Nowadays, ego, arrogance and pride are prevailing characteristics in most of us. The first to ever exercise these characteristics was Iblis and thus, if one is being arrogant or egoistic, it is as if he/she is following the footsteps of Shaytan.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) defined arrogance for us in a Hadith: [1]
Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.
Arrogance, pride and ego all have one thing in common, and that is self-importance and self-indulgence.
Below are four different words which will make us rethink the high pedestal we often put ourselves on:
1. Sins
We all sin. We can’t be perfect, no matter how much we try. This is part of being human, which we can never avoid.
Some people do admit their sins and repent, but some people believe their sin was not a major one. So, they leave it behind themselves and move on without realizing that this very small sin could be the fuel to Hellfire. Yes, it is true we don’t know which of our sins, big or small, can lead us to Hell.
Since it is not possible to completely avoid sins, we should at least repent when we realize we have committed one. We should always humble ourselves to The Creator. This will ultimately teach us to show humility to people.
2. Death
Death, a guaranteed reality we cannot escape from.
Some of us walk with all our pride on our shoulders. But we need to realize that all of this will come to an end. We are not here to last forever, no matter how much we desire to. We pretend that everything around us is going to last forever. Everything, including us, has a time period after which it has to perish.
We can try all we want, but we will all meet with the final unavoidable fate: Death. One’s pride and ego will not change this fate. Some of us have the wrong notion that death is going to hit us at old age only. If only we knew the speed of death, we would never try to reach the heights of the sky carrying our pride with us! It will all seem futile to us.
Everyone knows this for a fact, but little do we remember it often. Remembering death and a helpless lifeless body can really set our egos in the right place. It will also make us realize where we are heading to. Death can lead to depression or inspiration, and the better option is the latter one.
3. Grave
We, as Muslims, believe that we live three distinct lives. The first one is very obvious, this world. The second is in the grave and the last and the eternal one is the Hereafter.
No matter who we are today, how educated we are, how much we earn, how many cars we own, how many places we visit, how many friends we have, how many clothes are stacked up in our closet, it is a fact that we, all of us, are going to the grave leaving behind all our education, money, cars, friends and family, clothes, etc. All we will take with us are our deeds, for or against our wishes.
Even if today one is the most famous and glamorous person to walk the red carpet, he/she is going to be wrapped up with a single white cloth and be buried inside the earth with no one to help.
If we keep this simple fact in our memory, it will put us back to our place with our entire ego going down the drain. We need to put aside our pride and arrogance and remember that we will eventually end up in the grave.
4. Hereafter
This is our final destination, and there are no sequels to it. Once we have made it there, there is no way to turn back and correct ourselves.
This world is temporary whereas the Hereafter is ever-lasting. We will all be returned to Allah (SWT).
We need to be extremely careful about our thoughts and actions because what’s at stake is our Hereafter. One small act of arrogance may eventually transform us into an arrogant person, and take us away from the Right Path.
To sum it up, let’s us refer to a Hadith, as narrated by Abdullah ibn Masud (RA): [2]
The Prophet (SAW) said, “No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.”
References
- Sahih Muslim, Book 01, Number 164
- Sahih Muslim, Book 01, Number 91