Kibir is a disease of the heart. Diseases of the heart are not shown by the speeches that one utter but are shown by the actions of a person. When a person said that he was the first Malay to graduate as an optometrist, he was telling a truth and it is not a sign that there is Kibir in his heart or he is arrogant. If a person says that he is a great man that statement is wrong and should not be uttered by any man except Allah. Only Allah can says that I am great because the truth is no one is great except Allah. When a person says that he is great, he is telling lies as no one is great except Allah. When Allah is telling us that He is great, Allah is telling the truth as no one is great except Allah. When a person lies, he sins and the more a person lies the more sins that person will have. The more sins a person has the more unhappiness the person will have and the more stress his soul will encounter. Stress is the result of having sins. When a person who actually was not the first person to become an optometrists in Malaysia told others that he is the first person to become an optometrists in Malaysia, he is telling a lie and he is sinful but it is not the sign that he has Kibir or he is arrogant.

When Prophet Muhammad saw said to the companions that the best among you is the one who is good to his family and Prophet saw said that I am good to my family, he was telling the truth and that was not a sign that he has Kibir or he was arrogant. On the other hand, a person who has arrogance or Kibir in his heart would say that Prophet Muhammad saw has Kibir. The Kibir that he saw was actually his own Kibir and not in Prophet Muhammad saw. Prophet Muhammad saw has no Kibir and he has no love for power and fame and he was not a politician who was hungry for power. However a person who has love for power and fame and who was a politician like Abu Jahal and Abu Sufian would had seen Prophet Muhammad saw as a person like them who were hungry for power, women, fame and wealth of this world. They accused the Prophet saw as having the love for power, women and wealth and at one time they sent a representative on their behalf to the Prophet Muhammad saw requesting the Prophet saw to stop the work of Dakwah and in return they were ready to give to the Prophet saw whatever the Prophet saw wanted either in the forms of wealth, power or women.
Once, the Prophet Muhammad saw said with the approximate meaning, make abundant zikir or remembrance of Allah until the hypocrites will call you as those who have Kibir or Riak. Who has Kibir? Is the one who remembers Allah more is having Kibir or the Hypocrites? Remember Allah in abundance means the person constantly remembers Allah at all time and the sign that he remembers Allah in abundance at all time is that he obeys the orders of Allah at all time and in all conditions. It is not possible that the one who is constantly in remembrance of Allah has Kibir or is arrogant. The most likely person who has Kibir or arrogance is the Hypocrite and because of his Kibir or arrogance, a person becomes a Hypocrite. Hypocrites are hell dwellers and they are the one that has Kibir or Riak. When a hypocrite looks at the Muslims with iman, he is looking at a person who has light in his soul. A Muslim with iman is like a mirror and when a Hypocrite looks at Muslims with iman, the hypocrite is actually looking at himself in a mirror. When the Hypocrite looks at a mirror, he is looking at no other than himself. That was the reason why Prophet Muhammad saw said with approximate meaning,, make abundant zikir until the hypocrites call you Ahli Riak or a person who has Kibir or is arrogant. An arrogant person cannot be judged by their speeches but by their actions. A person who has Kibir or is arrogant will not obey the orders of Allah particularly when he has to sacrifice his ego or self-esteem. A person with Kibir will obey the orders of Allah only in situations when he does not have to sacrifice his ego or pride. He will value his pride and ego more than the orders of Allah and because of this he disobeys the orders of Allah. Iblis was a great worshipper of Allah and he made abundant prayers and remembrance of Allah and he had more knowledge than all the angels but Iblis has Kibir. Kibir is a disease of the heart and it is not known to others and to the one who has Kibir but in certain occasions when he has to obey the orders of Allah and in order to do that he has to sacrifice his ego or pride, Kibir becomes manifested or come to the surface. We will be tested by Allah and the reason why Allah is testing us is to clean our souls from such diseases such as Kibir.

Iblis has the disease of Kibir and he obtained the disease of Kibir because he forgot that the One that gave him the abilities to perform prayers, make zikir and to have abundant knowledge was Allah. Iblis thought and believed that he was the one that performed abundant prayers , made the abundant zikir and obtained the abundant knowledge. Iblis forgot that no one can do anything except with the permissions of Allah and that no one can obtain anything except when it is given by Allah. Because of this wrong thinking and believes, the abundant prayers and zikir that Iblis has done have led Iblis to have Kibir and Riak. Kibir in the heart of Iblis came out to the surface when Allah ordered Iblis to prostrate before Adam. It is not the general order of Allah to order men to prostrate before another creation of Allah. Allah orders men to prostrate only to Allah and not to prostrate before His other creations but in order to cleanse the heart of Iblis from the disease of Kibir, Allah ordered Iblis to prostrate before Adam, a creation of Allah whom Allah has created from clay while Iblis was created from fire. When Iblis disobeyed this order of Allah, Iblis was cursed by Allah. When Allah asked Iblis, why he did not prostrate before Adam, Iblis said how could I prostrate before Adam when I am better than Adam, You created me from fire while Adam was created only from clay. Iblis thought that he was superior to Adam because he was created from fire. Iblis failed to understand that the superiority of anyone before Allah is not according to from what he was created but according to the actions that he has done. Iblis should know that no matter from what he was created, the orders of Allah are superior above others. In this particular case the order was given to Iblis and to all of the angels in order to erase the disease of Kibir in the heart of Iblis. Had Iblis obeyed this order of Allah and prostrated before Adam, the diseases of Kibir inside the heart of Iblis would had been eliminated and Iblis would had been included among those who are righteous. The order was given to Iblis in order to make Iblis become successful. Had Iblis obeyed, Iblis would had become successful and since Iblis had disobeyed, Iblis became unsuccessful. In all situations we should obey Allah and in the obedience of the orders of Allah we will become successful.

