Series of Muslim’s Knowledge (4)
Ma’arifetul- Akhlaqul Islamiyah
( A Knowledge of the Islamic Moralities )
By: Sayyed Muhammad Ali Al- Husseini
In the Name of Allah the Beneficent , the
Merciful .
We get help from Him (Allah) upon the evil of
ourselves and the creatures which He created , and the praise and the peace
upon our Prophet Muhammad Bin Abdullah (P.b.h), the Prophet of mercy and
humanity, who is described by the Lord of the worlds - he has great ethics –
and peace be upon his infallible family – and curse on his enemy till the Day of
Judgment.
Ethic : is a common human matter which all
people share regardless of dissimilarity of their religions , multilingualism ,
and the remoteness of placers where they live .
The human beings used to live in communities
which include relatives and strangers , male and female , young and adult ,
educated and ignorant , employed and unemployed.
So the human need all of those people and the
sociability forces him to deal with them , so ethics was the mean that is used
to deal with the others, and the others use to deal with you , according to the
base : ( Treat others the way you like to be treated ) or ( As you condemn
others , others are going to condemn you ) . So that the human is still in need
for ethics which straighten his behavior , purify his thoughts , and keep him
away from error starting points , and to create a human who rises gradually on
the stairs of perfection , and to create fair cooperative community to protect
life from injustice and corruption.
And that what is called (ethics) which is
divided into two parts : Practical and Theoretical ethics. Lying , treason ,
envy , hypocrisy , self-conceit, spite , and backbiting should be given up . On
the other hand the human being should be endowed with : Trueness , trust, and
blessedness and other ethics that man should get to know , and that what is
known " theoretical ethics" , then he should translate them into " the practical
ethics " when he deals with his family , friends , and neighbors, in his real
life.
When we reflect, we find that prophets are the
most people who are characterized by ethics , especially the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (p.b.h ) , since one of his mission’s reasons is to perfect the
nobility of morals , as the Prophet (p.b.h ) himself claimed. He was known
before his mission as the True , the Faithful ; for his truthfulness in his
saying and his acting , that is why Allah the Almighty praised him in His
glorious Book :
(And surly you conform (Yourself ) to sublime
morality)
So , ethics have great significance , and it is
one of the prophets qualities , as well as other people , but the best and the
optimum is known after the mission of best of creatures ; our Prophet Muhammad
(p.b.h ) .
This book which is known (A Knowledge of the
Islamic Moralities ) is the fourth part of ( The Series of Muslim’s Knowledge
) to make people know the ethics of slam , particularly Muslims people.
Everybody should know and be characterized with these ethics, especially in the
present time when many people have turned into animals , and when the injustice
and aggression have spread, and security and peace have vanished , and the
picture of Islam has been deformed by some people who originated a heresy ,
distorted , and spoiled in the name of Islam , and Islam is innocent of them.
Islam is the religion of ethics , peace , love , and humanity. Islam is a
religion that cure the moral disease, and directs the human beings to the
paradise . We ask Allah the Great the Merciful to help us to explain the Islamic
ethics through out this little book , to be an introduction for those who want
to know the Islamic ethics. I ask Allah to accept this work , and I beg
believers to pray for me , and praise be to Allah , the Lord of worlds.
Holy Qum
the neighbor of Our Lady Fatimah
the daughter of Imam Musa bin Ja’far (p.b.h )
Muhammad Ali al- Husseini
20 Jumadal Akhirah, 1425 AH
7th May, 2004
Tel: 009613961846
alsayedalhusseini@hotmail.com
Introduction
-
Ethics
-
The Islamic Ethics
-
The Goal of Ethics
-
The Sources of the
Islamic Ethics
In The name of Allah the Beneficent , the
Merciful .
Introduction
Ethics:
Ethics is the soul of Sharia ( law of Islam ) ,
and the essence of religion. Prophets have come to call people to be endowed by
ethics , to purify them form what might stick to them because of bad habits and
poor traditions. Prophets also came to draw plans and methods for people and to
establish the basics that drive the human beings toward perfection. If the
mankind follows these methods he will get the same ethics that Allah has chosen
for His prophets.
