How can we distinguish whether we are confident or arrogant?

In Islam, we are taught to always be humble regarding our actions (Holy Quran 53:33), but we are also taught to be confident regarding our love. The Holy Prophet ^sas asked a companion what preparation he had made from the day of judgment, he said:

“Nothing, except that I love Allah and His Apostle.” The Holy Prophet ^sas said, “You will be with those whom you love.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 62, Hadith 38)

Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad ^ra,The Moon of the Prophets, wrote that:

I always felt as if I had in person submitted this query to the Prophet of Allah and that he had been pleased to favor me with the above answer.

(Forty Gems of Beauty, p. 4)

Despite the fact that he ^ra was humble with regards to his great deeds, he was confident with regards to his ^ra great love. The Holy Prophet ^sas taught that if we love someone, we should tell them (Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 42, Hadith 5,106).

This principle applies to our human relationships as well. For example, if a man expresses humility to his wife by saying, “because of my weaknesses, I’m not sure if I’m even a good husband,” his wife will appreciate it. But if he expresses humility to his wife by saying, “because of my weaknesses, I’m not sure if I even love you,” his wife will probably not appreciate it. Common sense teaches us that humility is good regarding actions, but not love. Confidence is good regarding love, but not actions.

Once during the life of the Promised Messiah ^as, a debate arose as to whether it was an appropriate expression of humility for a believer to question whether he was even a believer or not. The Promised Messiah ^as said that it is necessary for the members of our community to think well of themselves. One must try to excel in his efforts to increase in good deeds, but to deny being a believer is wrong (Anwarul ‘Ulum, vol. 23, p. 145).

We cannot gauge our spiritual progress through our actions because we are taught to be humble with regards to our actions. However, we can gauge our spiritual progress through our love because we are taught not to be humble in love, but confident. We can know our spiritual progress by gauging the love of Allah in our hearts. Hadrat Musleh Mau‘ud ^ra said:

Let others examine our actions, our job is to examine our heart.

(Malaikatullah, p. 65)

Allah Almighty promises that those who fear Him out of love will begin to experience their paradise in this world (55:47), and the greatest paradise is His pleasure (9:72).