What is the ruling on worship that is combined with Riya (To perform righteous deeds with the intention of being seen and praised by people.)?
Answer: All praise is due to Allaah. We seek His bIessings on Muhammad. The combination of Riya (with acts of worship) is in three forms:
1. That the primary motive behind the worship is to be seen by the people, such as one who prays to be seen by the people, in order to be praised by them for his prayers and this invalidates the act of worship.
2. That he combines (another motive) for the worship during the act of worship. Meaning that his intention at the beginning of the act of worship is to make it sincerely and purely for Allaah, then Riya occurs during the act of worship - and this act of worship must fall within one of two cases:
The First Case: That the start of the act of worship is not connected to the end of it, so that the start is correct at any rate, while the end of it is invalid. An example of this is a man who has hundred Riyals and wishes to give it in charity, so he gives fifty Riyals of it in charity sincerely for Allaah, then he is afflicted by Riya when giving the remaining fifty, so the first fifty is a correct and accepted charity, while the remaining fifty is an invalid charity, due to the mixing of Riya with it.
The Second Case: That the beginning of the act of worship is connected to the end of it in that case, the person must fall within one of two categories:
1.That he resist the Riya and he is not at ease with it, rather he opposes It and hates It. In that case there is no effect from It, according to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). AIIaah has forgiven my follower the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as Iong as such thoughts are not put into act nor uttered (Bukhaari).
2. That he is at ease with this Riya and he does not resist it; in that case, the whole of his act of worship is invalid, because the beginning of it is connected to the end of it. An example of that would be that he begins his prayer with the intention of it being purely and sincerely for Allaah, then he is afflicted by Riya in the second Rakah, so all of his prayer is invalidated, since the first part of it was connected to the end of it.
The Third case: That the Riya occurs after the end of does not affect it, nor does it invalidate it, because it was completed correctly, so it is not impaired by the occurrence of Riya after that And it is not Riya for a person to be happy due to the people knowing of his worship, because that only occurs after the completion of the act of worship. Nor is it Riya for a person to be happy that he has performed an act of obedience, because that is a proof of his faith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Whoever was happy at his good deeds and saddened by his sins, he is a believe (Tirmidhi). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about this and he said: "It is glad tidings for a believer" (Muslim).
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited