Podcast
Bismillah Rahman Raheem
Today will discuss another prohibited thing ~ arrogant and pride.
(4:36) “…Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful. “
According to the dictionary, arrogance or pride, refers to those who exaggerate or tend to exaggerate their own worth or importance, often in a imposing way, usually exhibit a superior attitude that is aggressive towards others, and the pride built upon others pain or unpleasant , and acting as if oneself is more important than others or knows everything better than others.
To put it simply, (Chinese proverb), everyone is drunk and I am alone awake. It means everyone around is unbearable, except oneself, and often think that they are better, smarter or more important than others, and at the same time, show an insulting attitude towards others.
The danger of arrogance, self-deluding, and pride is that most people don’t even realize and don’t admit that they have this problem. The most common one is self-righteousness, feeling that whatever they have seen and heard, their understanding and analysis of things, is absolutely correct and impeccable. The criticism or opinions of others are dismissive or absurd. Of course, not every criticism or opinion is correct, but a decision must be made after an objective analysis of these criticisms or opinions, not a “what do you know?” attitude.
Sometimes, because of one’s own background or a relatively stable family situation, they look down on other people who may be struggling variously in their lives. People who has material possession of wealth, social status and power are the most common group of people with arrogant attitude. Or some people with extremely low self-esteem, in order to cover up their weaknesses, sometimes over-inflated themselves, boasting themselves to cover up with an arrogant and proud attitude.
Hadith records that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Even with a little pride as small as a mustard seed in one’s heart, he will not enter heaven.” A man asked, “What if a man likes nice clothes and nice shoes?” He Said: “Allah is beautiful, and He loves beautiful things. Arrogance and pride are those who deny the truth out of self-esteem, and who despise others.”
This hadith actually reflects a lot of social reality. In society, aren’t there many such examples? For the sake of face, for self-esteem, even if it is harmful to others and benefits them nothing, they will still do the things harmful , just to prove that they are right no matter what.
Arrogant and proud people find it difficult to be grateful, because they feel that everything they have, they own, or everything they have achieved, is due to their own efforts or their smartness. They never think about it because Allah gave them a good birth , a healthy body, a stable environment, or Allah gave them the right people to meet, etc.
Arrogant and proud people will also raise other people’s status, as they do not believe that all things happened due to the arrangement of Allah. And think that some people’s material, power or position success is because of their characteristics or strengths, even if they are completely against the teachings of Allah, but still thinking they’re right and that should be the right way. They don’t see these so-called successes actually are fakes, even short-lived, vanished and judged as undeserved behaviors. But these arrogant and proud people will still want to follow regardless of whether they violate the teachings of Allah or not. Because of their arrogance, they will often feel that they will be different from those people. They are in control, so they will do it knowingly , but in the end, they get carried away by the current, still might not realize.
Their eyes, ears and hearts have been slowly covered by this arrogance and pride like a thin layer.
It’s a pity that these arrogant and proud people only feel that their analysis and understanding are absolutely correct, even if they violate the teachings of Allah! All these short-lived so-called glorified historical records, what can they actually get for them in the hereafter? It’s true that people should continue to learn from history to avoid repeating the same mistakes, but not mean to improve how to become more brutal and cruel, instead to learn how to do things that please Allah.
Arrogance and pride can happen to anyone, when Shaitan find that they cannot make believers worship other people or things, they will make those people believe that they are following the right path, and that they must be people who are pleased by Allah. So that they can begin to point fingers at other people’s practices; despise or question the degree of belief of others. Sometimes they thought that as long as they could read the scriptures and pray on time, then they did not need to act and practice any of the teachings of Allah.
Those who often think themselves always right, only see what they want to see, they look at the world with anger and dissatisfaction, they lo
ok down on others and feel that only themselves can change the world. When this kind of thinking fills the mind, how can one see that actually all things in the world are in the hands of Allah? When this kind of thinking fills the mind, how can one thank Allah for all His creations? When this kind of thinking fills the mind, actually it is like self-trapping to look at the world from a deep-down well, and forget how insignificant human beings are. Because of this kind of mindset, also make the person ignoring what they have been blessed with, and not seeing, not cherishing, and not taking care of what they have already been blessed with. Such as a healthy body, family members who are still around, a shelter with a roof, etc.
Arrogance and pride seem so inconspicuous, but they are actually extremely dangerous. Therefore, the scholar “Ibn Tayymiya” once said: “In fact, true faith does not enter a heart stained with arrogance, resentment and jealousy.”
Indeed, this statement reflects the reality, because pride will affect or prevent this person from seeking knowledge, because he will feel that he knows everything, even if he does not know, he is very resistant to ask people, and would rather ask Google than ask scholars or knowledgeable people. Of course, not everyone’s answer will be completely accepted, but at least one has to listen to multiple opinions before making their own decision, but not closing all the doors of possibilities before starting any progress.
In addition, in today’s society, there is too much information, both good and bad, constantly flowing. For most people, it is difficult to distinguish between true and false, and arrogance and pride will make these people go their own way and will not open their hearts to seek the truth from different angles.
