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Is a person considered a hypocrite if he intended in his heart sincerity to God in worship, then after a period of time his soul felt proud of what he had done before people, and with the repetition of this state and his soul trying to desist from it, the same question about hypocrisy remains?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Hypocrisy (Riya') is forbidden in Islamic law and is a form of minor shirk. Allah has commanded us to be sincere in our worship, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made sincerity a condition for the acceptance of deeds. Scholars differentiate between performing a deed for the purpose of showing off (seeking benefit, praise, or warding off harm) and informing others about a deed after it has occurred. The former is Riya' (hypocrisy), and the latter is Sum'ah (seeking renown), and both are forbidden, and there are warnings against them. Riya' is a sin that necessitates repentance, and a deed performed for Riya' is not accepted. As for Sum'ah, it is forbidden, but one who repents from it will be forgiven, and their deed will not be invalidated. Your informing others and boasting about a deed after it has occurred is not Riya', but it falls under Sum'ah, which necessitates repentance, otherwise the deed will be invalidated.

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

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