[ToBeFair]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
Hate to be negative in my tone, but holier-than-thou manush ra j koto tuku paji hoy..lol...etai hollow taaar promaaan... heh amra bhabi amra naamaj roja porlei amra somehow superior to others and Allah will automatically side with "us against kufrs". Arey beta...Allahr money ki ase sheta tumi ki jano. Sorry. Got triggered.

About 'holier than thou':

First, it is only natural that a Muslim feels a natural pride (the key word here is natural) for being Muslim. The follower of any ideology or way of life demonstrates this natural pride. If not for this pride, why do many Americans believe in American exceptionalism? If not for this pride, why do we follow the Bangladesh team? Therefore, before accusing a Muslim of holier than thou attitude, examine if you are mistakenly perceiving his natural pride (or lack of insecurity) for being a Muslim as holier than thou behavior. We must examine our own biases first before passing a judgement about others, especially about others who we vehemently disagree with.

Second, a Muslim follows Islam because he believes that this religion is the true religion of God. Otherwise, why is he a Muslim in the first place? In fact, to accept and enter into this religion, it is mandatory to believe that this religion is the supreme way of life. Therefore, if you find the message of Islam coming across as holier than thou because God does not allow you to delve into finding God per your own desire based self-discovery, then know that God is the holiest of all beings that exist. God decrees and no one decrees against Him. The Creator is free of all needs but the creation is always in need of His mercy and blessing, and thus, the creation cannot accuse the Creator or His message of holier than thou attitude.

Third, the message of Islam is very overwhelming and assertive in nature, because it is the truth. When such an empowering message is delivered by a person who is imperfect in terms of character (because no one can attain the perfection of character like the prophets), it is easy to mistakenly perceive individual character flaws as holier than thou attitude. It is also entirely possible that some Muslims indeed show holier than thou behavior. In both cases, if you are a wise person, focus on the message and not the messenger.

Having said this, let us examine what Islam says about the character trait of holier than thou.

First, a Muslim is required to believe that his Islam is not his individual achievement, but rather, a blessing from God that God has bestowed per His own will. So, how can a true Muslim come across as holier than thou when his Islam is not his own achievement to begin with, but a blessing that can be taken away at any time?

Allah has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience. Those are the [rightly] guided. [It is] as bounty from Allah and favor. And Allah is Knowing and Wise. [The Noble Quran 49:7-8]

God has reminded His own Prophet that it is God who guides and not even his Prophet:

Verily! You (O Muhammad SAW) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided. [The Noble Quran 28:56]

God also reminded us that through Islam, it is God who has showered favor upon His servants, and not the other way around, and thus a servant has no right to show holier than thou attitude:

They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, "Do not consider your Islam a favor to me. Rather, Allah has conferred favor upon you that He has guided you to the faith, if you should be truthful." [The Noble Quran 49:17]

Second, God explicitly forbid ridiculing others, name calling; ie holier than thou attitude:

O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one's] faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers. [The Noble Quran 49:11]

Third, those who show holier than thou attitude, often shows this trait because they forget about the existing mismatch between their public persona and private persona. This mismatch is the essence of hypocrisy. A Muslim is supposed to remember the discrepancy between his public and private life, and strive continuously to close this gap. God reminded us of this fact of life, and forbade us from attesting to our own self-purity and show holier than thou mindset:

Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him. [The Noble Quran 53:32]

Fourth, it is not possible for a true Muslim to show mannerism of holier than thou, for a key character trait of the servants of the Most Merciful is to show humility:

The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say words of peace. [The Noble Quran 25:63]

Fifth, when preaching the message of God, a Muslim cannot symbolize holier than thou, because remembering God or calling him has been associated with humility:

Call upon your Lord with humility and in private. Verily, He does not love transgressors. [The Noble Quran 7:55]

Remember your Lord in yourselves with humility and in private without announcing it in the mornings and evenings, and do not be among the heedless. [The Noble Quran 7:205]

Sixth, even the Prophet of God was warned by Him about expressing holier than thou attitude, because had the prophet showed any harshness in delivering the message of Islam, people would have rejected it:

So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]. [The Noble Quran 3:159]

