NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
AND
THE NATION OF ISLAM
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.
I BEAR WITNESS THAT THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND I BEAR
WITNESS THAT MUHAMMAD IS HIS SERVANT.
March 29, 1991
As-Salaam Alaikum
Dear Students:
I have prepared this Study Guide for you, �Rising Above Emotion Into The Thinking of God�, for a specific reason. I wish to share that reason with you to increase your chances of success in handling this subject matter properly and passing the test that the Nation of Islam failed in the past.
The devastating effect of the, Domestic Life of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is at the root of the fall of His family and the fall of the Nation of Islam.
In a situation like this, it was natural for His family and followers to focus on the pain of Sister Clara Muhammad and ourselves. However, we allowed ourselves to succumb to the pain of the moment --- a pain so overwhelming that it would not permit us to ask the question, �Why did Allah (God) order His Servant to enter this aspect (wives) of his Domestic Life�?
If we had succeeded in moving beyond Emotion, we would have been able to get up into the mind of Allah (God), where we would see the Domestic Life of Muhammad as Allah (God) sees it and ultimately judge it as Allah (God) judges it, then we could move on to higher ground.
Our focus on pain and the resulting failure to question Allah (God) caused us to question the Servant; it caused us to forget all the good the Servant brought into our lives. Thus, we threw the Servant away as unworthy and cast aside the Body of Knowledge revealed to Him as the means of our Salvation.
No wonder the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked the question, 'How strong is the Foundation? Can we survive?" The Foundation is the forty-four (44) years of the Work of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam and its successes.
If only we were mature enough to put our emotions in check, our focus would not have been on our pain and the pain of Sister Clara Muhammad and the Muhammad family; our focus would have been on asking Allah (God) why He ordered His Servant to have what others did not have (wives); then we would have grown into the Wise Thinking of the God and been more prepared for this reality in our own lives when or if it became necessary.
The improper handling of Emotion does not allow us to grow beyond Self. It makes our reasoning subjective and clouds our judgment of individuals, circumstances and events. It makes us judge individuals, circumstances and events by how we are affected personally, thus we never see the bigger picture. Improper handling of Emotion makes us judge selfishly.
Our great test today will be whether we can rise above Emotion to begin to think and act more like Allah (God). We are in His classroom. What kind of test has He devised to see if we are ready to think and act on a higher level?
It is written in the Holy Qur�an:
�See they not that they are tried once or twice in every year? ... Yet they repent not, nor do they mind.� 9:126
In this Study Guide, we will take under critical analysis, the subject of Emotion, which is �intense feeling�. As you study and analyze every word of this Study Guide, I want you to step into the many shoes of the many different people whose names and circumstances bf their lives will be mentioned, with particular focus on Sister Clara Muhammad, that you may know something of her sorrow, grief and pain over this aspect of her husband�s life.
Most of all, I want you to step into the shoes of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, whom we are attempting to follow, who loved his wife, Sister Clara Muhammad, who was with him when he was considered nothing and aided him in his growth from nothing; yet he had to carry the tremendous weight of his Mission even while he was in anguish over the knowledge of his Domestic Life which was tearing his family apart.
If we are to survive our test, we must see beyond the view of the onlooker who sees with limited knowledge, understanding and a lack of faith. We must be careful, lest
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was not the cause, he was the agent of that which Allah (God) ordered and which he obeyed. The Best Knower set this in motion and it would benefit us greatly to grow into seeing through His eyes.
It is written in the Holy Qur'an:
�We take Allah's colour, and who is better than Allah at colouring, and we are His worshippers.� 2:138
Best wishes for your successful growth through the study of this subject matter, I am, Your Brother and Servant,
LOUIS FARRAKHAN
Minister Louis Farrakhan
Servant to the Lost Found Nation of Islam in the West
LFM/am
RISING ABOVE EMOTION INTO THE THINKING OF GOD - INTRODUCTION TO STUDY GUIDE #18
�I AM THE LORD: THAT IS MY NAME; AND MY GLORY WILL I NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER, NEITHER MY PRAISE TO CARVED IMAGES ... I HAVE FOR A LONG TIME HELD MY PEACE; I HAVE BEEN STILL, AND RESTRAINED MYSELF. NOW WILL I CRY LIKE A TRAVAILING WOMAN; I WILL DESTROY AND DEVOUR AT ONCE.�
Isaiah 42:8,14
Allah (God) experiences Emotion. According to the Scriptures, He Loves, He Hates, He Grieves, He Sorrows. He is referred to by some writers as a Jealous God. However, He rises above all emotions in the decisions He makes. His decisions are based upon how the temporal affects generations eons into the future.
The Domestic Life of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave rise to such great emotion that it clouded our vision of a man of God. We were taught to live according to the Restrictive Laws of Islam. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave us that Law and He Himself was the example of perfect obedience' to it. When He grew, through obedience, to master the law, He was given a superior law to function from; one that was unknown to us at our level of development.
When we learned of His Reality, many of us became corrupted in our reality and laid the blame for our corruption at his doorstep. Rather than accept and master our own reality until guided otherwise, we desired to be in His Reality and then imposed upon His Reality our shame and filth; we encroached on a Reality that we were not ready spiritually, morally or economically, to embrace.
Proof of this encroachment can be seen in the way in which Malcolm X handled the knowledge of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's Domestic Life. Although Malcolm knew the proper language with which to describe the Domestic Life of Muhammad, he chose to call the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's relationship to his wives, having sex with his teen-aged secretaries.' This was to conjure up emotion and cause us to paint the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in the light of a dirty old man, blinding us to the practical reality of God's Judgment with regard to His Nation, as well as His Servant.
In this emotional state, some called the Honorable Elijah Muhammad immoral, even though many were well able to defend the fact that Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was allowed by Allah (God) nine (9) wives. At one point, the Prophet had eleven (11) wives, then Allah caused him to reduce that number to nine (9). It is written in some accounts that he possessed concubines as well. His youngest wife, Aishah, was eleven (l1) years old when given to him, although he did not have conjugal relations with her until she reached the age of fourteen (14).
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Being overwhelmed by Emotion sent us failing backwards, causing the destruction of all that we had sacrificed to build., making it necessary, out of Allah's (God's) Mercy, for me, with His Help and Guidance, to bring us up again. Now we face a test of a similar nature to determine if we are mature enough, spiritually, emotionally and morally, to get over the hurdle that the Nation stumbled over yesterday, without its corrupting our own reality, leading us to encroach upon a reality not ours at this time.
There is a saying among the Native Americans, �You cannot judge a man until you have walked in his moccasins (shoes).� The object of this Study is to try on the shoes of the persons whose lives are used as examples of proper or improper handling of Emotion and analyze how we might act in that situation.
Every actor, when reading a script, must determine if he or she is able to "feel" the part of the character to be played. We are not actors---the Bible and the Holy Qur'an are giving us characteristics of persons that we are going to fulfill in this time; righteous or wicked, believer or disbeliever, helper or opposer. We will find ourselves in one category or the other.
As we step into the shoes of each character, both those who were successful and those who failed, we want to try and �feel� what that person must have felt when Allah (God) tried them with certain commands. In order to be successful in such an effort, we must summon up the same emotional reaction to the command that was theirs and then see by what means we can overcome the emotional reaction to God's command.
