We tend to share and remind others of virtues and good deeds via social media. Encouraging others to be good and pious, are part of our religion. Hoping others would be motivated to do good, we tend to show what are the good acts of worship that we have done publicly and showing the deeds via video and pictures. If others were to follow the advice and encouragements that we share, we know we would too, be rewarded by Allah ﷻ.
Sincerity or ikhlas, is something that is hidden and only Allah ﷻ and the performer knows, if he/she is sincere about it. Any forms of worship that is done not for Allah ﷻ but for the eyes of others, is known as riyak. Our intentions are not known because it lies in the hearts of the doer. All acts of worships are subjected to the intentions of the performer. He might say that it is for Allah ﷻ but only Allah ﷻ knows if he/she is doing it for the sake of others and getting praises from the public.
The munafiqoons, are those who pretend to be submitters of Allah ﷻ and they perform acts of worships in front of other believers. However Allah ﷻ knows that they are faking it. They are doing it in order to be seen by other Muslims that they are pious and are practising Islam like the others. Surely no one would know their actual intentions as the intentions are hidden in their hearts. Allah ﷻ however owns their hearts. Allah ﷻ knows everything. Allah ﷻ knows their actual intentions.
We can’t accuse others of being munafik or hypocrites. Whether someone is sincere or not, whether it is ikhlas or riyak, we have no way of knowing. Nevertheless, we can always check our own intentions and re-remind ourselves to be very careful about what we share with others. Keep our acts of worship private. Do not expose and publicise the ibadah on our social media and tell others of what we have done.
If we are doing da’wah, we should be very careful too. Yes, we do have to remind one another of acts of worships, to encourage goodness and forbid evil. However, we have to ensure that our acts of worships are kept confidential between us and Allah ﷻ . We will have to weigh between the acts of worships that were done publicly and those ibadah that we have done in private. We should be very worried if we have more acts of worships that are known by others than those ibadah that we have done secretly.
Acts of worships that are to be done in masses such as Friday prayers or even the 5 daily prayers that are done in the masjid are seen by others. Nevertheless there are many other ibadah that can be done in private. No one knows the dzikir that we whisper, the night prayers and the quran recitations and so on were done by us. We shall not inform others of how often or how much voluntary acts of worships that we have done.
Sincerity lies in our hearts. Keep it that way.
والله أعلمُ بالـصـواب