Arrogance (kibr), as defined by Islam, refers to rejecting the truth or looking down on others. Allah said in Surat al-Qasas, Ayah 83:
تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا ۚ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
This verse means: [The abode (of happiness) in the Hereafter is forthsoe who do not perform with arrogace in this world and for those who do not carry out contraventions, and the success in the Hereafter is for those who are God-fearing.]
also in Surat Luqmqan, Ayah 18, Allah said:
وَلَا تُصَعِّرْ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ
This verse means: [Do not turn your fac away from others out of arrogance and do not walk with an arrogant strut and swagger because Allah does not love any arrogant person.
So, brothers and sisters: Know, may Allah endow His mercy on you, arrogance is a dispraised trait. Allah forbade this trait in the Qur’an as in the aforementioned verses. Moreover, in numerous hadiths the Prohet cited arrogance as a reason for problms confronting many people in this life, and also as a reason for one to face a major turture in the Hereafter. As related by Muslim, in the context of warning against arrogance (kibr), the Prohet said:
لا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ،
which means: <<He who has in his heart the equivalent of a grain-size of arrogance shall not be admitted to Paradise (i.e., among the first group.)>> That is, this person does not enter Paradise wtih the first batch of belivers, because of committing the enormous sin of arrogance (kibr). Rather, he enters it with the last batches.
In defining arrogance, Imam Muslim related the Prohet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said:
الْكِبْرُ بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ، وَغَمْطُ النَّاسِ
<<Arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on others.>> Rejecting the truth, that is, while knowing this ist he true thing, is an enormous sin, as is looking down on other Muslims. Both are enormous sins and both are included in the meaning of arrogance (kibr).
As related by al-/bukhariyy and Muslims, it was reported the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said:
ألا أخبركم بأهل النار، كل عُتُلٍّ جواظٍ مُستكبرٍ
which means: <<Let me tell you about the people of Hellfire. They are every hard-hearted, arrogant, and harsh person, pursuing collecting money and disregarding whether its source is lawful or not, and neglecting to pay what is due in it. From this hadith and other sayings of the Prophet, we understand that being arrogant is an enormous sin and arrogance is two types. The first one is refusing the truth and rejecting it because the speaker of truth is of a young age, of a lower social status, not an Arab, poor, weak, or the like The arrogant person would tell himself, “How can I accept the truth from this person who is only ten (10) years old, or who is poor and I am rich, or who is a beggar and I am a prince, or who is a servant in my house, or who is an employee in my company. This is arrogance (kibr)!!
In our daily lives, we see many such examples. One may find an old man who does not know how to make ablution (wudu’). He performs his ablution (wudu’) by leaving out one of its integrals or conditions, thus invalidating the ablution (wudu’) and his prayers. A twelve (12) year old child who has learned the religious knowledge from trustworthy knowledgeable teachers comes to this old man and tells him in a good and wise manner that he needs to perform the ablution (wudu’) correctly and shows him how to do it. The old man–out of arrogance–would reject the truth from that young boy because the boy is so much younger than he is. Others reject the truth, out of fear for their political status. Some reject the truth because they feel if they do not reject it, they might lose the power and the support of the people around them. Those are the people that the Prophet spoke about who deserve the torture in hellfire.
Among the very clear examples we see today in North America is the famous issue of the Qiblah. It is proven beyond doubt the correct Qiblah in North America is towards the southeast. Praise be to Allah, we, the Associaiton of Islamic Charitable Projects, initiated compilation of a book which included the sayings of the schoalrs, the methodologies of the scholars, the fatwas of Shaykh al-Azhar, and others among the scholars who are living today; all support5ing there is no doubt that hte direction of Qiblah in North America is southeast. Our brothers went out and visited many Muslims in different places advising them accordingly. However, although some confessed and admitted this was the truth–they rejected it– Why? They were afraid to lose the support of the people who support them; they were afraid to lose their power and prestige; they were afraid of the embarrassment. They forgot about the Day of Judgment—the time when those who rejected the truth out of arrogance shall be embarrassed in front of the entire creation.