From my vantage point, Sister Clara Muhammad was a wonderful, faithful wife and follower of Master Fard Muhammad and her husband, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. She was a person of stern bearing, sharp of tongue, truthful in expression and faithful to the Teachings she received directly from the mouth of Mater Fard Muhammad and her husband.
I remember one day she came to me, saying, �Brother Farrakhan, I notice that every time you look at me your eyes settle full of water and I asked my husband why you do this. He said, 'why don't you ask him', so, I am asking you.� I said to her, �Every time I look -at you, I think of the sacrifice you have made of your husband so that thousands like me might have a Leader, Teacher, Guide and Father. Every time I see you, I think of your sacrifice and my eyes fill up with tears.� She said, 'Thank you very much" and turned and walked away.
Sister Clara Muhammad told me there was one part of the Holy Qur'an she hated, and that was the part that allowed a man more than one wife. This is not hearsay, this is what she told me directly from her mouth. She also told me that in the 40 years that she followed Master Fard Muhammad, she knew of nothing she had done that would make her ashamed to stand before Allah.
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Master Fard Muhammad warned Sister Muhammad, according to her words to me, not to let Him catch her weighing other than herself, in regards to living the life and weighing properly (1 20 pounds). Even though she gave her husband 8 children, she kept her weight at 120 pounds and worried when it went above that. Whenever it did, she told me she fasted to keep her weight constant. Sister Clara Muhammad passed from this Earth in her 70's with the youthful figure she had as a very young girl. What an example for every member of the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class.
When Sister Muhammad was on her deathbed at Mercy Hospital, she sent for me. She lamented, on at least 2 occasions, over her sons not being a help to their Father. She began to weep and I took a tissue and wiped her eyes. She looked at me and said, several times, whelp my husband. Help my husband. Help my husband. He is getting old now, and he cannot do as he used to do. Help my husband. He won't let you help him; but, you help him anyway, because that's nothing but jealousy. You help him anyway." I promised her that I would help her husband.
I never saw her alive again after that day, and I am proud to say that I am keeping the promise that I made to her. I am helping her husband, my Spiritual Father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
I love Sister Muhammad with a deep, indescribable love and I have been made by Allah (God) to understand her pain. If Sister Clara Muhammad hated what Allah (God) had ordered for her husband for the development of our future and our Nation, then that intense dislike for an aspect of her husband's life, which painfully affected hers, would ultimately lead to a dimming of the light of her faith, both in Master Fard Muhammad and in her husband.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked her, �Do you mean to say that you hate what Allah has written in this book Holy Qur�an)?� According to what I heard, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave his wife time out of the Temple for making that statement. This has not been corroborated to me by close family members, but I believe it to be true.
In her hating what Allah (God) ordained, there is an underlying sense of being betrayed. There is the thought, 'I have been faithful to God and to my husband and His Mission; but-Master Fard Muhammad and my husband have rewarded me with pain. What a way to be rewarded for my faithfulness."
Would that Sister Clara Muhammad had grappled at that moment with her emotions. I believe, however, with all my heart, that in the end, she did. But she had suffered so much torment, pain and mental anguish over this aspect of her husband's life, that it brought on a sickness she had conquered in the beginning of her Husband's Mission that ultimately led to her demise.
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Whether we are male or female, we must try and step into the shoes of Sister Clara Muhammad. If you were she, how might you have handled your emotions in this situation?
It is easy to handle a situation intellectually as long as the situation is dealing with some one other than ourselves in some other period in time. But in our own lives, would our emotional reaction to what Allah (God) ordained uproot our intellect and impair our judgment? Let everyone who earnestly desires to rise above emotion and achieve understanding of how Allah (God) thinks, begin by trying on the shoes o Sister Clara Muhammad.
I believe that f have tried to be a faithful witness to Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I have suffered much as a result of my witness.
In 1975, when it appeared to me that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was dead and the Nation of Islam had turned in a completely opposite direction and all seemed lost and my faith was broken; 1, like Sister Clara Muhammad, wondered, �What was MY faith for?� Why had I worked so hard and sacrificed so much --- my family, my music, my career? What for? To be an outcast, rejected and despised? To have the very people for whom I worked, seeking my death?
In my pain and frustration, I became bitter, and in my bitterness, I became livid with anger. I resented religion. I resented, indirectly, the God Who brought the religion and I looked narrowly on the Messenger of God who taught the religion.
It was at this low point in my life that I had to wrestle with my emotions by questioning Allah (God). Emotion had caused me to view events, circumstances and persons subjectively and improperly. It was questioning Allah (God), asking Him, in the right spirit, �Why?�, that saved me. Only after I was able, with the Help of Allah (God) and others, to rise above my pain and anguish to see the bigger picture, was I able to get a grip on my life and come back from the pain of death.
I know something of the pain of Sister Clara Muhammad. I know something of the pain of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as well as some of the pain of the women who were involved in his life. These women did not come into the Nation of Islam to be a part of that aspect of his life, for they knew nothing of it; but time and destiny called them to be a part of his life in a way that brought pain to them, as well as Sister Clara Muhammad and her children, and, ultimately, the Nation of Islam. That pain still lingers.
There are many broken men and women who have not yet gotten over this aspect of the Life of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Blinded by pain, bitterness and emotional reaction to God's Will, they cannot and do not see Him, His God, events circumstances or the persons involved in His Domestic Life properly, nor do they see the children who were born as a result of His Domestic Life, properly.
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Brothers and Sisters, when we do not learn the Lessons of History, we then have to repeat it. It is clear that we failed the first part of the First Term Examination of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, and in failing, we lost ourselves and what came from ourselves as a result of our Faith: virtue, righteousness, schools, businesses, farms, banks ... Shall we lose again?
I repeat, if we can rise above Emotion to see the bigger picture, which is Allah�s (God's) Will, Aim and Purpose, we shall never have to repeat this History again. We can close the book on this aspect of our History and move on to higher ground: �the Elevated Places.
�And as for those who believe and do good - We impose not on any soul a duty beyond its scope -- they are the owners of the Garden; therein they abide.� Holy Qur�an, 7:42, �The Elevated Places�. And We shall remove whatever of ill-feeling is in their hearts - rivers flow beneath them. And they say: All praise is due to Allah, Who guided us to this! And we would not have found the way if Allah had not guided us.� Holy Qur�an, 7:43, �The Elevated Places�.
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EMOTION: AN INTENSIFIED FEELING
The dictionary defines �Emotion� as �an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. Any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, etc, and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat, respiration, or the like and often overt manifestation, such as Trying or shaking.�
Emotion is intensified feeling. It can become so strong and overpowering that it masters the mind or judgment.
Though �love�is generally defined as an emotion, I would say that Love is not an emotion; Love is the Mother of Emotion. Love is the Creative Force out of which all things come. Love can be broken down into 4 principles: Freedom, Justice, Equality and Obedience to the Will of Allah (God). We call our intense feeling of like or dislike �Love� and �Hate�. But Love is not just an intense feeling. That is a limitation that this world has placed on it, making it our emotional reaction to something.
The Creative Force is separate from the intense feeling that we have toward the created thing. Allah (God) created the jackass, yet He states in the Holy Qur'an that the most hateful sound to Him is the braying of the jackass He created. He created the hog, yet He has an intense dislike for it. The Devil is made out of the Creative Force, and He certainly has an intense dislike for the Devil.
