Title of the Sermon: To Allah Belongs the Honor, and to His Messenger, and to the Believers.
Elements of the Sermon:
Allah, the Mighty.
The Path to Honor.
The Meaning of Honor in Islam.
Do They Truly Seek Honor?.
All praise be to Allah, the Strong and the Exalted, who bestows honor upon those who believe in Him and fear Him, and who disgraces those who disbelieve in Him and defy Him. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, alone without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger—whom Allah has honored, dignified, and raised in high esteem. May peace and blessings be abundantly upon him.
Thereafter, fear Allah, O servants of Allah, with the true piety He deserves, and keep Him in remembrance in secret and in private. As Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.” [Ᾱlu ‘Imrān:102]
O servants of Allah,
Recall the incident during the Battle of Bani al-Muṣṭalaq when the Prophet (r) was with his companions. Two young men—one from the Muhājirūn and the other from the Ansar—became involved in a dispute. In the heat of the quarrel, the Muhājirī struck the Anṣārī. The Ansari cried out, “O Anṣār!” and the Muhājirī retorted, “O Muhājirūn!” Each was calling upon the group to which he belonged for support. Hearing this, the Messenger of Allah (r) remarked: “What is with this call of the days of ignorance? Leave it, for it is unworthy of respect.”
Then Abdullah ibn Ubayy—the very man who led the ranks of hypocrisy in Medina—murmured, “Have they really done that? By Allah, if we return to Medina, the most honored among us will be expelled by the most humiliated.” This news reached the Prophet (r). At that moment, Umar rose and said, “O Messenger of Allah, allow me to strike the neck of this hypocrite.” But the Prophet (r) responded: “Leave him, so that people may not say that Muhammad kills his own companions.” (Narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
It so happened that this very hypocrite had a son—a devout believer—named Abdullah. When he heard his father’s words, he immediately approached him and said: “By Allah, you will not be satisfied until you admit that you are humiliated and that the Messenger of Allah (r) is exalted!” And indeed, he did so. (Narrated by Tirmidhī) Then Allah revealed:
يَقُولُونَ لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“They say, ‘If we return to Medina, the most honored among us will be driven out by the humiliated.’ And to Allah belongs all honor, to His Messenger and to the believers; but the hypocrites do not know.”
— [Al-Munāfiqūn:8]
O servants of Allah,
Indeed, Allah—Exalted be He—is the Mighty, the Lord of all honor. All honor belongs solely to Him: the honor inherent in His Essence, His Names, His Attributes, and His Deeds. Allah, the Exalted, says:
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
“Exalted is your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe.” [Al-Ṣāffāt:180]
And He also declares:
إِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا
“Indeed, all honor is for Allah.” [Yūnus: 65]
The term “honor” embraces several meanings—strength, supremacy, the ability to prevent harm, and uniqueness. Allah, the Almighty, is All-Powerful; all power belongs to Him. As He says:
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَلِيمًا قَدِيرًا
“And Allah is not incapacitated by anything in the heavens or on the earth; indeed, He is ever Knowing and Competent.” [Quran 35:44]
Moreover, He is the Subduer, the One who overcomes all, as revealed in:
وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ
“And Allah prevails over His affair.” [Quran 12:21]
He is perfect in every respect; nothing adverse or deficient can befall Him. In a divine narration, He reminds us: “O My servants, you will never reach My harm so as to harm Me, nor will you ever attain My benefit so as to benefit Me.”
(Narrated by Muslim) Truly, there is nothing like Him—no peer, no equal, no rival, no one comparable in excellence or justice.
Allow me now to share a few lines that capture His magnificence:
He is the Mighty—His majesty none may breach,
How can one dare the dominion of the Sovereign’s reach?
He is the Mighty, the Subduer, the Prevailing One,
None has ever overcome Him—His will is done.
He is the Mighty, by strength that is His own,
Thus, might takes on three meanings alone.
All of them are perfected in Him, the Most High,
Flawless in essence—no weakness draws nigh.
Because all honor belongs to Allah alone, His Attributes and Deeds are intrinsically linked to His Majesty. He is the All-Knowing, bestowing honor through His Knowledge; the Most Merciful, showing mercy with honor rather than with disgrace; the Bestower, granting what He wills to whomever He pleases with honor, not humiliation; and the Oft-Forgiving, forgiving by virtue of His exalted status. Whenever He wills an action, nothing can prevent Him, nor is there any deficiency in His execution—every act is a reflection of His perfection.
And indeed, His Book is mighty—a Book before which falsehood cannot approach, neither from before it nor from behind it; nothing can distort or undermine its truth.
Since all honor is His, He bestows it upon whomever He wills and brings low whoever He wills. Allah, the Exalted, says:
قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَنْزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَنْ تَشَاءُ
“Say, ‘O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will.’” [Ᾱlu ‘Imrān: 26]
And He also declares:
مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا
“Whoever desires honor—know that all honor is for Allah.” [Fāṭir:10]
Thus, whenever Allah intends to elevate a servant or a nation, He honors them and raises their status; and whenever He wills to humble a servant or nation, He degrades and subjects them to disgrace. Has our Lord not informed us about the Children of Israel? After He had favored them above their contemporaries, they exchanged Allah’s favor for disbelief—and so Allah struck them with humiliation and degradation, as He said:
وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ وَالْمَسْكَنَةُ
“And humiliation and misery were stamped upon them.” [Al-Baqarah: 61]
O servants of Allah,
Any free and noble servant who refuses to live a life of humiliation and oppression—and any dignified nation that shuns the life of disgrace and abasement—what then is the path to honor and dignity? Allah has decreed that He exalts His friends and debases His enemies.
The Prophet (r) once praised his Lord during qunūt by saying: “He does not disgrace those You befriend, nor does He honor those You oppose.” (Narrated by Abu Dawud)
The guardianship of Allah is attained through faith; the extent of Allah’s favor upon you is the measure of your honor. Remember the time when Umar ibn al-Khattab set out for Syria to receive the keys of Jerusalem, accompanied by a group of the Prophet’s (r) companions and valiant warriors. When they reached a watercourse (Makhāḍa), Umar, riding his camel, dismounted, removed his sandals, placed them upon his shoulder, and took hold of the reins before wading into the water. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah exclaimed: “O Commander of the Faithful! Is this what you do? You remove your sandals and place them upon your shoulder, take hold of your camel’s reins, and wade into the water? I am not pleased that the locals have honored you so!”
To which Umar replied: “Verily, we were once a people who were humiliated, but Allah exalted us through Islam. So whatever honor we seek apart from that which Allah has granted us, He will surely bring us low.” (Narrated by al-Hakim)
This is the balance:
“We were a people who were humiliated, and Allah exalted us through Islam; so whatever honor we seek apart from that with which Allah has honored us, He will humble us.”
What does it mean that Allah has honored us through Islam? He has honored us by making Islam the true religion to which we owe our allegiance—a religion that is not Judaism, nor Christianity, nor atheism, nor polytheism, nor a mixture with any false creed. Islam is a complete creed and way of life.
The Prophet (r) said: “No house on the face of the earth—whether of habitation or of cultivable land—will remain except that Allah will enter it with the Word of Islam, accompanied either by the honor of the Mighty or by the humiliation of the lowly. Either Allah will exalt them by His might, making them among its people, or He will humble them so that they submit to it.” (Narrated by Ahmad)
Allah honors us in Islam through our complete submission to His command—without objection, without choosing parts of it, and without altering or distorting His laws. Yet, when the Children of Israel allowed their desires to override Allah’s guidance, He struck them with humiliation and abasement in this world and the Hereafter. As He warns:
أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ
“So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? What is the recompense for those among you who do that, except disgrace in the worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be returned to the most severe punishment?” [Al-Baqarah: 85]
Indeed, when we adhere to Allah’s complete Shariah in every aspect of life and live according to the divine methodology revealed through His Messenger (r), Allah will, without fail, honor us. But when a person turns away from Allah’s path, rebelling and disobeying Him, Allah will humiliate him—and whoever Allah debases will never be granted honor. Allah says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُولَئِكَ فِي الْأَذَلِّينَ * كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ
“Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger—those are the ones who will be humiliated. Allah has certainly written, ‘I and My messengers will surely prevail, for Allah is Mighty and Exalted.’” [Al-Mujādilah: 20–21]
Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah (r) established a clear principle by saying: “Humiliation and debasement have been decreed for whoever opposes my command.” (Narrated by Ahmad)
Remember always:
Indeed, true honor and nobility lie in piety,
While love for this world is but disgrace and futility.
May Allah bless me and you with the guidance of the Glorious Qur’an, and may He benefit us with its verses and wise reminders. I ask Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you—so seek His forgiveness, for He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Second Sermon
Praise be to Allah, and may prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him.
O servants of Allah,
The disbelievers have taken besides Allah deities in which they boast—deities from whom they expect strength, wealth, elevation, and protection. Yet, their ultimate destiny is loss, humiliation, and disgrace, for everything they attach to besides Allah is mere falsehood—more insubstantial than a spider’s web. Allah says:
وَاتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ آلِهَةً لِيَكُونُوا لَهُمْ عِزًّا * كَلَّا سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدًّا
“And they have taken besides Allah [false] deities that, for them, are a source of honor; but they will surely disbelieve in their worship and become opponents to it.” [Maryam: 81–82]
Do you not remember how the magicians of Pharaoh, in a magnificent display, sought to extinguish the light of Allah? They declared:
فَأَلْقَوْا حِبَالَهُمْ وَعِصِيَّهُمْ وَقَالُوا بِعِزَّةِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْغَالِبُونَ
“So they cast their ropes and staffs, and said, ‘By the might of Pharaoh, we are indeed the dominant ones.’” [Al-Shu’arā: 44]
And what was their fate?
فَغُلِبُوا هُنَالِكَ وَانْقَلَبُوا صَاغِرِينَ
“So they were defeated there and turned humbled.” [Al-A’rāf: 119]
The deity in which these people take pride may be an idol, a false god, a human being, or even an idea or ideology—one that they elevate above Allah, His guidance, and His judgment.
Did our Lord not also inform us that the hypocrites and the disbelievers—those who take as allies others besides the believers in a misguided quest for honor and protection—will be disgraced for their hypocrisy? Allah says:
بَشِّرِ الْمُنَافِقِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا * الَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِنْدَهُمُ الْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا
“Give tidings to the hypocrites of a painful punishment. Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers—do they seek honor from them? Know that all honor is for Allah.” [Al-Nisā: 138–139]
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor to the Muslims; destroy the Zionist wrongdoers. O Allah, send down tranquility into the hearts of the mujahideen striving in Your cause, save Your oppressed servants, and raise high the banner of Your religion by Your might, O Strong, O Steadfast.
O Allah, grant us security in our homelands, rectify our leaders and the guardians of our affairs, and make our allegiance with those who fear You, are conscious of You, and follow Your pleasure.
Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.
