Meaning Of "Pretension"
The word "riya" (pretension) is derived from "ru'ya" ( vision, eyesight), just as the word "sum'a" (reputation) is derived from "sam'" (hearing), in essence, the meaning of pretension is that one seeks, through the medium of his good deeds, distinction and prominence in the hearts of people, even if this can be achieved through good deeds. But the term, according to the Shari'a, requires this intention to materialize in the, rituals and in the deeds intended for seeking nearness to Allah as a condition for their acceptance according to the Shari'a. Thereupon, the meaning of pretension is what is supposed to be a deed for the sake of nearness to Allah with the intention to seek a status among the people". The leading imam, al-Khomeini, may Allah prolong his shade, has made a statement in this regard. Its gist is that pretension, according to him, is not exclusively relevant to an act of worship but is broader than that. He says, "Be informed that pretension is showing people some good deeds, or commendable attributes, or true beliefs in order to achieve a status in their hearts and fame among them that he is kind, sound of belief, trustworthy and pious without truly seeking to please the Almighty. This materializes in certain levels:
FIRST LEVEL :
It has two degrees: In the FIRST degree, one shows off the true beliefs and divine branches of knowledge so he will be famous for being pious and will have a status in people's hearts such as he may say, "1 see none effective in existence save Allah," or he may say, "1 rely on none save Allah". Or he may identify himself as being associated with true belief's by either affiliation or reference. This type of pretension is the most widely circulated, For example_ when either reliance on Allah or accepting Ills decree is discussed at a gathering, the pretender will then sigh or move his head to beckon that he is on the path of those who rely on or who accept the decree of Allah.
In the SECOND degree, he clears himself of or puts it above false beliefs, seeking distinction and prominence in the hearts whether explicitly or implicitly.
SECOND LEVEL :
It, too, has two degrees: In the FIRST degree, one demonstrates the commendable attributes and the virtuous faculties seeking distinction and prominence. In the SECOND degree, he holds himself as being above contradictions, clearing himself of contemptible attributes and foul faculties for this same purpose.
THIRD LEVEL :
It is the pretension known to exist among the faqihs, may Allah be pleased with them. It, too, has these two degrees: ONE OF THEM is doing what is required by the Shari'a or legislated adoration, or doing what is rationally commendable seeking showing them off to people and winning their hearts in a wider sense than doing so through what is meant by pretension when doing the same, or in the way he does it, or in meeting its condition or a portion thereof according to what they have stated in the books of fiqh (jurisprudence). The second is leaving a _job for the same." This is what the imam, may Allah prolong his shade, describes whHe classifying norms of pretension.
A scholar of the hereafter has mentioned another classification tor pretension after having defined pretension, saving it is what
the servants of Allah fare with obedience to Him, dividing it into five types :
1. pretension about the faith with the use of the body
2. pretension about the faith through the norms of clothing, outfitting form and attire
3. pretension in speech
4. pretension in action
5. pretension in companionship and in friendliness with the public
This division, though not logical, is backed by examples for each explaining the deceptions of the wily. They benefit those who wish to purify their souls and reform them so they may be guided against the ways of the soul's deceptions. We, therefore, would like to mention some of them here with our own editing :
The first type, that is, the pretension about the faith with the use of bodily parts, means showing thinness, weakness and yellowish facial complexion so one is thus deceived about the extent of exertion, the deep concern about the creed and the overwhelming fear of the Hereafter. He wants to give the impression that he is eating very little, his face is yellow because of spending the night vigilant, greatly exerting himself and feeling depressed out of concern for the religion. He also makes a pretense by leaving his hair untidy so he may give the impression that his mouth is deeply involved in religious uttering [rather than in eating and drinking]; he has no time to tidy his hair. These causes, no matter how they appear, give the people the impression about these matters, so the pretender's soul is at ease when he gives such an impression; so, his soul prompts him to demonstrate them so that it may be restful. You may see this pretender lowering his voice when he speaks so that the listener may be duped into believing that lowering the voice is due to abundance of adoration, or his lips are withered because of continuous last. It is for this reason that Christ, peace he with him, said, "When one of you fasts, let him oil his head, tidy his hair and use kohl (arras) for his eyes," The reason why he, peace be with him, said so was out of fear of Satan insinuating pretension.
