“Allah, the Glorified, says: ‘Pride is My cloak and greatness My robe, and whoever competes with Me with regard to either of them, I shall throw him into Hell.’” (Sunan Ibn Majah: Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4174)
The first one who showed arrogance towards Allah and His creation was the accursed Iblees, when Allah commanded him to prostrate to Adam and he refused and was arrogant, and said: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.”
And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam”; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated. [Allah] said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?” [Satan] said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.” (Quran 7:11-12)
Moreover, arrogance may be the cause of a person being deprived of Paradise and may mean that the Lord of Glory will not even look at him, as it says in the following two ahadith:
1. ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “He who has, in his heart, an ant’s weight of arrogance will not enter Jannah.” Someone said: “A man likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?” Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and despising people.” (Riyad as-Salihin: Book 1, Hadith 612)
2. Ibn Umar (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Allah will not look on the Day of Judgment at him who lets his garment drag on the ground out of pride and arrogance.” (Bulugh al-Maram: Book 16, Hadith 1494)
Pride is an attribute that is not befitting for anyone except Allah. One of Allah’s names is Al-Mutakabbir (the Majestic) which means He is the One Who is above all bad qualities, shortcomings and faults, because of His might and pride. Whoever seeks to compete with Allah in that, Allah will destroy him, wreak vengeance on him and make things difficult for him.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah Most High says: Pride is my cloak and majesty is my lower garment, and I shall throw him who view with me regarding one of them into Hell. (Sunan Abi Dawud 4090)
This is a stern warning against arrogance which clearly demonstrates that it is haram.
Everyone who tries to be arrogant and put himself above others, Allah will bring him down among the lowest of the low, and will humiliate him, because he is going against reality, so Allah will punish him by thwarting his aims; the punishment is to fit the crime.
The one who is arrogant towards the people will be trampled beneath the feet of the people on the Day of Resurrection, as a punishment for his arrogance.