Pride is the offspring of self-conceit, and this is the very negation of faith. Pride and faith cannot go together. Imaan inculcates in man the spirit of humility and submission to Truth. Pride is the expression of vanity, which is one of the greatest hurdles in the path of truth. The self-conceited man accepts nothing, which does not satisfy his vanity, and, therefore, he cannot be a true believer. He is a worshipper of his “own self”.         

The Holy Quraan has mentioned at numerous places that it is vanity and self-conceit which stand in the way of man in accepting the Truth, e.g. it was out of pride that Iblees refused to obey the command of Almighty Allah. (2:34)         

The Holy Quraan says: “Is it then that whenever there came to you a Messenger (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) with what your souls desired not, you were arrogant? And some of you belied and some of you slew”. (2:87)         

Almighty Allah observes: “Those who belie Our signs and turn away from them in arrogance, the doors of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter the Garden, until the camel pass through the eye of the needle. And thus do We reward the guilty”. (7: 40) 

The vain and self-conceited person not only belies the truth, but they even look down upon the people who have ties of human brotherhood with them. They consider themselves to be superior beings marked off from the rest of mankind. The Holy Quraan says: “And turn not thy face away from people in contempt, not go about in the land exultingly. Surely Allah loves not any self-conceited boaster.” (31: 18)          

Sayyiduna Abdullah ibne Mas’ood (radi Allahu anhu) reported that the Glorious Prophet of Islam (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “None shall enter the Fire (of Hell) who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of Imaan and none shall enter Paradise who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride.” (Muslim) 

Sayyiduna Haritha Bin Wahb (radi Allahu anhu) reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Shall I inform you about the people of Paradise? They comprise every obscure unimportant humble person, and if he takes Allah’s oath that he will do that thing, Allah will fulfill his oath (by doing that). Shall I inform you about the people of the Fire? They comprise every cruel, violent, proud and conceited person”. (Bukhari)         

Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “There will be three persons whom Allah will not address on the Day of Judgment nor will He purify them, nor will He look at them; they will be under dreadful punishment. They are: (1) An aged adulterer, (2) A liar King and (3) An indigent proud person”. (Muslim)         

“Allah the Almighty says that Pride and Glory are My attributes; whosoever will try to share with Me any of these attributes, I will send him to Hell”. (Muslim)         

The Beloved Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “On the Day of Judgment, men of false pride will be raised in the bodies of ants with their human faces. They will be fully covered with ignominy and disgrace and will be dragged towards the Hell prison called Bolis. They will be punished with the fire of fires and will be asked to drink the sweat of the inmates of Hell called the brew of insanity.” (Tirmidi) 

The Beloved Nabi of Allah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “He who acts in humility for the sake of Allah, Allah raises his status; he may be small to himself but very big in the eyes of people. And the person who boasts in false pride, Allah degrades him; he may be big to himself but very low in the eyes of people; he is, to the people, lower than dog and swine.” (Bay’haqi) 

Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said: “There are three things, which lead to salvation, and there are three things, which lead to destruction. The first three things are: Fear of Allah in open and in privacy, utterance of truth in happiness and sorrow and adopt a middle path in times of need. The other three things are: To follow one’s lustful desires, to act in miserliness and, the worst of all, to be proud of one’s self.” (Bay’haqi)