Pride in one's abilities is a positive is a sign of positivity if accompanied by humility. But if one's pride turns into vanity, such men tend to be arrogant. There is o dearth of arrogant people around us for when we are blessed with a special status, a better thinking mind, we tend to attribute this to our own abilities and forget the simple truth that all blessings are from Allah and if Allah does not will, blessings can be far away.
We share today the 18th verse from Surah 31 Luqman in which Luqman, a wise man of times, is mentioned advising his son to show humility and be always thankful to Allah for whatever blessing is bestowed upon us. Even in trying times, we should not be lamenting for life is nothing but a stage set for tests for mankind. Those who re steadfast and are always thankful on the good and bad days of their lives are the blessed ones. But those who are thankless are the ones who fall into the category of arrogance. These are the ones who fall one day and a what a bloody fall would that be.
وَلَا تُصَعِّرۡ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمۡشِ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ مَرَحًا ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخۡتَالٍ فَخُوۡرٍۚ
(31:18) Do not (contemptuously) turn your face away from people, nor tread haughtily upon earth. Allah does not love the arrogant and the vainglorious.
Mukhtal in the original implies a person who has an over-high opinion of himself, and fakhur is the one who boasts of his superiority over others. A man becomes haughty and arrogant and vain in his gait only when he is puffed up with pride, and wants that others should feel his superiority.
According to some commentators it means this: 'Walk neither fast nor slow but at a moderate pace:" but the context shows that here the pace or the rate of walking is not the question. There is nothing morally wrong with a fast or a slow pace in itself, nor can there be a rule made for it. When a man is in a hurry. he has to walk fast, and there is nothing wrong if one walks slow when walking for pleasure. Even if there is a standard for the moderate pace, it cannot be made a law for every person at all times. What is actually meant by this is to reform the state of the self under which a person walks haughtily. The haughtiness and arrogance of a person inevitably manifests itself in his gait and style of walking, which shows the state of his mind and also the cause of his pride and haughtiness. Wealth, authority, beauty. knowledge, power and such other things cause a man to became proud and vain, and each of these gives him a special style of gait. Contrary to this, manifestation of humility in the gait is also the result of one or the other morbid mental state. Sometimes the hidden conceit of the self of a man takes on the form of ostentatious humility, piety and godliness and this is shown by his gait; and sometimes man really feels so embittered by the frustrations of the world that he adopts a sick man's gait. What Luqman means to say is this: "Avoid these states of the mind and self and walk the gait of a simple, honest and noble person, which neither shows any vanity and haughtiness nor weakness nor ostentatious piety and humility."
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(And turn not your face away from men with pride) means, `do not turn your face away from people when you speak to them or they speak to you, looking down on them in an arrogant fashion. Rather be gentle towards them and greet them with a cheerful face,' as it says in the Hadith:
(... even if it is only by greeting your brother with a cheerful countenance. And beware of letting your lower garment trail below your ankles, for this is a kind of boasting, and Allah does not like boasting.)
(nor walk in insolence through the earth.) means, `do not be boastful, arrogant, proud and stubborn. Do not do that, for Allah will hate you.' So, he said: (Verily, Allah likes not any arrogant boasters.) meaning, one who shows off and admires himself, feeling that he is better than others.
And Allah says: (And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can neither rend nor penetrate the earth nor can you attain a stature like the mountains in height.) (17:37).
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
( "And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster. ) The word "cheek" in English, too, means arrogance or effrontery, with a slightly different shade added, viz.: effrontery from one in an inferior position to one in a superior position. The Arabic usage is wider, and includes smug self-satisfaction and a sense of lofty Superiority.
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
Luqmān goes on to speak about the manners that should be characteristic of advocates who call on people to adopt the divine faith. Such advocacy of what is good does not permit behaving arrogantly towards people under the pretext of leading them to what is of benefit. Needless to say, arrogant behaviour that is not accompanied by the advocacy of goodness is even worse and more abominable.
In drawing this image of arrogance, the sūrah uses the Arabic term tuşa’ir which is translated here as ‘turn your cheek away’. This term is derived from the disease şa’ar which affects camels causing them to involuntarily turn their necks sideways. The sūrah chooses this term in order to describe the repugnance of turning one’s cheek away from people in a gesture similar to what camels affected by this disease do. Walking haughtily is another type of behaviour suggesting carelessness about people and their feelings. This is again a gesture that is disliked by God and man. It is a sign of a sick mind and a self-centred person: “God does not love anyone who is arrogant, boastful.”
Please listen to explanation of the ayat by eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan:
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Yusuf Ali Translation
- Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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