This evening we're going to be speaking about something that we all know too well which is the uh vice of of k or of pride. Allah subhana wa ta'ala says, [Music] "I shall turn away from my signs those who are proud in the earth without right. And even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the path of right guidance, they do not choose it as their path. And if they see the path of misguidance, they choose that for their path. That is because they uh denied our signs and were heedless of them. In this kind of ayah and u there are others like it we find that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who has on the one hand gifted us with innumerable signs everything is nothing but a sign in his book and in the world has also set up a principle whereby we can be distracted from those signs and he has explained the mechanism of that in terms Yet aon they are proud and it is this kib this selfexaltation that leads to this ral this heedlessness which is the blindness of the heart. The blindness of the heart that sees the great work of art and imagines that there was no artist that created it. or if you like the deafness that can still hear a great work of music but imagine somehow that the music just came into being just like that and that it never had a composer. An absurdity but one that nonetheless enters into the hearts of some human beings. And the reason for that is that they don't want to be humble. They want to be proud. They want to be independent. This idea of of considering oneself to be independent is something that we all have and the modern world is particularly insistent on it. Everybody wants to be independent. Young people want their independence. Old people want to keep their independence. Countries and everybody they want independence. There is a certain aspect of the dignity of human beings that is in that. There's a certain a freedom that is uh a legitimate thing to aspire to. It is legitimate to aspire to be free. But that's not the same as aspiring to be independent of. In fact, true freedom consists in only one thing which is to surrender to how things are because human beings are enslaved. We are all we are all slaves. And we are either slaves to the only one who is truly the only one who is truly to be worshiped. Or we are slaves to ourselves, slaves to the naps, to the ha, to the ego, to the shaitan, to the tyrant within. There isn't really another alternative. In reality, we tend to exist in a kind of battle zone between the two. And it is pride according to this noble ayah that causes us to lose that battle so that we don't see the signs even though Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us but still we don't see them and the Quran just to hammer this home gives us some examples some case studies of people who were in the grip of pride uh one of them perhaps the best known is of course the personage of of Fir and Fan is very big about being above everybody else. In his court ritual in ancient Egypt, the king had to sit above everybody else and look down on everybody else. And the model of the burial of the ancient kings in the pyramids was that the king's grave had to be higher than everybody else on earth, living or dead. And that's why um he says I am your highest lord. And that's why he's angry when Musa comes to him and asks him to submit to surrender. And he says because he doesn't admit that there could be a lord greater than himself. Who is your lord? He's referring to the duel to two of them. Sus and Sahim. This is the argument that Sna Moss then gives. Who is your Lord? And he's expecting some name. Maybe it's some idol, some god, something just a name. But Sidna Musa Ali does not give him the name of a tribal deity. the god that is against Rah and Osiris and the other gods of the Egyptians. Instead, he's referring things back to the principle to the source of the ayas, to the source of the signs. He is the one who gave everything its created form and then guided it. The two immense things that Alam does to create the world and then to supply guidance in the world. So he very briefly summarizes it. It's like saying in the context of Islam, Allah the creator the source the the the unique power in all things and Muhammad rasool Allaham because that's the the principle of guidance so it's like giving him a brief shahada but of course is really not impressed by this because he's thinking in terms of physicality he's a man of matter and this idea of of being high was high, lofty, arrogant in the earth. He wanted to be above everybody else. And he didn't like this idea of there being a lord that could be higher than himself. He was the highest. And he took this idea of height altitude literally. So that when Sna Moss Ali was speaking of a high god that was higher than him in some categoric sense, his materialistic mind blinded to the signs uh couldn't understand this in anything other than a material sense. So he says to his wazir, to his deputy, Ibni, build a tower for me. In the ancient world, it was the Egyptians who built really high. Nobody else got anywhere near them. The Chinese and the Aztecs and the Indians. Nobody built up like the ancient Egyptians did. Perhaps I can look upon the god of Mosa. If I really climb up on some high pyramid or obelisk or something or other, perhaps I can see this high god that he has. That's the nature of his understanding. But I think that he's a liar. I think that he's one of the liars. And what's his problem? He was proud. he and his soldiers. So they were proud he and his army on the earth without right and they thought that they would not come back to us. That is one human possibility. the possibility of Fyon who is so blind to the signs that when somebody says there is one that is higher than you, he has to think in terms of somebody who's taller than me, somebody whose palace whose pyramid is bigger than mine. And that's the basis of our misunderstanding that causes pride. It's a materialistic phenomenon. The materialist is proud. And it's the materialist who's really concerned with his physical form, with the clothes that he wears, with the car that he drives because that's to do with his