Al-Mou'iz, Al-Mouthil _The One Who honors and abases

In the vastness of this sixteenth Divine Name of Allah, Most Gracious, we seek happiness. The Name is “Al-Mu’iz, Al-Muthil” (the One Who honors and abases). However, before we set out in our study and analysis of this Beautiful Divine Name of Allah, I would like to put forward the following introduction:

 

When Allah, All Mighty, originated man, He equipped him with certain laws that govern his life. For example, He created in him the instinct, or motive, of hunger, which is the cause of his survival. Without such motive, man would not feel the need for food, and he shun food and drink and fade away. In other words, man’s appetite for food motivates him to search for it in order to survive. Such human motive, with which Allah, All Mighty, has endued mankind, is well known to everyone.

 

As for the survival of the human race, Allah, Most Gracious, has provided man with another motive, namely the sex motive, with which Allah has endued both males and females and which motivates them to meet together. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, has legislated marriage for mankind. In other words, food and drink guarantee survival of man as an individual, whereas sexual need guarantees survival of the human race.

 

However, psychologists confirm the existence of a third motive in man, which is by no means less important than the motives of food and sex mentioned above. This motive can be called the motive for “self-importance”, “self-achievement” or “self-confirmation”, which can be classified under what people call “dignity” or “self-esteem”. In addition to food, drink and women, man needs to feel important, needs to be admired whether for his body, wealth, family, experience, job, or even, sometimes, his tyranny or ability to do mischief. In other words, man is pre-disposed to feel proud of himself, to confirm himself, and to make others feel that he is important, excellent, mighty, or even dangerous.                           

 

Now, the question is: Why does Allah, All Mighty, implant in man the motive for food and drink? The answer is simply: in order to enable him to survive as an individual. Why does Allah implant in man the need for sex? The answer is simply: so that the human race survives.

 

But why does Allah implant in man the motive of self-esteem, self-respect, or self-importance? The answer is simply: This is a kind of Divine Help from Allah, Most Gracious, to man in order to protect him from deviation or going astray.

 

Quite often, man feels worried about his good name, his honor, his dignity, his social status, his respect, his reputation, or his prestige, …etc. He feels afraid that people may speak badly about him or find out anything disgraceful or humiliating about him. Without such motive of self-esteem, it would be easy for man to commit grievous sins and misdeeds and, hence, to fall into the swamp of vice. Of course, this does not mean that no human being is lowly or disrespectable, as man’s pure nature may, sometimes, be deformed and his dignity violated. However, this is not the common thing but rather an exception to the rule; and there are always exceptions.

 

An example: Suppose that a child at school saw a pen, liked it and put it in his pocket. The student to whom the pen belonged went to the teacher and complained to him that his pen was stolen. The teacher asked who stole the pen, but no one answered. Therefore, he kept the students in class and began searching them, one by one. Suddenly, he found the pen in the student’s pocket. Now, even if the student was in the first primary class, or perhaps even in kinder garden, he would certainly feel not only embarrassed but also most shameful before other students. Why does one feel so ashamed or disgraceful? The answer is: because of the feeling of self-esteem, or self-respect, with which Allah, Most Gracious, has endued all human beings.

 

Once again, Allah, Most Gracious, has implanted in man the feeling of self-esteem, or self-respect, in order to help him avoid committing sinful evil deeds. Therefore, I would like to reiterate that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, has implanted in man the motive of food and drink, the motive of sex, and the motive of self-respect. Such motive can be given such names as the feeling of “self-importance”, “self-confirmation”, “self-fulfillment”, or “self-respect”.

 

Quite often, you hear people boastfully and proudly say: “I took an unforgettable stance!” “I did such and such great deed!” “I am the very best in my job!” “My work is perfect!” “I am the best!” …Etc. In fact, you find none that is not proud of his job, wealth, health, strength, family, status, …etc.

