(Reprinted from the Muslim Journal (10-10-03 to 10-31-03)

Know Our Priorities

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(The following Jumuah khutbah — sermon — was given by Imam W. Deen Mohammed at The Mosque Cares Annual Islamic Convention on Fri., Aug. 28, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Hotel, in Chicago, III.)

We praise G-d. We worship Him alone. We seek His Assistance and His Guidance and His Mercy. For without His Mercy, we would not have been guided to the right way. We ask Him to forgive us our errors in the Faith, in the religion, and for our sins that we commit against our own selves.

We ask Him to strengthen us in our position and our stand and to put it in our hearts and in our spirit a desire to always want to be better and the desire to be counted among His servants, the righteous. We offer Him worship and offer worship to none other. He is G-d alone. We do not worship any, except Him, being sincere and offering Him religion. Religion is for G-d.

The first home constructed for all people, according to our book, the Book of G-d to us and for us in our lives, G-d says that the first house built for the worship of G-d for all people is that house in Mecca, called The House, the First House, and it is our qiblah.

Qiblah means that it is our center and that we turn to that direction to make prayer and we also go in that direction or travel to that House to make Hajj or Pilgrimage. The House is very important.

If you are like a recorder that takes the message and gives exactly back what was given to it and no more, you don't have Islam. To have Islam, you have to be taught. Allah didn't send a Messenger with a book and say, "You read it and that is enough."

Allah sent Muhammed to teach you the message. Allah says that he was sent to teach the Qur'an, not just read the Qur'an: "To teach them the Qur'an and also the rules of logic, of wisdom."

It is not enough to turn know the importance of turning toward the Qiblah or the Kaa'ba. You also must understand the meaning, the importance of facing that House in prayer, going to that House and saluting it before you begin your Hajj.

It is a Home built for all mankind; it did not say it is a Home built for Muslims. It says "a Home built for all mankind."

What is this teaching us? It is teaching us to not be racist. It is teaching us to be one in the family of humanity and to accept all people as your brothers and sisters in humanity. That tells us that we are obligated, then, not only to Muslims but to the whole family of humanity.

First things first, we know that. Your first obligation is to those nearest to you. But after you have managed to take care of those nearest to you, your duty includes those who are farthest from you. Our learned teacher, Maulana Maududi, may G-d give him paradise, said that Islam is an idea for the reform of the whole earth.

Muslims have a mission to not only take care of their own families and their own Muslims, but we have an obligation and a mission to extend that kindness to the whole planet earth.

What's most important to Muslims are important relationships, vital relationships. The first of those relationships is our relationship with Allah, with G-d upon taqwa. Taqwa is translated by some as "G-d consciousness." Some translate it as "fear of G-d." G-d says, have this taqwa, this reverence or caution for G-d, and for family relations.

It is also used in another way and less important way, I would say. "And have respect for the fire." So if you look at the many ways this "taqullah" verb form is used in Qur'an, then you will come away with the more complete understanding of what taqwa is.

Don't just read one meaning in Qur'an. Read the whole Qur'an. All Muslims are supposed to read Qur'ran at least during the month of Ramadan, or have it read to you. If you can't read yourself, then someone should read it for you. We have wonderful recordings now of Qur'an that can be played during the month of Ramadan.

I'll let you know right now that I am not conscious of traditional formalities or traditional ways of doing the khutbah, the way you expect one to do the khutbah. I'm more conscious of healing the sick and saving the lives of those who are dying unnecessarily and going to hell fire.

It is important that we form a relationship with G-d. The important relationship that we have with one another in the family of humanity is after the relationship with the family of Muslims. The family of Muslims is first for us, then also the family of humanity. We have to set our priorities and know our priorities.

Our priority is that first relationship with our G-d Who created us and created the world for us and created us for the world. The first relationship is with Him. We know that G-d says He created us for His worship, but can we worship G-d and not have that relationship with the world? It is impossible. You must first have a relationship with the world.

G-d does not accept you believing and having faith and having no involvement, having no work, producing nothing or caring about nothing. You have to care about your environment. You have to produce. Faith without works is not accepted in Islam, and you know that. We have to know our priorities.

We should be awakened in the morning responsible for community life. We don't have this, but we want this. We want to be responsible for community life. We want to build homes by us, if we don't have homes built by us. If we don't have neighborhoods built by us or developed by us, we want to have neighborhoods developed and built by us, so we will have masajid and hear the adhan called for Fajr and all the other prayers.

We want to have businesses and go to those businesses and buy from our own business people and buy our halal products, not only food, but all halal products. This is what we want. And we are not yet fulfilling our duties as Muslims, unless we have that.

Muslims are called to be a community. Allah, our G-d, says, "This is your community. One community. And I am your Lord. Therefore worship only Me." G-d also says in addressing community life, "You are the best of communities evolved or raised up for the good or the benefit of all people."