self-esteem. That's what he thinks matters because his he wants to be able to roll by the poor man driving in his air conditioned Mercedes and feel better, feel superior. And this is a tendency, a falic tendency within the hearts of of human beings. And it's the exact opposite of what? Of the mosaic of the prophetic of the Muhammadan model which is one of humility. So very often in his book, Allah subhana wa ta'ala sets up these opposites and this great standoff, this great uh clash of of worlds between Musa Ali and and Fan is one of those iconic moments which is why it comes up again and again in the Quran not just inah but inas and and in many other places because that is our own situation. Allah is not just telling us some interesting tale of an ancient civilization. Um but he is telling us something that is alive today. Not just in the presence of the ferionic principle and the arrogance in the material uh rulers of the world whether it be the rulers of empires or superpowers or of big corporations or of financial institutions or of banks or whatever it is. That is the fionic self-righteousness that those people have. or whether it be the tyrant within because there is a fir within each of us. There is something within us that wishes to lord it over others that wants to be able to say I am your highest lord. And that is the principle within us that that slithers around and says don't submit don't submit with moss and haron go it alone because you are independent. Now the prophets alim come in order to shatter that and to destroy it because it's illusion. It is the essence of illusion. And so we have as one of the key teachings of S Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam an uncompromising war on arrogance and pride. So in a famous hadith narrated by Imam Bkari and and and and given to us by a terrifying thing is apparently being said. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says, "Not one of you will enter paradise if he has in his heart so much as a mustard grain of pride." And if you're inclined to read the Quran and the Sunnah literally, that seems to be very, very bad news because who does not have that in his heart? who is not proud when he's wearing something smart and somebody else is not wearing something smart. Who is not proud when he has a new haircut or a new car or a holiday or a new bride or whatever it might be. The ego is there a legitimate thankfulness for the blessings of Allah subhana wa t'ala can be there and should be there often is there alhamdulillah in this ummah even today but there is also that darker thing within us the says now I am independent now this hadith is like many other hadith it's not to be taken in other words in its full literality because if that were the case then none of us would have any chance of anything because kibber is almost hardwired into our nature and we kind of automatically are proud proud because we think when we're letting go of our own autonomy somebody else is in charge and we must be less important or we want ourselves to be the center of the solar system to be the center of the universe and unconsciously we tend to go through the world assuming that that's the case that everything else is like a planet going around us we might notice it we might not but we get kind of diminished and saddened at The idea that there might be another center to the universe although there might be many human souls out there that are of equal worth in the eyes of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and many of them much better than ourselves in dean and in dunya that makes us feel panicky and insufficient and inadequate and we get anxious when we think like that we don't like to be anxious and so we still go back to this illusion the voice within that says I am your highest lord But this pride and this uh spitefulness and this contempt of others is exactly the opposite of the brotherhood that is enjoined by religion. He says saiam be Allah's slaves as brothers used to say not one of you should despise any Muslim any one of the Muslims because even a little Muslim in the sight of Allah is Somebody who has in his heart some fragment ofahillham is not to be despised because that is the thing that outweighs everything else in in in the misan. This was the wisdom of suak who grew up in this in this prophetic school. So what we have to do in order to overcome this kib is what? How do we overthrow the in the soul? How can we deal with this? If it is taking away from a taking us away from a true state of consciousness and helping us to live in the fantasy of that ends in for him in in catastrophe. Uh how can we escape from this cage? Well, again the response has to be first of all an awareness that this is our state. And this is where what we call the virtue of moraba comes in. We have to watch ourselves. Watch the heart. Beware of the heart's treachery. Beware of its arrogance. Watch it. As one of the imams says, as the cat watches a mouse hole, watch out for its movements because the heart has within itself these negative tendencies and you have to watch them. And each time the negative tendency pops up, you have at least to be aware of it. And that's the beginning of of the the process of healing. If you're not even aware that you're sick, it's very unlikely that you're ever going to figure out what kind of medicine you should be taking. So step number one is to admit that we're in a mess and to admit and the FRA itself, not just revelation, but our nature in its most basic and good aspect knows that despising other people is not the best aspect of us. Even the unbeliever, maybe somebody who's never tasted faith once in his life, looks down upon somebody who looks down upon others as a matter of routine, somebody who constantly goes around arrogantly. And we all know little children and grown-ups and everybody can perceive that the person who walks arrogantly is somebody who is unlikely to make a good friend. as the hadith says, "Whoever is puffed up in puffed up in himself and proud, swaggering in his walk will one day meet Allah and find that he is angry with him." That's one of the signs that Revelation tells us to look for in our own pride. How does somebody walk? Nowadays we speak in terms of body language but how people walk is often the best indication of how they see themselves because they're walking through the world and that's the basis of their moala. Everybody's looking at you as you're walking through the high street. How do you hold yourself? What is the image you wish to project of yourself? Is it a swagger kind of rolling around like um a gangster in a ghetto? uh or is it something that is dignified but humble and the humility doesn't mean kind of shriveling up and shuffling. It's the opposite of that. True dignity consists in decisiveness. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he walked it was as though he was walking downhill. He used to walk fast. But the person who has this uh this capacity for for walking arrogantly is the one to watch out for because he is the one who is has uh as his puppet master and is not loved by Allah. Allah does not like the one who goes about arrogantly and who is proud in himself. So, we've diagnosed this injury in our hearts and we know that we wish to transcend it. How do we do that if the basis of it is our fearfulness that actually maybe it turns out we're not very important and we can't face that reality? It's the little child's realization at some point perhaps at the age of five or six that he isn't actually the center of the universe and that everything in the world isn't just there uh to relate to him but that there are other points of consciousness out there in the world. And it's a bit traumatic for the child. But at the age of seven or eight, one of the great transformations that a human being experiences is moving from this kind of dream world of assuming that everything is a kind of entertainment for oneself into a world of greater maturity and an awareness of the beginnings of moala of engaging with others and the reality of other consciousnesses. That's part of the process of solo, part of wayfairing and also part of becoming mature. So, what it's beginning to sound like is that overcoming pride is about maturity. It's about having the courage to look one's own insignificance in the face. And we really don't want to admit that. And everybody is kind of flattering us. And part of the advertising culture nowadays is to flatter us. You will feel good about yourself if you have this product. You deserve product X or product Y because you've achieved so much. You deserve to fly first class. Everything is there to massage your ego and to tell you that the Fyon within you is the true you. But the prophetic message is the opposite of that. That is the idol that the prophetic message exists in order to shatter. The idol of the ego of the voice within that says I am your highest lord. But how can we do it? being brought face to face with the fact of our own mortality, of our own weakness, of the mistakes that we make, of the fragility of our own personality, uh is a very very shattering and difficult realization and we kind of shy away from it. We find it hard to acknowledge it. But unless we look that reality in the eye, we will never truly be ourselves. We will be living a kind of falsehood. We'll be constantly trying to give ourselves reasons to prop up this facade and this illusion of our own independence and our own superiority. And there are people who go through their entire lives essentially doing nothing but giving other people reason reasons to respect them and giving themselves reasons to respect themselves. And everything they do and the jobs that they have and the things they buy and the things they sell are all there in order to support this image of themselves as being and seeing himself as somehow independent as a magnificent person deserving of respect. Nobody can really look in the eye the terrible truth that actually we're not very important and that we mess up all the time. Um and that but for the grace of Allah subhanana wa ta'ala we would certainly be mil amongst the losers. So now it's looking not just like is about maturity but it's about courage as well. And that's where the virtue of futura comes in. Futwa means taking the knife of moja and slaughtering the ego. It's the greater jihad, the jihad within. And that's very difficult. You can be rather stupid and be rather successful on the field of battle, but it's rather difficult to be rather stupid and to be successful in the battle against the ego because the ego is a more slippery enemy and it's it is yourself in a certain way. That makes it very difficult to deal with because it's the self, the higher self against the lower self. And that's a very very difficult challenge. But one way we can overcome this is by looking at the humility of the great ones. Not just these superb prophetic stories like the story of Snam and Firon and all of those other showdowns between light and darkness in Allah's book. But at the story of Snuhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and his humility, how he used to live in a situation of intense poverty and how once when he was resting and got up the signs of uh rashmat rather like one of these in this mosque were visible upon his blessed shoulder. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the Sahabah were concerned and they said, "Shall we not put out for you some soft cushion such as those which the kings of the earth recline upon?" And he says, "What have I to do with this world? My likeness and the likeness of this world is just like a man who rests underneath a tree, enjoys its shade for a while, and then passes on because his traveler be in this world as if you are a stranger or a wayfairer." This is part of his wisdom. And if you're aware of that, then this kibber starts to look a little bit silly because the uh imagination of the ego is that you're going to live forever. Once you confronted with the reality of your own death and subsequent rapid decomposition, pride starts to look a little bit more silly. So the prophetic example of somebody who was absolutely in tune with reality and knew even his own mortality and knew that he was just a traveler moving through this world is something that can help us in this. And the