Yasmin Mogahed – Avoiding Arrogance And Self-Righteousness

			Assalamu alaikum This is his head and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy
radio. Today, we are going to be talking about a topic which a lot of times we, we end up falling
into this trap. And begin before I talk about the trap itself, I want to talk about the idea of, you
know, basically taking that path and deciding, you know, you know, we get into our, in our, you
know, some point in our life, we decide, hopefully, that we want and some of us decide this that we
want to sort of devote ourselves to making, you know, to self development, we want to basically
focus on our, our, our building ourselves as Muslims building ourselves in our Deen. And what
		

			happens when we take this path, you know, this is the path of someone who decides, okay, now I'm
going to be more quote unquote, religious. And this is a path which we, we we want to seek This is a
path, we want to seek the path that will bring us closer to God and ultimately give us access in
this life in the next. But there's a very dangerous trap that happens, unfortunately, when we do and
tends to happen. And so I want to ensure the talk about that today, that this is a trap that happens
on this path to Allah subhanaw taala on this path of, I'm religious now, right, that path. And I
want to sort of as a side note, just mentioned that I drink a lot of coffee today. So
		

			I'm a little bit wired. But this, this topic is one that that, that we all take very, very
seriously. And the reason is this, when we start to take that path, what might end up happening, and
you'll you'll notice that this does happen, we might you might notice this in yourself. And
oftentimes notice it in other people who've who've started this path, as soon as a person starts to
become, quote, unquote, religious, unfortunately, what happens alongside is that they sometimes
start to become self righteous. And what I mean by self righteous is the person myself, yourself,
we, you know, we have to again, first and foremost look inside ourselves and see are these you know,
		

			are these qualities in me before we start pointing fingers at other people, but the problem here is
that I start to believe that Okay, um, you know, I'm now I'm starting to go to the masjid more, I'm
praying more, maybe I just started wearing hijab, I'm really starting to take this path. And here's
what ends up happening. And this is the trap, I start to look at my deeds, and I start to become
pleased with them. And when I do that, what I'm committing a very serious mistake. And that is that
I think that these deeds, these good deeds, are from myself, I think that it's because I am a holy
person, or I am a better person, I am a good person. And therefore, I am able to worship Allah
		

			subhanaw taala better than my neighbor is. The problem with this thinking is a couple of things. One
is it's completely flawed, I am able to worship Allah subhanaw taala, because Allah subhanaw taala
has allowed me the gift of worshipping Allah subhanaw taala. And so my worship to God is not a gift
from myself to God, but rather a gift from God to me. And so I should never feel, you know, sort of
this sense of pride in myself, if I am indeed able to take that path, or if I am able to worship God
in some small, you know, some small way. And and this leads me to another very, very important
point. And that is the idea that somehow my worship of God is sufficient. The problem with looking
		

			at my deeds, instead of looking at the greatness of God, is that I might end up in this trap that
we're talking about today, where I become self admiring, I become self self self satisfied in my own
actions. So when I, for example, I do some small thing, you know, I'm, I'm, perhaps I'm praying more
in the masjid or I'm, you know, I started wearing hijab. Now, these are very, very great, you know,
you know, gestures and these are very great acts of worship. But the problem is that when I look at
the action itself, instead of looking at Allah subhanaw taala is right over me. That's when the
action can have the tendency to make me arrogant. When I think that Allah subhanaw taala that
		

			somehow I am
		

			I'm giving God any portion, any part of his right over me
		

			This is a serious problem. Because the truth is that I could worship God from this day till the next
day, every single waking moment, and it would never fulfill his right of obaldia over me. And so
everything that I do for Allah subhanaw taala is is my attempt to be, you know, to worship him, but
I should never feel like I'm doing enough like what I've done is sufficient. In fact, we know that
the prophets of Elias and them said that no person enters Jenna, no person enters paradise, by their
deeds. And so this the companions or the lion home asked him even you older sort of love, because we
know that the prophets I send them is the example for all humanity. And he's, you know, he has the
		

			purest heart. And he said, yes, even me. And so the lesson here is that he said, that nobody enters
paradise, by his deeds, but rather by the mercy of Allah subhana wa Tada. So, you know, the message
here, and what we need to understand is that no matter what I do, my actions will never be as good
will never supersede the actions of the Prophet Mohammed. So I send them and even he cannot enter
agenda by those actions. So what that means is that I my actions are not sufficient for the, the the
the level that Allah subhanaw taala deserves, my actions are not sufficient for a reward of infinite
nature, because we know that Allah subhanaw taala is infinite. And if we have Allah subhanaw taala,
		

			as the reward, of course, we never paid for something infinite, with something tempt with something
finite. And anything that I do, any action that I do, any amount of worship that I do, will always
be, you know, finite, it will always be, you know, missing, it will never be completely sufficient
for the reward that Allah subhanaw taala gives. So the idea here is that we need to be, we need to
humble ourselves, we need to be to realize that if we are worshipping Allah subhanaw taala. At this
moment, it is because Allah subhanaw taala has given us the gift of worshipping him at this moment.
And we need to be very, very careful, because this is a gift that can be taken away. And if we feel
		

			arrogant, and we look down on others, you know, at any moment, this can be taken from us. And we
know that the heart is, you know, comes from the root, which, which means to turn, called with the
word itself, comes from the same root as to turn your lips. So the idea here is that the heart is
something that turns and it can turn overnight, it can turn we're told by the prophet so I send them
that someone can wake up in the morning as a believer, and by the evening they're a disbeliever. And
similarly, someone can wake up in the morning as a disbeliever. And by the, by the evening be a
believer that the heart is something that turns and that's why the profits of the lie seldom used to
		

			make the everyday yarmulke live and Kolb said Bitcoin Lubin Allah denecke alternative hearts keep
our hearts firm, on your deen on your on your path. This is something we should never ever take for
granted. And this is something that we should never think that it's because of me. It's because I'm
something great. It's because I'm better than other people. Once I do that, the moment that I start
to become self satisfied, or I start to look down on other people who who aren't given this same
gift, that that's the moment when it can be taken away from me. And shala We'll take a short break.
And when we return, we'll continue talking about this trap of arrogance that comes on the path of
		

			Allah subhanaw taala
		

			Salam Alaikum This is yes. And you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio.
We're speaking today about a dangerous trap which a lot of us may fall into without even realizing
it. And it's a trap that happens actually to the righteous it happens to those people who are
seeking the path to Allah subhanaw taala and who are trying to rectify themselves and trying to
become more quote unquote, religious. And that's the trap of self righteousness. It's the it's the
holier than thou type of attitude that we might end up falling into. And I think that the reason why
		

			This happens, there's a couple reasons why this can happen. One is that we, it comes from, perhaps,
a lack of understanding of why it is that for example, when you first you know, kind of wake up,
it's, it's an awakening that happens when you when you first start to really realize, okay, I'm
going to change my life I'm going to, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to focus my life on becoming
a better Muslim. And this is a beautiful time. And this is actually something that even will claim
Rahim Allah talked about, in this is the process of awakening, that when awakening happens, it's
kind of like you, you someone who lived in a cave all their life, and never realized that there was
		

			a world outside of the cave, and then suddenly, something will happen. And it'll wake them up and,
and they'll step outside of the cave and look outside and realize, whoa, like, this is actually the
world. And look, there's a sky and there's clouds. And there's, and this is, it's this feeling of,
of getting to that point in your life, where you, you make a shift you you wake up, you know, it's
that it's that point where you, you start to leave behind, you know, your old ways, and you and you
really start to focus on becoming a better Muslim. That part and this actually happens for for
reverts. But it also happens for people who are born Muslim, that they get to a point in their life,
		

			where Islam is not just, you know, something written on their passport, it's not just the religion
of their parents, but it's something that you personally decide to own, and you decide to live your
life focused on making, you know, really building that identity. So that point is a very, it's a
very powerful, you know, sort of experience in one's life. And it will claim describes Rahim Allah,
this, this part of the path to Allah subhanaw taala as being extremely powerful, and when you are in
that state of awakening, you're actually able to do much, much more than someone who is not at that
point in the path to Allah. So at the very beginning, you know, that they sometimes call it I don't
		

			know, the con convert slash reverts zeal. And it happens again, it happens to, it happens to someone
born Muslim to at, at some point in their life, when they, when they're, you know, just at that, at
that point of awakening. And, and when you're in that state, it becomes much, much easier to worship
a lot in at a certain high, high level, it becomes easier than it than it is when you're not in that
state. And so, when you first you know, enter into this into this awakening, whether it's you just
converted or you just you know, are turning your life around and really focusing on on making
yourself better. And being a better Muslim, you're able to maybe, you know, you put on hijab, you're
		

			you're praying, you know, praying at night, you're going to the masjid, you're really, really, you
know, your high, it's what you would call the spiritual high. And when you're in that point,
		

			there's a couple things that may make you look down on others during that point, and one of the
things is not realizing that first of all, the spiritual high is by by definition, temporary, it
isn't something I mean, we know that no state in this life is ever constant that the prophets I send
them tells us that our Eman goes up and it goes down. And this is just a natural part of the dunya
that our states change. And so if we don't realize this, one thing that might happen is we think
that this is we're always going to be like this. And it's always going to be this easy to worship a
lot at this level. And and so by thinking that we we may have the tendency to look down on others
		

			who are having more trouble, we might look at other people who aren't going to the masjid as much as
we are, who aren't wearing Hijab who aren't doing these things. And we look down on them, thinking
that my state is constant, and it's not. And the second problem that happens is that when we're in
that state, the spiritual high state, the awakening state, we don't realize that this is actually a
gift from Allah subhanaw taala. Again, this is not because I am in you know, by inherently better or
something than someone else, but just that Allah subhanaw taala has given me a gift. And if I don't,
if I take that gift for granted and I think for a moment that that gift is from me, that the reason
		

			that I'm able to worship Allah is because I am better I am inherently better than at that that is
the point when it will most likely be taken away from you. So two things in terms of the the the
idea of awakening is realizing that it's temporary and then realizing that it's not
		

			For me, and I think if we realize those two fundamental characteristics of this period of this state
in the in the path to Allah subhanaw taala, this station is that we won't, one, we won't take it for
granted. And two, we won't look down on others, when they are not in the same place. Now, the second
issue that often happens when it comes to this sort of high this spiritual high or this awakening,
is that after some time, it goes down, we, we, we feel we're very pumped, we're very high, we have
that amen rush. And it might happen, you know, after like, a really great lecture, or it might
happen, you know, right after you convert, or it might happen right after you start wearing hijab,
		

			whatever it is. And then over time, you know, a week will go by a month will go by, and then slowly,
you know, it starts to dip it goes down. Now here is a very, very important part of this path. If
you don't realize that this dip this, this, this, this down, little sort of this, this dip that
comes after a high, if you don't realize that that's actually natural, and that's part of the path.
This is where you might lose hope. And this is a problem that happens with a lot of us is that we
felt, you know, we feel this, Hi, we're doing all these things. And unfortunately, maybe while we're
doing them, we think they're from ourselves. And then once we're no longer able to keep that up, we
		

			become very, very disappointed with ourselves. And as a result, we might just give up completely.
Now this is the this is a trap, because we didn't realize that with every high there's also a low
and the prophets I send them explains that this will happen that we will have ups and downs in our
faith and in our Deen. But as long as our lows are still according to the Sunnah of the prophets I
send them then we're good. So the idea here is don't when you when you do have that dip, when you do
have that, that low in your faith or in your Eman in your practice, don't ever lose hope don't ever
think, okay, that's because I'm a failure, or I just can't do this. And, and, and that all of those
		

			things are actually signs that you thought from the beginning it was from you. And so now that you
are not able to maintain it, you feel disappointed in yourself. When the truth is, it was never from
you, it was a gift from Allah subhanaw taala. And in fact, that this dip is natural, and when we get
to that dip, we need to just keep going, we need to keep going, even if it's harder, and it will be
harder, it will no longer be as easy to keep praying on time and keep going to the masjid and keep
the hijab on it's it's going to get to a point where it's more of a struggle, but that is natural,
and that is part of the path. And so the main thing we have to realize is that you know, plan for
		

			this if you expect that this is part of the path to Allah subhanaw taala you won't lose hope when
that happens when that dip happens. And, and and again, it will also knowing that that comes and
knowing that that's part of it will make you not look down on those, you know, who don't have what
you have when you are in your high knowing that you too will go up and down. And so, you know,
realizing these things are part of you know, the whole process of you know, seeking the path to
Allah subhanaw taala now what I want to do is inshallah encourage you to write in your comments,
your questions in the chat box. I know a lot of us have experiences with this. If we've you know,
		

			we've we've either in ourselves or in others we deal with these struggles, we're all on the same
path. We're all struggling to try to better ourselves and get closer to Allah subhanaw taala and
these ups and downs are part of every human beings path. So inshallah I'm going to take a short
break and when we return, we'll look at the chalk talks
		

			Assalamu alaikum. This is Yasmin majah heads and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one
legacy radio. So we've opened the chat box right now and we want to hear from you. Questions,
comments, reflections on this issue of how do we avoid this trap? That happens unfortunately, on the
path to Allah subhanaw taala when a person first starts to become more, you know, into the deen
become more religious. This, you know this possible tendency to become sort of arrogant
		

			Or look down on other people who might not have been given the same gift of ease in religion. And
you know, in talking about this, we want, we want to have a balanced approach, you know, we want to
talk about having, not losing hope, you know, and this is a really big message. Know that shaitan
wants you and the way that he'll get you is through despair, he'll make you despair in yourself,
he'll make you despair in the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala by telling you, you know, can't you You
messed up, you're not as good as you used to be. So just give up. And that's completely from shaitan
we should know that as human beings, we never should have expected that we would be perfect. We
		

			never should expect that we'll never fall we'll never dip our amen will always be at that high.
That's completely against, you know, the very laws of the dunya that nothing is stable, nothing
stays still, that the state of a human being is never constant. And so we should never give up when
we have those dips, knowing that everything goes through seasons and our faith also goes through
seasons are amen goes through seasons. And when we get to the season, that's cold and the season of
winter, we shouldn't lose hope we need to keep going. This is the point where shaitan tries to get
you, you know, you messed up. So just give up and never ever let him win. Because you're messing up
		

			can actually be a means to get closer to Allah subhanaw taala through through humility, and know
that humility is a path to Allah subhanaw taala realizing that you're not perfect, realizing that
you're you need Allah subhanaw taala that you cannot get to Allah subhanaw taala without Allah
subhana wa tada that Allah subhanaw taala is the only one who can guide and that any kind of action
any kind of worship is a gift from him. And it is a you know, even the word for guidance in the
Quran, it hidayah also has the word for gift, it is a gift. And so when you mess up, it's when you
should realize how much you need Allah subhanaw taala turned to Allah subhanaw taala in humility and
		

			in Toba and that will actually polish your heart in a way that will actually possibly make you
closer to Allah subhanaw taala than the person who might feel self satisfied in their worship. So
it's very important to not lose hope. And and at the same time, you know, not not become arrogant
and not become, you know, think that what you're doing means that you're better than others. So,
someone has asked Okay, on the chat box, please discuss as deeds slash worship are from Allah for
us. Do low points constitute punishment from Allah subhanaw taala for our internal faults, and I
have a friend who experiences despair For this reason, this is a really good question. So that the
		

			question is asking that when I do have a low point in my Deen or in my worship, is this because
Allah subhanaw taala is punishing me or Allah Spano tala is displeased with me. And it actually may
be the other way around, and I'm going to explain why it may be that this low, could actually be a
means for you to be purified. And I'll explain why. If while I'm worshiping Allah subhanaw taala I
think that my worship is because of me. If I think that I am something great, then this is the worst
one of the worst diseases of the heart, you know, self admiration, or arrogance. And I and as a
result, I look down on other people that if I'm in this state, what would be the cure for this state
		

			for this disease? Well, sometimes the cure for this disease is that that worship that I thought was
from me, is taken away. So say, I had the ability to wake up at night and pray PM, and I start to
become sort of self you know, I become I start to admire my own deeds, to admire myself and think
that this is from me, and then look on others look down on others who don't have this same ability.
So now I'm, I have actually a disease in my heart, even though I'm doing good deeds, my heart is
diseased. And so the cure in this case, would be maybe that I'm no longer able to wake up for him.
So that is taken away from me. He may seem that this is a punishment, but in fact, that by being
		

			taken away from me, I might realize that it was never from me to begin with. And as a result, it
will humble me, it will make me humble towards other people who you know, you know, who who don't
have that ability, and towards Allah subhanaw taala. And, and therefore, I've now actually been
purified, and I've been my arrogance has been replaced with humility. And so in that sense, I've
actually been purified and that's actually a gift. And once I've been purified of that decision,
		

			Have thinking that this worship was from me, or once I've been purified of that arrogance, then
maybe Allah subhanaw taala will give it back to me. But this time when I'm giving it back, and given
that gift of worship back, I won't, I will no longer think that it's from myself, I will no longer
be arrogant, but rather will be a very grateful servant to Allah subhanaw taala, because it's been
given back to me. So in this way, I've actually been purified by it being taken away from me. So I
would say that, you know, it doesn't need to be a punishment, but rather, rather, it could be a
purifier.
		

			So, one person says, to avoid arrogance, I think we should try and be thankful to Allah for guiding
us every night before we sleep. And we should seek refuge in a law from all forms of pride and
arrogance. I think that's absolutely right. It's a con, the concept of sugar, the concept of
gratitude, we should be grateful for all the gifts that Allah subhanaw taala gives us. And it's
interesting because a person might be grateful, you know, for their sight and for their hearing, and
for their money, their wealth, their you know, their family. But But and this is the trap, they
might not be grateful for their Deen, they might not be grateful for their so called religiosity.
		

			And in fact, that's the greatest gift. Unfortunately, we may feel that our money and our children
and our, you know, our health, that these are gifts from Allah subhanaw taala, but my good deeds are
me, that's from me, that's because I'm a good person. And so this is, you know, the most dangerous
idea, this is the most dangerous deception. So, yes, we need to thank Allah subhanaw taala and be
grateful for all of his gifts, first and foremost, for the fact that I say that ilaha illa, Allah,
the fact that I say, and I'm able to bear witness in the in, you know, bear witness to the one, the
oneness of God, and his and, and that Mohammed Salah, send them as His Messenger, that, in fact, is
		

			the greatest gift I have. And that's what I should be thanking Allah subhanaw taala for the most,
rather than thinking that it's because I'm, you know, I'm just something great, I'm just holy. And
so that's why I have it. And another person says, but there's something we should be wary of, and
this was something that prophets, I send them feared for us, he said, If you did not sin, I would
have feared for you what is greater, and that is a job of self admiration. Absolutely. This, this is
exactly the concept that we're talking about today. And, and it's the idea that so much of we
always, we always look at, you know, deeds, and we don't realize that sometimes there might be a
		

			good deed that makes a person arrogant, and in that case, that deed itself is worse for them than a
bad deed which makes the person humble and repent to Allah subhanaw taala. So, ultimately, the goal
here is not
		

			you know, is is not to, to do the good deeds, and then be pleased with them. But rather, the goal is
to realize, Allah subhanaw taala is the goal. And to realize that our deeds are a means yes, one
means to get to Allah subhanho data. But no matter what our deeds are, no person will enter Jenna,
by the deeds alone, that we only will enter Jenna by the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala. And this is
the case even for the Most Holy human being ever to walk the earth. And so who do we think we are?
Basically, you know, you know, one of the most beautiful examples I've heard is an example that Jose
le Rahim Allah gave in, in kind of a cure for us when we start to become pleased with our, with our
		

			worship. And that is an example of a great king. So if you imagine there's a great king, and there's
all these people who are trying to gain entrance to the, you know, to the king, and they're standing
outside of his door, and each person is holding some sort of offering for the king. And you can
imagine that you're standing there, and you're holding an offering, along with other people, but the
other people who are standing with you are, you know, like princes and visitors and really like
people with high high statuses, with, you know, with the king, and you're standing there holding,
suppose you're standing there holding a loaf of bread, and you're going to offer this loaf of bread
		

			to the king. But imagine that you're standing with other people who are holding jewels, who are
holding, you know, like, like heaps of gold and silver. Now, this example, is to illustrate the idea
that no matter what my worship is, no matter what I offer, Allah subhanaw taala does it compare to
the worship of the prophets? does it compare to the worship of the angels who spend from the
beginning of time till the end of time just worshiping God? So who am I to be pleased with myself
and you know, it's
		

			Say I stood up and I prayed all night and I become very pleased with myself, that would be very
silly. Because the idea is I'm that person standing with a loaf of bread. And other people around me
who are seeking entrance to this same King have given him something so much greater. And you know,
we're standing with you know, we're we have angels who we you know, we're told in one Hadeeth there
are angels that stand from the beginning of time until the end of time just Institute and and in
prostration and other angels who stand from the beginning of time until the end of time Justin
record. And when they're, you know, when when the end of time comes, and they say, we haven't
		

			worshipped you enough. And that's the idea there is no possible way no matter what we do, to have
our worship be sufficient. So we should never be, you know, satisfied, self satisfied or, or pleased
with our worship, but rather, imagine that that King comes down opens, you know, that King comes,
opens the door. And out of all the people standing there, he accepts your loaf of bread, what would
you feel? At that point, you are going to feel completely grateful and humbled and undeserving. And
that is exactly how we should feel when we offer our worship to Allah subhanaw taala. Of course,
it's not sufficient, but because Allah subhanaw taala is the Most Merciful. And Allah subhanaw taala
		

			is the one who mens he mends our deficiencies in our worship. And because he's the most generous he
accepts from us. And if he does accept from us, this is not something that should make us arrogant.
This is something that should make us extremely humbled, and extremely grateful.
		

			So another comment says,
		

			sometimes it's hard to simply pray five times a day, millions of Muslims are able to do so every
day, how can we make sure we never miss a part of the prayer?
		

			Again, you know, the idea of being able or being given the gift of a bad or being given the gift of
worship. I think that one of the things that keeps us from being able to worship Allah subhanho wa
Taala is our sins. And so for example, suppose that I'm not able to wake up for fetchit regularly,
so regularly, I mean, it's not like I missed it one time, but I'm really just, I keep missing
fetchit This should be a sign for me that may be there are things that I am doing during the day,
that are displeasing to Allah subhanaw taala. And as a result of my sins, I am not given the
privilege to stand up and pray to him at federa time. So what the first thing we should look at if
		

			we're not able to pray, or if we're not if we're having trouble, I'm sorry, having trouble keeping
up with our prayers. The first thing we should look at is our own sins. And and the first line of
action basically should be to make Toba is to fod is to ask Allah subhanaw taala to forgive us for
our sins, examine what it is that we're doing that could be displeasing to Allah, and try to abandon
it, try to purify ourselves of our sins. And when we do that, the more we can try to purify
ourselves and struggle in that path because it's a constant struggle. We're never going to be
perfect, we are not angels. But if we if we struggle in that path of trying to purify ourselves of
		

			our sins, then the path to Allah subhanaw taala will become easier, and worship will become easier
Allah will give you the ability to worship Him and it will be easier for you The more you purify
yourself of your sins. So if you're having trouble you know, with the five daily prayers, it
definitely means that we need to we need to make us default we need to look at what actions we're
doing that are displeasing Allah subhanaw taala and try to change them and try to seek forgiveness
for them. According Holly had was definitely welcome in number four on Rahim We ask Allah subhanaw
taala to make the path to him easy and to protect us from ever being self satisfied or looking down
		

			on others. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh