and he may stand absolutely motionless, his gaze fixed on the spot where he will prostrate—yet that prayer is rejected. Why? Because he has set up someone alongside Allah: he is praying for Allah and for the people. Allah is utterly free of any need for his worship, so He will not accept it.
The same applies to a man who gives charity: he goes round to the poor, handing them money, but only to impress the onlookers so they will say, “So-and-so—by Allah, what a generous, noble man!” Such charity, too, is not accepted from him, even if he were to exhaust all his wealth. Allah says, “I am the partner most free of need from shirk. Whoever performs a deed in which he associates another with Me, I abandon him and his act of shirk.” Apply this rule to every deed.
If ostentation (riya’) intrudes after a person has begun an act sincerely—imagine someone who starts the prayer with a pure heart and then feels a trace of showing off—so long as he resists it, it does him no harm. Satan approaches the worshipper precisely in the devotions he performs sincerely, trying to corrupt them with ostentation. This, however, is harmless if the believer pushes it away. He must not cower before Satan’s whispers; rather, he should stand firm and continue his worship. He should not say, “I feel riya’; I fear my prayer is invalid,” and stop. On the contrary, he should persevere, for when you drive Satan away he withdraws—the evil whisperer who slinks back and turns his back as soon as he sees determination. Show greater resolve, pay him no heed, and he cannot harm you.
But if riya’ arises after one has begun the prayer sincerely for Allah, and he yields to it and persists—Allah’s refuge is sought—the whole prayer is nullified, from start to finish. Once the end of the prayer is invalid, its beginning is invalid as well.
So beware—beware of riya’, and equally beware of abandoning worship out of fear of riya’. Satan sometimes whispers to a person, “Don’t stand to pray, don’t recite; that would be showing off. Don’t maintain composure and dignity; that too is ostentation.” Why does he say this? Only to turn the servant away from that righteous act. We must not give Satan any opening that would allow him to step forward and act.