Chapter IX: Meditation
God says: Don't impute piety to yourselves - 83 : 32. Hazrat Ibn Zarih explained this verse by saying: When you do a good deed, don't say: I have done it. Hazrat Zaid-b-Aslam said: Don't call yourself religious. This is self praise or considering oneself better. Hazrat Talha guarded the Prophet in the battle of Uhud.
He received wounds after wounds in defending the Prophet as his body guard and he dedicated his life for him. Hazrat Omar said that for this Talha has got some self-praise. Hazrat Ibn Abbas said to Hazrat Omar at the time of consultation: Where are you in comparison with Talha? Hazrat Omar said: There is self-praise within him. When a man like him was not saved from self-praise, where are we the ordinary men?
The sage Mutarref said: To get self-satisfaction by saying at dawn "I have done sufficient" after passing the whole night inprayer is worse to me than to pass the whole night in sleep with
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repentance in the morning. The Prophet said: If you had not committed sins, I would have feared for you a more i.einous crime - self-praise. So he termed it as a heinous evil. Hazrat Ayesha was once asked: When does a man do an evil deed? She said : When he thinks that he is a man of good deeds.
. HARM OF SELF-PRAISE: The harm of self-praise is great as it breeds pride and it is a cause of pride. Self-praise with the attributes of God makes one forgetful of his sins for which he can't remember his sins. He who does not understand the harm of his actions, almost all his efforts go in vain. He who has got more God fear than self praise searches into all things. He who has got self-praise is cheated by his own opinion. His self- praise takes him to such an extent that he praises himself and thinks himself pure. He gets satisfaction at seeing his wisdom, good deeds and opinions. He considers his opinion as good. If he does not believe his opinion and gets light from the Quran, takes help from the experts of religion and follows those who have got deep insight, he can reach the real truth. So self-praise is injurious.