I say, and with God's success: Arrogance is one of the most common psychological diseases, and hardly anyone escapes from it except those whom God has mercy upon. The share of people in it varies; some have a large share, while others have a lesser share. Each of us must strive to purify ourselves from it and to adorn ourselves with humility. We will discuss all of this below, and we will focus on those who have made arrogance a way of life that they nurture, believing it to be the true religion. Arrogance is counted among the major sins, as mentioned by Ibn Hajar in "Al-Zawajir" (1: 169) due to the many verses that condemn arrogance and prohibit it, including His saying: {Indeed, He does not like the arrogant} (An-Nahl: 23), and His saying: {Indeed, those who are arrogant towards My worship will enter Hell, disgraced} (Ghafir: 60), meaning humiliated. Arrogance is a name derived from arrogance, and arrogance and pride mean greatness. Ibn Al-Qutiyya said: Arrogance is a name derived from the greatness of the matter, and the sin is great if it is magnified. Arrogance is greatness, and pride is similar to it, as in "Al-Misbah" (p. 523-524). Arrogance can be either internal: which is a trait in the soul, and the name of arrogance is more appropriate in this sense, or external: which is actions that come from the limbs, and these are the fruits of that trait. When they appear, it is said that he is arrogant, and when they do not appear, it is said that he has arrogance within himself. The essence is the trait of the soul, which is the comfort and inclination to see oneself above the one who is being looked down upon, as mentioned in "Al-Zawajir" (1: 188). The arrogant person is one who sees himself above others in attributes of perfection; thus, he becomes arrogant. It is not enough for him to think highly of himself to be considered arrogant, as he may think highly of himself but sees others as greater or equal to himself, so he does not become arrogant towards them. It is also not enough for him to belittle others; for with that, if he sees himself as lesser, he will not be arrogant. If he sees others as equal to himself, he will not be arrogant. Rather, he should see a rank for himself and a rank for others, and then see his rank above that of others. When these three beliefs are present, the trait of arrogance manifests in him... This belief inflates him, causing a sense of pride, a thrill, joy, and reliance on what he believes and the honor he feels because of it. That pride, thrill, and reliance on this trait is arrogance... Thus, arrogance is the state that arises in the soul from these beliefs, and it is also called pride and greatness... This pride necessitates actions in both the apparent and hidden realms, which are the fruits of it, and this is called arrogance. For whenever his worth seems great compared to others, he belittles those beneath him, scorns them, distances them from himself, and elevates himself above associating with them or sharing meals with them... The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Arrogance is rejecting the truth and belittling people" in "Al-Mustadrak" (1: 78), and it was authenticated in "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (12: 280). This is arrogance, and its harm is great, and its danger is immense. In it, the elite among creation perish, and rarely do the worshippers, ascetics, and scholars escape it, let alone the common people. How can its harm not be great when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "No one will enter Paradise who has an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart, and no one will enter the Fire who has an atom's weight of faith in his heart" in "Sunan Al-Tirmidhi" (4: 360), and he said it is good and authentic, and in "Sahih Muslim" (1: 93). It has become a veil preventing entry to Paradise because it obstructs the servant from all the morals of the believers, and those morals are the gates of Paradise. Arrogance and pride close all those gates because he cannot love for the believers what he loves for himself while having any sense of honor. He cannot be humble, which is the essence of the morals of the pious, while having pride. He cannot abandon hatred while having pride. He cannot remain truthful while having pride. He cannot abandon anger while having pride. He cannot suppress his rage while having pride. He cannot abandon envy while having pride. He cannot give gentle advice while having pride. He cannot accept advice while having pride. He cannot escape belittling people and backbiting them while having pride. There is no point in prolonging this discussion; for there is no despicable trait except that the one with pride and arrogance is compelled to it to preserve his pride, and there is no praiseworthy trait except that he is incapable of it for fear of losing his pride. For this reason, no one will enter Paradise who has an atom's weight of it in his heart, as mentioned in "Al-Ihya" (3: 363). Arrogance, pride, and haughtiness are closely related; for arrogance is a state that a person possesses due to his admiration for himself and seeing himself as greater than others. The greatest arrogance is the arrogance towards God by refusing to accept the truth. Haughtiness has two forms: one is that a person seeks to be great, which is praiseworthy when it is in what is required, in the right place, and at the right time. The second is that he pretends to show something that he does not possess, and this is the blameworthy form. This is what the Quran refers to when it says: {Except for Iblis; he refused and was arrogant} (Al-Baqarah: 34). As for arrogance, it has two forms: one is that good deeds are truly great and exceed the merits of others, and this is in His saying: {The Almighty, the Compeller, the Proud} (Al-Hashr: 23). The second is that one is pretentious and shows off, which is common among people, as in His saying: {Thus does Allah seal the heart of every arrogant tyrant} (Ghafir: 35). Anyone described with arrogance in the first sense is praiseworthy, while in the second, it is blameworthy. The validity of a person's description with it is indicated by His saying: {I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant in the land without right} (Al-A'raf: 146). To be arrogant towards the arrogant is an act of charity. Pride is the elevation above submission, and it is only deserved by God. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Pride is My cloak, and greatness is My garment. Whoever disputes with Me over one of them, I will cast him into the Fire" in "Sunan Abu Dawood" (2: 456), "Sunan Ibn Majah" (2: 1397), and "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (2: 36), as mentioned in "Taj Al-Arous" (p. 3439). The cause of arrogance: From the above, it becomes clear that the driving force behind arrogance is the belief in one's superiority over others due to knowledge, deeds, lineage, wealth, beauty, status, strength, or the number of followers, as mentioned in "Al-Zawajir" (1: 82). Therefore, Al-Ghazali said in "Al-Ihya" (3: 367): Know that no one becomes arrogant except when he magnifies himself, and he does not magnify himself except when he believes he possesses a trait of perfection. All of this boils down to religious or worldly perfection; the religious being knowledge and action, and the worldly being lineage, beauty, strength, wealth, and a multitude of supporters. Treatment of arrogance: From examining the causes of arrogance, it appears that it is an acquired trait, as evidenced by his saying (peace be upon him): "A man continues to be arrogant and elevates himself until he is recorded among the tyrants, and he will suffer what they suffered" in "Sunan Al-Tirmidhi" (4: 362), which was graded as good, and in "Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabir" (7: 21). A person must not acquire it and must rid himself of it if it appears in him, for arrogance is one of the destructive traits, and no one among creation is free from some of it. Its removal is an individual obligation, and it does not disappear merely by wishing for it, but through treatment and the use of remedies that suppress it. Among these are: 1. Eradicating its root and uprooting its tree from its planting in the heart, which has two paths: A. Theoretical: By knowing oneself and knowing one’s Lord, and this suffices in removing arrogance. For whenever he knows himself truly, he realizes that he is more humble than every humble person and lesser than every little thing, and that humility and servitude are the only things befitting him. And when he knows his Lord, he realizes that greatness and pride are only befitting to God... The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "No one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah raises him" in "Sahih Muslim" (4: 2001), and he said: "Whoever humbles himself for Allah by a degree, Allah will raise him by a degree, and whoever is arrogant towards Allah by a degree, Allah will lower him by a degree, until He places him at the lowest of the low" in "Sunan Ibn Majah" (2: 1398) and "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (12: 491). B. Practical: It is to humble oneself before Allah in action and to all other creation by adhering to the morals of the humble, as was the case with the Prophet (peace be upon him), to the extent that he would eat on the ground and say: "I eat as a servant eats, and I sit as a servant sits" in "Musnad Abu Ya'la" (8: 318), "Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabir" (8: 200), and "Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah" (7: 87), and as was the case with the righteous and ascetics... He should read extensively and adhere to it in his life. 2. Repelling the causes of arrogance by the means through which a person becomes arrogant towards others, as previously mentioned. He should remember that true perfection is knowledge and action; as for anything else that perishes with death, it is an illusory perfection... as mentioned in "Al-Ihya" (3: 377-380). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble so that no one may boast over another nor oppress another" in "Sahih Muslim" (4: 2198). He should know that these causes of arrogance are merely from the grace and blessings of Allah upon him, so why should he be arrogant? For the influence belongs to the One who created them and bestowed them. He should not admire anything except what Allah has granted him and favored him with, without any prior merit from him for that, as mentioned in "Al-Zawajir" (1: 188). As long as all goodness and virtue come from Allah, no human should be arrogant towards anyone. This has been affirmed by the Quran in what has been mentioned earlier, and it has prohibited it with the strongest prohibitions and threatened it with the severest punishments. Thus, various hadiths have been narrated regarding this, including those mentioned and those not mentioned, until the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) described the arrogant on the Day of Judgment, saying: "The arrogant will be gathered on the Day of Judgment like ants in the form of men, covered with humiliation from every direction, and they will be driven to a prison in Hell called: Bulis, with flames of fire above them, and they will be given to drink from the pus of the people of Hell, the clay of the damned" in "Sunan Al-Tirmidhi" (4: 655), and it was authenticated, and in "Al-Adab Al-Mufrad" (2: 328). In what we have extracted from the words of the great scholars like Al-Ghazali, Ibn Hajar, and Al-Zubaidi about arrogance, its states, descriptions, causes, and treatments is sufficient for the discerning among our contemporaries, especially those who work in the field of Da'wah and belong to parties and groups they identify with and learn through. For one of the most prominent characteristics that distinguishes them in their conduct is their arrogance over others and the glorification of themselves, their deeds, and their conduct. Thus, knowledge that does not increase its possessor in humility is of no benefit, and action that does not increase its possessor in humility is of no benefit. The one who memorizes the Quran should be among the most humble of people if he is knowledgeable and acts upon what he has memorized. However, when he does not learn the meaning of what he memorizes and does not act upon it, his memorization increases him in arrogance and superiority over others. Similarly, one who works in Da'wah for the sake of Allah should know the reality of Allah's religion to be able to call to it correctly, and this can only be achieved by studying under the righteous scholars, not from pamphlets, booklets, and magazines; for knowledge, if it is devoid of education, lacks its fruit, which is action. The path to this is through gatherings and studying with the people of goodness and virtue who have devoted their lives to knowledge. Thus, this despicable trait that the believers have been afflicted with has no way for them to rid themselves of it except by adhering to the way of the people of the Sunnah in knowledge and action, studying according to their well-known methodology, and adhering to their curricula. What has sufficed our nation in its rich history should suffice us, and following in their footsteps is the only option because their path is the path of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets" in "Sahih Ibn Hibban" (1: 289), "Sunan Al-Tirmidhi" (5: 48), and "Sunan Abu Dawood" (3: 317). This is what Allah has commanded us with: {Indeed, there has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and who remembers Allah often} (Al-Ahzab: 21). And Allah knows best.