IWDM Study Library

The Significance of Air and Water: Part 1a
Imam W. Deen Mohammed


00:18 Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Why? Why? Because the force is going to be centralized. The force is centralized. Let me see if I can give you an example. Have you ever spun a top and watched the top, and saw some kind of vibration? And seeing that the faster the top spins, the more the vibrations come into the top? And the slower the top goes, the more the vibrations goes outwards? Speed brings it, centralizes it, right? The speed of it keeps it in its own sphere, and even if it relaxes itself, it loses that tenacity, right? And itself it's thrown out. [chuckle] Yeah, so as you see here a sign, signal. In the outer appearance, in the outer working of things, it enables us to understand our own matter and our own function, our own life better. You see? Alright, so the earth is spinning, but it's not throwing its water outside, it's not throwing its decibels outside, and it's spinning at the rate of, how much? 1037 and a third, we used to say, miles per hour. [laughter] See, I didn't forget my science. [chuckle] Yes, so it's nailed in because the tendency, because of the rotation and the speed and the uniformity, it's consistent.

02:07 IWDM: Now, is it that the dance you do, if it went into some of those dances, it wouldn't have that. It doesn't try to show how many freakish contortions it can make, it's conforming to one movement, consistent movement. [chuckle] And in doing that, the mass is uniform, the mass become uniform. Don't you know if a jagged mass is thrown out, it will eventually become uniform, because of rotation? Rotation eventually makes it uniform, it creates a gravitational field, and the gravitational field forces the matter inwards. So, it centralizes the gravity of the mass, it centralizes it. And in centralizing it, it gives uniformity to the mass. So, let's go on now, I think we can go on a little more now.

03:10 IWDM: Most important for us, don't forget, is the content of faith. The content of faith. Because it is not ourselves that throw ourselves into action, it is not ourselves that throw ourselves into orbit, Allah delivers us from our mothers, we have no say so. He has designed the nature to do that, right? Yeah, so we're coming out of Mama whether we want... We don't ask for that. [laughter] We don't ask for it, it's coming out of Mama, by G-d.

03:48 IWDM: Yeah, so you come out and now you're on your own. And now you're desperate to live under new strange situations or circumstances. So you settle for that breath of air, right? So I want to take that breath of air. Some take it so easy, some children, they can't get it, you have to give them a little help. Yeah, you all who know about childbirth, some of them have to have a little help. Some get it just so easy you never knew when they took it, right? Never even know when they took it. Then, some you see that, gasping for it and crying, right? That's life, isn't it? That's life. See, that's a signal from G-d to tell you how you look on the adult plane. So he says, "Look, get out of your total dependency and establish some dignity for yourself." Some come out just easy, you don't even know that they made an attempt. Then some you have to help them out of there, "Slap!" [chuckle] Then some, they're struggling like it's going to take everything in them... Yes.

05:27 IWDM: Now, let us go on. When we manage to have our needs attended, and to find our rescuer there in all the critical times, we learn to have faith in this life. Frightens the hell out of us when it opens its first door to us, yeah. Some doctors say that, "If the human being was to be put, the grown-up was to be put under the pressure that the infant is put under when its head emerges through the womb, the opening of the mother, that would be too much for them. It'll kill the average adult." But Allah conditioned the baby to survive it. Yes, yes. Actually, all that pressure is on the skull and everything, and the skull is delicate at that time. If it wasn't, well I guess it wouldn't make it. Yeah. But in time, because G-d has made mothers and given them the mother instinct, are human beings to take over that role if mother died? They automatically take over the role and they become a creature with mother instincts, because Allah has done that, we grow in faith, grow in trust. Oh yes. But don't forget, faith is most important, and Allah says that he made seven firm heavens or seven strong heavens. And he says, "And look, do you find any pillars holding them up?" So those are the firmaments of faith. Praise be to Allah.

07:51 IWDM: Now, let us continue to look at our own substance, our own individual constitution for a source of strength, source of faith. We find that the individual human being is constituted emotionally, and in many other ways. But we find most people relate to all circumstances from an emotional base, isn't that true? I believe science will establish this, yes, especially psychology. That no matter what you're dealing with, whether it's getting the money to pay the rent, deciding on a wife or a husband, coping as a family, choosing a religion, whatever it is, I think it all begins from an emotional base, doesn't it? Maybe that's why our scripture says, "And he began every creature out of water." Yeah, you know water, is symbolic of emotional makeup of human beings. When we get hurt bad, we cry, water comes out. Water, as they say, wells up in our eyes. And if we're made very happy, we cry, many of us. Water wells up in our eyes. If somebody catches us after the incident or after the experience, they won't know whether you were hurt or thrilled. "What happened? Why are you crying?" "No, I'm not hurt. He tickled me to death. I've been laughing like crazy."

09:54 IWDM: Yes, so emotionality, a symbol of it is water. Also with air, wind, a symbol of the emotional makeup of the creature. One represents us just a higher stage, or a higher activity, or higher possibility for expression, air, right? Because water, water has a tendency to be at rest, and it resists being disturbed more so than air. You touch water, water resists being disturbed. If you could see the movement of air when you did that, you would see a greater response than from water when you do the same, on the same volume. So the air represents a higher reaction, right? Yeah. So, it must have to do with altitude and attitudes, right? I guess that's why our scripture says, "Rebuke not the water, but rebuke the air." Problem ain't in the water, it's in the air. [chuckle]

11:10 IWDM: Yeah. Oh, it's wonderful, not us, it's wonderful what Allah has done. Oh, yes. So we are emotionally constituted, and we can't forget that. So if we are emotionally constituted, then our emotional makeup should be one of our major concerns. Man should watch over his emotional makeup, he should study his emotional makeup. Because the crook is doing it, if you are not. The criminal, the thief, he studies the emotionality of the society, of the community, of the individual, to see how can he best fish in their water. So, if you don't do it, your enemy is going to do it. You better study your own constitution, Ta'aleem.

12:06 IWDM: Let's continue now, because this is wonderful. I don't think there's nothing better than knowledge and understanding. No, what's better than knowledge and understanding? Nothing. [chuckle] The latter blessing is the greater. And Allah promised believers two blessings, and the latter is the greater. Which one is the latter? Insight, understanding. Life ain't never been as pleasant as it is when a person sees what they've been struggling with all the time, behind. That's right.

12:58 IWDM: Alright. So let's look at the emotional makeup, or we can call it sentimental makeup. We ain't always sentimental when we're emotional, but sentimental makeup is also an upstage, right? So when we get sentimental, water drops from the high quarters, right? Yeah, we get very sentimental, water will start dropping from the high quarter, it's in the high region, right? So when we get nervous, it might drop from anywhere.

[laughter]

13:40 IWDM: Say, "Oh, I have to excuse myself." Yeah. Praise be to Allah. So, we find that this makeup needs discipline, Allah created it to follow discipline. Everybody is thrown out from a source, from a situation in the heavens, is forced to find its discipline. It has to begin finding itself first, and find its axle. It has to learn that the inner is the centralizer, and begin rotating, or orientating itself on the basis of what is internally needed. And once it does that, then it can find an orbit and enjoy what is externally needed. Right? Yes, this is the Lord's world, and we're trying to understand it.

14:51 IWDM: So everything needs a discipline, the emotionality of man needs to follow discipline. Now, we find that the discipline is formed by temperature, water gets cool enough, it freezes. Gets hot enough, it boils and runs away, flies away. Yeah. So we find temperature to be a factor disciplining water, right? But we find also that contour disciplines water. For the water on the earth rests in the contours of earth that G-d prepared for it, by natural processes. The ocean rests in its contour, the lakes rest in their contour, the rivers flow in their contours, right? And we make a contour and we drink from it. And if we want to bring somebody water, first we need a contour, ain't got a cup, you might bring it in your hand, leaking on the way, right? Yeah.

16:05 IWDM: Another thing that disciplines water is position, position in reference to a balance. Position in reference to a balance. For if a surface is perfectly balanced, we can put water on it and it won't go in any direction after it has spread over that surface, right? That's because the surface is correctly balanced. So we can put a drop of water on a surface that's correctly balanced, and it won't move in any direction. Porous texture attracts the water, draws it in. Sealed texture or surface, resists it. Keeps it in check, right? You can take water and put it in a glass, and the glass surface is filled. But if you look very closely you will find that the water is coming up the glass a little way. If the water has a boundary about it, it's going to try to get over it. You can make that boundary so slick that the water can't go up high. But I don't care how slick you make the boundary, if you look very closely, with the eye of a scientist, you will find that the water has creeped up a bit to get out of the boundary. Water doesn't like to be confined, it loves balance and it's not satisfied until it has gone beyond boundaries that holds it in check. So is it in our emotional makeup that makes us want to be free? So shouldn't we understand, "Where is this coming from? This desire to be free, where is this coming from?" It's coming from your emotional content. That's where it's coming from.

18:23 IWDM: Now, if it's coming from there, then what does that say to us? That says to us, "You have to watch over your emotional content, because capacity is only capacity. Once you go beyond capacity, you have nothing else. And if someone can keep your emotionality occupied with their concerns, there'd be no room for your concerns." This is no great revelation, this is nothing but common sense observation. [chuckle] Common sense observation, that you need, based on Allah, to appreciate it and get turned on to that kind of thinking. Praise be to Allah.

19:30 IWDM: Now, there's a lot of people, we talked about texture. You can take a Porous pull cord, and drop it down in a liquid, and that liquid will wet that whole cord, I don't care if it's six feet long, if there's enough liquid down there to get up that cord. Yeah, I think they call that process osmosis, the tendency in water to travel up small crevices, small openings. Now, let us look at another force or another situation that disciplines the water, and the air, for that matter, they both operate about the same. Slightly different, but we want our minds on water right now. Pressure. Pressure. Because of the earth's rotation, the gravity's force is inwards, centralized, inwards. Therefore, what is outside is pulled inwards. So the air weight is bearing on the water surface. And because of the air weight bearing on the water surface, the water is held down. Not only held down because of its own gravity, but held down because of pressure. Air pressure, right? Yeah.

21:16 IWDM: Not only that, the blood pressure in us is so high, that if it wasn't for air pressure, we would start bleeding at the nose. The air pressure's holding our blood down. This is science, not me, this is science. So don't get your thoughts, unless you want to differ with science. Alright, so we find pressure is a discipline. But not only external pressure, internal pressure. Because if we create a vacuum, then we can make water go out, rise up, leave its floor level. I think they call that siphoning, right? If you want to siphon water up from its level, you create a vacuum above it, and the water will creep up the tube to connect itself again to some important air.

22:30 IWDM: And don't forget scripture says, "And that old beast, that old Satan, he became a prince of the air." You know the Bible says he was in the water, right? He was on land, he was in the water, and the book said he became a prince of the air. What does that mean? A commander of the air. A prince is a commander, meaning he became a commander of the air. So if he commands the air, that means he is ruling the air over others. Just have patience, I feel your vibrations out there, some of you are in trouble. It ain't no spooky vibrations, either. Scientific vibrations.

23:35 IWDM: Now, we've talked about pressure, we've talked about these things that discipline the water, the same thing, discipline your emotional makeup. Your emotional makeup is affected by pressure, externally and internally. It's affected by conflict, it's affected by invitation. If there are no opening, you just stay where you are. Those who have gravitated or containing their emotional makeup, they tend to become complacent. Complacent.
