Humbleness; A Characteristic of Believers
One of the important principles that leads to respect is humbleness and anyone who is humble will become popular.
Humbleness is among the characteristics of believers mentioned in the Quran: “The worshipers of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth, and when the ignorant address them say: ‘Peace.’” (Verse 63 of Surah Al-Furqan)
Humbleness means not seeing oneself better than others and includes words and deeds that honor others.
Like other moral virtues, humbleness is a virtue between two extremes. The two extremes are arrogance and abjectness. Humbleness is something between the two and is praiseworthy.
One who tries to overtake others like himself in everything and considers himself better than others is arrogant. This is not worthy of praise, nor is the action of one who goes to extremes in self-effacement.
Humbleness is worthy of praise when it is in moderation. It has many benefits, including:
1- Order and organization of affairs
It has been narrated from Imam Ali (AS) that humbleness helps to bring order and organization to society’s affairs.
A society needs cooperation and rapport among its members. If people are arrogant and show conceit to one another, naturally the order and organization in the society will be lost and things are not get done. So humbleness is necessary in society.
2- Popularity
Obviously, arrogant persons are hated by people and no one likes them. Humbleness, on the other hand, makes one popular. Some may think humbleness causes one to lose his status and respect in society whereas, to the contrary, humble individuals are respected and liked more in society.
That is why Imam Ali (AS) has said that the fruit of the tree of humbleness is amity and the fruit of the tree of arrogance is people’s curse.
