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Not Doing A Good Deed For Fear Of Riya
Hello there, my question is that assalamualaikum. I read something recently in an article that i couldn’t comprehend, it says in a paragraph answering a question about someone who leaves a good deed for the fear of Riya.
This action, at the very least, it is disliked and some of the scholars have considered it to be from Riyaa (showing off). Being that the one who decides to leave off an act of worship and leaves it off for fear that people will see, then he is showing off. This is because he left off a (good) deed for the sake of the people.
http://www.qandabenefits.com/753/leaving-the-acts-of-worship-for-the-fear-of-riya-showing-off
I couldn’t understand how can it be Riya? I understand that at utmost what we can say is that they missed out on rewards and it may be a plan of shaitan to throw such thoughts to make someone not do the deed. But how can it be Riya?? It has nothing to do with doing something pleasing to Allah for people
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12 Replies
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Not Doing A Good Deed For Fear Of Riya
updated 2 years, 5 months ago
2 Members
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12
Replies
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This is a matter of how you look at the problem from different angles. No final verdict can be given. To some, it is not riyakari as nothing is done to show off, while to others it is still the same attitude which does or does not do something keeping in mind the pleasure of people and he is unable to do something for the pleasure of God.
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@irfan76 but sir how can it be Riya with shirk? As he did nothing which involves setting partner with Allah. But only did it out of fear that he may fall into Riya? In other words he becomes very sensitive to Riya that he does it to this extent (which may not be suitable) but how can it be Shirk? And also if we keep this in mind that leaving a good deed for people would be Shirk then for example if someone decided to recite surah Baqarah whole, but by the time he reached halfway, he got to know that his friend like cousin has come to their house, so he closes Quran to go because he wants to enjoy with him, we may say that he left a good deed for someone but how will it be Riya or Shirk?
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You have your point and that is acceptable.
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@irfan76 okay sir but just want to know in what angle if we look does it fall again into shirk? If it’s simply because not doing it because of people or something else then we can say there can be thousands and thousands of cases where a person leaves an act of worship for something, like a person reading Quran for long but later feels tired so he stops, or a person decides to pray 10 Nafl prayers but in the midst of it, some guests come so he stops it after 6 Nafl in order to accompany them. The examples can be numerous.
So my question is that in what angle would it fall into category of shirk and Riya? I mean if it is because of doing an act of worship for someone else, that is understandable to be setting a partner.
And if we say it from the angle that the person stopped an ibadah of Allah for someone else, it means he keeps the other person or that thing above Allah, so again then what about if instead of stopping in the middle, he would have not even started to do it in the first place because of something else for example feeling tired. It was not obligatory for him to pray Nafl, so if for example someone gets a thought of praying Nafl but thinks that he feels tired so he doesn’t start at all, how is this aspect different from a person who actually started it but due to feeling tired didn’t pray the numbers of Nafl he actually intended. Or in another example if he was already at a friend’s house, he daily prays some Nafl at home at for example at about 10 pm , but since now he is at his friends house and they are playing game he skips it praying for that day all together, how is it different in that aspect from someone who actually started Nafl but didn’t complete the numbers he intended because he wanted to have fun etc.
I mean if we say that that if there’s a particular reason of not doing a good deed that came into mind, then this particular reason becomes something superior to him than Allah then in above examples both latter and former example (not starting at all, or finishing up in middle of intended target) are unacceptable even if that thing is Nafl of nature. So it would basically means any thought of doing good if comes to our mind, it becomes a full obligation to fulfill that good deed, or else that reason that stopped us becomes the very thing we did shirk with etc!!
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Again, Riyakari needs to involve another entity other than God to please it. So don’t count every thing with every motive in Riyakari. One stops reading Quran that one is tired, who is there to show that you stop? The same goes for other examples.
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@irfan76 i am sorry sir for my repeated questions. Sir I felt like a hint that maybe i couldn’t explain my question properly. By saying that a person stops a deed for people, i did not mean that they do this to please people or project their piety on to them by showing them that this is the extent of his piety and sensitivity to Riya that he stops that thing, so actually he is not genuine, he again does this “stopping from that act” not for genuine sensitivity to sin but to show people his piety etc.
What i meant in above examples was that for example a person is reading Quran in his room, and his brother comes in to tell him that our cousin is coming in 15 mins, so he normally stops reading Quran to spend time with him when he comes or to enjoy with him. But does not mention any such thing to cousin like “i was reading Quran before but since you were coming, i feared of show off so i stopped”. in other words he never even wants to be praised for this sensitivity or even letting the other person think high of him through it.
So again there’s no one here to show off his piety, just the reason he stopped was enjoying with a person etc
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This is what your conscience can decide. God does not bother for such things.
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@irfan76 So sir actually this is what I wanted to say that by meaning “leaving things for fear of show off to people” i did not mean that making a projection of this thing that a person is leaving a thing for Allah’s sensitivity. So the examples i gave above with respect to normally not doing it (not out of projection) these examples have nothing to do with shirk etc?. Maybe now i understand that what you meant when you said that “Both of these ways stem from same seed of attitude of pleasing people”. Yes you’re right that if a person stops a deed as a projection of his sensitivity and piety then this is same thing in attitude but if someone stops it without such attitude, with genuine sensitivity or to do something else then he is not doing shirk , right sir?
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Right.
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@irfan76 and sir even in examples of leaving Quran to spend time with cousin to please him. Pleasing people if not done by the way of attitude of projections of piety then still it’s not a problem. Because pleasing is not not done by projecting piety but is done by spending a general time with him and not even mentioning reading of Quran before etc. All this is also fine and no problem in it, right sir?
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yes
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@Irfan76 and sir doing isolated actions that are similar to actions of ibadah, and for example getting money or people’s pleasure in it, it isn’t wrong right sir? For example in fasting a person does not eat from fajar to maghrib as an ibadah of Allah. So if someone, for example says to a friend that i will give you money for completing a challenge , that is to not eat or drink from fajar to maghrib time, but not as fasting, just a normal worldly challenge to not eat for these timing. And so a person does such isolated actions (not as ibaadaat of fasting) with intention to earn money or to please his friends. And his friend gives him money just for completing a simple challenge of not eating, There’s nothing wrong in it, right sir?
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