11/04/1988
IWDM Study Library
Destiny as It Is Tied To Excellence

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
(Editorial note: Imam W. Deen Muhammad was guest speaker at the Sister Clara Muhammad School Banquet of Columbia, S.C. on October 1, 1988. The success of the banquet, and the reception of Imam Muhammad's talk are memorable, and his talk will be presented here in Muslim Journal.)
As-Salaam-Alaikum and that is the peace be unto you. And we begin everything with respect and reverence to Almighty G-d, Allah as He is called in the Arabic language, which is the Muslim language, and the language of our religion. And we pray the peace and the blessings be on the last and universal Messenger, Prophet Muhammad, and upon his descendants, and upon his companions, the righteous all, amin.
Distinguished guests at the head table, I am indeed greatly honored and humbled, myself, to be addressing this gathering with you present here. Also, to you honorable Imams, and honorable people who have gathered here from around the area, it is indeed an honor and a great pleasure to address you here again in Columbia, S.C. It is so, especially on this occasion, where we are working for the good and the excellence of the Sister Clara Muhammad School.
I have chosen to speak on "destiny as it is tied to excellence," as understood by the following Quranic references- And the first reference here has already been mentioned by Dr. Alma Byrd, who touched all of us I'm sure, and especially the Muslims of the Clara Muhammad School and of this city, with her very sincere and very important words to us of strength, encouragement, and advice. The Surah, which means "chapter" in the Arabic language I am referring to, is called Suratul-'Asr and is translated as "By the Time down through the Ages" or "By the Token of Time Down Through the Ages." I am just going to mention in this speech, just a word or two, from this Surah or Chapter.
The first word is "faith." In Arabic is "Iman" which is faith. The next word is "ah-min" or work. The next word is taken from "tawasal", or is from a word meaning cooperation, or working together in cooperation. And as we know, and as you have already heard, the mentioning of these verses from this Surah, that man is in a state of loss except for those who have faith, have good works, who cooperate with each other for the advancement of "truth." The word is called in Arabic "Al-Haqq," And this word for truth means that that is established in the real world, or what we call the world of reality that G-d has made -Al-Haqq.
But this word, Al-Haqq, also suggests something else. Because we know the real "Haqq", or the real truth, or reality is G-d. He is the truth and the reality. Again, G-d alone is the perfect truth and the reality. Because everything else is changing all the time. Science tells us this, and we understand that also. If we understand the concept of matter in science, then we know that no matter is constant. The only thing constant about matter is that it is constantly changing. And the only permanent, as Allah says to us in His Revelation, The Qur'an. Is Allah, Himself.
So in that mystic and very technical sense, the only reality and the only truth is Allah, G-d for all of us. But in this context, this word Al-Haqq or truth or reality, has a tied connection with the destiny or with the future. And excellence and destiny for man, as I am seeing it now, are one in the same. For when man reaches his destiny, he has also reached his potential, and he has also reached his excellence. 
The whole world of matter, as we understand in science, and certainly as we understand in the study of Qur'an, and of the life of our Prophet, peace be upon him, is moving towards an end and is moving towards a conclusion. And the poets have beautifully pointed to the trees.
Some will bear leaves, some leaves and flowers, and some will bear even leaves, flowers, and fruits, and reproduce themselves. They will also make available to man from their fruits the seeds, so that man can also plant and see the reproduction and get the benefit for himself.
But everything is moving towards an end. Those plants that we don't see having fruit, we don't take them out of that trend, or that direction, or that movement of evolution. Just because one does not produce the fruit, we don't say it is out of that chain of evolution. We say that it is all a part of that chain.
G-d has told us in our Holy Book that He has created us like the plant, and therefore the plant is metaphorical. A plant is also descriptive of something in us. We are to evolve also in that kind of way. And many of us in our path towards our destiny, or toward our excellence, or our potential, we will stop short of the mark and will only produce leaves. Others will produce flowers. And still others will go all the way and produce fruit.