As regarding pretension coming from clothing and appearance, it is when one does not tidy his hair, lowers his head when he walks more than what is required by modesty and dignity, when he is quiet in movement, keeping the mark of prostration on the forehead and perhaps wearing an outfit that is not clean so he may be counted among the sincere worshippers of Allah.
Clothing pretenders are various classes: Some of them seek a status among the people of righteousness and piety by showing off asceticism. One May wear a worn out garment so he may be regarded by them as an ascetic and lives in the society in this attribute. The mark of his pretension is that if he is asked to wear an average clean garment like that worn by the righteous predecessors, it will be very hard for him to do so, and it will he as if lie is being led to his slaughter because he is afraid people will say that lie is tired of being an ascetic and returned to his old self, desiring the life of this world. Another class seeks acceptance among the people of righteousness and the people of the world such as businessmen and the elite. These poor folks feel embarrassed and alarmed because if they wear luxurious clothes, the ascetics and the servants of Allah will reject them. And if they wear old worn out clothes, they will perhaps fall in the eyes of the people of this world and in the ayes of the rich. They want to combine between the acceptance of the people of faith and that the people of this world; therefore, they choose clothes the weaving and the fabric of which arc valuable, hence the value of their clothes is similar to that of a rich man's clothing, but its form and color give the impression that it is worn by the righteous. With this trick they seek acceptance by both groups. The mark of pretension of this group is that if they are asked to wear old clothes that are in good shape, it will be very hard for them to do so out of their tear the righteous people will tell them that they desired the life of this world. And if they are asked to wear what is coarse or worn out, it will be a harsh undertaking due to their fear of losing lace among the rich. Each of these classes sees its status represented in a particular way of dressing; it is hard for him to move to something less or something more or to anything else, even if it is permissible or preferred by the Shari'a.
As for pretension in speech, it is when a pretender keeps repeating pieces of wisdom: He keeps reminding others in order to win people's hearts. He memorizes words of wisdom, traditions and biographies in order to use them in his debates to show the richness of his knowledge and to point out to his extreme care about the conditions of the pious ancestors. He chooses statements containing vocal letters, or at least verbal ones, so he may move his tongue in a gathering of the people. If the statement contains both types of letters, it will be preferred by him. During a public meeting, he busies himself with repeating holy statements although if he sits alone for hours, his lips do not utter anything of the mention of Allah. His denunciation of what is detestable is intense before the public: he expresses sorrow for people committing transgressions, and he is amazed at how they dare to disobey .Allah. Thus, people may get the impression that he does not commit a transgression, nor does he have the courage to undertake it. The branches of speech pretension exhaust a great deal to mention.
As regarding pretension in action, such as a praying person showing off how he prolongs his standing during the prayers reciting lengthy chapters, especially if he is an imam of a group, so that people may recognize his distinction and that he has memorized many chapters of the Holy Qur'an, and they envy him fur standing so long during his adoration. If he prays at home or outside it, where he is not seen by anyone, lie will be satisfied with reciting the shortest chapters. His condition is the same during solemnity and submission as well as lengthy prostration during the prayers. When he is seen by the public, he does so more than during his solitude especially if he is the imam of a group. He goes overboard in showing off his deep adoration, prolonging his prostration especially during the "sajdat al-shukr", thanksgiving prostration, after the prayer ritual. He may remain prostrating till all those praying behind him disperse. The same applies to the rest of his acts of adoration such as fast, charity and pilgrimage. Even when he Walks to take care of a need, he may hurry, but if one of the men of religion sees him, he immediately reverts to solemnity, to lowering his head for fear of being accused of haste and of being less solemn. When the man of religion is out of sight, the pretender resumes his pace. A pretender may pray by himself without full concentration, but if someone sees him, he goes back to his full concentration. When he is in a place of public worship, he states that full attention must be allotted to the Almighty. He wants people to hear him say so in order that he may be counted among the true servants of AIM, the righteous ones.
Among them is one who is immersed in pretension: When lie catches himself off-guard, he feels so shy that his gait, when alone, is similar to that when he is seen by people, fearing people may get to notice the variation in his gait, so he forces himself to walk properly, humbly, when alone so he may get used to it and it will be the same when he is alone and when in public, and he will not need to shift from one to the other when seen by people. He thus thinks that he gets rid of pretension, being unmindful of the fact that his pretension has intensified, his scheme has doubled, and his pretension has crept into his solitude as well. When he walks properly when alone, so he will do likewise before people, he does not do that out of fear of Allah, nor feeling shy of Him.
