EPIC Masjid, Imam Nadeem Bashir, Arrogance and Shaytaan(Shaytaan Series)

Opening — Khutbah of Imam Nadeem Bashir

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ

Indeed, Allah — Tabarak wa Ta'ala — says in the Qur'an al-Majeed, the Furqan al-Hameed, after: أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

صَدَقَ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ. Indeed, the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. The worst of matters are those which are newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is going astray.

Respected brothers and sisters, I will be, inshallah, continuing this series regarding Shaytan. As you have been noticing, for the last 2 or 3 times that I have been giving the khutbah, we have been focusing on Shaytan: Who is Shaytan? The story between Shaytan and Adam alayhi salaam. Last week we talked about briefly how Shaytan misguides a person slowly and gradually. But today we will be talking about the thing — the sin and the crime — that Shaytan committed, which was enough for him to be dismissed from Jannah. And that is the crime and the sin of arrogance.

The Four Types of Jahiliyyah

Before I get to the subject and topic of arrogance, I want to point out and focus on something which we see in the Qur'an. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the pre-Islamic era, He refers to that time as Jahiliyyah — the time when people were in the state of ignorance. There was a dark time in the history before Islam. Nonetheless, this was a time where the Sahaba — who were later on Sahaba — before they were Sahaba, they were people who were living in a town and there was so much corruption, so much Jahiliyyah had spread everywhere, that the books of history mention that no one was ready to rule over these people. This is how much corruption had spread.

In the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about this Jahiliyyah — this ignorance — and He mentions four things in the Qur'an.

1. Jahiliyyah in Belief

First of all, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that there was Jahl and they were ignorant in terms of their belief. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

That their belief regarding Allah was an ignorant type of belief. So there was Jahiliyyah in understanding.

2. Jahiliyyah in Governance and Affairs

Then there was Jahiliyyah in the way that they were governing their rules or the way they were governing themselves and their affairs. What I mean by that is that the Prophet ﷺ says that in pre-Islamic times, during the time of Jahiliyyah, the system was that anyone who was rich, if he were to commit a crime, they would not face the consequences of their actions. And anyone who was poor, the slightest crime that they would commit, there were full consequences for that. We see that happening today also, to some extent. So this is Jahiliyyah in terms of affairs.

3. Jahiliyyah in Culture

Then there was Jahiliyyah in culture. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about this in Surah Al-Ahzab. When Allah talks about the importance of women observing modesty, dressing in a modest way, and making sure that when they go out they go out only when there's a need and necessity, and not to go out and dress in a provocative way — in a way that will seduce others — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

That do not manifest yourself the way the people would manifest themselves. And something amazing is that even here, the word Allah uses is تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ. The word بُرُوج — the word تَبَرُّج — means to manifest oneself. That is why you see that even in Dubai till today, there is a big building called بُرْج — because it manifests itself before everyone. So here Allah says, do not dress in that kind of way. This is Jahiliyyah in terms of culture.

4. Jahiliyyah in Behavior — Arrogance

But then there is one other type of Jahiliyyah, which is Jahiliyyah in respect of behavior. We see this in Surah Al-Fath. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

That when there was Jahiliyyah in terms of their behavior, what was that Jahiliyyah? It was the arrogance that people had in their hearts.

The Hadith on Arrogance and Pride

The Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith that a person will not enter into Jannah in whose heart there is the slightest amount of arrogance and pride and تَكَبُّر.

And the difference — I want to point out — is that there is a difference between عُجْب and تَكَبُّر. عُجْب is when you are proud within yourself — "Look at who I am, I am so and so." But when you begin to manifest those feelings about yourself before others and begin to belittle other people, that is what is called تَكَبُّر.

So the Prophet ﷺ once again says that a person will not enter into Jannah in whose heart there is pride or arrogance. The Prophet ﷺ was sitting with the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم, and alhamdulillah, I praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that they asked him a very amazing question. They asked the Prophet ﷺ: What is the true definition of arrogance? A person who likes to wear good clothes, a person who likes to be very clean and very posh, a person who likes to be very well dressed — does that come under pride and arrogance?

