Will My Good Deeds Not Count Because of My Two-Faced Behaviour?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I used to tell my friends that I would change my outfit at school and avoid people I know so they wouldn’t snitch to my mom about the haram I did. On the way home, I would change again, so I looked like a good person in front of my mom and others. My friends did the same by wearing makeup to school and removing it before coming home. Is it considered doing good deeds out of ostentation for pretending like we are good girls when we come home? Will our good deeds be erased because of the hadith about good deeds disappearing due to showing off? How do I repent for motivating my friends to do this?

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for your feelings of regret, and may He help you continue to better yourself.

Showing Off

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)  “The thing I fear most for you is the lesser shirk (polytheism), showing-off (of good deeds).” [Ahmad with a good chain of narrators]

The most famous hadith about showing off is this: Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say:

“The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: ‘And what did you do about them?’ He will say: ‘I fought for you until I died a martyr.’ He will say: ‘You have lied – you did but fight that it might be said [of you]: He is courageous. And so it was said.’ Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.

[Another] will be a man who has studied [religious] knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: ‘And what did you do about them?’ He will say: ‘I studied [religious] knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake.’ He will say: ‘You have lied – you did but study [religious] knowledge that it might be said [of you]: He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said [of you]: He is a reciter. And so it was said.’ Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.

[Another] will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: ‘And what did you do about them?’ He will say: ‘I left no path [untrodden] in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake.’ He will say: ‘You have lied – you did but do so that it might be said [of you]: He is open-handed. And so it was said.’ Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Muslim, Tirmidhi & Nasa’i).

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “He who so acts to show off, Allah will disgrace him on the Day of Resurrection, and he who does good deeds so that people (may hold him in high esteem), Allah will expose his hidden evil intentions before the people on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhari & Muslim].

Repentance

The door of repentance is always open, and I encourage you to be honest and open with your mother. Dress in a way that makes both of you happy, and remember that you will get more freedom as you get older, in sha Allah, there is no reason to insist on freedom now. Ask yourself why you want to be dishonest and ask yourself if it is worth it. Encourage your friends to do the opposite of what you all were doing, and reap the good deed for mending the matter. Only Allah can decide what He will do with your good deeds, so strive to improve and not repeat your mistakes.

Please see how to repent here:

• A Reader on Tawba (Repentance)
• What is Sincere Repentance?
• Major vs. Minor Sins, and Haram vs. Makruh Tahriman
• Prayer of Repentance: Salat al-Tawba

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.