08/16/2002
IWDM Study Library
Jumu’ah Bahar Center 
Chicago Ill

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
I have just recited the traditional salute to Prophet Muhammad, the last and Seal of the prophets, witnessing firstly that there is but one G-d and there is no associate G-d with Him. We witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. We pray the prayers and the peace that be upon him, upon his family, his descendants or his family and the believers all. Amen. Again, Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, with G-d's name, the merciful benefactor, the merciful Redeemer, As-Salam Alaikum again.
Audience: Wa Alaikum salaam.
We praise G-d. The praises for G-d who created the skies or the heavens and the earth. These are words of the Quran, The Book of G-d in Arabic. Praise be to G-d, the one who has created everything. He is creator of everything. “Al-Khaliqu qulishai” Also, we have to recognize that G-d says He is the best of creators. “Ahsanu kaaliqeen”, the best of creators. That mean that G-d acknowledges. Our G-d wants us to know that He is aware that there are other creators, but He is the best of creators and, at the same time He is the creator of everything.
How is that, that G-d is the creator of everything and yet there are other creators? Allah says, G-d says that He is, highly glorified is He. He says, "Those who claim to be deities or gods can create nothing and are themselves created." That is to say that G-d has created everything and whatever He created, if it creates anything, the credit goes to the G-d, the Creator. Man can create, but he only can create as G-d has willed that he creates. He only can use what G-d has provided for him to create anything. Allah says again and that He is the teacher.
G-d says He is the teacher. The one who taught human being or mankind how to use the pen. He says that He taught him when he was knowing nothing, before man knew anything, G-d taught him. While before that, man was knowing nothing. Man was knowing nothing. He is the teacher. How are we to get ourselves situated so that we make progress and succeed on this earth with our life as Muhammad did in the days of the Prophet with the followers who followed him? They immediately took the lead in the world. How come we can't take the lead?
How come we can't at least do a good job with our life and be competitors on this earth, competing with others who are doing a good job with their life? How come we can't succeed? It is because we don't have the same situation that Muhammad gave his followers. Muhammad gave his followers a situation where they knew that G-d was the one that created every material thing, all material things and also created the human soul, created the spiritual existence as well. Before the human, He had already created the material world. This great scheme of stars and planets, the sun and the moon and stars and all these things and the earth and the weather and all the happenings between sky and earth.
G-d had already created all those things before He created human beings. That is the G-d that you have to connect with. If you don't connect with that G-d, you're not connected with any G-d at all. If you connect with that G-d, then that G-d will have you connect yourself with the world of reality, the world of matter in the truest state that G-d made it in. He will have you connect yourself with your own life. If you believe in the G-d that created everything and you understand that, then you appreciate your own creation. Your own creation is the gift of G-d.
G-d gave you your own creation so you will appreciate your own creation. If you don't connect with G-d and know that He is the creator, then you won't even appreciate your own creation. Muhammad put strong emphasis on knowing G-d as the creator of the skies and everything that exists, human beings and everything, animals, everything. He put strong emphasis on that so that the people will connect their minds to the real world. You have to connect your mind with the real world. Engage the real world with your mind, with your intelligence.
Those great messengers and prophets of G-d, they're called seers in some scriptures who found G-d. They found G-d. How did they find G-d? They looked at the skies. They looked at animals and they looked at the plants and everything. They looked at the weather, how weather changes. They said, "There must be an intelligence behind all this." They came to the conclusion that there was a G-d behind all that and that G-d was the creator. You have to follow those persons, those thinkers to arrive at a real understanding, the true understanding of who G-d is and what purpose you have on this planet Earth.
He is the creator of everything. G-d did not say to Muhammad when He first spoke to Muhammad, when He first communicated revelation, the Quran to Muhammad. He didn't say to Muhammad, "I'm Allah." He said, "Iqra'." First word He said to Muhammad was read. Read in the name of your Lord who created, who created. He introduced himself firstly to Muhammad as the creator. He didn't leave in the guess this is a creator of the Arabs or creator of Arabia or what. He made it clear to him. He said, "Created all people not just Arabs." Created the human being from a small blood, a small clot of blood, a small amount of blood.
“Min alaq”, adhering blood, created him from a small amount of adhering blood, blood sticking together. I don't want to say clot because clot is a bad thing. You don't want a blood clot.
This is the beginning of the forming of a human body, human life. Read again. Read and your Lord is most generous. He introduced himself as a creator. He hasn't said Allah yet. He introduced himself to Muhammad as the creator of everything, including man. Then He introduced himself as also the one who taught people, mankind, what man knows, everything. He says, "If all the trees were made into pens and the seas multiplied over made into ink, all of that would be used up before you use up the words of G-d."