Ethics:
Ethics is a science with reliable criterion , it
a group of fundamentals that the humanitarian behavior should follow, and by
this criterion we can determine the way of good behavior , and determine its
causes and goals.
Islamic Ethics:
Islamic ethics are acts and sayings that are
based on basics , fundamentals , and ethics of the Islamic Law (Sharia), and
through out the Holy Qur'an and the Sunna of the Holy Prophet (p.b.h ) and the
pure Imams (p.b ) . Ethics are not only a part of the Islamic religion , but
they are the essence and the soul of the religion.
The Aim of Ethics:
Ethics aims to control the human's behavior,
purify his thoughts, and to keep him away from the wrong starting points , to
put people on the way of perfection , and to create a community that is full of
justice , safety and cooperation to save the life from corruption and
injustice.
Clinging to ethics makes individuals and
communities stay away from corruption and keeps them on the right path. Ethics
don’t concern individuals only, but they exceed to nations and communities ,
where ethics reflect their lives and the extent of their progress.
Therefore the poet said :
Nations remain as long as ethics remain , they
fall down when they lost their ethics.
The Sources of the Islamic Ethics :
Before talking about the sources of the Islamic
ethics , we would like to mention that ; There are many incentives for the
sources of ethics:
-
The conscience which
direct the mankind toward the right way, and restrains him away from evils and
ugly things .
-
The emotion which makes
the mankind sacrifices his benefits for the benefits of humanity.
-
The mind which likes the
perfection , and recognize the good and the ugly acts.
As for the Islamic ethics , there will be two
main sources:
1-
The Mind :
The mind is the mean that balances man’s
actions , and it is the mean that leads man to the happiness and the perfection
of the hereafter , with mind also we can realize the reason of the creation ,
realize values , seek the best and the longest life , seek the knowledge ,and
the ways of worship. Imam Sadeq (p.b ) said : “ He has the most perfected mind
is he who has the best ethics ”
We see that , mind is the main source for ethics
, because if there is no mind , the instincts and the bestiality habits will
control the mankind.
2- The Holy Prophet and His Descendants (p.b
) :
The prophet of Islam Muhammad (p.b.h ) has come to purify us and to perfect the
morals , he said :
“ Truly I have been sent to perfect the morals ”
Since the Holy prophet was the most perfect man
, nobody could reach what he has reached , that is why the Almighty praised him
in His Saying : “ And most surly you conform ( Yourself ) to sublime morality ”
So we have to imitate him and take him as example not only in ethics but in
everything .
As for Ahlul-bayt (the descendants of the
Prophet ) (p.b.h ) , whom inherited the sciences of the prophets and the last
prophet is the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h ) , people have heard and seen the ethics
of the Prophet's family (p.b.h ) which remind them about the ethics of the
Prophet (p.b.h ). Here we mention some examples about their ethics:
Reported that : “ Once Imam Hassan and Imam
Hussein passed by an old man while he was doing his ablution incorrectly , so
they started a dispute , everyone told his brother that his ablution is not
correct .They said o , old man would you judge between us ? Lets do our ablution
then tell us which one is correct ? He said both of you are correct , and me the
ignorant old man is the one who didn’t know how to do ablution , and I have just
learnt that from you ”
Look at the way that Imams (p.b) followed to
guide the old man , this should be a lesson for us to know how to deal with old
people .
Chapter One
Theme One :
- Good nature
Theme Two :
- Ill nature
-
Its Reasons
-
Its Cure
Chapter One
Theme One :
-
Good nature :
Good nature is a psychological state which
causes courtesy and treating people politely and gently. Once Imam Sadeq (p.b)
was asked about the limits of politeness , he said :
“ Treat others gently , speak to them sweetly ,
smile whenever you meet them ”
Politeness makes others like you , and
strengthen cordiality and guides to good deeds.
The Holy Prophet and his descendants (p.b )
glorify the good manners and praise the high minded people in a wonderful way ,
they urge people to cling to the good manners in different ways.
Said the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h ) :
“ You shall not hold people with your money ,but
you can hold them with your morals ”
And He said (p.b.h ) :
“ He who has the best morals is he who had
perfect belief ”
And He said (p.b.h ) :
“When it is the Day of Judgment, nothing could
be put in the balance of the mankind better than the good manners”
Reported from Imam Sadeq (p.b ) :
“The good manners dissolve sins as well as the
sun dissolve ice ”
He also said (p.b ) :
“Good deeds and good manners fill homes with
life and make ages longer ”
Amirul Mu’minin (p.b ) , described the morals of
the Holy Prophet (p.b.h ) :
“ He was the most generous , the bravest , the
honesties , the brightest- face ,and the loveliest person . Everybody feared
him , but he who mixes with him , he loves him , I never seen his similar not
before nor after him ”
The good manners have signs like ; gentleness
and good company.
Theme Two
Ill nature :
It is a physiological illness which causes bad temper and misbehaving, it is the
opposite of politeness.
It is known that ill nature has too many bad effects. The ill natured people are
going to face too many problems , and they are always subjected to contempt
dispraise and criticism. Sometimes ill nature develops into different physical
and psychological crisis and tragedies. Allah the Almighty has called the seal
of the prophets and the ideal of all virtues saying : “Thus it is due to mercy
from Allah that you deal with them gently , and had you been rough , hard
hearted , they would certainly had dispersed from around you ; pardon them
therefore and ask pardon for them ”
Therefore the Prophet and his pure family (p.b.h ) have dispraised ill nature
, and here you have some of those traditions :
Reported from the Prophet of Allah (p.b.h ) : “ Avoided ill nature since it
leads to the hell”
Also reported from the prophet of Allah (p.b.h ) :
“ Allah the Almighty never forgives the ill natured . It was said ;O prophet of
Allah , Why is that ? He said (p.b.h ) : Because , whenever he repent a sin he
commits a greater one ”
Imam Sadeq (p.b) said : “Ill nature spoils good deeds as the vinegar spoils
honey ”
The Reasons of ill natures :
There are many reasons for ill nature , we
mention some of them :
1.
Sickness and weakness
that result from the old age , which makes the person look impatient ,
exhausting , and unable to treat people kindly.
2.
Worries : Which causes
the high- minded to be out of humor , and turns him away from his good manners.
3.
Poverty : It causes poor
people to look frown and rude as a result of lowness and pain of poverty or
because of grief on a lost fortune .
4.
Wealth: Which usually
drives people toward arrogance and tyranny, as the poet said :
The wealthy has uncovered your bad ethics which
were hidden under the dress of poverty.
5.
Position : It cause
people to change their ethics and treat others roughly , and that is because
lowness or weakness of souls or because of bad nature.
6.
Loneliness : It causes
frustration and lowness which causes such man looks frowning and sullen.
7.
Sexual appetite or drive
: which causes man rude , strained, and angry.
The cure of ill nature :
Ill nature is one of the worst characters that
Muslims should avoid and purify themselves as the following ways :
1.
The human being should
always remember evils and the great damages of ill nature , and he should
remember that bad ethics causes Allah’s anger and people’s scorn . The Prophet
of Allah (p.b.h ) said : “ Ill nature like the rein that is tied to the neck of
man and the other end of the rein in the hand of the Devil which pulls him
toward the hell ”
2.
He should review the
advantages of the good manners , and how like to prophets, manner they are , and
how they refer to perfection and merit of the human.
3.
He should think
carefully before he acts or speaks so he could decrease his mistakes .
4.
He should determined on
fighting the ill natures repeatedly till he defends them.
5.
He should not make
friends with people whom are suspected in their purification, since man has the
ability to gain some qualities from those who live with.
6.
He should look
attentively at the benefits of good ethics in the worldly life , such as long
age , happiness , honor , high rank , and fortune.
