The Thinker
September 10th 2008

Adam: The First Father of Mankind
Salatul Jumuah, August 29th 2008 Muslim Convention

Imam W. Deen Mohmmed


With Allah's Name the Merciful Benefactor the Merciful Redeemer. The prayers and peace be upon the honorable and noble Messenger Muhammad, to whom the Qur'an was revealed. May the Blessings and Peace of Allah be upon him" (and that which follows in the traditional excellent salutations and greetings upon the Prophet). This is the day of Jumuah and of this day, Friday, the Prophet said it is the best day in the year; the day of congregation. The day of Muslims coming together in big numbers, leaving their business interests, shutting down their businesses to come and answer the call to Islam; the call given the name Athaan. Athaan means that which is to be heard, respected and responded to. That, that goes into the ears and is to be heard, respected and responded to. It is Athaan, the words of the Athaan, beginning with Hayy, meaning life; come to life, come lively, not    drooping to answer the call to Islam.

And when we observe the words of the Athaan those words establish the creed, Laa-I-Laa-Ha-IL-LaL-Lah.   There is no G-d but One, Allah, the G-d And Muhammad is his messenger. Muhammad is the messenger of G-d. That's the creed; that's the Muslim creed. Laa-I-Laa-Ha-IL-LaL-Lah - Mu-Ham-Ma-Dan - Ra-Suu-Lul-Lah. There is but one G-d and Muhammad is His messenger. And when we consider all the words, beginning with the first expression, Hayy, to the end of it Laa illaha illallah, we see the foundation or what should be at least; what should be the foundation of Islamic life, the foundation of Muslim life.

The Qur'an was revealed in the month of Ramadan which is approaching. It is a month of restraint, self-discipline in the spirit, in the mind, certainly in the flesh; a complete discipline. During the daylight hours from the first appearance of the dawn or light in the sky in the eastern horizon, till the sun sets; a period of cleansing. A period of intense concentration and devotion to obedience under the one G-d, Allah.

As I said, the month is approaching. It (the Qur'an) came down as revelation during the night time. That night is called the Night of Power. Therein descended the spirit and the angels following every command given to them by G-d.

G-d says of Adam, addressing the angels and referring to the respect that should be given to Adam in the form that G-d made him a ruler, a responsible ruler, responsible to his Creator, to G'd. When I have given to him from My spirit, G-d says, supporting Adam. When I have give to him from My spirit, min ruh, from My spirit. G-d says to the angels make sajdah to him. We pray facing the Kaaba or Qibla and we make sajdah. We are making sajdah to Adam. We are making sajdah to the model that Allah wants for human excellence or of human excellence on this planet earth; a model for all human life to emulate, to follow.

It is recorded in the most popular collection of transmitted words, or Hadith, of our Prophet, the Prophet, the last Prophet, that a time would come for the world to see Christ Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon both of them, Muhammad, the Prophet of the Qur'an, in the same focus. That is to say a time for seeing the two together, Christ Jesus and Allah's servant and messenger, Muhammad.

Both Christ Jesus and Muhammad the Messenger are given to the human community as models of the human excellence supported by Scripture; Scripture that came before the Qur'an and in the Qur'an. Both are models for believers, not just Muslim believers. G-d says Muhammad is certainly an excellent model for any who believe in G-d and believe that they will have to answer to that G-d in the last day.

Both are given to the human community to be emulated, that is to be followed as an example. We know for the Muslims in the following of Muhammad, the last Prophet, Muhammad is that model and that should tell us that whatever was in Jesus before as a model to be followed, when Muhammad comes, he is the model to be followed. And he is enough for all mankind; and Allah says of him he is enough as a model for all human beings, for all of humanity or for all mankind.

And this is in answer to prophecy that after Jesus, peace be on Christ Jesus, there would come one following after his model. There would come one who would lead the people into all truth. And we know with Prophet Muhammad's advent on this planet earth there followed scholars who came from many places, east, west, north, south to gather around the call to Islam. And they were inspired by the words of the Qur'an and the
leadership of our Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, to devote their intelligence, devote their intellectual curiosities to a new search for a better life for human beings on this planet earth.

And as a result, universities sprung up on the peninsula of Arabia, but moreso on the continent of Africa, in Egypt and in Fez, Morocco and in Ghana; in that area we call Ghana now, in Syria close by Arabia and in other places. Iraq; there sprung up great institutions of higher learning. And the servants of G-d say in the Qur'an, and we wouldn't have found our path to the sciences and academic excellence had you not guided us. That is to say it was the guidance of the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet that guided the leaders to the Qur'an and to the understanding in the Qur'an that accounts for that new springing up or rising up of institutions of higher learning in the early time or in the time of our Prophet.

And we know that that light for the intellect; it awakened in non-Muslims who were of spiritual excellence and committed to the improvement of the human race on this planet earth. It sparked in them a renewal called the Renaissance. And as a result they too were able to come out of ignorance, out of the slump that had covered the world; the darkness of ignorance that had covered the world. They were able to recuperate from that. And as a result we have the beginning of intellectual devotions in the Christian people and in the Jewish people. The Jews told me this themselves out of their own mouths. We see in the history that renewal of interest in higher learning, devotion to the sciences for better conditions for human beings on this planet earth.

This statement could be extended. I could elaborate on it more and more and more. But for the purpose here today we are addressing Adam and the focus is on Adam, the first father of mankind. It is recorded also and we know these familiar words, Adam was created on a pattern of 60 arm spans. Further the Prophet said, "no one dies or is resurrected except on that pattern". For those of you, most of you, who came from church leadership in your life, we know that Christ Jesus is given as a sign of the resurrection and the resurrection itself.

