The Almighty Allah takes a humble person up the more he bends lower and lower

It needs great humility to overcome hubris. Yes, it is humility that brings a person out from the dungeons of darkness to the lofty peaks of light. If I am not mistaken, I guess arrogance is probably the main thing nowadays that is destroying families, relationships, and virtues. Perfection is not you raising your head high while leading prayers, or having a nice career or a palatial house. Perfection is when despite having each and everything, you still lower yourself to the ground and don’t elevate yourself above others. Perfection is when you are able to swallow your pride. Arrogance led Satan to destruction when he refused to abide by Allah’s wish of prostrating before Adam. As the human intellect advances towards perfection, it starts swallowing pride and cultivates the best attribute of humility.
It is only humbleness that leads us towards greatness. Pride inevitably hath a fall. Being good human beings we all must bring humility in our lives so that we overcome hubris. Humility is a virtuous trait that every Muslim should strive to attain.
Allah loves humility. The glorious Quran makes it clear for us. “And the servants of (Allah) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, “peace!” (Furqan). Let us take an example of Salah: when a real believer bows down the forehead to the earth, that is a symbol of humility. He realises in every Salah, I am down to dust; I am nothing and Allah is everything. Humility is the foremost and highest sign of real greatness, while absence of humility can lead us to fatal destruction.
We cannot overcome excessive pride by asserting our superiority over others or by spending our entire lives feeding our ego. We can overcome arrogance by cultivating equanimity and love for others. I will share my own experience. I was born in the ’90s and have seen both college and university life, but to be honest with you, I have found the untaught ones far better than those scholars who are the victim of this disease. Mostly, the so-called educated compare themselves with others, be it in terms of education, social standing, health, beauty, physical attributes or other aspects. As the poet puts it beautifully:

Mat kar khaak kay putlay pay guroor o bayniyaze itni
Khud ko khudi mai jhaank kar dekh tujh mai rakha kya hai

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Anyone who possesses a speck of pride in his heart will not enter paradise” (Bukhari). This means Allah loves those who bring humbleness in their dealings. To respect and honour is a sublime virtue. Pride is such a disease that it attacks even our pulpit holders and sometimes our PhD holders too. Human personality has its own beauty and that beauty does not come by wearing precious ornaments. The Almighty Allah takes a humble person up the more he bends lower and lower. He does not find someone of less importance just because he does not have many degrees. A young poet of our valley, Rumuz Bekhudi, puts it very beautifully:

“Ilm tou shaitaan kay paas be tha,
Inkaar e sajda say pehlay”

A humble person does not look at others with scorn. There exists a medicine for pride and that medicine is humility. Let us pledge from today to bring humbleness in our dealings and see for ourselves how Allah exalts and makes us great in the eyes of others.

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Rubaiya Rasool