https://www.khutbah.info/obstinacy-and-arrogance/ Indeed, all human beings are prone to error, and perfection belongs only to Allah – exalted is His majesty – and freedom from sin belongs solely to His prophets and messengers – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them. As for human beings, they err and they sin, and in doing so they do not step outside the nature upon which Allah created them. However, persisting in error, continuing upon it, inventing excuses and justifications to remain upon it, and refusing to turn back to the truth –is a blameworthy character trait, a despised disposition rejected by people of sound minds and noble character. Such behavior is nothing but obstinacy and arrogance. How could it be otherwise, when a person makes a mistake, realizes it, and the truth becomes clear to them, yet they refuse to change? Nothing holds them back except a corrupt nature within and pride and arrogance that neither clear truth nor sincere advice can shatter. If the one who persists in error is not considered stubborn, then who is stubborn? And if they are not deemed arrogant, then who could be called arrogant?
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ ,نَحْمَدُهُ ,وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ , وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ,مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ , وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ , وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our selves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102
Al Imran 102 : O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.
Oh people:
Indeed, all human beings are prone to error, and perfection belongs only to Allah – exalted is His majesty – and freedom from sin belongs solely to His prophets and messengers – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them. As for human beings, they err and they sin, and in doing so they do not step outside the nature upon which Allah created them.
However, persisting in error, continuing upon it, inventing excuses and justifications to remain upon it, and refusing to turn back to the truth –is a blameworthy character trait, a despised disposition rejected by people of sound minds and noble character. Such behavior is nothing but obstinacy and arrogance. How could it be otherwise, when a person makes a mistake, realizes it, and the truth becomes clear to them, yet they refuse to change? Nothing holds them back except a corrupt nature within and pride and arrogance that neither clear truth nor sincere advice can shatter. If the one who persists in error is not considered stubborn, then who is stubborn? And if they are not deemed arrogant, then who could be called arrogant?
وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا وَلَّى مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْرًا فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
Luqman (31) 7: And when Our verses are recited to him, he turns away arrogantly as if he had not heard them, as if there was in his ears deafness. So give him tidings of a painful punishment.
And it is authentically reported in the Hadith:
أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَكَلَ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِشِمَالِهِ فَقَالَ كُلْ بِيَمِينِكَ قَالَ لَا أَسْتَطِيعُ قَالَ لَا اسْتَطَعْتَ مَا مَنَعَهُ إِلَّا الْكِبْرُ قَالَ فَمَا رَفَعَهَا إِلَى فِيهِ
A man once ate with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ using his left hand. The Prophet said to him: ‘Eat with your right hand.’ The man replied, ‘I cannot.’ The Prophet said: ‘May you not be able!’ Nothing prevented him except arrogance – and after that, he was never able to raise his hand to his mouth. [Muslim 2201]
Obstinacy, is the trait of the base. You will never find it in the demeanor of a person whose heart Allah has filled with faith, wisdom, and knowledge.
Indeed, there is no stubborn and arrogant person except that their leader and example in obstinacy and arrogance is Iblis – upon him be the curse of Allah – for he was the first to display obstinacy while knowing the truth:
قَالَ يَا إِبْلِيسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ
Sad (38) 75: [Allah] said, ‘O Iblis, what prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My hands? Were you arrogant [then], or were you [already] among the haughty?’
Indeed, the qualities of arrogance and haughtiness can never coexist with truth.
Obstinacy, is a state in which a person expresses refusal – refusal to do something even when it is obligatory, or refusal to refrain from something even when it is forbidden – while persisting in that refusal without retreat or change of heart.
Obstinacy goes against the sound natural disposition (fitrah), and it opposes the law of Allah. It is a vile trait that extinguishes the light of reason, shuts the door to guidance, and leaves its possessor in layers of darkness where one cannot see the light of truth, even if it is manifest before them.
And this is exactly what we witness in the narrative of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) with his people called them to worship Allah alone, with wisdom and clear arguments, exposing the falsity of what they worshipped and establishing the proof against them.
But despite the truth being made clear, they turned away, persisted in arrogance, and their only response was to threaten him with burning, not to counter him with proof, as Allah relates about them:
قَالُوا حَرِّقُوهُ وَانْصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ
Al-Anbiya (21) 68: They said, ‘Burn him and support your gods – if you are to act.’
