No one likes arrogance, but few see it in themselves.

No one likes arrogance, but few see it in themselves. Arrogance is seeing oneself better than others, be it because of power, lineage, money, colour or any other attribute. The Quran denounces those who are boastful and arrogant, declaring that people of taqwa, abstinence from all harmful deeds, are the noblest people. It is easy to fool people with outward behaviour, but ultimately it is the inner state that matters with God.

Arrogant tyrants like Pharaoh are amongst the most villainous of rulers in world history. Justice follows vice, and those who are patient, grateful, humble and sincere are rewarded by God while the arrogant are doomed to suffer both in this world and the Hereafter. There are different kinds of arrogance; the first type is when a person thinks himself superior to others. The second kind is when a person shows contempt for others. The third form is when one believes that he is born of superior lineage. Other forms of arrogance can be due to one’s beauty, wealth, strength, power or knowledge.

Historically, one of biggest social evils in history has been racism and the caste system based on the belief of a higher birth rank. The Quran denounces such false claims of superiority, proclaiming that the only rank that matters is one’s relationship with God. “Indeed the most honourable of you in the sight of God is the most God fearing of you. God is all knowing and all aware”.

Sadia Dehlvi in Deccan Chronicle. Here