Part 30

This is common among our present scholars. As for our pious predecessor scholars, may Allah have Mercy upon them, they used to accept the truth between themselves, wherever they were. For instance, Imam Malik really accepted the opinion of his young student, Muhammad ibn Idriss al-Shafi‘i, regarding the issue of divorce.

' Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

2. Another aspect of arrogance is despising people and looking down upon them, and the Prophet 4 described the nature of arrogance in the following Hadith: “Pride is disdaining the truth (out of self-conceit) and having contempt for people.”

In view of the fact that arrogance is one of the deceitful ways of Satan, then the only way to rid oneself of it is by achieving a state of humbleness. ‘Ayyad ibn Himar .¢ said: “Verily, Allah 3 has revealed to me that you must be humble, so that no one oppresses another nor

8. Love for praising

You should know that if you love to be praised, then Satan has entered inside you through the door of vanity and self-admiration, which is a destructive disease. This regards praise about some characteristics which you possess — and this can be cured by simply remembering your defects and sins. As for the praise about something which you do not possess, then being pleased about it is a sign of foolishness.

what he says about him’”.

One of the ailments of praise is that it covers the defects of the praised person, so he/she does not see to reform himself/herself, and because

' Recorded by Muslim.

2 Recorded by Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah. > Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

“ Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

he/she thinks that his/her life is totally good, he/she does not make an effort to act more obediently towards Allah 38.

One predecessor said: “‘Whoever is pleased with being praised, then he has indeed allowed a way for the devil to enter inside him.”

“Umar ibn al-Khattab 2 said: “Avoid (and be cautious of) praising, for it is destructive.”!

It is for this reason and others that the Prophet # has ordered to throw dust upon the faces of praising people. As a matter of fact, al-Miqdad saw a man praising ‘Uthman 4s, so he sat on his knees and started to pick up dust and throw it at the face of the man. ‘Uthman & asked: “What is the matter with you?” Al-Miqdad replied: “The Messenger commanded us that we should throw dust upon the faces of those who shower too much praise.””

9. Riya’ (acting hypocritically or showing off)

This is one of the easiest paths by which Satan may penetrate the heart of a person; therefore, the Muslim, who seeks Allah and the Hereafter, should always examine his/her heart; if he/she finds anything there that is not stored for Allah’s Sake, then he/she should treat it immediately; and if he/she finds in his/her activities anything related to his/her vanity, then he/she should treat these.

Riya’ is called shirk al-asghar (the smallest aspect of polytheism) because it turns the heart away from the remembrance of Allah, ignoring the Bounteous Care of the Creator, while taking into account the consideration of others.

There are many situations where riya’ (showing off) is displayed; some people show off with their knowledge, some with their acts of worship, and others with their charity; and such an example was quoted by the Prophet 4, in a Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah #%: “J heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘The first man (whose case) will be decided on the Day of Judgment, will be a man who died as a martyr; he shall

' Recorded by Ahmad and Ibn Majah, on the authority of Mu‘awiya. ? Recorded by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

be brought before the Judgment Seat. Allah will make him recount His Blessings (i.e. the blessings which Allah has bestowed upon him); he would recount them and admit having enjoyed them in his life. Then (will) Allah say: ‘What did you do to acquire these blessings?’ He will say: ‘I fought for Your Sake until I died as a martyr’. Allah will say: “You have told a lie. You fought so that you might be called a ‘brave warrior’, and you were called so’. Then orders would be passed against him, and he would be dragged, face downward, and cast into Hell. Then there will be bought forward a man who acquired knowledge and imparted it to others and recited the Qur’an. He will be brought. Allah will make him recount His Blessings, so he would recount them and admit having enjoyed them during his lifetime. Then will Allah say: ‘What did you do to require these blessings?’ He would say: ‘I acquired knowledge and disseminated it and recited the Qur’an, seeking Your Pleasure’. Allah will say: “You have told a lie. You acquired knowledge so that you might be called a “scholar”, and you recited the Qur’an so that it might be said: he is a Qari’, and such has been said’. Then orders would be passed against him, and he would be dragged, face downward, and cast into Fire. Then will be brought a man whom Allah has made abundantly rich and had granted every kind of wealth. He will be brought; Allah will make him recount His Blessings, so he would recount them and admit having enjoyed them during his lifetime. Allah will then ask: ‘What have you done to acquire these blessings?’ He would say: ‘I spent money in every cause in which you wished that it should be spent’. Allah will say: “You are lying. You did so that it might be said about you: “He is a generous man”, and so it was said’. Then Allah would pass orders and he will be dragged by his face and cast into the Fire.””

