The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said:
The thing I fear for you the most is ash-Shirk al-Asghar (minor shirk).
The companions asked “Oh! messenger of Allaah, what is minor Shirk?” He replied:
Ar-Riyaa (showing off), for verily Allaah will say on the Day of Resurrection when people are receiving their rewards, “Go to those for whom you were showing off in the material world and see if you can find any reward from them.”
[reported by At-Tabaraani]
The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam also said:
O people, beware of secret Shirk!
The people asked, “O messenger of Allaah, what is secret Shirk?” He replied:
When a man gets up to pray and strives to beautify his prayer because people are looking at him; that is secret Shirk.
[reported by Ibn Khuzaima]
We all know shirk is the worst sin- in fact, it is the antithesis of our religion. Islam is the belief that only Allah deserves to be worshipped and shirk is worshipping other than Allah. Allah has said in the Quran that shirk is the only sin not forgiven (without repentance) - it is the only unforgivable sin in Islam since it is the worst injustice that God alone creates you and holds all power, yet you put others to His status and direct any worship to them. But not all shirk is not just in obvious things such as prostrating to an idol or believing God has a son. The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam did not fear for such major shirk, for alhamdulillah, for an intelligent person these things are easily avoided. Yet he did fear for us minor shirk, this hidden type of feeling in the heart where we are not doing a religious act to please Allah, but to please others.
We also know from the hadith in Al-Bukhari that “all actions are by intention”, meaning if your intention isn’t pure, then you get nothing in terms of religious benefit (neither enlightenment, contentment, nor rewards) and this is only fitting since we are dealing with spiritual matters. For in Islam, we see a way for every single human being to elevate themselves- it is no matter if you are poor, ugly, despised, unloved, tortured, oppressed, etc. The one avenue in which we are all truly equal before God (and not before any country) is in our hearts- if your heart is pure, then you have done a “righteous” deed and if your heart is in actuality trying to impress other human beings at your own level, then you have actually done a “sinful” deed.
So if this fault which is so easy for a human being (who was created weak) to fall into, what can we do? The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam did not leave us with the problem only; of course, he gave us the solution while delivering a khutbah:
O people, fear Shirk for it is more hidden than the creeping of an ant.
Some of the Sahaabah radhi’allaahu ‘anhum asked, “And how do we avoid it when it is more hidden than the creeping of an ant, O Messenger of Allaah?’” He replied:
Say:
Allaahumma Innaa na’oodhu bika an nushrika bika shay’an na’lamuh, wa nastaghfiruka limaa laa na’lamuh.
(O Allaah, we seek refuge in you from knowingly committing shirk with you and we ask your forgiveness for what we do not know about.)
[reported by Ahmad]
So the next time you feel that feeling in your heart which swells up and tries to impress those around you with your nice, long, prayer, or your beautiful Quranic recitation, or your brilliant and expansive religious knowledge, beware- for it is only Satan misleading you in the most subtle way, and hasten to read this du’aa
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