So, this is the beauty of life, when you understand it from the Quranic view or from the Quranic position, or I would even say from the world scriptures' position, the major scriptures of the world also address this same concept, and the same way of looking at matter and life, and especially life for man.
Now if we look at the steps in this surah, then faith is first. "Il-lal-lathina ah-minus," which means "Except for those who have faith," "Wa ah-minus-salli-had" — "And those who have good deeds." And I am sure the Christians know where to find this in their religion, too.
It is in the Bible, for I have read the Bible, and I am familiar with the Bible, and I have found these same principles in the Bible. So it goes, "ll-lal-lathina ah-minus, wa ah-minus-salli-had." And next is, "Wata-walsil bil-haqq." This bil "and they cooperate with each other for the advancement of truth in reality." This is a strong word — "Al-Haqq." It is for truth and reality. It is not your truth, and it is not my truth. It is not the truth in China or in Europe, or Africa. But it is the truth in the scheme of G-d that is truth everywhere. It does not change.
"Wata-walsil bil-sabr." This comes last. "And they cooperate for the establishment in their life the principle of patience and endurance." They do not give up, and do not get tired, but are looking to the future, and are looking to the purpose. They are looking to the object that is ahead, and is what we want. They are looking to that. And when we look to that, it helps our patience. That is the destiny, the end, the excellence of man.
Now, I have come to another reference from Qur'an, the Holy Book, which begins with, "Surely, great benefits come from thinking, thoughtfulness, mindfulness, remembrance, reflections, and we can go on and on. Those are the things it is talking about. And some western scholar, that I was listening to recently, was addressing the nature of conscious, and he pointed out two activities, or two movements in the conscious that makes it a "conscious.” He said, "Reflection and choice."
Now, since I have heard that lecturer say that, I often think back on what we do in "thikr," for it is thinking with a purpose in mind. It is thinking with a definite purpose in mind. The purpose is to clean the thought, and to organize the thought, to orientate the thought in accordance with the best that G-d wants of us. And He has given us excellent attributes to reflect upon as we do our "thikr" or remembrance.
There is "Subhana Allah." It is the expression of "Glory be to G-d." And it is more than that for Muslims who understand the Arabic language, "Subhana Allah." It also says, without directly saying it, that G-d is above him. G-d is perfect and man is limited, G-d is not limited. Man will make a mistake, but G-d does not. Man will wear out, but G-d will not. And on and on and on. So, "Subhana Allah," also means that I am reflecting, thinking, and acknowledging that G-d is enough for me. I may fall, I may make a mistake, I may go wrong, I may drop out of the race, but G-d is enough for me. I may even die, but G-d is still enough for me.
So, what am I saying? I am saying that G-d can make up for all of my losses, because He doesn't have my limitations. He is the Only Perfect. And we also say, "Al-hamdu lillah." For once you recognize G-d as such, then there is a natural motivation in you that says, "Thanks be to G-d." When we say "Al-hamdu lillah," it is translated as "Praise be to G-d," and is also translated as Thanks to G-d. This is it directly, but we could talk much more on the expression of "Al-hamdu lillah."
We also have "La illaha illallah." "There is no other G-d." And I used to be before Christians and would be comfortable at this point. I would be saying, "Well, if I say there is no other G-d, how are they going to take this?" But after studying your religion, I can very comfortably tell you that there is no other G-d, and you will agree with me. You will also say, there is no other G-d. Because now I think I understand your belief better, there is but One G-d. Now I know about the Trinity and all of that, but that is another language. So we say, "La illah illallah." "There is but only One G-d."
And also there is "Allahu Akbar." That G-d is the greatest. But look at the expression. We really aren't saying that G-d is greatest, for that is the English and the related languages to English. In English we have good, better, and best. But in this Eastern language, there is no good, better, and best. There is first and second; there is it and more. So if you say, "he is big," or if we say 'He is important," we would say he is an important man and a big shot. But if you wanted to say he is the biggest, the only way to say it is just "akbar." That says he is more, and that he is bigger. It just says that he is bigger or more and that is all. So we have "it" and "more."
