The Pillars of Kufr are Four

Shaykhul Islaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
Reference: Fawaa`idul Fawaa`id of Ibnul-Qayyim - Page 288

Translator: Shadeed Muhammad, Abu Az-Zubayr

Source: www.back2thebasics.net

Category: Creed

"The pillars of Kufr (i.e. disbelief and disobedience) are Four"

1. Kibr i.e. arrogance, which prevents him from submission, (to the command of Allah)
2. Hasad i.e. jealousy, which prevents him from accepting advice and giving it.
3. Ghadab i.e. anger, which prevents him from being just.
4. Sha`wah i.e. lowly desires, which prevents him from devoting himself totally to worship.

Hence,if the pillar of arrogance is removed then it becomes easy to submit,and if the pillar of jealousy is removed then it becomes easy for him to accept naseehah (i.e. advice) and to give advice. If the pillar of anger is removed then it becomes easy for him to be just and humble himself and if the pillar of lowly desires is removed then it becomes easy for him to be patient, chaste and devote himself to worship. Every imprudent characteristic derives from these four. And when these characteristics settle in his heart they will cause him to see falsehood as truth and to see truth as falsehood. To see Ma`roof (i.e.good) as Munkar (i.e. evil) and evil as good, and it brings him closer to the life of this world and pushes the hereafter further from him.

Uprooting strong and power mountains from their places is easier than removing these four characteristics from the heart of an individual who is tested with them. This proves especially true when these characteristics become firmly rooted and embedded in an individual to the point they become second nature, for when an individual reaches this point it is almost impossible for him to do any good deeds, nor would he purify himself with them if he were to perform any acts of good. The more he strives diligently to perform acts of good the more his actions are corrupted by these four characteristics.

If you reflect on the disbelief of the past nations, you will find that it derived from one of these four pillars, and it was due to one of these four that they were punished. However, the severity of the punishment was dependent on the degree and extent of these pillars with those nations. So, whoever adorns himself with these pillars then he subjects himself to all types of evil consequences, in the life of this world and in the hereafter. And whoever avoids them, distances himself from all types of evil, because these characteristics prevent him from Inqiyad (i. e. submission), Ikhlas (i.e. sincerity), Tawbah (i.e.repentance), accepting the truth, giving advice to the Muslims and humbling himself to Allah and to His creation.

These characteristics emerge due to the slave`s ignorance of his Lord, and his ignorance of his own self-worth or value. If he truly knew his Lord with all of His lofty characteristics and was truly aware of his own short-comings and deficiencies, he would not have a reason to be arrogant nor seek retribution for himself, nor would he be jealous of anyone because of what Allah has given them, because in reality,jealousy is a type of enmity or hostility towards Allah, primarily because the slave hates the fact that Allah has bestowed upon one of his servants a particular blessing and he ardently desires that thisblessing be taken away from him. So he actually oppose and contests thedecree of Allah and he deems the blessing of Allah to this slave to beunjust and dislikes for him what Allah loves for him. And it wasbecause of this characteristic that Iblis became the enemy of Allah,i.e. his arrogance and jealousy.

Hence, to replace these twohideous and evil characteristics with sound knowledge of Allah and Hisuniqueness and being pleased with Him as your Lord and turning towardsHim for assistance in all of his affairs, and replacing anger with trueknowledge of himself and his value, and the fact that he does not havethe right to get angry and seek retribution for himself, because inthis is giving precedence to himself over the pleasure of his Lord andexpressing anger towards his Lord, who originated him.

And thegreatest thing which would assist him in ridding himself of thischaracteristic is to condition himself to get angry for the pleasure ofAllah and to be pleased for the pleasure of Allah. And every time hegets angry or is pleased for the pleasure of Allah then anger andpleasure for other than Him will be obliterated, and the opposite isthe same.

However, the cure for his lowly desires is soundknowledge and understanding that his obedience to his lowly desires isthe greatest reason or hindrance for him attaining satisfaction, andhis abstaining from these lowly desires is the greatest reason andmeans by which he can attain satisfaction. So every time he sets out toattain satisfaction by following his lowly desires he actually pusheshimself further away from achieving this satisfaction, and the more heavoids his lowly desires, the closer he is to attaining thesatisfaction he is looking for in the most complete manner.

So Ghadab (i.e. anger) is like a predator, the minute you turn your attention away from it, it will eat you alive.

And Shah`wah (i.e. lowly desires) is like fire, the moment he ignites it, it will begin to burn him alive.

AndKibr (i.e. arrogance) is like arguing with a king about his possession,either he will kill you because of this, or just deprive you of it.

And Hasad (i.e jealousy) is like showing enmity and hatred towards someone who is more powerful than you.

Theone who can control his lowly desires and his anger will remove theShaytan from his midst. And the he whose lowly desires and angerovertakes him deprives himself from the shade and protection of Allah.