May 24, 1991

Muslim Journal

The Practical Application of Al-Islam: Part 4

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(On October 14,1990, Imam W. Deen Mohammed made this public address in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Imam Mohammed has now prepared from it this article for Muslim Journal readers.)

The Human State

Inside a human flesh body there should be a human state. We all have the physical body, but what state is there? Is it a state below animals? Is it the state of a dead rock? Because the human being has free will, he can come in the form of a pistol. That is what many of us are, walking pistols cocked to hurt and even kill. We have the free will to become animate creatures. For someone to say, "Oh, he is nothing but an animal," can sometimes be a compliment. It depends on who you are talking about. Someone else will say, "Oh, he is nothing but a vegetable," and that too can be a great compliment to some people.

There is also a third requirement for there to be considered a human state. The physical and the learning have to come, but the learning itself also has a requirement. This is according to the five verses that came in the first revelation to our Prophet, and that requirement is generosity and honorableness. Herein is a problem for the world. The world is not generous enough with its knowledge. If the world was generous enough with its knowledge, we would not have the burden on establishments and the burden on the public that we have. The burden on the poor and on the rich, the burden on establishments and on the public would be much less.

Jesus (A.S.) asked, "If your child asked for bread, would you give it a stone?" That would be cruel. The men in religion understand what that means, and that this is not just a case where a child is asking for bread and someone goes and puts a stone in his mouth. It is that the dependent members of society are asking for something that can be digested and can taste nice and something that is suitable for the body of their rational thoughts. They are asking for something to give the mental body strength and take away mental hunger as it makes a contribution to the well being and development of the whole person. The baby society is asking for something like that, but it is given something that is not fit for its mouth, something to break up its teeth and tear away the gums, something to destroy when going in and coming out. The dependent members are asking for something that is for the good life of humans.

Crippling Understanding

When teachers at schools start bombarding our minds with a lot that cripples understanding, they are feeding us stones. They are not giving bread. The third requirement is that we be generous, and honorable with knowledge. To be generous and honorable with it is to give knowledge that will help others to get in your good situation, no matter how much above them your situation is at the time. To do that you have to take the risk that those who you are helping may rise above you. Allah has put it into our nature to accept that some newcomers succeed us.

Fathers and mothers do not want their children to stop where they stopped. They want that their children excel and even go further than they. They want their child to grow up where they the parents will look up to their children. Upon this human nature, Allah provides an open way for all to succeed in society. Now, if we were to accept that example of human excellence that Allah created as basic human nature, we would be in a good situation privately and as a public or as a nation.

Why should I not give freely to your son and to your daughter in the institute where I work or in the factory or in the science department or in the government? It should not matter whether that child is closely related to me or not. Don't we know that when we treat people unjustly who are not related to us, we are performing on the level of a savage.

What we call "savage" is not all the time savage, and I mean on the level of a savage. There are a lot of primitive societies that are much more civilized society-wise than we here in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, or here in Tulsa. I am talking about the person who is humanly deformed in his social behavior, who is wild and destructive and do not appreciate basic human sense. That is the type of person I am talking about when I say "savage." When we don't think that we should treat outsiders the way that Allah has established for us to treat our own sons and daughters, I say we are still far from being an evolved social and civilized people.

Knowledge: the Best Help

Allah is my Witness, it is not important for you to look at us and it is not important for us to look at you. It is important that we and you (non Muslims) look at what helps us all and at what hurts us all. In being very honest and sincere and open — and Allah is my Witness — I do not treat the children of others different than I treat my own.

When I have someone's child, I will give that child the advice I will give to my own. If I have something to offer a child, I will not give what I won't give to my own. If I think something is not fit for my child, I will not offer it to your child. I want your child to have the best from my hand, just as I want my child to have the best from my hand. This is human purity. There are many people like that, but also too many are not like that. If a good number in power were like that, knowledge would be given in a generous and honorable way.

Knowledge is the best help we can give to members of society. We know that sometimes we have to respond to the physical. For example, the baby that is just born, we can give it an environment for learning, but we have to give urgent attention to needs of physical food, cleaning, and health. If the baby is uncomfortable, mother will go and smooth out the baby's bedding or take care of whatever the need to have her baby comfortable.

Many of us in society, although we are grown ups, are just like a baby; we want someone to attend to all our needs. We are not ready to accept a share of difficulty.

Concept of Owner

Mainly what I am addressing is concepts. Allah says in our Holy Book (the Qur'an), "Is there not for God the creation and also the command?" Most of us will acknowledge that Allah is the Creator. But if Allah is the Creator, then creation belongs to Allah. How many of us are willing to think of Allah as Owner before we think of ourselves as owner? We hear, "This is my body!" But where did you get your baby? Allah created your baby for you.

All the possibilities that we have are limited to creation. This is religion, but the importance should really dawn on us. We do not have any abilities outside of creation. No matter what it is we are doing that we like to feel proud of, we could not do it without creation. Allah, or whatever you want to call God, made this possible for us. Although we have our own imagination, try to imagine anything without creation. We have nothing to benefit from outside of creation but Allah.

We give all credit to man when we say man is our great benefactor. Man could not create a thing without Allah. Man cannot imagine anything without Allah giving him something to work with. Such as fiction and fantasy is nothing but a distortion of what Allah created. We let the child play with the ABC blocks, and the child will put the blocks in any order that it wants and will come up with some letters or alphabet arrangements not to be found in any dictionary. That distortion could not be made without the blocks.

I want to emphasize here the Muslim Concept of Ownership. We don't believe that we are the absolute owners of anything. Only Allah is the Absolute Owner. Great peace comes when we accept that. When we think that we own our children we are in trouble. When they start to torture us, all of that burden will be on us. The possibilities for our children are so many. When they become what we do not want to acknowledge, we are then in trouble. "That's my child!" It is nice to say that, and I like to say "My child, my son, my daughter," too. But when I say that, I am aware that my possession of them is after Allah's possession.

(To be continued)