Of Muhammed the Prophet, G-d says, "He is a mercy to all the worlds.... We have not sent you except to be a mercy to all the worlds." Muslims are not in any small time business. There is no business in the universe bigger than us. We can't afford to be small people. Small people shouldn't have big responsibilities.

Our religion, the value of it, the worth of it, puts pressure on us to improve our own self-worth, so that we don't shame our own religion. We have to work at improving our own personal value, firstly, to G-d or to the G-d consciousness in us. Then you will feel comfortable with your own self.

Some people are afraid to just think about themselves, to see themselves clearly and completely. They are afraid that they will lose their minds and be in mental institutions.

It is too frightening to look at their own reality. Rather than to live in this kind of misery, this kind of private hell you have created for yourself, why don't you work on improving your own self-worth?

Many Muslims come to Jumuah like they go to sweep the streets or carry out garbage. Allah says, "And wear your beautiful apparel at every time for the masjid." You African American brothers from the Hon. Elijah Muhammad's time, why have you put down the good things that he taught you?

Don't put down the good things he taught you. He taught you not to come to the temple, as it was called under his leadership, unless you were wearing clean clothes, pressed pants, shoes shined, neatly dressed with a shirt and tie and jacket. You would be able to go in any restaurant and dine for dinner. Some restaurants won't take you like you come to Jumuah.

Let us wake up. We get a teaching and we get a logic, but we don't live in accord with the teaching and logic. Don't think you come to Islam with all the wonderful Muslims, more than a billion and a quarter now, on this planet; don't think you join this big Muslim family to degrade yourself.

Don't put down your good standards. Know that Islam calls you to the best of standards. So whatever was good in the time of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad's leadership is good now. And you should now embrace it with more enthusiasm and be more devoted to that excellence now than you were before.

Before you were burdened with a lot of confusion and darkness, and now the way is clear for you to live Islam. We have to work on improving our personal worth. Allah says, "Spend on your own soul. For whoever does not spend on his own soul debases his own soul." And he loses it after debasing it.

You should want to contribute to the value of your community. You should always want to see that which you hold in esteem as being most valuable to you to be increasing in value, not decreasing in value. So you should work to improve your own life, your worth as a person, your worth first to G-d, your worth to yourself and your family, your worth to the Muslim community and to the family of mankind.

This is the clear plain teaching of Islam. So you should want to contribute to the value of your community. Don't see it stagnant. Don't see it neglected, not any part of it. No. That should be your concern when you recognize that. That should be your serious concern.

Ask: "How can I contribute to the improvement of this situation? How can I make this look better? How can I make this stronger? How can I make this more correct for G-d's Pleasure and for our benefit?" That is what you should be doing.

Allah tells us to follow the logic through to its correct conclusion. But those who say, "G-d is G-d, but He has a son. And the son is also G-d in the flesh. And the son is the Salvation  Salvation through the son," have not followed the logic through to its logical conclusion.

What is the logic for that concept? The logic is that The Creator of the Heavens and Earth is G-d. The Creator of the skies and all of the earth before man got involved in it is G-d. The Creator of man and of every living thing is G-d. That's G-d. We also should take note that Allah did not reveal Himself first to Muhammed by the Name of Allah.

He did not say, "Read in the Name of Allah." He said, "Read in the Name of your Lord Who created." He introduced Himself firstly to Muhammed as "Muhammed's Creator" and The Creator of everything. Allah says in the Qur'an that "He is The Creator of everything."

So if the thinking person will begin with that Concept of G-d and take that Concept of G-d to its logical conclusion, then there will not be another god with Him. The logical conclusion is that He is G-d Alone, and everything else is only creation.

As G-d says, "They are only creation. When He wants a son, He takes one from those He already created. He does not have to have a wife or consort. That is shameful. The whole heavens will be enraged that you have such an idea." Then that is not His son, that is His creation.

Christian theologians will criticize us and say to us, "You all say that G-d raised Jesus up to Himself." Yes, we did say that. But they don't take the logic to its conclusion. They don't take the logic in the Qur'an to its conclusion. So they come up with these incorrect answers and false ideas about Muslims.

They will say, "If G-d brings Jesus Christ up to Himself and He didn't do that for Muhammed, then you all should think about that and think about Jesus Christ."

But Allah says, too, that Jesus Christ is a Word and the Good Word He raises up to Himself. It is not just the Good Word of Jesus Christ, but any Good Word He raises to Himself.

G-d says He gave to everything that He created something of His "Ruh," His Spirit.

G-d says He gave to everything that He created something of His "Ruh," His Spirit. But it is still the Ruh or Spirit that G-d has given to every living thing. And He gives to His Prophets of His Ruh, His Spirit.

This particular perception of Jesus in the Qur'an, when the Christians read of it and for those who don't want to face the truth, they use it to say that "he is G-d" or that "he has gone up to Divine and others have not." No. All of us return to G-d; all of us are returning to G-d, not just Jesus Christ.

We should understand these things. "He raises up whom He pleases to raise up. And He has raised up Servants and Prophets and Messengers above others. Even women. He lifted up some above others. So we should not let the Christians teach us Qur'an. We should not let the Christians teach us Islam.

Some of our Muslim brothers and sisters are on campuses and are attending colleges and universities where non-Muslims are teaching Islam. And they are taking these courses conducted by non-Muslims.

Some may be sincere and straight, but be aware many of them are not. And they put themselves in those places, so they can give others their perception of Islam. They will influence even your perception of Islam, if they can. So beware of that, and let us work hard to carry the logic to its logical conclusion.

Now if Allah says that we are to give in zakat, that we are to give in charity. Zakat is an institution for Muslims; it is an economic system. It is the blueprint for an economic system  zakat.

So if G-d says that we are to give zakat to those who devote themselves to the propagation of the faith and also to widows, to orphans, to the poor and the needy, those who suffer great misfortune. And to give to those who ask, who beg, and who do not ask and do not beg out of their own shyness or self-respect, they don't like to beg, but we are to give to them also.

Now carrying the logic to its own logical conclusion, should not we plan our life in these United States of America, where we are living mostly among Christians or non-Muslims, where our neighbor will most likely be a Christian, should not we plan our life so that our life not only contributes to our well being and good future, but also to their well being and their good future?

Allah has told us that "Muhammed is a Mercy to all the worlds." He also told us that we are to give to the needy, the poor, the suffering. We are to give to those who ask and also to those who don't ask. And that is what we have to do.

Let's plan our future in the United States of America, so that we establish a model in this new part of the world that all Muslims will be happy with. If we can establish it here, in "the wilderness of North America," it will be seen by the whole world.

We ask Allah to help us and to befriend us always, our Lord. And to give us of Your Mercy, for without Your Mercy we will not have guidance.

We ask You to help us win Your Friendship  not the friendship of the world  and to help us keep it. And give us in this life good and in The Next good. And save us from the punishment of the Fire.

Let us work hard to carry the logic to its logical conclusion.

Allah says that we are to give in zakat, that we are to give in charity. Zakat is an institution for Muslims; it is an economic system. It is the blueprint for an economic system  zakat.

So G-d says that we are to give zakat to those who devote themselves to the propagation of the faith and also to widows, to orphans, to the poor and the needy, those who suffer great misfortune. And to give to those who ask, who beg, and who do not ask and do not beg out of their own shyness or self-respect, they don't like to beg, but we are to give to them also.

Now carrying the logic to its own logical conclusion, should not we plan our life in these United States of America, where we are living mostly among Christians or nonMuslims, where our neighbor will most likely be a Christian, should not we plan our life so that our life not only contributes to our well being and good future, but also to their well being and their good future?

Allah has told us that "Muhammed is a Mercy to all the worlds." He also told us that we are to give to the needy, the poor, the suffering. We are to give to those ask and also to those who don't ask. And that is what we have to do.

Let's plan our future in the United States of America, so that we establish a model in this new part of the world that all Muslims will be happy with. If we can establish it here, in "the wilderness of North America," it will be seen by the whole world.

We ask Allah to help us and to befriend us always, our Lord. And give us of Your Mercy, for without Your Mercy we will not have guidance.

We ask You to help us win Your Friendship  not the friendship of the world  and to help us keep it. And give us in this life good and in The Next good. And save us from the punishment of the Fire.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord, Keeper of all the worlds. We ask Him for assistance and we ask that our hearts never turn back to wrong after He has guided us aright.

And we ask that He strengthen the good people of this international ummah of Muhammad, the Prophet (SAW). That He strengthens every good believer no matter where he is in this planet earth.

We pray that He strengthens him and improves his understanding if Islam, so that we will be stronger to fight the efforts of those shaitans and their followers who are trying to destroy Islam and the ummah of Prophet Muhammed, the ummah of Muslims. We want Allah to help them every where they are.

If they are frightened by the suicide bombers, they also should be frighten by the culture of suicide in America, that is causing many of our youngsters to kill themselves with drugs and kill themselves with violence.

They should look at the ugly and shameful display of suicide bombers we have in America, who are destroying their own lives and destroying the lives of others without justice. So let us not weep over those who are taking their lives so that their cause will be heard and seen.

Let us weep for the dead and the corrupt who are bringing our families down in America and taking our children to the grave too soon — in America. Let us weep over those suicidal people.

And let us ask Allah to strengthen the good people of this ummah and to improve their perception of Islam, so they can become stronger and more knowledgeable.

We cannot fight only with faith and good intentions. We have to fight also with knowledge.