Commentary

The cause of the revelation of the last verse of Surah al-Kahf: وَلَا يُشْرِ‌كْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَ‌بِّهِ أَحَدًا (and must not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord - 110), as mentioned in Hadith reports, shows that shirk at this place means hidden shirk, that is, hypocrisy (رِیَاء : riy' ).

One such narration from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ has been reported by Imam Hakim in al-Mustadrak as being sound on the criterion set forth by the two authorities, al-Bukhari and Muslim. According to the narration, one of the Muslims used to carry out Jihad in the way of Allah. Side by side, he wished that his soldiering and bravery in the cause be recognized and appreciated by the people. This verse was revealed about him (which tells us that one gets no thawab (reward) by having such an intention in Jihad).

In Kitabul-Ikhlas, Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Abi al-Dunya have reported from Tawus that a Sahabi stated before the Holy Prophet ﷺ : 'There are occasions when I am ready to worship, or to do some righteous deed, my aim thereby is nothing but the pleasure of Allah. But, along with it, I do have the wish that people would see me doing it.' Hearing this, he observed silence until the cited verse was revealed.

And in Abu Nu'aym and in the history of Ibn ` Asakir, it appears on the authority of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ that whenever the Sahabi, Sayyidna Jundub ibn Zuhayr ؓ prayed, fasted or gave in charity and then saw people admiring him for doing those deeds, he felt pleased about it and would then increase the frequency of those deeds. There-upon, this verse was revealed.

The gist of narrations given above is that the shirk prohibited in this verse is the hidden shirk of showing off (riya' ). And that a deed may though be for Allah alone but, along with it, should it become associated with some selfish motive of name, fame and recognition, then, this too will be a kind of hidden shirk, something that makes one's deed go waste, even harmful.

However, there are some other Sahih Ahadith which apparently seem to indicate otherwise. For example, Tirmidhi reports from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that he submitted before the Holy Prophet ﷺ : 'There are times when I am on my prayer mat inside my house (making Salah) and, all of a sudden, there comes someone. I like it that he saw me in that state. (Would that be riya'?) ' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, '0 Abu Hurairah, may Allah have mercy on you. Then you get two rewards, one for the deed you were already doing in secret, and the other for what you did openly after the coming of that person. (This is no riya' ).'

And according to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari appearing in the Sahih of Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was asked, 'What do you say about a person who does some good deed, then hears people praising it?' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, تِلکَ عَاجِلُ بُشرَی المُؤمِنِ : "This is instant good news for the believer." (that his deed was accepted with Allah and He had his servants praise it).

The apparent difference in these two kinds of narrations has been resolved and brought in agreement in Tafsir Mazhari. It says that the first kind of narrations about the cause of the revelation of the verse apply to a particular situation. This is when one associates his intention to please people or to earn a good name for himself along with the intention of seeking the pleasure of Allah through his deed to the extent that he further increases the frequency of that deed on being praised by people for it. This is, no doubt, hypocrisy (riya' ) and hidden shirk.

And the latter narrations, those from Tirmidhi and Muslim, concern another situation. This is when one has acted for the pleasure of Allah alone without any inclination of receiving publicity or praise for it and then Allah Ta’ ala, in His grace, gives him fame by making people praise him. If so, it has nothing to do with riya' (showing off). In fact, this is spontaneous good news for the believer (that his deed has found acceptance with Allah).

Riya' and its Evil Consequences: Stern Warnings of Hadith

Sayyidna Mahmud ibn Labid ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'What I fear most about you is minor shirk.' The Sahabah ؓ asked: Ya Rasulallah, what is minor shirk?' He said, 'Riya" (to do something only to show people). (Reported by Ahmad in his Musnad)

After having reported this Hadith in Shu` ab-al-'Iman, Al-Baihaqi has also reported the remarks: 'On the day of Qiyamah, when Allah Ta’ ala will reward His servants for their deeds, He will ask the practitioners of riya' to go for their rewards to those they wanted to impress with their deeds and find out whether or not they have any for them.'

Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah Ta` ala says 'I am free and above from associating with those associated with Me. Whoever does a good deed and then associates in it someone else with Me, then, I leave the entire deed for the one associated.' And, according to another narration, 'I withdraw from that deed making it exclusive for the person associated with me.' (Narrated by Muslim)

And Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Umar ؓ reports that he heard the Holy Prophet ﷺ saying, 'Whoever does a good deed to earn a fair name among people, then, Allah Ta’ ala too deals with him in a manner that he is disgraced before them.' (Narrated by Ahmad in Shu` ab-al-'Imn - from Tafsir Mazhari)

It appears in Tafsir al-Qurtubi that Sayyidna Hasan al-Basri (رح) was asked about ikhlas (unalloyed sincerity) and riya' (showing off). He said: Ikhlas requires that your good deeds remaining hidden should be what you like and the bad deeds remaining hidden should be what you do not like. After that, if Allah Ta’ ala discloses your deeds before the people, you should say, 'Ya Allah, all this is Your grace and favour, not the outcome of my deed and effort.'

And Tirmidhi reports from Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once mentioned shirk by saying: ھُوَ فِیکُم اَخفٰی مِن دبِیبِ النَّمل (It is right there in you more stealthily than the soundless movement of an ant). Then, he added, 'I tell you something which, if you do, you will remain safe against all sorts of shirk, major or minor (riya' ). Make this prayer (dua three times every day:

اَللّٰھُمَّ اِنِّی اَعُوذُبِکِ اَن اُشرِکَ بِکَ وَ اَنَا اَعلَمُ وَاَستغفِرُکَ لِمَا لَا اَعلَمُ

0' Allah, I seek refuge with You lest I associate a partner with You while I know and I seek forgiveness from You for what I do not know.

Some Merits and Properties of Surah al-Kahf

Sayyidna Abu a1-Darda' ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever remembers to recite the first ten verses of Surah al-Kahf will remain safe against the fitnah (upheaval, trial) caused by Dajjal (anti-Christ). (Reported by Muslim, Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i)

And Imam Ahmad, Muslim and al-Nasa'i have reported within this narration from Sayyidna Abu al-Darda' words to the effect that 'whoever remembers to recite the last ten verses of Surah al-Kahf will remain safe against the fitnah of Dajjal.'

And according to a narration of Sayyidna Anas ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever recites the initial and the concluding verses of Surah al-Kahf will have light for him, from his feet up to his head. And whoever recites this Surah in full will have light for him, from the ground up to the sky." (Reported by Ibn al-Sunni, and Ahmad in his Musnad)

And as narrated by Sayyidna Abu Said ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever recites Surah al-Kahf in full on the day of Jumu'ah will have light for him until the next Jumu'ah. (Reported and declared as Sahih by al-Hakim and al-Baihaqi in al-Da` awat - from Mazhari)

To Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ someone said, 'I resolve in my heart to wake up in the later part of night and make Salah but sleep overtakes me.' Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said to him, 'recite the last verses of Surah al-Kahf - from: قُل لَّوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ‌ مِدَادًا (109) to the end of the Surah (110) - before you sleep. Then, the time you intend to wake up will be the time when Allah Ta’ a1a will wake you up.' (Reported by ath-Tha` alibi)

And according to the Musnad of al-Darimi, Zirr ibn Hubaish told ` Abdah, 'Anyone who sleeps after having recited these last verses will wake up at the time he or she intends to.' And ` Abdah says, 'we have tried this repeatedly. It happens just like that.'

An important word of advice

Ibn al-` Arabi quotes his Shaikh, Turtushi: 'Let not the hours of your dear life pass away confronting contemporaries and socializing with friends. Watch out! Allah Ta’ ala has concluded His statement on the following verse:

فَمَن كَانَ يَرْ‌جُو لِقَاءَ رَ‌بِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِ‌كْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَ‌بِّهِ أَحَدًا

So the one who hopes to meet his Lord must do righteous deed

and must not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord - 110 (Al-Qurtubi)

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah al-Kahf

End here.