Islam teaches us that when you dress, you dress modestly and appropriately, and you wear clean clothes. I'm not saying that you go out and spend a thousand dollars on one suit. Or, as we see today, that we spend thousands of dollars for one pair of clothes when it comes to the times of marriage in our families — we become extremely extravagant and very loose-handed when it comes to our finances. But as I said, there is nothing wrong in wearing good clothes.

The Prophet ﷺ replied:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 164)

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is الْجَمِيل — He is beautiful. He loves beauty. Allah is not telling you to walk around like you have torn, dirty clothes. He is not saying that. But then what is تَكَبُّر? He says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 164)

بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ — which means to deny and reject the truth. When the words of Allah and the words of Rasul ﷺ are presented before us, or someone says to us that what you are doing is wrong, and what happens is that we deny and reject the truth because of our own ego — that is the meaning of بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ. And then he says غَمْطُ النَّاسِ — that this is also part of تَكَبُّر and arrogance, that you begin to belittle other people, you begin to degrade other people.

We don't know whose position is higher than ours. We don't know who is closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah in Surah Al-Hujurat makes it very clear:

Do not make a mockery of anyone else — they may be better than you. And amongst the ladies and the sisters, they should not make a mockery or gossip amongst each other about anyone else. Why? Because who they may be gossiping about or speaking ill of — that sister could be better than them in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Batar ul-Haqq — Rejecting the Truth

So let us get into the meaning of بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ. I read an ayah from the Qur'an at the beginning. In Surah Al-A'raf, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions a very beautiful ayah. He says that those who have arrogance in their hearts — what are the consequences when it comes to the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? What happens to them when it comes to the teaching of the Qur'an? Allah says:

سَأَصْرِفُ — We will turn away the person. الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ — whoever is arrogant in their heart. عَنْ آيَاتِي — from My ayat, meaning from My remembrance. We will divert this person away. This person will not remember Allah. This person will not remember Muhammad ﷺ. And then He says — who is that person? يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ — who shows and exhibits arrogance without any kind of ground, without any kind of reason. And then He says: وَإِن يَرَوْا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَا — when this arrogant person sees the ayat of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — meaning when he hears about Allah and Rasul — he will not believe. وَإِن يَرَوْا سَبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ لَا يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلًا — when he sees the clear path in front of him, he will not take that path. ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ — these people are far away, they are very negligent when it comes to the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

This is something we have to always remember. If I am praying my salat every single day, if I am doing so much but I am not coming close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, there may be a reason for that. There may be a slight amount of arrogance in our heart. And wallahi, none of us are excused from this. All of us — you and I both — we need to be very careful about this. Why? Because تَكَبُّر was the very first crime that was committed after the creation of mankind. The very first sin that was committed. And not only that, but this just shows you the magnitude of this sin — that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saw that Shaytan was being arrogant, it was enough for him to be dismissed from Jannah.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ says: in whose heart the slightest amount of تَكَبُّر does exist, this person will not enter Jannah. Why? Because تَكَبُّر is an attribute of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. One of the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is Al-Mutakabbir. It is only the position of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He can show that kind of attitude and that kind of behavior. We cannot do that. We have no position before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The status of Allah and our status cannot even begin to be compared.

First Way of Rejecting the Truth: Dismissing Those Who Remind Us

There are so many ways that بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ — denying the truth — can happen. For example, if a child comes to us: in our families, our child may go to Sunday school, our youngsters in our family may go to a conference or a seminar, and they may come back home and tell their parents, "You know what, I see in my family that there is this sin or this wrong that we generally commit, and I have heard from the Prophet ﷺ — from the conference, the seminar, or from the shaykh — that what we do is not right." Now if the parent, the mother and the father, judge their child and tell the child, "You're small, you don't know, don't come and advise me again" — this is called بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ. This is denying and rejecting the truth.