Since the source of what is hidden about pretension can be explained through another example, let us do so to the believing brothers. A pretender may agree that his reason, the hidden messenger or the angel in charge of good deeds according to the traditions, inspires him that prayers, for example, which are performed in public are more profound and contain more remembrance of Allah than in the prayer ritual performed at home distantly from the public eyes, and there is no doubt that such a prayer is null due to pretension creeping into it, it is then that Satan or the nafs may interfere in the subject and set up a hidden trap of which a praying person is rarely aware, which is: The nafs and Satan oblige the believer to pray in solitude, too, with full devotion and mentioning lengthy supplications so this will be regarded as the answer for reason or for the angel that "My prayer in public is the same as I perform it in solitude; so, what evidence do you have against me that my prayer is that of a pretender? Is not my prayer before people the same as it is in my home? Actually, the prayer which I perform in solitude may be more profound and containing more lengthy praises than it is outside the house and before the public eyes." But the poor man is heedless of Satan, and the nafs has not left a sound prayer for him, not even in solitude or in the depth of the night. In other words, among the signs of an action not being pretentious is that the action witnessed by people is similar to it in solitude, not the action in solitude being similar to that performed publicly: so, think about it.
As for pretension in socializing, it is when someone makes arrangements so that scholars may visit him, and so that it will be said that so-and-so is visited by so-and-so, or that he is respected by scholars. It will be said that the theologians seek the blessings of God by visiting him. And if he can find a way so businessmen and the elite, too, visit him, let it be so in order that people may say that so-and-so is respected by all classes of scholars worshipers and the folks of the life of this world. If he cannot attract them to visit him, he himself goes to visit the scholars and worshippers so it will be seen that he met many scholars and worshippers from whom he benefited, so he brags about them. If the kind ones and the righteous are mentioned, he sighs and says, "Yes! How often I have met these kind ones, served them and was glad to be at their service!" so the listeners may get to know that serving the friends of Allah and the righteous does not go unrewarded by them, that they must definitely have overwhelmed him with their goodness.
Among the pretenders is one who is satisfied with people thinking well of him. Many a worshipper isolates himself from the public and stays at home, feeling elated that people think well of him. Although he no longer covets their wealth, he likes prominence and people thinking well of him: this has a sweet taste, as stated in its right place: it is the sort of power and perfection, though it quickly vanishes, and nobody is deceived by it save the ignorant ones, but most people are! Had people come to know the truth, they would have thought ill of him, their belief in him would have departed, and they thought that he committed something ugly by thus sitting at home due to his mind being confused. He was not satisfied with Allah's knowledge of his innocence and the purity of his heart; rather, he is deeply grieved. He may abandon isolation and adoration and comes out to the society. This poor man, though having no desire for people's funds nor for their companionship, looked forward to their good thoughts of him, their praise of him, so the love for prominence set its roots in his heart, and his poor soul felt satisfied with this much pleasure.
This is a collection of the things that entertain pretenders' minds. They all seek prominence and recognition in the hearts of people. Pretension has other sources the mention of which is lengthy, and one who is loved by Allah may feel alert about them, for if Allah loves a servant of His. He enables him to see his own faults.
THE UGLIEST DEGREE OF PRETENSION
Imam al-Khomeini, may Allah prolong his shade, has said, "Be informed that the most serious degree of pretension and the most detrimental, according to the principles of beliefs and theological branches of knowledge, and the one the darkness to the heart of which is the most intense of all other types of showing off is this: if the pretender does not believe in what he shows off, he is still among the hypocrites whom Allah forewarned of being kept in hell forever. His is perdition and eternal loss, and his torment is the most severe. And if he believes in that matter, but he does so seeking a status and distinction in the hearts of people, although he is not a hypocrite, such a conduct requires the light of conviction to abandon his heart so it would be replaced by the darkness of disbelief. This is so because this person, although he was initially committing hidden shirk, demonstrated to people the divine branches of knowledge and the true beliefs that have to be purely for seeking the pleasure of Allah, their owner is the true I holy One, the most Glorious, but he let someone else be a partner in them: He let Satan have a hand in dealing with them.
