Conceit and Self-Centeredness

IQNA – The first moral evil that led one astray was conceit and it can be said that this is the origin of other moral vices.

Conceit is a moral vice that leads one to self-alienation, ignorance about oneself and others, and forgetting one’s personal and social position. Conceit leads one away from God and close to Satan. It distorts realities and causes material and spiritual harms. Conceited people are always hated in society and suffer from isolation.

Conceit also causes other moral vices such as self-centeredness, selfishness, hating others, jealousy, etc. One of the main reasons Satan was banished from heaven was his conceit. This was also the reason why many peoples in history rejected divine prophets’ call.

Satan was banished from heaven because he refused to prostrate before Adam (AS) as he considered himself to be superior to Adam (AS).

“God asked, ‘What made you disobey Me?’ Satan replied, ‘I am better than Adam, for You have created me out of fire and Adam out of clay.’” (Verse 12 of Surah Al-Aaraf)

God informs us in the Quran about the fate of those with conceit and vanity so that we would learn a lesson and avoid this moral vice:

“They will call out to them, saying: ‘Were we not with you?’ ‘Yes,’ they will reply, ‘but you tempted yourselves, you waited (for problems to befall the believers), and you doubted, and were deluded by your own fancies until the Command of Allah came, and the deluder (Satan) deluded you concerning Allah.”

One of such peoples were the people of Noah (AS):

“The disbelievers among his people said, ‘We do not believe that you are any better than the rest of us; we see that only the worthless hasty ones, the lowliest among us follow you. Thus, we do not think that you are superior to us, rather you are all liars.’” (Verse 27 of Surah Hud)

When one is deluded by vanity and conceit, he must remember that the quality he is proud of in himself, God has that quality infinitely, so there is no point in being proud of it.