2000-June-30

Muslim Journal

“…Man Can Have Nothing But What He Strives For…”: Part 2

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(This Jumuah Prayer Khutbah was given by Imam W. Deen Mohammed on Fri., May 26, 2000, at the Harvey Islamic Center in Harvey, III., during the 2nd Annual CPC Private Label Exhibit presentation on Memorial Day Weekend.)

Answer The Call To Jumuah Immediately

When the Call to Prayer is heard for Jumuah, when you are called to the prayer for Jumuah, leave off business. Hurry, rush, don't take your time, hurry to Jumuah Prayer.

We have to wake up. No one is persecuting us or keeping us back from our religion. Just as I was coming over here, brothers were doing work on my house. They were working as though today is not Jumuah. So I asked my son to tell them that they shouldn't be working, they should be at Jumuah.

As I am hurrying over here, everybody has a conversation for me and I am trying to get here to Jumuah. That tells me that your mind is not right, not that your heart is not right. I did not say your heart wasn't right; your mind is not right.

If your mind was right you would know it is time for Jumuah, and you wouldn't dare hold me up with some trivial matters, to greet me or to have a conversation with me. Are you more important than G-d? We are coming here for G-d; we are not coming here for you.

So we have to wake up; you brothers are sleeping. Wake up! This religion was established against persecutors who didn't want to see it on this earth. But it was established and because it was established, we have a much better world.

We would have a savage world, if it were not for the Qur'an and Muhammed. Christianity was not taming the world; it was not taming the wild people. They had lost the way. They, themselves, were persecuting the masses. They, themselves, were persecuting women. They, themselves, were denying freedom and rights to the people.

Islam came and opened the way, when Christians were misguided. The proof that they were misguided is that they didn't fight the Muslims. They heard the truth, and they understood it. They began to read their Bibles and understand their Bibles better.

Over the years, over the centimes, they reformed themselves and got the world back like it was supposed to be. This is history; this is fact.

So we worship Allah. And to say you worship Allah means you put Allah first. There is nothing before Allah. That is what it means. If you don't know what it means, you should learn now what it means.

When you say you worship Allah, you mean you put Allah first, not something else - not you, not your wife, not your money, not your business. You put Allah first.

Get Acquainted With The Qur'an

You should get acquainted with the Qur'an. Read it, so you will know what Allah says. You should know Muhammed the Prophet. There are plenty books available now; we don't have excuses. There are plenty books available on the Life of Muhammed the Prophet. We can get them for you. They are here at the Masjid; Imam Darnell Karim has them here for you.

So learn about your religion, so you will be able to know it. If you don't know it, how are you going to live it? This is not a party; this isn't a Jumuah Prayer for you to come and see your friends. You can see your friends anytime of the day anywhere, any place.

When we come here, you should tell your friends: "Hey, shut up. I don't want to talk to you. I've got my mind on making the prayer. I have my mind on making Salat. I have my mind on hearing the khutbah." The conscious one should tell the unconscious one.

Don't make this a social occasion for your fun  and  your trivial matters,   your   little small things. Don't do that, please. We come to worship G-d and to obey Him. He has ordered this; we haven't ordered this. G-d ordered this. And I am here because G-d ordered it. I don't know why you are here.

And I am here because I am a follower of it, a believer, and I follow Muhammed, who set this procedure for us. G-d gave him to us to set the procedure for the Jumuah prayer, and then His Words tell us how important it is.

When you hear the Call to Prayer -back then, there were many mu'adhd-hins to make the sound heard in every ear, in all the homes, all the businesses, wherever they where - in the streets. There were mu'adhdhins to Call the Prayer; they would call it all over.

That still happens in many Muslim countries. I have been there and you will hear it, no matter where you are -in the hotel, in your friend's house -you will hear a Call to Prayer. They have a system now, and you can hear it on the radio and on the TV in many countries.

But here in this country, you can't hear it. But you know the time. You get to the dinner on time. You'll get to the fun place on time. You won't miss the show on time. So you should be serious about what you are doing when you are following what Allah has ordered. Allah has ordered this, not man.

Allah has ordered this through man, through Muhammed, the Model Man. G-d is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim. And you'll say, "G-d is The Merciful Benefactor, The Merciful Redeemer." Yes. Or you'll say, "G-d is The Beneficent, The Merciful," Yes. There are different translations aiming at the best words in English for the Arabic words.

You'll say, "Allah is The Merciful, The Compassionate, The Mercy Giving." I've heard all of these translations. And Allah says in the Qur'an: "Ar-Rahman 'Allamal Qur'an" - The Merciful G-d taught man the Qur'an, That's Muhammed, whom He taught the Qur'an for all us.

G-d created the human beings; this is Ar-Rahman. So I wouldn't say "Ar-Rahman 'Allamal Qur'an," if there weren't a connection for Ar-Rahman as an Attribute of G-d. G-d disposed to be Ar-Rahman for us to be Ar-Rahman. It does not mean to put Ar-Rahman and G-d teaching man the Qur'an together; it wouldn't be there like that.

It would just say Allah taught the Qur'an. But He wants you to know in what attribute you are to see Allah as the Teacher of the Qur'an. You are to see him in the Attribute of Ar-Rahman.

Then G-d goes on to tell us in Chapter Ar-Rahman what He did. He created the two bodies of water, one water of the salty oceans - the big one, and the sweet water. He put delicious seafood in both waters. This chapter goes on to tell us how He put precious things that bring man money in the water and how He created everything.

This is the Merciful G-d, Ar-Rahman. The traditions tell us, the hadith, the best reports - Bukhari and Muslim (may G-d be pleased with them) that the Arab people, Muslims following Muhammed the Prophet, when they came to know these things about Ar-Rahman, they started to call G-d not Allah, but they started to call Him "Ar-Rahmanu."

They knew Allah was Allah, but they had loved Him so much in this  particular description - Ar-Rahman. Some people became disturbed and said: "The believers are starting to call on G-d by Ar-Rahman and not Allah." The believers took this Attribute to mean that this is just one description of G-d, and they were not calling Him by His Conclusive Name, the Name that tells us that He is everything that's good and perfect.

So they brought it to the Prophet, prayers and peace be on him, and he told them that it was all right. That G-d had revealed that for Him are all the Most Beautiful and Excellent Names - Al-Asmah ul-Husna.

To be continued