STUDY GUIDE 1
READING MATERIAL
Holy Qur'an
7:59-141
Self-Improvement
Paragraphs 1-3
FACTS
Both the Holy Qur'an and the Bible place great emphasis upon the lives of the prophets of Allah (God) and the mixed feelings and controversy surrounding them and their message. Both books make consistent reference to the chiefs or leaders of the people and their attitude toward the prophets.
DISCUSSION
1) Let us focus upon the views of the chiefs/leaders of the people concerning some of the prophets: Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, Shu'aib, Moses and Jesus.
The Holy Qur'an mentions prophets that are not named in the Bible and the Bible mentions prophets that are not named in the Holy Qur'an. Some prophets, such as Moses and Jesus, are named in both books. The Holy Qur'an teaches us, "And (We sent) messengers We have mentioned to thee before and messengers We have not mentioned to thee ..." 4:1 64
The prophets who are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an are named because they have a specific bearing on the life of Muhammad and his life touches an aspect of all of their lives. Consequently, to know the lives of the prophets is to know Muhammad and to know what we will face as followers of Muhammad.
What did the leaders think of their prophets? What did they say of them? What action did they take concerning them?
2) How did the view of the leaders affect the view of others? How did the view of the leaders affect the view of the followers of the prophets?
3) Who were those who had a proper view of the prophet? Why did they have a proper view? What is the significance of the Qur'anic references to the attitudes of the opponents of the prophets with such adjectives as blind, arrogant, haughty, guilty, transgressors, mischief-makers, etc.?
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4) Let us look at the prophet himself. What effect did the attitude of the leadership in power have on him? What emotion did he experience on receiving his call from Allah (God)? How was he affected by the overwhelming power of the opponents of his message? How did he deal with opposition? With being despised and rejected?
5) How was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad received by the chiefs/leaders? How did their views affect the people? How did he handle the way he was received?
6) How is Minister Farrakhan being received today? How does the view of the chiefs/leaders affect the people? How does it affect you? How does Minister Farrakhan handle the mixed feelings and controversy surrounding him and his message?
7) How do you handle mixed feelings and controversy surrounding your belief, when it is directed at you? By what method or process will you produce a change in others?
8) Give an example of mixed feelings or controversy surrounding yourself. How did you handle it? Looking back, how could you have done it better?
SUPPLEMENT
1) What the leaders thought of the prophets, what they said of them and the actions they took concerning them are to be extracted directly from the Scriptures.
2) A definition of "View": Manner of looking at things; opinion; judgment; belief; power of seeing; range of vision.
Persecution manifests weakness in people. Go to the scriptures to demonstrate that the view of the opponents prevailed over the people. Noah, Lot, Hud, Salih, were unable to convert a significant number of people.
It is through affecting the view of the follower of the prophet that the opponent of the prophet is able to inject his own thinking into the midst of the prophets' followers. When a believer can be made to doubt, to entertain evil thoughts about the prophet, to ultimately disbelieve, yet remain in the ranks, then a hypocrite has been produced in the midst of the followers.
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3) Those who had a proper view of the prophet are called "Believers." What distinguishes the Believer from the opponents of the prophet?
The answer lies in the review of the Qur'anic descriptions of the attitudes of the opponents.
What is the relationship of "arrogance" "haughtiness", to "blindness"? Noah's people are called "blind". What attitude did they possess that rendered them blind?
Here is an excerpt from THE WILL OF GOD (PART 1) to guide analysis of the attitude of the opponents:
Attitude is the manner, the disposition, the feeling, the position, with which we regard a thing. It is a tendency or orientation, especially of the Mind. Think of these words. It is a tendency or orientation of the Mind. In fact, Attitude can give you -- or damage --- your ability to perceive reality...
Vanity is excessive pride in one's appearance, one's qualities, one's abilities and one's achievements. It is Conceit. Vanity can lead to Arrogance. And of course, anything that is done with the spirit of conceit lacks real value. Pride is a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit or superiority ... we become Blinded by Pride, to the Will of God.
In the discussion, we want to bring out the fact that arrogance, pride, haughtiness, etc. are states of mind which lead to blindness, or the inability to see the truth of the message the prophet brings from Allah (God).
Since Arrogance led the opponents of the prophets to blindness and resulted in their becoming transgressors and mischief-makers, the converse is true. That is, the Attitude of those who had a proper view, the Believers, had to be the opposite of Pride, which is Humility.
The Holy Qur'an teaches that you will know the -righteous; they walk the earth in Humbleness.
Another excerpt from THE WILL OF GOD:
... So Humility is the state of mind that each one of us must be in, in order for God to continue His Plan of exaltation for any of us ... Jesus said, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. "Now, no man that is poor is blessed. I want you to get out of it, that your poverty is a blessing...But God is going to give you someone that will give you all that you have been deprived of that has made you poor..."
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The poor man is humble; he is open to a message, a word of hope, for he is searching for the light to bring him up out of his condition. He is receptive to the prophet or messenger. He is joyful to hear the message.
Jesus said come as a little child. The child is open to be taught, open to instruction, open to correction. The child knows he is vulnerable and in need and is happy to receive guidance and help.
A definition of "humble": "Lowly in condition; unpretending; submissive, meek."
4) We are looking at the development of the prophets.
The first emotion we experience at birth is Fear. The first emotion the prophet feels on being called is Fear. But the prophet does not remain afraid very long. Allah gives him assurances that there is a Power with him infinitely greater than the powers opposing him. He gives comfort and encouragement to the prophet when no one else can, strengthening His servant in the knowledge that "There is no God but Allah".
Because of his great love for his people, the prophet experiences grief, sometimes despair, over their rejection of the message, for he knows that their destruction is inevitable unless they accept the Truth. Allah relieves him of his pain and sorrow, brings him out of his depression.
The prophet deals with opposition, rejection, by seeking refuge in his Lord, in Allah (God). He is refreshed and rejuvenated by his communication with the God and he stands firm, resolute, in the face of opposition and rejection.
5) Clearly, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was received with bitterness, hostility and vehement opposition. The attitude of the opponents did affect people greatly.
He would always say, "Flee to Allah" and he practiced what he preached. He always sought refuge in Allah. He did not go to the bottle, to drugs, to the things of the world to escape his pain; he drew comfort from the only True Source of Comfort there is: Allah (God).
6) Analyze the reaction of the Jews, the government, the Negro leadership, etc. to Minister Farrakhan. This must have some effect on those of us who say we are with him. The study group should be asked whether they have encountered opposition from family, friends, people they respect, who tell them they are fools, mad, in error, etc. because they are with the Minister. In fact, they say the very same things that were said to the prophets.
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Minister Farrakhan is dealing with the mixed controversy around him the same way the Honorable Elijah Muhammad did. He seeks refuge in Allah. How else could he withstand the pressure, were there not an infinitely greater Power with him than the powers that are against him?
7) What we want to do here is arrive at the conclusion that the way to produce a change in people is by setting an example. You cannot change people by force. You cannot change people simply by talking. You must be a living example of the principles you enunciate, if you truly want to produce a change in the thinking of our people.
8) The study group coordinator should be first to give an example. Choose a situation where you mishandled the situation as a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, under Minister Louis Farrakhan, with the intention of handling the situation properly, but you failed because of the manner in which you dealt with the situation. Then briefly explain how in retrospect you see where you could have done it better. Then have the members of the group give examples.
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