Such an action comes from the heart 1 seeking to please someone else other than Allah. lie (a.s) says in a sacred tradition recorded in Al-Kafi, "Every type of pretension is kith, (apostasy)," But both this dark inner-self and bad trend drag, one to have a heart dedicated to anyone except Allah. The darkness of this vice becomes a means to gradually get one out of this life having no sound conviction (iman). The erroneous conviction becomes an image without a meaning, a body without a soul, a peal with a pith, and it does not qualify it to he accepted by the most Exalted One as referred to in a sacred tradition in Al-Kafi where Ali ibn Salim is quoted as having said that he heard Abu Abdullah (a.s) saying that the Almighty said, "I am the best partner: whoever brings another partner besides Me in an action, I shall not accept it. I accept what is purely done for My sake." It is well known that if the inner actions are not purely for the sake of pleasing Allah, the Almighty does not accept them; He does not look at them: rather. He refers them to the other partner, the one/ones for whom the action was done in order to show off to him/them. Thus, the inner actions will be dedicated to that person, and they get the pretender out of the limit of shirk into mere apostasy (kufr). Actually, it can be said that this person, too, is among the group of hypocrites. Just as shirk was hidden, so was his hypocrisy. The poor pretender fooled himself into thinking that he is a believer, but he started as a mushrik and ended up as a hypocrite, and he has to taste the torment tasted by the hypocrites, Woe unto one who is dragged into hypocrisy!
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1 We will explain, by the Wilf of Aflah, how conviction is an act of the heart [of the innermost].
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Explaning How Conviction Is Not Knowledge Explaning How Conviction Is Not Knowledge
Then Imam al-Khomeini, may Allah prolong his shade, explained that conviction is not synonymous with knowledge. He said:
Be informed that conviction is not the same as knowfedge about Allah, knowfedge about His Unity, about the rest of His fixed attributes of perfection and great negative ones, knowledge about the angefs, the books, the messengers and the Last Day, for perhaps one may be knowledgeable about aif these matters without being a befiever. Satan, too, knows about these levels of knowledge as much as I know, and as much as you know, yet he is He also believes in the principle and knows that Alfah is the Creator because he says, "You created me of fire and created him of dust." And he knows about the Hereafter, too, because he says, "Grant me a respite till the Day that they are brought back to fife." Yet, despite all these qualities, he is kafir according to the clear Qur'anic verse that says, "... and he was among the unbefievers." The secret in this is that conviction is an act of the heart.
If it is not brought into being, there is no presence for conviction. If anyone gets to know something according to the dictates of the rational evidence, or according to the judgment necessitated by the creed, the heart has to surrender to such knowledge, so the action conies from the heart as a manifestation of such surrendering and submission, a sort of acceptance, so he may be a befiever. One's perfection is feeling comfortable (with such surrendering) as referred to by this sacred verse: "'Then do You not befieve?' He said, 'Yes, I do! But so that my own understanding may be satisfied" (Qur'an, 2:260). When the light of conviction in the heart is strong, it is followed by feeling comfortable with it. All of this is different from knowledge. Our minds can reafize something through evidence, but our hearts did not surrender to it. Thus, know ledge becomes useless. For example if you realize through your mind that a dead person cannot harm anyone, even if all the dead in the world get together, they coflectively have neither sense nor motion in as much as a mosquito, and that alf the physical and spiritual forces have already departed. But since this meaning does not transcend the limit ()I knowledge, and since it is not acceptable by the heart, and the heart did not surrender to reason, you cannot spend one night with a dead person in a dark night, and you will he afraid of his corpse. But if the heart surrenders to reason and accepts such a judgement from reason, you wiff have no problem sleeping in the company of a dead person. Also, if you do that, and you repeat spending the night with a dead person, the heart will then surrender to reason and wilf not be afraid of the dead. It will then be known that surrendering is the line of the heart, and it is different from knowing, which is the fine of reason. It is then that man can prove, through rational evidence, the presence of the Maker, the Exalted One, that lie is One and Only, that there is an afterlife, in addition to other true beliefs.
