What is riya’ ?

Pretending Virtuousness (riya’) ... when they stand up to prayer they stand up sluggishly; they do it only to be seen of men and do not remember Allah except a little.(Qur'an, 4: 142)   Imam al‑Sadiq (a) said: “Riya’ in any of its forms amounts toshirk, (polytheism); verily, one who works for the people, his reward lies with them, and one who works for God, his reward lies with God.” [Al-Kulayni,  al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 402]     Imam al‑Sadiq (a) said that Amir al‑mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (a) said: “There are three distinguishing features of one accustomed to riya': he expresses joy and cheerfulness when he is greeted by people; he becomes cheerless and sullen when alone; and he wishes to be praised for everything he does.” [Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 295]   What is riya’ ? Riya' means to falsely make oneself appear to be virtuous, good natured or a true believer before people for the sake of earning their respect and admiration, or for the purpose of gaining a good reputation among them. It differs from hypocrisy (nifaq) in that a hypocrite feigns integrity, uprightness, virtue, honesty and piety without sincere intention of acquiring these traits for the sake of God, while a person with riya acquires these good traits for the sake of pleasing God, however, he later performs good actions for the sake of gaining respect and good reputation among people.