The Cure For Pride

In terms of a general cure for diseases of the hearts, I want to talk a little bit about how we cure this issue of pride, and this problem of pride. I wanted to read to you something that Al Hafiz ibn Hajr (rahimuhullah) said. Al Hafiz ibn Hajr said: "The heart has been singled out for this, because it is the leader of the body (and) through the purification of the leader, the subjects become purified." Meaning the heart of the body is like the leader of the Muslims. When the heart becomes pure the rest of the body becomes pure. 

So Al Hafiz ibn Hajr (rahimuhullah) he continues to say: "So If you, O servant of Allah, wish to cure your heart, then it is upon you to be truthful with regards to seeking refuge with Allah." First thing Ibn Hajr says: "be truthful with regard to seeking refuge with Allah." The ayah from the Quran, the statement of Musa (alayhimussalaam) that: "I have sought refuge with Allah from every prideful person", and that encompasses from the person themselves. And then Al Hafiz ibn Hajr says: "to put your trust in Him, to pray a great deal of supplementary prayers (nawaafil prayers), to perform actions of obedience to Allah frequently, to pray the night prayer and to treat your heart by making it continuously stick to the remembrance of Allah, and befriending the righteous, and to frequently recite the Quran. And indeed Allah will (indeed) allow all of this to be preserved by him." SubahaanAllah - Al Hafiz Ibn Hajr gives us some general principles relating to all of the diseases of the sickness of the heart - the nawafil (supplementary prayers) prayers, putting your trust in Allah, the night prayer, obedience to Allah, seeking refuge with Allah, remembrance of Allah and befriending the righteous. 

And one of the most important remedies for overcoming the diseases of the heart is to study and to ponder the text and the ayaats and the ahadith that talk about the warnings and the issues of the diseases of the heart. By reflecting upon the glory and the majesty of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We know that Allah azza wa jal describes himself, subhanahu wa ta'ala, with this term. Because he subhanahu wa ta'ala is perfect in every single way and he is the one who is deserving of pride. He is the one who is deserving of being above all of his creation and controlling them. And when we reflect upon the perfection of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we realize the imperfection of our own selves. And this helps us to correct the problem of pride. Also, humbling yourself in the presence of those people who you think yourself to be better than them. You meet someone and you think: "Alhamdulillah, I'm better than this brother (or sister)" and when you feel that disease start to go into your heart, what do you do? -- You humble yourself before them. You remind yourself that you don't know what you are going to die upon or what they are going to die upon. 

Like someone said: "When I meet somebody who is older than me I think this person has had more chance to do good deeds than me - and when I meet somebody that is younger than me, I think this person has had less chance to do sin than me." So everybody that you look at, you look at yourself as being inferior to all of them. And you don't know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala (knows). Some people say: "Well I got knowledge, they don't have knowledge." But, SubhanAllah, sometimes knowledge is a trial for a person. Sometimes knowledge is an adh'ab from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a punishment from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if you don't act upon it. So what makes you think you are gonna be from the people who will act upon it?