Pride is a moral defect that Allah does not like. A proud person is suffering from the disease of conceit. The reason for that conceit is that the person assigns himself a separate identity and regards himself and those around him as creatures independent of Allah. (Surely Allah is beyond that!)
Such a person believes that everything he does and everything he possesses is his and his alone. For example, when he achieves any success, he shows off and views himself as a wonderful person. He wants to make those around him feel that he is superior under every circumstance.
In fact, such people can never achieve the true honors they pursue because respect is earned only by following the Qur'an. Allah informs us of this truth:
If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the Earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder [that by which one is remembered, i.e., with praise], but they have turned away from it. (Surat al-Muminun: 71)
When a person does not conform to the Qur'an, everything is brought to ruin, as Allah tells us in this verse. In another verse, Allah points out that people often fall into this error and that they seek honor and respect for an illusion of superiority:
They say, "If we return to Madina, the more honorable will drive out the inferior." But all honor belongs to Allah and to His messenger and the believers. But the hypocrites do not know this. (Surat al-Munafiqun: 8)
As the verse tells us, honor and might belong to Allah, and Allah grants this superiority only to those of His followers who demonstrate high moral standards.
Although they say that they believe, some people still remain under the influence of suggestions they have received during their ignorant lives and cannot bear to abandon their pride. The truth is, pride and false superiority are among the foremost factors that drive people to torment.
At the same time, pride is a moral defect which drives people into sin and causes them to commit many immoralities and bad acts which do not conform to the Qur'an:
When he is told to fear Allah, he is seized by pride which drives him to wrongdoing. Hell will be enough for him! What an evil resting-place! (Surat al-Baqara: 206)
A prideful person loves himself more than anybody else. Because of this, in everything that goes against his own advantage, he pushes his own passions and desires to the forefront rather than considering the approval of Allah or his own conscience. This inevitably directs him towards wickedness and low morality.
Though a prideful person sets himself above everyone else and always pursues his own interests, he can never find the happiness and tranquility he seeks.
Prideful people can never taste the many beautiful things experienced by the truly faithful. For example, they can never experience real love.
Because they love themselves more than anyone or anything else in the world, they are unable to love others as they should. They cannot openly express the affection they feel for another, and cannot treat others with kindness or show them the warmth, sincerity and friendship that love requires. Because of the cold and formal character which they display, they cannot be loved by others either.
Prideful people cannot accept being defeated in any matter, and because their egos are dominant, they always damage friendships and display behavior that causes tension and unease. They cannot display an optimistic, patient, humble, forgiving and conciliatory character.
They want whatever they say to always be accepted. When there is a disagreement, they behave in an obstinate, stiff-necked fashion and refuse to back down. When what they want is not done, they make trouble, which all causes them to be regarded as difficult and quarrelsome.
It is very difficult for them to make friendships, to have a friendly chat or experience love, friendship and superior morality. This causes them to become unloved by people around them. Their presence causes discomfort for others, and for them this is a great loss.
Within these people, inability to experience these beautiful feelings secretly turns into a great sorrow. Although they feel a need to love and be loved, make friendships and share superior morality with others, their own pride and conceit simply prevent them from doing so. They feel a deep longing for these things, but cannot attain them, which causes them to continually suffer from secret sorrow.
Another kind of sorrow that pride causes is the fear these people have of making mistakes. Because they claim to be flawless, they also claim to be immune to error. As a result, they feel very troubled whenever they do make a mistake. They aim to protect their prestige in the eyes of others, instead of earning Allah's approval.
Having another person point out their errors or defects is very hurtful to their pride. In such an event, they feel shaken, thinking they have demeaned themselves and lost face in the eyes of others. For this reason, they are constantly living in fear and tension inside themselves.
They cannot act as they would like and live a normal life. Part of their minds is always calculating, so that they behave according to the calculation instead of sincerely and from the heart. Because of this, they are under stress and always compelled to act artificially.
For example, where everybody is enjoying themselves, in contrast to everyone else, proud people suffer sorrow. On the one hand, they feel a great desire to join in the entertainment, but on the other, they remain aloof out of fear that they will demean themselves if they demonstrate undignified behavior.
Because of their own approach, these people are forced to live with their obstinacy in a cold and lonely world. If they were able to show a submissive character towards Allah and the faithful, all these troubles would be at an end.
With submission, they would acquire cheerfulness, tranquility and happiness in place of sorrow because a submissive person has no fear of making mistakes. When a mistake he's made is pointed out to him, he immediately turns towards Allah to ask for forgiveness and corrects his intentions and behavior.
Moreover, through his devotion, he regards the correction as a blessing for him and is happy to think that it is a means of developing himself further. He sets store not on what others think of him, but on Allah's approval. Obviously the spiritual state and the life of a person who thinks like this are quite different from those of a person who suffers tension and discomfort because of his pride.
Never forget that pride is the basic characteristic of satan. It caused his expulsion from Paradise, his condemnation by Allah and has ensured his abode and torment in Hell. For this reason, people who forget their own feebleness with regards to the power of Allah and enter into competition with others out of unjustified pride should fear the same rewards as satan's.
Indeed Allah has pointed out that bitter torment in the Hereafter awaits people who cannot rescue themselves from the value judgments of the society of the ignorant and persist in their obstinacy in the name of personal honor. Allah tells us how those who pretend to worldly greatness will be called upon on that day:
Taste that! You are the mighty one, the noble one! (Surat ad-Dukhan: 49)
True honor and superiority are for people who behave submissively, inoffensively and gently while on Earth. Allah gives the faithful this good news:
If you avoid the serious wrong actions you have been forbidden, We will erase your bad actions from you and admit you by a Gate of Honor. (Surat an-Nisa': 31)
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