Imam Khomeini sheds light on the matter as following:
If your action is not for the sake of God, then it is better to abstain from doing what you have been doing, for it amounts to sum’ah, i.e. advertisement of false virtues, which is a branch of the accursed tree of riya’; for God Almighty does not approve of it and condemns its perpetrator to Sijjin.
We ought to seek refuge in God from the vice of deceit, whose guiles are very subtle.
We have a general idea that our deeds are not pure and sincere, because had we been His true servants, why does the Devil, despite promising not to impede the actions of His true servants, disturb our sanctity and make us an instrument of his evil designs?
In the words of my respected teacher, the Devil is the watchdog of the Almighty’s court; he does not bark at the person who is near to God, and does not bother him, Imam further explained.
As the watchdog does not drive the friends of the master away from the house, in the same way, the Satan also recognizes God’s friends, and does not allow any stranger to get access to Him.
Therefore, whenever you realize that the Satan interferes in your affairs, you should immediately know that your actions are not performed with sincere intentions and are not meant for the Almighty.
If you are a sincere believer in God, why doesn’t your tongue pour forth words of wisdom, coming from the heart?
For about forty years you imagine that you have been performing virtuous deeds in order to please God, whereas it occurs in a hadith that whosoever remains faithful to God for forty days, springs of wisdom emanate from his heart.
This is, therefore, a sign for us to comprehend that our deeds were not performed for the sake of God, though we ourselves are not conscious of it, and this is the main cause of our irremediable sickness.
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