GUILT AND THE WAYS OF CURING IT

“O men! There has come to you indeed an admonition from your Lord and a healing for what is in the breasts and a guidance and a mercy for the believers.” Qur'an 10:57

The key of peace

When man recognizes the important fact that he has spent all his previous age in adversity and away from knowing Allah the Almighty, and His blessings (both apparent and hidden) which Allah has created and put at man’s hand totally and freely; when he recognizes that these great blessings bring him happiness and lead to goodness in this life and the afterlife; when he recognizes that these blessings are the key that opens the doors of the great mercy of Allah ; when he recognizes that he has spent most of these blessings of Allah in other than the right path, and consequently he has been afflicted with different minor and major sins, and he has suffered a manifest loss and tasted the meanness of servitude to bad tendencies and lusts and has been prevailed upon by Satan from outside and inside; when he understands this well, he must repair his degrading past and previous sins that were due to his ignorance, inadvertence and disobedience, and he must repair his bad deeds, his corrupted soul, and bad morals. He must repent and return to Allah so that the sun of moral life, which is full of purity and happiness, rises in his soul.

Yes! Man, in order to receive the wide mercy of Allah, must get power from His special care, and gain Divine blessing, must follow the way of repentance and return to Allah. He must walk in the Way with the feet of his heart, the light of his mind, pure and sincere intention, determination and continuous jihad. He must walk in this way with love and knowledge to purify his heart and soul from vices, abominable deeds, transgression, debauchery, evil and bad manners. Then he will be fit to join the caravan of the pure believers, the benevolent, the lovers, the worshippers, the followers of the Way of the Truth and the neighbors of the Divine sanctum. Instead of straying into the circle of mutiny and the darkness of the Divine wrath, he will live in the station suitable for him to enjoy the Divine mercy and care.

This wakefulness and attentiveness to one’s past, coming to repent, and trying to purify one’s soul from apparent and hidden sins is considered as the key of peace with Allah the Almighty and the return to the field of His mercy. Since repentance and returning to Allah are among the greatest worship, and the states which best show the firm relationship between man and his Creator (as it has been declared by many Qur’anic verses and traditions of Ahlul Bayt (s)); therefore, a repentant person has to pay attention to these concerns in order that he can realize this great worship and to make use of its many benefits and blessings.

Guilt is a disease

Every human being comes to this world pure and sound in mind and soul.

Stinginess, envy, hypocrisy, transgression and debauchery are not natural aspects of man, they are accidentals, coming to man because of a series of educational and social factors or because of the effects of friendships or the like.

The Prophet (s) said, “Everyone is born with (human) nature, but his parents either make him Jewish or Christian (change his natural beliefs).”[1]

A teacher, a friend or a deviant society has a great effect on making one deviant.

Because of these effects, one may get involved in intellectual mistakes, vices and bad deeds. This group of mistakes and sins is a series of diseases, but there is a cure. The Holy Qur'an confirms this meaning, and it declares that there is a way of recovery for these diseases and states of tension that result from latent dregs in the unconscious. The Holy Qur'an prescribes an effective cure by saying:

“O men, there has come to you indeed an admonition from your Lord and a healing for what is in the breasts, and it is a guidance and a mercy for the believers.” (10:57)

According to the Holy Qur'an, this disease may be a cause for the Divine forgiveness and mercy. Allah says:

“Except those who repent after that and amend, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (3:89)

Despair is disbelief

It is made clear by studying the Qur’anic verses and the traditions of Ahlul Bayt (s) that the apparent and hidden sins are a psychological disease and this disease is curable by the forgiveness and mercy of Allah. Sinful ones must try to rescue themselves from this dangerous impasse and deadly hole; they must try to cure this disease. Therefore, they must have hope and expect the forgiveness and mercy of Allah. They must rely on Allah and depend on this positive hope to reach the actual repentance and the true return. Then they must make peace with the Beloved. Finally, they must repair the damage that resulted from all previous sins and remove obstacles that stand in the way of repentance. Man is able to do these things, and turning to Allah and repairing the previous sins are legal obligations, whereas laziness, weak determination and keeping to the satanic motto “all that has passed has passed, and all that will come will come” is prohibited and equal to disbelief.