Spot Light :
Dear reader , you should know that theses
advices to be fruitful it needs a firm will and seriousness according to the
rule that says : “ Surly Allah shall not change the circumstances of people
unless they change themselves ” So that people should work hard and compete to
do so . This is the great Jihad , it is desires fighting , so he wins whoever
purifies himself and he losses whoever dirties himself . We all ask Allah to
help us to fight desires.
Chapter Two
Introduction : Abandonment
Theme One : Lying
Theme Two : Arrogance
Theme Three: Backbiting
Theme Four : Envy
Theme Five : Hypocrisy ( double – dealing )
Them Six: Tale bearing
Theme Seven : Anger
Chapter Two
Introduction
Abandonment :
Islam is one of religions that contributed the process of purifying the mankind
and educating him to accept good manners and react with them , and to quit bad
qualities and to avoid them.
Based on that , Islam call man – especially
Muslims – to quit bad ethics such as lying , arrogance , backbiting , anger ,
cheating , stealing , hypocrisy , and spite.
The ethical element is still clear in most of
Devin's commands and prohibitions , and in the traditions of Ahlul-bayt (the
family of the prophet P.b) .
So Muslims have to quit bad morals and qualities
if they are found, and imitate the best of the creatures , who is sent to
perfect the noble character, and his infallible progeny (P.b) .
Theme One
Lying:
Lying is whatever against the truth . It is the ugliest defects and crimes , it
is the source of sins and evils , it causes scandals , it is one of the greatest
sins. That is why the Islamic law has prohibited it , and dispraised liars , and
threatened them in both the Qur'an and Sunnah . The great Shaikh Murtadha al –
Ansari has said in his book “ The prohopted Profits ”:
“Both religions and mind are prohibiting lying, and refer that the four proofs
: Qur'an , Sunnah , mind , and consensus (of Moslem legal scholars)”
Allah the Almighty said :
“ If he is a liar , his lying upon his own head , but if he is truthful ,
somewhat of that he promises you will smite you . Surly God guides not him who
is prodigal and a liar.”
And The Almighty said : “ Woe to every guilty impostor ”
And Said the Almighty : “ They only forge falsehood , who believe not in the
signs of God , and those – they are the liars ”
Reported from the Prophet of Allah p.b.h :
“When a believer lies without an excuse , seventy thousands angles curse him ,
and comes out of his heart a stink till it reach the throne (of God), and Allah
destines to him seventy adultery , the easiest one the same as who whored with
his mother ”
Reported from Imam Hassan Al Askari (P.b) : “ All sins are made in a house and
lying is made the key of it ”
Reported from Amirul Mu’minin Ali (p.b): “ A human being will never be a
believer unless he gives up laying in the joking and seriousness ”
Reported from Imam Muhammad Al- Baqer P.b: “ Lying ruins the belief ”
Types of Lying :
Lying has different forms that verify in their
damages and bad effects , as the following :
The Perjury :
It came in the saying of Allah the Almighty ,
when He describes the believers : “ And those who bear not false witness and ,
when they pass by idle talk , pass by dignity ”
And the saying of the Prophet (P.b) : “ He who
bears false witness , as he who adores the idol ”
False Swearing:
It is the ugliest form of lying , it is the most
dangerous and the worst sin.
Reported from the Prophet of Allah (P.b) : “ Be
aware of the false swearing , since it makes houses empty of their inhabitants ”
Breaking Promise :
Allah the Almighty said : “ O you who believe ,
wherefore do you say what you do not , very hateful is it to God, that you say
what you do not ”
Reported from the Prophet of Allah P.b.h:
“ Whoever believes in Allah and believes the Day
of Judgment ,he should not break his promises ”
The Types of Lying :
Lying is the opposite of the reality, and it has
many types :
-
Saying
: To say something that differs from
the reality, it does not make any difference if that saying has been said
seriously or for joking.
-
Action: To
do something that opposites the reality, such as the one who claims fasting but
in fact he is not.
