عَنْ مَحْمُودِ بْنِ لَبِيدٍ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «إنَّ أخْوَفَ ما أخافُ عليكم الشِّركُ الأصْغَرُ»، قالوا: وما الشِّركُ الأصْغَرُ يا رسولَ اللهِ؟ قال: «الرِّياءُ؛ يقولُ اللهُ - عزَّ وجلَّ - لهم يومَ القِيامةِ إذا جُزِيَ الناسُ بأعمالِهم: اذْهَبوا إلى الذين كنتُم تُراؤون في الدُّنيا، فانظُروا هل تَجِدون عِندَهُم جزاءً؟!»
Maḥmūd ibn Labīd narrated that God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:
1. The thing I fear for you most is the lesser idolatry. 2. People said: What is the lesser idolatry, Messenger of God? 3. He said: Dissimulation. 4. When mankind are given the reward for their deeds on the Day of Judgement, God, Mighty and Exalted, will say to them: 5. Go to those for whom you dissimulated during your lives and find out whether they have some reward for you.
Related by Ahmad in al-Musnad , 23630 ; al-Bayhaqī in Shu‘ab al-Īmān , 6412.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warns against dissimulation and the lack of sincere devotion to God Almighty. He states that dissimulation makes a person’s good work unacceptable to God. As such, God will not reward such action on the Day of Judgement because the person concerned did not dedicate it to Him alone, but rather addressed it to others as well.
