Part 29

Abu Hurayrah 4 reported that the Prophet 3 said*: “Whoever is made wealthy by Allah and does not pay the zakah for his wealth, then on the Day of Resurrection, his wealth will be made like a baldheaded poisonous snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheek, saying: ‘I am your wealth, I am your treasure’. Then the Messenger of Allah recited the Verse: (Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty Allah has given them should not suppose that that is better for them. No, indeed, it is worse for them! What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks of the Day of Rising. Allah is the inheritors of the heavens and the earth and Allah is aware of what you do)’.

' Surat al-Baqara, verse 268.

? Recorded by al-Bukhari. > Surat al-'Imran, verse 180

Allah 4€ has stated that success and prosperity is to be found in giving up avarice; He 4 said: {It is the people who are safeguarded from the avarice of themselves who are successful.)!

Abu Hurayrah # said: “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Every day two angels come down from heaven, and one of them says, ‘O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause’, and the other one says: ‘O Allah! Destroy every miser,”””

Abu Hurayrah # also reported that the Prophet said: “Allah 3 said: ‘Spend (O my Servant) and I shall spend on you.’ He also said: ‘Allah’s Hand is full, and its fullness is not affected by continuous spending, night and day. Do you see what He has spent since He created the Heavens and the Earth? Nevertheless, what is in His Hand is not decreased, and His Throne was over the water, and the balance (of justice) is in His Hand whereby He raises and lowers people.”

Abu Umama reported that the Prophet 4% said: “O son of Adam, it is better for you if you spend your surplus (wealth), but if you withhold it, it is evil for you. There is, however, no reproach if you withhold the means necessary for living. And begin charity with your dependents, as the upper hand is better than the lower hand.”

Tbn Mas‘ud 4 reported that the Prophet 4% asked his Companions: “Who among you considers the wealth of his heirs dearer to him than his own wealth?” They replied: “O Mesenger of Allah, there is none among us but loves his own wealth more.” The Prophet 3 replied: “So his own wealth is whatever he spends in Allah’s Cause during his lifetime, while the wealth of his heirs is whatever he leaves after his death.”*

‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar reported that the Prophet 3 said: “There is no envy except in two cases: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allah has given wisdom (ie. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions

1 surat al-Hashr, verse 9.

? Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

3 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

4 Recorded by Muslim and al-Tirmidhi.

5 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim and al-Nasa’i.

accordingly and teaches it to the others.”! This is the case of having good envy, (i.e. wishing to have a similar blessing to the one that Allah # has given another person.) As for having reprehensible envy, it is to wish for the removal of the blessings from another person, which is haram in Islam.

Pride or haughtiness is one of the causes for the entrance of Satan; it is by having this nature that mankind degrades and humiliates himself; it makes him reject the truth and approve of all types of falsehood. The arrogant are ignorant with regard to their reality or that of their Lord, because had they known the reality about themselves, they would have known that they were once zygote, then a blastula, then a foetus, so why are they so arrogant?

As pride is a destructive element in our lives, Allah 3 has warned us: {Do not strut arrogantly about the earth. You will certainly never split the earth apart, nor will you ever rival the mountains in height)’; He 4% also said: (Allah does not Jove anyone vain or boastful)’, (I will divert from My Signs all those who are arrogant on the earth)‘, (That is how Allah seals up the heart of every arrogant oppressor)*.

The Prophet % said: “Allah 4€ said: ‘Pride is My Cloak and Greatness is My Robe, so he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into Hell-fire.””

' Recorded by al-Bukhari.

? Surat al-Isra’, verse 37.

> Surat al-Nisa’, verse 36.

* Surat al-A ‘raf, verse 146.

> Surat Ghafir, verse 35.

7 Recorded by Muslim and al-Bargani in al-mustakhraj.

Haritha ibn Wahab said: “I heard the Prophet saying: ‘May I tell you of the people of Hell-fire? They are all those violent, arrogant and stubborn people.”

Abu Hurayrah 4 reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Three are the persons with whom Allah would neither speak, nor would He absolve them on the Day of Resurrection; He would not look at them and there is a grievous torment for them (they are): an aged adulterer, a lying king and a proud destitute.”

Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ - reported that the Prophet # said: “A man will continue to exalt himself till he is recorded among the imperious ones and is smitten as they are.”?

Abu Hurayrah #4 reported that the Prophet 3 said: “On the Day of Resurrection, there will issue from Hell a portion (of having) two eyes which see, two ears which hear and a tongue which speaks, and it will say it has been put in charge of three classes: everyone who is proud and obstreperous, everyone who invokes another god besides Allah, and those who make representations of things.”*

Types of arrogant people

1. There are those who are arrogant about their property and their status in society; their arrogance grows with the praise of their flatterers and close parties, whose hypocrisy is their main habit and a source of income. Flattery is one type of deception, because it praises the arrogant person with characteristics he/she lacks, elavating him/her above his/her normal status; when he/she believes in them, his/her arrogance increases.

This type of arrogance is widespread among kings and presidents; therefore, they should remove their bad entourages, which make their evil deeds seem good to them. If these kings were sensible, they would know that sovereignty is lasting, otherwise (i.e. if it was eternal

' Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim. ? Recorded by Muslim and al-Nasa’i.

3 Recorded by al-Tirmidhi.

* Recorded by al-Tirmidhi.

for others), it would never have reached them: (Say: O Allah! Master of the Kingdom! You give sovereignty to whomsoever You will, You take sovereignty from whomsoever You will. You exalt whomsoever You will, You abase whomsoever You will. All Good is in Your Hands. You have Power over all things)’.

2. There are people who are arrogant about their wealth, but they are simply ignorant, because if they were reasonable, they would understand that wealth is a mere loan which Allah 3 might take away, at any time and for any reason.

This is similar to the case of the owner of the garden, who entered his garden and wronged himself by saying: ‘I do not think that this will ever end’. But Allah 4% sent down on it a fireball from the sky, and his fruits were all destroyed.

Qarun was another example of those people who displayed extreme arrogance with their abundant wealth, and Allah 3% inflicted due punishment upon him. If Allah 3% had tried him with an illness, he would have wished that all his wealth were removed from him in return for his health.

It was narrated that a Muslim king once asked for a glass of water, so the servant brought it to him, saying: “O King, do not drink this glass of water until I ask you a question”. The king said: “Ask!” He asked: “If this glass of water were taken away from you, how much would you pay for it?” The king replied: “I would give half my reign for it.”

The servant asked: “But if you drank it and it choked you, how much would you pay to save yourself (from death)?” He replied: “All my reign.” The servant concluded: “So your sovereignty is not worth even one (glass of) urine!”

3. There are some people who feel arrogant about their strength and physical power, they are simply foolish, because physical power has never been a standard by which dignity is judged between people. The real standard of judgment is a person’s mind and intellect; it is with

! Surat al-‘Imran, verse 26.

this that one acquires knowledge about one’s Lord, and conducts oneself rightly among people.

4. There are some people who are arrogant about their knowledge, yet it is more appropriate to call this type ignorant, because, normally, any knowledge which does not increase humility and fear of Allah is useless, There are two types of knowledge: the spoken one which is the evidence that Allah 3 uses on his creations, and the inner one — of the heart — which is having fear for and being in a state of submission to Allah 8.

Usama ibn Yazid 2 reported that the Prophet # said: “A man will be brought and placed in Hellfire; he would circumambulate within it like a donkey of a flour grinding mill, so all the people of Hell would gather around him and ask him: “O so-and-so, did you not use to order others for good and forbid them from evil? That man would reply: ‘I used to order others to do good but I myself never used to do it, and I used to forbid others from evil while I myself used to do evil’”’.

5. There are some people who act arrogantly with regard to their beauty and good appearance, which is common among women. But an arrogant woman should remember that her beauty is only temporary as this life is.

1, Rejecting the truth: One aspect of arrogance is when a person who discovers who his/her error does not accept this reality, due to his/her arrogance. How many prominent scholars or great shuyukh (shaikhs) have been involved in a debate with a student, about a particular issue, when they were shown to have made a mistake, yet refused to accept the truth, out of arrogance.