-
Intention:
When man opposites the reality
in his intention.
The Effects of Lying:
You should know that , the Islamic law
has prohibited lying and threatened liars strongly because of its dangerous
effects , and some of these effects are :
1.
It causes disreputable , indignity , and distrust. Lair
is not trusted even when he says the truth, and his witness is not accepted ,
nobody trust his promises.
2.
It causes mistrust among people , and spreads the
feeling of suspicion.
3.
It causes loosing the valuable efforts and time to
recognize the truth.
4.
It causes bad psychological effects , as it comes on the
tongue of the Prophet ( P.b.h ) and his descendants ( p.b ) :
Reported from the Holy Prophet (P.b.h) :
“Lying causes less livelihood”
Also reported from the Prophet ( P.b.h )
: “ Much lying looses magnificence”
And said (P.b.h) : “ Allah shall course
a lair even when he is joking ”
Reported from Imam Ali (p.b): “ The
fruit of lying is lowliness in the present life and torture in the hereafter ”
And said “Plenty of lying spoils faith ,
and magnifies the misdeed ”
And said “ Lying spoils everything ”
And said : “ Lying leads to hypocrisy”
And said : “ Lair is accused even though
he has a strong proof ”
And said : “ When a lair tell a lie he
gains three things : the discontent of Allah , the scorn of people , and the
hate of angles ”
For more benefit , we refer to what was
mentioned in the book “ The greatest sins ” for Sayyed Dasta-Ghayb :
1.
Laying is perjury: It was mentioned one time in the Book
of Allah : “And eschew the abomination of idols , and eschew the speaking of
falsehood ”
2.
Lair has no faith: As it has been mentioned in the
previous verse that says : “They only forge falsehood , who believe not in the
signs of God ”
3.
Lying is a sin and disobedience: Laying has been defined
in the book “ Lisanul Akhbar ” it is a sin and disobedience , as it is reported
from Imam Sadeq (p.b) : “ Whole laying is sin and disobedience ”
4.
Liar is damned : Lying is one of the causes of Allah’s
anger , as it was earlier shown in al Noor chapter : verse 7
5.
The face of the liar is black: As the Prophet of Allah
(p.b.h)has said : “ Don’t say lies because they blacken the face ”
6.
Lying is worse than drinking wine . Imam Al Baqer (p.b)
has said : “ Allah the Almighty has made locks for evils , and made wine as a
key of these locks , but laying is worse than wine ”
7.
The penalty of lying : The liar’s mouth is stinking in
the Day of Judgment.
8.
The angle escaping : Reported from the Prophet of Allah
(P.b.h) : “ When a servant lies , the angel moves away from him because of his
stinking ”
9.
Allah the Almighty curses the liar as it was shown in the
verses of “Mobahella” and “ Li’an ”
10.
The stinking of liar reaches the Throne (of God).
11.
The Throne carries ( the closest angles) damn the liar.
12.
( Lying spoils faith ) as it was reported from Imam Baqer
(p.b).
13.
Lying prevents faith. Reported from Amirul Mu’minin P.b :
“ Man never tastes faith unless he gives up lying ”
14.
The liar’s heart is full of spite and enmity .
15.
A lair’s magnanimity is less than the magnanimity of
others , as the Prophetic tradition says : “ Lairs have the least magnanimity
among people ”
16.
Lying is the key of a house which contains all
impurities.
17.
Lying is lechery , and lair is lecherous. As it was
mentioned in the Prophetical tradition : “ You mustn’t lay , since laying is
lechery and both of them are in the hell ”
18.
Seventy thousands angles damn him who tells one lie.
19.
Lying is the sign of hypocrisy. Reported from the prophet
of Allah (P.b.h) his saying : “The hypocrite has three signs : He tells lies ,
he breaks his promise , and he betrays the trust ”
20.
The opinion of the lair is not accepted. Reported from
the Prophet of Allah (P.b.h) : “ A lair has no opinion ”
21.
