Does Islam teach humility?

[Cooky]

It just occured to me that it may be Islam's lack of humility, in it's teachings, that cause me anxiety about Islam.

Please show me whether or not Islam practices and supports humbleness. Or if pride and assertiveness are more valued in Islam.

Thanks for taking part in my quest for understanding.

 

[Cooky]

In Catholicism, my own religion, humility is seen as a virtue, and is representative of Christs presence on earth, and is fully expressed in his crucifixion.

Humility - Wikipedia
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Humility
Virtue - Wikipedia

Representation of Humility in a stained-glass window, by Edward Burne-Jones

 

[Rival]

Quran 25:63 - And the slaves of God are those who walk on the earth in humility and calmness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.

There are quite a few such verses.

 

[Shia Islam]

It just occured to me that it may be Islam's lack of humility, in it's teachings, that cause me anxiety about Islam.

Please show me whether or not Islam practices and supports humbleness. Or if pride and assertiveness are more valued in Islam.

Thanks for taking part in my quest for understanding.

Hi there,
Take the following from me, a true lover of Islam

When the Muslims returned from a war, the prophet explained to them that now it is the time of the greater war, and it is the war with the evil desires of the inner-self..

Now here are two verses from the holy quran, from Surah Luqman. They teaches humbleness in a manner that you will not find in any other place:

"And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster.

And be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ***."

And In Surah Isra:

"And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height."

 

[Cooky]

Quran 25:63 - And the slaves of God are those who walk on the earth in humility and calmness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.

There are quite a few such verses.

I suppose it would be very difficult for us non-Muslims to add up and calculate whether Humility or assertiveness has the greater influence in Islam as a whole.

...We all know that all religions have some seemingly contradictive writings, and some are more pronounced than others.

My current view, through my own interactions and understandings of Islam, is that assertiveness is a more valued trait than general humbleness.

The more in depth my understanding of Islam's take on humbleness becomes, the more fully I will understand if Islam is truly good or bad.

 

[Vinayaka]

It just occured to me that it may be Islam's lack of humility, in it's teachings, that cause me anxiety about Islam.

Please show me whether or not Islam practices and supports humbleness. Or if pride and assertiveness are more valued in Islam.

Thanks for taking part in my quest for understanding.

Depends on the individual. I think all religions will have something about humility in their teachings. Whether or not an individual adherent learns it is another matter. One shouldn't judge an entire religion on a small sample size.

 

[Estro Felino]

A Catholic Upbringing is all focused on self-criticism, on guilt, on avoiding hurting others.

I think this might go too far, but at least prevents us from being prideful and looking down on the other.

 

[Cooky]

Depends on the individual. I think all religions will have something about humility in their teachings. Whether or not an individual adherent learns it is another matter. One shouldn't judge an entire religion on a small sample size.

What about on a large sample size.

 

[Cooky]

A Catholic Upbringing is all focused on self-criticism, on guilt, on avoiding hurting others.

I think this might be go too far, but at least prevents us from being prideful and looking down on the other.

I often do contemplate on my flaws. This is true.

 

[Rival]

I suppose it would be very difficult for us non-Muslims to add up and calculate whether Humility or assertiveness has the greater influence in Islam as a whole.

...We all know that all religions have some seemingly contradictive writings, and some are more pronounced than others.

My current view, through my own interactions and understandings of Islam, is that assertiveness is a more valued trait than general humbleness.

The more in depth my understanding of Islam's take on humbleness becomes, the more fully I will understand if Islam is truly good or bad.

Judaism and Islam, unlike Christianity, aren't life-denying religions. Christianity has embedded the culture of suffering, of self-deprecation and of deserving to go to Hell. Judaism and Islam aren't like this and consequently aren't life-denying. This may be seen as a lack of humility to those in Christian cultures, but to them Christian culture has an obsession with suffering, guilt and helplessness that is unhealthy.

 

[Vinayaka]

What about on a large sample size.

Really hard to do at a level of enough interaction to make determinations. Most of us know roughly 500 people, and only maybe 50 of those to know enough about them to think they're humble or arrogant. So on personal levels, we're stuck with a small sample size.

 

[Cooky]

Judaism and Islam, unlike Christianity, aren't life-denying religions. Christianity has embedded the culture of suffering, of self-deprecation and of deserving to go to Hell. Judaism and Islam aren't like this and consequently aren't life-denying. This may be seen as a lack of humility to those in Christian cultures, but to them Christian culture has an obsession with suffering, guilt and helplessness that is unhealthy.

I'm not so sure about "Christians" being that way. Westboro Baptists aren't, and most Fundamentalists and Protestants in general aren't... I think maybe it's exclusive to RC and EO, and maybe some Anglicans.

 

[LuisDantas]

It just occured to me that it may be Islam's lack of humility, in it's teachings, that cause me anxiety about Islam.

Please show me whether or not Islam practices and supports humbleness. Or if pride and assertiveness are more valued in Islam.

Thanks for taking part in my quest for understanding.

I had not considered it previously, but you are right. Islaam does not strike me as teaching humility at all.

Sure, it presents humility as a virtue. But it is so very insistent on talking about the superiority of its doctrine, of its scripture, of its prophet, of its One True God... it really looks like that person who brandishes a statement of virtue because the statement is the only evidence that he is likely to ever achieve towards that virtue.

Nor does the practice, or the political reality of Muslim communities, help any in dispelling this impression.

 

[Rival]

I'm not so sure about "Christians" being that way. Westboro Baptists aren't, and most Fundamentalists and Protestants in general aren't... I think it's exclusive to RC and EO.

You simply won't hear the hellfire sermons in Shuls and Mosques like you hear in those Churches. Nor will you find the doctrine of original sin, which is life-denying, being preached in Shuls and Mosques.

 

[Cooky]

I had not considered it previously, but you are right. Islaam does not strike me as teaching humility at all.

Sure, it presents humility as a virtue. But it is so very insistent on talking about the superiority of its doctrine, of its scripture, of its prophet, of its One True God... it really looks like that person who brandishes a statement of virtue because the statement is the only evidence that he is likely to ever achieve towards that virtue.

Nor does the practice, or the political reality of Muslim communities, help any in dispelling this impression.

For sure. If you look at Mecca, where Islam was born, and all the countries surrounding it, you see very little humility. You see a constant state of warring tribes, everyone asserting their dominance upon one another, especially upon women, atheists, and anyone who converts from Islam.

...This is NOT humility, and it makes me wonder what the Arabic meaning of humility really is -probably something more along the lines of "total submission", I would assume, but am open to correction..?

 

[sun rise]

Here's an entire page on humility with one example:

No one who has the weight of a seed of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.

Humility in the Quran and Sunnah

 

[Rival]

I think you may be asking two things here,

1. Is it that Islam teaches humility? Yes, absolutely, it's in the Qur'an and Sunnah.

2. Is it that individual Muslims are always humble? Of course not; they're only human.

 

[ChristineM]

I suppose it would be very difficult for us non-Muslims to add up and calculate whether Humility or assertiveness has the greater influence in Islam as a whole.

...We all know that all religions have some seemingly contradictive writings, and some are more pronounced than others.

My current view, through my own interactions and understandings of Islam, is that assertiveness is a more valued trait than general humbleness.

The more in depth my understanding of Islam's take on humbleness becomes, the more fully I will understand if Islam is truly good or bad.

Not humbleness but...

There was a comparison between the bible and quran looking for incidents of violence/violent actions/violent teaching etc. Turns out that violence is more than twice as common in the bible than the quran.

Someone analysed the Bible and Quran to see which is more violent

 

[Cooky]

Not humbleness but...

There was a comparison between the bible and quran looking for incidents of violence/violent actions/violent teaching etc. Turns out that violence is more than twice as common in the bible than the quran.

Someone analysed the Bible and Quran to see which is more violent

I know I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic grade school and even Catholic High school (Bishop Noll Institute), and I have been exhaustively taught Humbleness, Charity towards others, and proper manners.

...I don't know how Sola Scriptura Christian's think, but I can see that they are different than how I was raised to be. I know I have been criticized by many protestants for not following the bible properly.

 

[exchemist]

It just occured to me that it may be Islam's lack of humility, in it's teachings, that cause me anxiety about Islam.

Please show me whether or not Islam practices and supports humbleness. Or if pride and assertiveness are more valued in Islam.

Thanks for taking part in my quest for understanding.

My experience in the Middle East, where I lived for four years, was that observant muslims were almost always characterised by calmness and acceptance of life. This did seem to me to display humility in the face of what God sends.