Allah says:

“…and despair not of Allah's mercy; surely none despairs of Allah's mercy except the unbelieving people.” Qur’an 12:87

Of course, sinful ones, who want to get the forgiveness and mercy of Allah, have to have hope and expectation. Hope is fostered by serious repentance, giving up disobedience, repairing the previous sins, paying back to people what is owed to them, offering missed obligations and reforming conduct, deeds and morals. Then hope and expectation become possible. For example, the correct hope of a farmer is to plow his fields in autumn to remove obstacles and dregs, and then he sows seeds in the spring, waters the crop in the summer and hopes that his seeds will grow, until, again in the autumn, a rich harvest is his reward.

If hope and expectation are not actively fostered, they will be just empty hope and unfruitful expectation, like a farmer who expects to get a yield without working his farm by plowing, seeding and watering. Such illusory and unfruitful hope is talked about in a very important tradition. Someone said to Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (s), “Some people commit sins and say ‘we expect (the mercy of Allah)”. Abu Abdullah (s) said, “These people sway with wishes. They just tell lies. They do not hope. He who hopes for something tries to get it, and he who fears something runs away from it.”[2]

According to this tradition, expecting the mercy of Allah must be accompanied with abstaining from sins, avoiding vices and doing good deeds so that one can be fit to get the forgiveness and mercy of Allah. In order to be safe from the torment of hell, you must first pluck out the causes for deserving torment that lie deep within you.

Curer

It should be clear to sinners that sin is not found in man by nature but it is an accidental disease coming to man’s heart and soul due to many causes as any other disease that attacks man’s body. As a sick man has to go to the doctor to get the required drugs, so a sick man with a moral disease has to go to a doctor who is specialist in such diseases. He must get the doctor’s instructions and follow them in order to pluck this disease out of his heart and soul, however difficult and chronic that disease is. The doctors of such diseases are Allah the Almighty, the Prophets (s), the Imams (s) and the faithful ulama.

The divine prescription to cure these kinds of diseases is the Holy Qur'an. The prescriptions of the Prophets (s), the Imams (s) and the ulama are their traditions, advice, maxims and effective preaching.

The Prophet (s) said, “O people, you are as the sick and the Lord of the worlds is as the doctor. The goodness of the sick is what the doctor does and prepares and not what the sick like and suggest.”

There are many traditions narrated from the Prophets (s), the Imams (s) and the ulama in which they are referred to as “doctors.”

The sick of sins and guilt, in order to cure their sicknesses, must follow the orders of these kind doctors, follow their instructions and submit to their advices. They must not despair of recovery because this is the only way leading to repentance, which leads to reaching a high rank of human perfection.

It is necessary in this part of our research to refer to some instructions and prescriptions of these moral doctors to clarify the causes of such diseases and to diagnose the defects so that sinners may benefit from them, be cured and come back to honesty.

Allah says:

“Say: If you love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” Qur’an 3:31

“O you who believe, be careful of (your duty to) Allah and speak the right word. He will put your deeds into a right state for you, and forgive you your faults; and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, he indeed achieves a mighty success.” Qur’an 33:70-71

“O you who believe, shall I lead you to merchandise that may deliver you from a painful chastisement. You shall believe in Allah and His Messenger, and struggle hard in Allah's way with your property and your lives; that is better for you, did you but know. He will forgive you your faults and cause you to enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow an goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetuity; that is the mighty achievement.” Qur’an 61:10-12

“If you lend unto Allah a goodly loan, He will double it for you and will forgive you, for Allah is Responsive, Clement.” Qur’an 64:17

“And (as to) those who do evil deeds, then repent after that and believe, your Lord after that is most surely Forgiving, Merciful.” Qur’an 7:153

“…then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” Qur’an 9:5

“And others have confessed their faults, they have mingled a good deed and an evil one; maybe Allah will turn to them (mercifully); surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” Qur’an 9:102

We understand from these Qur’anic verses that if sinners want to gain Allah’s forgiveness and mercy, they want their repentance to be accepted by Allah, their bad deeds to be changed into white pages full of good deeds and they want to save themselves from the torment of the Day of Resurrection, they must know the following matters mentioned in the curative prescription; the Holy Qur'an:

1. Imitating the conducts and manners of the Prophet (s)
2. Being pious and avoiding sins
3. Saying the true and right things and not talking except in suitable time and occasion
4. Obeying Allah
5. Obeying the Messenger of Allah (s)
6. Believing in Allah
7. Believing in the Messenger of Allah (s)
8. Struggling (jihad) for the sake of Allah by spending monies and wealth
9. Struggling for the sake of Allah by sacrificing themselves
10. Lending to the poor and needy
11. Giving up sins and returning to Allah
12. Giving up false beliefs
13. Offering prayers
14. Paying zakat
15. Confessing their sins before Allah

Once a man came to the Prophet (s) and asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, what is the way of the People of Paradise.” The Prophet (s) said, “Truthfulness. If one becomes truthful, he becomes pious. When he becomes pious, he believes (in Allah), and when he believes he enters into Paradise.”