The jackass, the hog, the Devil, all serve as a means to facilitate the Creative Act of Love, Beneficence, Mercy. Allah (God) does not desire disease on His planet. So He makes a detestable thing, the Hog, which is used to extract a medicine to remedy some of the effects of a diseased thing that He has allowed to run wild and loose on the Earth; its presence facilitates a Divine Purpose.
We must not narrow Love to an emotional reaction. But when we say, �God is Love�, the word �is� is represented by the symbol, then Love has to be complete, because God is not an emotion. All of His Attributes are embodied in the Creative Force we call Love; an intense like for something is only one of its manifestations.
WHERE EMOTION COMES FROM
The Brain is not only an organ of intellect and logic; it is also the source of Emotion. Emotions are brought to life in what is known as the �limbic system�. The limbic system is a collection of parts that constitute approximately 20% of the brain's area. The forces of pride, fear, joy, grief, anger, lust, hatred, envy, jealousy, arise from this region of the brain.
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The limbic system is found surrounding the most primitive part of the brain and is found in almost the same form in all mammals. It is that part of man that is hardly distinguishable from beast.
God says, in the Bible, �For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For 83 the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts- than your thoughts.� Isaiah 55:7
The limbic system works with both the cerebrum above and the brainstem below. Its connections with the brainstem help maintain a state of emotional balance and alertness. Its connections with the cerebrum allows a person to temper emotion with reason. The goal is for the two processes to work in harmony, but the balance can be easily upset. The limbic system can become so highly activated that it overwhelms rational thought, making a person speechless with anger or joy. On the other hand, through conscious effort, a person can resist the natural urge to eat or drink, can fight back tears, or suppress sexual desire.
There are nerve pathways interwoven throughout the limbic system which send a continuous flow of electrochemical impulses that direct human drives and emotions. The �hippocampus� converts information from short-term to long-term memory. It constantly checks information relayed to the brain by the senses and compares it to experience. The �thalamus� serves as a major relay station, passing information from sensory and motor nerves to the brain.
Nestled between the thalamus above and the brainstem below, there is a small cluster of nerve cells called the �hypothalamus�. It has one of the richest blood supplies in the entire body, though it is only the size of a thumb tip. From the �hypothalamus� arise intense feelings, or emotions. Pleasure and pain, sexual arousal, aggression, rage, as well as hunger and thirst, all emanate from this point.
The hypothalamus is also a complex thermostat system that reacts to messages from skin receptors and heat-sensitive nerve cells, as it maintains the body's internal balance, holding the temperature at approximately 98.6 degrees. For this reason, our emotional reactions cause a change in temperature. The phrase "heat of passion" refers to the climb in temperature.
Hunger and thirst- centers in the hypothalamus track glucose levels in the blood. When supplies of glucose (energy food) are too low, the brain, not the stomach, generates hunger pangs. The sensation of thirst does not originate in the throat, but here in the brain, when receptors indicate the salt level in the blood is too high.
Above the hypothalamus is the �amygdala�, a mass of nerve cells that is specifically related to feelings of outrage and aggression. The �septum�, linked to the hypothalamus at the front of the limbic ring, contains a pleasure center.
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They hypothalamus has connections to the pituitary gland so it has an effect on growth and sexual behavior. It actually orders the pituitary to organize the endocrine glands' release of hormones into the blood.
Our response to fear in times of emergency is also controlled by the hypothalamus. If a gun is pointed in someone's face, the emotional stress is of such magnitude that his body undergoes immediate changes. First to react is the hypothalamus, which organizes a chain reaction of defenses with a single purpose: to place the body in maximum condition to survive the impending threat.
The chain of command is as follows:
1) Hypothalamic chemicals signal the pituitary gland of danger, possibly fatal.
2) Pituitary signals one of its endocrine gates to bolster defenses. It does this by flashing a message, secreting a stress hormone which finds its way through the bloodstream to important stations.
3) The stress hormone, ACTH (adrenocorticotropic), first travels to the fighting adrenal glands on the kidneys. Another adrenal chemical begins converting fats and proteins into sugar.
4) The adrenals spew out adrenalin and noradrenalin, causing the heart to pump faster, blood pressure to rise and the pupils of the eyes to dilate wildly for improved vision.
b) The combined surge of hormones relaxes the bronchial tubes for deeper breathing; increases the blood sugar to supply maximum energy; slows down the digestive process to conserve muscular energy; shifts blood supplies so they are able to clot more easily on an open wound.
In a matter of seconds, a threatened body becomes a tight coil of altered substances, prepared to meet the challenge. In this state it can perform feats of strength and endurance far beyond normal capacity.
It is important to note that what triggers this chain of reactions is the brain's interpretation of external forces as life-threatening. It is not a question of whether we are actually threatened, but whether we think we are threatened.
According to Western scientists, individual neuronal circuits are just as unique as fingerprints. This means that the same situation may activate different clusters of nerve cells in different people.
Every biological act of the physical body is directed to one predominate goal: to stay alive. To do this, every organism must preserve itself in the face of external forces which threaten its existence; and when it ceases to work energetically on its own
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behalf, something finally will destroy it. There are many forms of disaster: poisons in the environment, temperatures beyond limit, food supplies fail, competing organisms move in and take over its living space.
As part of the defense against external forces, the organism walls itself off from alien elements. The skin is such a wall, forming a natural barrier between the individual and the environment. But no barrier is completely effective, and the human body, which is a large community of cells, is vulnerable to attack like any other community. Foreign substances sneak in and attack the internal systems, endangering the body.
There is a second line of defense which stands ready to repel any invaders which breach the protective barriers. Manning this line is a certain type of white blood cell called the lymphoid. These defenders swim through the blood ready for action when trouble occurs. They respond aggressively to invaders, producing a different weapon or countermeasure for each type of intruder.
When antigens get into the bloodstream the body is alerted to the presence of invaders. Each antigen stimulates the lymphoid cells to manufacture proteins on a large scale and dump them into the bloodstream. It is these proteins that lead the defense against invaders.
During the period of war, there is activity inside the lymphoid cells. Some of these cells manufacture molecules which form a match with the contours of germ antigens. These substances, called antibodies, pour into the bloodstream, attach themselves to the germs and cause a chemical change in the germs making them vulnerable to the next step. The next step is carried out by a crew of wandering scavenger cells called phagocytes. They attack specific types of germs which have been tagged by the antigen-antibody interaction and eliminate the invaders by swallowing them whole. The combined offensive by the antibodies and phagocytes continues until the disease or illness subsides, or, until the body's defenses prove inadequate and death results.
In the same context, there is a defense mechanism which serves to protect the peace of the community of our beliefs. Our beliefs support us in our actions and overall approach to life. Any principle or fact, whether real or imagined, that we encounter in life, either supports our beliefs or threatens them.
Once something is perceived as a threat to our accepted beliefs, there is a reaction in the brain similar to the body's antigen-antibody reaction, and instead of lymph cells, it is our emotions which rush to the defense of our threatened belief.
Thus, the emotional reactions to persons, events and circumstances are a defense mechanism which quickly surrounds the accepted belief to protect it from succumbing to a new one. We may react with one of many different emotions, depending upon the nature of the threat -- fear, anger, pride, etc. - but in any case, the emotion rises with great speed to ward off that which disturbs the community of beliefs. This is what is
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meant by the phrase, �rush of emotion�. It requires great and concentrated effort to take control over our emotions.
