Pretension is a human weakness and at times has such a
subtle garb that one gets afflicted with it without
realizing. However, even its blatant forms seldom stop
people from indulging in it.
More often than not our conversation and mannerisms
reflect pomposity. Our gait and appearance too depict this
trait. Affluence, fame, high status and physical attributes
often lead us to bragging and boasting. We like to mention
our contacts with rich and influential people; we like to
boast about the posh locality we may be living in; we like
to brag about our foreign tours and children studying
abroad; at times, every room of our house will display our
photographs with dignitaries and high-ups; we often publicly
mention our staggering asset and property list; using
expensive brands to show off has become quite normal;
manipulating a conversation between friends so that an
opportune moment is provided to boast what we have is a
graver form of this human weakness; false modesty too is no
less a compounded form of it; putting up a show of
religiosity may strike us as unusual but it does not take
much effort to see how this abounds in our societies.
Amounts spent in charity, ‘umrahs done, nafals offered,
tasbih beads read become a shameful source of showing off.
What must then be done to check this tendency and
proclivity human nature is so prone to? A number of things
come to mind but perhaps none more effective than the
following two:
1. A primary motive to show-off is to impress others and
get noticed. This is also a human instinct. The best way to
curb is to modify its direction. Instead of impressing
others and trying to catch their attention, we should make
an effort to impress God and to catch His attention by
trying to do deeds that please Him. And the more these deeds
are brought to His notice alone the better the objective
achieved.
2. Talents, abilities and blessings – some of the things
which induce us to show off – should be regarded as a
bestowal from God. Without His will and intention we could
never have gained them. We are thus the custodians of these
blessings and we should think that we have been blessed with
them to share them with others and not to brag about them.
Sharing them with others in fact is the proper way to
express gratitude to God on His graciousness.
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