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Whoever desires honor, then to Allah belongs the honor wholly

Whoever desires honor, then to Allah belongs the honor wholly. To Him do ascend the good words; and the good deeds, lift them up, and (as for) those who plan evil deeds, they shall have a severe chastisement; and (as for) their plan, it shall perish.
– Quran 35:10

If you read my journey in finding the truth, you would see infer that I have a BIG drive for honour and greatness. I usually feel the urge to be the best in many aspects.

Often I forgot that honour belongs to God, wholly. And we tiny little creatures on this microscopic Earth do not share that honour a bit. In fact, everything we are proud of about our selves is just because God let it happen. That’s all. Not because of our own efforts.

The purpose of life is to be in constant awe and submission to God, glorifying Him day and night.

Now you might be feeling a drop in self esteem. What is so great about you? Well, to be metaphysically honest- nothing. And we NEED to accept that. We should not think “ahh what’s wrong with just a little bit of self-pride?”. Don’t think you can negotiate with God. Know that this is a disease of the heart and you need to accept it as bitter as it feels like.

Fixing our perspective

Since we know all honour belongs to God, not humans, then what is the motivation to go further in life? Why don’t we just laze around or something? Why should we strive for excellence?

Good (and meaningful) question. First of all just because all honour belongs to God, it does not mean that there’s no meaning to life (and does not mean you should have no self-esteem!). Far from it. We have to fix our perspective from seeing self-greatness as the purpose of life to seeing the greatness of God as the purpose of life.

With that said, we can only find contentment and meaning when we keep searching for the greatness in God rather than in human achievements.

As God said in the second part of the verse above:

To Him do ascend the good words; and the good deeds, lift them up,

Our words and actions are meant to be directed to God. Not to ourselves. It is God that makes our actions and words meaningful, not because we think they are.

Change your mentality from self-centric to God-centric. From celebrating our greatness to celebrating God’s greatness. From finding contentment in your own greatness to finding contentment in God’s greatness.

It is also reported that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, had said:

He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride shall not enter Paradise.
Sahih Muslim no. 173

I hope you benefit from this post. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Till next time…

Salamun alaikum!

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