Laying is the licking of the Devil . Reported from the
Prophet (p.b.h) : “ Shaitan has , kohl , snuff and lick ; drowsiness is his kohl
, laying is his lick, and arrogance is his snuff ”s
22.
( Laying is highest degree of forbidden interest ) , as
it has been mentioned in the Prophetical tradition.
23.
A man had come to the Prophet Pbh and asked him : What
caused people to enter the hell ? The Prophet Pb.h said : “ Laying , because
laying leads to hypocrisy , and hypocrisy leads to unbelief , and unbelief leads
to the hell ”
24.
Laying is considered one of the great sins.
25.
Laying causes forgetfulness. Reported from Imam Sadeq
(P.b): “ Forgetting is one of
things that helped God against lairs ” Since a lair usually tell lies , then he
forgets what he said which causes him to say an opposite thing , then he is
going to be disgraced.
26.
Laying is one of hypocrisy’s doors.
27.
Lairs will have a special torture.
28.
Lair is going to have a special torture , as it has been
mentioned in (al –Da’wat ) book , for the author (al – Rawandi) he reported a
long report from the Prophet (p.b.h ) shows what he has seen during Mohammad's
(p.b.h) midnight ascension , and here is some of the Prophet’s saying : “ I have
seen in my dream a man , who told me : Get up . So I got up , I saw two men ,
one of them was standing and the other one was sitting . The standing one had a
hook , he put it in the mouth of the sitting one and pulled him tell he reached
his shoulder , then he put it in the other side and did the same which causes
the first side to go back to its formal situation ”
I asked the person who told me to get up ; What is this ?
He said : (This is a lair man , he shall be tortured in his grave till the Day
of judgment)
29.
Lair is deprived of night prayer , so he losses the
blessing of this great worship , which causes loosing the ease. Reported from
Imam Sadeq (P.b) : “ When a man lies , he will loss the prayer of night which
caused him to loss his livelihood ”
30.
Laying causes Allah to disappoint the slave and
prohibited him from divine gaudiness , as the holy verse says : “ Surly God
guides not him who is a lair , unthankful ”
31.
The beauty is divested of the lair , as the prophet Isa
bin Maryam said : “ He who tells too much lies , he shall loss his beauty in a
way that causes people to avoid him.
32.
Laying is the greatest sin.
33.
Laying is one of the great sins , as it has been
mentioned in the beginning of the theme.
34.
Laying is far away from faith .it is rather against faith
, as it has been reported from the Prophet Pbh : “ Laying is against faith ”
35.
“ Laying kills the lair ” as the Prophet P.b.h has said
: “ You must leave laying because it will kill you even you think it will save
you”
36.
Making friends with lair is not desirable , Amirul
Mu’minin (p.b.h) said : It is necessary for Muslim to avoid making friends with
lair , because he lies and even he says the truth , nobody believes him.
37.
Allah the Almighty never guides lairs and never shows
them the way of right. “Surly God guides not him who is prodigal and a lair”
38.
Laying causes lair to loss his humanity figure during
interval (Barzakh) , as the Prophet of Allah (P.b.h) told our Lady Azzahra
(P.b.h) in the tradition of Me’raj : “ I saw a woman with a head of a pig ,and
a body of a donkey , and she was tortured by thousand thousand kinds of pain ,
that because she was a lair and talebearer ”
The Reasons of Laying :
There are too many reasons for laying ,
the most important are :
1.
Inferiority complex: The Prophet of Allah (P.b.h) said :
“A Lair tells lies because of his lowliness ”
2.
Bad social surrounding : Mixing with bad friends makes
man to tell lies.
3.
Ignorance with laying effects : A Lair doesn’t know that
he will face great pain in the hereafter , and lowliness in the present life.
4.
Bad ethics : Bad ethics leads a man to tell lies.
5.
Greed : It is the strongest reason which pushes lair to
tell lies.
6.
Habituation : The human sometimes uses to tell lies , so
this habit becomes the more stronger the more he grows up.