Once there was a person who came to Umar r.a. This was a youngster who came with his uncle. He came to Umar r.a. and said, "This is my uncle, O Ameer ul-Mu'mineen, he wanted to meet you for such a long time and I thought I would introduce him to you." But what that person had in the back of his mind was that he wanted to criticize and belittle Umar r.a. He began to criticize him for the way he had been conducting his affairs as Ameer ul-Mu'mineen, saying, "You never serve us with justice, you do this, you do this." Now, knowing the nature of Umar r.a., he got up, and then that youngster — what did he say to Ameer ul-Mu'mineen?

A person from the Ashra Mubashara — a person regarding whom the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3686)

The hikmah and knowledge of Umar r.a. is such that, hypothetically speaking, if there was a prophet after him, it would be Umar r.a. But this youngster — you know what he said to Umar r.a.? He recited to him:

He said: this person — he is inert. He doesn't know what he is talking about. He's not talking out of his mind; he's talking out of emotions. Just ignore him. What did Umar r.a. want to do? He wanted to say, "Your knowledge is nowhere compared to my knowledge." But did he say that? No. What did he do? He sat down. That shows us that when the words of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ are recited before us or told to us — regardless of who is saying it — we have to follow it. Why? Because it is Allah and the Prophet ﷺ.

Also, if there is someone in our community — or even outside — who tells us, "What you are doing, brother, is wrong. Sister, what you are doing is wrong. This is the way you need to do it." In most cases, we become very defensive: "I know your history. I know your family's history. When we start talking about the history of your family..." We say, "You have no right to come and tell me." You know what? That is تَكَبُّر. That is called بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ. So this is one way to show that you are rejecting the truth.

Second Way of Rejecting the Truth: Using Logic Against the Orders of Allah

There is another way of rejecting the truth, and that is using logic when it comes to the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There is no position in Islam for logic when it comes to the orders of Allah. What did Shaytan do? He began to express and mention the logic behind not prostrating to Adam alayhi salaam. He said: "You created me from fire, You created him from dirt. My position is so high — I used to be amongst the people of the earth." As I mentioned in one khutbah before, the jinn used to live on the face of the earth and the mala'ikah used to be in Jannah. He said: "From there You brought me all the way here — my position is way higher than this person, Adam alayhi salaam." When it came to the order of Allah, he began to use logic, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala dismissed him from Jannah. Which means that in this day and age, when we hear قَالَ اللَّهُ and قَالَ الرَّسُولُ and we begin to use our logic and are trying to prove something else — we have to be very careful about that. We have to be extremely careful.

At the same time, there is another example we see in the Qur'an. When Shaytan came to Adam alayhi salaam to deceive him and lure him towards the tree that Allah had made forbidden, what did he say to Adam? He said: "The reason you are being told to stay away from the tree is because if you eat from that tree, you will become immortal." This is where the logic is being used. And at that time, Adam alayhi salaam ate from the tree and we know the rest of the story. So that is why it is very important that when it comes to بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ, using logic against the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is also a form of it.

Part Two: Ghamtul Nas — Belittling Other People

The next thing I want to talk about is غَمْطُ النَّاسِ — to belittle other people, to degrade other people, to not have any value or respect for anyone else. May Allah bless us and you in the great Qur'an and benefit us from its verses with wisdom. May Allah forgive me and you. So forgive — indeed He is the Forgiver, the Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah. We worship Him, we seek His help and we ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls. Whomever Allah guides, none is misguided. And whomever He misguides, none can guide him. And we testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

Respected brothers and sisters, one way that we can belittle other people is because of our intellect — the knowledge that we have from the Qur'an and Sunnah. In this day and age, for a person to become arrogant because of their knowledge — it happens a lot and it can happen to anyone. We see this happening with Shaytan. Why was he arrogant? Because he once again felt: "I have more knowledge than this person, Adam alayhi salaam. Why do I have to do this to a person like this?"

Intellectual Arrogance

When it comes to intellectual arrogance — this is something that has taken people far away from the Deen. When we acquire knowledge — and I'm not talking about secular studies, I'm talking about the knowledge of the Qur'an, the knowledge of the Sunnah of Rasul Allah ﷺ — the sole purpose of learning Qur'an and Sunnah is not so that we can go and debate with others. The intention should not be: "I know this hadith, I know this Sunnah, I have this knowledge, and I'm going to go and slap it on someone else's face, because that person does wrong, and I'm going to go and prove my point and degrade that person and show them who is more knowledgeable." That is called intellectual arrogance.