The man asked, “O messenger of Allah, what is the doing of the people of hell?”

The Prophet (s) said, “Telling lies. If one tells lies, he becomes debauched. When he becomes debauched, he disbelieves (in Allah). When he disbelieves he enters into hell.”[3]

One of the Prophet’s wives has said, “Once I asked the Prophet (s), ‘With what is a believer known?’ He said, ‘With gravity, leniency and truthfulness.’[4]

Prophet Dawood (David) (s) said, “O people, gather together, for I want to say something to you.” When people gathered at his door, he came out to them and said, “O people of Israel, let nothing enter you except good (permissible foods) and let nothing come out of your mouths except good (speech).”[5]

Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari narrated that he had heard the Prophet (s) saying to Ka’b bin Ujra, “He whose flesh has built up out of suht,[6] will not enter into Paradise; hell is worthier of him.”[7]

Imam Ali (s) has said, “Allah makes one who is taken from the meanness of sins to the honor of piety rich without money, powerful without helpers and entertained without an entertainer.”[8]

Imam Ali (s) has also said, “The worldly life is as a passage, and its people are two men (two kinds); one sells his self and he degrades it, and one buys his self and he makes it free.”[9]

It has been narrated that a man came to Imam Husayn (s) and said to him:

‘I am sinful and I cannot refrain from committing sins. Would you advise me with something?” Imam Husayn (s) said to him, “Do five things, and commit whatever sins you like. First: Do not eat the livelihood of Allah, and commit whatever sins you like! Second: Get out of the guardianship of Allah, and commit whatever sins you like! Third: Go to somewhere that Allah does not see you, and commit whatever sins you like! Fourth: When the Angel of Death comes to you to take out your soul, prevent him from doing that, and commit whatever sins you like! Fifth: When Angel Malik wants to put you into Fire, do not enter into it, and commit whatever sins you like!’[10]

Ali bin al-Husayn (Imam as-Sajjad) (s) has said, “Knowledge and perfection of religion of a Muslim are realized by avoiding talking about what does not concern him/her, avoiding disputing, being patient and having good manners.”[11]

Imam al-Baqir (s) has said, “If one is truthful, his deeds will be pure; if one is with good faith, his livelihood is increased and if one is dutiful to his relatives, he will live long.”[12]

Abu Abdullah (Imam as-Sadiq) (s) has said, “The most pious one is he who refrains when being suspicious. The best worshipper is he who performs the obligations. The most ascetic one is he who avoids prohibited things. The most diligent one is he who refrains from sins.”[13]

Imam as-Sadiq (s) has also said,

‘Allah has mercy on whoever feels shy of Him with real shyness. Therefore he keeps the head and what it has had (keep the mind by thinking in the right way), the abdomen and what it includes (not to eat anything impermissible or ill gotten), remembers death and punishments, perceives that Paradise is surrounded by calamities and hell is surrounded by lusts.’[14]

In the books of Hadith, many important traditions of the Prophets (s) and the Imams (s) have been included concerning matters that bring us happiness and keep us safe from misery and punishment. What we have mentioned above was a drop in that great sea of divine wisdom and human knowledge. It has maxims and advice from men of understanding and wisdom that is a curative prescription for us and a way toward spiritual safety and psychological health. It is a way of rescue from sin’s pollution. It is good to mention some examples of these maxims and spiritual knowledge here:

One of the wise men said, ‘There are four things that we looked for in four things, but we failed, and then we found them in four other things. We looked for wealth in money, but we found it in satisfaction. We looked for honor in ancestry, but we found it in piety. We looked for comfort in the abundance of money, but we found it in having less money. We looked for blessing in cloths, food and gaining what we liked, but we found it in a healthy body.’[15]

Luqman, in advice to his son, said, ‘O my son, know well that you will be asked tomorrow about four things when you will stand before Allah the Almighty: about your youth, how you have spent it; your age, how you have worn it out; your money, wherefrom you have gained it, and on what you have spent it. Therefore, you have to prepare answers for that.’[16]

A wise man has said,  ‘The Ulama have agreed on four words and I have chosen them from the four sacred Books. The Torah states, “He, who is satisfied, is satiate.” The Psalms state, “He, who keeps silent, becomes safe.” The Bible states, “He, who gives up what does not concern him and keeps away from whomever he does not expect goodness from, will be saved.” And the Qur'an states, “He, who resorts to Allah, is guided to the right path.’