This is what G-d says. Then what is this alluding to, the trees and the rivers, the waters? What is it alluding to? When G-d says that He taught man the use of the pen, He is actually alluding to the creation itself, the total creation itself, all creation. He's alluding to that. That is the pen that taught men how to write. With that pen, G-d has written and His signs fills the heavens and earth. His “Aayati”, His signs are in the heavens, in the skies and in earth and as well He said, "and they are in you as well." His signs,” Ayah”. When we read the Quran, I read, any verse I read Qul hu Allahu Ahad say G-d is one and one alone. That's an ayah of Quran. Now, He says His ayahs fills the skies and the earth, and His ayahs are also in man, in his life, in his world, in the world of man. His signs are there. Now, if you go back and review what the prophets said, there were long time before there was Muhammad, the prophet, the earliest ones. If you review what they said, if you repeat, read what they said, they said that they know their G-d because I see your sign in the heavens. They said they saw His sign, well, this is no new thing that G-d has revealed to Muhammad, the Quran. This is the best of what was given before from G-d, by G-d to the prophets to give to mankind beginning with the earliest people on this planet Earth.
This is how we should see, see G-d as a creator, and G-d wants you to see him as a creator because He wants you to know that He is the possessor. He made it and He owns He owns. He owns the heavens, He owns the skies. G-d owns the stars and the moon and sun. G-d owns all that, you never did that. G-d made it, He owns it, He's the owner of it, and He even says the earth “Al-Ardu lillah” the earth belongs to G-d, the earth, too, the belongs to G-d. Everything made belongs to G-d including you because you were made by G-d. Nobody could make you, you were made by the Creator, same one that made sun, moon, stars, the earth, made you. Same one that made that weather that we experience made you.
Now, shouldn't you want to know something about the world that your G-d made? Shouldn't you be interested in the sky that He made? Shouldn't you be interested in the earth, in its nature, in its production? Shouldn't you be interested in that since your G-d made it, the same G-d made you? Shouldn't you be interested in human sciences since it was the G-d that made those to you and made the sciences? That's what He means, He taught man. Man does not make science, man discover science, G-d makes science. G-d makes science, man discover science. Don't you want to know something about that G-d?
Follow the white man. The white, man he studies the skies and he finds the use in the things that are in the sky, and G-d says “I have made to be given to you the sky to yield its benefits to you." That's what G-d says. "I have made the skies to give up its benefits to you. To give up its benefits to you. Also, the earth, He says, "I made the earth to give up its benefits to you." I have made the skies and whatever is there and the earth and whatever is there to give is benefits to you, but you have to do something, you can't sleep through the life. You have to be awake and you have to be interested in what G-d made, be interested in what G-d made and know that he made it for your use. He made it for your use.
This is the kind of teaching and talk that inspired new thinking in the people that heard Muhammad the Prophet. It inspired a new thinking in them and they became students of the universe, not just studying their own life and their own environment, but they studied the skies and became astronomers. They studied the earth and became scientists of medicine and other kinds of scientists. They were already in business, they loved business, the people never left business.
I guess it because they love to eat and love the sleep and love to buy nice things, so G-d didn't have to wake them up to say, "Hey wake up to business." He had to say, "Wake up to your destiny wake up to your purpose on this earth. Your purpose is not to eat and drink and have sex and die like a cow or like any animal, your purpose is to utilize G-d's creation." He says that he has made everything to be extended to expand and increase upon what “Ilmin” knowledge, science “Rahma” and compassion, mercy.
When you utilize the creation of G-d and follow the guidance, the scientific guidance and creation for man, you end up being inventors, creators, and you bring to your society comforts that they never had before. And you take the people from the miserable life and you give them a life of comfort and ease, that's the Rahma of G-d, and you got it from what He created. He says everything “Ilmin wa rahma” knowledge, science, and compassion mercy. That's to tell us not only that these things will bring mercy to your society if you utilize these things for the benefit of your society, but is also to tell us, "Be like G-d." Build your world so your world will not only extend knowledge to the people, but your world also will make their life more comfortable. Your world will be a kind and merciful world.
Don't seek knowledge without having a desire to better the condition of people's lives. Seek knowledge so that your life will be better and so that their lives of the people will be better, then you are following your G-d who made everything so that you will have knowledge and have compassion, mercy. Allahu Akbar.
Again “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem” with G-d's name and the merciful benefactor, the merciful Redeemer, we witnessed that He's one. One alone and there is no associate G-d with Him. We witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger the prayers and the peace be upon him.