7.
Envy and enmity : These are two main reasons that push
man for fabrication charges and telling lies against his enemies . And good
people have been suffered too much of envying and laying by lairs.
The Cure of Laying :
Muslim has to treat himself to heal from
that dangerous ethic illness , and bad ethics , using the following :
1.
He has to know that laying is a lowliness and
disappointment , it leads to bad effects in the present life and punishment in
the hereafter.
2.
He has to know that Allah and his Prophet (P.b.h) heats
laying .
3.
He has to study the merits of truth.
4.
He has to leave bad companion and take good and faithful
people as friends.
5.
He has to do his best to improve his sprit and strengthen
his faith.
6.
He has to look attentively at everything he want to talk
about , and to get used to be silent as possible as he can.
7.
He should leave manners that leads to laying such as
equivocation and exaggeration.
Finally , he should watch his speech
carefully , and he should question and punish himself everyday, then gradually
he could overcome this bad habit .
The Allowed Laying :
No doubt , laying is a hateful vice ,it
is prohibited by the Islamic law , but there are some exceptional circumstances
which permit laying , when a public interest depend on that laying , and there
was no way to achieve this interest other than laying, in this case laying will
be permitted. Here we mention some of these cases :
1.
Pushing the harm:
Laying is allowed if it pushes harm away
from wealth , soul , and honor . If an unjust wanted to capture , kill , seize ,
or dishonor a Muslim and asked you about him , in these cases you are not
allowed to tell the truth otherwise you commit a prohibited matter . But you
should deny and not tell the truth. Reported from the Prophet of Allah (P.b.h) :
Swear falsely in order to save you brother from killing.
2.
Peacemaking :
Laying also is allowed if two Muslims
had a dispute , and laying is the only way that could make them up .There are
two more cases in which laying will be allowed , they are ; war and with family.
Theme Two
Arrogance
Arrogance: is one of the human vices , it is bad
moral constitution , and it is one of the greatest sins. Arrogance means to see
thyself greater and bigger than others. This character is one of the worst and
the ugliest psychological morals. It prevents the human being from getting the
nobility of morals. So that many verses and traditions have dispraised this
habit.
Allah the Almighty said : “ Those who dispute
concerning the signs of Allah , with out any authority that He has given them ;
Greatly hated is it by Allah and by those who believe . Thus does Allah set a
seal over the heart of every arrogant , haughty one ”
And said : “ I will turn away from my
communications those who are unjustly arrogant in the earth ; and if they see
very sign they will not believe in it ; and if they see the way of rectitude
they do not take it for away , and if they see the way of error , they take it
for away ; this because they rejected our communications and were heedless of
them ”
And said : “ today shall you be recompensed with
an ignominious chastisement because you spoke against Allah other than the truth
and (because ) you showed arrogance against His communications ”
And said : “ It shall be said: Enter the gates
of Hell to abide there in ; so evil is the abode of the arrogant .”
And said : “ Your God is one God ; So (as for)
those who donote believe in the Hereafter ; their hearts are ignorant and they
are proud.”
And said : “And your Lord says : Call
upon Me , I will answer you ; surly those who are too arrogant for My service
shall soon enter Hell abased ”
Reported from the Prophet of Allah (
p.b.h) : “ Allah the Almighty said : Arrogance is My own gown and glory is My
wrapper , and whoever disputes me on any of them I shall put him in the Hell ”
And said (p.b.h): “Arrogant and
tyrannical are going to be resurrected in the form of tiny dust particles , so
people could step on them because of Allah scorns them ”
Reported from Imam Ali (p.b.h) : “ You
should avoid arrogance because it is one of the greatest sins , and it the worst
defects , it is the Devil’s trick ”
Reported from Imam Baqer ( p.b):
“Whatever mount of arrogance enters the heart of man causes him to decrease the
same mount of his mind ”
Finally we say that , the cursed Devil
was the first proud , because he disobeyed Allah’s command when Allah the
Almighty commanded him to bow down for Adam (p.b).
