21: Self-Righteousness - The Sin of Attitude
Do not ascribe righteousness to your self,
Allah alone knows best who is truly pious.
[Qur'an 53:32]
Righteousness is an obligation
It is an obligation upon us as decent, believing human beings to pursue and manifest the following throughout our lives:
- Ihsaan
doing what is good
"Surely, Allah has prescribed goodness in everything"
to the best of our ability
"Do what you are supposed to do to the best of your ability"
for the right reason
Allah judges "actions by the sincerity of the intentions" - Taqwa - Piety/God-consciousness/Sincere dutifulness/ Integrity
- when our words match our actions and our actions match our beliefs and there is sincerity in every dimension of our being.
- we are conscious of our eventual accountability to Allah for our lives
"O you who profess belief! Be sincerely dutiful to Allah. Consider carefully what you sent forth for the future; be sincerely dutiful to Allah. Surely, Allah is fully informed about all your activities"
[Qur'an 59:18]
Righteousness is Living with Integrity
Integrity is about being honest, being honorable and being your self at your best. Integrity is about moral maturity; what it is to think and act in a way that reflects the full stature of a good, responsible and rational human being.
Self Righteousness is being confident in one's own righteousness, making one high-mindedly moralistic and often intolerant of the opinions of others as well imposing one's view as the only correct perspective on issues.
Self-Righteousness is ...
- considering one's self better than others due to one's own estimation of one's goodness/holiness/piety
"Do not ascribe righteousness to your self, Allah alone knows best who is truly pious".[Qur'an 53:32] - self-centeredness, while righteousness is God-consciousness.
Jesus/'Isa (pbuh) exemplified this difference between self-centered self-righteousness and righteousness when he was once praised by his disciples as "good master" and he responded: "Why do you call me good? There is none truly good but God."
As people of faith we should know that:
Alhamdu lillahi rabbil 'aalameen - "ultimately all forms of praise is due to our Creator". - is a spiritual deficiency that leads one to regard himself/herself more virtuous than others.
This borders on an arrogance synonymous with that of Iblees who refused to acknowledge the status of Adam (pbuh) due to his own assumed superiority by stating Ana khairum minhu - "I am better than him". - judging others by your "great" standard and desiring other people to be like you because "that is the way everyone is supposed to be". Such people have the annoying habit of emphasizing the good they do as the most important good and have this arrogantly "humble" attitude that others are lacking in faith because they do not do that which you choose to consider as most important. They are those who may say, "Thank God I am not like ____" but are not really thanking God as much as they are praising themselves.
- an odd disease that makes everyone else "sick" except the one who has it. (He/she usually feels better)
- an attitude of superiority that often leads to fault-finding.
Overcoming Self-Righteousness
- Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) reminded us that
"Part of being a good Muslim is minding your own business" - Prophet Muhammad advised:
"Glad tidings to those more concerned with their own faults than focusing on the faults of others"
Confucious said:
"The great person calls to attention the good points in others while the miserable person calls to attention the defects in others" (Analects12:16)
Martin Luther King rightly said:
"The highest form of maturity is self inquiry."
So consider carefully how you feel about your self and about others, why you feel the way you feel, and what you
say about people.