25 & 26 - الْمُعِزُّ الْمُذِلُّ

[Bint e Aisha]

الْمُعِزُّ  الْمُذِلُّ

 

الْمُعِزُّ and الْمُذِلُّ will be discussed together . Allah ta’ala is The One Who grants both honor and dishonor. 

 

Translation

الْمُعِزُّ is translated as The Bestower of Honour and The Strengthener. 

الْمُذِلُّ  is translated as The Humiliator, The Disgracer and The Dishonourer.

 

Definition

الْمُعِزّ

It comes from ‘Izzah (Respect).   الْمُعِزّ is that Being Who bestows honour and respect . It is that Being Who grants honour and protection to His friends from sin and their shortcomings from being exposed to people and through His Rahmah, on the Day of Judgment, places them in a respected place which is Jannah and grants them His vision. 

 

الْمُذِلُّ

It comes from Dhillah (Disrespect/dishonor). الْمُذِلُّ is that Being Who disgraces, dishonours, humiliates. It is that Being Who makes His enemies Mahroom (Deprived) of knowing Him i.e. they do not attain His Ma’rifah. Therefore humiliation is not just to be made to look bad in front of other people. It is also that the person never recognizes Allah ta’ala. He humiliates them by putting them in a position where they are against Him and then He places them in a place of punishment which is Jahannam. 

 

 

Concept of ‘Izzah & Dhillah in the Dunya

People of the Dunya have their own concept of honour and dishonor where respect is shown to those who have money, popularity, education and degrees, who are eloquent speakers, well connected, have a big house and nice car etc. and our concept of respect is what people think of us and how they treat us due to the things we have. 

 

Humiliation, which is the opposite of respect, is when people mock or laugh, think lowly of you because you are not wealthy or educated or do not have a good job or a great background. 

 

These concepts are people dominated concepts. If we look at the explanations of these words then we realize that both honour and dishonour come from Allah ta’ala and they are not in the way of the worldly concept. 

 

 

‘Izzah & Dhillah are from Allah ta’ala

Allah ta’ala says in the Qur’an, 

 

 قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنْزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
 

Say: "O Allah! Master of all the Kingship, You give the kingdom to whom You please and take away the kingdom from whomsoever You please; You give honor to whom You please and disgrace to whom You please; all the good is in Your hand; surely You have power over everything [Surah Aali ‘Imraan: 26]

 

The Most Respected person is the one with Taqwa
 

Allah ta’ala gave us ‘Izzat by making us human beings as Insaan (human beings) are the most Mu’azziz (Respected) creatures. Then there are varying degrees of ‘Izzat and in the eyes of Allah ta’ala the most respected person is the one with Taqwa and Allah ta’ala mentions this is the Qur’an,

 

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
 

Surely the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous. Allah is All-Knowledgeable, All-Aware. [Surah Hujuraat: 13]

 

Therefore human beings do not bring honour or dishonour and their reality is not what they regard as respect and there is a lot of consolation in this as respect is something all human beings need. It is a terrible feeling to be disrespected by one’s children, husband and family. 

 

True respect is from Allah ta’ala and when you are doing what Allah ta’ala wants and people show disrespect then you will not feel humiliated. This is a beautiful thing. In the West where people are not Muslim, say that no one can humiliate you unless you let them. It means that if you have enough self-respect and human dignity then what other people say or do which may seem like they are trying to demean you and disrespect you, will not matter because you will not allow it to happen and you will shrug it off. This is the psychological aspect but our Deen teaches us this. Allah ta’ala gives respect and He says respect is in Taqwa so if we are trying to become people of Taqwa then disrespect, humiliation from others will not affect us. 

 

Our Deen is so progressive and the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam was a perfect example. We live in an age where there are all these discussions and debates on racism, people getting xenophobic, being judgemental of others due to colour, race etc. We see at the time of Fath-e-Makkah (The conquest of Makkah) how Bilal RA, being low in society, a foreigner and black was given a place of respect and honour in a society where there was racism and where he was regarded as nothing.  

 

After the Conquest of Makkah in 8 AH when the city surrendered and all the nobles from the Muslims and the non-Muslims were standing in the courtyard, the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam asked Bilal RA from all the Sahaba RA to climb up to the roof of the Ka’bah and give the call of Adhaan from the top. This was the first Adhaan which was given in Makkah and Bilal RA had the honour. Many Mushrikeen who had not yet accepted Islam were astonished. One of them said to his companions that he was glad his father had not lived to see this day and another said, “Could Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhiw asallam) not find anyone else?” These comments were related to the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam by Jibra’eel AS. After Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam made Tawaf of the Ka’abh on a camel he made a speech and addressing everyone he said, 

 

“O people of the Quraysh ! Allah has abolished the haughtiness of the Jahiliyyah and its veneration of ancestors. People all spring from Adam, and Adam came from dust.’ Then he recited this verse, ‘O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (49: 13)

 

Therefore people were divided into two categories;

•    The Muttaqqoon, who have nobility and honour in front of Allah ta’ala 

•    The sinners who are humiliated in front of Allah ta’ala

 

Bilal RA was of the Muttaqeen. The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam once said to Bilal RA, 

 

“Bilal, tell me which act you did at the time of the morning prayer for which you hope to receive good reward, for I heard during the night the sound of your footsteps before me in Paradise?” Bilal RA replied: “I did not do any act in Islam for which I hope to get any benefit, but this, that when I perform complete ablution during the night or day I observe prayer with that purification, what Allah has ordained for me to pray.” [Sahih Muslim]

 

Therefore honour and dishonour is not in the hands of people. It is from Allah ta’ala. 

 

What is Humiliation?
 

According to the definition, humiliation means the person does not know Allah ta’ala. He does not have His Ma’rifah (Recognition) and he is against Allah ta’ala. This is true humiliation.  

 

We think of humiliation in terms of what people think of us and how they treat us but true respect comes from Taqwa. 

 

Blessings of Taqwa

•    It eases difficulties of the Dunya and Aakhirah

•    Opens doors of Rizq (Not just financial but all kinds as mentioned before)

•    Allah ta’ala forgives sins

•    Increases reward of good deeds

 

Abdullah ibn Abbaas RA said people in the Dunya regard fame and fortune as respect but in the eyes of Allah ta’ala respect is in Taqwa. Respect belongs to Allah ta’ala and He is The One Who endows people with it. 
 

 

Respect for our Deen

‘Umar RA said, “Verily, we were a disgraceful people and Allah honored us with Islam. If we seek honor from anything besides that with which Allah has honored us, then Allah will disgrace us.”

 

This in a nutshell explains all our problems. We look for respect in other things not realizing that true respect comes from Islam and Allah ta’ala. We are so scared in this age, of what people think that we lose out on what respect we should have gotten. We should respect the respect that Allah ta’ala has given us. We do not view it as respect and we do not act on our Deen. When we respect our Deen then other people will also respect it.

 

A story is mentioned in the commentary which was related by Mufti Taqi Uthmani Sahib. He said there was a man looking for a job in London however due to his beard he was not succeeding. Finally he was offered a job at one interview however they did not allow beards. Disappointed he left and after searching and failing he decided to take up the job he was offered. So he shaved off the beard and presented himself at the same place and said he was ready to be hired. The interviewer asked him if the beard was a necessary part of his religion to which he replied in the affirmative and said it was a command of God. The interviewer replied that he had broken a command of God due to the job which showed he had no loyalty to God, how then can he have loyalty to the job? He did not get the job he expected and the person was in loss in the Dunya and in the Aakhirah - خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ. This happens when a person compromises his Deen.

 

When someone mocks, taunts, disrespects, makes fun etc. it does not decrease the respect Allah ta’ala has given us and that is a consolation. All the Ambiya AS who were the most respected human beings in history, were all mocked and Allah ta’ala mentions it in the Qur’an. When we read biographies of great people we see that they were disrespected and treated badly yet they attained success. Therefore being respected and accepted by Allah ta’ala has nothing to do with what people say.

 

Counsel

Firstly, we should know with certainty that ‘Izzat and Dhillat is for Allah ta’ala. If you reach a level of respect in the Dunya, to know that it was Allah ta’ala Who granted it to you. 

 

Do not search for respect among people. When we have true respect and realise it is from Allah ta’ala then people will also respect you. We should try to adopt the lifestyle which leads to eternal respect and not the temporary respect of this world. People who are rich or famous like celebrities get respect due to their wealth or fame and when they lose it, people also leave them. 

 

We worry about being humiliated in front of people, what about being humiliated in front of Allah ta’ala?

 

Secondly, we should show respect to other people, Muslim or non-Muslims, as all human beings should have human dignity and deserve respect. Our Deen teaches us not to even say bad about other religions and to have a respectful attitude towards other people’s beliefs.

 

Lastly, we should not do any deeds to get respect from people. All our deeds should be for Allah ta’ala alone and when we do this, then people will respect you. The same people who may have looked down on you or criticised and disrespected you for your Deen, will ask you to make du’a for them and show you respect. 

 
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