O those who love Allah’s Messenger! Today’s speech will be about something known as inferiority complex. We will talk about what inferiority complexes are, what harms they can bring, how we can protect ourselves from them, and what Islam says to us in relation to this.

What is an inferiority complex?

An inferiority complex is a mental disorder. Inferiority means inadequacy or deficiency, whilst complex refers to repressed thoughts and emotions that lead to abnormal mental state or behaviour. So, in essence, an inferiority complex is a mental state in which a person thinks less of themselves due to underlying thoughts and emotions.  

In reality, inferiority complexes come about from comparisons. There are two ways in which we compare ourselves to others:

1.   The first way we do this is by taking something we possess, keeping this in mind, and then comparing ourselves to others. For example, we may think, “I have money and so-and-so is poor”, “I own a car and he doesn’t”, or “I wear good clothes and they don’t.” Comparing oneself to others this way leads to a superiority complex.

2.   The second way is for us to think of something we don’t have, and then compare ourselves to others. For example, “So-and-so is reach, but I’m poor”, “That person is better looking than me”, and so on. This way of comparing oneself to others instead leads to an inferiority complex.  

Superiority and inferiority complexes are both nothing but harmful. One makes a person arrogant, whilst the other brings feelings of hopelessness and jealousy.