But conviction is not a description of these beliefs, nor is one who believes in them is counted among the believers; rather, he is in the company of the unbelievers, the hypocrites or the polytheists. The point is that this day, a covering has been pfaced on the eye of his heart, and he does not have the angelic vision and the kingfy eye, so he does not reafize this meaning. But if the innermost is revealed, the truly divine power comes up, nature is rendered into ruin, and the truth stands tall, it is then that you feef you were not a believer in Affah. The said judgment for reason was not related to conviction 1. So, Dear One, unless you write down the
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It must afso be known that committing, a group of acts of disobedience to Allah is not in sync with befief- in the Hereafter and in the Judgment Day; rather, doing them is not in harmony with the befief that one is in the company of the Truth, the most Exafted One, as referred to often in the cherished suppfications. One of the latter exists in the supplication of Abu Hamzah al-Thumali: "If anyone today fooks at my sins other than You, I would not have done it. Had I feared the speedy penalty, I would have avoided it." The solution for this confusion is sought in the statement of the imam, may his shade be prolonged, in this regard.
blessed statement saying "There is no god except Allah" with the pen of reason on the tabfet of the pure heart, you are not a trufy] believer in the Unity of Aflah Almighty.
If this good divine word enters one's heart, the heart's submission will be directly to Affah Afmighty. The one who has such a heart does not then see any other human being as bearing any impact on the domain of the Truthful One, nor does he expect any favor or distinction from anyone else. He will not then seek a station and fame among people. The heart will not be pretentious or deceptive. When you see pretension in the heart, he informed that your heart has not submitted to reason, nor has the light of conviction shone in it. You will see someone efse other than Allah Afmighty as the influentiaf god; you wifl then be in the company of the pofytheists, or hypocrites, or apostates.
Having explained the levels and basic origin of pretension, the Imam, may his shade endure, states a terse admonishment in which he brings to memory the awful outcome of pretension. In it, there is a reminding for one who has a heart, or who does listen and stands as a witness. The master of divine sciences, Imam Khomeini, may his shade be prolonged, says the following :
O pretender who has submitted the true beliefs and divine branches of knowledge to the enemy of Allah, namely Satan, thus giving the matters that are exclusively related to Allah, Praise to Him, to someone else. You have taken out the celestial lights that used to shine in the soul and the heart and were the capital of salvation, eternal happiness, the fountainhead of the divine communion, the seeds for the company of the Loved One in the desolate darkness. You have permitted yourself to suffer eternal perdition, the capital of the distance from the holy place of the Loved One. You have shunned the meeting with the Almighty, the Truth.... So, be prepared for darkness beyond which there is no light at all, for hardship beyond which there is no ease, for ailments that have no cure, for death that has no life and for a fire that springs out of the depth of the heart and the domain of the soul, burning the domain of the body in a way which neither my heart nor yours can ever imagine, as Allah Almighty has already informed us in His Revealed Book and which He described in this sacred verse: "(It is) the Fire of (the Wrath of) Allah kindled (to a blaze) which mounts (right) to the hearts" (Qur'an, 104:7-8). The Fire of Allah overwhelms the hearts and burns them. No fire can burn a heart other than Allah's Fire. So, if someone's Unity instinct, which is instilled by Allah, departs from someone and is replaced by polytheism and apostasy, he will have none to intercede on his behalf with the Almighty, and he will be lodged into torment forever.
And what a torment it is! It is a torment that originates from the Almighty's subduing and divine wrath. 0 dear one! Do not expose yourself to the wrath of the Almighty on account of a false whim and a limited popularity among His weak servants. Such whim has neither any impact nor fruit save regrets and sighs. When your ties are cut off from this world, which is like a shop and a place for gain, and when your deeds come to an end, regrets and sighs will not avail you, and you will not be able to return and retract.
DEGREES OF PRETENSION'S OBJECTIVES
Some scholars of the hereafter have said that pretension, with regard to one's goals behind pretending, for surely the pretender has goals, is of three degrees :
THE FIRST DEGREE : It is the most intense and the most serious: One's goal is to commit a transgression against the will of Allah and to reach what is prohibitive, such as he makes a show of his acts of adoration, or feigns piety and godliness through many supererogatory acts of adoration. He avoids anything that may bring about people's doubt in his regard. His goal is so that people may recognize his trustworthiness, hence positions in the judicial system, or religious trusts, or wills, or whatever belongs to orphans. He will then take them and keep to himself whatever he can. Or he may be trusted with items, so he takes them and denies having done so, thus reaching his corrupt goals in committing transgressions. One may appear in the attire of the righteous, articulating pieces of wisdom, admonishment, and reminding.
Yet his goal is to look good in the eyes of a beautiful woman. Some people may attend meetings of knowledge and remembrance of the Almighty, or even of the Qur'an, pretending they wish to listen to knowledge and to the Qur'an whHe their goal is to look at women, and these pretenders are hated the most by Allah Almighty because they made obedience to their Lord a ladder to reaching their transgression, using it as a tool, a shop, a merchandise in their sinning. Close to these, though less in degree, is one who commits a crime of which he is accused, yet he insists on it and wants to keep the charge away from himself, so he feigns piety in order to deny the charge, such as one who denied a trust with him of which people charged him, so he offers charity with the money in order that it will be said he gives away from his money to the poor, so how can it be possible that he seizes the funds belonging to others? The likes of such folks are many among the Muslims. Individuals may gather funds that belong to the Muslims by the millions through usury or other illegitimate transactions. One may see that instead of returning people's money to them, he offers charity with some of his money, or builds a mosque or a hospital, so that people may see that he is one who builds mosques or hospitals; therefore, how can it be possible that he stretches his hands to people's money and possessions? Or one may be charged with having committed a sin with a woman, and Allah, the most Exalted One, removed the covering from him and exposed him among the people. Instead of resorting to a covering from Allah, Praise to Him, regretting and pleading to Allah, Who sways the hearts, to change people's attitude about him, he seeks a means through pretension, trying to cover his sin with pretension.
THE SECOND DEGREE: It is when his goal is to obtain a permissible worldly gain such as wealth or marriage to a beautiful or distinguished woman, etc., so he feigns grief and keeps himself busy with admonishing and reminding others so that funds may be spent on him. He will then sell more of his merchandise if he is a merchant, a businessman, or among money making folks. Or if he wishes to marry a distinguished woman, such as the daughter of a righteous scholar, he pretends to her father to be a man of knowledge and adoration so that he may marry him to his daughter. This sort of pretension is prohibitive because it seeks through the means of obedience to Allah the wares of this lowly life, but it is of a lesser degree than the first. What is sought through this pretension is by itself permissible but it is contemptible, and its reality is shirk; the absolute authority is the privilege of the True One, the Almighty, when it comes to dealing with His servants.
THIRD DEGREE: The pretender does not seek fortune, wealth, or marriage, but he shows off his adoration for fear people may look at him as if he lacks something; therefore, he is not considered to be among the elite and the ascetics, and he is regarded to be among the commoners, such as one who walks to the congregational prayer services, to mosques, in a hurry, and when people see him, he adjusts his walk and abandons haste although it, at that time, was legitimate. But he abandons it so he may not be labeled as one of those who love distraction or negligence and not one of the men of eminence. Also, if he is the first to burst laughing or demonstrates merriment, so he is afraid he will be looked down upon with eyes of contempt, he follows it by seeking Allah's forgiveness and pretends to be sad on its account and says, "How unmindful a human being is! But Allah knows that if such an individual is left to himself, he would not consider doing so as being too much; rather, he fears he will he looked clown upon with contempt and not with respect.
He is like one who sees a group of worshippers offering supererogatory prayers, or making tahajjud, or fasting each Thursday and Monday, as is transmitted about the imam of the nation who ordered the youths (of Hizbollah) to fast both these days, so the man goes along with them for fear he will be described as lazy and thus is not attributed to the party of Allah. If he is left alone, he does no such things. And he is like one who endures the thirst on the Day of Arafa, or in clays during which fast is highly recommended, so he does not drink water for fear people may get to know that he is not fasting.
