CHAPTER -I

INTENT PURIFICATION

9. Pretension is Shirk [making partners with Allah

Translation: Omar Ibne Khatt'ab (r.a.) narrates that one-day he went to Masjid-e-Nabavi [the Masjid of Rasulullah (s.a.)] and found that Maa’z Ibne Jabal (r.a.) was sitting by the grave of Rasulullah (s.a.) and crying. He inquired, “What makes you to cry?”
Maa’z (r.a.) replied that he heard one thing from Rasulullah
(s.a.) that had caused me to cry: He (s.a.) told, “Even the slightest pretence tantamount to Shirk [making partners with Allah]”.
[From Mishkat]

Explanatory Note: Only this is not the Shirk that a man bows down before an idol and puts sacrifice on its altar. But the greatest Amal [action] if a person performs for the pleasure of others, or for show-off or for feeling elated in their eyes; in fact, he commits an act of Shirk. ‘To please’ is the right of Allah and he has shared it with others.