Allah the Almighty said : “ And when We
said to the angles ; Make obeisance they did obeisance , but Iblis (did not) .
He refused and he was arrogant , and he was one of the unbelievers ”
The Reasons of Arrogance :
There are many reasons for arrogance ,
and these reasons come from many sources :
1.
Knowledge : Sometimes knowledge causes people to think
that , they are better than the others ,because they have more knowledge than
the others , so they feel that they are superior than them. So that , it has
been said , knowledge is the greatest veil - unless people purify themselves -
.
2.
Deeds : Some people feel arrogant when the make some
special deeds , so they feel that they are better than the others.
3.
Honor :Some people feel they are special because they
belong to a famous person or a famous family , so they get so arrogant , they
never sit with others nor get married to them .
4.
Wealth: Because of their own wealth, some people get
arrogant upon poor ones , so they don’t visit their sick people , don’t respect
them nor listen to them and so on .
5.
Power and high rank: They are so dangerous especially if
they get together with wealth.
6.
Worship and Beauty.
7.
Finally , jealousy and enmity might cause the arrogance .
Parts of Arrogance :
1.Arrogance against Allah the Almighty:
It could be represented by denying the presence of Allah ,or even denying His
singleness , His qualities , His worship .
Allah the Almighty said : “ Have you not
seen those who dispute with respect to the communications of Allah : How are
they turned away ? ”
And said : “ The Messiah does by no
means disdain that he should be a servant of Allah , nor do the angles who are
near to Him and whoever disdains His service and is proud , He will gather them
all together to Himself ”
And said : “ Your God is one God ; So (
as for ) those who do not believe in the Hereafter , their hearts are ignorant
and they are proud . ”
3.
Arrogance against prophets , apostles , and guardians.
That was by denying their missions
because some people think that they are better than the prophets or equal to
them , so he is not ready to follow and obey them. For example ; Pharaohs who
were arrogant upon the prophet Moses and Aaron (p.b.h) when they said :
“ What ! Shall we believe in two
mortals like ourselves while their people serve us ”
And said : “ And those who do not hope
for Our meeting , say ; Why have not angles been sent down upon us , or (why) do
not see our Lord ? Now certainly they are too proud of themselves and have
revolted in great revolt . ”
Or as , it has been mentioned on the
tongue of prophet Nuh (p.b.h) : “ And whenever I have called them that Thou
mayest forgive them , they put their fingers in their ears , cover themselves
with their garments , and persist and are puffed up with pride ”
Arrogance against pious scholars in fact
is arrogance against the apostles and the guardians , since the scholars are the
heir of apostles.
The Prophet of Allah ( p.b.h) said : “
Oh people do not accuse scholars of lying , don’t heat them , don’t deny them ,
but you should love them, because of the sign of loyalty is loving scholars ,
and the sign of hypocrisy is heating them . Oh , whoever insults a scholar he
insults me , and whoever insults me he insults Allah , and whoever insults Allah
he is going to be in the Hell ”
The Arrogance against people :
Some people see themselves greater and
better than others , they feel uncomfortable if they were compared with others .
The arrogant always likes to precede others , and he likes to sit in a
distinguished place , he likes to be respected by others , and he feels upset
when someone advises him . In general he sees himself higher than others.
The Cure of Arrogance:
1.
Reflecting the verses and the traditions that dispraise
arrogance , they are sufficient for those who seek the truth.
2.
knowing that pride doesn’t suit anyone other than Allah
the Almighty , and nobody is aloud to share Allah His own things .
3.
knowing that , the arrogant is heated by Allah the
Almighty , and he deserves the torture in the Hereafter.
4.
knowing that people heat arrogant , contrary to
humbleness which causes the human to be more dignity and lovable.
5.
The human being should train himself to heat arrogance ,
and to love humbleness.
6.
Rooting up the reasons of the arrogance by satisfying
thyself that beauty , might , fortune , lineage , and high rank are passing
things and they are useless in the hereafter.
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