Iblis considered himself superior to Adam. In fact, his pride was so strong that it even made him disobey his Lord and ultimately get banished from paradise forever:"(Allah) said: "Get thee down from this: it is not for thee to be arrogant here: get out, for thou art of the meanest (of creatures)" (Qur’an 7:13).
Arrogance was the disease that infected Shaytan (Satan) and made him forever cursed. But the disease of arrogance, defined as the "offensive display of superiority or self-importance, overbearing pride," did not die off with the banishment of Iblis. The disease of arrogance is the legacy we humans have inherited from Shaytan.Today, that legacy has evolved – but not much. Today, we use fancy names to describe un-fancy diseases, rooted in the same age-old sickness. Diseases like racism and nationalism continue to plague humanity and are even widespread in our Muslim community. Racism is nothing more than the arrogance of race, while nationalism is simply arrogance and a sense of superiority about one’s nation. "Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."
And just like that very first act of arrogance, these diseases have had their own destructive consequences. Racism has hung people from trees and destroyed whole villages. We have only to look at history to see the destructive consequences of unbridled nationalism. It was extreme nationalism that gave birth to Nazism and has been responsible for countless massacres throughout time. Then there is the narcissism that infects our hearts, making us so self-pleased, and providing yet another form of the destructive disease we have been warned against. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "He who has in his heart an ant’s weight of arrogance will not enter Paradise." Someone said: "A man likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?" The Messenger of Allah said, "Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and looking down on people" [Muslim].
It is this type of arrogance that Luqman warns his son about in the Qur’an: "And do not turn your face away from men with arrogance, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah does not like each arrogant boaster" (Qur’an 31: 18).
But showing arrogance toward people demonstrates only one level of severity. The most severe type of arrogance is the arrogance one has toward Allah. Rejecting God, refusing to submit to Him and turning away from truth are in fact the most extreme shows of arrogance. It is this self pride that made people belie the prophets. They would say: "Shall we believe in two men like ourselves" (Qur’an 23:47). It is this conceit that Allah warns us strongly against: "Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein, and (indeed) what an evil abode of the arrogant!" (Qur’an 40:76). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also warns us that Hellfire is full of the merciless and the arrogant [Hadith from Muslim].
But this arrogance, like all diseases, has a cause as well as a cure. More than anything else, every epidemic of arrogance can be traced back to one underlying cause – the disregard of God. It is, in fact, as the Qur’an describes, the improper estimation of God and His greatness (39:67). And then, as soon as the focus shifts away from God and toward the self, arrogance invariably follows.
When one forgets Allah’s greatness, even the utterly insignificant can appear great. As a result, we suddenly start to view ourselves, our own accomplishments and everything in our world as a reflection of our own imagined greatness. If we are wealthy, we believe our wealth is due to our own greatness. One only has to look at the Qur’anic story of Qarun for an example of this (Qur’an 28:76-82). If we have intelligence or youth, we forget that our minds, our very lives, lie in the grip of Allah, who can at any second take these things away, rendering us speechless, motionless or lifeless. If we have power or strength or beauty, we forget that Allah is the source of all power, strength and beauty. And by forgetting these things, we will have fallen for the greatest sort of deception. In fact, the Arabic word for arrogance, "ghuroor," actually means self-deception. It would, therefore, follow that the only true cure for such self-deception is the remembrance of Allah and His might. By focusing on Allah, we can never become deceived of our own greatness and power. For, next to the greatness of Allah, nothing can ever appear great.
And so, to cure the disease of arrogance, the prescription is clear. Bow. Not a bow of robotic ritual, not an empty bow of obligation. Bow a bow of complete servitude, worship and utter humility.
