Humility: a loving human trait in the Sight of Allah

Islam, necessarily, teaches us humility, as we are all subject to Allah’s eternal Will. The Quran says: ‘Indeed Allah does not love those who are arrogant’. All that we have today remains in our hands only for our short remaining time on earth and will inevitably be passed on to someone else. Why, then, do we display arrogance or walk in arrogance in this world?

The arrogance, haughtiness and pride that man exhibits towards others, are in direct contrast to humility. We may look down on others less fortunate than ourselves or join the many clubs filled with those who are part of an increasingly arrogant society.

Islam tells us that Allah, the Almighty and Creator of all things, will test all men, both with goodness and by hardship (evil), thereby ascertaining who is grateful and who is ungrateful to Him. The results of these tests separate those who are deserving and will enter Paradise, from those who are undeserving and reside in the Fire for all eternity.  In a hadith the prophet Mohammad, Peace and Mercy of Allah be upon him, says: ‘shall I not inform you of the people of Paradise? They are every weak and weakened people who if they swear by Allah, He would fulfil their oath. Then the Prophet said: ‘shall I not tell you of the people of the Fire? They are every harsh natured, suppressive and arrogant people’.

Islam shows us the path towards mercy and blessings for mankind. Whoever deviates from the path, retreats from the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Only the Creator deserves to show arrogance as no other is comparable to Him. This is the reason in a Hadith qudsi, Allah SWT says: ‘Arrogance is My robe and greatness is My wrapper. Whoever tries to take it away from Me, either of them, I would throw them in the Fire’.

There are many ways by which Allah reminds people how to be humble. Humility benefits others and makes all our lives easier and more merciful. The following are some of the ways people can arrive at the realisation of their humility and powerlessness:-

1-           Belief in the Creator and His power over all things. We have very short life in this world, and this becomes even shorter if we consider it in terms of possessing power and ownership. Surely it is not sensible to jeopardise a blissful life in the Hereafter for an even shorter term of life in this world? Believing in the Almighty Allah, humbling oneself in front of Him and following His teachings, shows us the path to humility and to salvation.

2-           A clear conscience and an awareness and healthy fear of the Creator, Allah, will make a person mindful of their actions and deeds, leading us to practise obedience, humility and ultimately to incur the pleasure of Allah. This is called ‘Taqwa’. The ‘Taqwa’ (awe) of Allah by a person always leads him to the path of humility and away from arrogance.

3-           Gratefulness to Allah: this makes a person realise that all the blessings that he has received were from Allah and not from himself. Being grateful makes a person show humility and deserve more blessings.

4-           Seeking forgiveness for our own shortcomings, 'istigfaar', is another conscientious act by which people can mend the error of their ways and find the path of humility in the Sight of Allah. An arrogant person does not see the error of his ways, neither does he believe that he is capable of making mistakes or recognise that his mistakes should not be followed by others, as they are contrary to the guidance of Allah, their Creator.

The Quran mentions two incidents which demonstrate fully the futility of disobedience to God's commands, and they are narrated in several different Surahs of the Quran.

The first incident is the example of ‘Iblis', who, when he was commanded by Allah to prostrate to Adam alongside the angels, rejected His command.  Surah Al-Aaraf tells us: ‘We initiated your creation then We gave you each a shape and then We said to the angels: ‘prostrate yourselves before Adam. ‘They all prostrated themselves except Iblis, he was not one of those who fell prostrate’. 

Allah said: ‘What prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you to do so?’ he said: ‘I am better than he. You created me from fire and him you created from clay’.  Allah said: ‘then get you down from here. It does not behove you to be arrogant here. So be gone. You will be among the humiliated’.

This shows us that arrogance constrains a person from recognising and admitting his mistakes until it is too late to make amends.  One error can lead to further errors and finally our hearts become sealed and our thinking faculties so impaired that we can never regain the path of wisdom.

The second incident mentioned in the Quran is the story of ‘Qarun’ (Korah), to whom Allah granted the wealth of this world in abundance. The story goes like this in the Quran:- ‘Surely, Qarun was one of the Moses’ people then he transgressed against them. We had bestowed on him such treasure that their very keys would have been raised with difficulty by a whole group of strong people. Once when his people said to him: ‘do not exult, for Allah does not love those who exult.’

‘Seek by means of the wealth that Allah has granted you the abode of the Hereafter, but forget not your share in this world and do good as Allah has been good to you and do not strive to create mischief in the land, for Allah loves not those who create mischief.’

Qarun replied: ‘All this has been given to me on account of a certain knowledge that I have'.

‘Did he not know that Allah had destroyed before him those who were stronger in might than he and were more numerous in multitude? The wicked are not asked about their acts of sin.’

Further verses show how the arrogant attitude of Qarun destroyed him and his treasure and everything that he owned.

Surely these examples demonstrate that no one has more power than Allah. Humility is a human virtue that makes people do good, be kinder and accountable for their actions and avoid the path of error. Humility is a grace granted to people by God and it should be actively sought out by everyone. 

Islam teaches us that humbling ourselves to the greatness of Allah makes us more honourable. The Quran says: ‘verily the noblest of you in the Sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you’. S49 V13

Practising humility can reform our characters, reduce prejudice, arrogance, hatred and war, injustice and human misery. Allah is great, but human greatness can only be measured by our practice of humility towards Him.