way in which he used to serve his family and cut meat and fix his own laces on his sandals and used to sweep the house. All of these extraordinary signs of humility despite the fact that he knew who and what he was are things that somehow are they are words that soften the heart. When we hear of the humility of the chosen one sallallahu alaihi wasallam our hearts start to melt and this pride within us starts to look like what it is which is something silly. Omar Iban Abdul Aziz was one of the the the great khifer of early Islam and he once had a guest in his palace late and he sent the servant away because it was late and the servant fell asleep and uh the khalifa Omar was talking to his guest and then the oil lamp went out and they were in darkness and Omar immediately got up and started to look for the the zand which is the the piece of wood which you strike against the tinder that that causes light in the days before matches. It was quite a business to produce light in the middle of the night. He started to do this and the guest was amazed and said, "What about the servant?" And uh Omar said, "He's at the beginning of his sleep and I don't want to disturb him." And eventually he got the thing uh to work and the light was was visible again. And the guest said, "You got up yourself to do this." And he just said, "I when I got up, I was Omar. When I came back again, I was still Omar. I didn't lose anything. And the best of the best of Allah's servants are those who those who are humble in the presence of Allah subhanana wa ta'ala. That's a real why because he is of his own ego, of his own self. Why should he wake the servant? He can do it. It's not so difficult nowadays. uh if you have a little bit of money in the Muslim world, you hire a hundred servants and there's a servant for this and a servant in the garden and the servant who does all of the things for you and a servant who drives your car. And this is not really the way of the self because it's not the prophetic way. S Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam is the very example of a human being who is free of naps, free of ego. He does not speak out of how out of ego as most of us do. When we speak, nine times out of 10, it's in order to impress somebody. Or if it's not that, it's to impress ourselves. Very seldom do we genuinely say something in order to teach somebody something in a humble way rather than showing our own superiority or in order to heal somebody's heart. Very seldom do the sentences that constantly come from our mouths actually fall into either of those two categories. Most of the time it's just kind of amusing stuff and it's to keep up our profile and to make our friends think that we're cool because we're insecure and we don't want people to turn their backs on us and it's all it's all ego. It's it's chatter. And Allah subhana wa ta'ala is he's forgiving. He is merciful. He knows this weakness in us. But the real believer strives for a time and hopes for a time and prays for a time when his words will be words of healing, not words that just call people to his own ego and to glorify himself. So that's why we need this wayfairing. That's why we need to be surgeons of our hearts. That's why we need to overcome this ugliness, this heart disease that we all suffer from because we need to be free. Submission to to the lord of the world is the way to be free from the ego. Because if you are the slave of Allah subhana wa tala, you are the slave of truth and beauty and absolute power and absolute appropriateness. And that is where you should be. If you are the slave of your own ego, what is your own ego? as kind of serpent that is constantly playing trick playing tricks on you that causes suffering and harshness to others that might be causing destruction in Allah's earth. The ego that destroys the environment because of human human greed. The ego that turns mass communications and mass entertainment into an extraordinary pageantry of human showing off and ego and and mindless exchange of of of forms of self-esteem. That's the subversive possibility that that's within ourselves. And it's only the prophetic will that can break that. And that's one of the greatest gifts of following the sunnah of the chosen one sallallahu alaihi wasallam. that if you follow the one who is himself completely devoid of pride then you will start to experience the kind of inner freedom that he himself was the master of. How is the maj possible? How can he overcome as it were gravity itself? The laws of physics themselves. What is that freedom that enables him to to do that and to be that? It is freedom from the heaviness of dunya and of the earth. He spread his wings. He was able to ascend to the m of if we ourselves wish to ascend. If we are interested in moving up in the real sense towards the real not the altitude dreamed of by and but to real to the high places so that we become close to the one who is ali the only way we can do that is to escape from the cage to break the bars of the cage which is shan envy all of those dirty things to escape from that cage and then we will find what We are meant to be we are meant to be birds flying back towards the creator of the birds, the master of the birds. That is our true nature. So we ask Allah subhanana wa ta'ala to give us victory in the battles that we fight against the f within and to help us to be people who are not proud as they walk and as they speak but people who are humble and who are themselves lessons to others and a healing to others to their families to their friends to their neighbors to their colleagues to to all of humanity inshallah and we ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to make this um a source of healing and a source of humility and a source of restoration in Allah's creation and in Allah's earth because this is a time when human greed and human cupity and human absent-mindedness and disrespect for Allah's signs has threatened the very earth on which we live and the air in which we breathe and may Allah subhana wa t'ala make the um of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam the um that brings healing to this damaged and this wounded age