10/02/1995
IWDM Study Library 
IWDM @ Masjid Ali K. Muslim
Newark, NJ

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
For guidance. We witness that G-d is One and One alone, and that there is no companion with Him orr partner with Him in the rule of the heavens and the earth. There is no other G-d but Allah. And we witness that Muhammad is the Messenger, G-d's servant, the Messenger and servant. G-d's servant and His Messenger. And what follows of that traditional salutation. We have in the sayings of the Prophet of Muhammad that is, Prophet Muhammad of Islam, that Islam is built upon five essentials, five principles, five pillars or five essentials. And they are to witness that there is but One G-d. And we know for us also for the Prophet to witness that he is the Messenger of G-d too. Muhammad said that we are to witness that there is but One G-d, and that he is the Messenger of that One G-d. And to make the salat, to pray and to give charity, Zakat and to fast in the month of Ramadan. And to visit the house, the ancient house built by the Prophet Abraham and his son. The Hajj, the Hajj. These are the five essentials. Let’s began with the first one. And understand what is meant by the saying of the Prophet, Buneya Al Islam Ala Kamsin.
The religion is built or structured upon five Pillars, principles, or essentials. depending upon what translation you read. Buneya is the verb built upon, has been built upon, the religion has been constructed upon and has been structured upon five essentials. Bunyan is a structure, it's a noun form. It means a structure, a building, a big building. Bunya. This word here is a broad word and its application to that that is structured in some logical way, in a definite way. Structured from a beginning to a conclusion, a structure from base to completion. It's a construction. Bunee Al Islam Al Kamsin. The religion is structured upon. Islam is structured upon five essentials, five essentials, essentials, or pillars. Now then the first one is structured there. And to refer to that structure in a building means that it has a logic. It has a logic, it has a base and a logic.
And the structure is developed upon that logic. Upon that base or upon that logic. Structured. And Bunya. Verb. Has been structured, has been structured. Now we know buildings are structured upon the land. They might one day have a hanging building, but I haven't seen one yet. A flowing building. I haven't seen one yet. So, the base is the earth, isn't it? The base is the earth for the construction. The base is the earth. Bunee Al Islam Al Kamsin, the base is the earth. So, we're talking about a building not the religion right now we're talking about a building. So as a building is built, or structured upon the earth, then religion, Al Islam is structured upon something too, right? So, if Islam is a construction, what is it constructed upon, what structure holds it up, where is its base, in what foundation is Islam? G-d tells us, it is saying in our Holy book, the Qur'an. G-d says that our religion is the Deen Al Fitra, and is the religion of origin, of original origin, Al Fitra, the religion of the original origin. The one upon which man has been patterned, or himself originated upon.
It is the Deen Al Fitra. And also we have Fatara. This verb is the same as this noun. The Fitra which. Now here comes the verb. Fatara. The Deen Al Fitra is the religion. Fatara Al Nas Alayha. This verb is the same meaning as this noun. Fitra tu Latee. It is the Deen of Fitra. The religion of the first origin. Now we know there are many origins but we must trace it to the first origin. Fatara, Fatara. Originality, the original state, the original pattern, original pattern, the original state, the original pattern. And this one here, the verb means originated. Upon which He originated man. Okay, so now this tells me that man has been originated upon a pattern that was before man, this pattern was before him, right? Because He said it is the Fitra and the man was patterned on the Fitra, right? So that means before I had this pattern, there was a pattern for me. Isn't that what Fitra mean? There's a pattern first and then the thing. Oh no, no, they make the thing and then they get a pattern. But in order for the pattern to be repeated he had to have a pattern, right? The Originator without a pattern. He creates something, He gives the pattern, right? That's the way it goes. But those who did it, get the product from the originator of the pattern. Then if they want to have it, they either have to buy the product or if they don't have the product they know where to find it, they need the pattern, right? They need the pattern and they need the pattern really if they're going to do it legally.
It is the religion of the original state, the original form, the original life, the original whatever we are talking about. Upon which the human being, An Nas, the people were originated. So, we were originated then upon a pattern and that pattern is called the Fitra and the Deen is called the religion of that Fitra. Now this is what is meant by Buneya, it is constructed. Bunee Al Islam Ala Kasam. And this one about the religion is the whole religion itself, pardon me, is constructed upon all five of these, right? And one of these is to witness that there is but One G-d and Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d. Now let's take the first one.
We are discussing this under the topic Buneya, constructed. Religion has been constructed, structured or constructed. Let's take the first one. I witness there is but One G-d and Muhammad is His Messenger. That's one of these structures. Then this belief then that I'm testifying to is more than a belief. It's a logic. It's a logic. It's more than a belief, it's a logic. That's why we have articles of faith and practice, right? Articles of faith. The Iman is described in so many articles. And the religion, practice and the religion is described in so many. Five. Five. So how are you going to structure just to believe that there's a G-d? You structure it when you find a logic for it. When there's a logic for it, then you can structure it, right? You can put construction to it when you find a logic for it. Well, we have both belief in G-d and also Shahada, right? We have both belief in G-d and Shahada. What does that tell us about this idea that there is G-d. It tells us that G-d is not ever completely known. There's no logic that can support that with no questions left to be asked.
