Bismillah-ir Rahman-ir Raheem
Kibr (Arrogance / Conceit)
Allahumma salli alaa Syedina Muhammad wa alaa Ahli Syedina Muhammad, fi kulli lamhatin wa nafasin ‘adada maa wa see-a-hu ‘il-muLLAH
Syedina Omar (radiallah anhu) defined scholars as those who do not differentiate between good and bad, but rather, those who separate the best from that which is good, and the worst from that which is bad.
Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) wanted khairfor this ummah, and as such, Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) describes the Ummah in Surah Ahli-Imran (110): “You are the best nation produced [as an example]for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.” This khair for the ummah is that the ummah should be khair for all others and all that it encounters!
And Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) blessed this Ummah with the greatest blessing of all: Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam)!
“And know that among you is the Messenger of Allah . If he were to obey you in much of the matter, you would be in difficulty, but Allah has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience. Those are the [rightly]guided and the most sucessful.” (Surah Al-Hujurat, 7)
Going back to Syedina Omar (radiallah anhu), it is not about the difference between good and bad, it is rather differentiating between the best and the worst.
There is an opportunity in every situation to choose that which is best, and, in doing so, avoid the worst. In this there is a great blessing; and this is reflected in the character of the people of greathimma (determination).
We need to understand who we are as humans; we are the weak, the ignorant and the dependent.
One character trait that leads to kufr iskibr (arrogance or conceit), as Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) mentioned that a person will not enter jannah if there is even half an atom of kibr in their heart.
May Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) send his renewed blessing and mercy upon Syedina Abu Bakr (radiallah anhu) when he wrote to the Persian King when he heard about is kibr, especially by way of his ornate crown and throne: Qisra, how can you be so arrogant when you know you came from two shameful things, that which was emitted from your father and that which was conceived in your mother’s body!
As narrated in the Musnad of Abu Yaàla, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) was sitting with the Sahaba, who were praising a man and in his praise they described his martial struggling, his relationship with the Qur’an, and his dhikr. During the course of their description the man came across the gathering, and the Sahaba pointed the man out to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam).
Upon seeing this man, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) mentioned to the Sahaba that in this man there is a touch of kibr, and Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) asked the man, have you not mentioned to yourself in a moment that you consider yourself better than everyone else?
Upon seeing the man, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) mentioned to the Sahaba that within this man there is a touch of kibr, and Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam), during the course of this gathering, asked the man: Have you not mentioned to yourself that you consider yourself better than everyone else? The man affirmed as such, and went away from Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) and the Sahaba to pray.
Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) sent Abu Bakr (radiallah anhu) to go and kill this man, but when he came upon him he was praying. Abu Bakr (radiallah anhu) came back to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) and told him he could not kill the man as he was in salah, to which Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) again gave a clear command, and Omar (radiallah anhu) went to kill the man. Omar (radiallah anhu) found the man in sujud (prostration), and thus came back and reported to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam). Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) again gave the command, to which Syedina Ali (alaih salam) responded, but when he went to the find the man, he was missing! When Syedina Ali (alaih salam) returned to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam), Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) told the Sahaba that the man, with his touch ofkibr, was the start of the fitnah(tribulation), and if he was to be killed, thefitnah would never fall upon the ummah.
Although this man was praised among the Sahaba, he had the arrogance to go and pray on his own rather than sitting with
Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) and the Sahaba!
Arrogance is never good, even in ibadah.
We have to enjoin the best of characters and avoid the worst; and in order to become closer to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) we have to fight our nafs.
May Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) grant us the beauty of iman, and may He put in our hearts the disdain for disbelief and disobedience.
May Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) Love us, Guide us and Cover us with His Mercy.
