The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said,

“Fear Allaah wherever you may be.” (1)

It is obligatory upon a Muslim to fear Allaah wherever they may be. When he is amongst
the people and when he is by himself, his interaction with Allaah shouldn’t change. As for
the one who when he is with the people he visibly shows Taqwa (piety) or devotion, but
when he is secluded from the people displays acts of disobedience and
offenses in front of Allaah with no concern; then this is a hypocrite.

And his statement,

“Wherever you may be.”

This is a proof that a person should not regard nor fear the people, rather he should fear
Allaah (The Most Glorified, The Most High). Whether he is with the people, or alone by
himself, verily Allaah knows his condition -even if it is hidden from the people- for verily
nothing is hidden from Allaah.

As Allaah said,

“Truly, nothing is hidden from Allah, in the earth or in the heavens.”(2)

And Allaah said,

“They may hide (their crimes) from men, but they cannot hide (them)
from Allah”(3)

As for the people, they don’t know your internal situation even if you are sitting with
them; they more so don’t know anything about you when you are secluded from
them. However, Allaah (The Most High) knows everything.

As the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said,
“Ihsan (perfection) is to worship Allaah as if you can see Him, and if you’re
not able to see Him, verily He sees you.” (4)

[al-Minhat ar-Rabbaaniyyah, the Explanation of an-Nawawi’s 40 Hadeeth by the
Scholar Saleh Ibn Fawzan Ibn Abdullah Al Fawzaan, (pg 169- 170).
Translated by Ismail Ibn Farah As Somali.
Footnotes:
_______
1-The full hadith is: On the authority of Abu Dharr Jundub ibn Junadah, and Abu Abdur
Rahman Muadh bin Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with them), that the Messenger of
Allah ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said,
“Have taqwa (fear) of Allah wherever you may be, and follow up a bad deed
with a good deed which will wipe it out, and behave well towards the
people.”
[It was related by Tirmidhi, who said it’s a hasan (good) hadith, and in some copies, it is
said to be a hasan saheeh hadith.]
2-Surah Al-Imran verse 5 (The Noble Quran).
3-Surah An-Nisa verse 108 (The Noble Quran).
4-This is a section from hadith Jibril reported by Muslim.