APPROACH TO SUBJECT MATTER
In the study of Emotion and its impact on our responses to the expressed Will of Allah (God), let us begin with the following verse from Surah (Chapter) 3, Verse 6, of the Holy Qur�an:
�He it is Who has revealed the Book to thee; some of its verses are decisive -- they are the basis of the Book -- and others are allegorical. Then those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead, and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. And none knows its interpretation save Allah and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say: we believe in it, it is all from our Lord. And none mind except men of understanding.�
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that He would not give two cents for the combined work of all of the scholars and what they have written as their interpretation of the verses of the Holy Qur�an. That is a powerful statement.
In the above-cited verse, Allah (God) tells those seeking to give the Book their own interpretation that none knows except Him. So even if they claim to be scholars, Allah (God) has already overruled their scholarship, in these words, �None knows its interpretation except Allah�.
Those �firmly rooted in knowledge� are the Believers who submit to it because it is all from Allah. What they understand is that they do not comprehend Allah's Book in totality. They await the One Whom Allah will teach the Interpretation of the Book to directly. That One is the Messiah, the Mahdi, the Christ. That One is the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
�Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou did set thy heart to understand and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for thy word"3 sake." Daniel 10:12
�And lean not upon thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths.� Proverbs 3:5,6
The first step toward growing into the Mind of God is to desire to do His Will. Then, we must learn to obey His Commands. Allah (God) tests and tries His Servant to see how well he will obey Commands that he does not understand. He gradually brings the servant into understanding of what he has obeyed, but only after obedience. Through the suffering that accompanies obeying Allah (God) comes understanding and the Servant gradually grows into the Thinking of Allah (God).
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�Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.� Hebrews 5:8
Allah (God) may try a servant with a certain command. Since a servant of God is always desirous of doing His Will, giving such a person a command can only be a trial if that person believes that the command is against what he or she has been taught is right, fair, just or in keeping with our understanding of Revelation.
Through the command of the expressed Will of God, the servant's level of understanding up to that point in time causes an emotional reaction that could result in disobedience if it is not put in check. In this manner, Allah (God) helps us climb above Emotion, using our own desire to obey Him for sustenance during the steep climb.
�For this cause also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His Will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.� Colossians 1:9
In order to obey Allah�s (God's) command (s), we must overcome our emotional reaction to His command (s). At the root of the emotional reaction is frustration over something we personally desire, think, or believe. He challenges us where we are most comfortable with a command calculated to disturb our comfort. Thus, He says in the Holy Qur�an, �none comes between a man and his heart, except Allah�.
When He says, in Isaiah 55, �My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways�, His ways are higher than our ways as the "heavens are higher than the earth", He is speaking on many levels of mind.
The Original Man is from Allah�s Thinking, which is above, while the made man is made from the testicles, found in the lower region of the Original Man, Allah (God) produced Himself, not from testicles, but from His own Thinking; then He formed what we call the �testicle�, that there might be the physical reproduction of the form. It is from the lower portion, or weaker germ of the Original Black Man, that the devil was made manifest.
To get into the Thinking of God, we must rise above our present level of thought, which emanates-from beneath.
There is a gulf between the thinking of man and God and the ways of man and God. The process by which we cross that gulf is called Resurrection.
The way to think like Allah (God) is to be exposed to His Thinking. In our Lessons, we are given the Actual Facts as a beginner and as a start in thinking mathematically rather than emotionally.
Jesus said, �I and my Father are One�. How was he able to become one with the Father? Jesus was born of a woman and came through the vicissitudes of life. In time, through obedience, he became the interpreter of God's Will. You cannot serve as the interpreter of the Will of God unless you know God and what He thinks and what gave rise to His thoughts. And we cannot get up into the mind of Allah (God) except by His Permission.
When we are able to see beyond the effect to the Cause that produced the effect, then our decisions are no longer emotional, they are made with precision. This does not mean we will act without intense feeling, it means that we will be in such complete control of our feelings that our decisions will be completely rational.
In �The Theology of Time�, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad stated that Allah (God) �went to War with the Darkness�, using sunlight to manifest all that the darkness was hiding. It is evident that He had an intense dislike for the darkness, and that intense dislike manifested in the fact that though we were once in complete darkness we are now in a Universe of Light.
In going to war, Allah (God) was not acting irrationally. He made a rational judgment based upon His Idea of what He wanted in terms of a Universe. That Idea stimulated an intense dislike for the darkness because it stood in the way of His Idea, so He banished it.
Today, Allah (God) is bringing about the destruction of the present world order. His intense dislike for this contrary world and the one who made it is the result of a mathematical understanding of what He desires for His creation. His precise understanding of what he Wills and what stands in the way of His Will summons an intense dislike for the impediment. When He says, �Away with you�, this is not an emotional reaction; though there is intense feeling in it, it is the result of reasoning.
We, on the other hand, are just the opposite in our approach to a problem. Instead of being guided by reason, our emotional reaction clouds our reasoning and distorts our judgment. We react to things emotionally first, and the power of passion dominates over reason instead of being called into service by means of reason.
The propagandist-summons the passion of the people by giving them a reason to dislike a person, a thing, a nation. The elite, or those in authority, supply the people with the reason that summons the passion against the object of the authority's disapproval. There must always be a reason to like and a reason to dislike. He who supplies the reason directs the passion.
If I were to speak against many in the manner they have spoken against me, I could summon the passion of this Community against any object of my disapproval. But I have Never chosen to do so; I have directed the passion of the people toward Allah (God). I have given the people a reason to love Master Fard Muhammad and the
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Honorable Elijah Muhammad while the Caucasian has worked tirelessly in supplying reasons to dislike them.
Thus, the reason the devil accuses both myself and my Father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, of teaching Hate, is actually because I point out the wickedness of the devil. By pointing out his evil, I give the people a reason to summon their passion against that evil.
PORTRAITS OF EMOTIONAL REACTION
In the very beginning of the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, we get a portrait of emotional reaction (intense feeling in response to someone or something) and the destructive power of Emotion when it is unchecked. Whenever Emotion overpowers Reason, it covers Reason and replaces it with a new rationale; the new rationale then leads us to disobey a command of God.
�Pride� is an emotion. It is an intense feeling of self-importance and superiority; an inordinate opinion of one's own merit.
God gave both Adam and Eve clear instructions not to eat of the tree in the midst of the garden. The Serpent (subtle suggestion in the mind) led them both into disobedience by appealing to the feeling of Pride:
�For God knows that when you eat the fruit, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.�
Satan's suggestion incited Pride; the feeling that Adam and Eve were entitled to something that God was actually attempting to keep them from having, out of fear that it would threaten His position. Adam and Eve did not envy God, nor did they feel hatred or jealousy toward Him. But they had an intense feeling of pride which overpowered reason, so that they placed themselves directly in opposition to the Will of God. The consequence was the Fall of Adam.
�Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.� Proverbs 16:18
Most of us are familiar with the story of Adam's sons, Cain and Abel. We know that God accepted an offering from Abel and rejected an offering from Cain and that Cain killed Abel over God's selection.