Sulayman bin Ali has said to Hameed at-Taweel, “Would you preach something to me?” Hameed said, “If you, when disobeying Allah in your loneliness, think that He sees you, then you trespass a great thing and if you think that He does not see you, then you disbelieve.”[17]

It has been mentioned in a tradition that Gabriel had said, “O Muhammad, if our worship was in the earth, we would do three things: watering the Muslims, helping the ones who have big families and covering sins (of people).”[18]

A wise man has said,

“O my Lord, the loftiest worship in my heart is expecting Your mercy, the sweetest speech of my tongue is praising You, and the loveliest time to me is the time when I meet You.’’[19]

One of the men of understanding has said,

‘Iblis, curse be upon him, has become miserable because of five things: he did not confess his guilt; he did not feel sorry about it; he did not blame himself; he did not intend to repent and he despaired of the mercy of Allah. Whereas Adam has become happy because of five things: he confessed his guilt; he felt sorry about it; he blamed himself; he hastened to repent and did not despair of the mercy of Allah.’[20]

Yahya bin Ma’ath has said,

‘Whoever’s satiety increases, his flesh increases. Whoever’s flesh increases, his lust increases. Whoever’s lust increases, his sin increases. Whoever’s sin increases, his heart becomes severe, and whoever’s heart becomes severe drowns in the evils and pleasures of this worldly life.’[21]

It has been said that all of the saints have three qualities: keeping silent, for safety is in silence; having hunger, for it is the key of goodness; tiring the soul in worshipping, offering prayers in the night and fasting in the day.’

There is no doubt that sinners that follow the orders of Allah for curing the diseases of sins and that follow the instructions of the Prophet (s), the Infallible Imams (s) and the ulama, their sins will be forgiven and their souls will recover from the bad effects of moral diseases and psychological illnesses.

Sinners must pay attention to the fact that the advent of the Prophets (s), the guardianship of the Imams (s) and the knowledge of the ulama are for the sake of curing the intellectual, spiritual, moral and behavioral diseases of people. Therefore, it is not justifiable for sinners to sit at home desperate of recovery while driving away the light of hope and expectation from their hearts by keeping their sins so that they become more miserable. They must follow the teachings of Allah and the instructions of the Prophets (s) and the Imams (s), especially concerning the great mercy of Allah, His call to sinners to repent and His promise to forgive them. Hence, there is no way for a sinner except to repent and turn to Allah the Almighty.

Repenting is a prompt duty

We referred before to this instruction and said that sin is a psychological disease that has a cure. The doctors who cure this disease are Allah, the Prophets (s), the Imams (s) and the ulama. Therefore, the diseased must submit to these doctors and follow their instructions so that they can recover and become sound psychologically. Then they can spiritually join the caravan of the good slaves of Allah.

Those diseased with sin have to see that, as with bodily diseases, they should hasten to the doctor as soon as the symptoms appear in order to get rid of that disease before it becomes chronic and incurable. They also have to hasten to cure the disease of sin by following the instructions of the True Doctor (Allah) and by repenting and turning to Allah to get rid of the bad effects of sin and the darkness of disobedience. They must get out of the circle of Satan and sinful desires; remove from their hearts the screens of disobedience and the dregs of sins and let the light of Allah’s acceptance of their repentance and turning, and the light of mercy and forgiveness shine in their hearts. Then they will become psychologically and spiritually sound and safe.

Sinners, from the first moment they awake from the darkness of carnality and desire and notice their miserable state before all the divine mercifulness and generosity, must spend the rest of their days and nights in obedience, worshipping, serving people and being kind to them, and they must purify their hearts from the dregs of disobedience and the darkness of sins. They must refrain from all the apparent and hidden sins. They must cut off their relations with Satan and desire and turn to Allah to repair all that they have committed. They must follow the right path, humble themselves before Allah and keep on worshipping Him and helping His people.

