HOW TRUE HONOUR
IS EARNED
In 16 AH, under the leadership of Abu Ubaydah, a Companion of the Prophet, the Muslim forces reached Palestine. The Christians had taken refuge inside the fortified city of Jerusalem. At that time, the Christians proposed a peace agreement, but with one specific condition—that the Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, should come in person to finalize the treaty.
Abu Ubaydah informed the second Caliph of this request. Umar consulted his companions and then departed from Madinah and set out for Palestine.
During the journey, he had only one camel and one servant. Upon reaching the outskirts of Madinah, Umar said to his servant: “We are two people with one ride. If I sit and you walk, that would be unjust to you. If you sit and I walk, that would be unfair to me. And if we both ride, it would be too much for the animal. So, let us take turns.” Thus, throughout the journey, they took turns—one walked while the other rode, and at times both walked and let the camel rest.
According to al-Hakim, when Umar reached the Muslim camp, the soldiers were surprised to see him wearing only a simple waist wrap and carrying no material provisions. Abu Ubaydah, the commander, said, “O Leader of the Believers, you are about to meet Christian generals and religious dignitaries—and you are dressed like this?”
Umar replied: “O Abu Ubaydah, I wish someone other than you had said that. We were the lowest of people, but God gave us honour through Islam. If we ever seek honour through anything other than what God has honoured us with, He will surely humiliate us.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, Hadith No. 207)
To believe that honour and humiliation come from God alone is a powerful conviction. It arms a person without the need for weapons. It builds true self-confidence—one that depends not on external validation, but on inner strength, grounded in the highest degree of humility and a deep commitment to truth. Others can never take away this inner treasure, and honour built on such spiritual conviction can never be defeated.
