1985-November

Progressions Magazine

The Religion Of Al-Islam: Trusting God

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) exemplified the message and verses of the Qur'an in his life. In the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad is spoken of as having the highest attributes that could be given to any of God's creation. The Our'an tells us that he was in his obedience to God, an agreeing principle with the Will of God.

We find that the attributes for Allah's mercy, justice, etcetera, that can be expressed by human beings are all expressed by Prophet Muhammad, and these names have been recorded in the Qur'an. We know that his name given at birth was Muhammad and Ahmed, but Allah has given him many other names to tell us of his excellent nature and behavior.

Muslims strive to be the best. They strive to be like the Prophet. Allah tells us in the Qur'an, "And follow the best report of it." A Muslim should never be looking for a way out from his responsibility to be good and excellent. He should not look for the weaker avenue. He should look for the avenue of strength and excellence.

In America, the Muslim is surrounded by non-Muslims and non-Muslim influences. Therefore such an atmosphere makes it difficult to manage a Muslim life. But Allah says of the human being that he has been created into toil and struggle. This tells us that the human being does not progress when he has nothing to do or when he has no challenge.

The greater the challenge, the more deeply the human potential is stirred or tapped. So, it follows that we shouldn't excuse ourselves from practicing our religion as we should in this country. We should welcome the opportunity to practice it in the face of great opposition, knowing that Allah will reward us many times over for accepting the challenge.

If we are to remain strong and progress in these circumstances, we must be people of faith. In the Qur'an God speaks of "those who have faith and practice good deeds." These are the attributes or characteristics of Muslims that are given over and over again more than any other names we can find in the Qur'an.

Allah says, "Whoever will put his trust in God, God suffices him," meaning God is enough for him. This tells me or any man of faith that if my faith is in God, and if it be strong to the point that I seek God's resolutions to all of my problems, I seek His protection against harm and inner peace in society, that I seek in Him all of my needs an I trust Him above everything, I don't need anything else. That is the message this verse carries.

The believer trusts God above everything else. In fact, he is always trusting God. Even the trust he puts into other things is trusting God. He accepts the outcome of any particular situation to be decided by God, because nothing is decided except by God. Whatever environment or situation he is in, and whatever risks he accepts, he is expecting the outcome to be one given by God. When the believer trusts god with that pure trust, he does not need anything other than God.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Righteousness is good behavior." People commonly say that righteousness is good manners and good character. If a person gives himself to bad thoughts and actions, you can see in his face that he is of bad character. He doesn't have to do anything to show or even tell it.

To quote another saying of Prophet Muhammad, "And wrong-doing or sin is what holds in the soul," and "You dislike that the people know what is in you." Righteousness is good morality, but wrong-doing is that which rages in your soul and that which you dislike people finding out, you are ashamed of it. The soul is another term for conscience. The thing that holds in the conscience, no matter how hard you try to put it out, makes its presence known.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also said that we should make decisions according to God's Word, and his sunnah (practices). We are to judge by what God has revealed, and we are to obey His Messenger. The Prophet also instructed us that in matters wherein there is no clear authority, then consult your soul.

It takes strength to consult your soul. If you are a person given to wrong-doing, You don't want to listen to your soul. You want to go blindly into whatever you are doing. But, the Prophet told us that in matters for which we do not have a clear authority, such as a quote from Qur'an or from his sunnah, then consult your heart, consult your soul.

Furthermore, the Prophet has taught that the way to decide the matter is based upon what happens in the soul. He said the soul will not be rested with a certain thing, and the heart will be disturbed by it. Now, here we have soul and heart mentioned separately. If a thing comes to the conscience, the heart will not like it, and in the soul there will be an agitation. It is a disquieting thing, a thing that will not allow us to have perfect peace in our souls.

No wrongdoer can have perfect peace if he loves wrong-doing. It is impossible because Allah has created his own nature so that it will not accept him in that particular state. I have often used this illustration because I find it to be a very good one. Even criminals resort to moral law when they are defending their own right. That tells us that no matter how deep you become involved in sin, your moral nature is still there. You may be ignoring it and abusing it, but it is still there.

The proof that the moral nature is there is that the worse criminal will call up his moral side when he wants rights among criminals. He'll say, "What you are doing to me isn't right." Now he is supposed to be committed wholeheartedly and totally to wrongs. Why would he use an expression like that?

A True Religious Community

There are people who don't want to see the Muslims with the image or reputation for being a true legitimate religious community. There are enemies who come among the Muslim community who want to keep the public thinking that we are a people belonging to some weird cult. Their intentions are not really religion. Their intentions are trouble making. They want the public to think that Muslims are some kind of undercover gang that wears religious labels.

These people really hate the presence of any good persons. And knowing that this religion feeds the good side, the good nature, the good life of the human being, they work hard trying to keep Muslim minds confused. I often hear these people come up with their own sayings behind a good one. The wrongdoers can't leave a good thing alone. If you say something that will establish good and influence good, they have to come behind it with a devilish way, with a hiss that suggests bad in order to kill the effects of the good.

The Devil And His Servants

Allah says that He has revealed everything in the Qur'an, every issue is covered. The devil and his servants would like you to think this religion is preached just like a beautiful story. If you enjoy it like a beautiful piece of music or a beautiful story, then you are safe. But if you take this religion serious in all of its details, they want you to think you are out of your mind.

These are the whispers of the devil that want us to doubt what Allah has established. Such evil person say, "Don't trust this religion all the way. Use your own intelligence." You can't tell the average person in America to use his or her own intelligence in matters of religion. They have very little ability to use their own intelligence in matter of anything. Their life is proof that they can't make proper judgments. Now why didn't these people encourage others to make judgments according to what God has said.

Don't let your own mind cause you to doubt what God has said, or cause you to go astray or do something different from what God has established. Follow Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), obey and believe in him. Know that your mind is terribly limited, and that life is too big for you. You need the Divine Word of God, and you need a man that God accepted as a guide for you to follow. That man is Prophet Muhammad.