What did al-Ghazali say about pride (kibr)?
Kibr is the sin that sent Iblis out of Paradise. Al-Ghazali wrote about it as the subtlest of the destructive traits — the one that hides from the very person who holds it.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
Al-Ghazali treated pride (kibr) as among the gravest destructive traits, devoting his Book of the Condemnation of Pride and Conceit to it. He explains that arrogance requires both someone to be arrogant toward and something to be arrogant with, and that inner conceit (ʿujb) breeds internal arrogance, which then shows itself in outward deeds and speech. He lists its degrees and dangers alongside vanity and boasting, and in the Book of Knowledge condemns those who despise people through pride. True pride, he notes, lies only in genuine virtue, not in lineage or display.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Imam al-Ghazali, Ibn Battuta, and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"bad character, arrogance, vanity, pride, boasting, obscenity, vulgarity, malice, envy, omens,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"are of one race. True pride lies in virtues, and boasting, vanity, and pride are the greatest"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Arrogance and its Danger, The People over Whom One Shows Arrogance, The Degrees of Arrogance,"
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"Conceit results in internal arrogance, which produces overt displays of arrogance in deeds,"
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"by conceit or contempt. When one is called arrogant for imitating arrogant actions, it"
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"Arrogance requires someone to be arrogant towards and something to be arrogant with,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
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"grand cities of Yemen. Its people are characterized by pride and arrogance, as is common in the lands"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"as the domination of desire, anger, stinginess, pride, vanity, hypocrisy, ill-thinking, negligence,"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
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"ears, covered themselves with their garments, persisted, and were arrogant with great arrogance."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"with prohibited horses, mounts, and clothes, despising people with pride and vanity, discussing"
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