Insincerity ruins the reward of good deeds
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned the ummah against one of the most dangerous threats to their deeds.
قال رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلم: “إنَّ أخْوَفَ ما أخافُ عليكم الشِّركُ الأصْغَرُ، قالوا: وما الشِّركُ الأصْغَرُ يا رسولَ اللهِ؟ قال: الرِّياءُ؛ يقولُ اللهُ عزَّ وجلَّ لهم يومَ القِيامةِ إذا جُزِيَ الناسُ بأعمالِهم: اذْهَبوا إلى الذين كنتُم تُراؤون في الدُّنيا، فانظُروا هل تَجِدون عِندَهُم جزاءً؟!”. مسند أحمد
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “What I fear most for you is the minor shirk.” They asked, “What is the minor shirk, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “It is showing off (riya’); on the Day of Judgment, when people are rewarded for their deeds, Allah will say to those who did so: ‘Go to those you were trying to impress in the world and see if you can find any reward with them!'” (Musnad Ahmad)
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: ” قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى: أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنْ الشِّرْكِ؛ مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا أَشْرَكَ مَعِي غَيْرِي، تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ”
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
Allah (glorified and exalted be He) said: “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus, he who does an action for someone else’s sake as well as Mine I’ll leave him to his associating partners with Me”. (Muslim and Ibn Majah)
Showing off
Riya ”رياء” is an Arabic term that refers to the act of showing off or performing an action for the sake of appearances, and to impress others rather than for the sake of Allah or out of genuine sincerity. It is considered a form of hypocrisy and nullifies the reward of good deeds.
Major shirk is to worship someone besides Allah. This is clear and obvious. But in this hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was warning his ummah about something less clear, which is minor shirk, as it is less perceptible.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) could have simply said that the thing he feared most for his ummah was riya (showing off) and left it at that. But he didn’t. Instead, he used a much stronger term – he called it minor shirk. This wasn’t a casual choice of words. By describing riya in this way, he was warning us that such behaviour places a person dangerously close to shirk, which is the gravest sin in Islam. Why did he say this? Because riya turns acts of worship meant for Allah into performances for people. It subtly undermines the very essence of tawheed (oneness of Allah), and that’s why the Prophet (peace be upon him) treated it with such seriousness.
He classified riya as doing things with the wrong intention, rather than seeking Allah’s reward. Why did he classify it as minor shirk? And why did he fear it for his ummah? Because it ruins your deeds. Everything we say and do is recorded in our books, which will be weighed in the scales on the Day of Judgement. According to the quality of our deeds, we will receive our grade sheet. However, what appears to be a good thing on the surface, may not be good when you check it on the scales. All our deeds will be checked by Allah Almighty.
A deed that appeared good to other’s eyes, may be rotten inside. Allah is the one who knows its reality. Some people will come with mountains of good deeds, but their deeds will be thrown in the bin. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) warned the ummah against riya, because it ruins your reward on the Day of Judgement.
It is very easy to slip into riya. The core of an accepted deed is that it has to be in line with the right intention and performed in line with prophetic guidance. If it is not carried out with the right intention or in compliance with the sunnah and prophetic guidance, then the deed is not accepted by Allah. You have to combine these elements to get full marks.
If you deliberately act with the wrong intention, the sin is worse. Whilst a deed that is not carried out in compliance with the sunnah, can be rectified, if the intention was wrong, you can’t rectify it.
Allah will tell those who did their deeds out of riya to go and get their reward from those whose approval they sought. That is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) is teaching us to have sincerity when we do our deeds.
Unfortunately we see a lot of riya on a daily basis. Ask yourself did you do the deed to impress someone? Or genuinely for the sake of Allah? If it was not for Him, then seek His forgiveness.
At the end of the day, it is only one approval that matters, which will make or break our akhirah. Check your intention: are you pleasing Allah or pleasing people?
If you are siding with falsehood, then why are you doing it? Is it to impress others and get their approval? Is it because you do not wish to lose sales or customers? This is classified as riya and is bordering on shirk and will impact your akhirah.
Riya that leads to bloodshed
In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: “لا يزال المؤمن في فسحة من دينه ما لم يصب دمًا حرامًا” (رواه البخاري)
“The believer remains within the scope of his religion as long as he does not shed blood unlawfully.” (Bukhari)
Sometimes an action which has been done out of riya might lead to blood being shed, as we see in Gaza today. Although the hadith is saying the believer remains within the scope of his religion, it is also saying that the human stays within the scope of his humanity as long as he is not directly or indirectly the cause of blood being shed.
Starving people to death is haram. Killing innocent people is haram. So, why are our countries siding with falsehood? Because they want approval – not from Allah, but from others leaders to make their countries run, and to pay off their debts.
Their intention is not Allah’s pleasure, but people’s approval and this will wreck their akhirah. Wait and see. The Day of Judgement is not far off. On that day, no one can return and change what they did.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wanted justice, fairness and peace, but unfortunately what we are seeing atrocities on a daily basis that are beyond comprehension.
When will the bloodshed in Gaza end? Our government is not doing anything to stop this. Muslim leaders are complacent. They don’t care. The international community is silent. Children’s rights and animal rights don’t seem to apply when it comes to Gaza. What is the message being sent out? There is no law above power. Might is right. Laws are applied selectively.
We need to raise our voices. We need to say enough is enough! This genocide has gone on for more than 17 months – lives lost, people injured or killed. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) warned the ummah about riya. If you lose direction, you will lose your akhirah.
We ask Allah to keep us on the straight path and enable us to spread the truth. Ameen.
Based on the Khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim 2nd May 2025.