Humility with Others

الْمُتَكَبَّرُ

Al-Mutakabbir — The Supreme

وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ الْأَرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ الْجِبَالَ طُولًا

And walk not in the earth exultant. Lo! thou canst not rend the earth, nor canst thou stretch to the height of the hills

Surah Al-Isrāʾ (17:37)

Intention

Today, I will let someone else be right, even when I think I know better.

Reflection

Al-Mutakabbir is The Supreme in greatness — a quality that belongs exclusively to Him. In relationships, this Name is a mirror held up to us: are you acting as though greatness belongs to you? Kibr — arrogance — is the single most destructive force in human relationships. It prevents apology. It blocks forgiveness. It refuses to learn. It talks when it should listen. The Prophet (peace be upon him) defined it precisely: rejecting truth and looking down on people.

On this verse

A beautifully physical argument against arrogance: you cannot even dent the ground you walk on or reach the height of a mountain. What exactly are you arrogant about?

Du'a

Three inner diseases that all stem from wanting to appear greater than you are. The cure is the same for all three: sincerity before Al-Mutakabbir.

Hadith

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'No one who has an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.' A man asked: 'What if a man likes his clothes to be nice and his shoes to be nice?' He said: 'Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.'

— Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 91