Some days, I open my phone with the intention to share a reminder, a verse that touched my heart during Fajr, or Naseeha that might benefit another Muslimah navigating this turbulent world. My fingers hover over the keyboard, and then it comes like clockwork: the whisper.
“Is this riyā? Are you just trying to show off the righteousness you don’t even have?”
I pause. I hesitate. Sometimes I delete the draft entirely, convinced that silence is safer than the risk of corrupted intention. But in that silence, shayṭān wins twice: first, by planting the seed of doubt, and second, by preventing good from reaching someone who might desperately need it.
We live in an age where visibility is inevitable. Our acts of worship, our reflections, our spiritual struggles can all be documented and shared within seconds. For Muslimahs especially, this creates a unique tension. We want to be sources of good, to remind each other as Allah commands us to do, but we are terrified of falling into riyā, showing off, seeking praise from people instead of the pleasure of Allah.
Allah says in Surah Al-‘Asr
وَٱلۡعَصۡرِ. إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لَفِي خُسۡرٍ. إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ
By time, indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
Notice that advising each other of the truth is mentioned as a condition for salvation, it is not optional. It is not something we can abandon simply because we fear what people might think of our intentions. Yet shayṭān has cleverly weaponized our desire for sincerity, turning it into a tool for silence.
I remind myself of the times I was close to slipping, when my eemān felt heavy and my prayers felt mechanical, when I questioned whether I was on the right path at all. It was in those moments that I would see a status update from a friend, a post from someone I respected, or a reminder that appeared on my timeline as if Allah had placed it there specifically for me.
Those words would become a lifeline. A correction. A gentle pull back toward the straight path.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Convey from me, even if it is one verse.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)
He did not say, “Convey from me only if your intention is 100% pure.” He did not add, ”But first spend years perfecting your sincerity.” He commanded us to share, to spread knowledge, to remind, even if what we have is small.
If I had allowed the fear of riyā to silence those who helped me, I would have remained lost. If every Muslimah who ever felt the whisper of “Are you just showing off?” had chosen silence, how many of us would still be wandering in darkness?
Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) explained that riyā occurs when a person does an act of worship purely for the sake of being seen by people, with no regard for Allah’s pleasure. But if someone does a good deed sincerely for Allah, and people happen to see it or benefit from it, this is not riyā. In fact, it is among the fruits of sincerity when good deeds inspire others.
The key is where the action begins. If it starts with “I want people to think I’m pious,” that is riyā. But if it starts with “Ya Allah, guide me and use me to guide others,” that is sincerity, even if people’s praise follows.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “He who calls others to guidance will have a reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without their rewards being diminished in any respect.”(Sahih Muslim)
Would Allah promise such a reward for something He considers a sin? Of course not. The sharing of knowledge, the calling to good, the reminder that redirects a heart back to Allah, these are acts of immense value, not vanity.
So I reassure myself that when I write or share a reminder, I am not doing it from a place of spiritual superiority or to act ‘holier than thou’. I am writing it because I need it first. Because my heart forgets. Because my eemān fluctuates. Because I, too, need the constant redirection that comes from engaging with the words of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Allah says:
وَذَكِّرۡ فَإِنَّ ٱلذِّكۡرَىٰ تَنفَعُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ
And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.(Adh-Dhariyat 51:55)
If the reminder benefits me before it benefits anyone else, then it has already fulfilled a purpose. If it reaches someone else and Allah uses those words to turn a heart back to Him, then Alhamdulillah— that is not my doing. That is Allah’s mercy manifesting through the smallest of efforts.
One of shayṭān’s most effective strategies is not to make us commit sins outright, but to paralyze us from doing good. He does not need to make you post something haram; he only needs to convince you that posting something halal might be riyā. He does not need to make you abandon prayer; he only needs to make you abandon reminding others to pray.
Imam Al-Ghazali wrote in Ihya Ulum al-Din that shayṭān approaches the righteous differently than he approaches the sinful. For the sinful, he encourages more sin. For the righteous, he whispers doubts about their sincerity, hoping to stop them from doing good altogether.
If you have ever felt the whisper, “Don’t post that reminder, people will think you’re showing off,” recognize it for what it is: a trap. Shayṭān does not want that reminder to reach the sister who is struggling, the one who is about to give up on her prayers, the one who is doubting whether Allah still loves her.
The solution is not to stop doing good. The solution is to constantly check your intention and seek Allah’s protection from riyā.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us to say: “Allahumma inni a’udhu bika an ushrika bika shay’an wa ana a’lamu, wa astaghfiruka lima la a’lamu.”
(O Allah, I seek refuge in You from associating anything with You knowingly, and I seek Your forgiveness for that which I do not know.) (Musnad Ahmad)
This dua acknowledges our human limitations. We cannot always perceive the purity of our intentions, but we can ask Allah to purify them for us. We can seek His protection from hidden shirk and riyā, and trust that He, Al-‘Aleem (The All-Knowing), sees what we cannot.
So no, sharing reminders is not riyā, not when it begins as an admonition to yourself, not when it is rooted in the desire to please Allah, and not when it carries the potential to guide another soul back to Him.
I pray that Allah makes His religion easy for me and for all of us. I pray that every word we share, every reminder we post, every piece of advice we give becomes a hujjah for us and not against us. I pray that He purifies our intentions and uses us as instruments of His Hidaayah, even when we are imperfect and still learning.
And if my words ever reach you in a moment of doubt or weakness, know that they were written by someone who has been there too, someone who needed the reminder just as much as you do.
May Allah keep us sincere, keep us steadfast, and make us among those who advise each other to truth and patience.
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