Never Show Off
What You do For God
One of the major threatening issues which
every worshipping man may he confronted with is "showing off" his actions.
This would not only invalidate worship but also creates a distance
between man and his Creator, instead of
bringing them closer.
Technically speaking this is a type of
hypocricy or religious pretense which refers to
the presentation of oneself as a faithful worshipper at prayer in
order to elevate one's position within the community, for materialistic
reasons. In other words, this type of showing off can be defined
as presenting a false pretention in order to make people believe one is
religious.
Many Qur'anic verses
and narrations warn Muslims of the dangerous consequences of showing off.
The Qur'an states: So
woe to the praying ones' who are unmindful of theft prayers, who do good
to be seen. (107:4-6)
Muslims themselves must make an indepth study
and analyze the points mentioned in these verses. Here we will only briefiy
discuss the tone of the verses and their interpretation which clearly indicates
that the prayer which has lost its purity by showing it off is not considered
a prayer and that such a person is not regarded as a faithful worshipper.
Furthermore, such prayer and such praying
men are so despicable to God that He states: "So woe to the praying ones."
Prayer is not fulfilled when man pretends to
worship God but his mind and heart are occupied with materialistic affairs.
A person must he corrupt to use prayer as a means to achieve a position
in the people's view and reach his degraded material intentions.
These praying men are unaware of the reality
of prayer and its spirit which is ascending towards Allah. God mentions
them in the Our'an as:
"Who are unmindful oftheir prayers."
Prayer is making a journey
through stages of monotheism and servitude and ascending towards Him. Prayer
is breaking relations with all and turning towards Him. Then how could
such goals be achieved by showing off one's prayers?
In Chapter Kahf, verse 110 God says:
"Therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord,
should do good deeds, and not join anyone in the service of his Lord."
(18:110)
This statement "Therefore who-ever hopes to
meet his Lord" is a special interpretation. The statement addresses those
who bear the memory of their original homeland and the sacred existence
of God and hope to ascend to that point and reach Him. The verse continues
to say that these people must conduct good deeds in order to become praise-worthy
enough to reach Him and must seek no
one else except Him.
To show off is a kind of polytheism in worship.
Any other intention in worship besides ascending towards
God would create an obstacle in the movement towards
Allah and the honest worshipper must be purified from these impurifications.
Various Forms of Show Off
Showing off has various forms, some of which
are mentioned here:
1. When intention of a worshipper pertains
to materialistic intentions instead of approaching Almighty God,
and only pretends to be religious in order to achieve some materialistic
goals. This is the worst form of showing off. It is obvious that not only
the prayer of such a person is invalidated as he has not followed God's
teachings nor fulfilled his duties but he has committed a grave sin. The
status of such a worshipper is worse than that of one who does not perform
prayer at all. For in addition to invalidating his prayer, this worshipper
has mocked God and acted hypocritically in front of the people. Each of
these particularly the former is considered as a grievous sin.
2. The main purpose of the worshipper is a
materialistic goal and pretends to be a religious person in order to
reach his worldly goals. Nevertheless he seeks some spiritual
aims with his prayers. This type of worshipper probably does
not perform his prayers if none is present to see him. The mere ordainance
of God does not induce him to perform his prayers. In other
words he worships God only when he is seen by someone. This form of hypocricy
is similar to the previous one.
3. When one worships God with both intentions:
To approach God and obey His commands, and to reach other goals as to pretend
to he religious and praised by the people and seeking position within
one's community through this means. The two intentions in this case
are completely equal, i.e., had he not the intention to approach God he
would not have performed the worship merely for worldly inclinations and
similarly had he not the worldly inclinations he would not have worshipped
God. Although this form of show off is different from the two previously
mentioned forms, it also invalidates a person's prayer. This type of worship
will not ascend towards God, and such a worshipper has not fulfilled his
duty nor obeyed God's commands nor approached God.
The Prophet (s) said:
"Almighty Allah states I despise the worship
and deeds of those who perform it for others and other intentions except
Me."
I am the most needless of any Partner and
I leave all actions for the partner which has been sought
besides Me. (Jame-ul-Sa'adat, vol 3, p.370).
It is also narrated from
the Prophet (s) as saying: 'God does not accept any deed or worship within
which showing off is hidden."(Jame-ul-Sa'adaA vol Z p.370).
The Prophet (s) also stated that: "The least
bit of hypocricy is polytheism."
4. When one worships God in order to approach
Him whether people see him or are informed of his worship or not. But since
he is entangled with materialistic desires such a worshipper becomes
happy when people are informed of his religious deeds.
He performs his prayers with more attention
towards God and in a higher spiritual state in the presence
of people. But when he is alone or when none is present his worship is
not performed with the same spiritual fervor. This is also one form of
hypocricy.
Many faithful men are affected by this form
of hypocricy. They must endeavor severly in order to be saved and purified
from such hypocricy. Because even if the majority of faithful worshippers
worship God in order to approach Him and obey His commands, not for materialistic
intentions, they are entangled with ambitiousness and like to be praised.
It is very hard to be saved and purified from these wicked ideas. The faithful
are not immune from these ideas when they worship. They may worship God
with more joy and in a higher spiritual
state in the presence of others in order to be praised and loved by the
faithful, but they lack that spiritual state when they worship alone.
It is obvious that such a spiritual state
is not achieved only for Him for if that was the case, it would be so every
time of worship particularly when alone. In fact this spiritual state is
reached due to one's materialistic desires.
5. When the major intention of one is to approach
God and obey His ordainances, but reveals his deeds to the people, either
implicitly or explicitly, after the performance of his worship in order
to reach worldly goals. This form of show off also creates obstacles in
the movement of the faithful towards God and draws one towards ostentation.
Muslims must always remember that worship
must only be performed for God and should one perform it for other intentions
his worship will become invalid and worthless.
The philosophy behind worship is to free oneself
from all strains and restrictions except God. To show off means the
enslavement of these restrictions and contradicts the philosophy
of worship. Therefore, if we intend to be real Muslims we must endeavour
to save and purify our-selves from all manifestations
of hypocricy and ostentation.
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