Page 54 - The Arrogance of Satan

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THE ARROGANCE OF SATAN

that perished before him is arrogance. The arrogance they
harboured in their hearts prevented them from accepting
Allah' s messenger and obeying him. Their rejection only led
them to torment both in this world and beyond. Further
exploring the nature of the arrogance of Pharaoh, and
considering the nations referred to in the Qur' an as those
that have gone down in history for their arrogance, and their

relevance to our day, will help us better understand the
importance of the subject.
The attitude of Pharaoh and his people towards Allah' s
messenger was common to all corrupted nations. Their
arrogance reached to such an extent that they even dared to
make a mockery of Allah' s messengers and the book he was
sent with.
This is related in the following verses:
We sent Musa with Our Signs to Pharaoh and his
nobles. He said, "I am the Messenger of the Lord of the
worlds." But when he came to them with Our Signs,
they merely laughed at them. (Surat az-Zukhruf: 46-47)
One of Pharaoh' s distinguishing traits was, as is the case

with his leader, Satan, his immoderate attachment to worldly
things. Due to this distorted mindset, he failed to make a
rational assessment of the events that confronted him, and
thus, could not grasp Musa' s superiority. According to him,
worldly values, such as wealth, power, money etc., were the
criteria that established one' s superiority. This poor
reasoning of Pharaoh' s is described in the Qur' an as follows:
Pharaoh called to his people, saying, "My people, does
the kingdom of Egypt not belong to me? Do not all
these rivers flow under my control? Do you not then