Thinking one is greater than others, being Iblis....

I was intrigued by an arabic poem on Dr Maszlee's wall. Here is the first paragraph of it...

"وأخي هارون هو أفصح مني"
الاعتراف بمزايا الآخرين من مزايا الأنبياء...
وإنكارها من مزايا الشيطان
"قال أنا خير منه"

"And my brother Haroon, he is more fluent than me",
acknowledging the ability of others is from the characteristics of pophets,
while denying them is from the characteristics of Syaiton,
"He said: I am better than him(Adam)!"

These words have a very deep meaning, that we should reflect upon.

The first sentence is a verse from surah al-Qasas. The context: Allah tells Musa to go to Fir'aun but he, realizing his weakness in articulation, asks for Harun to be allowed to follow him, for Harun was more fluent in speech.


"And my brother Hârûn he is more eloquent in speech than me: so send him with me as a helper to confirm me. Verily! I fear that they will belie me." al-Qasas (28) verse 34.

Thus is the virtue of the prophets, humility, which makes them realize their shortcomings whilst acknowledging and benefiting from the capabilities of others, even if those 'others' are of a lower status (Musa was the main prophet of the Children of Israil, whilst Harun, also a prophet, was of a lower rank). We all have our own strengths which we can use to benefit others, and weaknesses which we must realize so as to remain humble. Allah created us to complement one another. Nobody is able to everything, coz nobody is pefect, for perfection belongs to Allah alone!

As for Iblis:


"Iblis said: "i am better than he, You created me from fire, and You created him from clay." Sad (38):76

Thus is the attitude of Iblis and his followers: the racists, the nazis,  the social darwinists, who think themselves to be superioir than others, whose arrogance is cursed by Allah and all of creation. The prophet of mercy SAW said,

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” Someone said, “But a man loves to have beautiful clothes and shoes.” The Prophet said, “Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”
Source: Sahih Muslim 91

[I included the 2nd part of the hadith so we we don't get the wrong idea about arrogance. Wearing beautiful clothes in itself is okay and in fact encouraged, unless it is accompanied with a feeling a pride to show off]

May Allah adorn us with the virtue of humility, so we may see the good in others and the weakness in ourselves, and may He protect us from the evil of arrogance, which destroys any good we have done, as it destroyed Iblis, who was disgraced, relegated to a cursed life from intially being among the ranks of the righteous angels. Ameen.