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Self-Respect and Arrogance

Arrogance is not self-respect; self-respect not arrogance.

Once Prophet (SAW) said to his companions that if a Muslim has even an iota of arrogance in him, he'll not enter heaven. Upon hearing this a person said to the Prophet of God that he loved good clothes and good shoes a lot, meaning by, whether it is included into arrogance or not. Prophet replied that God Himself loves beauty (jamal)! "Arrogance (garror) is to deny the truth and to insult others," he said. (The hadith is not an accurate tranlsation but meaning is translated. Quoted from Seeratun Nabi, by Allama Shabli Noumani, Vol # 6.)

Even if I sit in the back seat of my car, and not in the front seat with my driver, thinking that I'm somehow different than him, or if I wish to insult him through this gesture (thanks to the my obscured, demented intelligence!), this is arrogance, which is explicitly unacceptable in Islam as per the already mentioned hadith. To call oneself the servant of God is to dominate one's desires, and be steadfast in the face of unlawful urges and temptation, and much more is required in this path. Only a few can dare to call themselves the servants of God, if they speak truth.

3 did criticisms:

Rhodora Online said...

Arrogance is the one core trait which keeps a person away from God, at which ever level you are looking. Whether it is self-satisfied muslims who think executing salat, fast & zakat is more than enough or the modern day 'enlightened' individuals who have finally 'discovered' that God doesn't exist!

Haris Gulzar said...

The example you gave about the driver and us sitting at the back seat is so appropriate. We do it all the time don't we, just to "maintain our standard of living" :-(. We forget that it is the life hereafter where we have to live, life in this world is just temporary...

Salman Latif said...

Great post!
Today's hype of self-centered, so-called attitude often fringes upon this arrogance. And when admonished, people try to equal it to self-respect which is such a terrible misconception.
In fact, being arrogant is exactly opposite to what self-respect induces.

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