Hypocrisy

The word Riyaa is derived from Rooyat which means pointing to or showing of a deed. Man's aim behind this deed is to attract peoples towards him. He does it in various ways:

A - By his deeds or actions; for example, he prolongs his actions during namaz and makes his face appear fearful and courteous.

B - By his words: For example, during his admonitions and sermons he tries to attract others towards his own person.

C - Sometimes he makes his face appear like that of one who remains awake through nights in worship.

D - Sometimes he presents himself in such a way that he appears full of concern for Islam and Muslims.

There is no doubt that all these things do have an aspect of worship as there are several narrations and verses dealing with them. In the book Urwatul Wuthqa, in the chapter about ablution (Wuzoo), the late Syed Muhammad Kazim Tabatabai has quoted nearly ten kinds from which we point to the following four:

1 - The aim of doing a good deed is only showing of self to people.

2 - The deed has, behind it the intention of both Divine Reward and show but the latter is greater than the former.

3 - Both the intentions are equal and that each one of the two can make him do a good deed.

4 - He has the intention of both show, as well as Divine pleasure but the wish to gain Allah's pleasure is greater.

In other manner this division can also be made like this: Sometimes Riyaa is in the root of Islam, like the hypocrite who makes him appear like a Faithful. Sometimes it is in the matter of worship by accepting the basic beliefs of Islam. But in non-worship acts it can be divided in five orders viz. Waajib (obligatory), Haraam (prohibited), Mustahab (preferable), Makrooh (detestable) and Mubaah (admissible).

Prohibition of making a show in Quranic verses

O you who believe! Do not make your charity worthless by reproach and injury, like him who spends his property to be seen of men and does not believe in Allah and the last day; so his parable is as the parable of a smooth rock with earth upon it, then a heavy rain falls upon it, so it leaves it bare; they shall not be able to gain anything of what they have earned; and Allah does not guide the unbelieving people.

Some noteworthy points in this verse

A - From the sentence Do not make your charity worthless we are enlightened that some of the deeds, it is possible, can snatch away rewards of good deeds, and this is that very problem of Ahbaat??? We have explained this in our book Maad yaa aakhareene saire takaamul.

B - The parable of a deed of hypocrisy, that it is like a of rock on which there is a thin layer of dust is very meaningful, because, hypocrites hide their coarse and barren inside with a face showing benevolence and beneficence. They perform deeds that do not have any firm root. But events in life soon tear off this curtain to expose their inner selves.

C - The phrase and Allah does not guide the unbelieving people in this verse mean that a hypocrite is an unbeliever.

And those who spend their property in alms to be seen of the people and do not believe in Allah nor in the last day; and as for him whose associate is the Shaitan, an evil associate is he!

We get two points:

A -Company of evil people can affect man's life to such an extent that it may drag him to the last degree of downfall.

B - The connection of hypocrites or the devil and the devilish deeds is a continuing connection or relation and not a temporary one.

Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah, and He shall requite their deceit to them, and when they stand up to prayer they stand up sluggishly; they do it only to be seen of men and do not remember Allah save a little.

It should be noted that in this Ayat Riyaa has been considered one of the attributes of hypocrites.

Therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join anyone in the service of his Lord.

So woe to the praying ones, Who are unmindful of their prayers, Who do good to be seen.

Prohibition of Riyaa in Traditions

1 - Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said to Ibaad bin Kaseer Basri in the masjid: Woe unto you o Ibaad! keep away from riyaa. Whoever does anything except for Allah, the Lord abandons him to the one for whom he acted.

2 - The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: Wherever the apparent is more shining than what is within, it is hypocrisy.

3 - Imam Baqir (a.s.) said: If a man does something for Allah's pleasure and also entertains someone else's pleasure, he is a polytheist. From these narrations we come to know that even subordinate show is Haraam.

4 - Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: The reward of one is with the person for whom the deed was done. Then added: O Zurarah! Every Riyaa is Shirk. Every pretense is polytheism.

5 - The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: A group of people is being ordered to go to hell. The angel in charge of the fire asks: O unlucky person : What did you do? They say: We performed deeds for others than Allah; now we have been asked to obtain the reward from the ones for whom we worked.

6 - The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: Most of my fear regarding you is in the matter of lesser polytheism. They asked: what is the lesser polytheism? He said: It is Riyaa; making a show for others. While giving rewards to people in the Hereafter on the Day of Judgement Allah will say to the hypocrites: You may take your reward from those you worked for. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) then said: Seek Allah's refuge from Hubbul Khizyz. They inquired as to what it was. He replied: It is a valley in Hell that has been prepared for hypocrites. He added: A hypocrite will, on the Day of Judgement, be addressed: O Criminal!, O Dishonest!, O Pretender! Take your reward from the one for whom you performed your deeds.

7 - The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: Allah never accepts any performance if there is, in it, even an iota of show.

Question: How can we know that we are pretenders? Some of its forms are so subtle that man himself is unaware of it.

Answer: Firstly: - Everyone who considers his performance better. The Holy Quran mentions:???

Secondly - Signs of pretenders have been mentioned in several narrations. For example: There are three signs of a hypocrite: He becomes happy when people see him performing or worshipping; becomes lazy in prayers when he is alone; and he likes to be praised for all of his deeds.

