Haughtiness

All praise be to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

Of the qualities which Allah and His Messenger dispraised is the quality of haughtiness. Al Ghazaly (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: "Haughtiness is looking highly to oneself and placing it in a rank higher than other people."[1]

Others said: "Haughtiness is looking highly at oneself, praising its virtues, and belittling people rather than showing humbleness to them."[2]

Both definitions imply the same meaning.

Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allâh likes not any arrogant boaster." [Surat Luqman: 18].

Allah (may He be Exalted) says about Moses (Peace be upon him):

"Mûsâ (Moses) said: Verily, I seek refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant who believes not in the Day of Reckoning!"[Surat Ghafir: 27].

Imam Muslim reported in his Sahih from the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "He who has, in his heart, an atom's weight of arrogance will not enter Paradise. Someone said: A man likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?' Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth[3] and despising people."[4] [5].

It was reported in this Hadith that haughtiness is of two types:

The first is: Showing arrogance to Allah, His Religion, and His Messenger (peace be upon him) such as the arrogance of the Pharaoh and his like of those who refused to be true servants of Allah. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Mûsâ (Moses) said: Verily, I seek refuge in my Lord and your Lord from every arrogant who believes not in the Day of Reckoning!" [Surat Ghafir: 27].

Moses, the Prophet of Allah, called the Pharaoh to guidance, but he refused, showed arrogance, and said to his people: "Saying: I am your lord, most high. * So Allâh, seized him with punishment for his last and first transgression." [Surat An-Nazi`at: 24 - 25].

Therefore, Allah made him an example to others. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "So this day We shall deliver your (dead) body (out from the sea) that you may be a sign to those who come after you! And verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.)." [Surat Yunus: 92].

This is the destiny of every haughty and stubborn people before and after the Pharaoh, they all share the same shameful destiny as they participated in showing arrogance to Allah and His Messenger. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Then verily, that Day, they will (all) share in the torment. *Certainly, that is how We deal with Al-Mujrimûn (polytheists, sinners, disbelievers, criminals, the disobedient to Allâh). *Truly, when it was said to them: Lâ ilâha illallâh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), they puffed themselves up with pride (i.e. denied it)." [Surat As-Safat: 33 - 35].

Pride is the sole attribute of Allah (Glory be to Him) as was reported in the Hadith which Imam Muslim reported in his Sahih Muslim from the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah (may He be Glorified and Exalted) said: "Pride is My Garment, and greatness is waist-wrapper. So, whoever vies with Me regarding one of them, shall be tormented."[6]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) informed the Companions that haughtiness is one of the attributes of the denizens of the Fire. Al Bukhari and Muslim reported from the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The Fire and Paradise argued. One said: I will be entered by the arrogant and proud. The other said: I will be entered by the weak and poor. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said to the one: You are My punishment, with which I will punish whomsoever I will. - and perhaps He said: which I will inflict upon whomsoever I will. - and He said to the other: You are My mercy, by which I will show mercy to whomsoever I will, and each of you will be full."[7]

Imam Ahmad reported in his Musnad from the Hadith of Abu Salamah ibn `Abdur-Rahman ibn `Awf who said: "`Abdullah ibn `Umar and `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `As met each other at Marwah (Mount). Both of them talked to each other for sometime. Then `Abdullah ibn `Amr left, and `Abdullah ibn `Umar remained there weeping. A person asked: O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! What has made you weep? Ibn `Umar said: This man `Abdullah ibn `Amr has just told me, that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying: A person in whose heart there is pride as much as a mustard seed, Allah will fling him headlong into the Fire."[8]

Haughty people are the most evil people and they shall be gathered on the Day of Recompense and their faces show humiliation and disgrace. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allâh (i.e. attributed to Him sons, partners) - their faces will be black. Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant?" [Surat Az-Zumar: 60].

Allah (Exalted be He) says: "And you will see them brought forward to it (Hell) made humble by disgrace, (and) looking with stealthy glance." [Surat Ash-Shura: 45].

At-Tirmidhy reported in his Sunan from the Hadith of `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al `As (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The arrogant will be (raised and) gathered on the Day of Resurrection as ants in the garb of mankind. They will be covered with disgrace from all sides and they will be driven to a cell in Hell named Bulas. They will boil in the fire of Fires and will be given to drink the pus of the people of the Fire, extremely bad in odor." [9]

Of this type of arrogance is that the truth reaches a person through the book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him) without following it, but turning away from it out of haughtiness and arrogance. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And let those who oppose the Messenger's (Muhammad peace be upon him) commandment (i.e. his Sunnah - legal ways- orders, acts of worship, statements, etc.) (among the sects) beware, lest some Fitnah (disbelief, trials, afflictions, earthquakes, killing, overpowered by a tyrant) should befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them." [Surat An-Nur: 63].

In such people, Allah (may He be Exalted) revealed: "But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad peace be upon him) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission." [Surat An-Nisa': 65].

It was reported in Sahih Muslim from the Hadith of Salamah ibn Al Akwa` (may Allah be pleased with him) that his father reported to him that a man ate in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) with his left hand. Thereupon, he (the Messenger) said: Eat with your right hand. He said: I cannot do that, thereupon he (the Prophet) said: May you not be able to do that. It was vanity that prevented him from doing it. He said: And he could not raise it (the right hand) up to his mouth."[10]
The second type is: Showing arrogance to people which we explained previously as despising people: This type happens to some people of lower origin, so they want to make up for their shortage by showing fake qualities then arrogance and haughtiness increase in their hearts. Therefore, the Prophetic guidance of showing humbleness to people was clear in the Prophet's saying: Allah revealed to me that you should humble yourselves to one another. One should neither hold himself above another nor transgress against another."[11]

Al Ghazaly (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: Haughtiness is a serious defect that may destruct many people and only few worshippers, ascetics, and scholars can escape it. How could not it be serious while the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "He who has, in his heart, an atom's weight of arrogance will not enter Paradise?" Haughtiness is a screen to Paradise because it blocks the way between a servant and the good manners of Muslims. These good manners are the gates of Paradise, and haughtiness closes all these doors because haughty people cannot love for Muslims what they love for themselves. Haughty people need to have all bad qualities to preserve their haughtiness, and every good-manner they should keep away from because they fear for their glory and pride. So, those who have an atom's weight of arrogance shall not enter Paradise. Bad manners are correlated and the worst type of arrogance which prevents a person from benefitting from knowledge, accepting the truth, and following it.[12]

Of the things which we should draw attentions to is that haughtiness includes the elevation of oneself, admiring oneself, showing haughtiness with his lineage, money, power, and beauty.

So, the one who has a noble family shows haughtiness to those who do not have noble families even if they do something more worthy than he does. A rich man shows arrogance to the poor, the people in power show haughtiness to lower people, and beautiful women show arrogance to ugly women. Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "Verily, the most honorable of you with Allâh is that (believer) who has At-Taqwâ [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqûn (the pious)]. Verily, Allâh is All-Knowing, Well-Acquainted (with all things)." [Surat Al Hujurat: 13].

At-Tirmidhy reported in his Sunan from the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "People must cease to boast about their forefathers who have died. Indeed, they are not but the fuel of Hell. If not, then they will surely be worse than the beetle that makes balls of dung with its nose. Allah has removed from you the arrogance of the Pre-Islamic Period and its boasting of ancestors. A man is but a pious believer or a miserable sinner. Mankind is children of Adam and Adam was created from dust."[13]

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds [i.e., people] and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions.