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Is a person's announcement of what they have accomplished in reading the Holy Quran considered a form of the forbidden showing off (riya')?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no harm in cooperating to recite the Book of Allah and ponder its meanings. This is a type of cooperation in righteousness and piety, which is encouraged in Islamic law by His (the Almighty's) saying: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression." The basic principle regarding means is permissibility, and whoever prohibits something must provide proof. The assertion that this act contains a type of showing off (riya') is incorrect. One who engages in it should be wary of showing off, for abandoning an action out of fear of showing off is blameworthy, just as performing an action for the sake of showing off is blameworthy. Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad said: "Abandoning action for the sake of people is showing off, and acting for the sake of people is polytheism."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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