الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! In my previous khatira on the human heart, it was pointed out that that every criminal, every miser, every abuser, every boastful, arrogant and hateful person does what he or she does because of a diseased heart. In today’s khatira, let me share some thoughts on just one of the many spiritual diseases of the heart, and that is the disease of boasting and arrogance.
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in his seminal work Ihya’ Ulumuddin, or Revival of the Religious Sciences and in another of his treatise called Bidayat al-Hidaya, or The Beginning of Guidance has referred to the spiritual diseases of the heart. Arrogance, he says is a deep-seated disease. It is when a person looks at himself with the eye of honor and self-glorification, while looking at others with the eye of lowliness and humiliation. He takes pride in praising himself and mostly talks in the first person “I did this, and I did that, and I am superior to so and so.” Shaytan expressing his superiority over Adam had said,
أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِنْ نَارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ طِينٍ
“I am far better than him, You created me from fire and created him from clay!” (al-A’raf, 7:12)
The word for arrogance in Arabic stems from the root letters kaaf baa raa – kabura – kibr signifying “growth.” With arrogance, what is alluded to is glorification of the self. One of the attributes of Allah (SWT) is that His is al-Mutakabbir – ‘The Proud’, an attribute that is reserved for Himself. It is not becoming for anyone to have any of it in his heart.
The arrogant person when in company of others believes himself to be above others. In discussions, he feels resentment when contradicted. When he is warned to do or not to do something, he haughtily rejects the advice, yet, when warning others, he does so aggressively. Anyone who sees himself as better than one of Allah’s creatures is arrogant. Rather than being arrogant, you should realize that the virtuous person is he who is considered virtuous by Allah in al-Akhirah, i.e., the final abode, and that is something that is unseen and depends upon one’s state at the time of death. One’s belief therefore that one is better than others is pure ignorance. Rather you should not look at any other person without seeing that he is better than you, that his merit surpasses yours, and consider yourself as nothing.
If you see a child, you should say to yourself, “this child has not transgressed against Allah, and I have, so certainly he is better than me.” If you see and older person, say, “This person is better than me; he has been worshiping Allah longer than I have.”
If you see a knowledgeable person, say, “This person has been given what I have not been given, and has reached in rank what I have not reached; and he knows what I am ignorant of—so how could I be like him?” If you see an ignorant person, say, “This person has transgressed against Allah Most High in ignorance, while I have done so knowingly. So, Allah’s evidence against me is greater, And what do I know about what my final state at death will be and what his final state will be?”
And if you see an unbeliever, say, “I don’t know, maybe he will become a Muslim, and his life will be sealed with the best of deeds, and for his Islam, he will emerge free of sin. As for me, Allah could cause me to go astray, so that I become of the unbelievers, and my life could be sealed with the worst of deeds. So tomorrow this person might be one close to Allah, and I one distant from Allah.”
Arrogance will not be removed from your heart until you realize that the truly great person is he who is great in the sight of Allah, and that this depends on one’s final state, which is uncertain. Because of this uncertainty, your fear of a bad end should preoccupy you and keep you from being arrogant towards Allah’s servants. The fact of your present certainty and faith (yaqeen and iman) does not lessen the possibility of change in the future.
Indeed, Allah is the changer of hearts. He guides whom He wills and leaves to stray whom He will. We keep hearing this in the Jumu’ah Khutba: “Whoever Allah guides, no one can misguide. And whoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide.” That is why it is very important to make a dua to Allah as taught to us by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The dua is:
يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِى عَلَى دِينِكَ
“Oh turner of the hearts, keep my heart firm on your religion”
Imam al-Mawlud, writing in his work Matharat al-Qulub, literally, Purification of the Hearts, speaks about fakhr, which is the disgusting practice of boasting. This practice becomes all the more hateful when one brags about what one has not done or exerted any effort toward, like bragging about one’s ancestry. The pre-Islamic Arabs used to shout out, “I am the son of so and so!” claiming that their pedigree somehow was a mark of their status and privilege. Even till this day there are people who live with this superiority complex. No one likes a boaster, one who walks with a swagger, and one who cannot be in the company of people without speaking about himself or drawing attention to what he has done. Allah (SWT) Himself reveals His dislike of bragging. We see this in Surat Luqman when Luqman giving advice to his young son says,
وَلَا تُصَعِّرْ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ
“Do not turn your face from people out of haughtiness and do not walk with pride on the earth: for, behold, Allah does not love arrogant and boastful people.” (Luqman, 31:18)
Allah says,
سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آَيَاتِيَ الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ
“I will turn away from My Signs all those who are arrogant in the earth without any right.” (al-A’raf, 7:146)
This means that Allah recompenses the arrogant ones by turning them away from understanding His Book, His prophets, and His signs placed all around them as well as in their own selves. Allah also says,
كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ جَبَّارٍ
“That is how Allah seals up the heart of every arrogant tyrant.” (Ghafir, 40:35)
The Prophet (SAW) warned against arrogance and said, “No one who has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise.”
There are several cures for arrogance. First, we should remember our humble origins. As the Qur’an reminds us, every human being is created from a drop of semen. One of the righteous predecessors said, “A man carries feces (waste matter) between his two sides. What is the source of arrogance for beings who carry filth within themselves?” Such reminders should suppress any arrogance.
Also, in studying the personalities of the companions of the Prophet (SAW), one learns of incredibly great people who were extraordinarily humble. Humility by nature leads to gratitude, for when one is humble before Allah, only then does one see the vast mercy Allah bestows upon His creation; even upon liars and disbelievers.
May Allah (SWT) protect us from the disease of arrogance and all other spiritual diseases of the heart. Allahumma ameen.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وَصَلَّ اللهُ عَلَى خيرِ خَلقِهِ مُحمَّدٍ وعَلَى آلِه وأصْحَابِه أجْمَعِين- بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِين
