IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL
The word “arrogance” or “kibr” is a word that we must at all times avoid.
Allah used this word when He described Iblis, in the Qur’an, surah Al A’raf (7) verse 13:
قالَ فَاهبِط مِنها فَما يَكونُ لَكَ أَن تَتَكَبَّرَ فيها فَاخرُج إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصّاغِرينَ
(Allah) said: “(O Iblis) get down from this (Paradise), it is not for you to be arrogant here. Get out, for you are of those humiliated and disgraced.”
Allah also used the same word to describe those who enters Hellfire in the Qur’an, surah Az Zumar (39) verse 72:
قيلَ ادخُلوا أَبوابَ جَهَنَّمَ خالِدينَ فيها ۖ فَبِئسَ مَثوَى المُتَكَبِّرينَ
It will be said (to them): “Enter you the gates of Hell, to abide therein. And (indeed) what an evil abode of the arrogant!”
The main hadith on this matter is:
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ قَالَ رَجُلٌ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُونَ ثَوْبُهُ حَسَنًا وَنَعْلُهُ حَسَنَةً قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَمِيلٌ يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالَ الْكِبْرُ بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ وَغَمْطُ النَّاسِ
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” A man said, “But a man likes to have nice clothes and nice shoes.” The Prophet said, “Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance is to disregard the truth and to look down upon people.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 91
Therefore we must understand that arrogance will prevent one from entering Paradise on the Day of Judgment. It is from the disease of the heart – the heart can be filled with arrogance or only have an atom’s weight of arrogance. From the hadith above, we can also understand that there are various levels of arrogance and the most serious one is rejection of the truth.
Looking at iblis – he was very pious before. But He refused to obey Allah by prostrating to Allah, and to make matters worse, He refused to seek Forgiveness for his disobedience. We can also say that Allah did not Guide Iblis to seek forgiveness from Him. The consequence of that?
“humiliated and disgraced” as stated in surah 7 verse 13. Also used the word
فَإِنَّكَ رَجيمٌ
Rajim (an outcast or a cursed one) is surah 15 verse 34.
That is why we make du’a to Allah is surah 3 verse 192:
رَبَّنا إِنَّكَ مَن تُدخِلِ النّارَ فَقَد أَخزَيتَهُ ۖ وَما لِلظّالِمينَ مِن أَنصارٍ
“Our Lord! Verily, whom You admit to the Fire, indeed, You have disgraced him, and never will the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) find any helpers.”
And in surah 3 verse 194:
رَبَّنا وَآتِنا ما وَعَدتَنا عَلىٰ رُسُلِكَ وَلا تُخزِنا يَومَ القِيامَةِ ۗ إِنَّكَ لا تُخلِفُ الميعادَ
“Our Lord! Grant us what You promised unto us through Your Messengers and disgrace us not on the Day of Resurrection, for You never break (Your) Promise.”
Hellfire and Parafise also had a dispute, in this hadith which clearly shows us who are the people in Hellfire:
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Paradise and Hellfire argued with each other. The Hellfire said: The tyrants and the arrogant are in me. Paradise said: The meek among people and their poor are in me. Allah judged between them: You, Paradise, are my mercy that I bestow upon whomever I will. You, Hellfire, are my punishment with which I punish whomever I will. You will both be filled.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2847
As a consequence of the arrogance, Allah will turn them away from His Guidance:
سَأَصرِفُ عَن آياتِيَ الَّذينَ يَتَكَبَّرونَ فِي الأَرضِ بِغَيرِ الحَقِّ وَإِن يَرَوا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لا يُؤمِنوا بِها وَإِن يَرَوا سَبيلَ الرُّشدِ لا يَتَّخِذوهُ سَبيلًا وَإِن يَرَوا سَبيلَ الغَيِّ يَتَّخِذوهُ سَبيلًا ۚ ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُم كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا وَكانوا عَنها غافِلينَ
“I shall turn away from My Ayat (verses of the Qur’an) those who behave arrogantly on the earth, without a right, and (even) if they see all the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they will not believe in them. And if they see the way of righteousness (monotheism, piety, and good deeds), they will not adopt it as the Way, but if they see the way of error (polytheism, crimes and evil deeds), they will adopt that way, that is because they have rejected Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were heedless (to learn a lesson) from them.” 7: 146
Many simply refuse to believe because the prophets which were sent to them are human beings like themselves:
فَقالوا أَنُؤمِنُ لِبَشَرَينِ مِثلِنا وَقَومُهُما لَنا عابِدونَ
They said: “Shall we believe in two men like ourselves, and their people are obedient to us with humility (and we use them to serve us as we like).” 23: 47
Another example was on the man who refused to obey the prophet (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and he refused to eat with his right hand:
This hadeeth did not mention ‘cursing’ at all. The hadeeth was narrated on the authority of Salamah ibn Al-Akwaʻ and reads, “A man ate with his left hand in the presence of the Messenger of Allaah whereupon he said, ‘Eat with your right hand.’ The man said, ‘I cannot.’ Thereupon, he (the Prophet ) said, ‘May you not be able to.’ It was vanity that prevented him from doing it.” [Muslim]
As for the supplication of the Prophet against this man although he
was sent as a mercy to mankind, some of the replies to that are the following:
1) That man was a hypocrite, as evidenced by the fact that he disobeyed the command of the Prophet out of arrogance and self-conceit. This was the decisive view of Al-Qaadhi ʻIyaadh
.
2) He supplicated Allaah against that man because he disobeyed the relevant sharee’ah ruling in general, as decisively stated by Imaam An-Nawawi
.
3) The Prophet supplicated Allaah against him because of his arrogance; Al-Munaawi
wrote, “The fact that the Prophet
supplicated against that man was because of his arrogance driving him to disobey the command of the Prophet
as underlined in the hadeeth.” [Faydh Al-Qadeer]
Allah Informed us about Himself:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ هَنَّادٌ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ الْكِبْرِيَاءُ رِدَائِي وَالْعَظَمَةُ إِزَارِي فَمَنْ نَازَعَنِي وَاحِدًا مِنْهُمَا قَذَفْتُهُ فِي النَّارِ
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah Almighty said: Grandeur is my cloak and greatness is my garment. Whoever competes with me in one of these two, I will cast him into the Hellfire.”
Source: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4090
Allah Almighty will not look with mercy, on the Day of Judgment, at the one who lengthened his clothes out of arrogance. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says reported by Imams Bukhari, Muslim, and other, “Whosoever drags his clothes out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgment.” Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah, my garment slips (slightly off his waist) to the ground but I lift it!?” The Prophet replied, “You are not among those who do it out of arrogance.”
After we have heard all these verses and Hadiths about the dangers of arrogance and how bad the consequences are, we should be cautioned and get away from it and from its effects and its characteristics. So we teach ourselves to follow the truth when we know it, and humble ourselves in front of others. Imam Muslim reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “….And no one has humbled himself for the sake of Allah, but Allah has elevated him.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) is the best example of humility in his life. Imams Bukhari and Muslim reported that “The prophet used to pass by children and give Salaam to them (greet them).” Imam Bukhari reported that, “A female slave from Madinah use to take the Prophet’s sleeve and take him wherever she wants.” Imam Bukhari also reported, “That the Prophet used to be at the service of his family.”
وَلا تُصَعِّر خَدَّكَ لِلنّاسِ وَلا تَمشِ فِي الأَرضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُختالٍ فَخورٍ
“And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah likes not each arrogant boaster.” 31: 18
How to prevent ourselves from being arrogant?