In this second and last part of this sermon “Khutbah” we want to understand firstly that G-d brought about order out of chaos. G-d says, "The heavens was in chaos." Smoke and exploding things, things exploding and making smoke et cetera, and He brought it to order and made in that order seven firm heavens, or as the Bible say, seven firmaments. He made seven firm heavens, seven firm heavens or seven firm skies and then He gave his attention to the earth and He ordered the earth, He ordered the earth so that the earth would be productive.
G-d says and He provides you with all of your needs from the skies and from the earth, and He says and He has made the earth to be sufficient enough for you, sufficient or enough for you. Now, we have hungry people hungering, we have people out of doors, but if we go to what G-d says, they are not hungry because G-d didn't make the earth sufficient enough to provide for them, and they are not out of doors because Allah, G-d didn't make the earth spacious enough to accommodate them.
They're out of doors because they're lazy, they are self-destructive. They are hungry because they are lazy, they are self-destructive, but they are also hungry because too many people control the means for their livelihood and are not educating them to be more responsible for themselves. The problem is sometimes the fault of the big people, they should provide more and educate more and provide more to bring peace and comfort and happiness to the hearts of people who are bitter.
If people who are bitter, they're self-destructive most often. People who are bitter will destroy others too who are innocent, but those who have should be more generous to those who don't have, and not just generous in food and material things, they should be generous with their knowledge. They should raise the level of intelligence for the suffering people, and you can't do that just by having a public school where you let people learn how to read, write and do arithmetic. We have PhDs on Skid Row, they're drunk they on dope, or drunkards on Skid Row and they got education all the way up to the college and university level, but they can't do anything with their lives. Why? Because they haven't had things put in the right perspective. They haven't had things put in the right order for their minds to see it. To see that G-d is the greatest, not the United States of America, G-d is the greatest, not President Bush, G-d is the greatest, not the world of mankind, but G-d is the greatest. G-d is the greatest.
If that was taught to the people and the public saw that the nation is saying, our Sciences, our space exploration is nothing but the gift of G-d to us. If He had not created the world and science, we could not have these things. If the president would talk like that, you'd see a different mind coming to the public, a different mind would come into the masses of people, and you will have people intelligent and also knowing how to respect what G-d made and what G-d created and they will be better towards themselves and better towards the others.
The world is in a mess because we don't treat G-d right. We want to take all the credit for what He did. We want people to look up to us and not to G-d, fear us and not G-d. Right now, if we are not careful, we'll afraid to go out and invite a friend or a relative to Al-Islam. Why? Because Bush is beating up on Muslims. President Bush is beating up on Muslims, so you got you- you're a Muslim too, but you'll be hesitating to talk about Al-Islam, not knowing that it's fear, fear got a grip on you. You won't even know why you're doing it unless somebody wakes you up to why you're doing it. Fear will have a grip on you. Not only you but your brother who's dissatisfied with his idea of religion. His idea of religion is not helping his life or his family a bit.
We need to introduce him to an idea that he can appreciate, of religion, but if we tried to introduce him to that idea, he too will unconsciously be fearing. "I can't get near this Muslim or be a Muslim, that's trouble because the president is beating up on Muslims all over the world." I'm not condemning the president for his conducting wars, no. The country was attacked. Our country was attacked by fanatics, by people driven out of their mind and out of their human nature, but what was the cause?
What caused them to be driven out of their mind? What caused them to be driven out of their human nature? Do we have people in our government at the top level trying to see what is the cause so they can help people not get in that bad state? Are they trying to solve problems in the Middle East so they can keep people from becoming that desperate? Ready to blow up their bodies just to say to the people who are occupying their lands, "We don't accept this. That you keep continue to take our life and strangle our life and we do nothing." Are we addressing causes as well as effects? No.
A decent writer in the paper Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune occasionally will point to these things. Yes, a writer, a Christian writer will point to these things in our daily paper, but one mentioning of causes and ten mentioning of effects. Effects on the front page, attention to causes on page 14, little column. What is being put in the mind? What's being put in the mind is that these guys have no excuse for their behavior, they're just crazy Muslims. This is wrong. Don't you all fear to go out and invite people to Al-Islam?
You go out and invite people to Al-Islam because Christianity is not solving all the problems of Americans, all right? Judaism is not solving all the problems of Americans, so let us compete with Judaism and Christianity, let us see can we solve some of the problems of Americans, and let us not let the conduct of the war, military presence in the Middle East or in Afghanistan or anywhere else whipping up on Muslims. Let us not put fear in us except that that fear be overruled in all power by the fear of G-d.
