pride

Pride and Its Kinds

Pride is man's attitude of considering himself better than others and this attribute is one of the calamities called egotism and self-centeredness. When man exposes or expresses this feeling of imagining himself better than others it is called or pride or haughtiness.

Sometimes this pride makes one stand up against Truth and signs of God and HIS Messengers and sometimes against Gods slaves other people and many a time it so happens that if such a proud man does not try to improve his inner self he even turns into a disbeliever.

Regarding the first kind, verses so describe: Surely those who are too proud for my service shall soon enter Hell abased.

2 Your God is One God; so as for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, their hearts are ignorant and they are proud. Truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely HE does not love the proud. And when it is said to them, what is it that your Lord has revealed? They say: Stories of the ancients.

3-What; whenever then an apostle came to you with that which your souls did not desire, you were insolent so you called some liars some you slew.

And they said: What! Shall we believe in two mortals like ourselves while their people serve us?
And if you obey a mortal like yourselves, then most surely you will be losers.
And they say: Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?
And when they said: O Allah! if this is the Truth from Thee, then rain upon us stones from heaven or inflict us a painful punishment.

About this verse, Allamah Tabarsi quotes Imam Sadiq (a.s.): After the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) appointed Ali (a.s.) to caliphate at Ghadir-e-Khumm and said: MAN KUNTU MAULAAHU FA ALIYUN MAULAHU this matter spread everywhere. Noman bin Haaris Qahri who was a hypocrite came to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and said: You asked us to give witness to the oneness and ordered us to perform jihad, prayers, fasting, zakat and we accepted all of it. But you did not remain contented at that and made this boy he meant Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) you caliph and said: MAN KUNTU ….. Is this word from your calf or is it the command of Allah?

They Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied: By Allah except whom there is not Deity, it is from GOD, Noman returned saying: O Allah: if this is the truth from Thee, then rain upon us stones from heaven. Soon thereafter a stone fell upon him and he was killed.

This Hadith does not come into conflict with the aforesaid verse that was revealed before Ghadir because the cause of its revelation was not the event of Noman but Noman had, in his enmity, referred to extracted from the verse which was revealed earlier. This is like our prayers wherein we quote the Holy Quran and say: RAB BA NAA AA TINAA ….

But regarding the second kind: Showing pride against people slaves of God is also Haraam and, in this regard, the Holy Quran quotes the words of Luqman like this:

And do not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the land exulting overmuch,; surely Allah does not love any self-conceited boaster.

2 - The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) says: One who has eve an atom size pride in his heart will never enter Paradise. They asked: O Messenger of Allah: Some of us do desire to wear good clothes and perform good jobs. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied: In fact, Allah is beautiful and HE likes beauty and nicety but what is pride is to reject the truth and to consider others lower than ones self.

3- Imam Baqir (a.s.) said: Pride and Greatness are the attributes of God and one who becomes proud stands against the Divine attribute of Greatness.

4- Imam Baqir (a.s.) said: Greatness is the cover cloth of God. Whoever takes any part therefrom will be thrown into Hell by God.

5- Imam Baqir and Sadiq (a.s.) have said: Anyone who has the minutest particle of pride in his heart will not enter paradise.

6- Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: Proud people will, on the Day of Judgement, arrive in the field of gathering in the from of ants and they will continue to be crushed under feet until God concludes taking account of all.

7- The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: Tomorrow on the Day of Judgement most condemned people will be the proud people.

Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) said: I am astonished by the behaviour of the son of Adam. His beginning was semen and his end will be a corpse and during his lifetime too he carries dirt and yet becomes proud. Though there are many narrations in this regard we suffice with there few and hope that Almighty God will all of us away from this and from all other evil attribute. Now that we have known the impermissibility of pride we restart with some other discussion about Takabbur.

1- Causes and Reasons of Pride

The problems which may cause pride are:

A - Sometimes knowledge and wisdom ends in this attribution whereby a man imagines oneself greater and higher than others. Of course this happens when man has not improved himself. Otherwise, if one takes into account the dimensions of spirit, the more his knowledge increases the more he imagines himself to be low and considers all others to be better than him.

B - And sometimes 'worship' becomes the cause of pride when man sees that he is a worshipping and obedient man and that others are not like that. As a result, a kind of pride is created within himself. So that is better is that such a man should ponder that it is possible that the deeds which, according to his thinking are good may not lead him anywhere as has been mentioned in a verse of the Holy Qumran: -

"Say: Shall we inform you of the greatest losers in (their) deeds? (These are) they whose labour is lost in this world's life and they think that they are well versed in skill of the work of hands." (Kahn: 103 - 104).

Again it is possible that may be some of the good deeds of a man become void due to some other bad deeds done by him, leaving him nowhere.

C - And sometimes it is possible a man shows pride because of his 'lineage', forgetting the fact that lineage does not benefit a man because one day a man came to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and narrated nine of his forefathers' names by way of pride. The Holy Prophet (saw's.) said: do not you know that the tenth of them is you and will be in the hell?

And if we feel proud of our ancestors we must know that our origin is from dust as mentions the holy Qumran:

"Who made good everything that He has created, and He began the creation of man from dust. Then He made his progeny of an extract, of water held in light estimation." (Sandal: 7 - 8).

The holy Qumran says that the differences of tribes are for recognition and they do not bring any distinction for man.

"O you men! Surely we have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honourable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely Allah is Knowing, Aware." (Hujarat: 13).

D - "Power and Courage" cause pride. First man must know that if the proof of personality is his strength then some of the animals may be more strong and courageous than us. Secondly man, in the face of illnesses, is so much weak that, as you see, he begins to shiver as a result of mere fever.

