Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
O Slaves of Allah! I first and foremost advise myself and you to fear Allah and keep your duty to Him, and fear a day on which nothing of a human being will benefit him except a pure heart.
Among the things that have polluted the hearts of many people today is the disease of arrogance. Arrogance is that you think you're better than others. It is a serious disease detested by Allah. The worst creatures to have ever existed were full of this disease: the likes of Iblīs, Fir‘awn and the enemies of Rasul Allah ﷺ. It is such a serious disease that Rasul Allah ﷺ said regarding it:
"One will not enter Paradise [without prior punishment, if Allah doesn't will to forgive him] if one has a speck of dust of arrogance in his heart." (Narrated by Muslim and al-Tirmidhī)
Do not think you're better than someone else just because you got higher marks in that recent assessment. Or because you own something they don't. Or because you've got skills they don't. And definitely do not let those extra acts of worship of yours make you look down upon others and feel arrogant and conceitedly proud of yourselves, whether it's extra prayers, extra days of fasting or you leaving off those sins your friends may commit. This is a dangerous trap of Shayṭān; it deludes you into a bubble that may not burst until you see the Angel of Death, when you'll find out what you're really worth. You never know: those friends you think you're better than may worship Allah in secret and beg for His forgiveness more than you do. It may be that they end up becoming more religious than you, whilst you end up moving away from the dīn, by the will of Allah. Their fate may end up being better than yours in this life and the Hereafter.
O children of Adam! How dare you think that you're better than someone else just because you belong to a certain race or ethnicity! Just because you happened to be born in a certain race, in a certain ethnicity, in a certain family, in a certain city – now you think you're better than someone who wasn't? How silly is it that you brag about something you didn't even put effort towards!
Whatever the source of your arrogance and pride may be – intelligence, looks, wealth, strength, number of online friends/followers, whatever it is – remember that Allah Almighty is the provider of everything you have. He can snatch away from you the objects of your arrogance and pride in the blink of an eye.
Now, we often hear phrases such as: "No one messes with me! I'm this...", or "I'll smash you...", or "Who do you think you are? I'm all this and you're that..." And then the person will say something negative about the other person. Such statements are not befitting of a Muslim. A Muslim is supposed to be humble. Ask yourself: who are YOU, O sinful being, to utter such statements? Please understand: the world's NOT all about YOU. You AREN'T the centre of the world.
Allah says:
"Do not walk on the earth boastfully. Certainly, you can neither tear the earth apart, nor can you match the mountains in height." (Qur’ān 17:37)
Ḥasan al-Baṣrī once saw a man he didn't know walking arrogantly. The man saw Ḥasan looking at him and said, “Do you know me?” to which Ḥasan said, “Yes, you began as a clot of blood, then at the end your life you become a rotten corpse, and in between that you carry filth in your body.”
Compare those attitudes of arrogance with the humbleness of the Best of all Creation ﷺ – when he finally conquered Makkah, he had all the reasons to display pomp and pride in the faces of those he'd just conquered. But no: he entered the city in humility, glorifying and praising his Lord.
Know, O honourable believers, that justice follows every evil act. The arrogant will meet their fate in the Hereafter as the most humiliated of people, whilst the humble will be elevated to the highest stations.
So I advise myself first and then you: remember your humble origins. Know yourself: a weak, tiny, limited human being. Thank Allah and acknowledge that everything comes from Him; nothing was from your own accord. Indeed, people before you recognised this, and so they ended up becoming the greatest people to walk this earth.
To proceed:
O Slaves of Allah! I first and foremost advise myself and you to fear Allah and keep your duty to Him, and fear a day on which nothing of a human being will benefit him except a pure heart.
Among the things that have polluted the hearts of many people today is the disease of arrogance. Arrogance is that you think you're better than others. It is a serious disease detested by Allah. The worst creatures to have ever existed were full of this disease: the likes of Iblīs, Fir‘awn and the enemies of Rasul Allah ﷺ. It is such a serious disease that Rasul Allah ﷺ said regarding it:
لاَ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ
Do not think you're better than someone else just because you got higher marks in that recent assessment. Or because you own something they don't. Or because you've got skills they don't. And definitely do not let those extra acts of worship of yours make you look down upon others and feel arrogant and conceitedly proud of yourselves, whether it's extra prayers, extra days of fasting or you leaving off those sins your friends may commit. This is a dangerous trap of Shayṭān; it deludes you into a bubble that may not burst until you see the Angel of Death, when you'll find out what you're really worth. You never know: those friends you think you're better than may worship Allah in secret and beg for His forgiveness more than you do. It may be that they end up becoming more religious than you, whilst you end up moving away from the dīn, by the will of Allah. Their fate may end up being better than yours in this life and the Hereafter.
O children of Adam! How dare you think that you're better than someone else just because you belong to a certain race or ethnicity! Just because you happened to be born in a certain race, in a certain ethnicity, in a certain family, in a certain city – now you think you're better than someone who wasn't? How silly is it that you brag about something you didn't even put effort towards!
Whatever the source of your arrogance and pride may be – intelligence, looks, wealth, strength, number of online friends/followers, whatever it is – remember that Allah Almighty is the provider of everything you have. He can snatch away from you the objects of your arrogance and pride in the blink of an eye.
Now, we often hear phrases such as: "No one messes with me! I'm this...", or "I'll smash you...", or "Who do you think you are? I'm all this and you're that..." And then the person will say something negative about the other person. Such statements are not befitting of a Muslim. A Muslim is supposed to be humble. Ask yourself: who are YOU, O sinful being, to utter such statements? Please understand: the world's NOT all about YOU. You AREN'T the centre of the world.
Allah says:
وَلَا تَمْشِ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ ٱلْجِبَالَ طُولًا
Ḥasan al-Baṣrī once saw a man he didn't know walking arrogantly. The man saw Ḥasan looking at him and said, “Do you know me?” to which Ḥasan said, “Yes, you began as a clot of blood, then at the end your life you become a rotten corpse, and in between that you carry filth in your body.”
Compare those attitudes of arrogance with the humbleness of the Best of all Creation ﷺ – when he finally conquered Makkah, he had all the reasons to display pomp and pride in the faces of those he'd just conquered. But no: he entered the city in humility, glorifying and praising his Lord.
Know, O honourable believers, that justice follows every evil act. The arrogant will meet their fate in the Hereafter as the most humiliated of people, whilst the humble will be elevated to the highest stations.
So I advise myself first and then you: remember your humble origins. Know yourself: a weak, tiny, limited human being. Thank Allah and acknowledge that everything comes from Him; nothing was from your own accord. Indeed, people before you recognised this, and so they ended up becoming the greatest people to walk this earth.
A follow-up: I think this piece is a good read for all concerning arrogance.
ReplyDeletehttp://seekersguidance.org/blog/2010/09/the-personal-arrogance-checklist/