Truly Allah knows what they hide and what they manifest; surely
He does not love the proud. Noble Qur'an (16:23)
Holy Prophet of Islam (SAW) says: "He who has a grain of
pride in his heart will not enter Paradise." Hence, Pride (Kibr/Takabbur)
is a barrier to Paradise.
When a man feels superiority over others and with this a sort of
inward elation, this is called pride. Pride man considers himself superior to others
for certain qualities of his self. He allots one position to his self and
another to others, and then thinks that his position is higher, and is
therefore elated. This "puffed up" feeling which imparts a sense of
"touch me not" is called pride (Kibr/Takabbur).
A proud man will not tolerate any other to be on equal terms with
himself. In private and in public he expects that all should assume a
respectful attitude towards him and, acknowledging his superiority, treat him
as a higher being. They should greet him first; make way for him wherever he
walks; when he speaks everyone should listen to him and never try to oppose
him. He is a genius and people are like asses. They should be grateful to him,
seeing that he is so condescending.
Virtues are the doors of Paradise, but pride and self-esteem lock
them all. So long as man feels elated he will not like for others what he likes
for himself. His self-esteem will deprive him of humility, which is the essence
of righteousness. He will neither be able to discard enmity and envy,
resentment and wrath, slander and scorn, nor will he be able to cultivate truth
and sincerity, and calmly listen to any advice. In short, there is no evil
which a proud man will not inevitably do in order to preserve his elation and self-esteem.
Being proud about ones own piety is a major sin. This pride can
make all the prayers and supplications void. If a person understands the
Greatness of Allah (SWT), then he will not be proud and vain at his exertions
at prayer. The endowments of the munificent Allah (SWT) are so great that it is
impossible to count His Blessings.
Imam Moosa Kazim (as) says: "O Son! Don't delay in offering
your prayers. Nor should you be over-confident of the acceptance of your
prayers and feel proud of your efforts at piety. We cannot offer prayers and
obedience to Allah commensurate with His Blessings."
Imam Ali Reza (as) says that a pious person from Bani Israel
offered intense prayers for forty years. Then he offered a sacrifice to Allah
(SWT) that was not accepted. The person was disconsolate with sadness for his
failure. He cursed his psyche blaming it for his failure. He received a
Revelation that blaming his psyche and accepting the shortcomings pleased Allah
(SWT) more than the prayers spread over the long period of forty years. For
this reason Allah (SWT) accepted his long years of penance.
Imam Mohammed Baqir (as) says that two persons entered the mosque.
One was pious and the other a transgressor. When they emerged from the mosque
after the prayer, the transgressor was pious and the person with piety had
turned a transgressor. The reason was that the pious person came out of the
mosque with pride at his piety and the transgressor was penitent at his past
misdeeds.
Imam Ali (as) says: "The sin that makes you sad and repentant
is more liked by Allah (SWT) than the good deed which turns you arrogant."
Positive pride: As Muslims we are proud of our identity, heritage
and tradition. Because we Muslims take pride in keeping our homes, gardens
clean, our places of worship appealing both to the young and old. We Muslims
take pride in respecting parents, elders, assisting neighbors, helping poor by
giving charity. We Muslim Women take pride in observing Hijab (Islamic dress).
Self-Justification
or self-praising is a sign of arrogance (Pride in Islam)
One day Prophet Moses/Musa (as) was passing through a barren hill.
He noticed a pious man busy in prayer sitting in a cave of the hill. Prophet
Moses/Musa (as) felt the urge to meet and talk to the pious man. He went near
and greeted him. The pious man asked disinterestedly, "Who are you?"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) said, "I am Moses/Musa!"
The pious man asked, "Are you the Prophet Moses/Musa?"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) said, "Yes"
The pious man said, "Then asks Allah (SWT) to grant my
wish"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) asked, "What is it that you
want?"
The pious man said, "Since the last one hundred years I am
sitting here praying to Allah (SWT). I don't do anything other than the Prayer.
Ask Allah (SWT), what He will give me for my efforts?"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) said, "I shall find about it
immediately." He immediately climbed up the hill and called aloud, "O
Sustainer Allah! This person wants to know about the reward for his prayers!
Tell me, what shall I inform him?"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) heard the sound, "O Moses/Musa! Tell
him, we shall inform him about his reward tomorrow."
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) went to the pious man and conveyed the
message to him.
