Pride, the Silent Killer

Bismillaah.

May Allaah cleanse our hearts and give us all refuge from pride and arrogance, ameen.

Indeed It is the source of all evil.  It is the reason for shaytan being expelled from Paradise.  It is a cause for Allaah’s anger.

It infests a person’s heart slowly, killing the light of all that is good in the heart, until the heart becomes dead, lifeless.

It prevents a person from the honor of doing a variety of good deeds and consequently growing closer to Allaah, and receiving His pleasure and mercy.  It leads away from Paradise and straight to hellfire.

Abdullaah bin Masud (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported:  The Prophet – sall Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – said:

“He who has in his heart an ant’s weight of pride or arrogance will not enter paradise.”

Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet said,

“There was a dispute between Hell and Paradise, and Hell said, ‘The haughty and proud are in me.’  Paradise said, ‘In me are the weak and humble.’” (Muslim)

Salamah bin al-Akwa (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported: Allaah’s Messenger said,

“Mankind continues to display haughtiness and arrogance until he is recorded among the arrogant and will be therefore afflicted with what afflicts them.” (Tirmidhi)

The opposite of pride is humility, or humbling oneself.  Ibn al-Qayyim says:

Humility comes from knowing about Allaah and His names and attributes, and His greatness, venerating Him, loving Him and being in awe of Him; and also from knowing about oneself and one’s faults, and weaknesses. From that may develop the attitude of humility, which means feeling helpless before Allaah, and being humble and compassionate towards His slaves, so that the person does not feel superior towards anyone, or think that he has any rights over anyone else; rather he thinks that others are better than him, and that their rights come before his. This is a characteristic that Allaah gives to those whom He loves, honours and draws close to Him.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Wealth does not decrease because of charity, and Allaah increases His slave in honour when he forgives others. And no one humbles himself before Allaah but Allaah will raise him (in status).”

Narrated by Muslim, 2588.  Imam al-Nawawi included it in a chapter entitled: “The recommendation of forgiveness and humility.”

Al-Nawawi said:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “And no one humbles himself before Allaah but Allaah will raise him (in status).” This is understood in two ways: the first is that He will raise him (in status) in this world, and give him status in people’s hearts because of his humility, and give him a high status in people’s eyes. The second is that what is meant is his reward in the Hereafter, where his status will be raised because of his humility in this world.

The scholars said: It may be that both are meant, (and that his status will be raised) both in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allaah knows best.

May Allaah erase pride and arrogance from the hearts of the muslims, and increase us in humility, ameen.

10 Words of Advice from Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim

***UPDATE July 30***:  I actually forgot to tag other people, so I’m tagging: Umm Adam, Asiyasmom, and Tru3woman.

Go ahead ladies, tell us a few things about yourself…let us know where ya been at and how ya been !

Bismillaah.

I was tagged to do the “Honest Scrap” list, but to be honest, after Facebook’s infamous “25 things”, I couldn’t bring myself to make another list of boring blah blah blah about myself.  So, I decided instead to do something more beneficial.

These words of wisdom and advice are taken from the book Al-Fawa’id – a treatise, written by Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, “consisting of the landmarks of guidance, light and the firebrands of piety…focusing on the role and duty of the heart…” (from Translator’s Note)  I pray we are all able to benefit from his words.

10 Words of Advice from Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim:

1) Allaah promised you the pleasures of the Hereafter, so do not be in a hurry and seek them in this worldly life as if you are cutting plants before their harvest time, while they are much better if you wait.  Likewise, the pleasures of the Hereafter are so much better.

2) Buy for yourself (through doing good deeds) while there is still a market and you have the ability to buy.

3) Everyone will pass through times of sleep and neglect (following his desires), but do not sink into sleep as the morning of the Hereafter is close at hand.

4) Get yourself out of this limited world of diseases to the wide world of the Hereafter, which has what the eyes have never seen.  Nothing is impossible there, and love is not lost.  O you who sold yourself for the sake of something that will cause you suffering and pain, and which will also lose its beauty, you sold the most precious item for the cheapest price, as if you neither knew the value of the goods nor the meanness of the price.  Wait until you come to a Day of Mutual Loss and Gain, and you will discover the injustice of this contract.  “There is nothing worthy of worship except Allaah” is something that Allaah is buying.  Its price is Paradise, and the Messenger – peace be upon him – is its agent, and you will be pleased to part with a small part of this worldly life to obtain it.  The part you lose is a small part of something that as a whole is not worth a mosquito’s wing.

5) The human being was honored with blessings of faith and good health, but he misused them, so they were justly taken away from him.

6) Do not feel weary of standing by His (Allaah’s) door, even if you are driven away, and never stop asking His forgiveness even if you feel it is rejected.  When the door is opened for the accepted ones, do not miss the chance and rush therein, intruding, and stretch forth your hands saying

“Be charitable with us.” (Qur’an, 12:88)

7) Be the son of the Hereafter, and do not be the son of this worldly life, for verily, the son follows his mother.

8] To Allaah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, yet He asks a loan from  you (to give in charity) but you are stingy.  He created the seven seas, but He loved a tear from you (out of fear of Him) but your eyes were tearless.

9) Whoever wants to purify his heart, must prefer Allaah over and above his own desires.

10) Your heart will be ruined from feeling secure and being careless adn will grow by remembering Allaah and being pious.

11) Longing for Allaah and the meeting with Him is like a breeze that blows through the heart and removes the blaze of this worldly life.

12) The heart gets sick as the body does and its cure is in asking for forgiveness and protection.  It also becomes rusty like a mirror does and it is polished by remembering Allaah.  The heart can also be naked like the body and can lose its dress and decoration, which is piety, and it can feel hungry and thirsty like the body does, and its nourishment is knowledge, love, trust, and offering service to Allaah.

13) Following ones desires and having extended hope is the core of evil.  Following ones desires blinds one from seeing what is right, and having extended hope makes one forget the Hereafter and prevents one from preparing for it.

As you can see I added an extra 3 points   I would have put the whole book up here if I could…all 350-something pages!  But I think for now this is enough.