بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Allah teaches us through the story of Iblees that arrogance is a blameworthy characteristic and it is what lead him to be cursed. There are various levels of arrogance; the worst of which is arrogance towards Allah’s commands such as prostration which Iblees himself refused to do.
“And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam”; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated.
[ Allah ] said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?” [Satan] said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.” [7:11-12]
His arrogance was towards Allah’s commands but it was lead by his arrogance and pride towards Allah’s creation – Adam. We see today many Muslims look down on others, whether it’s due to their race, the Islamic teachings they follow, their wealth or status, their physical appearance etc. We must realise that this act is one of the features of the Shaytan and that it will lead away from the path of Allah.
It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “No one who has an atom’s-weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, what if a man likes his clothes and his shoes to look good?” He said, “Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.” [Muslim]
This will be the end of the those who pass away in an arrogant state, but what about the dunya? We see around us that pride and arrogance pushes people away, cuts ties, causes tension between family and friends and the worst of all: pushes people away from Islam. This could be arrogance in worldly matters or deen matters, such as those who believe they are better than others due to their perceived religious stature. Allah says:
“…He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were foetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.” [53:32]
Allah knows those who are truly pure – we cannot label that ourselves thus we cannot look down on others because of how righteous we may think we are.
The opposite also applies, as many people especially in the current generations look down on others merely due to the fact that they are trying to follow Allah’s commands, forbidding that which is haram and holding on to the prophet’s teachings. At the end of the day we are all Allah’s creations and are all honoured by Allah Himself, as He says:
“And We have certainly honoured the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.” [17:70]
May Allah make us of those who do not look down on others, are free from arrogance/pride and stick together as one loving Ummah.
Allah knows best.