Humility is "not believing yourself superior to others,
accepting criticism as readily as praise, and not boasting or becoming arrogant
because of wealth, status, or power." There are two types of humility:
praiseworthy and blameworthy. Praiseworthy humility is of two kinds: humility
when obeying God's commands and abstaining from His prohibitions; the humility
of the servant is to his Lord’s greatness and majesty and to his submission to
His might and grandeur. The reprehensible humility is humiliation, that is,
meanness and baseness, and the offering and debasement of the self in obtaining
its pleasures and desires, like the humility of the lowly in obtaining their
desires, and the humility of the object to the agent, and the humility of the
seeker of every pleasure to the one from whom he hopes to obtain his pleasure,
and all of this is baseness, not humility (Al-Durar Al-Saniyyah).
The word “humility” is not explicitly mentioned in the Holy
Quran, but rather words that refer to it and indicate it are mentioned,
including the words of God Almighty: “And the slaves of the Most Beneficent
(Allah) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness, and when
the foolish address them (with bad words), they reply back with mild words of
gentleness.” (Surat Al-Furqan: 63). And His Almighty saying: “And turn not your
face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily,
Allah likes not each arrogant boaster.” (Surat Luqman: 18); and His Almighty
saying: “Look not with your eyes ambitiously at what We have bestowed on
certain classes of them (the disbelievers), nor grieve over them. And lower
your wings for the believers (be courteous to the fellow believers).” (Surat
Al-Hijr: 88); and His saying, “And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them
gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away
from you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah's) forgiveness for them,
and consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your
trust in Allah; certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).”
(Surat Al Imran: 159).
The prophetic tradition is replete with many hadiths that
call for and encourage humility, including the Prophet's saying (peace and
blessings be upon him): "Charity does not decrease wealth, and God only
increases a servant in honor through forgiveness, and no one humbles himself
for God except that God raises him in status" (Narrated by Abu Hurairah;
Source: Sahih Muslim). Another hadith states: "God revealed to me that you
should be humble so that no one boasts over another nor oppresses another"
(Narrated by Iyad ibn Himar; Source: Sahih Muslim). Humility manifests in
several ways: a servant's obedience to God's commands and prohibitions, a servant's
humility before God's majesty, greatness, might, and grandeur, and humility in
dress and gait. And his humility towards those of higher rank and status. The
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the best of mankind, carried earth on
the day of the Battle of the Trench out of humility, as narrated by Al-Bara’:
“The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, on the day of the
Battle of the Trench carried earth with us, and the earth covered the whiteness
of his stomach, and he was saying, ‘By God, were it not for you, we would not
have been guided… nor would we have given charity nor would we have prayed. So
send down tranquility upon us… for those who have refused us.’ He said, “And
perhaps he said, ‘For the people have refused us…’ when they intend to cause
strife.” Our father, and he raises his voice with it. And in another narration:
I heard Al-Bara’, and he mentioned something similar to it, except that he
said: “Those who have transgressed against us” (Narrator: Al-Bara’ Ibn ‘Amir;
Source: Sahih Muslim); His humility in dealing with his wife and helping her,
as it was narrated on the authority of Lady Aisha when she was asked about what
the Prophet ﷺ used to do in his house, she said: “He would be occupied with
the work of his family - meaning serving his family - and when the time for
prayer came, he would go out to pray” (Narrator: Lady Aisha; Source: Sahih
al-Bukhari), and his humility with children and joking with them, as it was
narrated on the authority of Anas bin Malik that he said: “The Prophet ﷺ was the
best of people in character, and I had a brother called Abu Umair, he said: I
think he was weaned, and when he came he would say: O Abu Umair, what happened
to the little bird?” (Narrator: Anas bin Malik; Source: Sahih Muslim); and his
humility towards servants and slaves. On the authority of Abu Hurairah, may God
be pleased with him, on the authority of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant
him peace, who said, “If one of you is brought his food by his servant, and he
does not sit him down with him, then let him give him a morsel or two, or a
bite or two, for he is responsible for its heat and its preparation.”
(Narrator: Abu Hurairah; Source: Al-Silsilah Al-Sahihah). This hadith directs
the servant to sit with his servant to eat with him from the food that the
servant has prepared. If he does not sit with him for an excuse such as a lack
of food, or because his soul dislikes it against his will and he fears that
forcing it will cause harm, or for other reasons such as his love of being
exclusive to the precious, or because the servant dislikes it out of shyness or
politeness, then he must feed him from the food. The Prophet, peace and blessings
be upon him, explained the command to feed the servant by saying that the
servant is the one who is in charge of the food and its preparation; that is,
he prepares and arranges it and endures the hardship of its heat and smoke
during cooking, and smells its aroma, and his soul becomes attached to it
(Al-Durar Al-Sunniyyah).
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