And what we are saying is what I hear some of these evangelists saying on the radio. They say the same thing, and that struck me. This evangelist didn't say, "G-d is greatest." He said, "G-d is greater," which was in a song that he was singing. So, I said that is the same thing that we say, "Allahu Akbar." This is reflection.
But, I said to myself, what is this reflection doing? This reflection is orienting my mind to appreciate G-d, to know Him and to appreciate Him, and to conform to what G-d has willed for me. It is doing all of that. It is also conditioning me to appreciate better the limited free will I have to make independent choices. All of this is moving me more and more towards my potential.
They have come out of themselves. they have veered, the have lost themselves. They have lost themselves. They're now in foreign bodies. The mistake we make in religion often is to identify these bodies, foreign bodies, deformed bodies as the nature of the human being when they're not the nature of human being. They are forms different from the nature of the human being. The true nature of the being is good and open to the call of G-d. The true nature of the being will never block itself against the call of G-d. We never put up an argument, an excuse or anything against the call of G-d. The true nature of the human being is open to the call of G-d. Was Adam argumentative when G-d created him? No, he was responsive. He was ready to do G-d's will as G-d created him. And then when he sinned he was not charged by Allah with being a sinner, but his problem was identified as a slip on his part. The translation is slipped. He slipped into it. He did not consciously go into it. So one in his true nature does not consciously go after sin. It is only when the true nature has been fogged that we slip into sin. And the point of sin for the individual, it is the point where he rejects an appeal to come from his sin. Then it is a conscious act, then it's a sin. "Surely I have wronged my own self." When we commit sin we are going against or wronging our own self. So a wrong against my own self must be something innocent. The innocent something is my own human nature.
Allah Most high says that He created the human being in the best stature, in the best stature, in the best structure, in the best form. We can have so many words to say what we're saying. Created in the best statue, the best model, the best mold, the best design, the human being is the best. And He says, "We have honored all the sons of Adam." All of the sons of Adam. Those in religion, they recognize the many people as being all the people, all the sons of Adam.
They don't say any of us are not the sons of Adam. This is something they say, that they admit. That we all are children of Adam, are the sons of Adam. And Allah says that He has certainly honored all the children of Adam, the children of Adam. So Adam himself must have been a very honorable creature. He was made in the best mold. And if we're his children, if we haven't deviated from the form, from the true human form, we're his children in form, if we have adhered to that, if we're still his children in form, then we're also in the most honorable statue or the most respectable mold.
So we have to see ourselves then when you're looking at the self image, we have to see ourselves as dignified creatures. Creatures of great value and a form worthy of respect. Karim means honor, honorable. Karim also means noble. Karim means having generosity because generosity is part of nobility, deserving respect. Respected and deserving respect. This is Karim. And these are also attributes of a noble person. For that reason we find the translators of Qur'an, they translated noble often, that Karim means noble. And some translators of Karim say it means dignified, dignified. Some say Karim means honorable. So we use all these terms in hopes that it'll be very clear to us that the human being has been created by Allah in his origin, in his original self, he has been created by Allah to be a creature of nobility, of lofty image. Not low in estimation but esteemed, esteemed. Held up in our estimation. Estimation is another value. My estimation of something is how I value that thing.
So Allah in our whole creation has created us honorable, noble, deserving of respect with a nature to give respect to that that deserves respect and due respect. All of this is given to us by nature, no matter what color I am, no matter what race I belong to or what nation I belong to, no matter what my situation is in the world, whether I'm uncultured or cultured, whether I'm educated or ignorant by this standard or by that standard, I have this by nature what Allah made me. I have it by nature. Therefore, if I'm too unenlightened, too misinformed to appreciate this, at least the so-called enlightened and those who are thinking of themselves as being important people should respect that for me. And should feel obligated to me, to come to me and enlighten my conscious, to my excellence, to my nobility, to my honor, to my G-d given honor, to my G-d-given nobility. To come to me and do their utmost to awaken my conscience to the great value that Allah has created me for. Our Prophet, The Peace and the Blessings be on him.
