Showing Off in God’s Presence! | Alireza Panahian

Showing Off in God’s Presence!

Someone asked one of the Imams (‘a), “What is the meaning of ‘يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ’ ‘They deceive God.’ (Qur’an 2:9)?” Is it possible for anyone to deceive God? The Imam (‘a) replied, “It means they show duplicity.” God hates this behaviour very much! Very much!

The Holy Prophet of Islam (s) said, “The worst thing that I am afraid of for you is ‘small polytheism.’” What is small polytheism? He said, “Duplicity.” A person does something because of people. God really hates this.

A tradition says, “A servant who has fought in a war comes and tells God, ‘My Lord, I fought because of You.’ God replies, ‘You fought so that others would say, “What a brave person he was.” Take him to Hell.’”

If you want to become strong, you can’t do it in a day. After two weeks of exercising don’t stand in front of the mirror. Wait. Nothing has happened yet! To be able to not do hypocritical deeds and not have hidden polytheism, which is very terrible, special practice and assiduity is required.

For a while, oppose your desire for others to know your good points. As a result of this resistance, you will gain spiritual strength. As a result of this resistance, you will gain a powerful arm to pick up the heavy weight of sincerity. Start hiding your good points. “Why are you hiding your good points?!” Good job! He has started practicing. We should try to conceal them when there is no need to show them.

Ayatollah Bahjat’s son said, “I didn’t know my father had memorized the Qur’an. I found this out through his conversation with one of his grandchildren when he was encouraging him to memorize the Qur’an. He said, ‘In the past, I used to recite Chapter Baqarah from memory in my prayer.’ He was talking about his youthhood. I was hearing this from the other room. I was curious to know what he said when he talked to children. I hadn’t heard this before.” Let’s hide our good points.

Someone said, “Once, I invited Allamah Tabatabai and Imam Khomeini to my house. I wanted to start a debate, and I knew that both of them had philosophical dispositions. But, they hadn’t studied in the same school of thought. I wanted to start a debate between them. I asked questions and didn’t say who should answer them. Neither of them would answer. Then I would ask Allamah, and he would answer. When I would ask the same question from Imam Khomeini, he wouldn’t say anything. Next, I would ask a question from Imam. He would answer, but then Allamah wouldn’t say anything.”

Stating our virtues is prohibited! “I want to make sure my good points are seen!” If a person has this attitude that he always wants to show his good points to others, prove himself, make himself look much better than what he really is, and make others feel obliged to him, this is very far from sincerity! Theoretically, he believes in sincerity! But, his attitude isn’t sincere. He has an attitude of showing off and flaunting. One of the things that should happen in our lives is that we should conceal ourselves for God.

Imam Khomeini said that when Ali bin Abi Talib (‘a) talked about himself, it was torture for him. He didn’t say torture, but I mean it was hard for him. When the Prophet (s) talked about himself, he constantly used to say in the middle, “I don’t want to boast. I don’t want to show off. God has given these.”

For you to be able to not do hypocritical deeds and to not have hidden polytheism, which is very terrible, special practice and assiduity is required. For a while, oppose your desire for others to know your good points. We should try to conceal them when there is no need to show them.

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