1985-July-12

Muslim Journal

Muhammad Speaks - Challenges That Face Man Today

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

(Editor's   note:   The  following  timely  excerpt is from "Imam W. Deen Muhammad Speaks from Harlem," Volume 11.)

When we look at man's life, we say, "What challenges man's life more than anything else?" We may see that the challenge to man differs from time to time, from situation to situation. The thing that challenges a certain people at a certain time perhaps does not necessarily challenge us today. And a situation that challenged the people perhaps in one area of the earth, may not be the same situation that is challenging us in a different part of the earth.

God has given us instructions in the Qur'an for every time and every situation. But it is only those who are really sincere, those who are really sincere — as Allah says in the Qur'an, "Never will He change the situation for a people until they first change what is burdening their hearts." So it requires sincerity.

Again, Allah has said in Qur'an, "Never did He take His Blessings off of a nation until it first changed its own heart." So we see that it is based upon sincerity. If we are not sincere, we are not going to get it.

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS

Allah has also said in His Qur'an that there is a sign in Joseph and his brethren. We know that Joseph and his brethren were a people in an unfavorable situation. He and his brothers were an oppressed people. He came into a favored situation by circumstances that were really unfavorable. His own brothers, his older brothers, sold him into bondage. But the people by whom he found himself jailed, imprisoned, finally recognized his worth, released him from prison, and put him over the storehouse. His situation improved and his elder brothers' situation remained bad, even though they had sold him into slavery. Evidently, they didn't get enough from their transaction, because their situation remained bad.