Areej Hashmi, 19

Humiliation is one of the unfortunate experiences of life. Social humiliation, in particular, can be a great source of anguish. But what causes this complex human experience in the first place? Humiliation can arise from being ignored, overlooked, taken for granted, denied rights, rejected, abused, betrayed, and abandoned. Unfortunately, as budding adults, these are things we experience regularly. The only precaution we can take is to know how to deal with it when we experience it—and who better to learn from than those who were humiliated the most; the prophets.1

Prophets Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, ‘Isa, and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are known as Al’Ulul Azm, the Possessors of Greatness, or the five greatest prophets. Yet, when we look at their lives, we find many instances where their people humiliated them. With this, we learn our first lesson about humiliation: Your status in society does not determine your worth.

What made these prophets so special? They were elevated in status because of their perseverance in calling to Allah’s way, their patience in the face of difficulties, and their submission towards the commands of Allah. Our second lesson about humiliation is that your patience and actions are true determinants of your worth.

Nuh was called crazy by his people for building a ship. Ibrahim was told to stop preaching lest his own father would stone him to death. Musa was repeatedly disobeyed by his people after he had saved them from a tyrannical leader. ‘Isa’s words were twisted by his people and they took him as God instead of the One he was calling the people to worship.2 And finally, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was repeatedly ridiculed by his people. He was accused of being a liar, a sorcerer, and a madman. He was plotted against, his family was hurt, and they were slandered and shamed by all.3

Humiliation helps us realize how truly alone we are in this world. It rids us of the shackles of serving society and striving to meet the status quo. It allows us to realize how dependent we are when it comes to any challenge. So what do we do with these realizations?

We turn towards the One who is Self-Sufficient, All Powerful, All Seeing, All Hearing, and All Knowing. We open our hearts in front of the One who understands our pain and suffering when no one else even acknowledges its existence. We learn to rely on Our Creator for our happiness and success, and not His creation—just as the prophets did.

When we realize that our success or failure only depends on whether Allah is happy with us, we need not seek forgiveness or approval elsewhere. We simply raise our hands to the One who created us and ask Him to forgive us, and to give us the strength to forgive ourselves.

That is the benefit of being humiliated, and what a great benefit it is. Alhamdulillah.

1. Once a man asked the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “O Messenger of Allah! Which of the people is tried most severely?” He replied, “The Prophets, then those nearest to them, then those nearest to them.” [Tirmidhi 2398]

2. For more information on the stories of these prophets, please refer to Mufti Ismail Menk’s lecture series on Youtube, “Stories of the Prophets”

3. For more information on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, please refer to Shaykh Yasir Qadhi’s lecture series on Youtube, “Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (S)

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