Istakbara

To be arrogant by falsely supposing oneself greater than others, and above God’s command.

What it means

Istakbara means to consider oneself great and to behave accordingly. Faruqi defines it as falsely assuming that one is the greater. The Quran uses the verb of Iblis, who refused to bow to Adam: “He refused and was arrogant, and he was one of the unbelievers” (2:34). It uses it also for Pharaoh and his hosts, who “were arrogant in the land without right” (28:39). The Quran treats arrogance as a root of rejecting the truth, because it keeps a person from accepting guidance. The related noun istikbār names the condition. In Islamic teaching only God is truly great (al-Kabīr), and anyone who claims greatness for himself takes a position that belongs to God alone.

What the sources say

A hadith in Sahih Muslim says that no one with an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise.

Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 45, listed as ISTAKBARA. The definition is restated here.