Showing off

“Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to ‘Abbad ibn Kathir al-Basri in the Mosque, ‘Woe upon you, O ‘Abbad, you must never show off; whoever works for someone other than Allah, He will assign him to that for which he has…

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Allow your cause (Shi’a belief) to be just for the sake of Allah and do not assign it to people; whatever is for the sake of Allah is for Allah, and what is for people is unable to…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Showing off is considering things as partners of Allah. Whoever works for people, his rewards are upon the people and whoever works for Allah, his reward is before Allah.’”

the Imam about the words of the Almighty that ‘whosoever is desirous of meeting his Creator, he should perform virtuous deeds and should not ascribe any partner to God in his worship,’ (18:110) seeking an explanation.…

“Once al-Rida (a.s.) said to me, ‘Woe upon you, O ibn ‘Arafah, you must work without showing off and publicity; those who work for anyone other than Allah, He assigns him to whomever he has worked. Woe upon you, whatever…

“Once I was having dinner with Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and he read this verse of the Holy Quran: ‘In fact, people are well-aware of their own soul (75:14) even though they make excuses.’ (75:15) The Imam said, ‘O abu Hafs,…

“The Holy Prophet has said, ‘The angel ascends with the good deeds of a servant (of Allah) with happiness and joy and Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will say, ‘Keep them along with the records of evil people;…

A showoff has three signs: he is very active when people are present, very lazy when he is alone and he loves to be praised in all matters.’”

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, “I am the best associate (in a deal). Whoever associates others with Me in a deed that he has done, I will not accept it; I accept…

“Whoever shows off to people an act that Allah loves and opposes Allah with what He dislikes (showoff), he will find Allah at war with him.”

“Why should one of you publicize a good deed and hide an evil one? Can he not find in his own-self that it is not right? Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, ‘In fact, human beings are well aware of their…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) said, ‘Whenever a servant (of Allah) does a good deed secretly, not very long thereafter Allah uncovers for him good rewards. Whenever a servant (of Allah) does an evil deed secretly, very shortly…

“Whoever wants Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, with a small deed Allah uncovers for him a reward bigger than what he wanted. Whoever wants people with a great deal of deeds, physical effort, and with, nightly vigil,…

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘There will come a time when people will be filthy from the inside but good looking from the outside due to worldly greed. They will not have any intention of seeking the rewards with…

“Once I was having dinner with Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and he read this verse of the Holy Quran: ‘In fact, people are well aware of their own soul (75:14) even though they make excuses.’ (75:15) The Imam said, ‘O abu Hafs,…

"Maintaining the deed is more difficult than performing it." It was asked, "What is maintaining the deed?" He replied: "A man maintains a connection or spends an expenditure for the sake of Allah alone, with no partners.…

“Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) has said, ‘Be concerned and worried about (your relation with) Allah, a worry in which there are no excuses. Perform good deeds without showing off or publicity; Allah assigns…

“Once I asked abu Ja’far (a.s.) ‘What do you say about a man who does a good deed while a human being sees him and it makes him happy?’ The Imam said, ‘There is no offense in it. There is no one who does not love people…