But there is enough logic to support that for that to become a structure of our society. There is enough knowledge to support it for it to become a structure in our society, a pillar of our society, a pillar of our religion, pillar of our society. That there is but One G-d, and Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d. To witness that tells us that there is a logic supporting that. What is the logic? How do we find the logic for our Shahadah or for our Shahadatain? The logic is in the science we call Tawheed, the knowledge we call Tawheed, that's where it is. It's in that logic. Tawheed. Now, Tawheed is not only a knowledge of G-d as One G-d, but it is a knowledge of the oneness or the unity of His creation too.
We believe that the G-d is One and His work is One. That G-d is One. And His creation is One, meaning that it has a unity. It has a unity that supports the diversity, right? It has a unity that's supports the diversity. And the diversity develops upon that unity. That's His creation. That's His creation. So, this is the Tawheed. We arrive at the conclusion that our G-d is One. When we study this creation and see that this creation is held together by one law, by one logic, and by one law. That it bears a consistent and continuous law or logic that binds it all together, right? Yes, yes. The universe. That's why they call it the universe. One law, one logic is what supports it. And upon that logic, many logics spin off, right? Many other laws and logic are spun off from that logic or that law. And from that one consistent mass that seems to be broken into many balls or many pieces.
And when you study it, you find that it is really one mass, it is not a lot of pieces of mass. And for example, in science, if you have oranges and chemicals, you have to describe them differently. If you have milk and water, you have to describe them differently than if you had gasoline with different things in it, right? One is a mixture and another one is a chemical isn't? They're given different names because one is just mixing the same thing. So that's what we have. We have a universe that is a mixture. We have our sun and suns out there.
We have our planet Earth and we have Mars and other bodies out there. But when you examine them with the eye of a scientist with a telescope and with the information, scientific information, you discover that these bodies, though separate are of the same. Of the same.
Even the sun of the same of the earth. They have so many elements and the elements combined in different ways to form this, to form that, The sun, the earth, the Mars, the Jupiter. But the formula is the same for making them, right? The formula, not the formula, the elements are the same. You put the elements together in different formulas and come up with the different things, right? But actually that mass can be reduced to the same. It can be reduced to the same. If we reduce them to their elements, then they all have the same description don't they. They all can be described as elements and that's what they are. They all have elements. The sun is helium and this and that and the earth is carbon and many other things. But all these elements belong in one classification, don't they? All the elements belong in one classification. And from these elements, you get all these different formulas, you get all these different things that appear to be so different. But it's like the germ of life springing out. Different things spring up from the germ of life, but they all have that basis in their one unit life, right? Yes. Okay, so this is the Tawheed of matter, isn't it? This is the Tawheed of matter. That they have essentially the same makeup, they're constituted essentially the same way. Is that not so? They're constituted the same way. All the bodies out there in space, even us and everything growing out the earth, all constituted essentially in the same way. So, we can study these things scientifically.
If they were not the same, we couldn't study them scientifically. We'd have to come up with another way to study some other things. So, we got the science, this science and another thing, physical science. We have all these different sciences, but they're all called sciences, right? They're all called sciences and they follow the same logic, same logic, yeah. So, this is the Tawheed, it's the Oneness of the creation. This is the Oneness of the creation and this reference to the Fitra brings together to us man and his religion, man and his religion. His religion is built upon five essentials and his original nature goes back to the religion, right? His original self goes back to religion. Deen Al Fitra goes back to the religion. Where was the religion then? Before the man was? The religion was in the order of the universe. The religion was in the order of the universe.
G-d ordered the universe. When He ordered the universe He ordered the universe so that the universe inspires man and evolves man into this religion, but not without the help of the Creator. He can't do this until he first discover the cause behind it all, the Creator, He discovers the Creator, then he can start finding the logic. He can start finding the logic. When he finds the logic he sees himself really evolved upon the law that is in the creation. Here I am in my life. I have to live by some law. I have to live by some orderly way or logic. Where it's going to come from? It should develop out of creation itself. It has been written in the creation before we were created. So, it should be patterned upon that that was inscribed before we were even here.
That we should conform to the will of G-d, like the matter, like the Earth, like the bodies in space. We should conform to the will of the One that did all of this. We should want to know His plan for us after discovering His plan for the earth, the moon, the sun, the plants, the animals. They all plan, they all have fixed plans, their plans have already been established for them. They can't live outside of those plans. So, we should want to know our plan, right? This is the Fitra that we discussing right now. The Fitra. The original. The original state, the original logic, the first logic, the original pattern, the original logic, the original reality, whatever you want to call it. The original nature you see. So, we should want to be patterned upon that that G-d designed for us. If He designed a way for the planets and a way for the creatures on the earth and a way for everything else. What did He design for me as my mode of life and my behavior.
