Banish Pride

Banish Pride

1989 12 December 8-9 Banish Pride (649) It was Friday, May 5, 1989. I went into a large mosque in Delhi to say my Friday prayers. There, before the sermon, the Imam (the leader of the prayers) made a fiery speech which lasted about twenty minutes. His main point was that “we must be proud, for we are believers in one God.”

This statement is but an echo of present-day Muslim sentiments. The Muslims of today, especially their leaders, are no different in their psychology from this Imam who worked himself up to such heights of eloquence on the subject of Islam as a “thing of pride.” But surely this is a deviation from true Islamic thinking–a deviation, moreover, which is the real root of all Muslim shortcomings. Muslims do not realize it, but this is what has deprived them of God’s blessings in modern times. This is why, when large-scale movements are launched by Muslims, they do not achieve anything positive, but contribute rather to their own downfall.

Let us take the example of a group of people walking along a path which they believe to be perfectly safe. They walk along, unmindful of unforeseen perils. Then, all of a sudden, one of them catches a glimpse of a lion standing by the wayside. It is as real and alive as the bushes which surround it. At that moment what words will spring to the observer’s lips? Will he say, for example, “We must feel proud of standing before a real, live lion…….”?

Surely not. At the sight of a lion, one is not so much proud as awestruck. Naturally, anything which is awesome will awaken feelings, not of pride, but of humility. The same is true of God – the Creator of the lion – although on a much grander scale. God is a Being – the mightiest, the most powerful – who stands above all else. The conviction that such a Being exists will produce a sense of humility and modesty rather than a feeling of pride.

The Quran is man’s introduction to God, for the whole Quran is full of God’s Being. Here are a few verses which illustrate this:

Allah: there is no god but Him, the Living, the Eternal One. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. He is what the heavens and the earth contain. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows all about the affairs of men at the present and in the future. They can grasp only that part of His knowledge which He wills. His throne is as vast as the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not weary Him. He is the Exalted, the Immense One (2: 255).

Have fear of Allah and end your disputes. Obey Allah and His Apostle, if you are true believers. The true believers are those whose hearts are filled with awe at the mention of Allah, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelations. They are those who put their trust in their Lord (8: 1-2).

Throughout the entire Quran, there are many such verse, introducing God, which leave their readers trembling; the whole being of man is shaken by God’s grandeur. At many places the Quran tells us that those who believe in God have their hearts filled with awe whenever they remember their Creator. The hair on their bodies stands on end at the very mention of His name. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that there is no verse in the Quran which says that believers must be proud of God.

The truth is that many of those who profess belief in God are actually strangers to belief in the real sense of the word. Were they true believers, the very thought of God would make them feel humble and modest. When speaking of God they would display no pride or arrogance, but go in fear and trembling.