One of the ways that Shaytaan comes to us to destroy our deeds is by changing our intentions when we attempt to worship Allah alone; when we try to fulfill the very purpose of our creation! He does this by whispering false promises to us which cause us to change our intentions for worship and lead us to strive for the praise of other created beings instead of the praise and pleasure of the Creator! This is what is known in the Shari'ah as Riyaa' , which linguistically means ostentation, eyeservice, dissimulation, dissemblance.
Riyaa' is of many types and forms. Riyaa' renders good deeds void and unacceptable, turning them into sins and making the person who has this Riyaa' liable for Hellfire.
The sin and danger of Riyaa' , therein is so great that it has been described as hidden shirk (polytheism) by the Prophet (Sallalahu 'Alayhe Wassalam) in the following Hadeeth:
"What I fear for you the most is the minor shirk, that is Ar-Riyaa'. Allah will say on the Day of Judgement when He is rewarding the people for their actions: Go to those for whom you did Riyaa' for in the world then see if you find the reward with them."
[Narrated from Mahmud bin Lubayd, radiallahu 'anhu with an authentic chain. Recorded in Musnad Ahmad (5/428, 429) and al-Baghawi in Sharh as-Sunnah (4135)]
Furthermore, some people, in their scrupulousness to avoid Riyaa', abstain from performing good deeds, especially in front of others. This is incorrect and an attitude that surrenders to Shaytaan. Abstaining from an action out of fear that someone might call one 'ostentatious' is no more than a form of ostentation. This is because this fear comes from a love of other people's praise and fear of their condemnation that one is seen to be either sincere or ostentatious. It is more serious that one abstain from doing good actions as this is one of Shaytaan's traps against the unaware worshipper.
Therefore, it is imperative for us to acquire a sound understanding of the concept of Riyaa'.
The book Riyaa : The Hidden Shirk, authored by Yasir Qadhi in 1995 and edited by Dr. Bilal Philips, is a study on the spiritual disease of Riyaa'.
The book is a very comprehensive, yet concise, treatise on the subject of Riyaa'. It is based on the works of early scholars, such as Ibn al-Jawzee and Ibn Rajab, as well as contemporary scholars, such as Saleem al-Hilaalee and 'Abdul 'Azeez 'Abdul Lateef.
This book has been highly recommended by the Al-Kauthar Institute instructor, Abu Abdissalam to his students for further study of the concept of Riyaa' explained in the Al-Kauthar course, Heart Therapy : The Purification Of The Soul
It is, without a doubt, a very important addition to the English Islamic library, which presently lacks any specialized works on the topic. Its importance cannot be over-stressed, because the character which Islam seeks to build would be incomplete without a clear understanding of this subject.
Table Of Contents
| Introduction | 9 |
| Chapter 1: The Definition of Riyaa | 13 |
| Chapter 2: Actions are by Intensions | 15 |
| Chapter 3: The Dangers of Riyaa | 25 |
| 1) Weakens Eemaan and Tawheed | 28 |
| 2) Minor Form of Shirk | 30 |
| 3) Increases Misguidance | 32 |
| 4) Deprives Deeds of Blessings | 34 |
| 5) Humiliation by Allah | 38 |
| 6) The First Reason for Entering the Hellfire | 39 |
| 7) Inability to Prostrate to Allah | 41 |
| 8) Prohibits Entrance to Heaven | 41 |
| 9) Actions Cursed | 43 |
| 10) Destruction of the Ummah | 43 |
| Chapter 4: The Causes of Riyaa | 45 |
| 1) The Love of Praise | 45 |
| 2) The Fear of Criticism | 47 |
| 3) Greed for People's Possessions | 48 |
| Chapter 5: Warning Signs of Riyaa | 51 |
| 1) Delaying Obligatory Acts of Worship | 51 |
| 2) Lack of Enthusiasm About Worship | 52 |
| 3) Public Performance of Good Deeds | 52 |
| Chapter 6: The Categories of Riyaa | 55 |
| 1) The Time of Riyaa | 55 |
| 2) The Method of Riyaa | 61 |
| Chapter 7: Acts that do not Constitute Riyaa | 67 |
| 1) Unintended praise | 67 |
| 2) Having a good appearance | 70 |
| 3) Giving advice to others | 70 |
| 4) Hiding one's sins | 71 |
| 5) Increased good deeds when accompanying the pious | 73 |
| 6) Religious worship and worldly benefit | 74 |
| Chapter 8: The Ways to Avoid Riyaa | 77 |
| 1) Increasing knowledge | 77 |
| 2) Dua | 78 |
| 3) Reflecting upon heaven and hell | 80 |
| 4) Hiding good deeds | 80 |
| 5) Reflecting on shortcomings | 82 |
| 6) Accompanying the pious | 82 |
| 7) Knowing the dangers and types of Riyaa | 82 |
| Chapter 9: Related Aspects | 83 |
| 1) Avoiding Good Deeds Out of Fear of Riyaa | 83 |
| 2) Showing Off In Worldly Affairs | 85 |
| 3) Other Forms Of Minor Shirk | 87 |
| Conclusion | 91 |
| Index of Quranic Verses | 93 |
| Index of Hadeeths | 97 |
| References | 102 |
Details
Title: Riyaa' : The Hidden Shirk
Author: Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi
Editor: Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Publisher: AS Noordeen - Malaysia
Pages: 103
Volumes: 1
Size: 15.1 cm x 21.6 cm
Binding: Paperback
Edition Number: 3rd
Year Of Publication: 2012
Weight: 0.2 kg
About Author
Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi was born in Houston, TX, but completed his primary and secondary education in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston, after which he was accepted as a student at the Islamic University of Madinah. After completing a diploma in Arabic, he graduated with a B.A. from the College of Hadith and Islamic Sciences. He has obtained an M.A. in Islamic Theology (Aqidah) with the College of Da'wah at the University.
In addition to the formal studies of the University, he has also studied in the traditional manner under scholars, and has been conferred ijazahs in various recitations of the Qur'an, and in the books of Hadith. Of his published works are Riyaa: Hidden Shirk; An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'aan; Du`a: The Weapon of the Believer; and others.
About Editor
Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips is a Jamaican Canadian Islamic Scholar who converted to Islam in the early seventies after journeying politically and intellectually from Christianity to Communism. Shortly after his reversion to Islam, he embarked on a spiritual academic journey to the other side of the world seeking Islamic knowledge. This journey took him to Saudi Arabia where he completed a BA in Islamic studies in Madeenah, and an MA in Islamic Theology in Riyadh, then to the University of Wales, UK, where he completed a PhD in Islamic Theology in the early nineties.
After graduation from Madeenah, Dr Bilal became a teacher of Islamic studies for 10 years in an Islamic High School, Manaret Riyadh, and a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic studies in the American University in Dubai, UAE, for another 10 years. During his 10 years in the UAE, he founded and taught at the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, and during his subsequent 7 years in Qatar he has been an Islamic consultant and lecturer for the Islamic Information wing of Sh. Eed Charity.