Orders of Allah such as five time’s daily prayers, fasting in the month of Ramadhan, paying zakat and performing pilgrimage to Mecca has no direct interpersonal contact with other men in its executions. However the order of inviting people to good and forbidding people from evils has direct contact with other people. When the orders of Allah have no contact with people, the amounts of mujahadah (difficulty) to do the orders are less compared to the orders of inviting others to Allah. Allah orders us to invite mankind to good and preventing them from evils. We have to visit everyone because we have been sent to mankind as our Prophet Muhammad saw had been sent to entire mankind. We cannot deny the rights of the non-Muslims to be invited to accept the Great Kalimah and we cannot deny the rights of the Muslims to be reminded about the meaning of the Great Kalimah and to invite them to obey the orders of Allah. We have to visit each and every person whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, whether they are behaving good or bad to us. We have been ordered by Allah to visit everyone not because to please ourselves but to please Allah alone. When we visit someone whom we like and the person also likes us, there will be no difficulty on our part to do that but it will be a very difficult thing to do when we have to visit someone whom we do not like to visit and the person also does not like us to visit them. When we do the orders of Allah that we do not like to do, yet we still do it only to please Allah, then our Kibir will decrease and our heart will become more enlightened. The less Kibir we have the more our hearts will shine. When our hearts are devoid of Kibir then our hearts will be full of light. When the heart is full of light, then the heart will be able to know the rights and the wrongs and the body will be able to do the right actions and to leave the evils.

When we visit someone to invite him to recite the Great Kalimah or to remind him about the Great Kalimah only to please Allah and in doing so we were scolded by the person whom we visit yet we remain calm and exercise patience, our Kibir will be great ly reduced. Practicing the Sunnah of the Prophets of visiting every person without exception and to call them to Allah (Umumi Jaulah) will greatly reduce our Kibir. Those who have the disease of Kibir in their hearts will not be able to do Umumi Jaulah and to do umumi Jaulah is very hard for men inflicted with the disease of Kibir. With frequent umumi Jaulah, the disease of Kibir in our heart will decrease. When someone come to our house only to remind us about Allah and His orders or to invite us to accept the Great Kalimah, yet we do not like the person’s action of reminding or inviting us to Allah and we scold the person, this is a sign and symptom that we have Kibir in our hearts. When we only like to give lectures to others yet we ourselves do not like to listen to other people’s lectures although the lectures are good, this is also a sign and symptom that we have Kibir. When we can only be in the company of people of our level and standard and not with the lower levels and standards, this is also a sign and symptom of Kibir in our hearts. Kibir is a very dangerous disease of the heart and anyone who has the disease of Kibir even as small as an atom will not be able to enter the Jannah. Kibir has to be cleased from a person’s heart before the person can enter the Jannah.

When Iblis disobeyed the order of Allah to prostrate before Adam, we can interpret that the cause of Iblis’s disobedience was Kibir. But when I disobeyed the elders of Tabligh Jamat on matters related to Dakwah to non-Muslims, it cannot be interpreted that the cause of my disobedience was because I have Kibir. Elders of Tabligh Jamat have asked me not to do the work of Dakwah to the non-Muslims and if I persisted in doing Dakwah to the non-Muslims, I would not be allowed to give public speeches to members of Tabligh Jamat all over Malaysia and I would not be allowed to make any decision on matters related to the running of Tabligh Jamat in Malaysia. I remained as a member of the Malaysian Syura Council but I have no power to make any decision. When I decided to leave Tabligh Jamat and continue doing the work of Dakwah to the non-Muslims, some members of Tabligh Jamat called me Iblis who has Kibir in his heart. My disobedience to the orders of the Elders of Tabligh Jamat was not Kibir on my part but it is my steadfastness in the obedience of Allah. I rather lose my status as a decision maker in Tabligh Jamat and lose my rights to give public speeches to the members of Tabligh Jamat rather than to abandon the order of Allah to give Dakwah to the non-Muslims. When the elders of the Quraish asked Prophet Muhammad saw to abandon the work of Dakwah to the non-Muslims in Mecca in return for the most beautiful women in Mecca, the wealth and the power, Prophet Muhammad saw refused to accept the offer and he stood with steadfastness to the order of Allah. In the most famous words of the Prophet saw, the Prophet saw said, If you give me the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left hand, I will not leave the work of Dakwah( to the non-Muslims), either I die because of this work or I come out with triumph.

Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
May 2011
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre