Showing Off

Pearl of Wisdom

It is in the tradition recounting the Prophet's Ascension to the Heavens (al-mi'raj) that Allah addresses the Prophet (SAWA) saying, ?O A mad, Verily the good people and the people worthy of a good Hereafter have gentle countenances and much modesty, they possess little foolishness, they are of much benefit and they are seldom deceptive. People are at ease when with them whereas their souls are exhausted on account of them. Their words are balanced, they take account of their souls and exhaust them [through making them perform good]. Their eyes sleep but their hearts do not, their eyes weep and their hearts are remembering. When people are recorded as being neglectful, they are recorded amongst the remembering ones ... Nothing preoccupies them from Allah for a split second. They do not desire much food, neither wish to speak much nor have many clothes. According to them, people are dead and Allah is the Living One, the All-Sustainer.'

Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa [sawa]

Ibid. v. 77, p. 24, no. 6

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Library » The Lantern of the Path » Showing Off

Showing Off

Do not show off your actions to someone who neither gives life nor causes death, and who cannot take away from you your burdens. Showing off is a tree whose only fruit is hidden association of other gods with Allah, and its root is hypocrisy. The vain one will be told on the Day of Judgement; 'Take what you consider to be the reward of your actions from those you took as your partners with Me. Look to those whom you worshipped and called on, from whom you entertained hopes and whom you feared. And know that you cannot conceal anything inside of you from Allah: you will be deceived by yourself.'

Allah said,

They desire to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. (2:9)

Showing off most frequently occurs in the way people glance at others, speak, eat, drink, arrive somewhere, sit with others, dress, laugh, and in the way they perform prayers, pilgrimage, jihad, recitation of the Qur'an, and all outward acts of devotion.

However, he who is sincere towards Allah, who fears Him in his heart, and who sees himself as lacking even after he has exerted himself with every effort, will find that Allah is contented with him as a result, and he will be among those whom one expects to be free from showing off and hypocrisy, provided he continues to be in that state.

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