ONE of the most dangerous diseases of the heart is arrogance. This spiritual disease of the heart may not manifest in physical problems, but it is detrimental to a person's character, faith, and relationships. By definition, arrogance is the practical expression of pride that develops in a person who thinks of oneself to be better than others. Arrogance entails considering and believing oneself to be superior. Its harmful impacts are reflected in the behavior of such a person. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) warned, “A person who has an atom's weight of pride in his heart will not enter Paradise.” (Muslim and At-Tirmidhi) It truly is a disease that can take over one's calm, objective, healthy mind, and impose perverted and unkind thoughts and patterns. Examples of haughty, arrogant people are mentioned throughout history and in the Holy Qur'an, as in the story of Qarun, during the time of Prophet Moses. Qarun's enormous wealth caused him to be arrogant and miserly, thinking that his wealth was of his own accord and not given to him by God, and he refused to give charity to those in need. Consequently, he was severely punished by Allah. The history of arrogance goes back to Satan, when he was commanded by Allah to bow down to Adam and Satan's pride and arrogance stopped him from following Allah's command. Satan refused to prostrate to Adam. Satan's argument was, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.” We experience it all the time, and in fact, arrogance is at the base of racism, gender inequality, and so many other social problems. Arrogance can take several forms. Simply, when a person does not accept the truth or looks down on people, or when one admires oneself for beauty or handsomeness, or clothes, or the car that one owns, or wealth, he/she feels proud and arrogant and feels superior to other people. Another type of arrogance is when people who have gained a lot of knowledge start to assume that they are better than others because of their knowledge. And they assume piety when in fact a pious person is humble and modest and does not boast because of acquired knowledge. Being wealthier, stronger, coming from a certain family or country, or being of a certain skin color, or having more children, is no criterion for deciding who is better than another. The Holy Qur'an has made clear that these are all false claims and that the only measure of superiority and rank that matters is one's relationship with God. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you and the most pious. Nobody was more knowledgeable than the Prophet (peace be upon him), however, he was the most humble person. He sat among his companions, ate with them, laughed with them, prayed with them, and helped carrying heavy loads when there was work to be done. Once the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sitting with a rich person; a poor person entered and sat next to his rich brother in Islam. When he sat down the rich person tucked his clothing in and the Prophet (peace be upon him) protested and asked him why he did that. The rich man immediately became regretful and he felt remorseful for acting out in arrogance. Again, he expressed his regret for what he did, and to try to make it up to the poor man whom he had offended, he gave half of his belongings to this poor man. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the poor man if he would accept, but the poor man replied that he did not want any of the rich man's wealth, because: “I am afraid that if I take it I will do the same thing to another poor person.” Those Muslims understood that arrogance was an undesirable trait and they tried their best to avoid it. There are two cures for arrogance; the first is knowledge. You have to know and recognize that you are not better than others. Whatever you own or have accomplished, you must be humble and grateful to Allah for giving you these blessings in the first place. Once you know that, you will live in peace of mind and will work for the betterment of your community. The second cure is action. To know and recognize is half the cure, however to act accordingly in a humble way with others is the second half. Smile more, speak gently, and look at others with a kind eye.
