The Sunday Mail
Arrogance is indeed a bad and filthy trait, and what is even worse than that? The inability to repent to The Almighty! Why? Because you don’t want to admit that you are indeed wrong, and your ego had kept you from doing what is right!
ALLAH Almighty declares in the Holy Qur’aan, “And do not turn your face away from others with arrogance, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah does not like any arrogant boaster.” (Chapter 31:8)
Arrogance is one of the most dangerous diseases of the heart. Those inner diseases reside in the hearts but their destructive effects are reflected in the behaviour and conduct of the “sick” person who can be prevented from entering Paradise on the Day of Judgement.
The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) said, “One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart.”
This is clear evidence that arrogance is one of the major sins because it prevents the arrogant from entering Paradise on the Day of Judgement. It is also evidence that arrogance is from the diseases of the heart, and evidence that the degree of arrogance varies. The heart can be filled with arrogance or can have only up to a small atom’s weight of arrogance.
So great is the filth of arrogance that is very rapidly permeating our societies today. During earlier times, top intellectuals, religious leaders, community elders, and so forth would humble themselves and even sweep and mop floors in humility.
And today such people (in fact even those lower than them — general and sundry) want to be praised to the skies. Leaders, in the past, would die for the sake of the community and the nation, yet today each one would rather have the community or nation die for their individual selves and their own personal gain!
In Prophetic terms, arrogance has even been called the “root cause” of all sicknesses of the heart.
The biggest sin Satan committed was not his disobedience to bow in front of Adam (PBUH) when commanded by The Almighty to do so, but his arrogance which had kept him from doing so. He felt that he was better than man and even went to the extent of blatantly and unashamedly declaring in front of The Almighty that, “You have created me from fire and created him (Adam) of clay!”
He thought he was better than man and his arrogance led him to reject the command of The Almighty. Thus he was the first to commit this evil of arrogance.
Arrogance is indeed a bad and filthy trait, and what is even worse than that? The inability to repent to The Almighty! Why? Because you don’t want to admit that you are indeed wrong, and your ego had kept you from doing what is right!
Once when the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was explaining the harm and evil of arrogance, one of his companions queried “One may love his clothes to look good and his shoes to look good, (so would that be arrogance)?” And he replied by explaining that to be smart and presentable in itself is not disliked or wrong but in reality arrogance is: “rejecting the truth and looking down on people (despising others).”
This then gives us the understanding that arrogance can be divided into two broad categories. In fact it exposes two strains of this deadly disease, both dealing with our exaggerated ideas of self-importance.
The first suggests, “I am more important than the Truth”. Thus one becomes so proud and haughty to such an extent that one is not willing to accept “the Truth” — (The Truth referring to the revelation of The Almighty on the one hand and any situation of reality on the other).
The second suggests, “I am more important than other people”. Thus one regards oneself as superior to others thereby looking down upon them and regarding them as inferior!
Both categories are unacceptable and a person afflicted with either one or both needs to reflect very seriously and seek remedy urgently, before he/she falls into destruction.
The most evil kind of arrogance is rejection of the Divine Truth and not following it. Indeed it is termed as being arrogant against The Almighty by rejecting submission to Him and rejecting to worship Him. The Divine Truth is that He has created us and we owe our submission and worship to Him alone.
Such arrogance causes a person to suffer in terms of spirituality in this world, whereby he will be deprived of guidance and understanding as declared by The Almighty Himself in the Holy Qur’aan: “I shall turn away from My clear signs and verses, those who behave (unduly) arrogantly on the earth.” (Chapter 7:146)
As for the consequence of such arrogance in the Hereafter, The Almighty declares that on the Day of Judgement, it will be said to the arrogant, “Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein, and (indeed) what an evil abode of the arrogant!” (Chapter 40:76).
Thus the Hell Fire will be the eternal abode of the arrogant people.
While that is the most blatant form of arrogance, we can witness the same attitude on a smaller scale in our discussions and arguments. A person realises that he was wrong, but then his pride keeps him from admitting it.
No matter how polite or “humble” that person may appear to be ordinarily, this test shows the presence of arrogance in his heart. It is arrogance that keeps a person from saying “I am sorry.”
(to be continued next week)
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact: Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars Publications Department, PO Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare, Tel: 04-614078 /614004, Fax: 04-614003, e-mail: [email protected]
