the people would call you courageous and they have done so.’ Allah’s command, with regards to him, will be issued and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.

‘Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur’an will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the blessings He bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask, ‘What did you do with those blessings?’ The man will reply: ‘I acquired knowledge and taught it and recited the Qur’an for Your sake.’ Allah will say to him, ‘You have lied! You acquired knowledge so that people would call you a scholar and you recited the Qur’an so that they would call you a recite and they have done so.’ A command will then be issued regarding him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.

“Next a man whom Allah had granted affluence and much wealth, will be brought forward and Allah will remind him of the blessings He bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him, ‘What did you do with those blessings?’ The man will reply ‘I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spend except that I spent it for Your sake.’ Allah will say to him: ‘You have lied! You did it so the people would call you generous and they have done so.’ And a command will be issued regarding him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.”[Muslim]

Consequences

Riya renders good deeds void and unacceptable, turning them into sins and making the person who has the Riya liable for hellfire.

• Riya is hidden shirk: The sin and danger, therein, is so great that the Prophet SAW said,

  ‘The thing that I am most afraid of for you is hidden shirk.’ It was said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is hidden shirk?’ He replied, ‘It is ostentation. Allah SWT will say on the day that [His] worshippers will be recompensed for their deeds, “Go to those whom you wanted to show your deeds to in the worldly life and see if you find with them any reward.” [Ahmad]

  Thus one should ensure that his religious deeds are done sincerely for Allah alone,

  ‘and they were not ordered except to worship Allah sincerely in this religion’ [Surah Bayyinah 98:5]

• Riya renders good deeds null and void: ‘Do not render your charity in vain by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men. [Surat al Baqarah 2:264]

  Also Abu Hurayrah RA reported a hadeeth qudsi that the Messenger of Allah SWT said, ‘Allah Almighty said, ‘I am the One who is most free from want of partners. He who does a thing for the sake of someone else besides Me, I discard him and his polytheism…’ [Muslim]

• Actions with Riya will bear testimony against the believer on the Last Day: Ac act of worship intended for other than Allah will bear witness against the person on the Day of Judgement and he will be subject to punishment for this very deed. The Prophet of Allah (SAW) said, ‘A person who acquired sacred knowledge, which is [normally] acquired to gain the pleasure of Allah (SWT), in order to secure worldly comforts will be deprived of even the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.’ [Abu Da’ud]
• The one who had Riya will be exposed and disgraced in front of all of creation: The one who sought the pleasure and praise and commendation of others will be disgraced on the Day of Judgement. Jundub (RA) reports that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘He who acts to show off, Allah will disgrace him on the Day of Resurrection and he who does good deeds so that people might esteem him, Allah will expose his hidden intentions before all people on the Day of Resurrection.’ [a-Bukhari and Muslim]

Read the next Part 9 (a): Riya and its Types