 

Once again, I reiterate that Allah, Most Gracious, implanted in man such motive of self-respect only to protect him from falling into vice, to protect him from deviation, and to protect him from defamation. Here is a story in support of our argument; and I hope that my dear readers find admonition therein:

 

A frivolous deviant profligate libertine married young man bought a video camera whereby he filmed himself with his wife in very shameful sexual postures. By mistake, he put the video in the case of another one that he had previously rented at a video-rental center. Later, also by mistake, he gave the video to the video-rental center. The owner of the video-rental center was surprised to find a new video among his old ones. So he made a lot of copies and put them in circulation. Quite accidentally, the man’s brother went to the center and borrowed the same video. When he went home to play the video, he was greatly amazed and embarrassed to see his brother and sister-in-law in such indecent shameful postures. He immediately went to inform his brother, who felt so embarrassed and disgraceful that he sold his house and fled with his scandal to another city, where none of his relatives or friends could see him. What made the man flee? The answer is: his feeling of self-respect! It was indeed a grievous scandal that destroyed not only the man’s reputation but his whole life as well. 

 

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Prosperous is he who is confined by my Sunna and is not allured by innovation.” Such a grievous mistake as to film oneself while having sexual intercourse with one’s wife or husband is manifest deviation from Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, which confirm that such married relationships must by all means be kept top secret. However, the question is: what made the man in the above story flee away from his home city? The answer is: fear of scandal! Unveiling of scandalous indecent affairs may sometimes even lead to committing suicide.

 

Therefore, we should by no means belittle or underestimate the motive of self-respect, self-esteem, self-confirmation, or self-importance, for it is very important and dangerous. Allah, Most Gracious, implanted it in man only to protect him from falling easy prey to scandal and disgrace.

 

Now, one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names is “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who honors) and another is “Al-Muthil” (the One Who abases). In fact, you are honored as long as you are committed to Allah’s Divine Commands: as long as you lower down your gaze at things that Allah considers unlawful, as long as you do not stay alone with a woman who is unlawful to you, as long as you do not tell lies, as long as you do not commit open or secret sins, as long as you do not place yourself is dubious or suspicious situations where people may accuse you of indecency or immorality. In other words, once you stick to Allah’s Divine Command, you acquire such good qualities as being chaste, honest, religious, decent, …etc, and attain honor of Allah’s Religion. This is the first point: you are honorable so long as you devotedly commit yourself to Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, and sincerely stick to His Divine Religion of Islam, which safeguards your reputation.

 

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), who does not speak out of his own desire but most honestly communicates Divine Revelation from the Lord, All Mighty, says, “Let no man stay alone with a woman (that is unlawful to him).”

 

So long as you are committed to the above Prophetic Hadith, no one in the whole world could ever slander, accuse or defame you, simply because you stick to Allah’s Divine Commands, which guarantee your good fame, dignity, honor and respect.

 

Hence, the first point in this lecture is that if you adhere to Allah’s Divine Commands with sincere devotion, if you are obedient and dutiful to Allah, and if you take a religious stance towards all your affairs, you are honorable. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), gave us a lot of lessons. For example, he was once walking with his wife, Safiah, may Allah be pleased with her, when he came across two of his venerable Companions. He suddenly stopped and addressed them, “Hold on! This is my wife, Safiah!” He, (PBUH), desired to teach us that making things clear expels Satan, i.e. prevents Satanic insinuations and suspicions. Having realized that such a thing is lawful or unlawful, such a thing is permissible or impermissible, you may be asked, for example, to enter a house where there is only a woman in order to fix something therein, like plumbing or anything else, you, as a true believer, should never enter such a place, no matter how much money you may lose by not entering such a house. If you do not enter a house where there is only a woman, you protect your reputation, honor, and dignity. This is the first meaning: you should be honorable and honest, because an honest person is chaste and honorable, a chaste person is honest and honorable, and a truthful person is also honest and honorable. Imagine that you told a lie in a place where someone who knew the truth suddenly came in to disprove publicly what you said and to show that you were a mere liar. You would certainly be greatly embarrassed and ashamed.

 

Therefore, you will never be honorable unless you are truthful and honest, you will never be honorable unless you are chaste, and you will never be honorable unless you are trustworthy. An example: if your son asks you to answer the phone and say that he is not there, while you know for sure that he is there, if you do as he asks, your son will not show adequate respect to you after that, because he thinks that you are not honest enough. The right thing to do, however, is to tell your son’s friends that he is there but he is too busy and, therefore, cannot see them or speak to them. This is the right thing to do. In other words, you will never be honorable or dully respected unless you stick to Allah’s Divine Commands. I reiterate: A chaste person is honorable, an honest person is honorable, an upright person is honorable, a trustworthy person is honorable, a truthful person is honorable, a sincere person is honorable, and a frank person is honorable.