He is the human person that Allah created us to be. Adam was the human person that Allah created us to be. Abraham the Prophet, Peace be upon him, was the human being Allah created us to be. Every Prophet is the human being Allah created us to be. Our Prophet, Peace and Blessings be upon him, he gave the report of his ascension into the seven heavens. And in the ascension he met the Prophets, from Adam to Ibrahim. And they were on seven levels, seven heavens. And our Prophet being the last of them completing Prophethood, completing what Allah wants for His human family, His human beings, His human creatures, he is the leader even in the heavens. Our Prophet led all of them in Salat. To indicate that he is their leader in the heavens. And Allah Most High says that He has created above us seven firm heavens, seven strong, firm heavens. And in you a like number.
Now going back to what I said that every Prophet is a true human. Every Prophet is an example or model for us. Prophet Muhammad being the leader of all of them is the complete model and example for us. And Allah Peace and Blessing be upon him, Allah has said of His Prophet, "Surely you'll find in him a more suitable model for your conduct any who believes in Allah and in the last day." So if we believe in Allah, the one Lord and we believe in the judgment of the hereafter, the last day. Then for us is the model Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be upon him. His conduct then is the conduct that we should exemplify, the conduct that we should incorporate in our own life. Our conduct should be modeled after his conduct. Not that our person should be modeled after his person. We can't do that. His person is above our person. We can never be his person. We can just be our person, but our conduct should be modeled after his conduct in hope that our conduct will be reflected in the world as the conduct of Prophet Muhammad, Peace be Upon him.
So when people see us they say "You speak for your Prophet in your conduct, you represent your Prophet in your conduct." And you'll be representing yourself. Because the Prophet's conduct is no more than what G-d has put in us as a measure for us to gain, for us to reach. A measure, a potential and a moral excellence that is common for all of us. If it is not common for all of us, Allah would not have made him a model for our conduct. It must be a model, pardon me, a measure that all of us can measure up to. If it was not I repeat Allah would not have made him a model for our conduct. A model means that you can have that that's in the model. Now again, Peace and the Blessings be on the Prophet. Our Prophet said that "Allah has not ordered anything for the Prophets that He has not also for the believers." Allah has not ordered anything for the Prophets that He has not also ordered for the believers. Prophets didn't come to demonstrate to us what is possible for Prophets but impossible for human beings.
On the contrary Prophets came to us from Allah to demonstrate to us what Allah has blessed the Prophets with but wants you to come into. Because we are capable of the same. You have the capacity for the same. He has sent to us models, He has sent to us models to demonstrate to us how He wants the human being to live on this earth. And our Holy book is different. It's not like other scriptures. Our holy book is different. Our Holy book tells us plainly that every Prophet was a human mortal. None were angels. Not to say none were not angelic in their person and in their actions. No, not to say they were not angelic. But they were not angels.
Allah Most High says "If the earth had been populated with angels, He would've sent an angel as a Messenger." But since the earth was populated by human mortals, He sent human mortals as Messengers. And Allah says in His Qur'an, Highly Glorified is He, "Qul, Ana Bashirun Mithlakun." Say, I am a human mortal just like you. This is shining light, revealing light on some the erroneous ideas shared in major religions. Our religion shines light in the dark corners that trouble other religions. I'm not going to make the connection here. I don't think it would be proper. But I'm just saying that because it's true. Now, every Prophet was a mortal, a human model. Allah says they had to do their shopping just like other mortals. They had to buy food and drinks just like other people. They take rest and activity just like all others. And there was not a single one for whom Allah did not prescribe marriage. And have children.
