'No divine merits for taking selfie after performing tarawih prayers' - Nooh Gadut

A person's divine merits or pahala will not be rewarded to those who take a 'selfie' after performing the 'tarawih' prayers at the mosque and posting them on social media sites with the intention to merely 'show off'.

Johor Islamic Religious Council (MAINJ) chairman, Datuk Nooh Gadut, said the explanation is clear when one recites the iftitah during prayers, which highlighted one's sincerity and devotion to Allah when performing the 'tarawih' prayers.

“We should focus on our prayers. We must not tell the whole world about our devotion to Allah.

“What is our goal of going to the mosques? Do we just want to post a selfie at the mosques? Don't you think that is just to show one’s lack of sincerity in carrying out their duties during the Ramadan month,” he said when contacted by Astro AWANI, recently.

Nooh was commenting on the attitude of some quarters who have the obsession to take photos of themselves at the mosques after performing their tarawih prayers and to upload the images on social media sites like Facebook.

He stressed that the act of taking a selfie leads to the question of sincerity.

“The act is seen like merely showing off and that will forfeit the diving merits from Allah," he added.

“It is just like the act of giving... when the right hand gives, the left hand shouldn't know," he said.

Nooh also expressed his disappointment upon seeing the attitude of some Muslims who seemed trigger-happy to show off on social media.

“Frankly, there's no point of going to the mosques only to return home without the divine merits, so to speak," he said.