How many of us ever asked, �Why did God accept the offering of Abel and reject the offering of Cain?� Have we ever considered the effect of God's choice on both men and on the future? Have we ever stopped to reflect on whether God cared how they felt?
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Is it possible that He had a Purpose that was not perceived by either Cain or Abel at the time?
The Bible describes Abel as a �keeper of sheep� and Cain as a �tiller of the ground�. And, �in process of time, it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof�.
In making a comparison of the actual effort each man put into his offering, there is much to reflect upon. Remember, we are trying to walk in Cain's shoes; to feel what he felt when his offering was not accepted. We must look into Cain's efforts in order to know something of the level of his expectation.
The word �till� means �to labor, as by plowing�. �Labor� means to �work to the point of exhaustion�. Cain worked the field to produce his offering. His time, sweat and pride were tied up in his work. In his mind, the rejection of his offering was tantamount to a rejection of him.
Abel sacrificed a sheep. In reality, Abel had nothing to do with the creation, development and growth of the sheep; Allah (God) was responsible for the process by which the sheep came into existence, as well as for producing the grass the sheep took its nourishment from. Abel offered that which grazed on the grass and his offer was accepted.
In understanding Cain's feelings, we must ask ourselves how we feel about something we work diligently to produce and what our reaction is when what we produce is turned down. His ego was crushed by the rejection of his offering and in applying the rejection to himself, he then began to sense a feeling of being lesser; now there is remorse over this apparent lowering of self. God is abasing him, in his mind, in rejecting his offering.
At this point, what would have saved Cain from being overpowered by his emotional reaction would have been to question God in the right spirit: �Did you reject me in rejecting my offering, and if so, why?� The emotion of pride connected to his work and suffering clouded his ability to get into the mind of God. The first mistake that God would have-been Able to correct was Cain's misperception that God was rejecting him. He took it personally and in doing so, his emotions clouded his ability to get into the mind of God. He made himself and his offering the center, rather than what God wanted as the center.
Once his ego was deflated, Cain began feeling a dislike for God. Unable to act effectively against God Himself, he focused his feeling of dislike on the person he believed God had chosen over him.
The nature of the sheep is humbleness. What God rejected in Cain was his pride over his work that gave him the exaggerated feeling of worth. It is only the humble at
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heart that will be able to obey God. God will ask you to do things against the pride of' yourself.
�Say: My prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.�
Many in the last days would offer money, substance from the ground. But Allah does not asks us to give money alone; our charity is but a symbol of our willingness to give Him our lives. He asks us for the very essence of our being: the Will. That is why in the last days, the only religion that will be accepted is Islam, the complete surrender of our will to His Will.
His acceptance of the sheep was a symbol of His lost sheep, a people, among them a lamb, who would be willing to give his life for the salvation of the whole.
We cannot buy our way into the Kingdom of God. This is not the sale of indulgences. We cannot even work our way into the Kingdom of God, if we are not willing to offer Him the essence of our being. Our charity, our service, our acts of kindness, could be turned down unless we surrender our will to His Will. That is the best of all sacrifices.
THE EXORCISM OF MAN
There is another, perhaps even more profound dimension to the portrait of Cain and his emotional reaction to God's expressed Will.
The emotional reaction that stirred within him was complex: disappointment, frustration, anger, envy and eventually, he grew to hate his brother. From the depths of his being, the turbulence of hatred produced the thought of Murder.
In the Book of Psalms, David speaks of a sea monster that dwells in the depths of the ocean. It is called Leviathan and it is a frightening thing.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad explained to me that his sea monster is actually a reference to the devil's submarines. He said that we can bring the submarines up out of the water by using the force of Wind in a circular motion. This powerful motion forces a submarine up on its end; once forced up, the waters part and the power of the Wind causes the water to slam against it, crushing it to pieces.
There are monsters in the bottom of our consciousness. God brings these things up with Winds (Trials) that He sends to stir up the Waters of Emotion. These monsters rest beneath the surface of our being, unseen and undetected in our daily interactions.
Cain and Abel were from the same womb. On the surface, they looked alike. But they were not the same beneath. The Holy Qur�an says that Allah brings us forth from the womb and �one of you is a Believer, the other a disbeliever�.
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To force that which is hidden beneath to come forth, Allah creates a Test that will stir the emotions and dislodge and bring up that hidden monster.
�Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe and will not be tried?...and indeed We tried some before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will know the liars. Or do they who work evil think that they will escape Us? Evil is it that they judge! Whoever hopes to meet with Allah, the term of Allah is then surely coming. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.� Holy Qur�an 29:2-5
THROUGH QUESTIONING ALLAH (GOD] IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT, WE MAY BE SAVED
In the Story of Cain, there is failure. In the Story of Job, there is success. Job, in the midst of extreme duress, still did not curse his God, rather, he questioned Him. In questioning Allah (God), we are able to rise above the emotional reaction to our stress to think as He thinks.
Allah is not obligated to present trials one at a time, nor is He required to allow some minimal time lapse between them so that we can recover. He may confront us with many trials together, or one particularly long, grievous and painful trial.
At the peak of our trial, He may create circumstances that will cause us to be, or at least feel, completely deserted or abandoned. In the experience of abandonment by friends, family, even fellow believers, there is a sense of hopelessness; nothing to be thankful for. The. Emotion usually associated with this condition is Depression.
�Why art thou cast down O My soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? ... My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, �Where is your God?� Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled.� Psalms 42:11
The situation can become almost unbearable:
�Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me...my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?� Psalms 22:1
When he speaks the exact words spoken by Jesus in the New Testament as Jesus is undergoing torture and death, David is describing his own living experience. Yet, David is described as having a heart after God's heart. But he was not only a prototype of Christ in God's Love for him, he was also a prototype in his suffering. He was a prophet and a king, yet he suffered.
Perhaps the most oft-repeated Psalm of David is the 23rd, 'The Lord is MY Shepherd, I shall not want".
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The Lord is our Shepherd, but this does not mean that for reasons we may not perceive on our level, He will withdraw His Presence and diminish the Help he affords. He will chastise the Believer and He will put the Believer through severe trials.
Walk a moment in the shoes of Job, who lost everything he had. When Job, in the midst of his suffering, called on Allah (God) for a reason for his overwhelming losses, the Scriptures say "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind�. Job 38:1
This -means He responded right out of the core of Job's swirling emotions and confusion. And when He answered Job, it was not with specific explanation, it was with Declarations of His Power and Glory. This increased Job's humility and dependence and in the end he was once again blessed.
THE STORY OF HAGAR
One of the greatest Scriptural displays of patience and humility during times of trial and suffering is in the story of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael by Abraham.
�I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.� Psalm 121
�The Safa and the Marwah are truly among the signs of Allah; so whoever makes a pilgrimage to the House or pays a visit to it, there is no blame on him if he goes round, them. And whoever does good spontaneously--surely Allah is bountiful in rewarding, Knowing.� Holy Qur�an 2:158
Of the more than one billion Muslims on Earth, many millions have made Umrah and/or Hajj in Mecca. In this ritual, each pilgrim, male and female, must follow the path of Hagar and run between the two hills named in the above verse.
Why must we, as Muslims, follow the path of Hagar? What lesson is in her life that Allah (God) desires to ingrain into the life of every Muslim?
