Ḥubb al-Madḥ · Love of Being Praised

There is a small disease that lives upstream of riyāʾ (Day 1) and prepares the soil for it. The disease is ḥubb al-madḥ, love of being praised. Before the believer performs religious acts for an audience, he must first love the audience's response. The pre-performance disease is the love; the performance itself is the riyāʾ. Cure the love upstream, and riyāʾ has less soil to grow in. Cure only riyāʾ and not the love, and the disease keeps regrowing. Allah, in Sūrah Āl ʿImrān, addressed this precise pairing. He said: 'Do not think those who exult in what they have done and love to be praised for what they have not done are safe from punishment; for them is a painful torment' (3:188). Two sins, paired. The first is exulting in actual deeds (ʿujb al-ḥasanāt, Day 141). The second is loving praise for what one did not do. Both are condemned in the same verse; both invite painful torment. The second sin, the love of praise even for un-done deeds, indicates the depth of the disease: the believer who loves praise so much that he is pleased even by false praise is in advanced ḥubb al-madḥ. The Prophet ﷺ attached a structural instruction. He said: 'When you see those who praise others to their faces (al-madḥīn), throw dust in their faces (aḥthu fī wujūhihim al-turăb)' (Muslim 3002). The Companions and the classical scholars interpreted this in several ways. Some took it literally in certain contexts; the more dominant interpretation is metaphorical: deny the praise its effect, deflect it, do not let it land. The praiser is, in this hadith, structurally categorized as a danger to the praised; his face deserves dust because his words are spiritually disorienting. The Companions adopted a structural response. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the second khalīfah, would respond to praise with a specific duʿā preserved by ʿAlī and others: 'Allāhumma 'ajʿalnī khayran mimmă yaẓunnūn, wa-ighfir lī mă lă yaʿlamūn, wa-lă tuʾakhidhnī bi-mă yaqūlūn'. O Allah, make me better than what they think of me; forgive me for what they do not know of me; and do not hold me accountable for what they say of me. Three structural movements. First: 'make me better than what they think'. The praiser thinks well of the praised; the praised, knowing his own inner state, asks Allah to actually become better than the praiser's image. The praise becomes a duʿā-prompt rather than an ego-meal. Second: 'forgive me for what they do not know'. The praiser sees the visible deeds; only Allah and the believer know the private failures; the believer asks forgiveness for the private. Third: 'do not hold me to what they say'. The praise itself, if accepted into the heart, accumulates a spiritual debt; the believer asks Allah's immunity from the cost of the praise. The duʿā is the precise cure. Recite it every time praise lands. Now consider how ḥubb al-madḥ lives in modern life. Social media platforms are engineered to deliver praise: likes, hearts, comments, shares. Each is a small dose of madḥ. The believer who scrolls his own posts, refreshing to see new engagement, is feeding the disease in measured doses through the day. The professional contexts that include public recognition (awards, mentions in newsletters, podcast appearances as 'an inspiring Muslim') are heavier doses. The religious contexts that publicly thank speakers ('and we thank brother [your name] for his amazing reminder') are particularly dangerous because the praise is wrapped in religious language. In each context, the disease enters through the same door: the small warmth the praise produces. The cure has three structural pieces. First, install the duʿā. Memorize ʿUmar's response. Recite it whenever praise lands, even silently. The repetition over months reshapes the heart's response to praise: from accepting it as nourishment to receiving it as a prompt for duʿā. Second, structurally limit the contexts that deliver praise. Reduce social media engagement (less scrolling of your own posts, fewer notification-checks). Decline some recognition opportunities (the award you do not need, the speaking gig that exists primarily for visibility rather than benefit). Refuse public thanks gracefully when offered, redirecting to Allah or to others. Third, examine the praise honestly. The praiser sees a small slice; you know the larger picture. The praise that lands warmly is almost certainly partially untrue; the believer corrects internally even when not externally. Pray today: Allāhumma 'ajʿalnī mim man lă yuḥibbu al-madḥ li-nafsih, wa-yuḥibbu kulla maḥmada laka. O Allah, make me of those who do not love praise for themselves, and who love every praise that goes to You. The disease is upstream of riyāʾ; the cure is the deflection of the praise the moment it arrives.