This duty, according to jurisprudence and the Sharia, is a prompt obligation. It means that we must repent at the very moment we notice that we have committed a sin and disobeyed our Creator, and rebelled against His Guardianship as Generous Creator, and fought His kind Lordship. When sinners notice this, they must, immediately and without any delay, repent, turn to Allah and pluck the roots of sins out of their souls and lives. They must regret their sin and remove all the effects of sin so they are able to purify their hearts and gain the mercy and forgiveness of Allah. If sinners delay repentance, hoping that they will be able to repent in the future, this is itself considered a sin and a kind of disobedience. This will lead to feeling safe from the punishment of Allah and will insure that they will keep on committing sins.

Abdul Adheem al-Hasani narrated from Imam al-Jawad (s) from Imam ar-Redha (s) that Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (s) had explained to Amr bin Ubayd the major sins according to the Qur'an and said, “…and feeling safe from the punishment of Allah.”[22]

Hence, sinners have no rights to appoint future times for their repentance and are not allowed to procrastinate in turning to Allah. Sinners are not permitted to put off the cure of their disease (of sins) until old age and infirmity.

What is the guarantee for sinners that the future, when they promise to reform themselves, will come to them?

Who can guarantee that sinful young men will live until old age to repair the sins they have committed during their youth?

Who knows that death will not snatch the lives of sinners during their indifference to Allah when they are committing their sins and immersing themselves in forbidden lusts?

How many sinners procrastinated concerning their repentance and put it off for the future, but that future did not come!

How many youth, polluted with sins say, “We now live in the prime of life and we have to enjoy pleasures and lusts, but when we become old we will repent.” But death did not give them time and it snatched them unexpectedly!

How many the sinners want to repent and turn to Allah, but they keep repeating sins and being disobedient, until their souls are shackled with the chains of the Satan and desire? They become fixed in their sin and disobedience and the ability to repent is removed from them so they cannot ever turn to their Generous Creator. Moreover, repeating sins, keeping on being disobedient and being far from Allah makes them deny the Divine mission, deny the true proofs, deny the Day of Resurrection, deny the punishment in the afterlife and deride the signs of Allah. Therefore, they close the door of mercy, forgiveness, repentance and turning to Allah.

Then evil was the end of those who did evil, because they rejected the signs of Allah and used to mock them.” Qur’an 30:10

Sin demolishes faith and belief, corrupts morals and personality, degrades dignity and leads, in the end, to denying the signs of Allah. Sin mocks the Prophets (s), the Imams (s) and the Holy Qur'an, and then no advice or preaching will be useful to sinners or will affect their hearts.

“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the earth, is prepared for those who guard (against evil.” Qur’an 3:133

In order to purify the heart from the effects of the apparent and hidden sins and to gain the forgiveness and mercy of Allah, it is one of the most important obligations for us to hasten promptly and immediately to repent and turn to Allah. Delaying repentance even for one moment is something despised and ugly. In fact, as some Qur’anic verses tell us, delaying repentance for any reason is injustice and aggression against ourselves, and this injustice and aggression is another sin added to our record.

“…and whoever does not repent, indeed these are the unjust.” Qur’an, 49:11

Sinners must know that Allah , His Prophets (s) and His saints hate sinners to such a degree that Jesus Christ (s) often said to his disciples:

“O disciples, be beloved to Allah by hating the sinners, be near to Allah by keeping away from them and ask for His contentment by being discontented with them.”[23]

Sinners have to notice that when committing any sin their dignity and personality become degraded before Allah and their honor and values are lowered to the level of the animals and beasts. In fact, they may be more deviant and lower than animals, and they will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection in an inhuman shape.

Imam Ali (s) said to al-Bara’ bin Aazib, “How have you found this religion?” Al-Bara’ bin Aazib answered, “We were like the Jews before we followed you. Worship was light for us but when we followed you and the true faith got in our hearts, we found worship so heavy inside us.” Imam Ali (s) said, ‘…and then people will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection in the shape of donkeys and you will be resurrected one by one taken to Paradise.’[24]

Repentance is an ethical obligation

The ulama and scholars have written many books about ethics. They have divided morals into two parts: virtues and vices. They have classified pride, haughtiness, selfishness and the like under vices, and they have put humbleness under the virtues. They have discussed this subject in detail. Sin is a result of man’s haughtiness before Allah, whereas repentance is the delicious fruit of humbleness. Haughtiness occupied Iblis when Allah ordered him to prostrate himself before Adam (s). Then Iblis was cursed and exiled from the sanctum of the Divine mercy. It was haughtiness before the Divine order.