The pious man said, "Its fine! Tomorrow is not much of a
time!" The pious man was in the habit of going to a nearby canal early
every morning for bathing and fetching some water for his use. Therefore, the
next morning too he started for the canal but he lost his way and reached
somewhere else. Because of the sun's heat he became very thirsty and tired. He
sat on a lonely boulder and started thinking about his death. In that time he
found a person coming from the other direction. He waved to the person to come
to him. When the person came nigh, he asked him to help him with some water.
The person said, "Where is any water in this wilderness?
Whatever little I have is only for me."
The pious man started crying. The other person said, "Fine!
What will you give me if I give you a tumbler of water?"
The pious man said, "I don't have anything. I have been busy
in the cave praying for the last one hundred years."
The person said, "If you agree to transfer to me the Rewards
for your prayers of one hundred years, I shall give you a tumbler of
water."
The pious man thought, if he lived, he could pray for a further
period to get the Reward from Allah (SWT) and said, "I am ready to
transfer to you my reward for the hundred years' of my prayers."
The person gave him a tumbler full of water and the pious person
returned to his cave.
In the morning Prophet Moses/Musa (as) got a Revelation that the
pious man transferred his hundred years' prayers to another person in exchange
for a tumbler of water. Ask the man to settle the value of the tumblers of
water that he had been drinking during the last hundred years!
Therefore, Prophet Moses/Musa (as) went to the cave and told to
the person that he had a message for him from Allah (SWT).
The pious man said, "O Prophet Moses/Musa (as)! I have
already sold my hundred years of penance!"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) said, "Yes! I know. But Allah (SWT)
has said that when the value of one hundred years of prayer is one tumbler of
water, then he must settle the value of the water he had been drinking over the
last hundred years."
When the pious man heard this, he was shocked and shouted, "O
Prophet Moses/Musa (as)! Recommend to Allah (SWT) to forgive my sins! Allah
(SWT) is Beneficent and Merciful!"
Prophet Moses/Musa (as) got the Revelation, "tell the pious
man! Your penitence of this moment pleased us more than your prayers of a
hundred years and we have given to you rewards for a thousand years of
prayers!"
Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? Noble
Qur'an (55:13)
Pride
(Takabbur): "It was I" said the Frog (Pride and Islam)
Two Geese were about to go south for their annual autumn
migration, when a Frog came up to them and asked if they would take him with
them. The Geese agreed if the Frog could work out how he would be carried by
them. The Frog produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to hold each
end whilst he clung to its middle with his mouth. In this manner the three were
making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men.
The men expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who
had been clever enough to discover it. As soon as the Frog heard them he opened
his mouth and said: "It was I" He lost his hold and fell onto the
earth.
Holy Prophet of Islam (SAW) says: "Even if you do not commit
any sins, I fear that you may fall into something which is worse: pride!
pride!"
Never
be boastful or proud because it is sickness (Pride in Islam)
Once upon a time, there was a magic fruit tree. It was tall and
had different kinds of fruits: Bananas, Oranges, Grapes, Apples, Pineapples and
many more. The fruit would ripen each year in the middle of the summer when all
the other trees were dry and sickly; but the magic tree would never let any of
its fruit fall unless the magic words were spoken to it.
One summer there was a famine throughout the jungle. The animals
began to get hungry and thirsty because all the regular trees had dried up
early that year. The magic tree had fruits that looked ripe and succulent but
none of the animals could get them, not even the Giraffe. "What shall we
do?" cried the hippopotamus, "We shall all starve unless one of us
gets the magic words from the wise old eagle." The wise old eagle lived on
top of a steep mountain many miles away. The Stag then jumped onto a big rock
and said, "I will get the magic words. I am fast and strong and I will be
back before you know it." The animals all cheered with excitement as the
Stag headed out of the little camp.
The stag bounded off toward the mountain and climbed the rocky
rifts as fast as lightning. When he got to the top he saw the eagle.
"Eagle!" gasped the Stag trying to recover his breath, "Eagle .
. . (gasp) . . . I need the magic words for the tree . . . (gasp). We're very
hungry; please tell me." The eagle said sternly, "Allahu Akbar (God
is great)." "Is that all? Is that's it?" said the Stag.
