Answered by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad
In what instances is it permissible for a Muslim to experience or show kibr [arrogance]?
Wa `alaykum as-Salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh:
The Questionhas two parts: (i) experience kibr and (ii) show kibr.
It is never permissible for a Muslim to experience or commit kibr, one of the enormities.
Allah Most High says, “Greatness is My garment and haughtiness My mantle: whoever vies with Me for them I will throw into hell.” “No one with the slightest particle of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise.”
A man remarked, “But a man likes his clothes to be nice and his sandals good.” The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “verily, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance is refusing to acknowledge what is right and considering others beneath one.”
They said, however, it is a good deed for one to outwardly show kibr to those who have kibr.
Hajj Gibril