Style over Substance: How cool is that?
by Umm Rashid

What are the signs that a person is seeking to build an ‘image’ instead of developing true faith by their deeds?


“Linguistically riyaa comes from the root “ra’aa” which means to see, to behold, to view. The derived word 'riya' means "eye-service, hypocrisy, dissimulation; dissemblance." From a shariah point of view, it means “to perform acts which are pleasing to Allah, with the intention of pleasing other than Allah.”
['Riya: The Hidden Shirk', Yasir Qadhi]

The primary cause of riyaa is a weakness in faith (iman). When a person does not have strong faith in Allah, he will prefer the admiration of people over the pleasure of Allah.

There are three symptoms that are indicative of riya, and it is essential that a believer avoid all of them.

The Love of Praise

A hadith mentions the first three people being thrown into hellfire -- the scholar (who taught for fame), the martyr (who fought for fame), and the person who gave his money in charity (so people would say he is generous). All three of these people desired the pleasure of people over the pleasure of Allah. The person who desires the praise of people must feel some pride in himself, for he feels himself worthy of being praised. There is a danger, therefore, of him becoming arrogant and boastful.

Fear of Criticism: No-one Likes to be Criticised

The dislike of criticism regarding religious practices may be divided into two categories:

The first category is that of a person who neglects a commandment of Allah in order to avoid the criticism of his peers. However, the true believers are described in the Qur’an as follows: "...They do not fear the criticism of those who criticise. And this is the blessing of Allah; He gives it to whomsoever He wishes. Verily, Allah is Self-Sufficient, all Knowing. "
[surah al-Ma`idah :54]

The second category is that of a person who obeys certain commandments of Islam, not for the sake of Allah, but because he fears people will look down upon him and criticise him if he does not do it. For example, a man may make his formal prayers in the mosque because he does not want people to criticise him for praying at home, or to think that he is not praying at all.

Greed for People’s Possessions

If a person covets what other people possess -- whether it is rank, money or power, then he will wish them to envy him similarly. For example, if he is jealous of a certain person’s position in society, he will try by every possible means to attain the same position. Such desires lead people to spend their lives putting on a show for other people so that they will admire their rank, money, or power.”

How Does one go About Seeking Sincerity?


Ibn-al Qayyim al Jawziyyah (rahimullah) says: “If your soul informs you to quest for Ikhlas, turn first towards your yearning and slaughter it with a knife [in a state] of desperation. Then turn [in a state of] asceticism upon praise and commendation… If your quest in slaughtering the yearning, and [the acquisition of] asceticism [against] praise and commendation is successful, your [journey] shall be facilitated in your [quest] for Ikhlas.”

Tameem ad-Dari (radiAllahu anhu) said: the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said thrice (to lay stress): The Deen is naseehah (sincerity and sincere advice)." We said: To whom? He said: "To Allah, His Book, His Messenger and to the leaders of the Muslims and the general people."
[sahih Muslim]

Imam an-Nawawi (rahimullah) has a lengthy commentary on this hadith in Sharh Sahih Muslim, in which he says:
“Sincerity to Allah means having faith in Him… avoiding disobedience to Him, to love for His sake and to hate for His sake, to keep good relations with those that obey Him and to have enmity with those that disobey Him. To fight jihad with those who disbelieve in Him. To recognise His favours and to give thanks to Him for them. To have sincerity in all affairs. To call to everything that we have mentioned, and to encourage it. To show kindness to all the people, all those whom you are able to, in this call.”
“..sincerity to the general Muslims … is to guide them to what is beneficial for them, both in the Hereafter and this life. To keep harm away from them, to teach them that which they are ignorant of regarding the Deen... to help them by words and actions, to hide their faults and to fulfill their needs and wants; to remove that which is harmful for them and to bring that which is of benefit to them; enjoin them with good and forbid them from evil, with gentleness, sincerity and compassion for them.

Having respect for their elderly and mercy for their young. To give them good admonition, not acting deceitfully towards them. To love the good things for them, which he would love for himself. To hate the bad things for them, which he would hate for himself. To protect their wealth and reputation and encourage and advise them to take on the character of all that we have mentioned, form all the types of sincerity...”


If you skipped the last three paragraphs, I urge you to scroll up and read them slowly and carefully – they contain the prescription to our problems as an Ummah.

As Muslims, our main concern is not to score points over each other -- it is to help each other gain Allah’s pleasure.

As Muslims, our job in this world is to establish the Truth -- how can we presume to do that when we fail to be honest in our innermost motives?

How can we assume vicegerency over the Earth when we fail to be sincere slaves to our Lord; when we are concerned with outward appearances more than the state of our soul?

Allahumma ij'al batinana khayran min dhahirina; wa-ija'al dhahirana khayran. Ameen.

O Allah! Make the hidden aspects of our personality better than our outer persona; and make our appearance good. Ameen.