1988-July-29

Muslim Journal

A Blessed Eid

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

(Excerpts from Imam W. Deen Muhammad's Eid Khutbah at the University of Southern California Campus — May 28,1987.)

By Imam W. Deen Muhammad May 28, 1987 U.S.C. campus

Al-hamdu-lillahi rabbi! ala-min. Allah-u-Akbar, Allah-u-Akbar. La-illaha il-lallah, wa il-llahi-Hamd. Allah-u-Akbar, Allah-u-Akbar, La-illah il-lallah, wah-dahu-la-sharika-la.

Dear beloved Muslims, in these scientific times, the state of Muslims' life everywhere on this earth is begging for Muslims to distinguish themselves. Allah Most High has instructed us with the Qur'an and with the Sunnah of His Prophet, His Messenger, Muhammad, (peace and blessings be on him), to follow the best and to shun or stay away from the bad things, to saturate our lives with the Attributes of God, and the virtuous teachings of the Qur'an, and the virtuous life of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him; we are to remember Allah much.

In the fast-paced life that we find ourselves in here in America, it is much more important for us to stay in constant remembrance of Allah. Allah Most High promises us that if we accept Him as our Lord and only Lord, that if we follow the Last Messenger Muhammad, the mercy to all the people and the guide for the believers, He will make us successors in the earth. He will make us succeed other ruling people in the earth.

Al-Islam: A Religion Of Perfect Morality

But we must not forget that our religion is a religion of perfect morality, of the highest virtues, and therefore our conduct must be the best. We must pursue excellence in all of our endeavors; excellence of mind, excellence of heart, excellence of human nature.

Allah Most High says in His Book, that He will not leave the Muslims in the state that we are in, until the corrupted be separated from the good. Not only the good people as we identify ourselves by religious titles or names, as Muslims, from the "kafir," from those who failed their religion, the Christians or Jews who behaved like the corruptors; it does not only mean that kind of separation, but we must also separate from our own selves. We must separate the bad of ourselves from the good. We must be able to identify the bad that we are carrying along with ourselves and the corruption that we are accepting in our own individual lives; identify it and separate from it. We must be able to distinguish the corrupt people in the Muslim community, and separate ourselves from the corrupt ones and then the good ones can band together and meet the opposition and meet the bad influences and actions of the bad ones.

Allah Most High, in His Holy Book, subhana wa ta'alaa, says: "They ask you the Prophet, Messenger of God," (peace and blessings be on him), "What is permissible, what is halal, what is acceptable for us as good?" And God instructed the Prophet to say to them, "Qul, (say) He has made acceptable for you, permissible for you all the good things." Again, subhana wa ta'alaa, "qul..." they asked, "What has God forbidden?" "He has forbidden the bad things." They ask what is permissible; it is all the good things. And God says, "Say, who has forbidden the wonderful things, the beautiful and attractive things, the appealing things that God has brought out for His servants? And the good things from the provisions; (say) it is for those who believe in Allah in this world's life, and it will be for them perfect and complete on the Day of Resurrection."