1990-June-15

Muslim Journal

Promotion of Basic Concerns and the
Concept of Jihad: Part 4

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Race and Bad Psychology

Glorified and Most High, Allah says in the Qur'an, "Do not allow dislike for a people to influence you against doing justice by them." All people have this problem. However, in America, particularly in Amer­ica, race is a "bad" psychology. Here in America is where we should make a jihad against false behavior.
Reaching a point in order to recognize delusive emotions of race in my behavior has been a long process. I think I have won that battle in my jihad. Through the years behind me, it was very difficult for me to look at certain "white" Americans and not feel the heat of anger rushing up into my head and a bit of racial bitterness. It was very difficult when I saw "whites" behaving in a way that brought to the eyes the picture of cruel oppressors.

Delusive Behavior

A person communicating what looked like a racist stare would provoke in me something resembling what I thought I was seeing in the person. Today I can experience it and not be overcome. Also I have found that most of the time it is not me really causing or arousing ra­cial bitterness. The fuse to such behavior may be something left with the person from a fight with a member of their family. A person in a situation may come across me and convenient­ly see me all "black". Suddenly he or she is an activated racist. After they are over with a bad experience left on them from their own kind, in an encounter with me, that same person can appear as human and as kind and as socially mature as any normal, healthy individual would want. Therefore, from personal experience comes the knowledge of racial friction as delusive behavior.

Qur'an

At any rate, I have accepted "you cannot judge all of them alike." In the new world, the ra­cial treatment formed against African-Americans is a conve­nient cover for the behavior of bad behaving people. When not in their better spirit, most "whites" will be as rude and raw with their own as they will be with "blacks".
One comes home from a back­breaking or from a spirit-breaking day at work to a bad time with "love-ones" and is best off not having to meet the public. A parent with pressure on him goes into the public and will let a bad time with a child at home cause the mistreat­ment of an innocent "black" child in the normal traffic of an area. It is a case of taking out one's frustrations on the inno­cent. A lot of that occurs with the convenience of new world racism.
Before acting out racial de­vilishment on an innocent Afri­can-American, the less violent type will think the situation permits a "white" to get away with venting hostilities on "blacks". The African-American child calls what was done to him "racism". While the "racist" will not call it "racism": They call it (rude or cruel treatment of our race) fitting treatment for "blacks".

Coloring Racism

Obviously we too have been sensitized to give accommoda­tion to the new world scheme for coloring racial abuse (rac­ism). When a "tough guy" gets a reputation for beating up on lit­tle people, it's not called "rac­ism". That's called a coward. In "Polecat Zone America" such behavior is exploited for com­mercial gain, for popularity, and for superior position. That is to say, to those high and low, the color scheme provides the convenience of "racism".

Become Harder to Handle

Profitable advice would be for us ("blacks") to get up so as to become harder to handle and less a temptation to tough guys. In time the racist type, with their manipulators, will have to look in other directions for a people to color into easy game of exploitation. In order to achieve this, we have to move up into all good establishments of life. We African-Americans will profit by first deciding to grow up in faith. Thereupon, a more ma­ture and a more enduring moral life can be ours.
This is the way up in know­ledge. This is the way up in business. This is the way to grow up in social perception and civilization. When we Afri­can-Americans move up in this

direction to establish ourselves, both the racists and the world's "darkside" economics will be forced to go to the emotions territory of some other. Allah Most High says, "Do not ridi­cule a people thinking they are inferior to you. They may be better than you."

Sensitivity Can Cost

Allow something to be said to us African-Americans: We need a situation (mentally) to serve a certain need for protection against influences of particular items of information from the slave days in America, and from the turn for the worse which took place following the eman­cipation of the slaves as physic­al property, and worsening (their behavior toward us) with the Northerner's occupation in the South. Sensitivities in extremes can cost a people the use of their senses to serve their own interest in certain emotion-stirring situations. Don't per­mit sensitivities formed of a situation for us with other peo­ple to dictate morality of the African-American male and female. In this religion (Al-Islam), "wrong to" for "wrong received" is never right. We can be too sensitive to think straight.

Your Decency Contradicts

Explosions of hate set off in the dominating group by unex­pected humanly or decent be­havior of the dominated group is something commonly witnes­sed. A member of the dominat­ing group often will hate you more for your public act of de­cency — especially for acts which speak of good merits in you that are rare in the particu­lar member belonging to the dominating group. It is said of Christian believers, they "will be hated for His Name's sake." Inthis world of nations, I have — so have many of you —been made to feel strange by others who apparently hated my deed of common decency. Common human decency often naturally working in the Afri­can-American contradicts the world's picture of our group.
Let us all keep making jihad for the establishment of mature human societies. And Muslims, keep our jihad Quranicly sound.
May Allah guide us to the way. Amen.

As-Salaam-Alaikum

The Purpose for Human Creation

Allah, the Most High says in our Holy Book, the Qur'an, "I did not create the humans and the jinns for any purpose except My worship (to serve Me)."
Those who will be strongest in struggle, that is in jihad, are strongest in faith. We Muslims believe that if the faith is sound and right, then our situation will be good. But if the faith is not sound and right, then we can expect a life of unhappiness.

All Muslims have the
same Holly Book

Allah, Most High, says in the Qur'an, the Holy Universal Book which is the same for all Muslims whether we are in America, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, or elsewhere. There are no two Qur'ans; there is only one Qur'an. There are many translations of the Qur'an into different languages, and many people give explanations or comments on the Qur'an, but there is only one Qur'an for all Muslims. Some may know our Book by the spelling "Koran." "Qur'an" istransliteration of the Arabic sound.

Jihad and The Decent Poor

Jihad in the Path of Allah refers to struggle.
"And strive in Allah's Path with your wealth and with your souls." — Qur'an. Dr. Tabibi (in publication, "Firmest Bond") says of jihad, "Jihad in the Path of Allah refers to all around struggle. The Holy Qur'an has clearly pointed out that jihad denotes two kinds of strivings. Striving with the help of God-given faculties, both mental and physical, and striving with the help of other resources which man has at his command." This is jihad.
The most popular idea and meaning of jihad, especially in the West where they only hear of one kind of struggle by Muslims, is violent conflict. Consequently, jihad is given the mea­ning of war. But jihad simply and literally means struggle, hard effort, exerting yourself, making effort that involves sacrifice and hard­ship.
We here in this country, some of us know struggle. I call it the struggle of "the decent poor." The decent poor in this country know hard struggle, and we have gotten where we are today because of our hard struggle. I am sure that many of you have come into renewed struggle after becoming Muslim. Our struggle has been and is jihad.