"That's easy. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar." The Stag thanked the Eagle
and as he started his descent down the mountain he repeated the magic words to
himself so as not to forget them. When he got near the bottom of the mountain
he began to gallop very fast and not look where he was going. On the path in
front of him there was a low tree branch. The Stag's antlers caught the branch
and, with a mighty crash, the Stag found himself flying through the air and fell
hard on the ground. He shook his head, stood up, and tried to remember the
magic words. "Abracadabra; no that's not right," he muttered,
"Open Sesame; No that's not right either." He began to mumble to
himself trying to remember the lost words and as he did so, he walked very
slowly with his head down, for he was very discouraged. As he made his way
toward the tree the animals cheered and gathered around him asking him,
"What are the magic words?" He replied with a hurt look on his face, "I
forgot." "What! You forgot!" screamed the Hippopotamus,
"How could you forget?" The Stag, almost whispering, said, "I
forgot." Everyone was sad, they were sure they were going to starve. The
mothers and children began to cry.
Then a loud roar sounded through the jungle. Everyone hushed as
the Lion came forward. "Who's the king of the jungle?" he roared.
"You are," quivered the animals. "Right! And I'm going up to
that mountain and bring those magic words down." Saying that, he took off
toward the mountain. The Lion paced himself well and when he got to the top he
roared, "Eagle, give me those words to that magic tree or I'll slice you
in two!" The Eagle, undisturbed by the Lion's threat, said simply,
"Allahu Akbar!" "That's it?" laughed the Lion, "That
numskull Stag couldn't remember that?" And the Lion climbed down the
mountain. The sun began to get hot and the Lion knew he was more than half way
back to the magic tree. His eyes caught a flat, comfortable rock nearby and all
of a sudden, the lion felt sleepy. "I might as well get some shut-eye for
a couple of minutes," he said yawning. He stretched himself out on the
warm rock and promptly fell to a deep sleep. When he woke up; the Sun was near
the horizon. He got up on all fours and was a little worried. "Hey, I
better get back. Now, what were those magic words? Oh yeah, Allakhazam. No,
that isn't right. Maybe Ala Kazoo. No, that isn't right either." After
talking to himself for an hour the Lion realized he forgot the words. He
meandered slowly home, his head down, dragging his tail, in shame. It was dark
when he came back to the magic tree, but all the animals were up waiting for
him. They started to get excited and began to cheer and shout.
"Quiet!" roared the Lion, "I have something to say." The animals
hushed, but they were still excited. Their leader, their hero, the king of the
jungle had brought the magic words and was going to save them from starvation.
"I forgot the magic words," he said. The words had scarcely left his
mouth when the animals burst out in a wailing that was never seen before.
Mothers and children bawled while the fathers wept a tear at a time trying to
restrain themselves. Then, the Turtle came forward and said softly, "I'll
bring the words." At first, nobody heard him so he had to repeat himself
many times. After the third announcement the Hippopotamus finally said,
"Please, don't joke with us. We are all going to die and you're talking
nonsense. How can you bring the words when the Lion and the Stag could not?
Leave us."
So, while all the animals were crying and wailing, the Turtle
crawled out of the camp toward the mountain. He kept going steadily, not
stopping for rest or water. When he got to the top of the mountain he asked the
Eagle, "Excuse me, could you tell me what the magic words are?"
"Allahu Akbar," said the Eagle. The turtle thanked the Eagle and
started his long journey home repeating the word every few steps. The Sun was
hot and the Turtle was very tired. When he passed the flat rock where the Lion
had slept the Turtle said to himself, "Allahu Akbar," and moved on.
When he came to the low branch where the Stag had fallen, the Turtle said to
himself, "Allahu Akbar," and crawled on. When the animals spotted him
slowly crawling toward camp, some of them ran to met him. Most, however, were too
weak and couldn't move.
The Zebra asked the Turtle, "What are the magic
words? Tell us, tell us. "The Turtle did not stop or raise his head but
kept on crawling toward the Tree. Every step took a lot of effort. His head was
aching, and there was so much dust in his eyes he could barely see. Now, all
the animals were asking, "What are the words, the magic words, tell
us." The Turtle kept on mumbling the magic words just to himself until he
got to the foot of the tree. He now raised his head and saw the fruit all ripe
and succulent. He looked around and all the animals had their eyes fixed on
him. These were the same animals who laughed at him several days ago. He then
turned his head back to the magic tree and shouted, "Allahu Akbar."
Nothing happened at first. Then, gradually, a low rumbling below the tree could
be heard. It grew louder, and louder and then the ground started to shake. All
the animals were frightened and huddled close together. Then the tree started
to shake and the fruit started falling: Bananas, Oranges, Grapes, Apples, and
much more. After a minute the vibrations stopped and the rumbling went away.
The hungry animals fell upon the fruit that now lay on the ground. They all had
great feast, and at the end of the celebration the Turtle was crowned king of
the jungle
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