Spiritual narcissism [A short thread]

“Spiritual narcissism creates the pretense of holiness as an ego strategy to mask insecurity, receive approval, or avoid struggle and growth.”

A spiritual narcissist doesn’t differ from a ‘normal’ narcissist expect from now hijacking religion as a means to inflict abuse.

One example of such behaviour can be in the context of an abusive marriage where the husband is psychologically abusing his wife under the pretence of having gheerah..

Gheerah is a sense of sincere concern and protectiveness that one may withhold over their mahrams. It‘s not limited to males & is a beautiful, necessary trait when expressed correctly. However, at times it is hijacked by abusive individuals who attribute their behaviour to it.

Gheerah Vs Abuse:

To exemplify what I mean, I’ve made some comparisons in actions. This is not an exhaustive list, it’s just a few examples in each of help differentiate between them:

Many abusers are able to take advantage of distorting the deen as they’re able to guilt trip their victims into believing god will punish them if they aren’t listened to. I’ve seen/heard a lot of sisters who’ve endured toxic marriages because of this (I’m sure males have as well)

Spiritual narcissists feel this sense of entitlement/self-righteousness within the deen & attempt to hijack what being a Muslim equates to. They thrive of belittling/humiliating others & mask it by claiming they are defending the deen. It‘s not for the sake of Allah but their ego

May those who inflict such abuse be dealt with accordingly.

[P.S. please forgive my horrendous spelling mistakes in this thread just realised them now lol speed typing + autocorrect = enemies]