Cleansing the heart of riya' or boastfulness

  • Throughout this month, the Friday sermons have been focusing on cleansing our hearts from blameworthy traits. Thus, as the closing sermon for this month, let us discuss another trait that we should cleanse from our hearts from, in the hope that The Almighty will accept our acts of worship.
  • Allah s.w.t. reminds us to always be careful of riya' or boastfulness because it is a trait that will erase the positive outcomes from performing the acts of worship. Just like rain that falls on a rock covered in dirt, boastfulness will wash away the dirt from the rock. That is the effect of boastfulness towards our good deeds; it washes away and erases the rewards of our actions, to the point that they are rendered pointless.
  • However, we should take note to not be quick to judge others who share their acts of goodness – such as feeding and helping the poor during Ramadan – via these social media sites as people who are boastful. This is because, sincerity is a secret between a slave and Allah s.w.t. In fact, we cannot deny that there are positive effects of sharing these good deeds because it can inspire others to do the same, or get more people on board to help and contribute to the effort. This is especially useful when there is a need to source for mass support.