Honor lies in obedience to Allah, not in excelling in worldly pursuits
13-7-2017 | IslamWeb
Question:
Why does it seem like the Christians and disbelievers have all the honor, with their crafty crafts, such as music and so on and the Muslims do not have better nasheeds (prior to Islam, I used to listen to music) in the sense that they have better rhyme patterns and melodies and so on and it just seems like the disbeliever have more honor in some aspects? We should be proud/honorable/doing difficult things while having good style and so on; or maybe I am just blind. Forgive me.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
There is no doubt that the Muslims should be honored, but honor lies in the obedience of Allah; obedience to His Messenger ; and staying away from acts of disobedience and sins.
‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Verily, we were the most disgraceful people, and Allah honored us with Islam, so if we seek honor in other than Islam, then Allah will humiliate us.” [Al-Haakim; Al-Albaani classified it as Saheeh (sound)]
Also, Allah says in His Book (what means): {Whoever desires honor [through power] - then to Allah belongs all honor.} [Quran 35:10]
Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “It means that if someone seeks honor, then he should seek it with the obedience to Allah: with good words and righteous deeds. Some scholars of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) said, ‘People ask for glory at the doors of kings, but they do not find it except in the obedience of Allah.’”
Al-Hasan said, “Even if the hooves of mules clatter for them and riding beasts strut for them [showing pride, affluence, etc.]; yet still the humiliation of sin rests upon their necks. Allah has refused except that He will humiliate those who are disobedient to Him Allah; whoever obeys Allah, Allah will be his Waliyy (ally), and the one to whom Allah shows allegiance is never abased, as in the supplication of Qunoot: ‘Surely, the one to whom You show allegiance is never abased, and the one whom You take as an enemy is never honored.’”
It is no wonder that the non-Muslims surpass the Muslims in regard to the enjoyment of this worldly life, such as in art, music, singing, and so on, as Allah described them in His Book as knowing what is apparent and manifest of this world but heedless of the Hereafter, as Allah says (what means): {They know what is apparent of the worldly life, but they, of the Hereafter, are unaware.} [Quran 30:7] The meaning is that their knowledge is limited to this world. Moreover, they do not know the world as it is, but they know what is apparent from it, which is its enjoyment and delight, but they do not know its inner reality, which is its harm and troubles, and they know its apparent existence and do not know that it ends and is not everlasting. Therefore, their knowledge of the life of the world does not exceed what is apparent from it.
Finally, we advise you, dear brother, to endeavor to seek Islamic knowledge and establish a strong relationship with the Quran, pondering over it and understanding it, so that you would have insight in your religion and not be confused about the path of glory and the real means to reach it. As regards nasheeds and works of art and the like, then even if they are free from Islamic prohibitions, they are very minor and are not the most important things. It is more appropriate for the Muslims to strive in seeking knowledge and to progress in all its fields if they really wish to achieve progress and development.
Allah knows best.