Shaykh Abdal-Karim Yahya

Pride and Humility

(Jakallah khair Hyder Abbasi for donating these notes)

Purifying one’s intention


Imam Haddad’s Intention:

I intend: ‘Learning and teaching

Receiving and giving admonition

Giving and receiving benefit and gain

Encouraging the adherence of Allah’s Book, and the Sunna of the Messenger, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam

Calling to right guidance

And leading to goodness

(This is out of my) desire for Allah’s countenance, His pleasure, nearness to Him, and His reward (Transcendent and Exalted is He).’


Allah loves not the Proud


Allah says:

‘I will turn away from my signs those who unrightfully elevate themselves in the Earth’ (Qur’an 7:146)

‘Like that Allah seals the heart of every proud tyrant’ (Qur’an 40:35)

‘Indeed, Allah loves not those who deem themselves great’ (Qur’an16:23)

Imam Ghazali, Allah be pleased with him, said:

‘The consequences of pride is that one is prevented from realising the Truth; it is a cause of the heart being sealed; it is a cause of being hated by Allah, and understanding Allah’s Book, and (it) prevents one from accepting the Truth.’




Allah Breaks the Proud


The Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam, said:

“Allah says: ‘Greatness is my upper garment, and majesty is my lower garment. If someone contends with me for one of them, I throw him into the Fire’”, (Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majar)


Abdallah bin Amr and Abdallah bin Umar, Allah be pleased with them, met on the mount of Safa and stood together. Then ibn Amr left and ibn Umar remained, crying. They said to him, ‘What makes you cry O father of Abdul-Rahman?’ He said: “This one (meaning ibn Amr) asserts that he heard the Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam say: ‘If someone has the weight of a mustard seed of arrogance in his heart, Allah will throw him on his face into the fire.’ (Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majar)


Arrogance is opposition to Allah


Al Hasan Al-Basri, Allah be pleased with him, said:

‘The son of Adam is amazing. He washes filth from his hand once or twice a day and then challenges the Compeller of the heavens!’

Abu Bakr As-Sidiq, Allah be pleased with him, said:

‘Do not look down on any of the Muslims! Indeed the small Muslim is great with Allah.’

Al-Ahnaf bin Qais said:

‘It is amazing that the son of Adam is arrogant and he has exited from the passage of urine twice!’


Allah raises the Humble


Allah (Most High) says:

‘The slaves of the Merciful, those who walk humbly on the earth.’ (Qur’an 25:63)

The Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam, said:

‘No one is humble for Allah, save that Allah elevates him.’ (Muslim)

Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Allah be pleased with him, said:

‘Do you know what humility is? Humility is to leave your home and not meet any Muslim except that you believe him to be better than you.’


Definition of Arrogance (Kibr)


Arrogance is seeing oneself as better than others

The Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam, said:

‘Arrogance is rejecting the Truth and despising people.’ (Muslim)

Humility and Pride are qualities of the heart, but they have outward manifestations

Kibr is the inward characteristic, takkabur (haughtiness, condescension) is its outward manifestation


Why are we proud?


If one is arrogant because of something of this world, then know that in Allah’s sight it is lower than that

If one is proud about some religious work, then know that this decreases one’s station with Allah

Allah alone grants you these works

Fear that Allah will take these good works away from you

The Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam, said:

‘None of you will be saved by his works’

If religious works produce contempt for others, then they (good works) are flawed. Otherwise they would have produced humility


The Remedy


Its remedy is comprised of knowledge and action

One must know themselves and their Lord

As for ourselves, Allah says:

17 ‘Woe to man! What hath made him reject Allah?’

18 ‘From what stuff hath He created him?’

19 ‘From a sperm drop: He hath created him, and then mouldeth him in due proportions’

20 ‘Then doth He make His path smooth for him’

21 ‘Then He causeth him to die, and putteth him in his grave’

22 ‘Then when it is His will, He will raise him up (again)’

(Qur’an 80:17-22)


As for the active part of the cure, it is to truly humble oneself to Allah and show humility to all of His creatures

The Messenger of Allah, sallalaa hu 'alaihi wasallam, is the Imam of humility

He used to eat on the ground and say: ‘I am only a slave, I eat as a slave eats’

He taught his Companions humility, until they became models of humility


Ridding oneself of arrogance is an obligation


Imam Ghazali, Allah be pleased with him, said in his ‘Ihya ‘ulum ‘ad-din:

‘Know that arrogance is from the lethal sins and no person is free from at least some amount of it. Removing it is a personal obligation. It does not vanish by mere false hopes, rather by treatment and by the use of medicines that overcome it’

Ibn Ata’illah, Allah be pleased with him, said:

‘True humility is that which stems from witnessing His Magnificence and the manifestation of His attribute’

And…

‘You will not be removed from an attribute save by witnessing (His) attribute’