who reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“It has been revealed to me that you should be humble, so that no one boasts over another or transgresses against another.”

He thus explained that the humility commanded is the opposite of transgression and boastfulness. Concerning the conceit that Allah hates, he said: “Conceit expressed in boastfulness and transgression.” … (1)

This indicates that asserting superiority over people, if done without right, is transgression, since transgression means overstepping the bounds. If done on rightful grounds, it is boastfulness.

Yet an objection may be raised here: transgression concerns the will, so it cannot be placed in the category of belief while its counterpart is placed in the category of will. Rather, transgression seems to concern deeds, and boastfulness words. Alternatively, one may say that transgression is rejecting the truth, while boastfulness is looking down on people.

The second way of understanding this is that both concern belief and will. However, conceit—disdain for the truth—concerns truth in itself, which is Allah’s right, even when no human right is involved. Boastfulness and looking down on people, by contrast, concern the rights of human beings. The distinction would thus serve to differentiate human rights from those rights belonging to Allah that are unrelated [to] (2) human beings. This is unlike desire in cases of unlawful sexual intercourse and consuming another person’s wealth.

Thus, when He, glorified be He, said:

“Indeed, Allah does not love anyone who is conceited and boastful,”

“those who are stingy and urge others to be stingy,”

He qualified the former by the latter, stinginess being the withholding of what benefits others. In earlier notes, I have written about humility and doing good, and about arrogance and stinginess.