Oh you, the one who is made of clay, who can fall to the earth from the slightest breeze, who can’t handle a hot day. Oh you, who when in health feels mighty but when sick feels weak and powerless. And what makes you sick is often so small you can not see it with your eyes. You, yes you, make mistakes. Many of them. You are the one who is always in need, of people and of things. You are so vulnerable, so much so that even something as abstract as time makes you wither. Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are, in front of the One who breathed into the clay to give you life? Who are you, in front of He who controls the planets and the stars, Who dictates the movements of the sun and the moon, the day and the night? Who are you, in front of the One, that brings life to the dead, and creates life from nothing? He is the One who created you, created your home, created your life. He is the One who does not wither and does not die. He is the One who is not in need of you or of anyone else. The One who forgives all your mistakes. He is Al-Aziz, Al-Adheem, Al-Baseer. He is Allah (swt), your Creator, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Who do you think you are?
Religion came to guide human life, in order to produce beings with quality, intelligence and noble character. If you sit and think about it, the overarching objective in Islam is to be better people. Religion provides us with the means towards achieving this objective, whether it be through the prevention of lying, intoxication (where one loses their self-control and humanity), hypocrisy and uselessness; or through the guidelines of ethics, morals, the treatment of others, and the devoted worship of God.
Yet, one significant taboo that stands out within the religion of Islam is that of takabbur (arrogance, pride, ego, being a show-off or whatever you want to call it). It is a trait that can be subtle in some, but blatant in others. Whatever form it exists in, it is very prevalent in our society today. When you look at the Holy Qur’an, the hadiths and the duas that we read within our religion, you may find that humility is often preached as the best of traits. If you look deeply, you will realise that Islam even classifies takabbur as an illness. Illnesses are not limited to the physiological scope, but rather transcend not only to the mental but also spiritual sphere. And just like we need hospitals, doctors and medication for the ailments we suffer from physically, we need treatment options for our spiritual diseases too.
Allah (swt) has given us many signs in this life to remind us not to be arrogant. He created the planets, the sun, the moon, and the mountains, all to remind us of how truly insignificant and powerless we are in front of God:
وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ الْأَرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ الْجِبَالَ طُولًا
Do not walk on the earth arrogantly. You can neither tear the earth apart, nor can you match the mountains in height. – Qur’an 17:37
We must recognise that we are but finite, fallible creatures and therefore we must walk in humility and not arrogance. This is a defining feature of a true servant of God as it infers that this individual fully comprehends the greatness of God and that it is only Him we worship because He is the only One deserving of our submission. Truly, we cannot tear the earth apart, or even come close to matching the grand mountains in height.
Another example is when, once, an Abbasid caliph asked Imam Al-Sadiq (as): “Why did God create flies?” (as they were recklessly irritating him). He (as) replied: “To humiliate the dictators through them.”
Even something as seemingly insignificant as a fly, serves as a reminder to us that we must never be arrogant. How much power does this dictator truly have, if a petty fly can ruin his day?
Another invaluable source of guidance is Al-Sahifa Al-Sajadiyya. Namely, Dua Makarim Al-Akhlaq or the Supplication for Noble Moral Traits is incomparable in the wealth of inspiration and knowledge about how to become a true mo’min. Predictably, this dua speaks highly of humility and its importance. Imam Al-Sajjad mentions pride various times throughout the supplication. He prays:
وَلا تَبْتَلِيَنِي بِالكِبْرِ
Do not inflict me with pride
As well as:
وَاعْصِمْنِي مِنَ الفَخْرِ
Preserve me from arrogance/vanity
Both these statements exhibit the highly unfavourable trait of pride, and emphasise that it is an illness (inferred from the word ‘inflict’) as mentioned earlier, and as such we must pray to God to protect us from it. An illness can be defined as the unhealthy condition of the body or mind, and in this case arrogance is a very unhealthy condition of the mind. It masks one’s sense of contentment, humanity and modesty, therefore resulting in a clouded perception of life and it’s true, intended meaning. It is something we should seek protection from as it can strike anyone, and if we have even the slightest trace, we should seek a cure.
Another important passage from the dua is when the Imam says:
اللّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلى مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَلا تَرْفَعْنِي فِي النَّاسِ دَرَجَةً إِلاّ حطَطْتَنِي عِنْدَ نَفْسِي مِثْلَها وَلا تُحْدِثْ لِي عِزّاً ظاهِراً إِلاّ أَحْدَثْتَ لِي ذِلَّةً باطِنَةً عِنْدَ نَفْسِي بِقَدَرِها
O Allah, Raise me not a single degree with people unless You have lowered me an equal amount, within myself. Let there not occur any outward honor for me, unless there has occurred an inner degradation of an equal amount, within myself.
These eloquently expressed words are exquisite and mind-opening. What level of piety must the Imam have reached, to pray such prayers? Oftentimes, we may get compliments from other people, telling us how good we are. Such compliments in many cases feed our ego and can make us ‘big-headed’. Here, the Imam is asking Allah, that whenever anyone gratifies or compliments me to a degree, let me decrease in pride to the same extent.
