Whoever maintains a prescribed routine of worship, such as the forenoon prayer, night prayer, or another practice, should perform it wherever he is. He should not abandon his prescribed routine merely because he is among people, if Allah knows in his heart that he performs it privately for His sake, while striving to keep it free from showing off and whatever undermines sincerity.

For this reason, al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyād said:

“Abandoning a deed for people's sake is showing off, and performing it for people's sake is associating partners with Allah.”

Performing it where he earns the livelihood that helps him worship Allah is better for him than performing it somewhere that disrupts his livelihood and consequently preoccupies his heart. The more a prayer allows the heart to be fully attentive and free from distracting whispers, the more complete it is.

If someone forbids a prescribed act merely on the claim that it constitutes showing off, his prohibition is to be rejected on several grounds:

First: Prescribed acts are not to be forbidden for fear of showing off. Rather, people are to be instructed to perform them and to be sincere in doing so. When we see someone performing them, we let him continue, even if we are certain that he is showing off. Allah says of the hypocrites:

“Indeed, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He deceives them. When they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing off before people and remembering Allah only a little.”

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Muslims allowed these people to continue their outward religious observances, even though they were showing off, and did not forbid their outward practice, because the harm in abandoning the outward display of