BRANCHES OF FAITH: HUMILITY (Part 1)
In Arabic, the word التَّوَاضُع (Humility) is derived from الضَّعَة which literally means to be submissive and insignificant. In practice, it means that a believer should display his weakness & inability in relation to the greatness and power of Allah.
In English, the word “humility” comes from the Latin root word which means “ground.” Thus, being humble means to you lower yourself to the ground, not elevate yourself above others. Humility is to not see yourself as superior to others due to social status, education, ethnicity, or colour.
There are two types of humility in Islam: humility before our Creator, and humility towards His creation.
This humility comes from knowing Allah and recognising his greatness, while knowing oneself, faults and weaknesses.
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
”إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَوْحَى إِلَىَّ أَنْ تَوَاضَعُوا حَتَّى لاَ يَفْخَرَ أَحَدٌ عَلَى أَحَدٍ وَلَا يَبْغِيَ أَحَدٌ عَلَى أَحَدٍ.”
“Allah has revealed to me that you should humble yourselves to one another so that no person will boast over another nor commit injustice against another” [Muslim].