Hagar was the handmaiden of Abraham's wife, Sarah. A �maiden� is defined as a young, unmarried female, usually a virgin". It is a term "relating to or befitting a girl".
Here we have the opportunity to look into the Domestic Life of a man whom Muslims, Christian and Jews honor as a great prophet, whom the Qur'an refers to as a �model of virtue�. In this instance, Abraham was a man in his 80's; an �elderly� man by today's standards, going into his wife's handmaiden, Hagar, who is by definition hardly more than a child. The act which produced Ishmael took place at Sarah's request, she herself an elderly woman having been unable to bear children up to that time.
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When Hagar became pregnant, with Ishmael, Sarah caused Abraham to put the woman and her baby out of the house. Put yourself in Sarah's shoes. Was there an emotional reaction to the fact that while she had been unable to give a child to the man she loved and had been with for so long, this young girl had succeeded where she had failed? Did her emotions overpower her reason to the point she lost sight of the fact that the child had been conceived at her behest?
Banished from the home of her child's father, Hagar found herself in the wilderness without food or shelter. Although these essentials were in the house of Abraham, the baby's father, apparently none would be forthcoming for Hagar or the child.
She ran to and fro in quest of water, between the two hills, Safa and Marwah, until she was exhausted. Finally she decided to give up the effort and die. She bent to lay the baby down on the ground when there at his foot a well suddenly sprang up. This was the place now known as Zamzam. Water flows from it today, 5,000 years later.
What is the lesson in this?
Every servant of Allah (God) has at some time been expelled from home, or put out from the protection of family, clan or tribe, running from persecution with no one to rely upon except -Him. If, in the distress of the moment, we are overpowered by our emotions, we may react improperly and lose a great reward.
Hagar did not succumb to the common emotion of bitterness caused by deprivation; she did not curse Abraham or Sarah. She looked to her God; she looked to the hills, from whence her help came: the Lord.
Every Muslim is made to walk after this young woman, Hagar, who was an outcast for bearing a child that would become a Prophet of Allah (God). Some of the wives of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, when they became pregnant, left the city and went running into the wilderness. Some accepted the death of banishment, disgrace and evil talk, so that the Messenger of Allah could be covered and we, in our infancy, could be covered, because we had not the proper foundation to bear the Truth.
Pain and deprivation are severe trials. Distress may be so intense that the sufferer is too distracted to be able to concentrate; unable to pray, except in a very emotional way. The Holy Qur'an says that when we are in distress we are �sincere in prayer� and �lengthy in supplication�.
If we can keep the presence of mind and summon up the necessary strength to seek the solution to the problem from Allah (God), then we may be upheld until we reach understanding.
�When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.� Isaiah 43:2
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To each that overcomes the Emotion of bitterness because of pain and deprivation, there is a great reward.
FAITH: THE ESSENTIAL QUALITY
�Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ... But without Faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him.�
The Bible & and the Holy Qur�an tell us that our faith will be tried and tested. They also tell us that Allah (God) will not allow us to be tried beyond our ability to endure, though it is difficult to remember this in the throes of the trial.
�There is no temptation before you but such as is common to all men; but God is Faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; but He will, with the temptation, also make a way that you may be able to bear it ...� I Corinthian10: 13
The Holy Qur�an states that no soul will have imposed on it a �duty beyond its scope�. However, Allah (God) may test us right up to the limit of our ability to endure.
Faith is necessary to endure the trial long enough to rise above our emotional reaction that we may obtain understanding through knowing Allah�s (God's) view of the situation.
The word �suffer� means to �experience pain in soul or body�. The word translated �affliction� in the New Testament means �pressure�. To suffer affliction is to suffer pressure, or to be �pressed down�. Peter refers to �heaviness" through many trials.
If we just attempt to obey Allah (God) we undergo suffering; or being brought low through the pressure and weight that is placed upon us. Jeremiah was lowered into a pit.
The word �tribulation� means �straitness or distress�. Tribulations and afflictions bring suffering in their wake. The Holy Qur'an states that we will �surely� be tried with deprivation: �Loss of life and property�.
When a man or woman is spiritually sensitive and any Servant of Allah (God) is, then he or she can experience acute suffering through temptations, relationships and attachments to persons who are not interested in God's Will; anxiety, debt and the oppression of men.
Unlike the disbeliever, the sincere believer does not find any real relief in worldly pursuits. Though he or she may enjoy lawful recreation, these offer no permanent solutions to the peculiar problems of the Believer.
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The Believer takes pleasure from living according to the Law of Allah (God) and fears deviation from it. So when Allah (God) issues a command that is contrary to His own Divine Law according to the Believer's understanding of it, there is a trial for the Believer.
MARY AND JOSEPH
�Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: When, as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, -she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.� Matthew 1:18-20
Joseph loved Mary since they were children, however, her father would not permit her to marry him. Out of respect for the law that prohibits intimate relations outside of marriage, Joseph suppressed his love for Mary and took another for a wife. He had six (6) children by the woman he married and it appeared that he had succeeded in completely suppressing his desire for Mary.
But there came a time when Mary called to him for assistance and he responded. In the 3 days they were together, Jesus was conceived.
In the context of their understanding of the Law of Moses which governed the society, Joseph, Mary and Mary's father all suffered the Emotion of Fear and great Distress. Joseph was absolutely certain, in his mind, that he had offended the law and that he and Mary would suffer a terrible price.
What Joseph did not know was that there was a Superior Law working. That Superior Law conformed to Allah�s (God's) plan to make a sign that would not be fulfilled until 2,000 years later.
Meanwhile, relief from fear came to Joseph only when an old prophetess informed him that the child Mary was carrying was to be the last prophet to the Jews. Joseph then informed Mary's father of what he was told by a servant functioning from a higher law.
The religious legalists of the day were unaware of this and they functioned according to their understanding. Thus, Mary's pregnancy could not be spoken of publicly. It was a secret to be kept that authorities would not kill the baby and its parents.
�And she brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes�.
Luke 2:8
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Jesus is referred to as her firstborn because Joseph already had children. Joseph did not have the mind of an adulterer; he was not a lustful man. Mary called him to assist her during a dust storm (an Act of God). Allah (God) having ordained the birth of Jesus, there were no existing circumstances that could prevent it, even the fact that the child's father was married to another woman.
�She said, How can I have a son and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste? He said: So It will be. Thy Lord says: It is easy for Me; and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us. And it is a-matter decreed...Then she conceived him; and withdrew him to a remote place.�
She suffered the pain of labor as any flesh and blood woman delivering a flesh and blood child must suffer:
�And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this and had been a thing quite forgotten So a voice came to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely thy Lord has provided 8 stream beneath thee. And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop on thee fresh ripe dates.� Holy Qur'an 19:23
Like Hagar, Mary depended upon her Lord for relief.
Consider the series of emotions that Joseph, Mary and Mary's father went through over the conception and birth of Jesus. Also consider the emotional reaction of the family, not seeing beyond their embarrassment and shame, to ask, �Why did Allah (God) permit this to happen this chaste young girl?�
�Then she came to her people with him, carrying him. They said: 0 Mary, thou hast indeed brought a strange thing! O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother an unchaste woman!�
How did Mary feel, knowing she was not an unrighteous person while being treated as though she was?
There is no record of Joseph and Mary ever Living together as husband and wife; the actual existence of a family unit was not necessary to effectuate God's Will, which was to produce a particular child; to do so, he needed the seed of David and Joseph carried that seed. He was of the lineage of David. Once he provided the life-germ, he had performed his service for Allah (God) insofar as this child was concerned.
RELATIONSHIPS
When Noah was commanded to build the ark to save himself and the believers from destruction, naturally he desired to save his own wife and son. In the Holy Qur'an, we read:
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�At length when Our command came and water gushed forth from the valley, We said: Carry in it two of all things, a pair, and thine own family--except those against whom the Word has already gone forth-and those who believe. And there believed not with him but a few ... And it moved on with them amid waves like mountains. And Noah called out to his son, and he was aloof. O my son, embark with us and be not with the disbelievers.�
How would it feel to be told by Allah (God) that His Word has already gone forth against one of our loved ones? Shock, bewilderment? Certainly your child has faults, but to be condemned to destruction by the God you are working so hard to serve? How many years did Noah devote to building the ark? How long did he endure the scorn and mockery of the community he was a part of? At the end of his suffering for the sake of Allah (God), could not Allah excuse his son's aloofness?
�And Noah cried to his Lord and said: My Lord, surely my son is of my family, and Thy promise is true and Thou art the Justest of the judges. He said: O Noah, he is not of thy family; he is an embodiment of unrighteous conduct. So ask not of Me that of which thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be of the ignorant.�
No parent wants to see their child destroyed, no matter what the child has done. We petition the teacher on behalf of the child; even after maturity, we may petition the child's employer for consideration; when he or she goes astray, we petition the judge for leniency. How painful it must have been for Noah to be denied his humble petition on behalf of his son And yet, he obeyed his Lord.
Lot loved his wife, but �We ordained her to be of those who remained behind ... So We delivered him and his followers, except his wife --- she was of those who remained behind.�
Allah (God) ordained something adverse to the emotional attachments of the prophet.
The wife of Lot looked back because what she was leaving behind in Sodom and
Gomorrah was dearer to her than what Allah (God) was calling her to through her husband.
Both Noah and Lot were faithful servants of Allah (God), but neither of them was able to save his family members when the family member (s) went against the Message the prophet brought.
�Allah sets forth an example for those who disbelieve --- the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them, so they availed them naught against Allah (God), and it was said, Enter the Fire with those who enter.� Holy Qur�an 66:9
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Just as Noah had to part with a disbelieving son, Abraham had to cease his quest for forgiveness on behalf of a disbelieving father. Apparently, Abraham was close to his family, but had to disassociate himself from them. This must have been very painful. However, because of his faith, he was blessed with two sons who were prophets.
�Your relationships and your children would not profit you on the day of Resurrection--He will decide between you. And Allah is the Seer of what you do.
Indeed, there is for you a good example in Abraham and those with him when they said to their people, We are clear of you and of that which you serve besides Allah. We disbelieve in you and there has arisen enmity and hatred between Us and you forever until you believe in Allah alone--except Abraham's saying to his 3ire: I would ask forgiveness for thee and I control naught for thee from Allah.� 60:3
Yet, after blessing Abraham with his beautiful son, Ishmael, Allah (God) commanded him to give his son's life as a sacrifice.
What must Abraham have felt upon receiving this instruction? To kill any child, but especially his own, whom he had been blessed with as an answer to a prayer; a righteous child -- How could the same God Who gave him the son now ask him to
kill it?
�So when they both submitted and he had thrown him down upon his forehead, And We called out to him saying, 0 Abraham, thou hast indeed fulfilled the vision. Thus do We reward the doers of good. Surely this is a manifest trial.� Holy Qur'an 37:1 00
How was Abraham able to overcome the emotional reaction to the command?
�By faith Abraham ... obeyed.�-Hebrews_11:7
JOSEPH'S FIRMNESS UNDER TEMPTATION
Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his envious brothers. This act of treachery set off a series of trials that he was forced to undergo.
Purchased for �a small price�, he found himself in the home of an Egyptian couple. Study the emotional conflict that took place in this instance. How would you have handled your emotions in that situation?
�And she in whose house he Was, sought to seduce him, and made fast the doors and said: Come. He said: Allah forbid! Surely my Lord made good my abode. The wrongdoers never prosper.
�And certainly she desired him, and he would have desired her, were it not that he had seen the manifest evidence of his Lord. Thus (it was) that We might turn away
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from him evil and indecency. Surely he was one of Our chosen servants.� Holy Qur�an 12:23,24
It was only through the direct intervention of Allah (God) that Joseph was able to resist the efforts of the seductress to lead him into evil and indecency.
The Holy Qur'an states that after word traveled that the wife of a dignitary had been so attracted to Joseph that she was willing to commit adultery, the other women in the city were critical of her actions:
�And women in the city said: The chief's Wife seeks to seduce her slave. He has indeed affected her deeply with his love. Truly we see her in manifest error...So when she hear of their device, she sent for them and prepared for them a repast, and gave each of them a knife and said to Joseph: Come out to them. So when they saw him, they deemed him great and cut their hands in amazement and said: Holy Allah! This is not a mortal!, This is but a noble angel.� 12:31
What was it about this Servant of Allah (God) that the women actually cut their hands at the sight of him? How do you think you might react in that situation?
Joseph turned to his Lord: �My Lord, the prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me ... So his Lord accepted his prayer and turned away their device from him. Surely He is the Hearer, the Knower.�
DOMESTIC LIFE OF MUHAMMAD
The Domestic Life of Prophet Muhammad was a source of emotional conflict in the community of Believers as well as within his household.
There are principles inherent in the marriages of Prophet Muhammad that remain hidden to this day, covered by emotional reactions to his Domestic Life. The question must be answered, �What did Allah (God) want us to learn?�
His first marriage was to Khadijah, whom he was devoted to for 25 years of marriage until her death at the age of 65. She was 1 5 years older than he. She was to him, as Sister Clara Muhammad would be to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, his wife, friend, companion and among the first to accept Islam when he was called to the Mission. Her loss caused him great pain and suffering.
After the loss of his beloved Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad married Aishah, the daughter of Abu Bakr. Aishah was only 11 years old when the marriage ceremony took place and she remained in her parents home another 3 years before the marriage was consummated.
In all the marriages that followed, Muhammad's wives were women who had been previously married. Only Aishah came to him a virgin. She was actually brought up,
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shaped and fashioned under his care. Thus she acquired a spiritual radiance that made her ultimately stand out in history as a guide, for not only Muslim women, but for all of the Believers.
it was on the return from an important expedition in the 5th year of the Hijrah, that Aishah, who had accompanied the Prophet, went away from the caravan in search of a lost necklace. The bearers of her litter, thinking she was still inside, marched off leaving her behind. One of her husband's soldiers who was coming in from the rear, came upon her and brought her safely to Madinah.
A hypocrite learned of the incident and in it found a pretext to slander the Prophet an his family and erode the love and admiration of the Believers, so he started a campaign of vilification and several gullible Muslims gave ear to the slander.
What thoughts had those Muslims harbored, that they would respond to slander against a wife of Allah's Servant with such enthusiasm? Were there some hidden feelings toward his marriage to Aishah that were brought to surface by this incident? Why did Allah (God) Himself attach such importance to the matter that He would issue such a Revelation as the one which follows?
�Surely they who concocted the lie are a party from among you. Deem it not an evil to you. Nay, it is good for you. For every man of them is what he has earned of sin; and as for him among them who took upon himself the main part thereof, he shall have a grievous punishment.
�Why did not the believing men and the believing women, when you heard it, think well of their own people, and say: This is an evident falsehood?...
�And were it not for Allah's Grace upon you and His Mercy in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous chastisement would certainly have touched you on account of the talk you indulged in.
When you received it on your tongues and spoke with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge, and you deemed it a trifle, while with Allah it was serious.
And why did you not, when you heard it, say: It beseems us not to talk of it. Glory be to Thee! This is a great calumny.
Allah admonishes you that you return not to the like of it ever again, if you are believers... Those who love that scandal should circulate respecting those who believe, for them is a grievous chastisement in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah knows, while you know not.� Holy Qur�an 24:11-19
One of the Prophet's marriages was to Zainab, his cousin. Her parents wanted him to take her as a wife, but he expressed a desire that she be given in marriage to Zaid, his own freed slave whom he adopted as a son. The Prophet wanted to abolish the
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barriers of class and economic status and felt that the marriage between a former slave and a women of high birth would facilitate bringing equality within the community. The marriage was not happy and eventually ended in divorce. Once the marriage he had arranged proved to be a failure, the Prophet consented to the wishes of Zainab's parents and married her himself.
Had he been a man just interested in having wives for his personal gratification, it would seem that he would have accepted Zainab's hand when it was offered to him while she was a virgin. Yet, he took her in marriage after she became a divorced woman. Study the status of women, particularly divorced women, at the time. What effect did this action of Allah's Servant have on the social standing of divorced females in the community? What emotional reactions did it create among the class-conscious people of the community?
There was great consternation among the Prophet's wives when the Ruler of Egypt sent Mariyah as a gift to Him. She accepted Islam and became his wife. This Black woman bore him Ibrahim, his only son. The child died in infancy. What emotional effect did the birth of a son by one wife have on the others? How did Aishah, who enjoyed the position of being the 'favorite', feel toward Mariyah? What effect did the child's death have on the Prophet himself? What effect did it have on the child's mother?
One of the Prophet's wives was Maimunah, a widow, who offered her hand to him and he accepted. Historical accounts relate that some wives did not desire to see him enter any more marriages after they themselves were accepted. What effect did his marriage to Maimunah have on his other wives, when there was no apparent reason for marrying her, other than the fact that she offered herself to him?
The giving of wives to Muhammad was not done merely for sexual gratification, it was that Allah (God) might give His Servant deeper insight into the woman through women he married, as well as deeper insight into himself by virtue of what each woman brought out of him; to confer a greater reverence for the womb.
In the Holy Qur'an, a Servant of Allah pleads with Him:
�My Lord, expand my breast for me and ease my affair for me; and loose the knot from my tongue, that they may understand my word.� 20:25-27
The expansion of the breast may be compared to the enlargement of the womb when a woman carries a child. In the womb is the capacity of the female to produce children. As her womb expands and she feels the growing life within her, her breast expands also. She grows to love more than herself and her husband.
With every child, her breast expands to love that child. The test she faces is not to make distinctions between them, but to be just and equitable in her treatment of her children. Allah (God) has given mothers an inexhaustible love for their own children
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as well as the children of others. They are sympathetic to other mothers who have experienced the pain and suffering of birth.
Allah (God) gave wives to Muhammad, among whom were women from tribes that were hostile to the Quraish. Through the marriage of the Prophet to one member of a tribe, the entire tribe was embraced. This is the meaning of the expansion of the breast: Allah (God) expands the heart of His Servant for the Salvation of Nations.
IN CONCLUSION
There are many Servants of Allah (God) in the Bible and the Holy Qur'an whose names and the circumstances of their lives could be mentioned for further study and analysis. However, if we just try to walk in the shoes of the Servants of Allah (God) presented in this Study Guide, we will have experienced the full range of Emotion. Hopefully, this Study Guide will have prepared us for the onslaught of the devil:
�And when the dragon saw that he was Cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the male child...And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood ... And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and, swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth ... And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God...� Revelations 12:13-17
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to us that the flood represents propaganda. As the enemy in his attack on Saddam Hussein went to the air with such a terrific bombardment that the ground war ended in less than a week, the enemy of Allah (God) and our enemy may take to the air in a vicious barrage of propaganda, like a flood. Floods uproot strong trees; floods bring snakes Out of their hiding places. Floods undermine the foundations of buildings and railroad tracks.
How strong is your Foundation in the face of a flood of propaganda?
The Earth helped the woman by swallowing the water. With this study guide, properly digested and acted upon, we may be able, with the Help of Allah (God), to make the enemy's evil slander of no effect.
Our prayer is that the Nation of Islam will be seen like Noah's Ark: �A Mercy floating on before our eyes�!
May Allah (God) bless each and every student to master the Wisdom contained herein.
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WARNING
This Study Guide is in no way intended to inspire, in any brother or sister, a movement toward polygamous relationships.
The Black male must qualify himself spiritually, morally, emotionally and certainly economically, to even approach this subject matter intelligently in terms of its practical reality.
The Black man's view of the Black woman at this time is so underdeveloped that it must be characterized as filthy. Because of this, the practice of polygamy today would constitute the disrespect of the Black woman through sexual promiscuity in the Name of Allah (God).
The Holy Qur�an teaches that one wife for one husband is better for us, if we but knew. If and or when', certain aspects of the Holy Qur'an will be fulfilled by us, we will be guided into this. At this time, however, I warn you: No one is to enter into this practice, lost we fall victim to the Restrictive Law which is the Reality that Master Fard Muhammad and the Honorable Elijah have imposed upon the Believers.
The Aim of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the Reformation of both the Black man and the Black woman, with special attention on the Black woman, because, as He has said, �Where there are no decent women, there are no decent men, for the Black woman i3 the Mother of Civilization.�
The Reformation of the Black man must include a reformation of his view of himself and the Black woman, who is his second self. His reformation must include the removal of any and all tendencies to abuse the Black woman and/or to use her as an instrument of sexual pleasure without accepting the responsibilities imposed upon us by Allah (God) when in our relationships with the female.
It is out of the Desire and Will of Allah (God) for the Reformation of the male and female that He set up two independent classes for their instruction: The Fruit of Islam and the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad threatened me and all of His ministers with expulsion from the Nation of Islam if any minister interfered with the MGT Class. No male member of the Nation of Islam is qualified to teach the Black woman what Allah (God) Desires for her.
Therefore, we are to be by the MGT Class and the Black woman in general, as Zacharias was by Mary, knowing fully well that we will be judged by Allah (God) by how we treat any female placed in our care and under our charge. Zacharias was a righteous caretaker of a righteous young girl who grew up in the Mosque. Every Minister, every FOI, Must strive to be a righteous caretaker of the MGT. Until there is such righteousness in his attitude and actions toward the female, the Black man is not yet reformed.
Allah (God) will punish us severely for violation of these principles of conduct concerning the treatment of the woman. Where there is disrespect for the woman, there is disrespect for Allah (God), for in the secret of the womb is the secret of His Work that is taking place within the womb. When this reverence is displayed, only then will the Kingdom of God be Established.
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