Pride and Vanity

 

 

Comprehension Questions

 

 

1. The verse suggests a few manifestations of pride and arrogance like the style of walking and tone of one’s voice What are the various forms and manifestations of pride and arrogance?

 

Input

 

i. Conversation

sentences that begin with “I”, “am” and “me” etc

interrupting someone’s conversation, interjecting

not letting others speak

self-praise in gatherings

abusing others

name throwing - connections

speaking in an accent

 

ii. Mannerisms

over confidence: behaving like know alls

talking about things we have little or no knowledge of

narcissism

showing off: clothes, shoes, perfumes, hand bags

making certain gestures with the hand

walking style

taunting and making fun

being over critical when giving advice but dismissive when receiving it

showing conceit on family and lineage

show of piety (charity + praying)

false modesty

superiority complex

blaming others

not being able to see the good points in others

seldom taking the initiative in salam

lack of knowledge sharing

being status conscious

brand mania

not inviting poor relatives

too many self-portraits

not socializing

displaying expensive gadgets

not admitting faults

 

iii. Intellect

self-righteousness

considering our selves an authority when we actually know little

denying the truth

answering question we do not know

 

iv. Collectivity

spouse’s dictatorship

dictatorship

caste system

separate utensils for servants

treatment of blacks

apartheid

racial discrimination (eg. Hitler exterminating Jews and Arabs; Syeds thinking themselves as superior Muslims)

looking down upon non-Muslims

 

v. Religious Prohibitions

isbal i izar

wearing silk and gold

the issue of beard

utensils of gold and silver

 

2. Suggest ways to overcome pride and vanity

 

Input

 

i. first realizing the problem

ii. ridding our selves of arrogance by finding its opposite: humility

iii. surrendering and humbling our selves before God

iv. seeing how God teaches people a lesson of his power

v. one reason for pride is continued success in life (a person should remember success is a form of trial)

vi. prostrating before God

vii. cite Ghazali: when we meet an older person, we should think that he is better than us because he has been afforded more time to do good deeds and when we meet a younger person, we should think that he has disobeyed God less than us because of his young age; if we meet a person less knowledgeable, we should think that he may have done sins in ignorance while we may have done them in awareness; if we meet someone more knowledgeable, we should think how we can be equal to him.

 

3. Can you name a few people/races in history who have become symbols of arrogance and pride?

 

Input

 

i. Jews of Prophet Muh@ammad’s (sws)  times who intentionally denied him

ii. the Pharaoh

iii. Hitler

iv. Satan

v. Stalin

vi. Massoulini

vii. Henry VIII

viii. Saddam Hussain

 

 

4. When are you most tested by pride?

 

Input

 

i. when someone praises us for a quality we actually have: eg. beauty, knowledge, strength, writing, speaking and artistic skills.

 

 

Quiz Marking Scheme

 

How Proud are you?

 

1. 

i. (10)

ii. (10)

iii. (2)

 

 

2.

i. (7)

ii. (10)

iii. (0)

 

3.

i. (0)

ii. (10)

iii. (-5)

 

 

4.  

i. (0)

ii. (0)

iii. (10)

 

5.

i. (10)

ii. (0)

iii. (0)

 

6. 

i. (0)

ii. (0)

iii. (10)

7.

i. (0)

ii. (0)

iii. (-20)

iv. (10)

 

8.

i. (10)

ii. (5)

iii. (0)

iv. (-5)

 

9.  

i. (10)

ii. (2)

iii. (0)

 

10.  

i. (8)

ii. (10)

iii. (2)

iv. (0)

 

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