Introduction

In a layman explanation, I would like to say Arrogance is a character and an attribute of the soul. It is simply the belief that you are superior to all others. And it is a disease that prevents one from accepting the truth. At times most of us no matter how religious we subconsciously fall for this. This arrogance gives birth to many other negative characters, such as jealousy, envy, hatred, and anger.

 “No one who has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” A man said, “O Messenger of Allaah, what if a man likes his clothes and his shoes to look good?” He said, “Allaah is Beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”  [Muslim]

The last part of this Hadith defined Arrogance in a nutshell. Arrogance surely leads to a lot of Destruction. And we get absolutely destroyed.

Learn from the Life of Shaytan

We all know the story Shaitan and how He disobeyed Allah. Arrogance was the sin that shaitan had, and arrogance was his destruction. Arrogance is what we show when we look down upon people or judge them or feeling we are more pious than others. And see their sin in the open, but Allah sees ours behind closed doors. Do we judge another only because they sin differently from us?

Guidance is a gift that Allah bestows very specifically. He bestows it on those He chooses out of pure grace. No matter what actions we may have done, a sin, especially out of arrogance, could make us lose out on the best gift we have of guidance. And once that gift is lost, no matter what we do, we cannot get it back unless Allah hands it back to us.

Look at shaitan. He is well knowledgeable, he was once guided.  And yet, just because he has been denied the gift of guidance, he roams around spending his with the dedication to mislead others. I am not comparing anyone to shaitan, but to draw our attention to what arrogance might lead us too. I will be sharing with you some signs and symptoms of Arrogance:

Self-Centered

Arrogant people’s favorite subject is “Me, I, mine and myself”.  We want everything to always be about us, feeling we are the only ones who should be listened to, so we cut people off when they speak. And always want to be the object of love and affection, because in our own eyes we are superior to everybody else. This state of mind leads us to another behavior defect: which is envy. We now begin to envy the beauty, intelligence, reason, moral values, or worldly goods of other people.

We begin to feel envious and frustrated when we see others doing better than us. For some of us, we regard everything those people possess with a jealous eye. If someone better than them is present, they immediately want to leave. Their envy means they are invariably unable to get along with others. Which only leads to nothing but trouble, sorrow, and unhappiness in the life of this world. We get disturbed by their success.  Allah has revealed how He does not love the arrogant:

“And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allaah likes not any arrogant boaster.” (Surah Luqman: 18)

 

“My way or NoWay” attitude

Arrogant people boast of themselves and look down on people around them as inferior. When we are arrogant, we always believe our way is not only the best way, but it is the only way out.  We ignore other people’s opinions. And also find it difficult to give credit to others. We think too much of Ourselves. For this reason, we have an excessive fear of making mistakes. Whenever we are attending a meeting, for example, we try to be the most impressive speakers, the best dressed, to come up with the most intelligent solutions, and to draw the most attention to ourselves. We want the entire discussion to be all about us and no one else.

“Do not be like those who left their homes in arrogance, showing off to people and barring them from the way of Allah. Allah encompasses what they do.” (Surat Al-Anfal:47)

 

Insecurity

Deep down, arrogant people are really insecure about themselves and their arrogance can be viewed as a defense mechanism to cover their invincibilities. When we are arrogant, we don’t take corrections we see them as an attack. We don’t accept criticism because we feel we are too perfect and are always right. When we are told that we have made a mistake, we immediately try to absolve ourselves of any blame. Being subjected to criticism is something an arrogant person dislikes immensely.

We, therefore, live in a constant state of discomfort. Ultimately, we never find peace and contentment. Arrogant people engage in exaggerated and attention-seeking behavior in the way they walk, talk, and look. In the Qur’an Allah has stated that arrogance is a great failing:

“And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height.” (Surat Al-Isra’: 37)

Intolerance

As a result of the inner vulnerability and thinking too much of themselves, arrogant people tend to be intolerant of those who are not like them or share their viewpoints. You are also always thinking about how hard-working or pious you are. So, it makes you feel you deserve something for that. We don’t like others to have what we have.

By believing we are the only right people, we belittle and disparage those around us looking down on them. As a result of this behavior, people around us find unattractive and repellent. That means that arrogant people never have true, honest friends who feel a genuine affection for them. They also find it difficult to demonstrate affection for others.

 

Lack of Happiness

Arrogant people are often unhappy as they tend to shield their inner unhappiness and vulnerabilities by self-boasting. You love it when people praise you and when the discussion is around you. So much so that when people don’t talk about us we feel overlooked. We feel Envy we feel sad because we feel ignored. We feel envious when others are doing better than us.

Cure for Arrogance

The cure for arrogance is actually simple and straight forward.

  1. Constantly reflect and take yourself to account. When you die you will be alone in that grave.
  2. Recognize the danger of Arrogance and how Allah Azzawajal dislikes Arrogance.
  3. Learn from the life of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi was Sallam. He would feed animals and clean his house, ate with his servants. And made no distinction between black or white, rich or poor; he was generous without extravagance; he was merciful and sensitive.
  4. Be regularly seeking forgiveness from Allah.
  5. Address the main cause of your Arrogance. It might be your beauty, wealth, you know best.
  6. Be the first to initiate Salam.“Verily, the best people to Allah are those who are first to greet with salam.” Source: [ Sunan Abī Dāwūd ]

Conclusion

You are confronted with a strongly built treasury with its door firmly shut, and in it, there is a great treasure. But you are helpless because you do not possess the key. The treasurer gives you the key so that you may open the door and take the treasure. Do you give yourself the credit because you opened the door? Or do you credit the one who gave you the key?

Do comment below, Let’s see your answer to these questions.

AyshaBintMahmud

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