October 2, 1992

MUSLIM JOURNAL

Excerpts: Al-Islam, Unity And Leadership

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Persecution Of The Faithful

I don't think it should be necessary for me to say that we have people who dislike us simply because we are Muslims. Allah told us that long ago, over 1400 years ago. Allah told us that with the Revelation to the Prophet in the Qur'an. In the Qur'an Allah tells us that we, the believers, Prophet Muhammed and his followers, were persecuted merely for saying "Allah is our Lord". The Muslims were persecuted for believing in Allah, the Creator, the One Lord of all.

We also know (he history of good Christians who were persecuted for their righteousness and for their obedience to God. Muslims and Christians were persecuted simply because the world of wicked people and the wicked rulers could not accept and tolerate their consistent righteousness. Whenever people believe in the One True God, whenever people accept the One True God, the Supreme Authority, the Upper Most Authority, the Highest Authority, their life is going to be disciplined by Allah and answerable to Allah.

When that occurs, there will always be those who see that as a threat to their order of the world, to their system, to their establishment, and to their designs on the world. And those (believers) threatening that order will be persecuted. Muslims were persecuted, and before Muslims were persecuted Christians were persecuted. Before the Christians were persecuted, followers of Moses were persecuted. Every group that stands up to declare their obedience first of all to their Lord and Maker will be persecuted, until Allah establishes them in strength or establish them in the eyes of the majority of the people or before the strong of the people, people who will not join with the persecutors.

"ALLAH IS OUR LORD" The Creator, the One Lord of all

When the majority or when the power holders favor those persecuted, the minority will have to either work in the dark or stop their open persecution of the believers. This same thing has happened in the new America. We have experienced this. Although there is still some persecution, it is now mostly subtle, deceitful and disguised. There are always those who do not like you and will not accept you because of your holding to something strong and enduring. They don't feel comfortable with you sharing the neighborhood with them, sharing the facilities with them. They don't feel comfortable with you even sharing the town with them. They do not like that you are sharing with them at all in what they believe to be theirs: "White world's" accomplishments. They see our contribution as involuntary, an offer we "could not refuse".

We are prepared for persecution, prepared to accept there is persecution. But we do not invite persecution. We work for peace and harmony. We work for a situation where people differing will not be threatened by each other and will not feel threatened by each other. We work for peace.

We are Muslims. A Muslim is one who believes in obedience to Allah (God) which results in intelligent behavior and inward peace. A Muslim is one who believes in coming to a state of peace by submitting first of all to the Lord Creator of the Heavens and Earth. A Muslim is one who follows the disciplines of his religion. This person becomes a Muslim and accepts to be a person who favors peace. The greetings that we give say "Peace". It is "As-Salaam" which means "Peace". It continues with "Alaikum" which means "be on you".

Still many of us do not understand that this is not the same as saying "Peace to you". Many people will say "Peace be unto you". What we are saying is "Peace be upon you". The key word is "upon" you. This means that "The Peace" obligates you. Every time we greet a Muslim we are not only extending to him peace, but we are reminding the Muslim that he is obligated to extend, support and keep the peace. Every Muslim should be a policeman for peace's sake. That does not mean Muslims take over law enforcement. We are to be policemen (peace officers) within the law.

Muslims first should be policemen or peace keepers keeping the peace within or over ourselves. We are to be policemen for those over whom we have some authority, for example our children. We should work to have our children grow into a mind to appreciate and love the "state of peace". We should feel uncomfortable and miserable when our children do not have peace. Accepting to live by that principle, as our children grow older they will be policemen for peace, peace keepers, peacemakers.

The family should love and work for peace. The house should be a house for peace. We should have peace in our houses, in our homes, and we should want to extend that peace to our neighbors and have peace with our neighbors. We should want to share in the obligation of keeping the peace with our neighbors. And we should want our neighbors to feel and share the burden of sharing the obligation to keep the peace. If everyone would do that, think how wonderful the world would be.

No matter how small or insignificant we may look individually, the Muslim might say, "I am of no consequence. I do not have any power. I do not have any position in the town. I do not have any wealth. I do not have any influence over people. Therefore, I can't worry about keeping the peace!" Let me tell you now, if you care nothing about keeping the peace, you may find yourself in hell soon, if not already.

I have to work hard at keeping the peace within my own kingdom, within my own self. Sometimes persons close to me appear to be working out just how they are going to upset my pe'ace. They look to be at it all the time, twenty-four hours a day and everyday. They must be saying, "When I see him, I am sure going to destroy his peace." When I meet them and see the way they are set, I have to say it looks like they have been working on this a long time!

If it were not for the Mercy of Allah, I would not favor peace and love peace. I think I would be destroyed. Looking at our burdens and away from Allah, I think we have let these circumstances change our emotional constitution, moods and attitudes.