At the same time, in the Qur’an it is also mentioned the Jinn Iblis, who never doubted the existence of God, because he was very knowledgeable and used to lived with the angels in heaven. But because of his arrogance and pride, he thought that Allah made him with fire and is far superior than the human beings who are made of clay. Because of its arrogance, pride and self-esteem, it blatantly violated the command of Allah, and as a result he was thrown out of heaven . This is also a reminder to many believers, the Shaitan was also a believer, know the presence of Allah, but due to this arrogance and pride, it ruined the way to heaven.
(14:22) “And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, “Indeed, Allah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves…”
Maybe, some people will feel that if they are not arrogant or proud, they will be bullied by others, and they will be looked down upon. If this is a doubt that people have, it also means that the hearts are still restrained/affected by the eyes of others, and the own abilities need to be improved. At the same time, one should actually self ask, do one also use the ruler in their hearts to measure others?
It is not wrong to be proud of what others have done, as long as you can sincerely accept that others have done better, it is not self-inflated. Sometimes, after working hard, self-affirmation is also necessary, as long as it is not excessive.
Self-confidence is not the same as arrogance and pride. To achieve this balance, it is necessary to constantly reflect, to repeatedly list the gifts Allah has given, to thank Allah for all these blessings, and to constantly ask for forgiveness. When people feel that they have nothing wrong to ask for forgiveness, this should be treated as alarm, as arrogance and pride have entered the heart unconsciously, self-thinking that they are always following the right path, and thinking it’s enough if they are not doing bad things, not harming others. But the actual behavior, although it seems trivial, is actually slowly eating away at his own heart, and still not realize the damage deep inside the heart has done.
The saddest part is that one still has the illusion that they are sure to go to heaven, so that they continue to think wrongly, continue to act wrongly, continue to act ungratefully, continue to destroy the blessings they have, and continue to think they are always right.
Therefore, it is very important to constantly give thanks, remember Allah and ask for forgiveness. At the same time, pray for the family, friends and neighbors around you, and even for the enemies or people you don’t like. It is, Indeed, very difficult, because many times, one will feel that these people are unbearable. They should not be pitiful, and they should be punished, but when one realize that one has to resist this arrogance and pride, one will try their best to do their part within the scope of permission, pray for everyone, not give up, find excuses or do something overboard, then believe in Allah, submit
the whole thing to Allah, and accept that no one but Allah only know the unseen, only Allah knows what is going to happen.
An hadith recorded: “A generous person is close to Allah, close to Paradise, close to people, and far from hell. However, a miserly person is far from Allah, far from Paradise, far from people, but close to Hell. Allah loves more an ignorant man who is generous than a worshipper who is miserly. “
This heart that prays for all people is like a generous charity/good deed, because all prayers for others are also rewarded by Allah. Therefore, praying for others will not deprive one’s own, instead they will get the same reward. Meanwhile, these prayers also help to heal the hearts with doubts, Jealousy, arrogance and pride. Only with such a heart can one find the right way to heaven for ourselves.
To sum up, arrogance, self-deluding and pride are difficult to realize, but this is also the root source of all different discrimination or prejudice comes from. Allah has listed them all in the Qur’an and taught us how to deal with them .
For example, believing in the oneness of God, in order to please Allah and gain more and eternal blessings from Allah, one will be willing to give up something for Allah in this world.
In addition, it is to do charity/good deeds for Allah and share the blessings of Allah with those in need. The Qur’an also mentions many places that doing charity/good deeds is to purify one’s own wealth and soul. Every time one does charity/good deeds for Allah, and only wishes the reward from Allah, then naturally, this good deed will push doubt, envy, arrogance, and pride away.
Another example is to clearly know the definition of success. In many places in the Qur’an, true success is to enter the eternal paradise, because this world is short-lived, and everyone is just a passerby. Therefore, when people clearly know the definition of success, even if they have wealth, power and status, they cannot be shaken, nor will they feel arrogant and proud, because they know their goals too well.
In addition, one should always remind oneself that no one knows what their soul and beliefs are like at the time of death. and you can’t just condemn all those who don’t conform to your own way of thinking, because no one can really read the hearts of others. Allah has not authorized anyone to have the ability to blame others and decide their fate. Whether Allah guides or not, it is beyond anyone’s control. What is not allowed or is allowed to happen, only Allah has full control.
And always remind oneself that this kind of pride to believe that one will be saved and enter paradise definitely by Allah is very dangerous and undesirable, because it might make the person put the guard down.
In order not to be swallowed up by arrogance, self-deluding and pride, the one who believes, should always remember Allah, and should write down at least ten blessings from Allah every day, as simple as being able to see, hear, breathe , have no sickness, have no pain, etc. Then give thanks, and ask Allah for forgiveness of all wrongs which are known and unknown. Keep praying, and go to study the Qur’an.
May Allah turn our hearts only to Him no matter it’s in good times or bad times. May Allah show us that the truth is the truth and the false is false. May Allah protect our hearts from the cursed Shaitan’s intrusion and temptation. May Allah forgive all the mistakes and guide us on the right path to Heaven.
Next episode will continue. Thanks for listening.