Is riya' an example of unknowingly committing shirk?

Shirk Al 'Ibadah has two parts:

• • Shirk Al-Akbar: If a person commits this type of shirk then he is out of the fold of Islam. It involves worshipping a deity other than Allah or worshipping a deity along with Allah.

  مَا نَعۡبُدُهُمۡ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ زُلۡفَىٰٓ

“…We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah…." [1]

These people worshipped the deities to be closer to Allah. Allah reported them as mushrikeen.

So those who commit Shirk-e-Akbar they are mushrikeen (idolaters).

• Shirk Al-Asghar: A person who commits this type of shirk is not taken out of the folds of Islam. An example would be riya' or sum’a. That deed would be rejected. The persistence in doing it could eventually lead to Shirk Al-Akbar. So we need to be constantly careful about that.

Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Tamiyah said that a person who starts a deed with the right intention but, gets corrupted during the deed; for example a little bit of Shirk Al-Asgar, that is riya' stepping in; but then he recollects himself and he ends the deed by the correct intention, Insha'Allah that deed will be accepted, but would not be as complete as a person who began and finished his deed with the right intention, without any corruption. On the other hand, if a person began a deed with good intention but completed it with a corrupt intention, like riya', then it would be rejected. This is something we should be absolutely aware of and take heed of and constantly seek Allah's protection from committing them.

May Allah make us from among those who are protected from all kinds of shirk.

Reference:

[1] Surah Az-Zumar, 39:3