Chapter on Condemning Riya' and 'Ujb Together

Do I know whether the hadith is preserved or not? If it is preserved, then it has no valid basis except what we have mentioned, otherwise we would have abandoned the sunna (prophetic traditions) by [claiming] contradiction in it, and we would have departed from the consensus of the scholars.

And it is possible that he became aware of it after the deed, and his soul was [not] troubled by it, and he did not know why his joy was. So the Prophet informed him that his joy at that does not harm him, and that he has two rewards: a reward for his deed, and a reward for what appeared to the servants [of God] so that they might act in the likeness of his deed. When they emulate him, he is rewarded on their account. So the Prophet called him to the condition that his joy be for the reward he receives on their account, not for ostentation (riya').

Chapter on the Censure of Ostentation and Self-Admiration ('ujb)

I said: As for the hadith that Abu Musa relates from the Messenger of God, peace be upon him:

A Bedouin came to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, and said: "O Messenger of God, a man fights out of zealous courage, a man fights out of bravery, and a man fights so that his standing may be seen — which of these is in the way of God?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Whoever fights so that the word of God be the uppermost — he is in the way of God."

And we already know that every Muslim loves that the word of God be the uppermost.

He said: A group has interpreted this, and they claimed that this hadith causes no harm. That, in our view, is an error on their part, because the Book and the sunna indicate otherwise.

As for the Book: it has been related from Tawus and a number of the Successors (tabi'in) that a man said to the Prophet, peace be upon him — or he said: he gives charity — loving to be praised and rewarded. So the man who does acts of kindness [while loving praise] — the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not give him an answer until there was revealed:

«So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord.»

As for the six, Mu'adh reported from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "Indeed the least of riya' (ostentation) is a form of shirk (associating partners with God)."

And it is reported from Abu Hurayra from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "It will be said to the one who associated [partners] in his deed: 'Take your reward from the one for whom you performed it.'"

And it is reported from 'Ubada ibn al-Samit that he said: "Indeed God, exalted is His praise, says: 'I am the most self-sufficient of all partners from shirk (association). Whoever performed a deed for Me while associating another with Me therein — I abandon it to the one other than Me whom he called upon.'"

And 'Abd Allah [ibn Mas'ud] said: «Whoever emigrated seeking something, then it is his.»

And 'Ubada ibn al-Samit said: Indeed the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever went on a military expedition intending nothing but a hobbling-rope, then he shall have [only] what he intended."

And a man fought for the sake of a she-camel, so the Prophet ﷺ said: "The she-camel is his." And he said: "Deeds are only according to intentions, and every person shall have only what he intended."

And every Muslim loves to prevail — «even though the disbelievers detest it, the believers» [are victorious] — even if he were an ostentatious person (mura'in). Had this sect's interpretation been correct, he would never be ostentatious in a military expedition until it would become disbelief, because his love that the word of God be supreme — disbelief would be disbelief. But the reports followed one upon another contrary to what this sect interpreted.

And the questioner's objection would not constitute a proof for the one who deliberates, when he is asked about something that is not permissible to be for God, and he answered him with its opposite and with what is valid before God. So he said: "Whoever fights so that the word of God be supreme, then he is in the path of God." And he did not say: "Whoever intended what you asked about."

He said: He only said, «And let the word of God be the uppermost. So whoever fights for that sake» [cf. 9:40], then he fights in the way of God.

So He informed him that "in the way of God" is other than what you have enumerated. So make the fighting sincere (ikhlas) for the strengthening of Islam. And whoever claims a second meaning, then let him bring proof for it, and he shall not [find it] even with his utmost effort.

And the athar (transmitted reports) likewise are contrary to what you have interpreted. It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he said: When the angels descend when the two ranks meet, they record the people according to their stations: "So-and-so fights for sovereignty, and so-and-so fights for renown, and so-and-so fights seeking the Face of God" — and that one is the martyr.

And the saying of 'Umar, may God be pleased with him: "And another thing you say in your battles: 'So-and-so is a martyr' — yet perhaps he may have died [merely] filling the saddlebags of his mount with silver."

He said:

And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said when a man asked him about a man who fights in the way of God. He said:

"If you are killed in the way of God, patient, seeking reward, advancing and not retreating."

And one of his Companions was killed, and his Companions said of him: "Paradise is his." So the Prophet said: "Not so! His cloak" — meaning, "He intended it [i.e., worldly gain]."

And 'Ubada narrated from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that he said:

"Whoever goes on a military expedition intending nothing but a halter-rope, then he shall have [only] what he intended."

And the hadith on this matter is abundant.

So that is an error in interpretation, and most of the scholars hold that it is the strictest of hadith — when one does not place in the way of God except one who is sincere so that the word [of God] alone be uppermost, without joining to it the desire for anything else.

And even if this group's interpretation were as they claim, then showing off (riya') would be permissible, and it would neither invalidate the deed nor nullify it, because there is no Muslim who fights except that he also loves that the believers prevail and the disbelievers be routed — and so they would have made showing off in military expeditions permissible.

And even if it were also as they have interpreted, that would not be a proof regarding the rest of the deeds, because fighting in the way of God is on a basis other than what I have mentioned to you, O questioner.