 

However, deviation from the right way is conducive to scandal. If anyone knows that you are dishonest, you are humiliated and degraded, if anyone knows that you are not wise enough, you are reproached, if anyone knows that you are dishonest, you are distrusted, and if anyone knows that you are unchaste, you are suspected and censured.

 

Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor) means that He, All Mighty, Most Gracious, sent down to his Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, which includes His Divine Religion of Islam, including His Commands, Laws, Systems, and Legislations. If you stick to His Divine Laws and Legislations and adhere to His Commands, the first fruit you reap is to live among people with honor and respect: no one can ever slander or defame you, no one can ever raise false accusations against you, and no one can ever tell bad lies about you, simply because there is no evidence against you. However, if there are deviations, if there is co-mingling with women, if there are suspicious places, if there are notorious relationships, or if there are dubious transactions, you fall easy prey to slander and calumniation, even though you might be innocent. This is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor): He grants you Honor once you stick to His Divine Religion and Commands. It suffices you to adhere to His Religion and Commands if you desire to be honorable and if you desire to be happy and prosperous. If you are honorable, you achieve one third of your existence. The first part of man’s existence is food and drink, the second part is marriage and regeneration, and the third part is self-fulfillment, self-confirmation, self-respect, and self-honor. It is not permissible, as mentioned above, to say that Allah is “Al-Mouthil” (the One Who abases) without saying that He is also “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor), for these two Names are inseparable. The right thing to say is that Allah, Most Gracious, abases in order to honor.

 

For example, one of our noble brothers had a shop, wherein he employed an assistant who was not honest enough. Being most of the time alone in the shop, the latter would, every now and then, secretly pilfer some of the master’s money, as he was newly married and had to fulfill his wife’s numerable requirements. After some time, the master got suspicious and felt that something was going wrong in the shop. He asked one of his friends to come to the shop and buy some things at nine in the morning and then to return them in the evening under certain excuses. The master’s friend came and bought the things in the morning. At eleven, the master came to the shop to ask his assistant, “Haven’t you sold anything so far today?” The assistant claimed that he hadn’t sold a thing. In the evening, however, while the master and assistant were both in the shop, the master’s friend came in to return the things that he had bought in the morning. The assistant was so shocked and embarrassed that he almost fainted with disgrace and humiliation that he brought upon himself due to his dishonesty and disloyalty.

 

Didn’t Allah humiliate the shop assistant by putting him in such terrible situation? Why did Allah disgrace him? The answer is: in order to make him repent. If he does repent and stick to Allah’s Commands, he becomes honorable. In other words, Allah does not put anyone in a shameful or disgraceful situation except to treat him and bring him back to honor and self-respect. We should know for sure that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is both “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” (the One Who grants Honor and abases), i.e. if He abases someone, He does so in order to help him to be honorable. But a true believer is already honorable, i.e. he does not have to undergo humiliation in order to be honorable.

 

As I mentioned above, a person may discover facts by himself in due time, just as he may discover such facts after it is too late. He may also discover the facts after having paid a dear price, his life perhaps, or after having destroyed his whole family or married life.

 

A married man once forced his wife to go out to work and co-mingle with other men just for the sake of money and under the fake pretext of being open-minded, modern and liberal. He claimed that he was confident of his wife’s chastity and honesty although he pushed her to mingle with other men, to wear the most up-to-date clothes, and to look attractive and beautiful. However, after only a short period of time, the wife began to be negligent and careless about her husband, to be absent from her home for long hours, and to have suspicious communications and relations. The great shock came when the husband knew that his wife suddenly bought another house for herself, from her own special income of course, and even gave him up altogether. The only thing that he said was: “I should have been killed for what I did to my wife!” In other words, he loved her and, therefore, foolishly pushed her to be free, which he foolishly thought was the right thing to do, but she got to love someone else and forgot all about him. I would like to say that if such man had had the least honor or self-respect, he would have known that he was wrong from the very beginning, and he wouldn’t have destroyed his married life or lost his wife, mother of his children. Such man discovered the truth, but only after it was too late!