Jundub 2 reported that the Prophet # said: “He who lets people hear of his good deeds intentionally, to win their praise, Allah will let the people know his real intention (on the Day of Resurrection), and he who does good things in public to show off and win the praise of people, Allah will disclose his real intention and humiliate him”.

It is for this reason that our pious predecessors used to hide their numerous pious deeds, the way people hide their sins.

' Recorded by Muslim. ? Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

The incentive behind riya’ is the look for praise from people, avoiding their censure. It is possible to rid oneself from riya’ by realizing the following:

You should know that any praise from people would benefit you if you were censured by Allah 4%, and their censure would not harm you if you were praised by Allah 8.

1. You should know that man, a weak creature, from whom you seek his praise, will neither harm nor benefit you on Day of your great want (the Day of Judgment).

2. You should know that riya’ annuls any work you do (seeking praise from others) which could even turn it into a bad deed.

3. If you dread that people might discover the evil inside your heart in this world, then Allah 3€ is aware of everything inside you, and will disclose it and embarrass you on the Day of Resurrection before all mankind.

4. If the feeling of riya’ comes to your mind, then you have to immediately get rid of it, and then invoke Allah 4% with you heart, and ask for His Support.

You should know that the first thing Satan requires from you is to give up your religious obligations, but if he fails then he encourages you to display riya’ while performing them, so you have to be careful not to obey him, for he is a clear deceitful enemy.

Al-Ghazali said: “People who fight off all thoughts of riya’ are divided in four categories:

First: A person who rejects the insinuations of the devil, but keeps on arguing with him, because he thinks it is safer for his heart. However, he falls victim to two shortcomings; he has become distracted from invoking Allah 3% and from doing good, but decided, rather, to face up to the “highway robber’, the devil, who stands in the way of someone’s religious obligations.

Second: A person knows that arguing and fighting is a shortcoming in someone’s conduct, he only contents himself with belying the devil, but does not devote his time to arguing with him.

Third: A person who does not even occupy himself with belying the devil, because it is a waste of time, in itself. Rather, he should establish within himself hatred towards riya’ and the lies of the devil.

Fourth: A person who knows that Satan would envy him, so he assures himself that whenever he receives any incitement to evil, he should devote more time to remembering Allah 3 and increasing his sincere faith.

The effect of riya’ on ajr (reward)

You should know — may Allah guide you to the truth — that riya’ enters in the original intention of an action or in some aspects of it. If it comes with its prime intention, (i. as its main incentive), then it annuls any reward due to it, and this is the opinion of all scholars. And if it enters in some aspects of the activity; such as making longer ruku‘ (bowing i in salah) or longer sujud (prostration), then here there are two opinions: one is that it annuls the activity, while the other is that it reduces its reward.

Al-‘ujb is different from kibr. kibr concerns three things: an arrogant person, the thing about which he feels arrogant, and the people to whom he displays his arrogance. But al-‘ujb consists only of two: the conceited person and the thing he is proud of.

Al-‘ujb is boasting about a certain blessing and enjoying it, while not relating it to the Benefactor, Allah 38.

There are many types of ‘ujb: some people feel exalted about their health and physical strength, but they should know that everything they possess in their bodies will be at the mercy of worms; because everything on earth will perish eventually.