Musings on Honor

Some Prayerful Reflections on Honor 

I. Ya Rabb (O Lord), Honor really is everything, isn't it? We may lose so much of what we have in this life, yet our Honor is always something we can retain. Is this virtue, Lord, not what you have made us for? That, throughout all the trials and tribulations of this life, we hold steadfast to our own human dignity and, in perfect submission, seek to fulfil all the demands of your divine Law?

II. I feel as if everything else in this Dunya (world) distracts and confuses me. The goods of this world are nought but ghostly phantasms, which do nothing but deceive my heart. Yes, they do provide me with some inkling of pleasure and happiness for a time, but their end arrives with such haste, Lord, it feels as if these moments never even happened to begin with. These 'gifts' of Dunya are so gross that they prohibit any fellowship with beauty or value. And yet, they still entrap me.

III. But, when I cling to your Law, ya Rabb, I find perfect peace and comfort. That, no matter what pains assail my soul, I am able to stand firm in my humanity. You have commanded your angels to build a fortress of strength and tranquillity around my heart, and I am so very grateful. Ya Rabb, the serenity with which you have adorned my soul and clothed my body tastes like paradisal milk and honey. Lift me to your heavens, Lord, where gardens have rivers filled with milk and honey. I know that this holy desire, of cleaving unto your Divine Law, is no different than the acquisition of Honor.

IV. What is Honor then, Lord? Past peoples spoke of it as if it was part and parcel of their everyday lives. But this concept is a completely foreign artefact for me and my generation. What am I to do, ya Rabb? This trait that your Prophet (s.a.w.) perfected and your Awliya (Saints) excelled at, how am I supposed to draw near to it? I am illiterate in the language that the Righteous are fluent in. Ya Rabb, guide me to the right understanding of this prophetic virtue called Honor, for I yearn to be exalted in the stations of Sainthood.

V. Lord, in thinking about the nature of Honor, you have cast this light of understanding into my heart, and my intuitions have now led me to this answer: To be honourable means that, however perilous and troublesome the circumstances I find myself in, I do my level best in all my duties, succumbing neither to fear nor fatigue in the face of all that is arduous. To be honourable means that I hold steadfast to Haqq (Truth) and Akhlaq (Right Conduct) no matter the temptations and threats sent my way. To be honourable means holding myself to the highest standards possible in order to affirm my human dignity. Ya Rabb, you have destined us to be the highest and most noble beings of your creation, to be your Khilafa (Representative) on this Earth and manifest your Most Beautiful Names and Attributes. 

VI. Thank you for sending the works of the Stoics my way, Lord. Their words nourish my soul with wisdom. In particular, their injunction to 'concern yourself with the things you can control, and consign to fate what you cannot control' is so very edifying. They have provided me with an ingenious technique to discern, at any given moment, whether or not I am living in accordance with Honor. Whenever I agonize over the things that are not in my control, I now recognise that Dunya is winning, and I have forgotten your sovereign lordship over all things. But, in those moments where I focus, with perfect attention, on the things within my control, I know that I am doing you proud, ya Rabb.

VII. Ya Rabb, you have implanted a final fiery light into my heart that has aided me so greatly. You have unveiled this sweet doctrine: that the key to Honor is found in my own Fitra (human nature). Honor has no enmity with Haqq, and so I have realized that the road to Honor lies in being true to oneself. I do not mean this expression in the modern way, which tells people to 'be true to who you are', for this is just vain individualism, which bears no fruit but confusion and narcissism. Rather, instead of 'being true to who I am', I should 'be true to what I am'. I must set my eyes not on my specific identity, which is restricted only to myself, but on the general humanity, which is shared with my fellow travellers in this Dunya. Honor, then, is not some alien art from a bygone time, nor is it a notion I have no hope of understanding. Ya, Rabb, you have revealed to me, in wonderful fashion, that Honor, far from being outside from my grasp, is rooted in that which is most closest to me: my very own human dignity and my very own Fitra. To be honourable means to be true to what I am and what you have created me to be. To be honourable means to excel in humanity and all the special virtues that entails. To be honourable means to radiate your divine virtues of justice, strength, charity and integrity in this world, no matter the circumstances. For you never cease to emanate your luminous beauty, Lord, so why should we?