We are living in a time — unfortunately — where, alhamdulillah, there are so many resources of knowledge. But two things that we have to keep in mind:

First of all, when it comes to knowledge, we are attaining it not so that we can bring down and degrade others. Rather, I am acquiring knowledge so that I can become a better person — in my family, as a better father, as a better mother, as a better sibling. That is why we are acquiring knowledge.

Number two — when it comes to knowledge, as I said, there are so many resources: we can go to a class, attend a seminar, a conference, take classes online. But we have to be very careful. The Sahaba رضي الله عنهم — when it came to the point of giving fatwas — were very, very careful. When it comes to our situation today, we have this much knowledge and we are giving fatwas over and over again. We read one hadith in Bukhari and we begin to give fatwas. We take some classes online and we begin to give fatwas. We attend some conference or seminar, and what do we do? We begin to label imams, leaders, and scholars — of the past and contemporary scholars — and we begin to label them: "He's rejected," "bad scholar." This happens in our time today. This is intellectual arrogance. When we acquire knowledge, the true intention behind that is so that we can come close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Arrogance Toward Others Based on Level of Practice

Number two — part of غَمْطُ النَّاسِ, bringing someone low, is the fact that we, as a person, may be coming to the masjid every single day. We are contributing in the masjid, we are volunteering in the masjid, we are volunteering in our society and our community. Whenever there's an interfaith program, we rush there. Whenever there's a lecture, we rush there. We are called over and over again to give lectures. So what happens is that a person when he reaches this stage, he feels, "I am something." And what happens is that when they see a person coming into the masjid — there may be a person who comes and there is no deen in that person — there may be a sister who is sitting in the masjid, she is wearing hijab and she observes the deen. But then she sees a sister coming inside the masjid with no hijab and inappropriate clothing, and the very first thing that comes to her mind is: "Look at me and look at her. This person is so far away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. She's nothing in front of me. She cannot even come close to me."

That is arrogance. When we begin to belittle other people because of their deen. Rather, we should say: "May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give him the understanding. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give her the understanding. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give me the ability to be steadfast on my deen." That is what should be coming out from our mouths. That is what should be coming from our hearts.

In the same way, we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions this regarding those who are active in their community. He says:

Who is better than that person who calls people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? This is an ayah for those of us who are active in our community. He says: who is that best person? Not only does he call people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but in addition to that — وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا — when it comes to his actions, it is not only lip service, not only just talking, but it is manifest in his life. When he says قَالَ اللَّهُ, the قَالَ اللَّهُ does exist in his life. He exhibits the Sunnah, he exhibits the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then finally, at the end of the day, what does he say? وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ — "I am just among the Muslims. I have no special position in society."

A person came to Umar r.a. and said, "You make dua for me, you are this, you are that." What did he say? He said: "Who am I? I am only a human being." This is humbleness.

Coming in the Next Khutbah

There are two other things I want to touch upon, but due to the lack of time, inshallah we will leave them to the next khutbah. There are two other things that come under the definition of غَمْطُ النَّاسِ. One of them is to belittle and degrade other people based on their financial status, racial status, or ethnicity. And number two — when it comes to judging others — I briefly touched on this, but judging others is also a way of demeaning and belittling others. And when we judge others, this is a sign of تَكَبُّر in our heart.

Closing Du'a

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the ability to stay away from arrogance. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala clean our hearts. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the ability that whenever we do anything, we do it solely for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And may Allah give us the ability to act upon everything that has been said and everything that has been heard.

I do understand that when I give these kinds of khutbahs, I only talk about what arrogance is — what consists of arrogance. But inshallah, we will be coming in future khutbahs to: what can we do to stay away from arrogance? What can we do to stay away from the traps of Shaytan? I promise, inshallah, we will come to those khutbahs also.