The Dangers of Ar-Riya

Bismillah.

عَنْ  مَحْمُودِ بْنِ لَبِيدٍ  أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ  صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ  قَالَ:  “إِنَّ أَخْوَفَ مَا أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ الشِّرْكُ الْأَصْغَرُ“
قَالُوا: وَمَا الشِّرْكُ الْأَصْغَرُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ؟
قَالَ:  “الرِّيَاءُ،  يَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ  إِذَا جُزِيَ النَّاسُ بِأَعْمَالِهِمْ اذْهَبُوا إِلَى الَّذِينَ كُنْتُمْ  تُرَاءُونَ  فِي الدُّنْيَا فَانْظُرُوا هَلْ تَجِدُونَ عِنْدَهُمْ جَزَاءً“
أخرجه أحمد وصححه الألباني

It is narrated from Mahmood ibn Labeed [RA] that the Messenger of Allah [SAWS] said, “Indeed the thing that I fear most for you is the minor shirk.”
The companions asked, “And what is minor shirk, Oh Messenger of Allah [SAWS]?”
He [SAWS] said, “It is Ar-Riyaa. Allah will say to the people of riyaa on the Day of Judgement – when the people are being re-payed for their deeds – ‘Go to those who you showed off your deeds to in the worldly life then see if you can find any reward with them!’”

[Reported by Imam Ahmad and Authenticated by Shaikh Al-Albani]

Vocabulary from the Hadith:

الرِّيَاءُ – Ar-Riyaa
Linguistically, riyaa means showing, displaying something.
In the Shariah, riyaa means a good deed done with the intention that people may see it and praise the doer for the action.

Lessons from the Hadith:

“So you will see the person doing riyaa beautifying the deed in-front of people. And he does not intend obedience to Allah with this beautification of his action.

Truly, some of the most important reasons for riyaa are exhibitionism/pretentiousness, desiring position of significance and weakness of faith. Moreover, the most dangerous consequences of riyaa are deprivation of acceptance of deeds with Allah and the loss of trust/reliance between people.

Allah has certainly set two foundational conditions for the acceptance of deeds. They are:
1) The action is good, righteous action within the bounds of the Shariah and compliant with the Qur’an and Sunnah.
2) The action is done purely for the sake of Allah, far removed from every type of shirk, whether it is major shirk or minor shirk; and riyaa is a type of shirk.”

Explanation taken from www.balligho.com, author of the explanation is not mentioned.

The Worst Thief

Bismillah.

عَن أَبِي قَتَادَةَ قالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَسْوَأُ النَّاسِ سَرِقَةً الَّذِي يَسْرِقُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ
قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَكَيْفَ يَسْرِقُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ قَالَ لَا يُتِمُّ رُكُوعَهَا وَلَا سُجُودَهَا

أخرجه أحمد

It is narrated by Abu Qatadah [RA] that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, “The worst kind of thief is one who steals from his prayer.” The companions said, “O Prophet of Allah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ how can someone steal from their prayers?” He صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, “He does not fulfill the ruku of the prayer nor its sujood. “

[Reported by Imam Ahmad]

Vocabulary from the Hadith

The word used by the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ to describe the deficiency in the prayer is يُتِمُّ (yutimmu). The past-present-verbal noun sequence of this verb is: أَتَمَّ يُتِمُّ إتمام (atamma-yutimmu-itmaam). Some of the meanings carried by this verb are: completion, fulfillment, perfection, execution. So a more complete translation would be “he does not fullfill/complete/perfect the ruku of the prayer nor its sujood“.

Lessons

The worst kind of thief is one who steals from his prayer because:

- he is stealing while he is standing in front of his Lord
- he is stealing from his prayer which renders the prayer deficient, and if the prayer is deficient on the Day of Judgement then all deeds will be deficient
- the thief who steals other things can extract some benefit from his/her theft, whereas there is nothing but loss in this theft

WAllahu alam. May Allah make us of those who complete and perfect their prayers.