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Fatwa CenterWaking up for Fajr to avoid dispraise
Question
Assalaamu alaykum, Scholar. I live in Spain, far from the masjid, and therefore I pray alone at home. As I pray alone at home, I may delay the prayer a little bit more than what they do in masjid. If I had to pray at the masjid, I obvously would not be not. Recently, my friend and Shaykh told me that we will revise the Quran through the mobile phone due to me being unable to attend the masjid on a regular basis. This friend is a person who may think good of me, so I was more careful not to oversleep as this would shame me in front of him. When I am alone, I mean before starting the Quran classes, I could sometimes oversleep and miss the Fajr, but because the shaykh may phone me and find me asleep and I fear that this happens, I may even get up earlier or be more careful because if he calls me and find me asleep I would be ashamed in front of him and he may think bad of me. Is this regarder as Shirk (polytheism) taking into consideration that I am more careful when the shaykh may call me than when I am alone?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
What you mentioned is not Shirk; however, we fear that it might involve Riyaa' (ostentation and showing off in order to win people's praise). You should fear Allah, the Exalted, more than you fear anyone else, and you should be more ashamed in front of your Lord than in front of anyone else. Verily, Allah is worthier that one be bashful of Him, more than all people. So your motive to wake up should be your desire to perform the prayer on time in order to earn the pleasure of Allah. Your keenness on waking up on time should not increase because a human being is going to call you, no matter who he is.
You should strive in correcting your intention; we fear that your present intention might not be exclusively devoted to Allah. You should strive to devote all your actions exclusively and sincerely to Allah, the Exalted, and aspire only to His pleasure instead of aspiring to be worthy in the eyes of people.
Allah knows best.
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