1978-April-21

Bilalian News

What Is A Muslim?

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

With the Name Allah (in the Name of God), the Gracious, the Compassionate.

As-Salaam-Alaikum

Excerpts from a Khutbah delivered by Emam Wallace D. Muhammad at jumah Prayer, March 10, 7 1978 - Continued from last week).

The Muslim is one who yields his will to the will of Almighty God. We must keep in mind forever that God's will is the salvation of the people. Not our will; our will can't save us unless we give it to the guidance from God.

Jesus said, "Your will be done," according to the language of the Christians. "Not my will, your will." The Muslim is one who yields his will to the will of God.

God has given us human will so we can earn something for ourselves. So we can earn dignity for ourselves.

He has also given us hints in His creation, and has sent prophets to us to back up those hints. By those hints he has guided us and taught us that our will alone cannot save us.

The human being's will, from the time it is created, is searching for some guidance to give itself to. This is  nature. The baby is looking for something to guide it. The woman, the man, grow and become adults looking for something to guide them. They go to the institutions of learning, to the houses of worship, looking for something to guide their will so they may form their lives by it.

They are looking for something to shape their will, to give meaning to their lives in the world. They run into so many problems. They can't find the answers they think they should get. They give up; and what do they do after this?

Many give their will to the forces of destruction. They give their will to lies, to corruption, to confusion, and they go down. They are destroyed by ignorance and by corruptible things.

The will in man is naturally designed or naturally made to seek God. The human will seeks God and when we find God, we find our peace.

We don't know God in all of His divine names or in all of His divine attributes. God has to show us these things through His prophets, through guidance. But we know that there is something that needs to be united with something that is missing. We don't always know what it is, but it is truth.

The human being comes into the world and the world teaches the human being some truth and some lies. The lies separate us from the reality that we should naturally be united with.

So God sends us His messengers to teach us that we are one creation, and not two. One creation, and that the Creator of this creation is one, not two, not three. One God. One Allah. One Creator for everything.

This oneness brings peace to us. Two or three bosses over us, running our lives brings confusion as the Quran says. Many people don't stop at two or three bosses, they worship prophets and saints. They give their lives to many directions. And what has this resulted in? The absence of the worship of God.

Look at the society of these people who have given their lives to two and three Gods, and to many saints for guidance. The leaders are writing "God is dead." And recently these words appeared in the New York Times commercial ad: "If God is alive, why is religion in so much pain?"

Why is religion in so much pain for whom? Not for us. Our religion is free of pain. It's relieving us of our pain.

God is alive and has always been alive for the Muslims, and all true believers.

(To be continued)

Peace be to you
Your brother in service to Allah,
Wallace D. Muhammad