So, if they think that he is, he abstains from eating as well, Or he may be invited to partake of food, so he abstains in order that he will be perceived as observing the fast. He may openly state that he is fasting or says he has an excuse. Such a pretender combines two contemptible acts: He is seen by others as fasting, then he is seen as a sincere one and not as a pretender. He is cautious lest he should mention his act of adoration to people for fear he will be seen as a pretender. He, hence, wants to give the impression that he is continuing his act of adoration. If he is obligated to drink, he rushes to remind himself that he has an excuse, either explicitly or implicitly, such as seeking an excuse because of an ailment that causes him to have an acute need to drink water and stops him from fasting. Or he may say, "Today, I visited so-and-so who pressured me to eat, so I ate." He may not then say that in connection with his drinking water so that he will not be regarded as seeking an excuse as a pretender, but he perseveres then mentions his excuse casually in his narrative of an incident such as his saving, "So-and-so loves his brethren. He so much loves them to partake of his food. Today, he insisted that I should do that, and I had no choice except to cool his heart." Or he may say, "My mother is weak-hearted, compassionate in my regard. She thinks if I fast one day, I will fall sick, so she does not let me fast." Such is the doing of the ills of pretension. It does not jump to articulation except due to the deeply rooted pretension in one's innermost. Similar to this is something which I have seen more than once. Someone says, "I spent the night over the house of so-and-so. During the sahar [pre-dawn] time, I wanted to rise for the tahajjud. But I was concerned the owner of the house might think I was a pretender, so I did not stand for the prayers." Or he may say, "I did not worship during a particular time for fear I would be regarded as a pretender." This poor person sees himself, when he does not pray or worship his Lord, as being sincere to Allah Almighty, fleeing from pretension whereas in fact he has already fallen into it; both his nafs and Satan have taken control of him. In other words, man in such situations has two states: The first is his fear when he prays in someone's house or in the company of a crowd of people that his prayers may be pretension, yet he knows himself best and his weakness, and that he cannot safeguard his sincerity in public as he used to do in private; in this case, the prayer is abandoned so one may not fall into pretension.
The second is that he is concerned about people considering him as being a pretender, although he feels comfortable that he is not praying pretentiously but purely for seeking nearness to Allah. In this case, if he abandons a ritual, he will prove that he is a pretender who does not like people to think anything about him except being sincere. Abandoning the worship in the first case was for the sake of Allah and in the second for the sake of the nafs and its desires, for the nafs, loves its reputation to be good among the people. Such is love for life and eminence. If one who is sincere to Allah sees in himself a desire to perform a commendable fast, for example, let him do so; he must not pay attention to what others say about or think of him. And if he does not find in himself such a desire, he must not fast, and he must not pay attention to what is said about him. Rely on Allah and forget about them all. A sincere worshipper does not care about how people look at him or think of him. If he has no desire to fast, and Allah knows about it, he must not want others to believe something different from what Allah knows about him, thus confusing them. And if he wishes to fast for the sake of seeking nearness to Allah, he should contend himself with Allah's knowledge, associating none with Him.
SCIENTIFIC POINT TO ERADICATE PRETENSION
FROM THE THEOLOGICAL IMAM AL-KHOMEINI
MAY ALLAH PROLONG HIS SHADE :
He, may Allah prolong his shade, has said,
We would like to state m this regard something that may be effective in treating this heart disease. According to evidence, revelation and observation, as Well as the traditions of the infallible Ones, peace be with them, and the Book of Allah, the Great, according to His dominance over all beings. His maintenance of all what needs to be maintained..., the hearts of all the servants are under His control and in the grip of His power. Nobody can fare with the servants' hearts without the permission of the Maintaining One and His evolving authorization. It can never be, Even those who have hearts, too, cannot fare with their hearts without His permission, the most Exalted One, and His dealing. The Holy Qur'an informs us of this fact, and so do the narratives about Ahl al-Bayt, peace be with them, who stated so by reference, explicitly and implicitly. Allah, Praise to Him, is the One Who owns the heart and Who fares with it, whHe you are a weak servant incapable of faring with hearts without the dealing of the Truthful One, the most High. Rather, His will subdues yours as well as that of everything in existence. So, if your pretension is to attract the servants' hearts and attention, to gain respect and status in the hearts, to earn a good reputation..., all these are outside your control: they are under the control of the Truthful One, the most Exalted. The Lord of Hearts, the One Who owns them, permits them to incline to whoever He wants. And your behavior may result in the opposite of what you want. We nave heard about and seen pretenders with two laces, haying impure hearts, those whose affair Was exposed and who gained the contrary of what they had desired. There is a reference to this in a sacred tradition recorded in Al-Kafi as transmitted by Jarrah al-Madaini who quotes Abu Abdullah.
peace be with him, saying the following in his explanation of this verse: "Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and in the worship of his Lord admit no one as (His) partner" (Qur'an, 18:110): "Someone does some good deed not for the sake of Allah but so people may hold him in high esteem. He loves people to hear about what he does. Such person is one who associates a partner in the worship of his Lord." Then he said, "No servant does an act of righteousness then time passes by except that Allah will bring something good out of it. And no servant does something wrong in secrecy and time passes by except that Allah will bring out something bad out of it for him."