Going back to the focus for this Khutbah, we must know G-d as G-d the Creator. When the Prophet Ibrahim, Abraham, father Abraham. When the Prophet Ibrahim was being questioned by a ruler who was exalting himself, raising himself up as G-d, making himself G-d and didn't believe that there was any G-d except him, except the Pharaoh. Abraham told him-- He was asking Abraham, "Who can help you other than me?" Abraham knew that he didn't mean help you get back home, Abraham knew the way back to his wife. He wasn't talking about help you eat every day, Abraham was eating every day. He didn't mean help you dress yourself in clothes, Abraham was dressed in clothes every day. He had all that. What he meant was who can help you other than me direct your life, guide your life.
Now, understand that Muslims' life, and Christians' and Jews', people of the book, religious people, our life is not supposed be guided by the world. The life of religious people is supposed to be guided by the Word of G-d. Muhammad the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, he said, "Whoever follows the lifestyle of other than Muslims are not of us." That's one sign whether you are of the following of Muhammad the Prophet, peace be upon him, or not. If your lifestyle is a lifestyle of other people, then you are not one of his followers.
It doesn't mean this clothing, Allah created what these clothes are made out of, and Allah taught man to cloth himself. He made him naked and exposed him to weather, and that taught him to cloth himself. Praise be to Allah. Now, thank G-d. Yes, so, he's not referring to that and Muhammad gave us a way of behaving, the Islamic or Muslim way of behaving, and you have restraints and disciplines. You have to follow the disciplines of your own religion, for your behavior, and you have to restrain yourself when you are among those that are not of your own religion.
If they're your friends and stuff, they want to dance, they want to do something, if they get vulgar, you're supposed to check yourself. You don't get vulgar with them. You don't start shaking and then being indecent in the public or at home. You're supposed to restrain yourself. You don't suppose to be listening to just any kind of music. If the music is offensive to decent Christians, it certainly should be offensive to decent Muslims. You shouldn't be following the world, the majority, the majority are going to hell. In fact, the majority have gone to hell, and they have made hell so big, I'm looking for a piece of heaven. A little piece and if I can find a little piece I'll be happy.
You do something with your life as a Muslim knowing what you're supposed to do as a Muslim. Follow the guidance of Al-Islam, follow the example of- the human example of Muhammad the Prophet. He was not a proud man, humble man. He was not a boastful man, humble man, very meek and humble, respectful. He didn't want to insult anybody, he didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable, he wouldn't even look at a person if he was- and if his state was not good, something was bothering him. Maybe something from his home life or something, he left home something bothering him. He wouldn't even let the person in the public or an innocent person that did not cause him that bad feeling, he would not even let them see his face in a bad state. He would wait until he could smile and at the end he would deal with it.
That's the kind of man we should follow. G-d gave him to us as a human model. He was such a man that he wouldn't even raise up in prayer. G-d ordered prayer, so he finished his saying, what he had to say with his head on the- forehead on the ground, his nose and forehead on the ground and if a little toddler climbed up on his back - this is history - climbed upon his back he wouldn't get up out of Sujda until someone removed the toddler from his back or the toddler got down off his back. For fear that if he raised up, he might drop the toddler backwards and the toddler would get hurt, the baby would get hurt. You want to be Muslim? This is what you should know. Know Al-Islam, know the Quran, the guidance of G-d and know Mohamed the Prophet, the model human, and then you be like that as best as you can, as near as you can. G-d says, "Take the best thereof." We're not angels, we're not gods and we're not angels.
G-d says, "And take the best thereof" it says, do as much as you can do. That's a merciful G-d, this is a merciful religion. Some of us can do more than others, but don't cheat when you know you can do better. Do as much as you can do. Don't punish yourself. G-d doesn't want us punishing ourselves. He says, "I do not want for you hardship, I want that you be purified." Purified is going to cause us a little hardship, especially if we're terribly corrupt.
It's going to be a little difficult, it's going to be a little painful, giving up certain habits and stopping certain things that we're doing wrong or incorrect. It's going to be a little bit difficult, but G-d wanted us to know like a good dentist or like a good doctor, "I don't want you to be hurt. Whatever I can do to keep you from pain, I'm going to do it. Now, you've got some bad teeth here and you're going to have a little pain, but afterwards, you're going to be okay." This is G-d.
In the good dentist, in the good doctor, we see a reflection of G-d's attributes, of kindness, consideration, mercy, and love, et cetera. Let us live with the knowledge of the religion in the right state. Let us follow the guidance of G-d and let us say to the world what Abraham said to that oppressive ruler. He said, "The G-d that created me, He will also guide me. Allah Akbar.
Audience: Allah Akbar
We pray to G-d, Our Lord, do not let our hearts go back to corruption after you have guided us and saved us from the hell fires of sin, Amin.
Audience: Amin.