This is our religion. This is Al Islam, this is our religion. Now take it from there. For me it's clear enough. The words are clear, perfectly clear. One of the names of the Holy book, the Qur'an is the clarity, the evidence, the clear evidence. Al Bayan, Al Bayan, means it's clear. It provides clear evidence. Praise be to Allah. I believe if we would understand that the book provides knowledge for both spiritual side and material side, we'll be okay. Everybody will be okay. Then we could truly say I'm okay, you okay. It won't be just making monkey business. The best book for the spiritual side and for the material side is the Qur'an. We shouldn't go to the shelves of the libraries, to the shelves of the libraries on the college campuses or to the bookstores and pick up a book on any idea, on any subject matter and take something in that book and let it start to mold our behavior whether that behavior be spiritually be mentally, morally, physically or anything other way.
We should not allow that to start fixing, molding, forming, dictating our behavior. We should question everything in the light of what Allah has revealed. We should first ask the question, does this idea or this book or this subject matter present any problem for my religion as established in the Qur'an, the word of Allah and in the Sunnah of His Prophet, Peace be on him. And if we come to the conclusion in our own intelligence that it presents, it presents no problem, then we are safe to follow or to pursue until someone more sincere perhaps or with knowledge perhaps, see something we missed and say "Brother, this is a problem for your religion and for your life as a Muslim." And then show you proof to back up his statement, show you rational proof to back up his statement from Qur'an, evidence from Qur'an and from the Sunnah of the Prophet. Then even though you use the best of your intelligence and the best of your moral nature to make the right judgment in the light of the new evidence, you should give it up and say, "Surely, I have wronged my own self in ignorance." And that's not bad because many of us consciously wrong our own selves.
I return now to those two descriptions that are most important for us in religion. A creature of faith and a creature of action. The believer must be a creature of faith and a creature of action. On the one hand, he cannot only act in the light. Impossible. On one side of his being it's impossible for, I repeat for him to always act in the light. Therefore, he has to act on the principle of trust. On the principle of belief. Simply put, you must act in faith, faith. Pure faith. Our Prophet Abraham, Peace and the Blessings be on him, he is the model of faith and reasoning, faith and reasoning. Perfect faith operating together with the rational faculties.
So much can be said of that, but I will make it very short. In Abraham's search for the G-d he was observing the skies. Why was he observing the skies, why did he set so long? He started when the skies was filled with stars and he didn't take a recess until the sun had risen and also set. So it seems that he was there 24 hours or near it. He was there in the night, stayed until the sun came up and set. That's a long time. Why would any person sit that long observing the universe, observing the cosmos, observing the great vast space of material bodies and order and whatnot and disciplines. He must have had tremendous faith.
He was not observing it to see what theory he could apply to impress the secular world. His concern is who is my G-d. So faith must have been the motivation. Faith had to be the motivation. A pure faith, an innocent faith to know what I should give myself to totally. And he concluded that nothing he was observing in that space was the proper fit for him to worship as G-d. He said of the stars that he cannot worship them. He said of the sun when it rose up, it impressed him more than anything in its brightness and glory. But he said of it too. He could not worship that that sets down.
Praise be to Allah. So here was a man of tremendous faith, faith so tremendous that Allah has given us him as a model and as Father Ibrahim. Abi, my father. Abi Adam, my father. So Allah gave us two fathers. One as a model of our original human nature. The second one as a model of excellence that Allah wants that nature to come into. The excellence of faith, the excellence of rationality, of reasoning, of the intellect. That excellence. And then our Prophet comes. Did he dismiss any of them? No, he says Adam is our father and he greeted Adam in his ascension into heaven, he greeted Adam, "Asalaam Alaikum Abi Adam." Adam, my father Adam said our Brother Muhammad. Who is our Brother Muhammad? Our Prophet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophet. How can you speak so commonly of the Prophet, saying your Brother Muhammad? Yes, because he said he's our brother, not our father.
Allah says in the Qur'an he's not the father of any new children; he's not the father of any of your children. See how we pass over things? It's there just as I'm giving it to you. He's not the father of any of your children. Now Adam is your father. Abraham is your father. Muhammad is our brother. Praise be to Allah. Isn't Adam our brother too? Yes and no. Yes by reasoning down here, no by rule up there. He's our brother and a human mortal like us. He's our brother, but he is our father in his role. Our father. Adam, in his role is our father. Muhammad in his role is our brother. Why? Because all of us are supposed to do just what he did.
