Pride

A proud person is a person who has stooped in lowliness. A person who is really noble cannot have this reprehensible behaviour. All righteous people whom this earth carried on its back, were humble people. There was no righteous person who had this disgusting and undesirable character. And never in the future also, will there be a righteous person who will have this character.

Moreover, in the presence of this bad character, a person cannot become righteous even if he seems to be very good.

How can a person claim to be good despite having this bad character when this will prevent him from entering Jannah?

In a Hadith, Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) said that a person who has pride in his heart equivalent to a mustard seed will not enter Jannah. This suffices to show its gravity.

In the Qur'aan-e-Karim, Allah Ta'ala said:

"That other world (Aakhirah), We will assign it for those who do not desire pomp nor corruption on earth. And the final outcome will be for those who have Taqwa." (S28/V83)

Excessive anger, vexation from time to time for mundane/banal things, jealousy, selfishness, twisting words to justify oneself  in order to camouflage facts, reluctance to accept a mistake that was committed, refusal to accept the truth so as not to lose face, pretending to know better than others, all these emanates from pride. This requires a treatment for a considerable period of time under the guidance of a spiritual guide. Without a spiritual guide, it is practically impossible to get rid of this and it is very hard to be cured of this disease. Righteous people also do not take this into consideration but yet it is extremely necessary. Without getting rid of this, people do not become human even though they may seem to be human. This degrades people to a level below that of human.

[English version of "L’orgueil" – Al Jamiat – Vol.6 No.3]