IN the very beginning of the second chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Baqara), God describes two kinds of people with two kinds of mindsets. The first five verses tell us that the Holy Book is a guidance for the pious who believe in the unseen (ghayb); they believe in what the Prophet (PBUH) has brought and what the earlier prophets preached. Moreover, they spend what they have been blessed with, and believe in the afterlife. In describing these attributes, the verses stress a humbler approach towards accepting God’s guidance and to show an attitude of submission towards what one does not know.

On the other hand, right after these verses, the Quran tells us about those who adamantly refuse to submit and mislead believers. To these individuals, the divine scripture proclaims, it makes no difference whether they are warned or not. The Quran says that God has sealed their hearts, eyes and ears, and for them is punishment. It implies that this attitude itself invites punishment, because the refusal to see, hear, and reflect obviously blocks the grace of God from entering the heart. The Quran says God does not like those who are arrogant and vainglorious (4:36).

In life, we face many kinds of people, some who are very humble, ever seeking the truth. They find themselves in the first group mentioned above. Their quest or search makes them humbler and receptive to learning. They, in simple terms, have a more open mind. This connects them with many others who might be seeking similar answers to their questions, thus becoming co-travellers with other seekers.

On the other hand, there are those who claim to know too much, too early; they feel ‘full’ of knowledge and wisdom. Such people claim to have more answers than questions. Their knowledge (or ignorance?) makes them arrogant, assuming that they have found the final answers to all the perennial questions of life and death. Their attitude, then, makes them contemptuous towards others, and least willing to listen to alternative perspectives.

The refusal to see, hear, and reflect blocks Divine grace.

These people, then, tend to create a ‘ghetto’ around themselves in which they live and function. They tend to forget that when we open our mouth to describe others, we only describe ourselves, showing the limits of our own knowledge and understanding.

Let us find some more relevant verses from the Quran that portray or personify humble versus arrogant people.

There are many verses that portray the behaviour of humble people, how their hearts are soft and softened when they look at the miracles of God in the form of verses (ayaat in Quranic language). There is also admiration in the Quran for those whose hearts are soft, and when verses are recited to them, their hearts ‘melt’, leading to prostration with humility: “Only those believe in Our Signs, “who, when verses are recited to them fall down in prostration, and celebrate the praises of their Lord, nor are they (ever) puffed up with pride” (32:15).

Still another verse exclaims, “And to Allah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the live moving creatures and the angels, and they are not proud” (16:49).

Talking about their humility, the Quran says, “… When the verses of the Most Beneficent (Allah) were [or are] recited unto them, they fell [or fall] down prostrating and weeping” (19:58). Their hearts are so softened that they come to tears when the beautiful verses of the majestic Quran are recited to them. They are led to this state because their hearts are wide open to the glory and majesty of God’s miracles in the world in the form of miraculous creation.

On the other hand, various verses of the Quran portray arrogant people’s hearts as stones, or even wo­r­se. In a particul­­ar verse, talking ab­­o­­­ut hardened hea­rts, it describes them as “… like a rock and even worse in hardness.

For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth. ...” (2:74). Their hearts are hardened so much that they are unable to yield anything good. Thus, if one wants to check if we are humble or arrogant, we must check ourselves against the descriptions of these verses.

Very often knowledge itself gives a lot of pride to people, who then boast and make claims of having absolute truths. This very knowledge hardens their heart and they go on challenging others, believing they have the absolute truth, leading to arrogance. What needs to be remembered is that knowledge has many dimensions and it is interpreted from many angles. It is only through dialogue, discussion and bringing new angles to old truths that we tend to learn new ways of interpreting the old truths. These interpretations depend on how many branches of science we know. The more we know, the better informed we are.

The writer is an educationist with an interest in the study of religion and philosophy.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2024