He's a personification, a picture of the resurrection itself. And we know that it is said in the Bible of Jesus Christ that he is the son of Adam. We know he's the son of the word. He's the son of the spirit. He's the son of the word. He's created; that is he's created by the spirit and he was created by the word of G-d.

In our religion we understand that we don't say son because it is an offense in our language. It is an offense to say that he's the son of G-d; a serious offense. We understand that language to mean that G-d created him as He created Adam; that He created Christ Jesus as He created Adam. And Adam had no existence before G-d created him. And therefore Jesus had no existence before G-d created him. And He created him as He created Adam.

And the Bible supports this position that is taken in Islam. The Bible supports it. If you read in the Bible the genealogy of Christ Jesus; the genealogy saying where his life came from goes back to Adam. And the Bible says, "and he was created by G-d". So it goes back to the father, the first father and it is said of the first father he was created by G-d. So that establishes the line of reasoning that says in the Bible that Jesus is called the son of G-d by reasoning that identifies him as the extension of the first father, Adam. And that father was not the son of a man. That father was the creation of G-d.

But he does not go back; we have to understand now that we should visualize Jesus Christ, not as human flesh. That's the big mistake the world makes. We should visualize Jesus Christ not as human flesh but we should visualize him as the flesh of the word. And the Bible supports that also. It says that, of Jesus Christ, his flesh is the doctrine of the New Testament and his blood is the spirit of the doctrine that is the doctrine of the New Testament. His blood is the spirit; his flesh is the language, the doctrine itself. What is doctrine? Teachings...teachings. You see? So this is plain. This is very clear in the Bible; very clear it is that the language of Islam is supported by the language of the Bible. Very clear it is that the language uncovering the mystery of Christ Jesus in the Qur'an is supported by the language explaining the mystery of Christ Jesus in the Bible.

So we are to see Christ Jesus as a model directing the people to have faith and believe in Christ Jesus and in themselves because Jesus Christ didn't say that Christ was only in him. He said, "I in the father; the father in me." And he said, "and I in you". So all Christians who are taught by their learned leaders, they know consciously or unconsciously; they know that we all who say we follow Christ Jesus should be trying in our life as believers to be Christ-like and that all of us have the Christ principle in us. It's inherent; the Christ principle is inherent. In fact the Muhammad's model is in all of us. Muhammad didn't separate himself from Christ Jesus in pointing to his people or to the people as having what he had also in himself. Because he said, "Surely I am a mortal like you". That's what he said. "Surely I am a mortal like you". So he's saying the same thing that Christ Jesus said when he said, "I in you". Christ in you. 

He said I am a mortal like you, meaning that whatever I am as a mortal the possibilities for that is also in you. All human beings are created by one Creator and they all have the inherent nature to inherit the excellent model that G-d wants in all of us. We get it by inheritance. By inheritance we get it also. So Allah didn't give us a model of human excellence, an uswa hasana. a model of human excellence to follow that is impossible for us. Rather, he gave us a model in the Prophet to follow that is inherently our property also.

It is the property also of our own nature and creation. Aren't we one human flesh? Aren't all people one human flesh including the best of their leaders. Aren't we all one human flesh? Prophets, Messengers of G-d and prophets; if they are mortals we all belong to the same and the one human flesh that G-d created when He created Adam. And we are all extensions of that creation that G-d made when he created Adam. Adam is not passed away. Adam is in all of us. And if Adam has the possibility to become Christ then that possibility also is in all of us; is in all of us.

So let's not continue to be burdened by mysteries. This is a time of transparency for religious people. We shouldn't be burdened by mysteries. It is time for us all to come where Prophet Muhammad, and before him Prophet Jesus, was established to take us. It's time to be there now. All the prophecies point to this time. This is the fulfillment of all the great issues in Scripture. This time is the fulfillment of all the great issues in Scripture. When will the time come if not now? Never. This is the time and all of the signs point to this being the time; all of the signs in Scripture and all of the signs in the great workings that we see in the world to bring man home. Home, home to his destiny for human excellence.

So I return now to the language in the Hadith or the sayings of our Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace be on him, that Adam was created on a pattern of 60 arm spans, 60 arm spans. Why arm? Because we work with our arms and the arm supports our hand that does the delicate and skilled work as well as the manual labor, the hand. The hand writes, the hand records and saves precious information in history to pass it on to the coming generations the hand also does skilled labor, to type, to run very complicated machines, etc. and to do very complicated things in industry, the hand, skilled. And it is supported by the arm. And the same arm will use what the hand has done and can do. It will use it as a force to advance society, to advance civilization, to defend society, to defend civilization. We say the armed force, military. Yes. So on a pattern of 60 arm spans - that's far reaching, brother. That's saying of the prophet, it's far reaching. And no one is resurrected except on that pattern.

So what is that plainly telling us? And the son of Elijah Muhammad can give it to you. What is that plainly telling us? It is plainly telling us that the religion comes to better civilization and to liberate even civilization when it becomes stagnant, when it stops and can't see any way to continue in the road of progress for human society. The religion comes to give it life again and to put the world back on the road to civilization. And what did a wise reformer say that came to the black bottoms of Detroit among the poorest of the black people? What did he say? The duty of a civilized person is to teach the uncivilized. No doubt then that 60 arm spans refers to the community social life and social consciousness.

The Muslim community as established in Medina, the city of enlightenment, there's much to say about it. It was in this city, that city Medina, al Munawwara, that city of the Prophet that the Urnmuh was established as a model and as a reference, a model reference to be revisited by knowledgeable Muslim thinkers in all periods of time to come. We have to revisit that great work of our prophet and see are we still there or have we lost our way? So we pray to Allah, "Our Lord, let us not deviate and go back into darkness after you have guided us aright." Ameen. Think About It! 

(TO BE CONTINUED)