So is there any obstinacy greater than this? Where were their minds, and where was their reason?
Rather, they were exactly as Allah described them:
فَرَجَعُوا إِلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ فَقَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ أَنتُمُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ * ثُمَّ نُكِسُوا رُءُوسَهُمْ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ يَنطِقُونَ
Al-Anbiya (21) 64–65: (64) So they returned to blaming themselves and said [to each other], ‘Indeed, you are the wrongdoers.’ (65) Then they reversed themselves, [saying], ‘You have already known that these do not speak!’
The proof had been established against them to the point that they admitted their wrongdoing in a rare moment of honesty. Yet neither their intellects nor their consciences stirred; instead, they deliberately turned back from the truth, went against what they knew was right, and stubbornly returned to their old wrongdoing.
Thus, they became the most base of people and the most arrogant. As some scholars have said: “The most hopeless of hopes is the hope for the softening of a stubborn heart,”
because obstinacy produces a layer of rust over the heart, so it sees nothing but its own desires, rejecting the truth even when its light becomes clear — as Allah says:
وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَٱسْتَيْقَنَتْهَآ أَنفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًۭا وَعُلُوًّۭا
An-Naml (27) 14: And they rejected them, while their [inner] selves were convinced thereof, out of injustice and haughtiness.
No matter how numerous or varied the proofs may be, the obstinate remains obstinate– even if you were to recite the Qur’an to them, or if Luqman himself were to admonish them. For such a person has an empty heart and twisted and evasive argumentation.
Such people, are like rot and worms within the society of Muslims: they do not fall upon anything except that they gnaw at it and corrupt it. By their obstinacy, they gather three sins upon themselves: the sin of the initial error, the sin of persisting upon it, and the sin of harming the entire community through their error and their persistence.
So woe and regret for such people – they are the ones meant by the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
ويْلٌ لأقماعِ القولِ وَيْلٌ لِلْمُصِرِّينَ الَّذِينَ يُصِرُّونَ عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
Woe to the ‘funnels of speech’! Woe to those who persist – those who persist in what they do while knowing (that it is wrong)! [Ahmad 6541 and al-Tabarani 13/651, Grade: Sahih]
And “funnels of speech” refers to those who hear words but do not act upon them; he likened them to funnels placed at the mouth of a narrow vessel so that liquid is poured into them, but it merely passes through the funnel to something else without staying inside or benefiting the funnel in any way.
When the matter of Islam became weighty and the light of truth began to shine, Quraysh united upon a grave injustice: they drafted a wicked pact in which they swore to boycott Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib — no trade with them, no marriage to them, no communication with them — until they handed over the Prophet ﷺ.
So his clan rallied around him – believers and disbelievers among them – except for Abu Lahab, who abandoned them and sided with the wrongdoers. The Prophet ﷺ and those with him were besieged in the valley of Abu Talib for three years, suffering hunger and hardship until they ate the leaves of trees, and people could hear the cries of children from behind the mountains.
Then Allah informed His Prophet ﷺ that the termites had eaten away the document, leaving nothing of it except the name of Allah. Abu Talib went out to Quraysh and said: “If my nephew is lying, then take him. But if he is truthful, then remove your oppression.” When they brought down the document, they found the matter to be exactly as he had said. Yet they only increased in disbelief and obstinacy.
It was obstinacy, the very obstinacy that had placed a seal upon their hearts – so that they became as Allah described:
وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ لَئِنْ جَاءَهُمْ نَذِيرٌ لَيَكُونُنَّ أَهْدَى مِنْ إِحْدَى الْأُمَمِ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ نَذِيرٌ مَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا نُفُورًا (42) اسْتِكْبَارًا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَكْرَ السَّيِّئِ
Fatir (35) 42-43: (42) And they swore by Allah their strongest oaths that if a warner came to them, they would be more guided than [any] one of the [previous] nations. But when a warner came to them, it did not increase them except in aversion – (43) [Being] arrogant upon the earth and plotting evil.
أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
I say what you have heard and I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and you from every sin. So seek forgives from Him, Verily He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Khutbah
الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ , وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَاْ إِلَهَ إِلَّاْ اَللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَاْشَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدَاً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ
All praise is to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
Oh Muslims:
And know that obstinacy grows and intensifies when a person’s will forces itself forward and seeks to override reason and sound logic. At that point, one willingly strays from the truth – even if it means breaking away from the community and the majority of the believers.
At times, obstinacy appears in the early years of a child’s life due to their limited reasoning ability. But if it is not corrected through sound upbringing and righteous education, it will take hold of them for life, leaving its mark on their future—whether they grow up to be a scholar, a doctor, an engineer, or anything else.
Truly, no crisis or calamity befalls the Ummah except that obstinacy plays some part in igniting it. It even creeps into every aspect of daily life—into homes, markets, and workplaces. Yet, those who truly prosper are the ones whom Allah grants success, whose hearts are as vast and open as the hearts of the people of knowledge, faith, and sound judgment.
Such a person holds fast to the straight path, gripping it firmly. When they err, they apologize. When they sin, they repent. They are certain that acknowledging the truth is better than persisting in falsehood. They remember that those who came before them—great imams of religion, knowledge, and daʿwah, including the four great imams— would command others to reject whatever did not agree with the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ. They all understood that to persist in error is obstinacy, and obstinacy is the enemy of graciousness. The obstinate are never gracious, and the gracious are never obstinate. The gracious are shown mercy, while the obstinate are blameworthy.
And the Prophet ﷺ said:
رَحِمَ اللَّهُ رَجُلًا سَمْحًا إِذَا بَاعَ وَإِذَا اشْتَرَى وَإِذَا اقْتَضَى
May Allah have mercy on a man who is gracious when he sells, gracious when he buys, and gracious when he demands repayment. [ al-Bukhari 2076]
This is in the affairs of worldly life.
And as for the affairs of the Hereafter, Allah – majestic and exalted – says:
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
Aal ‘Imran (3)135: And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins – and who can forgive sins except Allah? – and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.
Indeed, you see obstinacy striking deep roots in the hearts of many people. They see obstinacy as a kind of thrill and pride. Their goal is to champion themselves, not to champion the truth. Written and spoken platforms of communication are filled with people like this: they demolish with their obstinacy rather than build, they drive people away rather than bring them closer, they divide rather than unite.
You will never the obstinate building up their community so long as obstinacy is their guide and arrogance is their driver. And it is enough of a crime that this trait causes its possessor to resemble the one about whom Allah said:
إِنَّهُ كَانَ لِآيَاتِنَا عَنِيدًا (16) سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا
Al-Muddaththir (74) 16-17: (16) Indeed, he was to Our verses an opponent. (17) I will cover him with a torment of Sa‘ud (a mounting, never-ending torment).
Meaning: a punishment with no relief, as recompense for obstinacy that refuses to return to the truth. May Allah protect us and you from that.
Whoever longs to stand on the Day of Return unburdened by the weight of their sins and the harvest of their own hands, let them confess the truth unashamed — for nothing has ruined the people of loss but their obstinacy.
هَذَا وَصَلُّوا وَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى نَبِيِّكُم كَمَا أَمَرَكُمْ بِذلِكَ رَبُّكُمْ , فَقَالَ
I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon your Prophet as your Lord commanded:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Al Ahzaab (33) 56: Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنا فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنا فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنا فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لنا فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنا شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
O Allah, guide us with those whom You have guided, grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being, be an ally to us along with those whom You are an ally to, and bless what You have bestowed upon us, and save us from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can decree over You. He whom You support can never be humiliated. Glory is to You, our Lord, You are Blessed and Exalted.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشَّرِّ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا سَأَلَكَ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَاذَ بِهِ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لَنا خَيْرًا
O Allah, We ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we seek refuge with You from all evil, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we ask You for the good that Your servant and Prophet has asked You for, and we seek refuge with You from the evil from which Your servant and Prophet sought refuge. O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed. And we ask You to make every decree that You decree concerning us good
عِبَادَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Servants of Allah. Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.
اُذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ واشْكُرُوهُ يَزِدْكُمْ واسْتَغْفِرُوهُ يَغْفِرْ لكُمْ واتّقُوهُ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَمْرِكُمْ مَخْرَجًا وَأَقِمِ الصّلَاة
Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.
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