The Holy Qumran says:
"Allah is He Who created you from a state of weakness then He gave strength after weakness, then ordained weakness and hoary hair after strength; He creates what He pleases, and He is the Knowing, the Powerful." (Rum: 54).

E - And if the cause is pride, power and kingdom then we should know that, it is not only no part of human being, but no kind of assurance of its continuity is available to us. How many were the people who got up in the morning but could not maintain their kingdom till night or could not pass the night with power till next morning. Hence one of the poets sang about Naadirshaah:-

(When night fell he was wearing a crown on his head but when it dawned he had neither crown nor head. A single turn of the heaven showed Naadir was not there what to talk of his kingdom!)

2 - Kinds of Pride

The above quoted verses and narrations show that there are three kinds of pride:

· Pride or arrogance in front of the Creator of the Heaven and the earth.
· Ego against the Messengers of God.
· Haughtiness in front of the slaves of Allah.

3 - Grades of Pride

And the grades of pride too can be divided into three:

1 - This vice takes root in the heart of man and then his words and deeds make it known that he considers himself better than others.

2 - He does not express from his tongue but practically he considers himself to be higher than others.

3 - Man fights against this vice that has occupied his heart. So its signs are not traceable in his words and deeds. This is less dangerous than the earlier two types of pride. Yet, we must, under all circumstances, seek shelter in Allah, the ONLY ONE GOD, so that He may save us from the evil of our own soul.

4 - Signs of Pride

One of the signs of pride is that man imagines that he is better than others and is not ready to accept the truth. So it is quoted from Imam Sadiq (a.s.):
"Pride is to consider people low and truth to be light (weightless)" (Kafi, 2: 310).

And it is also related from Imam Sadiq (a.s.):
"Addressing Hafs he said: If a man considers himself to be better than others he can be considered to be proud. Hafs asks: What if a man considers himself better as he does not commit sin whereas others are sinning? Imam (a.s.) replied: Alas, Alas. It is possible that fellow is pardoned and he repents but you are kept in eye for being presented before God for accounting. Have you not heard the story of Moosa (a.s.) and the magicians? (That they repented and were considered as true faithful). (Bihaar 73: 206, 226, 233).

And it has been mentioned that, according to the impeccable Imam (a.s.), the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) once passed by a group of people who had gathered round a man. He asked: What is the matter? They replied: O Prophet of Allah! This man is mad. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said: He is not mad. He has a soul related (spiritual) problem or illness. If you want to know who is really mad I must say that mad or lunatic is a man who walks with ego and pride and wonders at his own opinion, while walking moves his shoulders arrogantly and hopes for heaven (paradise) from God (and also) no one has been safe from his evil and no one hopes anything good from him. This kind of man is mad or lunatic and the one who you think mad is a victim of spiritual ailment.

Sometimes signs of pride can be seen from the manner of speaking, sitting or walking of people. Also sometimes such person desires that a group of people should follow him or that others should stand like slaves in front of him. These are the signs of proud and arrogant people. It was due to this that the manner of sitting of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) was such that, most of the time, he did not look like the president of the assembly. Sometimes, while walking o road, he used to say: Some of you may walk ahead. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used to walk behind them. (Bihar 73:206,226,233).

All that has been mentioned above was about pride. But what is the most important of all is man himself who should know what is his task:

5 - Harm of Pride

A - Whenever man imagined himself to be above others he stayed back from acquiring knowledge and wisdom and fell deep down in the pot of multiple ignorance. And as he is not prepared to consult others even form the worldly viewpoint he many a time, gets loaded with losses. So much so that sometimes he loses even his kingdom and family like, Khusro Parvez and Aboo Lahab and Rezashah Pahelvi and ……

B - Pride brings man down in the eyes of God and HIS creation. The Holy Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said: "Most hated persons are the proud ones. It is also narrated: "Man yastakbir…."

"The one who is proud is degraded by God".

6 - The Way of Remedying Pride

In the face of this ailment of the soul or spirit what should one do and in what way it should be driven away? To get rid of this illness it is necessary to follow some prescriptions:

Firstly: He should think what was he, what he is and what will be he? Man's first and last is obvious. Practically too he is hot the master of himself. Is it proper on his part to be arrogant or proud? He must ponder more over this.

Secondly: He must study carefully the verses and traditions condemning this vice and always remember he same.

Thirdly: He must keep its harms in mind so that the disease is removed fully.

Fourthly: He should practically fight with desires and crush them and for that purpose he should do that which is not pleasing to the heart.

7 - What Should Society Do While Confronting the Arrogant?

The judgment of intelligence or reason and the order of religion is that to assist or help anyone in anything wrong or evil is sin, ugly, disobedience of God and hence all means should be utilized so as to remove injustice and oppression and sins.

The Holy Prophet (S) is reported to have said: "Izaa ……"

"Whenever you meet with the courteous of my community be humble before them and show pride against the arrogant". (Akhlaaq e Bashar, p.172).

Also we read in a well known tradition: "At ta kab bur…."

"Showing pride (toughness) while facing the arrogant is a kind of worship.

8 - Who shows pride?

Generally those who suffer from inferiority complex show pride and imagine themselves to be better than others.

What man understands is that, pride or arrogance is the result of meanness and ignobility of man. It is recorded from Imam Sadiq (a.s.): "Maa min ……."

"Man does not show arrogance but due to the abjectness which he finds in himself". (Kafi, 2:312).

In another hadith we read: "Maa min rajulin…."

"No man exhibits pride and arrogance except because of the weakness which hi sees in himself". (Ibid).