The Ruling on Boasting About Lineage and Tribe

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner asks: What is the ruling on one who boasts about his lineage, his tribe, or his village, and praises them in poems?

Answer:
As for mere praise that contains no exaggeration and no boasting, there is nothing wrong with it. However, if it reaches the level of boasting, it is not permissible. It is reported in the hadith that this is one of the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Allah the Exalted said: And He says: "Indeed, the believers are brothers." So the believers are brothers; there is no superiority for the Arabs over the non-Arabs, nor for the white over the black. Rather, superiority is by the mindfulness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). This is one of the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Yes.