Al Mudhil
The Dishonourer
The Humiliator, the Disgracer, the Degrader.
Al-Mudhil degrades whoever He wills; hence there is no one else to provide them with esteem. Once a man is disgraced by Allah, he may never be honored without His permission. Together with Al-Muiz, this Name completes a pair: the emphasis of both is on giving dominion or sovereignty to people, or taking it away.
There is no ayah that explicitly mentions Al-Mudhil as a Name, and it is among those the list-scholars debate. But many verses describe the attribute, most directly in the verse of sovereignty: 'You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will' (Quran 3:26).
Mentions of Al Mudhil
From the Quran & Hadith
From the root dhal-lam-lam (ذ ل ل), which carries the classical Arabic connotations of being low, base, abject, and paltry; being vile, contemptible, and despicable; being inglorious and abased; being humble, lowly, and submissive; and being weak, tractable, easy, and manageable. Al-Mudhil is the giver of dhull, lowness, to whom He wills.
Whom He has abased
The Quran records the humbled by name and by type: Abu Lahab, Iblees, and Firaun each carried honor of some kind, lineage, rank, or empire, and each was debased when he set himself against Allah's command. On the Day of Judgement the hypocrites join them: they will call to the believers, 'Were we not with you?', and the answer comes that they afflicted themselves, awaited misfortune for the believers, doubted, and were deceived until the command of Allah came. 'So today no ransom will be taken from you or from those who disbelieved. Your refuge is the Fire; it is most worthy of you, and wretched is the destination' (Quran 57:14-15).
'So Allah made them taste disgrace in worldly life. But the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew' (Quran 39:26). The pattern in every account is the same: no one is humiliated for lacking wealth, tribe, or talent. The disgrace follows arrogance against the truth, oppression of others, and ingratitude toward the One who raised them.
Quli-llāhumma mālika-l-mulki tu'ti-l-mulka man tashā'u wa tanziʿu-l-mulka mimman tashā'u wa tuʿizzu man tashā'u wa tudhillu man tashā'. Bi-yadika-l-khayr. Innaka ʿalā kulli shay'in qadīr.
“Say, O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.”
Fa-adhāqahumu-llāhu-l-khizya fi-l-ḥayāti-d-dunyā, wa la-ʿadhābu-l-ākhirati akbar, law kānū yaʿlamūn.
“So Allah made them taste disgrace in worldly life. But the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew.”
As with Al-Muiz, the road away from this Name's severity is written in Surah al-Hujurat: the most noble in the sight of Allah is the most righteous (Quran 49:13). We were created from one origin and made into peoples and tribes to know one another; despite the visible differences, we bleed the same. No one is entitled to degrade another human being, and the believer refuses to be an instrument of humiliation. The opposite duty is also true: to lower and debase what Allah has forbidden, arrogance in the self, oppression around us, falsehood dressed as truth. Ask Al-Mudhil to humble your nafs before it humbles you, and take refuge in Him from being among those for whom disgrace was decreed. The hand that holds all good holds both scales.
Allāhumma aʿizzanā wa lā tudhillanā wa-nṣurnā ʿalā anfusinā
O Allah, honor us and do not humble us, and give us victory over our own selves.
- Quran 57:14-15
- Quran 39:26
- Quran 49:13
Count "Al Mudhil", The Humiliator
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