Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother,

I am attending weekly tarbiyat program, where I have to give weekly account in a group (within group members) of how many prayers i performed in the Jama, How many missed (Kaza) how many I prayed at home. Also i have to give accountability of portion of Quraan i read its tafseer.

My question is will it not cause Riya (showoff) where just for the sake of giving accountability or feeling of getting ashamed in front of group members I am praying?

Is there any hadeed where prophet or his disciples have done this practice?

Is there any hadeed which says that if your prayer is kada or if you have done any sinful act, then you should not disclose to other?

Is this a Bidaa (Innovations)?

I will be thankful to your reply.

Jazakallah

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Give accountability of worship

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

First and foremost, to the best of our knowledge, we have not come across or found anything in the authentic and established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) or in the practice of his noble companions (r.a.) whereby they held a gathering and took account of the daily or weekly worship of their fellow believers.

But if today, some well-meaning brothers have formed a gathering of like-minded worshippers, and only for the sake of Allah Subhanah wish to initiate a program amongst themselves whereby each is to give an account of their daily or weekly worship….the one and only intention behind the exercise being to enable oneself and others to better worship their Lord….the absolute majority of the modern scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that there is absolutely no harm in such a righteous gathering for that would indeed constitute what Allah Subhanah Declares in His Quran ‘..wata wasaw bill Haqq’ (join together in the mutual exhorting of Truth).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 103 Surah Al-Asr verses 1-3:

1        By (the Token of) time.

2        Verily man is in loss

3        Except such as have Faith and do righteous deeds and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth and of Patience and Constancy.

If one amongst the participants of the program has the intention to ‘show off’, then indeed he would be guilty of ‘riya’….but if the participant has absolutely no intention to practice ‘riya’ but participates in the program only to exhort himself and others towards the better doing of good….there is no harm; each will have the reward for they had intended.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.1  Narrated by Umar bin Al Khattab

I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.”

Your Question: Is there any hadeed which says that if your prayer is kada or if you have done any sinful act, then you should not disclose to other?

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.95 Narrated by Abu Huraira

I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) saying, "All the sins of my followers will be forgiven except those of the ‘Mujahirin’ (those who commit a sin openly or disclose their sins to the people). An example of such disclosure is that a person commits a sin at night and though Allah screens it from the public, then he comes in the morning, and says in boast), 'O so-and-so, I did such-and-such (evil) deed yesterday,' though he spent his night screened by his Lord (none knowing about his sin) and in the morning he removes Allah's screen from himself."

Respected brother, indeed Islam guides the believers to fear Allah Subhanah, and if perchance they happen to transgress the prescribed boundaries of Allah Subhanah and commit a sin, they should never ever go about and boast about their sin to others when the Lord Most Merciful Himself has screened their evil deed from the others….the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that Allah would not forgive the sins of such a person, for neither did such a person fear Allah, nor was he ashamed at the commission of his sin, but instead in his arrogance and indeed absolute ignorance, boasted about his evil and sin to others! 

In our humble opinion, and brother it is only our opinion, this would not be applicable in the case of your ‘course’….for the person who gives an accounting of his deeds of worship to the other participants is neither doing so in boast nor in arrogance, but only so that he may exhort himself and the other participants towards the doing of more good….and Allah Alone Knows Best.

Your Question: Is this a Bidaa (Innovations)?

If one initiates the ‘course’ or participates in the ‘course’ believing that it is a requirement or part of the deen of Islam to do so, or one believes that only for joining the course one would earn more rewards from Allah….then indeed it would constitute a ‘bida’ or innovation.

But if one only joins the ‘course’ so that one may not only improve one’s own self, but exhort others to be more obedient to the Commands of their Lord…..it would not constitute a ‘bida’.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan