Akhlaq
Humility and arrogance
Walking gently on the earth
3 min, Intro
In the Qur'an's telling, the first sin is pride. Iblis refused to bow because he thought he was better. Humility, before God and before people, runs through Islamic ethics.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Iblis refuses to bow to Adam because he thinks he is better. In the Qur'an's telling, pride becomes the first sin. Against that picture the Qur'an sets servants who walk gently on the earth. And the Prophet ﷺ draws the line: loving beauty is not arrogance; looking down on people is.
The one who would not bow
Picture the scene as the Qur'an tells it. God commands the angels to bow to Adam. Iblis refuses.
His reason is a comparison. "I am better than him," he says. "You created me from fire and him from clay."
His sin was not doubt about God. It was looking down on another creature.
قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسۡجُدَ إِذۡ أَمَرۡتُكَۖ قَالَ أَنَا۠ خَيۡرࣰ مِّنۡهُ خَلَقۡتَنِي مِن نَّارࣲ وَخَلَقۡتَهُۥ مِن طِينࣲ ١٢
12 Allah said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I ordered you?” He said, “I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay.”
In the Qur'an's telling, the first sin was looking down on someone.
Walking gently
So what does the opposite of Iblis look like? The Qur'an gives a picture. The true servants of the Most Merciful walk humbly on the earth. When the ignorant address them, they reply "peace".
Surah Luqman gives the same picture through a wise father talking to his son. Do not turn your cheek away from people in contempt, he tells him. And do not walk proudly on the earth.
وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمۡشُونَ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ هَوۡنࣱا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلۡجَٰهِلُونَ قَالُواْ سَلَٰمࣱا ٦٣
63 The slaves of the Most Compassionate are those who walk on earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them, they only say words of peace;
The Qur'an's humble servants answer harshness with peace.
An atom of pride
The Prophet ﷺ gave a warning about pride. No one with an atom's weight of arrogance in their heart, he said, will enter Paradise.
A man asked: what about someone who likes good clothes and good shoes?
The answer drew a line. God is beautiful, he said, and loves beauty. Arrogance is something else: rejecting the truth and looking down on people. Looking down on another creature is where the Qur'an's story of pride began, with Iblis and Adam.
No one who has an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise. Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on people.
Sahih Muslim 91 Sahih In Sahih Muslim
Arrogance, in this hadith, is rejecting truth and looking down on people, not loving beauty.