Seeking His Pleasure Through Patience

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalaamu’alaikum!

I just wanna share this with everyone =)

It is but a reminder to none other than myself first, and for all of us =))

This is an excerpt from

Chapter: Boasting & Arrogance

There are different qualities and kinds of arrogance. The first type is when a person deems himself superior to others. Imam al-Ghazali said,” People of knowledge are in greater danger of arrogance than anyone else” because the knowledge they have attained may lead them to feelings of superiority.

The second type is arrogance displayed in a person who shows contempt and scorn to others. Once a man saw an old woman calling to the Prophet s.a.w. in a boisterous manner; the Prophet s.a.w. stopped to speak with her, showing no signs of annoyance.

When the man saw the Prophet’s calm reaction, he said,”Muhammad s.a.w. is a man unlike the kings of other lands.” It is a marvel how some people act arrogantly because of their perceived piety, while the Prophet s.a.w. himself – “the best of creation” – remained humble.

The third type of arrogance is related to lineage. In some cultures, if one is aware of his “high birth”, he is obliged to behave nobly. The Arabs were that way. If a man was born into a clan known for generosity, it was mandatory for him to be generous. One of the blights of many societies is racism, when people feel and act superiorly because of their race.

The Qur’an lays waste to false claims of superiority and states that the only rank that matters relates to one’s relationship with God:

Many people are honoured by having lineage traceable to the Prophet s.a.w. and his family. While this is indeed an honour in itself, it is something to be venerated when one’s actions are likewise honourable. It is said, ” If your actions hold you back, your lineage will not speed you up.”

Imam al-Haddad once said, ” No person of any consequence should respect or praise an ignorant man, even if he is of noble birth and virtuous birth and ancestry. For to respect such a person in his presence may have an adverse effect on him.

“It may deceive him concerning God, render him neglectful of proper behaviour, and distract him from gathering provision for the Hereafter.”

…

In Islam, we have religious heroes for a reason. To study the personalities of the Companions of the Prophet (r.a.) is to study incredibly great people who were humble.

Abu Hurayrah r.a. – the illustrious repository of prophetic hadith – once sat in the company of another person who immediately moved his feet away from Abu Hurayrah r.a. out of respect for this august Companion of the Prophet.

But Abu Hurayrah r.a. objected: “Why did you move your feet?”
The man said,”Out of deference to you.”
Abu Hurayrah r.a. replied,” For someone like me? I do not see anyone in this gathering worse than me.”

A cousin of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib r.a. asked him,”Who is better, you or Abu Bakr?”
‘Ali r.a. answered,”Abu Bakr.”
And when asked the same question about ‘Umar r.a., he answered,” ‘Umar.”
He then asked him,”What rank do you have?”
‘Ali r.a. said,” I am a Muslim among many.”

It is astonishing to hear people nowadays, who do not come close to the stature, knowledge, wisdom and piety of ‘Ali, who nonetheless are so easily offended when they perceive others have slighted them. And acts that we perceive as humble today are often attempts at attaining the mere appearance of humility.

Ibn Ata’illah said,”If you’re aware of your humility, then you are arrogant.” But scholars say the following,”If you are not like the real people, at least mimic them.” It is better to simulate humility than to be an outright arrogant man. Imam al-Ghazali says,”If one wishes to master calligraphy, then he must go to a master calligrapher and repeat what he does.”

The fourth aspect is arrogance owing to beauty. The cure is to realize that beauty can be the most illusory of things. Social conditioning impacts our sense of beauty more than we would admit. But even if we were to ignore this, why should beauty ever be a cause of arrogance, that obnoxious sense of superiority for something one had nothing to do with?

First of all, God is the Fashioner, it is He who gives all things their shapes and forms. Second, beauty wanes, as the pressures of age and stress tear down flesh. And what we are left with is what we should have focused on in the first place, the content of our character, our beliefs, and our deeds.

The fifth is arrogance due to wealth. The affluent are notorious for showing contempt to those of lesser means. This is not to say that all wealthy people exhibit this. There are generous men and women who recognize the source and responsibility of wealth. But they tend to be the exception.

The sixth is arrogance based on strength. A man once came up to the Prophet s.a.w. and challenged him to wrestle. The Prophet s.a.w. agreed, and twice the Prophet s.a.w. threw him to the ground. The man was astounded that the Prophet s.a.w. was able to do that. “I’ve never been thrown to the ground,” he said. The man’s arrogance was rooted in his personal strength, which he thought none could match.

The seventh is arrogance for having a lot of something, like a teacher having many students and then seeing himself as being better than another teacher. The same is true with those who boast of having many friends, especially those in so-called high places.

The eighth is arrogance for having knowledge. This is particularly insidious, given that knowledge is an honourable matter. A knowledgeable person may believe himself to be superior to others due to the veneration shown to him.

These are the various causes that sow the seeds of arrogance. God Created humanity and Has Given what He Has Not Given to much of His Creation. The intellectual and volitional capacities of humankind are great responsibilities. Ironically, these capacities have the potential of causing people to forget that every blessing we have is a gift from God and something that we are responsible for.

The Qur’an states:

[God] Has Created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deed [Al-Mulk:2];

Have We Not Given [man] two eyes, a tongue, and two lips, and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? Yet he does not attempt the steep road [of good]. [Al-Balad:8-11]

The steep road here is spending on the orphan, relieving the distressed, and all good acts that re difficult for the arrogant ones, who feel their wealth, strength and prestige are born out of their own devices. People rejected the Prophet s.a.w’s message not because they were not convinced. they knew that what the Prophet s.a.w. brought was from God Himself. But they rejected him out of arrogance.

Many find the Muslim prayer objectionable because of its postures of humility and awe before God. What they struggle with is not merely the postures but their aversion to submit to God, being His servant. People have a problem with that, claiming that they are ‘free’. Astonishingly, these same ‘free’ people are in bondage to their whims and passions.

Imam Mawlud says that the key to avoiding or removing this disease is to know yourself, your origins and your ultimate return. The Prophet s.a.w. said,” I am the best of the children of Adam a.s. and I am not boasting.”

His honour is entirely based on his servitude to God The Exalted – not wealth, lineage, power or authority. Whoever is humbled for the sake of God, God Elevates in rank. Haughtiness and gratitude cannot coexist in one vessel. Those who are grateful, God Increases in goodness. The station of arrogance invites only humiliation.

Imam Mawlud says humility, by nature, leads to gratitude, for when one is humble before God the Exalted, only then does one see the vast mercy God Bestows upon His creation, even upon liars and disbelievers.

May Allah swt reward Imam Mawlud for his works and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for translating and compiling a commentary for his work.

And May Allah swt Help us to continuously rectify our states and forgive our sins, both the ones that we realise and the ones that we were ignorant of.

Amin.