Taipei Grand Mosque

2024/05/03 主麻講稿 (Abdullah Cheng)

Dear brothers and sisters,

One of the wisdom in the Qur’an is that whenever Allah (SWT) mentions something good, He also mentions the bad. Whenever He mentions about the people of Paradise, He also mentions about the people of Hellfire. As Muslims who are trying to strive for the best, we should use these positive descriptions about Jannah to motivate ourselves to do more good deeds. However, we should also not neglect the punishments of the Hellfire. Allah didn’t mention these punishments only for the disbelievers, but also for us to remind us and warn us to not go near the boundaries and limits that Allah has set for us.

Allah mentions many different kinds of sins in the Qur’an and how serious they are, and we should never think that we are far away from these sins and that only non-Muslims are the ones committing these types of sins.

The very first sin ever recorded in our history, is the sin of Iblees. This is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah:

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ

When Allah said to the angels to prostrate before Adam, all of them did, except Iblis, he refused and acted arrogantly, becoming unfaithful. [2:34]

So the sin of arrogance should not be taken lightly, because it can cause someone to Hellfire. Allah also mentions in the Qur’an:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ

Those who are too proud to worship Allah will enter Hell in a fully humiliated manner. [40:60]

Iblees was not someone who didn’t believe in Allah. He knows the truth and he knows that Allah is his Lord. But he refused to accept the truth because he thinks that he is better than Adam. Someone who thinks that he is better than other people, that is the person of the Hellfire.

Even if we think that we are praying more, we are giving more charity, we are given more blessings, it doesn’t give us the right to say that we are better than anyone, because we have no idea about our own fate, and we also don’t have any idea about other people’s fate. We can instead be thankful, be grateful, that Allah has guided me, that Allah has allowed me to perform good deeds and prevented me from committing bad deeds, but never say that I am better than that person.

The feeling of arrogance and pride is something very common among human beings. So that is one of the reasons why Allah mentioned it to warn us. As Muslims we might think that we are already Muslims, I already believe in Allah, so why should I still be concerned with Kufr and disbelief? The fact of the matter is, even if someone knows the truth, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he would accept the truth.

One of the dangers of arrogance is that anyone can fall into it. A leader who is respected by his people, a teacher who is beloved by his students, a person praised by others, a person who is giving advice to another person, whenever we get the feeling of being exceptional and special, that is a moment we should be careful about and ask ourselves: Am I being arrogant? Do I feel more superior than others?

The Prophet (SAW) said: “Anyone with an atom weight of pride in his heart, he shall not enter Jannah.” Anyone who is arrogant cannot be in Paradise.

And the Prophet (SAW) also clarified what exactly is arrogance. Someone came to the Prophet (SAW) and told him: “Ya Rasulallah, I like to wear good clothes and good shoes. Is this arrogance?” The Prophet (SAW) replied: “No, Allah loves beauty. Arrogance is to reject the truth and look down upon other people.” (At-Tirmidhi 1999)

For example, when you have an opinion about a certain issue and you think it’s the correct position, and later it’s proven to be wrong, but because you already expressed your opinion earlier and you don’t want to look embarrassed and ignorant, so you refuse to accept the truth. This is a type of arrogance that the Prophet (SAW) warned us about. When the truth is in front of us, it doesn’t matter if it’s about the rulings in Islam or knowledge of this Dunya, we should humbly accept whatever truth comes to us.

We also don’t have the right to look down on other people. Allah reminds us in the Qur’an multiple times about how weak and little we are:

هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَـٰنِ حِينٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْـًۭٔا مَّذْكُورًا

Isn’t there a period of time when every human is nothing even worth mentioning? [76:1]

All of us came from just a drop of liquid not even worth talking about with our tongue, so who are we to act proud and arrogantly against not just human beings, but even animals and objects?

Simply acting upon the rules set by Allah, praying, reading the Qur’an, giving charity, without also implementing the spirit of it, is not complete. When we bow down and put our heads down on the ground during prayer, it should make us humble and remind us how weak and powerless we are in front of Allah.

Humbleness is the medicine against arrogance, and we can see that clearly from our beloved Prophet (SAW). We know that if the Prophet (SAW) passed by the Sahaba when they are sitting, they wouldn’t stand up because the Prophet (SAW) doesn’t like it, even though he deserves more respect than anyone else.

The Prophet (SAW) also used to help with house chores. He would fix his own shoes and clothes by himself. Even though these are duties of the women, he didn’t just leave everything to them.

Before the Battle of Khandaq, when everyone was busy digging the trench, the Prophet himself also participated in digging.

Once during the Battle of Tabuk, a Sahabi by the name of Abdullah Dhu al-Bijadayn passed away in the middle of the night, and the Prophet (SAW) was digging the grave with Abu Bakr and Umar for this Sahabi when everybody was asleep. We don’t have much information about this Sahabi, but this shows us how much love the Prophet has for his companions, and it also shows what a humble leader he was when he was helping with the burial himself when he is the Messenger of Allah and the leader of a huge army.

When the Prophet (SAW) conquered Makkah, all the people of Quraysh came out to see him. The Prophet (SAW) was sitting on his camel and walking around the Kaaba, his head was lowered down and his face was almost touching the camel. After the Prophet (SAW) destroyed the idols, we all know that he will forgive his people, but he didn’t just say “You are forgiven”, but instead he asked them: “What do you think I will do to you?” مَا تَقُولُونَ وَمَا تَظُنُّونَ

And they replied: “We expect nothing but goodness from you”

Then the Prophet (SAW) quoted from the Qur’an:

لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ يَغْفِرُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

There is no blame upon you today. Allah will forgive you, for He is the most Merciful of the Merciful.

How can we imagine a new ruler conquering a land or nation today and displaying this level of humility?

There are endless examples from our Prophet (SAW) that we can learn from to achieve humility. May Allah allow us to follow the footsteps and teachings of the Prophet (SAW). May Allah purify our hearts and let go of the arrogance in our hearts. May Allah grant us humility and cause us to be humble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtYjNEUdnf4