Extracts from a khutbah delivered by Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz in Masjid al-Rawdah, Tarim, 7thMuharram 1436 / 31st October 2014
The events which took place on Ashura remind us that all honour belongs to those who are beloved to Allah, even if the opposite appears to be the case.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the most honourable of people in the sight of Allah, although he was the one who tied a stone to his belly out of hunger, he was the one who had camel’s entrails thrown upon him when he was praying and he was the one whose forehead was split and whose tooth was broken. All honour belonged to him while he was in the cave as the disbelievers searched for him.
All physical, material, and military strength was in the hands of Pharaoh, but all honour belonged to Sayyiduna Musa.
His people said to him: “We are trapped!”
Musa said: “No! My Lord is with me and He will guide me!”
Whoever wishes to abase those whom Allah has honoured will be abased, but whoever wishes to honour those whom Allah has honoured will himself be honoured.
When Sayyiduna al-Husayn was martyred, it was not he that was abased, but rather those that killed him. He attained the greatest honour from his Lord. His son, Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin, lived on to be the father of thousands of great imams. There is no honour in commemorating his martyrdom in a way that contravenes his way, the way of his father and the way of his grandfather ﷺ.
Whoever is killed for the sake of Allah will gain honour. Whoever is killed for the sake of something contemptible such as power, wealth and status, will be abased.
Through obedience to Allah, we honour ourselves. Through disobedience to Allah, we dishonour ourselves.