Ostentation and the Path

Ostentation [riya'] is forbidden, since He [God] has said (Exalted is He): Woe to those who pray and are distracted from their prayers, who are showing off. [107:4-6] And: So let the one who hopes to meet his Lord do good works and empartner none to his Lord in worship. [18:110]

And the Prophet has said, may God's blessings and peace be upon him: "That which I fear most for you is the lesser idolatory [al-shirk al-asghar]." "What is the lesser idolatory?" they asked, and he replied: "Ostentation."

And God the Exalted, at the time of requiting His servants for their works, will say: "Go to those you showed off for in the world; see if you will find your reward with them!"

Know that the ostentatious person doubtless wishes to have a high-ranking place in the hearts of the people, and this is what makes him behave thus. As for the seeker of the path to the Real, he must strive to lower his rank in the hearts of others.

Far removed, therefore, are the ostentatious from the path of the Real.

From the book:
The Degrees of the Soul : Spiritual Stations on the Sufi Path
Shaykh Abd al-Khaliq al-Shabrawi
trans. Mustafa al-Badawi.



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