Seventh, when the Prophet was asked to define arrogance, he defined it as rejection of truth and belittling others (i.e. holier than thou). Thus, though defining arrogance as belittling others, the Prophet has nipped the bud of a character trait like holier than thou.
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise. Someone said, “Indeed, a man loves to have beautiful clothes and shoes.” So the Prophet said: Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.
Source: Sahih Muslim 91

Eighth, since a Muslim does not know his end, it is not possible for him to show holier than thou attitude even against a disbeliever, for the disbeliever might end his life with a good ending while the believer may not. Read the following hadith:

Narrated Abi Abdurrahman Abdullah bin Mas'ud, May Allah is pleased with him:
Allah's Apostle said, "… By Allah besides whom there is no true God, the one amongst you will do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only the distance of a cubit between him and Paradise but then the writings precedes and so he will do the deeds of the people of the fire, and thus enters it; and one of you will do the deeds of the people of the fire until there remains a cubit between him and Hell that the writings precedes and he will do the deeds of the people of Paradise, and thus enters it " (Bukhari)

Ninth, as has been said before, holier than thou attitude arises only when a Muslim forgets the discrepancy between his public life and private life. Aside from Quran, the Prophet also admonished about this hypocrisy, and any Muslim who remembers and ponders over this admonishment, cannot show holier than thou attitude:

Thawbaan narrated that the Prophet (S) said:
“I indeed know that some people from my Ummah will come on the Day of Judgment with good deeds like the white mountains of Tihama, but Allah will make them scattered dust.” Thawban said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us, so that we may not be one of them without knowing it!’ He (S) said, “They will be your brothers, and from your people, and they will take from the night as you do (meaning prayers, etc.), but they are a people who, when they were alone with the prohibitions of Allah, violated them.”
(Ibn Maajah)

Tenth, the attitude of holier than thou often emanates from having bad assumption about others, and in Islam, we are commanded to have good thoughts about others:

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. [The Noble Quran 49:12]

The pious predecessors of Islam also highly emphasized about thinking well of others and making excuse from them:

Hamdun al-Qassar, one of the great early Muslims, said, “If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves.” [Imam Bayhaqi, Shu`ab al-Iman, 7.522]

Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Munazil (Allah have mercy upon him), of the early Muslims, said, “The believer seeks excuses for their brethren, while the hypocrite seeks out the faults of their brethren.” [Sulami, Adab al-Suhba]

Eleventh, belittling others (i.e. holier than thou) has been described by the Prophet (S) as enough as a sin.
Abu Hurayrah (radi Allahu anhu) said: The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Do not have envy of one another. Do not inflate prices on one another. Do not hate one another. Do not turn your backs on one another. Do not undersell one another; but rather, be worshipers of Allah and brothers. The Muslim is the brother of his fellow Muslim. He does not oppress him, nor does he abandon him, nor does he lie to him, nor does he belittle him. Taqwa is here” and he pointed to his chest three times. “It is a sufficient act of evil that a person belittles his Muslim brother. Every Muslim to another Muslim is sacred, his blood, his wealth, and his honor.”
[Sahih Muslim]

Anyone who honestly reviews the injunctions about the sin of belittling others, cannot claim that Islam as a religion promotes holier than thou behavior. Whether an individual Muslim can live up to the commands of Allah and His Prophet is a different issue altogether.

At the same time, no maverick should think that he can come up with a good behavior or a good deed, except that Allah’s Prophet has told humanity about it. Similarly, no one can come up with a bad deed or a bad character trait either, except that Allah’s Prophet has warned the humanity about it. The Prophet (S) said in a hadith (I am paraphrasing the hadith here, because I have failed to retrieve the exact hadith):

There is no good that takes you closer to Paradise except that I have commanded (or clarified) it, and there is no evil that takes you closer to Hell except that that I have warned about (or clarified) it.

Let me conclude with the prayer of Abu Bakr (R), the first caliph of Islam, whom the sunni Islam regards as the best human after all prophets. Being aware of the hypocrisy that arises from having different persona in public and private sphere, he used to pray:


O Allah! Forgive me of what people do not know about me (of my private life), and make my private life better that what people think of it!

What a beautiful dua! Definitely, Abu Bakr’s private life was as good (or even better) as his public life in terms of righteousness, and yet he showed such humility before God. If Abu Bakr (R) showed such humility, definitely we (who have worse private lives) need to show much more humility, let alone showing holier than thou attitude.