You, my dear one, ought to seek good reputation with Allah. Plead to the One Who owns the hearts to let the hearts incline towards you. Work for Allah, and let your deed be purely for His sake, for the most Exalted One will then make you loved by people in this world plus rewards you with good things and eternal blessings in the world of the hereafter. He will then enhance the impression which you leave on people's hearts and make you honored in both this life and in the one to come. But if you are able, through practices and struggles, to rid yourself of this love, too, do so in order that your heart may be pure, your deed in this direction will be sound, your heart will direct itself towards Allah, your soul will be cleansed and the impurity of the self (nafs) will disappear, What benefit do you reap from the love of weaklings or from their hatred, or from fame among poor servants of Allah? Even if we suppose there is a benefit, it will last for only few days, whereas the outcome of this love could drag you to pretension; so, God forbid, you will then become a polytheist, a hypocrite, or an apostate.
And if we suppose that one's [prohibitive] matter in this life will be veiled from the eyes of the people, but in the presence of the divine justice, and in the audience of the righteous servants of Allah, His great Prophets, those who are close to Him and His angels, he will be exposed, and he will surely bear the impact of shame, finding none to help him. You have no idea what a scandal in that Day it will be and what shame and darkness which none knows save Allah. It is the Day when the unbeliever will say, "Woe unto me! If only I were (mere) dust!" (Qur'an, 78:40). But it will be of no avail to him. You, poor soul, for the sake of partial love and fame, which are of no benefit, among the servants of the Almighty, turned away from these blessings, lost the Pleasure of Allah, Glory to Him. You made yourself an object of His wrath. You substituted the deeds whereby you can achieve the abode of honor, the eternal life, the everlasting happiness, life in the highest stations of Paradise.., with the darkness of shirk and hypocrisy, and you prepared for yourself the sighs, the regret, the intense torment, becoming a prisoner in Sijjeen as described in a sacred narrative in (Al-Kafi and cited from Abu Abdullah, peace be upon him. In it, the Prophet (a.s) says, "An angel gleefully ascends with the news about a deed of a servant. If he ascends carrying reports about the servant's Mood deed. Allah, the most Exalted, the most Great, says, Deposit it in Sijjeen, for he did not seek My pleasure when he did it.'" I and you, in our condition, cannot imagine Sijjeen, nor can we understand the record of the deeds of the sinners or see the picture of these deeds that are in Sijjeen, but we see their reality when we are incapacitated and have lost touch with any remedy.
So, wake up, my dear one, from your sleep, do awy with heedlessness and laziness, weigh your deeds with the scales of reason before they are weighed in that world. Hold yourself to account before you are held, and rid the mirror of your heart of shirk and hypocrisy and of having two faces. Do not permit your heart to rust with shirk and apostasy lest it should be afflicted with the fire of the Hereafter. Do not let the light of nature be replaced with the darkness of disbelief. Do not render to loss the nature whereby Allah created people, do not betray this trust of Allah, cleanse the heart's mirror so the light of the beauty of the True One shine in it, thus it will be more precious to you than this whole world and everything in it, and the fire of divine love will then burn in the heart, burning every love that you have in your heart for anything else, and you will not accept to replace one moment of it with the whole world, and you will enjoy the pleasure of remembrance of Allah compared to which all animal pleasures will be nothing at all. If you are not worthy of this station, if these images appear in your eyes to be strange, do not abandon the divine blessings in the world of the Hereafter about which the Holy Qur'an has informed you as well as the traditions of the Infallible Ones in exchange for attracting the hearts of the beings. Do not lose these rewards, do not deprive yourself of such blissful things for the sake of an imagined fame that lasts few days, and do not trade eternal happiness for continuous pain ...
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Author: Sayyid Ahmed al-Fahri
