Condition

I think Ri’ya is creeping in to me. I have been attending weekly Quran Dars in another locality and travelling by train. It's not far; it takes 15 mins in total. I had kept it a secret and whenever someone asked how I got there I would reply "with a friend" to stay sincere and not be praised. In my heart I would say that "Allah is my friend and I'm going with Him" so that was not a lie.

But today, the Hazrat that conducts the Dars asked me how I attended his talks and I said "by train". I feel like there's some Ri'ya involved in my answer otherwise I would have said "with my friend" to him too.

Answer

Ri'ya is to do something with the intention to show it off to people. Ikhlaas is to do something, solely for the pleasure of Allaah Jalla Jala Laho, whether people come to know of it or not. Concealing ones action is not ikhlaas, it helps to maintain ikhlaas!