But the repentance of Adam (s) and his wife, which had been accepted by Allah, was the fruit of humbleness and submission to the Almighty; therefore the ulama have said that haughtiness was the reason behind driving man out of the Paradise and keeping him away from the mercy of Allah. Therefore, it is obligatory to avoid pride and haughtiness because humbleness and submission to Allah lead us near to Allah and encourage us to obey and worship Allah. They also lead us to apologize before Allah for our sins and disobediences and then to repent and turn to Allah. We have to be servile and submissive to Allah and to turn to Allah with crying eyes and fearing heart. We have to determine sincerely to give up sins forever and to repair all we have committed before.

It has been mentioned in the following Hadith qudsi[25] that Allah talked to Prophet Moses (s) saying, “O son of Imran, give Me from your eyes tears, from your heart reverence, from your body submission and then call upon Me in the darkness of nights you will find me near and responding.”[26]

The Holy Qur'an, when talking about Iblis, says:

“He said: What hindered you so that you did not prostrate when I commanded you? He said: I am better than he: Thou hast created me of fire, while him Thou didst create of dust. He said: Then get forth from this (state), for it does not befit you to behave proudly therein. Go forth; therefore, surely you are of the abject ones.” (7:12-13)

The Holy Qur'an shows that the misery, meanness and exiling from the mercy of Allah , which had happened to Iblis, are the poisonous fruits of haughtiness before the orders of Allah ; the haughtiness that caused him to get out of the sanctum of Allah’s mercy and fall down into the valley of meanness and punishment. Hence, we must avoid pride and haughtiness because this satanic state prevents us from obeying the orders of Allah the Almighty.

Allah has said about Adam (s) and his wife:

“They said: Our Lord! We have been unjust to ourselves, and if Thou forgive us not, and have (not) mercy on us, we shall certainly be of the losers.” Qur’an 7:23

Thus, the Holy Qur'an has mentioned Adam (s) and his wife’s confession of disobedience and their asking for forgiveness and mercy of Allah as good and desirable. It means that the Holy Qur'an has mentioned this confession as a kind of repentance and turning (to Allah) by Adam (s) and his wife. The Sura of al-Baqara, verse 37 mentions the acceptance of this repentance too. We must pay attention to the fact that confession and turning to Allah are precious results of spiritual humbleness, hearty reverence and psychological submission. According to the ulama, pride and haughtiness make a dark screen between us and our Creator, but humbleness and submissiveness make a paved way and an open door between believers and Allah. Holding on to pride and haughtiness is a great sin, whereas avoiding them is a great obligation. It is necessary that we should be humble before Allah and other people. We should make use of this humbleness to purify our hearts and souls from the dregs of sin and the darkness of disobedience and to grace our souls with worship and obedience. Repenting of sins is, indeed, a sign of being humble before Allah the Almighty and of being free from pride and haughtiness. Repentance is one of the fundamental moral obligations.

We read in the traditions that talk about pride and haughtiness that Hakeem has said, “Once I asked Abu Abdullah (Imam as-Sadiq (s)) about the least sign of atheism and he said, “Pride is the least of it.”[27]

Al-Husayn bin al-Ala’ has said, “I have heard Imam as-Sadiq (s) saying, “Pride may be in the evil people of every kind. Pride is the dress (aspect) of Allah and whoever tries to put on the dress of Allah, Allah will make him meaner and lower.”[28]

Imam al-Baqir (s) has said, “Glory is the dress of Allah and pride is His loincloth and whoever gets something of that, Allah will throw him into Hell.”[29]

Imam as-Sadiq (s) has said about humbleness, “In the Heaven there are two angels responsible for people; whoever (of people) becomes humble before Allah, they exalt him and whoever becomes proud, they lower him.”[30]

The Prophet (s) has said, “Whoever is humble before Allah, Allah exalts him, whoever is proud, Allah lowers him, whoever is moderate in his living, Allah bestows more blessings on him, whoever wastes, Allah deprives him of blessings and whoever remembers death much Allah loves him.”[31]

In a Qudsi tradition, Allah said to Prophet David (s), “O Dawood (David), the closest people to Allah are the humble ones and the farthest people from Allah are the haughty ones.”[32]