Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the authenticity of the statement: “being arrogant to arrogant people is an act of worship”? الكبر على المتكبر

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say:   It has not been established that this statement was transmitted from the Prophet (peace be upon him), and it has no basis in the Sunnah. As for its meaning; a group of scholars mentioned that arrogance to an arrogant person is an exception to the arrogance which was prohibited in Islamic texts. It has been transmitted that Imam ash-Shafi’ said, “Be arrogant to an arrogant person twice.” Az-Zuhri is quoted to have said, “Arrogance to an arrogant person is one of the basic principles of Islam.” What is apparent is that this is independent reasoning from the scholars to deal with the issue of arrogant person. This approach is adopted so that the arrogant person does not continue with his arrogance and error, because if he sees the humbleness of the humble people this will deceive and allure him. These scholars did not mean arrogance which is  rejecting the truth and looking down upon people. In any case, it is better to deal with arrogance by advice and reminding the person of Allah the Exalted. Dr. Khalid al-Mosleh   15/11/1428