Prayer & worshipFrom the masjid's own video, Jul 17, 2026.
Sincere deeds matter more than public praise
In one sentence
Because Allah judges deeds by their intentions, Muslims must pursue sincere ikhlas, guard against riya or showing off, and understand that praise after sincere worship is not automatically riya.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Opens with praise, gratitude for Islam, life, blessings, and the Friday congregation.
- Defines ikhlas as acting for Allah and introduces riya as performing good deeds for public recognition.
- Explains forms of riya, including worship done to be seen and sincere deeds mixed with desire for praise.
- Uses Surah to Nisa and Surat al-Ma'un to connect showing off in prayer with hypocrisy.
- Describes hidden shirk, wasted deeds on Judgment Day, and the early Muslims' secret charitable practices.
- Clarifies that sincere deeds followed by praise are not necessarily riya, and advises thanking Allah when praised.
Try this week
Examine the intention behind each good deed before and during performing it.
Keep some charitable acts completely private.
When praised, respond by thanking Allah and saying “Alhamdulillah.”
Avoid prolonging prayer or improving one's performance merely to impress observers.
Sources the khateeb cited
Surah 107Used to explain the warning against praying for public recognition.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, what He focuses on or what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala needs is the intention behind the deed that he committed.”
“That is doing any act of goodness purposely to attain public recognition or purposely for people to praise you for the good deed that you did.”
“Because if you don't take into consideration the dangers associated with riyaqah. You end up doing a lot of good deeds all your life. And on the day of kiyama they will check your record and it's zero.”
“It doesn't mean that because you were praised, you have, you know, committed riya. If you did it purposely for the sake of Allah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He knows.”
Talk about it at home
For the dinner table
Today’s khutbah reminded us that Allah cares deeply about the intention behind every good deed. The speaker called showing off, or riya, the opposite of sincere ikhlas, and warned that deeds done for people’s praise can lose their value with Allah. He also explained that being praised after sincerely worshiping Allah is not automatically riya; when praised, we should thank Allah and say Alhamdulillah. A simple family practice is to examine why we act, keep some good deeds private, and ask Allah to protect our hearts.
- What is one kind thing you could do quietly this week?
- How can saying “Alhamdulillah” help when someone praises you?
- What makes a good intention difficult to protect?
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