Just what he did. Oh, can't we do just what Abraham did? I don't know if you could or not. Can you sacrifice your only son? Can you be ready to kill him on the altar? Prophet Muhammad has never asked us to sacrifice any son. He just said follow me in the fight against wrongs in the world. Praise be to Allah, Praise be to Allah. The power of this religion has not yet been seen by us, by us in this world now. Insha’Allah, we're coming into the right understanding of the power of this religion. And once we do, we'll have no trouble defeating the disbelievers. They are no match for us if we understand this religion. No, they don't frighten us. We are brave. And Allah says, "And the believers must win through." If they are believers, Oh, don't worry about the opposition, you're going to get plenty opposition, but you'll win through if you're indeed believers.
If Allah said it, it is true. We just have to come into the right understanding. We have been sensitized by this world, conditioned spiritually by this world, to look at religion. Don't you know you see what you're looking for? You see only what you are looking for. If the world has conditioned our spiritual nature, our spirituality to look for certain things in religion, then even though we convert to this religion under the conditions that the world has formed in us, we cannot see anything but what we are looking for. And most of us are looking for something supernatural. We're looking for something superstitious. We're looking for mysticism. We're looking for non-reality and Prophet Muhammad came to counter that, Prophet Muhammad came to deal a death blow to that, to bring us out the mind and spirit of mysticism and superstition and all this unreal fantasy down into the work field of human beings willing to do the practical things. That's why actions are emphasized so much.
We're a creature of faith and actions. And without the actions, faith is not proven. Without the actions, faith is not proven. Without the actions, faith is not proven. Not the faith Allah gave Muhammad. Not the faith Abraham had. The faith that Abraham had made him strong enough. Oh, I've heard the same from the other side. They say if you only had the faith of the grain of a mustard seed. Well I don't think any faith was any bigger than the faith Abraham had. He had faith that made him come back and sacrifice the comforts he had with his father. His father was a well to do man. His father was a man of power. He was a man of great wealth and power. His father could dictate policy for society in the time of Abraham. But Abraham came back to that mighty father of his and invited his father to come away from idol worship.
And then he didn't stop there, he went and challenged that which they worshipped. And in the final of that scene, he breaks the idols and gets into trouble and they charged him with breaking the idols. And he charged the bigger idol for the damage that was done, which is true. Now, many will say he lied, but he didn't lie. The bigger idol was responsible for the idol making. That's true. We don't have time to explain it now because the time is short. But the bigger idol was responsible for those idols and responsible also for their breaking, for their being broken by Abraham. Anyway, he was charged, and he wouldn't give in to the pressures for him to come back to idol worship. So, he was banished, exiled, they put him out, all his comforts taken away, put out in the hell to make it or die. But Allah came to him, gave him guidance and established him as a leader for the nations.
He made many tours in his travels and many people were touched by the great teachings of Abraham the Prophet. Yes. And today we have as major bodies of followers of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Yes. But if we understand it, there are many more that are not named that are also the followers of Abraham if we understand it. Because whoever follows the spirit of strong faith in G-d and lift securities in the world for that faith and also have great respect for the value of the human intellect, the rational faculties. That person in his behavior is a follower of Abraham, a follower of Abraham. And Prophet Muhammad came to build a community after the order, the Milah of Ibrahim, of Abraham the upright. The upright in faith. Praise be to Allah. How wonderful the religion is if you can only let yourself see it. We are creatures of faith and actions. So, we should give then our faith and actions to the proper owner. See, there is nothing in this world that doesn't have an owner. For everything in this world, there's an owner. You look at your car, you say that's my car, you can understand that ownership.