 

I would never desire that you have such a horrible experience. I would never desire that you become wise after it is too late or after you have paid so dearly. I reiterate that if you follow Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, and His Messenger’s Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, you will be rightly guided by the One Who is All-Aware of the things that befit His human slaves. It is all like an important machine that you desire to use. If you use it according to your own unqualified desire, it will certainly break down. It will cost a lot to repair and will not be productive enough. If, however, the manufacturer’s instructions are followed properly, the machine will work perfectly and most productively. It is not wise to know the truth after it is too late; it is wise to know the truth in due time.

 

Therefore, you can be honorable if you willingly follow Allah’s Words, or you can be honorable after Allah disgraces you because of your deviation or negligence. In other words, you can attain honor either after being humiliated or after knowing the truth on your own. The difference between both cases is both great and remarkable. Hence, you should strive to know the truth before you pay dearly for it. Strive to be honorable from the start and save yourself humiliation or disgrace. Get the lesson from the beginning and be honorable, and beware of paying a dear price for honor by being humiliated, debased, or distressed.

 

It has been said: The Names “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” are two of Allah’s Divine Names and also two of His Divine Attributes that are derived from His Divine Acts. This is because Allah, All Mighty, has a Self, Attributes, and Acts. Hence, He has Names derived from His Own Self, Names derived from His Attributes, and Names derived from His Acts. Most religious scholars confirm that “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” are of Allah’s Names that are derived from His Divine Acts. He honors his slave in both abodes: the present world and the Hereafter. Beware of being deceived by honor of this present world, as it may be a kind of gradual allurement. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily, many a self is nourished and made to dwell in luxury in this present world but will be starving and naked on the Day of Resurrection; and many a self is hungry and naked in this present world will be nourished and made to dwell in luxury on the Day of Resurrection. Many a person honors his own self while he humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it. Many a person is indulged luxuriously in (the Blessings) that Allah has conferred upon His Messenger, but he has no good share with Allah. Verily, the work of the Garden (of Paradise) is (as hard as climbing) a hard ground in a hill; and verily, the work of the Fire is easy and done inattentively. Many an hour’s lust entails long sorrow.”

 

Sometimes, you find someone whose life is very comfortable and luxurious: a vast house furnished with the most beautiful furniture, air conditioning, heating systems, ornaments and decorations, chandeliers, …etc. Everything he has is unmatched in beauty and elegance: his car, office, income, business, social position, clothes, …etc. He lives in absolute comfort and luxury in this present word, but his final end may be in Hell-Fire. On the other and, you may find someone whose clothes are shabby, whose food is simple, whose house is small, and whose life is of the fifth grade, but he is dutiful and obedient to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, and, consequently, his final end will be in Paradise. What really matters is one’s final end: “Verily, many a self is nourished and made to dwell in luxury in this present world but will be starving and naked on the Day of Resurrection; and many a self is hungry and naked in this present world will be nourished and made to dwell in luxury on the Day of Resurrection.”

 

However: “Many a person honors his own self while he humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.” Driven by his fake dignity, man may sometimes disobey his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, in order to preserve his status or prestige. If you were among profligate irreligious people and desired to show yourself willing to please them by doing the same things that they do in order to preserve your position with them, this may please them and make you agreeable to them, but, by so doing, you will bring yourself a lot of unbearable humiliation and disgrace on the Day of Resurrection: “Many a person honors his own self while he humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.”

 

You may humiliate yourself in this present world for the sake of your religion and honesty, and in order to please the Lord, All Mighty, and win His Generous Recompense in the world to come. You may put yourself in very difficult or embarrassing situations just for the sake of Allah and His Religion. You may relentlessly resist both pressures and allurements and endure punishments, mockery, ridicule, comments and accusations: “And many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.”

 

You might be a member of a committee and reject an alluring offer of bribery or refuse to do something that blemishes your religious beliefs, and, consequently, you might be made to resign under a lot of pressure, reproach and disdain. You might be described as being foolish or stupid for rejecting such a tempting never repeated offer of becoming rich: “Many a person honors his own self while he humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.”

 

In the same context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If you desire to do something, think of its consequences.” By the way, I have read an interesting questionnaire with which a hundred husbands were asked, “Why do you not betray your wife?” i.e. “What prevents you from betraying your wife?” Surprisingly, one of the answers was, “Because we are always together!” In other words he desires to betray his wife but simply he cannot. Sometimes, a person cannot endure pain resulting from a sinful deed, even if it has been done in complete secrecy and nobody knows about it. He faces himself with bitter self-reproach; he faces internal self-censure; he faces internal self-humiliation; and he faces internal collapse. Therefore, another answer came: “Because I cannot bear such an evil sin.” In other words, if he bore it, he would do it. This means that he seeks self-comfort. A third answer came, “I hate disloyalty.” However, it goes without saying that the first kind of answer is the silliest, but the last one is the best.

 

Anyway, a wise person is someone who places himself in hard situations for the sake of his future happiness and honor; a stupid person is someone who lives for his present moment. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A clever person is someone who condemns himself and works for the Afterlife; and a helpless person is someone who follows his own desires and raises (false) hopes to Allah.”

 

In the Abbaside times, a writer, called Ibn Al-Mouqaffa’, translated a book entitled “Kaleelah Wa Dimnah” from Persian. The book told fables about animals. The fables included a lot of lessons for human beings. A fable was about three fishes: a clever one, a cleverer one, and a helpless one. They all lived together in a stream that was linked to a river with a small opening. One day, two fishermen came past the stream and saw the fishes. They said to each other, “We shall come back tomorrow to catch the fishes.” The fishes heard what the two fishermen said and were so afraid and worried. The cleverest one thought, “A wise person is someone who bewares of things before they happen,” and hastened away to the river. The less clever one remained in the stream and naïvely thought, “It is still early! I shall swim out when they come.” But when the two fishermen came, it wanted to escape from the opening through which the cleverest fish escaped, but it suddenly found out that the fishermen had blocked it. It thought to itself: “I have been careless! Such is the bad end of carelessness!”  But it did not surrender. It said, “A wise person does not despair of good thinking.” In fact, it was clever, but not as clever as the first one. However, it feigned to be dead, floating with no motion on the surface of the water. One of the fishermen took it and put it on the ground between the stream and the river. Suddenly, the fish jumped up into river and swam away. It managed to escape but only after it had been frightened to death because of being careless. The third, least clever, fish remained helplessly in its place and did nothing until it was caught and eaten by the two fishermen. Such is the attitude of desperate helpless people who do nothing but wait hopelessly for their end. Cleverer people are those who start work after danger is come. The cleverest are those who work before danger is come. In fact, we need to be like the cleverest fish, which thought, “A wise person is someone who bewares of things before they happen.” We need to work before danger is come.

 

Undoubtedly, Allah, All Mighty, quite often gives honor to someone by way of trial and gradual allurement. Quite often, one faces serious allurements in one’s life: a high income or social position, a huge amount of money whereby one solves all one’s financial problems, an expensive car, a magnificent villa, a great power or hegemony, ...etc, but all at the expense of one’s good morals and religious beliefs. Such worldly honor is by no means real, and it avails you nothing against the Almighty Allah on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, you have to be very careful! It is a million times better for you to be obedient and dutiful to the Lord, All Mighty, even though you might live in the shadows and lead a life of simplicity and plainness.

 

They said: As for the life of the present world, honor can be manifested in wealth or good circumstances: wealth, beauty, power, family, supporters, children, wives, high social rank, worldly pleasures and enjoyments, houses, gardens, …etc. One may have a beautiful resort or a shady verdant orchard, to which one may invite one’s friends to receive their praises and phrases of admiration: “How Great!” “How magnificent!” “What beauty!” “Fantastic!” One may feel proud of such a worldly glory, but forget that the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, has granted it to him. We should never be deceived by such fake perishable worldly glory or honor. To the same purport, the verses go:

 

Make all your glory for your Lord,

It is deeply rooted and firmly established.

If you seek glory with that which perishes,

Your glory will similarly perish.

 

Glory or honor sought in the perishable ephemeral enjoyments and ornaments of this present world are mere illusion. It is mere illusion to feel proud of perishable worldly odds and ends or dead celebrities. That is why one of the portents of the Day of Judgment is that a person is valued by virtue of the wealth or property that he has: his house, clothes, furniture, …etc! Does vastness or location of your house really make you glorious or honorable?! Those who derive their glory and honor from worldly values are indeed great losers.

