20 Ways to Show Off
By Sheikh Salman b. Fahd al-Oadah
General Supervisor of the
IslamToday Website
Page
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7
INTRODUCTION
Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His forgiveness, and turn
to Him in repentance. We seek refuge with Him from the evils of
our souls and the evils of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none
can misguide, and whomever is led astray, none can guide except
Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone
without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant
and Messenger.
Allah created the human being and exalted him above all other
creatures. First of all, He gave him the most perfect physical
form. Allah says: “Truly, We have created the human being in
the best of forms.” [Sûrah al-Tîn: 4] Nothing in Creation
comes close to the human being in the perfection and harmony of
its form and the excellence of the parts of its body.
Then Allah exalted the human being with something far greater,
something that clearly sets him apart from all other things in
existence. He graced him with the gift of reason and the honor of
being directly accountable to his Lord. Hence, Allah speaks to us
directly in the Qur’ân, saying: “O human being!” Allah is
not addressing merely our bodies, but our minds and souls. This
is why a person who is insane is not held accountable in Islamic
Law. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The pen has
been lifted from three: a sleeping person until he awakens, a
small child until he matures, and an insane person until he comes
to his senses.”1
It
is clear to all sensible people that the gifts of reason and true
humanity, and the honor of direct accountability before Allah are
the greatest blessings that Allah has bestowed upon mankind.
Allah, from above the seven heavens, calls out to us and
addresses us directly. Surpassing all of these honors is the fact
that Allah chose His Messengers from our kind. Allah says:
“Allah did confer a great favor on the believers when He sent
among them a Messenger from among themselves.” [Sûrah Âl `Imrân:
164]
The greatest honor that Allah has conferred upon humanity is our
direct accountability to Him, and the highest expression of this
accountability is to worship Allah with true sincerity and
devotion. Therefore, we shall discuss in this short treatise a
great threat to that sincerity. This threat is the human tendency
to show off.
Our discussion will be divided into two chapters:
1. The first chapter will discuss inward and outward aspects of
worship.
2. The second chapter will discuss the problem of showing off and
investigate twenty ways that this ignoble quality can creep up on
a person.
I
ask Allah to bless us to be able to avoid this problem and save
us from our tendency to show off. I ask him to make this short
treatise beneficial to the people. Truly Allah is All-Hearing,
All-Seeing.
CHAPTER ONE
Inward and Outward Aspects of Worship
Allah created the human being, his most noble creation, to
worship Him. Allah says: “I did not create the Jinn and
humanity except to worship Me.” [Sûrah al-Dhâriyât : 56]
Worship is any lawful activity by which a person seeks Allah’s
pleasure. It may be an act of formal worship that is only done
for Allah’s sake and never for worldly gain, like the prescribed
prayers, the fast, payment of alms, or the pilgrimage. It may
also be a lawful, mundane act like engaging in business,
agriculture, manufactur e, study, or employment, if such an
activity is pursued sincerely, honorably, in the best manner, and
with the hope of attaining Allah’s pleasure. In this way, the
most mundane acts can earn Allah’s reward.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “There is the reward
of giving charity when you approach your wives.”
The Companions were startled by this and said: “O Messenger of
Allah! When one of us fulfills his desires, he receives a reward
for it?’
The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “Can you see that
if you approached a woman in a forbidden manner, you would be
punished for it? Likewise, when you approach your wife in a
lawful manner, you receive a reward for it.”
Outward Aspects of Worship
Every limb of the body has some act of worship to perform. Let us
take the eyes as an example. The eyes worship Allah by looking at
what they are commanded to look at. Allah says:
“Will they not look at the kingdom of the heavens and the
Earth.” [Sûrah al-A`râf : 185]
“Say: Travel through the Earth and look upon what was the end
of those who rejected faith.” [Sûrah al-An`âm: 11]
Using the gift of sight can be an act of worship. It is worship
to look upon the Creation of Allah and marvel at its perfection.
It is worship to use one’s eyes to read and acquire knowledge.
The ears also have their designated acts of worship. They are
used to listen to what pleases Allah, like the recitation of the
Qur’ân, the remembrance of His name, and the acquisition of
knowledge. This is why Allah says: “Surely the hearing, the
sight, the heart, all of these shall be questioned.” [Sûrah
al-Isrâ’: 36]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) has told us that Allah says:
“My servant continues to come closer to me with voluntary acts
of worship until I love him, and if I love him, I become his
hearing by which he hears, and his sight by which he sees.”2
– meaning that he hears and sees only what is pleasing to Allah.
The hands have their worship to do as well. They give in charity
and engage in numerous good works. They are used for the
prevention of evil. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“Whoever amongst you sees something wrong being done, he should
change it with his hands. If he cannot do that, then with his
tongue. If he cannot do that, then at least in his heart, and
this is the weakest of faith.”3
Greeting ones brethren and shaking hands with them is worship,
since this wipes away sins and purifies the heart.
The same can be said for all physical exertions made for the sake
of Allah, like fighting to defend the faith against the enemies
of Islam.
A
believing woman is no different than a man in this respect. Her
acts of worship are by her own hands. We can add to what we have
already mentioned her taking care of her children and all the
work that she does in the home. This also falls under obedience
to Allah and is a means of attaining nearness to Him as well as a
way of pleasing her husband.
Even the feet have there share of worship designated to them.
With them, the worshipper walks to the daily prayers at the
mosque and the Friday prayer. Allah says: “Verily We shall
give life to the dead and We shall record that which they send
forward and the traces they leave behind.” [Sûrah YâSîn: 12]
When the tribe of Banû Salamah wished to relocate in order to be
closer to the Mosque, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told them
to stay at their present homes, explaining to them that every
step they take while walking to the mosque is recorded with
Allah, saying: “Your homes record the traces you leave
behind.”4
And Allah describes in the Qur’ân how this recording takes place
“...in a Book wherein my Lord never errs nor forgets.” [Sûrah
TâHâ: 52]
Allah also says: “It is He who made the Earth traversable, so
walk through its tracts…” [Sûrah al-Mulk: 15] Traversing the
Earth to ponder over the lessons to be found therein is worship
which the feet can engage in.
Just as the devotions of the limbs are mentioned, so are their
sins. The sin of the eyes is for them to gaze upon forbidden
things. The sin of the ears is for them to listen to backbiting,
slander, calumny, curses, music, and whatever else displeases
Allah. The sin of the tongue is for it to utter lies, to
backbite, slander, and curse, and to ridicule the believers. The
sin of the hands is for them to steal, abuse others, and
transgress against the Muslims. The sin of the feet is for them
to walk towards sin, whether it be in the home, the marketplace,
or a foreign land. All of these are sins of the limbs.
Look how Ma`n b. `Aws boasts in verse how he has safeguarded his
limbs from sin, neither stretching his hands toward sin, nor
letting his feet carry him towards disobeying Allah:
Upon your life! I never stretched my hand towards a dubious
affair,
Nor have my feet ever carried me towards denigration.
Neither has my hearing nor my sight guided me there,
Nor have my thoughts or ideas brought me hither.
I know that no affliction has ever befallen me
That has not afflicted a young man in times gone by
Footnotes:
1 Musnad Ahmad (24173, 24182, 24590). Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4398).
Sunan al-Nasâ’î (3432). Ibn Mâjah (2041). These narrations are
all from `Â’ishah, and there are other chains of transmission
from other Companions. The hadîth is authentic (sahîh).
2 Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6502).
3 Sahîh Muslim (49).
4 Sahîh Muslim (665).