article Things that Corrupt Your Deeds

Stated Sufyaan ath-Thawree – rahimahuAllah;

"Beware of what corrupts your deedsfor you, for indeed the only thing that corrupts your deeds is al-Riyaa (showing off).

For if it is not al-Riyaa, then it is your admiration of yourself to the point that it eventually leads you to deem yourself better than your (Muslim) brother. And it is possible that you do not practice righteous deeds as he does, and it is possible that he is more God fearing than you in what Allah has prohibited or that his deeds are purer that yours.

If you are not amazed of yourself, then beware of loving being praised by people;  and it is that you love that they honor you due to your deeds, and that they give you status in their hearts due to it, or a favors that you ask of them in many an affair.

What you should want from you deeds, is the afterlife, not anything else. Sufficient is the reminder of death in steering you away from the life of this world and towards the afterlife. And sufficient is prolonging hope in this world in minimizing your fear [of Allah] and emboldening you to practice sin.

Sufficient is the distress and regret on the Day of Judgment for whoever had knowledge and did not act upon it."