What is the difference between one who recites the Qur’an to be called a reciter, and one who gives charity to be called generous, and one who fights to be called brave, and one who strives in his studies to prove to those who belittled him that he is successful, and is his action considered showing off (riya') like the actions of those others?

Hypocrisy (Riya') is a minor polytheism (shirk (definition) asghar) and is attached to deeds for which reward is sought from Allah Almighty, such as the fighting of a martyr, the knowledge of a scholar, and the spending of a generous person. Such deeds, if tainted with hypocrisy, make their doer insincere, and he thus enters Hellfire. As for permissible matters, such as seeking worldly knowledge, the desire for the student's status to be elevated above his peers through it is not considered hypocrisy. Rather, it is arrogance and blameworthy conceit that diminishes the servant's share in the Hereafter, because it indicates a lack of reliance on Allah and humility. However, if the student's motive is to ward off harm and injustice from himself, there is no blame in it. The student must make his motive in seeking knowledge to bring benefit to himself and to his Muslim brothers.