But when it comes to your own thinking, seldom will we say that's my ownership. Yes, for Muslims, the only true owner is Allah. Everything we have is in our possession as a trust. The owner is the one that takes it. None of us can keep anything, not even our own life. We have it for a time and then it's out of our possession. So, the only true owner them is Allah because things are never out of His possession. They're in our possession for a fleeting moment and then they're left and we don't know who would get them. Even though we make a will and hire court lawyers, still we don't know. We can't be sure who will end up with our belongings after we are gone.
So even when it comes to our belongings, many times they keep us from getting heaven and cause us to get the hellfire. Even for those things we have to act or really relate to them from a position of faith, trust, belief. You see how strong these words are? Faith and actions, faith and actions. We're creatures of faith and actions. Our faith will influence our actions. Our actions will influence our faith. They influence each other. You may start off with a mind to accept faith properly, but if you get in your company of wrongdoers or the company of bad examples and you drop your guard, you doze for a moment, you slip. And before you know it now, you're into behavior in conflict with your faith. And by the time you wake up to the collision you've had the faith you started out with no longer looks pretty.
So, actions affect faith and faith affect actions. Therefore, we ought to be conscious all the time. And here is the third and the last concept that I want to give you of ourselves today. We're to see ourselves in many concepts according to the situations, the mode of behavior that is dictated by situations or conditions of our soul, et cetera. We are to see ourselves in many concepts that are very, very essential for us if we are to really have, I would say a comfortable appreciation of the great work that Allah has put into this vessel here, this model here. We are to be conscious creatures. Conscious creatures. And our religion is more so than any I know of trusts consciousness, consciousness. And Al Islam is a conscious religion, it's to be performed consciously.
Even the simplest duty, the simplest duty in this religion is supposed to be performed with a conscience, with consciousness. Even the duty of faith, even the activities of faith pardon me, should be performed and the duty also, with consciousness. We say we believe in Allah. That's one of the principles of Iman and the first one, to believe in Allah. But there are rational, rational connections. There is not belief in Allah with no rational connection. No, our belief in Allah carries rational connections. You don't just believe it and that's it. Just believe in Allah on faith alone. Believe in Allah is a faith, but it's not a faith without rational connections.
The Arabs have a saying of this creation. It does not exist alone. Something accounts for the existence of this universe, this great material world, the skies and all the vast space and bodies. Something accounts for that. That couldn't have brought itself together. It's too perfectly thrown together. It's very well designed. It's very well ordered. And everything coming out of it seems to be designed so perfectly. So, the Arab, not Darwin, not Galileo. Yes, the great Greek scientist who gave a better picture of this universe to the West. No, not them.
So, when we look at this world, we see the orderly design and we know that this is not an accident. I've seen a lot of accidents, and they don't come out like that. And then we don't find accidents that are followed by accidents and those accidents are followed by more accidents until they get into billions and trillions of accidents, and they all turn out so well like this. Accidents just don't occur right behind each other with that kind of impression. No, you see, maybe out of a thousand accidents there might be one. Say Wow, that looks good, that looks perfect, but you won't get a thousand in succession. So, a thousand accidents and they all look good. Our solar system is just one among many millions. It looks good, the others look good. Our galaxy is one among them, they haven't counted how many more. And it looks good, and they look good.
So how all these accidents occur and all of them look so good. So, they say, oh, there's some kind of thing operating in the cosmos. It's a law operating in the cosmos that is trying to bring everything into some kind of universal relationship. The law is trying to bring uniformity to the vast space of matter, material things. But in doing it, the law caused many accidents. So, we believe the universe itself is an accident. That no designer was behind it. That's the scientist, the secular scientists talking, not the religious scientists. You have scientists in religion too. They don't talk like that. This is the secular world scientists talking about. It's another thing we're fooled about. We think because this way has established secularism and secular knowledge for the schools, for the public schools and universities that that's the only knowledge that we can give credit to. No, you have scientists in the religious world too and they have come up with an audience too. We got Islamic scientists right now studying the universe and describing it as they see it and they don't come to the same conclusion. But the secular world will not take in from the religious world because they have to keep some stupid idea of separation of church and state and carry too far.
