Kibr and Kufr of Shaytan

Kibr (pride/arrogance) and Kufr (disbelief) are 'Mutalaziman, ' meaning the former necessarily leads to the latter and such was the case of Shaytan as Allah says in the Qur'aan, 'And (remember) when We said to the Angels, 'Prostrate yourselves before Adam.' And they prostrated except Iblees, he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers (Kuffar).' [Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 34]
The Messenger of Allah (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam) described pride saying, 'Pride is dissatisfaction with the truth, and belittling the people.'
[Saheeh Muslim] Iblees openly expressed his pride when he refused to obey the Command of Allah, questioned His Wisdom and belittled Adam (alaihis-salaam) . When, Allah questioned Iblees, 'What prevented you (O Iblees) that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you?’ Iblees said, 'I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay.' [(7): 12] So, Allah dismissed Iblees, he said, '(O Iblees) get down from this (Paradise),' and next He, the Exalted, mentioned the reason for it in His Saying, 'it is not for you to be arrogant here.'

Imam Ibnul-Qayyim said while explaining the categories of Kufr, 'The major Kufr is of five kinds, Kufr of denial, Kufr of arrogance and pride, Kufr of aversion, Kufr of doubt and Kufr of hypocrisy (*2).
…Concerning the Kufr of arrogance and pride: It was the Kufr of Shaytan because he did not deny the Command of Allah, or reject it but he met it with pride and arrogance. From this (type of Kufr) is the Kufr of those who knew and believed that Allah's Messenger (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam) has come with the truth from Allah but did not acknowledge it out of pride and arrogance. …It is the Kufr of the Jews (*3), 'then when there came to them that which they had recognized, they disbelieved in it.' [Madaarijus- Salikeen, 1/364-367] So, the reason behind the expelling of Iblees was pride and Allah does not like the arrogant because a proud person considers himself self-sufficient and in no need of Allah, the Exalted. Whosoever assumes such is surely seized by the Wrath of Allah The reason for this is that every action in this universe is due to Allah Alone. None possesses the Power to execute anything except Allah. Every action has a time and place in which it takes place and we posses neither the time nor the place, and none possesses the power to maintain his life even for a moment and none possesses the power to even move from one place to another except with the Will of Allah. So how can any man or any creation take pride in anything? Verily, Allah Alone is, 'the Irresistible, the Proud…' [Soorah al-Hashr (59): 23] The Messenger of Allah (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam) said, 'Indeed, Allah revealed to me, Humble yourselves until none is proud over another and none is oppressive over another.' [Saheeh Muslim] Thus, pride, which is in fact self-praise, is forbidden for the servants of Allah, for each additional thing that one becomes proud of, builds his ego. This is witnessed in the behavior of Iblees when he became too proud to obey Allah's Command and said, 'I am better than he is.' [Soorah Saad (3: 76] Allah says in a Qudsi Hadeeth, 'Pride is My Cloak, and Glory is My wrap, so he who competes Me in either of these, I will cast him into the Fire.' [Musnad Ahmad and Abu Dawood] and he (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam) said, 'Allah will hold the earth on the Day of Resurrection, and fold up the heavens with His right Hand, then say, 'I am the King where are the kings of the earth (where are the tyrants, where are the proud).' [Agreed upon]
Footnotes:
(2) You can learn the details of these important issues of Aqeedah and many more with Dr. Abdullah al-Farsi. Get your copy now of Aqeedah at-Tawheed Course, see back page.
(3) Abu Al-Aliyah said, 'The Jews used to ask Allah to send Muhammad so that they would gain victory over the Arab disbelievers. They used to say, 'O Allah! Send the Prophet that we read about - in the Tawrah - so that we can torment and kill the disbelievers alongside him.' When Allah sent Muhammad (sallalalhu alaihi wa-sallam) and they saw that he was not one of them, they rejected him and envied the Arabs, even though they knew that he was the Messenger of Allah. Hence, Allah said, ‘Then when there came to them that which they had recognized, they disbelieved in it. So let the curse of Allah be on the disbelievers. ' [Tafseer Ibn Katheer for (2): 89]
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