A Lesson on Pride

Imam al-Ghazali talks about ten harmful things. This list includes pride. With the assistance of The Path to Perfection by Shaykh Masihullah Khan I will look at pride: Shaykh Masihullah says that pride is to “consider oneself superior to others in attributes of excellence”. In simpler words, it is to think of yourself as better than other people. When Shaytan refused to bow to Adam [A.S] he was being proud. This led to his expulsion from Paradise. The opposite of pride is humility. It is a very admirable attribute. I read in Pride and its Remedy by Mawlana Adam that once Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was once making wudu at a riverside. A man came to make wudu further up the river but before he began, he thought that his used water would flow down to Imam Ahmad, so he went further downstream. After the man died someone saw him in a dream and asked him how he had been judged. The man replied that due to the wudu incident he had been forgiven. From these incidents we can see the excellence of humility and the detriment of pride. So how do you dispel pride? Shaykh Masihullah says to think about the greatness of Allah. If this is done then “your own excellence will fade into nothingness”.

By Ibn Human