Page 167 - The Importance of the Ahl Al-Sunnah

ADNAN OKTAR

strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his
tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even)
then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the
least of faith.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0079)

Damages Caused by Polytheism (shirk) and
Insincerity (riya’)
Insincerity means to seek people’s approval rather than
Allah’s (swt) good pleasure in acts of worship and beneficence.
This seriously compromises the purity of the deeds per-
formed. Only when worship and pious deeds are performed
solely for the approval of Allah (swt), they will be acceptable as
a true worship and beneficence. If one engages in apparently
religious acts for reasons other than the desire to please Allah
(swt), then these deeds may not be acceptable; they may even
be a hidden form of polytheism (shirk). In the Qur’an, it is stat-
ed that insincerity is a portent for hypocrisy:
The hypocrites think they deceive Allah, but He is
deceiving them. When they get up to pray, they get
up lazily, showing off to people, and only remember-
ing Allah a very little. (Surat an-Nisa’, 142)
The Messenger of Allah (saas) said:
“I warn you against the lesser polytheism.” The compan-
ions asked: “What is lesser polytheism, Messenger of
Allah?” He replied: “Showing off. On the day when Allah
will reward people for their deeds, He will tell them, ‘Go
to those people for whose attention and praise you did
these deeds and see whether they will reward you.’”
(Sahih Muslim and Ahmad)
“The most dreadful thing which I fear about my ummah is
that they will commit the crime of ascribing partners to

165