This is a very difficult thing, as we are always striving to obtain the approval of others, to the extent that we will set out to do certain things just to hear words of appreciation. For example, some might plan to post a certain picture up on their social media pages for the sole purpose of seeing ‘likes’ flood in, even if that picture has no significant meaning to them. We follow trends, we try to be ‘cool’ and we go out of our way and deviate from our beliefs in some cases all just to impress the people around us. And these things elevate our sense of worth and we become self-centred. Contrarily, what the Imam presents us is this inversely proportional formula; the more compliments and appreciation we get, the more humble and insignificant we must feel. In light of this, we can therefore say that a true believer is the one who is not pretentious and is not seen boasting about their perceived greatness. These beautiful and thought-provoking words prescribe to us an effective method on how to maintain our humility.
وَاسْتِقْلالِ الخَيْرِ وَإِنْ كَثُرَ مِنْ قَوْلِي وَفِعْلِي،
Allow me to make little of the good in my words and deeds
though it be much
Finally, in light of this topic the Imam subtly advises us to do endless good, and to always feel like whatever we have done is nowhere near enough. This mentality pushes us to do more. One of the central problems with pride is that we become satisfied with ourselves in a way that makes us stagnant in our actions. Rather than saying “I can still do more”, it makes us say “wow, I have done so much, it is more than enough”. With this mindset we cannot move forward and continue to strive to do good.
In saying all this, it is important to note the fine difference between arrogance and confidence. Arrogance is when a person unrightfully and offensively assumes superiority over another, whereas confidence is the belief in one’s self. Confidence is indeed an important thing to have. When you know the truth, you must be confident in yourself and stick by it whether everyone else agrees or not, thereby stopping you from being swayed side to side with no firm basis. As such, when you hear that you need to protect yourself against the disease of arrogance, it doesn’t mean you should always view yourself in a negative light, rather it means you should appreciate your achievements but never boast or brag. An excess of confidence can lead to arrogance. As always, it comes down to having a balance.
Arrogance may present itself in many ways in each and everyone of us. There is no shame in confessing to yourself times and situations where you have displayed overbearing pride. We all need to develop a scheme of self-diagnosis to recognise any acts of arrogance we commit. Since arrogance is not a tangible thing and since it’s manifestations are wide-ranging, it may be difficult to identify. Try to think, whenever you do or say anything to someone on the underlying basis that you are better than them, you are being arrogant.
This may be when you judge a person, such as thinking “why is he/she doing that, I would never do that”, or you if can’t accept any criticism. Also, one of the common marital problems is when one spouse is arrogant, and sees themselves as being largely superior to the other. This causes conflict as one side is deemed insignificant and inferior. In society there are many examples where the husband will call himself rab al-bayt (Lord of the house), and society encourages him to see himself as being inherently better than his wife.
Or, if you choose only to interact with people that meet your self-perceived standards, like their wealth, the size of their house, their clothing (e.g. has to be designer), the friends they have, their relatives or their social status. Those who posses this attitude often exclude people from their lives on a shallow basis. They don’t appreciate a person for who they are, rather their judgment is purely based on materialistic grounds.
In the words of Sayyed Dawud Alattar, an Iraqi activist and poet:
فقصور المستكبرين قبور
وقبور المستشهدين قصور
The palaces of the arrogant are but graves
And the graves of the martyrs are palaces
Our value lies not in our possessions or status, but in our actions and dedication towards the service of Allah (swt). As indicated in these beautiful lines of poetry, for those who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for justice, their graves (which materialistically are merely dirty spaces in the ground) are superb in their true worth and significance. Those people buried in the graves are alive, in all it’s meaning. This is in comparison to the palaces of the arrogant tyrant, that house those who have sold themselves to this temporary world, and who are not truly alive. These palaces are in reality graves with no value or superiority in this life or in the next.
Also, you may not realize it but even delaying your prayers, or any other act of defiance against the guidelines of Allah (swt) is a form of arrogance (takabbur ala Allah), where you think you are above the obedience of Allah (God forbid). Once you fully understand the greatness and the divine superiority of God, you will want to spend your life in submission and obedience to Him. And, you will not be tempted towards acts of rebellion. We need to be humble towards everyone and at all times however, especially in front of God. That is why, during the lowest point of our prayer, in sujud (prostration), we say subhana rabbi al a’la. Praise be to my Lord, the Highest.
At the end of the day, we are all human beings who make mistakes, but that is the beauty of the greatest jihad which is the struggle to better ourselves (jihad al-nafs). It may not be easy, but is a motivation for us to always make tomorrow better than yesterday. It is all about finding the flaws within you and making a conscious effort to remove them.
We will all have times when we display arrogance or pride. The important thing is, anytime you think you are great, remember, Allahu Akbar. Allah is Greater.
By Noor Alsaffar
