Pride

It is a great blessing of Allah, that he created man out of his mercy, wisdom and power. Man was first created from earth, then from semen, then his bones were covered in flesh and then he came into existence.

First man could not see, hear or talk, so Allah started his being with death before life, weakness before strength, blindness before sight, deafness before hearing and poverty before prosperity. Man was bought into this world as a helpless child, completely at the mercy of those around him, dependent on them for the fulfillment of his needs. His limbs were powerless, his bones fragile, a tongue which could not speak, defenseless against any enemy and powerless to provide for himself.

A man's beginning lies in layer upon layer of weakness and yet before long, when he enters into his prime, walking on his own two legs, with strength in his arms, his life in front of him, as an exciting, unexplored opportunity and all the advantages of youth at his disposal and death seemingly too far off to deserve even a moments thought.

He forgets the weakness he lay paralyzed in, he is deluded by his newly found power, strength and beauty, so he believes these to be qualities of his own achievement, as if he possesses them by way of right, with his chest puffed out, full of pride, he lives a life which will lead to disgrace, not only in this world but the hereafter as well.

Allah states in the Quran;

” Do not walk upon the Earth with pride, you can neither pierce through the Earth nor reach the height of the mountains”

Pride means paying attention to any specific quality in oneself instead of considering it a ‘gift' from Allah and to look upon it as a personal virtue.

Its second meaning is to consider itself greater in comparison with another and to consider others as being low.

The Prophet said,

“ The person who possesses even a single atom of pride will not enter Paradise”.

The fact is that another person cannot love for himself what he loves for himself, as there is pride in him. He cannot accept truth due to his pride, nor can he control his anger or accept his mistakes.

The most famous example of pride was committed by he, who is always whispering inside us, saying “I'm better than him”.

It's a fact, but very often denied. Why do we deny it and accept truth? This is because we didn't take notice of the above paragraph.

As I was saying the most famous and first incident of pride was committed by Shay'taan, when he refused to prostrate to Adam, due to his pride, as he replied to Allah:

“I am better than him; you have created me from fire and him from clay.”

This is the reason why Allah abhors pride greatly and he always degrade that person who has pride inside him, it's modesty which Allah loves and Allah will elevate a man because of his modesty.

So is having pride something to rejoice?