Question: In view of the existence of such signs of pretence, is it not good for man to perform his deeds secretly?

Answer: The great scholars have said: It is better to perform voluntary good deeds and donations secretly but the obligatory duties should be carried out openly, especially when the person concerned is being accused of non-performance of his duties. It is also mentioned in narrations. Perhaps it can also be said that it can be different for different people in different circumstances. Whenever one feels pretence or is doubtful of it he may perform his deeds in secret. Otherwise it is better to be open especially in the matter of performing ones duties.

Question: Is it pretence even when one gets thoughts in mind but does not pretend actually?

Answer: No, but sometimes they are satanic thoughts as Satan wants man to stop from doing good. So the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has said: If you are performing your prayer and Satan suggests that you are a pretender the man must, in order to defeat Satan, lengthen his namaz.

Advice and warning

A Mo-min must always be intelligent and should not be deceived by an apparent cheating. It is so because some people are very cryptic and, in order to achieve worldly status, undertake sufferings and painstaking mortifications, and make worldly pleasures too unlawful for themselves.

Someone asked the Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) about Azeemus Shaqaaq (big painstaker). The Imam (a.s.) replied: The one who gives up the world for the sake of the world loses both the world as well as the Hereafter, like a pretender who suffered pains but without any benefit.

Question: Can hypocrisy be considered even after the performance of a deed? In other words, if one entertains a thought after the actual performance of a particular deed if the above mentioned verses and traditions apply to him?

Answer: Riyaa is only during the performance of a deed. The above quoted Ayats and narrations do not apply after the performance of a deed. Some great scholars have explained this matter and some of them have even considered it as a unanimous opinion.

Yet, in a letter from Imam Baqir (a.s.) to Ali bin Asbaat, it is mentioned:

Maintenance of a deed is more difficult than its performance. It was asked: what is maintenance of a deed? He replied: A man donates for pleasing only one God. A reward for a secret good deed is being written in his account. Thereafter he talks about his deed. So a reward for an open good deed is written for him, which is less. Then he repeats its talk until he rubs it out and it is written as Riyaa in his roll of deeds. He, not only does not get any reward but also earns punishment.

Question: Sometimes a man performs a good deed only to please Allah and does not have any intention of making a show of it. But when people come to know about his deed he becomes happy. Is this also Riyaa?

Answer: What we derive from verses and traditions is that one must do a deed only to obey the commandment of Allah. However, many a time, it is but natural to feel happy after performance of a good deed except in the case of one who has undertaken much mortification and has become a real slave of God. So we have read earlier that the reality of honesty and sincerity is that man must not like that he should be praised for his good deeds.

It means he has reached a status in his mortification when He dislikes his praise for his good deeds. Of course, mere feeling of pleasure, in the absence of a liking for praise, is all right.

Someone asked the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.): We do our duty and do not like that others should know about it. Yet sometimes people come to know about it and this makes us feel happy. So what about it? The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied: You have earned two rewards: One reward of a secret deed and the another of its becoming open.

A similar narration has also been quoted from Imam Baqir (a.s.) but at the end he says: There is none but that one likes that Allah may make his good deed open, in case he has not done anything for it.

Question: What is the reason of Riyaa and which factors bring it in?

Answer: The factors of pretence are of two types:

A - Not knowing the Holy Being of Allah - If one, really knows the Lord of the Universe and understands that no one else but He alone is effective in the universe, he will never entertain any hope but from only one god. It has been described for us in narrations. Here we quote two examples:

1 - It has been quoted from Imam Sadiq (a.s.): One of the signs of the worthiness of a Muslim is that he does not make people happy by making Allah unhappy like the one who issues Fatwas according to the liking of the people or speaks what pleases people but makes Allah angry, and does not reproach people for what Allah has not given them because sustenance is available neither by the greed of the greedy nor by the asking for it by man. And if a man runs away from sustenance as he runs away from his death his sustenance will surely reach him as death surely reaches him. Then he said: Allah has, due to His justice and equity, put joy and peace of mind in Faith and resignation and kept grief and anguish in doubtfulness and discontent.

2 -Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) said: No person has tasted the sweetness of Faith until he knows that whatever he has got will not be removed from him and whatever has been taken back from him will not come back to him and that the giver of profit and loss is only one God, Almighty Allah. In fact he reaches a stage where he understands that in the cosmos there is none but only one god, Almighty Allah is effective.

If somebody, really, reaches the stage of certainty that everything is in the control of the Lord and that if any benefit or loss reaches man it is from the Lord, then he, thereafter, never deals with anyone else, leave alone doing anything for his sake!

In conclusion, man should make effort so that the strength of certainly increases and we, Insha Allah, while discussing Faith, shall describe the problem of certainty at length.

B - Ambition for position and status makes a man hypocrite. If one thinks a little he knows that even if one becomes the owner of the whole world from east to west, one is not going to last for more than a few days.

It is necessary here that we should deeply study the narrations relating to love for position so that we may keep ourselves away from this unbecoming habit or attribute and may not keep, while doing everything, none but only one God in our view.