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Covenant 265
A
general covenant has been taken from us by Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him
peace) that we, out of fear of Allah’s chastisement (Exalted and Sublime is He), abstain from
showing off to anyone in our acts of worship, whether that ostentation is during the act or after
it, such as one of us—and Allah’s refuge is sought!—liking to have the effects of obedience appear visible
on his person, like having light shine on his face, or having a good repute for the future, or having a
prostration mark on his forehead like a goat’s knee, or like having many people offer the funeral prayer over
him (for insincere reasons), or enjoying to hear people say to him as he passes by with his face is beaming
with light “Give us something for the sake of Allah, O Master! Grant us succor, O Shaykh” and similar
motives, all of which signal ostentation even if they do not accompany the act of worship.
I was once sitting with my master ‘Ali al-Khawwas (may Allah have mercy upon him) as he was weaving
[something] with strips of palm leaves. A person passed by who was from the worshippers [muta’abbidin] that
would pray through the night and fast through the day, and light was beaming from his face. I said to my
master, “Look at the magnificent light on that man’s face!” The Shaykh raised his head upwards and said,
“O Allah, protect us from evil with what You wish and how You wish. Verily You have power over
whatever You will!” I asked him, “Why [do you say that]?” He replied, “Dear son, when Allah wants good
for a servant, He places his light within his heart so he can recognize the good and evil that he has done or
left undone, and He makes his face like that of ordinary people. But when Allah wants evil for a servant,
He takes the light in his heart and moves it to his face, and empties his inward of light and makes it darkened
Imam Muslim and al-Tirmidhi and others narrated in a raised [marfu’] tradition: “The first people against
whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had learned knowledge
and taught it [to others] and recited the Quran. He will be brought and Allah Most High will make known
to him His favors, which he will acknowledge, and then Allah Most High will ask him, ‘What did you do
with them?’ The man will reply, ‘I learned knowledge and taught it [to others] and recited the Quran for
Your sake!’ The Real, Exalted is He, will say, ‘You have lied! You only learned so that it might be said “So-
Ibn Khuzayma recorded a raised tradition in his rigorously authenticated collection: “Verily, Allah Most
High shall say to the reciter [of the Quran] on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Did I not teach you the Quran
which I revealed upon My Emissary?’ The man will say, ‘Indeed my Lord.’ Allah Most High will then say,
‘So how have you practiced what you learned?’ Then man will say, ‘I would stand in prayer while reciting it
during the day and the night.’ Allah (Exalted and Sublime is He) will say, ‘You have lied!’ and the angels
will say to him, ‘You have lied!’ Then Allah (Exalted and Sublime is He) will say, ‘Rather, you [recited] so
that it may be said “So-and-so is a reciter,” and thus it was said.’ This person shall be the first of those to
kindle the Hellfire.”
Imam Ahmad and others recorded a raised tradition that says: “Whosoever of this nation does a work of
the Afterlife for the sake of this world, he will have no portion of the Hereafter.”
Al-Tabarani and others recorded a raised tradition that says: “Whosoever adorns himself with a deed of
the Hereafter though he neither wants nor seeks the Hereafter [with it], he shall be cursed in the heavens
and in the earth.”
Al-Tirmidhi and others recorded a raised tradition that says: “In the final days (Akhir al-Zaman) there shall
appear men who acquire the world by means of the religion. In front of the people they will don
garments of gentility, and their tongues will be sweeter than honey, but their hearts will be those of
wolves. Allah (Exalted and Sublime is He) will say, ‘Do they delude in My name, and do they act
haughtily before Me? I swear by My Countenance, I will surely send a tribulation against them that
will leave the forbearing among them bewildered!”
Al-Tabarani recorded a raised tradition that says: “Whosoever seeks the lower world with an action of
the Hereafter, Allah will blot out his face, obliterate his mention, and record his name in the register
of the denizens of the Hellfire.”
Imam Ahmad recorded with a good chain of transmission, as did Ibn Abi al-Dunya and al-Bayhaqi in
a raised tradition: “That which I fear most for you is minor association [al-shirk al-asghar].” The
Companions asked, “What is minor association?” The Prophet replied, “It is ostentation [riya’]. Allah
(Exalted and Sublime is He) will say when He recompenses people for their deeds, ‘Go to those for
whose sake you showed off in the world and see if you find any reward with them!’”
Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban (in his rigorously authenticated collection), and al-Bayhaqi all
recorded a raised tradition that says: “When Allah assembles the first and the last on the Day of
Resurrection for a day in which there is no doubt, a caller will call out, ‘Whosoever has associated a
partner with Allah in his good deeds, let him seek his reward with that person, for Allah is the most
self-sufficient of all partners when it comes to association [shirk].’” . . .