Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (6/611)

Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-ṢāliḥīnIbn al-'Uthaymin

of date-palm trunks—that is, they assumed he meant the Dajjāl was in Madinah and had already arrived, whereas the reality was otherwise. The Prophet ﷺ sensed this in them and therefore asked, and they replied, “You mentioned the Dajjāl this morning, lowering and raising your voice about him, so we thought he was among the date palms.” He said, “What I fear for you more than the Dajjāl is something else”—meaning that he dreaded for them a danger even graver than the Dajjāl.

One such danger is ostentation (riyāʾ). It is authentically reported that he ﷺ said, “The thing I fear most for you is the lesser shirk.” When he was asked about it, he answered, “It is ostentation: when a person shows off in his acts of worship—praying so people will notice, giving charity so people will notice, displaying good manners so people will notice….”

This is ostentation, and we seek refuge in Allah from it. The ostentatious person’s deeds are void, and riyāʾ is one of the hallmarks of the hypocrites, as Allah the Exalted says: “The hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them. When they rise for prayer, they rise reluctantly, showing off to the people, and they remember Allah only a little” (Qur’an 4:142).

Know, O show-off, that Allah will soon disgrace you, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever makes a show, Allah will make a show of him”—meaning He will expose his ostentation and faults before others—“and whoever seeks to be heard of, Allah will make him heard of.”

He ﷺ then said, “If he (the Dajjāl) comes out while I am among you, I will dispute with him on your behalf,” that is, if the Dajjāl were to appear while I am present, I would suffice you against him. “But if he comes out when I am no longer among you, then each person will have to contend on his own, and Allah is my successor over every believer.” Thus he entrusted his Lord, mighty and majestic, to aid the believers and shield them from the trials of the Dajjāl, for there is no tribulation between the creation of Adam and the coming of the Hour more severe than that one.

We ask Allah to protect us and you from his trial. Allah is the One who grants success. (This concludes the commentary on the previous hadith.)

النخل يعني ظنوا أنه ذكر في المدينة وأنه قد جاء ولكن الأمر لم يكن كذلك ثم إن النبي ﷺ عرف ذلك فيهم فسألهم فقالوا إنك ذكرت الدجال الغداة وخفضت فيه ورفعت فظننا أنه في النخل فقال غير الدجال أخوفني عليكم يعني أخاف عليكم شيئا أشد من الدجال ومن ذلك الرياء حيث ثبت عنه ﷺ أنه قال أخوف ما أخاف عليكم الشرك الأصغر فسئل عنه فقال الرياء أن الإنسان يرائي في عباداته يصلي لأجل الناس يتصدق لأجل الناس يحسن الخلق لأجل الناس.. فهذا رياء والعياذ بالله والمرائي حابط عمله والرياء من صفات المنافقين كما قال الله ﵎ ﴿إن المنافقين يخادعون الله وهو خادعهم وإذا قاموا إلى الصلاة قاموا كسالى يراءون الناس ولا يذكرون الله إلا قليلا﴾ واعلم أيها المرائي أن الله سيفضحك عن قرب لأن النبي ﷺ قال من راءى راءى الله به يعني أظهر مراءاته وعيوبه عند الناس ومن سمع سمع الله به ثم قال ﷺ إن يخرج وأنا فيكم فأنا حجيجه دونكم يعني لو خرج الدجال وأنا موجود فأنا أكفيكم إياه وإن يخرج يعني وليس فيهم فامرؤ حجيج نفسه يعني كل إنسان يحاج عن نفسه والله خليفتي على كل مؤمن فاستخلف ربه ﷿ أن يكون مؤيدا للمؤمنين واقيا لهم من فتن الدجال الذي ليس بين خلق آدم وقيام الساعة فتنة أشد منها نسأل الله أن يقينا وإياكم فتنته والله الموفق تابع الحديث السابق.