They must have room to work on opposite sides of man. And our religion does not give them room to work on the opposite sides of man. You have to work in his face, you have to work right before him. Or you're wrong. Conscious religion. Dear people, this is most important for us to understand that Allah requires of us that we live this religion with a conscious, with a consciousness. And a conscious. We're to practice it, even the smallest requirement in it with knowledge. Allah says that He has incorporated everything by the principle of knowledge. And in another place, He says He has incorporated everything by the principle of mercy and knowledge. Knowledge and mercy. Mercy and knowledge is very important for us. So, if that saying of G-d is true then, then there is nothing that we should be approaching without respect for also knowledge. Knowledge. Everything should be respected for its knowledge, it embodies knowledge, it represents a knowledge, everything. And if I go to make my ablution, I should do it consciously, consciously. Everything that I do should be conscious, with a consciousness in this religion.
Praise be to Allah the Most High, there is no G-d but the one G-d. His name in our holy book is Allah, the best of names, the most inclusive of names. For Him is the praise, for Him is the glory. We praise Him, we worship not accept Him, we seek Him for all of our needs. We turn to Him. And we pray the Peace and the Blessings of Allah be on the last and universal Messenger Muhammad. Upon his relatives, upon his companions, the first stars for us in the following. And upon the believers be peace all Ameen. Dear Muslims, in concluding this Kutbah today on the day of Jumu'ah, I now address the same concerns but with the intention of emphasizing the need in our religious life to practice this religion with more consciousness. So, concept, how we value self. If we value self, we'll treat self-better. If we value the self that Allah has created and called our attention to, we'll also treat others better because we realize that this is a common property, not just mine.
Allah says Most High, that He did not create human beings for any purpose other than His worship. I mentioned actions, devotions, our actions should be devoted to Allah. We know in this religion that the smallest act, if it is done regarding Allah in the situation of Taqwa, if it is done regarding Allah, it's an act of devotion. It's an act of worship. It's an act of worship. This religion so beautifully tells us that worship for us is inclusive of everything that Allah wants us to be doing on this earth. Everything. If I go to the aid of someone in need that's required of me by Allah's word in the Qur'an and by the Prophets demonstration, it is also an act of worship.
If I spend money on myself considering what Allah wants for me respecting that, that's an act of worship. If I spend it on my children, my family, and my wife, that's an act of worship. If I help the neighbor or the stranger, that's an act of worship. If I apply my good senses, my intelligence in school to get good grades, to prepare myself for a better life, that's an act of worship. If I behold myself to Qur'anic studies, to the Hadith, the Sunnah of the Prophet, the history of the Prophet, the life of the Prophet, that's an act of worship. If I do that with the proper respect for G-d, for Allah, our Lord Creator Allah, that's an act of worship. If I'm concerned about my appearance and I take a full bath every day, I come out with clean clothes on, I took time to brush my teeth, to clean my mouth of bad odors and bacteria before coming out of my home today, I looked at my face and I did my best to make it look presentable. My hair and everything I worked on it. I wasn't vain, spending an hour on it but I did a quick job, I did justice to it. I gave 10 minutes, and I made myself look nice. And I come outside, what I did for myself, that is an act of worship. Now I can go on and on and on. See how rational and sensible this religion is? See its beauty in terms of its simplicity? Prophet Muhammad said every step we take to the Mosque is an act of worship. It's a charity. It gives and Allah accepts it. Prophet Muhammad, Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him said he saw his followers in paradise and light was coming from their hands. And he said that is the light of their ablution. We have to do it with consciousness. How is the ablution of charity? We must follow a systematic order. We can't just jump in a pool of water and come out holy. We have to wash the right hand three times. We have to wash the left hand three times. We have to wash our mouths three times. We have to wash the nose three times. We must wash the feet three times. We can't just go through the motions haphazardly. We have to do everything with a conscious. It requires attentiveness.
And when we call the people to prayer. It's the same thing. People have to respond to that with a conscious. After the Iqama is called, we can't just say "Ya'll go on, I'll catch up to you later. We have to respond to that with consciousness.

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