Author: Mohajer Azizi
Personable Muslim (17th part)
Reasons for selfishness and arrogance
1. Sometimes a person becomes arrogant and selfish because of the knowledge he has, and he thinks that only he knows everything and is superior to others. Some people are so weak that when they read a few chapters of science, they consider themselves Great and others small; Rather, they look down on others and expect respect, service, humility, and respect from everyone; While real scientists see themselves as more ignorant as their knowledge increases; because they see themselves in front of a huge ocean of which they only have a few drops; Because of the amount of knowledge they have acquired, they see their responsibility heavier and their fear increases as they said: “Whoever increases his knowledge, his fear and humility increase.”
2. Sometimes possessions and wealth make a person proud and arrogant; he gives himself the right to do everything and considers others to be inferior and engages in corruption and evil deeds; While the property is a trust from Allah and was given to test the servants.
3. And sometimes lineage and ethnicity cause selfishness and pride in some people; While lineage and race are for identifying, and the reason for human privilege and superiority is said to be piety; As the Lord of the Universe says: «إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ»; (The best of you in the eyes of Allah is the most pious of you).
4. Performing good deeds and worshiping cause selfishness and pride in some good people and worshipers; Because of this way, they consider themselves superior to others and expect people to rush to meet them, show special respect for them in gatherings, and talk about their charity, asceticism, and piety, as if they consider their worship to be grace to others. They consider themselves to be the people of salvation and other people to be the people of destruction, and this causes them to give an extraordinary privilege to themselves and brag about others openly and secretly.
Therefore, a noble and personable person will never suffer from selfishness and pride; because they realize its corruptions and know that pride is a rare phenomenon that, if it enters the human body, corrupts their personality and essence; As they say: “People with honor; Even if they reach a great position, they won’t be proud of their success; Like a mountain that doesn’t move due to the winds, and the lowly people, with the lowest status, become arrogant because of the intensity of success; Like a plant that is moved by the passing of the breeze.