 

Some knowledgeable scholars said: “Honor of the present world is (attained) by wealth, but honor of the Hereafter is (attained) by (good righteous) status.” In other words, If you have a good status of purity, morality, innocence, chastity, uprightness, piety, righteousness, devotion, sincerity, love for Allah and nearness to Him, you attain honor in the Hereafter. Wealth is honor of this present world and is just as perishable.

 

In the same context, it is narrated that Fatih Al-Maousili was once asked, “What is someone who runs covetously after his desires like?” Some boys were playing around. One of them had only a small piece of bread while another had a piece of bread with some food. The former asked the latter to give him some of the food that he had. The latter said,  “I agree to give you some food provided that you be my dog!” The former agreed, and the latter tied a robe round his neck. Every time he gave him a piece of food, he pulled him by the robe like a dog. Having seen the boys doing that, Fatih Al-Maousili said, “If that boy was contented with his own piece of bread, and if he didn’t crave for his friend’s food, he wouldn’t become his dog.”

 

It is indeed an excellent story. The holy Prophet, David, (PBUH), narrated that Allah, Most Gracious, revealed to him, “O David! Warn your friends of desires and caprices, for the hearts that crave for pleasures of this present world are barred from Me.”

 

It is also narrated that a student came to his teacher with some bread with nothing to be eaten with it. The teacher noticed that the student wished that the bread had contained anything eaten with it. He desired to teach the student a lesson, so he took him to a prison where there were some prisoners. He said, “Look at all those prisoners! They were not contented with bread alone! What happened to them? They stole and caused themselves to be put in prison.”

 

Another story goes that a prisoner came out of prison with cuffs on his feet asking people for a piece of bread. One of the people addressed him, “Had you been contented with pieces of bread, cuffs would not have been put on you feet.”

 

Here is another symbolic story: A man stood at the door of a prince’s palace. He noticed that one of the prince’s servants entered upon the prince without asking for permission. When he asked about the reason, he was told that honesty and chastity made the servant so favored by the prince and intimate to him. Make no mistake about it! Nothing brings people destruction and humiliation more than greed.

 

Yes, indeed! Allah is “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who gives honor) provided that you stick to His Religion and that you seek none but Him. That is why Abu Hurairah quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “It is unlawful for a believer to humiliate himself.” They asked, “How does he humiliate himself?” “He puts himself to distress for that which is not up to him.” He, (PBUH), also said, “Seek (your) needs with self-respect, as things are run by Divine Decree.”

 

Narrated At-Tabarani in his “Al-Awsat” book of Prophetic Hadith, on authority of Sahl bin Sa’ad: Gabriel came to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), saying, “O Muhammad! Live as long as you desire, you shall pass away. Do whatever you desire, you shall be dully rewarded for it (that which you do). Love whomever you desire, you shall part with him/her. And know that a believer’s honor is (attained) by his standing up the night (in prayer, invocation and reading the Holy Quran); and his dignity is (attained) by his being in no need of (other) people.”

 

Honor, which belongs only to Allah, All Mighty, is also one of the qualities of true believers. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “They (hypocrites) say, ‘If we return to Medina, indeed the more honorable will expel from it the more dishonorable.’ But honor, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but hypocrites know not.” [LXIII; 8]

 

If you are a true believer, you are honorable because you are with the Almighty, because you follow the Almighty’s Religion, because you are in need of the Almighty, because you rely on the Almighty, and because the Almighty will never let you down.

 

Some said: Allah honors his believing slaves by making them contented, because all humiliation is imbedded in greed.

 

To wrap up, “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor) and “Al-Mouthil” (the One Who abases) are two of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names. They are derived from His Divine Acts. Man’s relationship with these two Names is that if he sticks to Allah’s Religion and Commands, he is made honorable and wise, because Allah’s Religion and Commands include utmost wisdom and honor. By His Divine Cosmic Command, He grants you honor and wisdom if you seek honor from Him, put your trust in Him, devote yourself to Him, turn to Him, Alone, and associate none with Him in worship. The two Names are inseparable; and it is better and more adequate to say that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, humiliates in order to honor.