It is narrated on the authority of Abdullah bin Mas’ud that the Apostle of Allah ﷺ observed: “He who has in the heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride shall not enter Paradise.” A person (among his listeners) said: “Verily a person loves that his dress should be fine; and his shoes should be fine.” He (the Blessed Messenger) remarked: “Verily, Allah is Graceful and He loves Grace. Pride is disdaining the truth (out of self-conceit) and contempt for the people.”
(Sahih Muslim)
Pride is the offspring of conceit, and this is the very negation of faith. Thus pride and faith cannot go together. It was pride that made Iblees reject Allah’s command. While Iman inculcates in man the spirit of humility and submission to the Truth. Pride is the expression of vanity which is the greatest hurdle onto the path of the Truth. The self-conceited man accepts nothing which does not satisfy his vanity and, therefore, cannot be a true believer. He is a worshipper of his own self.
Islam does not teach asceticism and, therefore, does not blunt the aesthetic sense of man. It is with Beauty and Grace that the Lord has created this universe, and man, by his very nature, has a love for these two qualities. Islam makes no attempt to deprive man of his natural urges but directs his aesthetic sense to fruitful channels. It exhorts its followers not to lead a life of renunciation but to use the bounties of the Lord according to His Command.