So, G-d tells us you couldn't discover it by yourself. You couldn't find that without help from your Lord. But now your Lord has revealed that your religion is the Deen Al Fitra, the religion of the original nature, the original life, the original human being. The Deen Al Fitra. This is not just for you man. It's for everything that G-d originates. Held by one logic or one overrides or overrules the logic. Okay? This is what G-d has given you. G-d has given you a religion that respects you, a religion that respects you in your real self. A religion that respects you in your truest identity.
A religion that respects you in your most excellent form. You are born first and then again and again and again. By the world or in the world. This religion respects the best form, form that came directed from G-d to you. This religion respects the first form, the best form, the truest form for the one that G-d creates you for is the truest self you will ever know. See. So, this is the religion of the, of the original state, the original of the original form, which the one which originated the human being, the one that G-d originated, the people, the human beings upon. Now this tells us that Islam says that man has evolved or developed upon a law, a logic, a design that was already prescribed in the creation of the heaven and the earth before the man himself materialized or evolved or developed. Isn't that like the life germ of man? The life germ of man mixing with the life of woman forms something very simple. But that simple thing develop and develop and develop until there's a poor baby, living human being with complete form in our mothers. Right? In our mothers. But look where it came from. So, the germ, which seemed to have nothing in it of design we call a human being. The human form or pattern was already prescribed in it. Was already in it and it just developed and manifest and there it was. Finally, it was complete, right? So, we look at this universe out here, the earth, look at the ground. It says we're made from the dust of the earth. We look at it, you don't see anything that looks like a human being.
I don't see my pattern there. You don't see your pattern there for a reason. No, not even the scientist. The scientist doesn't see the pattern. Would be no way for the scientist to know that a human being came from the earth if G-d hadn't showed him. Am I right or wrong? I'm being a scientist now. You got to be a scientist to figure some of this stuff out. Scientist can't know there's going to be a human being coming out of that and wind up looking like us. But that's what comes from it. Develop into this what you looking at. So, when you look at it you say, I don't see me in there, don't no signs there. But look what comes from that. Oak trees and all other big things. We see all those things come there, but when you look you don't see those things either. But they come from the earth and things we don't even expect. You look around and there it is growing out of the earth. You don't even know what the name of it is. Scientists, they're still discovering the name, aren't they? Yeah, they still finding things and listing them. Ever since they've been scientists, the scientists of living things, biologists, zoologists or whatever. They studied these things and they, "Oh, here's one we don't have a name for" and they're given a name and added to the list.
All of this coming out of the earth all have the same nature. Now, another proof that we're one is that we are sustained by the world. We sustained by the world. My life couldn't be sustained by the world. My physical life couldn't be sustained by something that's foreign to me. It has to be compatible for me. The air I breathe, it sustains my life, it gives me life. I have life by it. It sustains my life. The air I breathe, it's oxygen and hydrogen, right? The air and other things too. But mainly what we want is the oxygen. The oxygen out of there. So, this air we breathe, it sustains life for us. And then the material things of the earth sustain our life and the water of the earth sustains our life. And the earth has acids and all these different things and minerals and all these different things. And we have to have all these things within us to survive ourselves. Yes, we had to have all of them. Find them all out there in the world. We have all of them in us. The acids, the solids, the minerals, the acids and the air, the gases, all of this stuff we have to have in us. The fire. Yeah we got to have some fire in us too.
"Oh, we don't eat fire." Yes you do. If you don't believe it, just let that stuff sit down there long enough and then set a match to it. It's combustible. So, we got all this in us. And some of us we eat so many things if you strike a match by us...... Oooh boy! So, we are one with the creation. That's the belief in Islam, that creation is one. As Allah says in the Qur'an, in the Holy Book. And you know somebody heard us say Holy book, they said "Where is the Holy in the Qur'an. It wasn't one of us, an American, it was a person who migrated here. The person said, "Where in the Qur'an does G-d say it is Holy." They took offense because we said the Qur'an is a Holy Book. They say they that name, Holy, that's the Bible. That's the Christian name for the Bible, Holy Bible. Talking about us. Just like we put that on the Qur'an.
But Holy, what does Holy mean? Pure, unadulterated. Isn't that right? Means pure unadulterated, hasn't been changed. Its purity is still there, unaffected, unchanged. That's what Holy means. And isn't that an attribute of the Qur'an. Not only one attribute. We have at least two or three attributes of the Qur'an that means Holy. Means Holy with a slightly different meaning added to it, but it means Holy. So, it is Holy. Yeah. So, Ash Hadu, I witness that there is but One G-d and Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d. Here, G-d and the Messenger are put together in one acknowledgement, right? In one acknowledgement you have G-d and man. Why are these two put together in the first construction, or in the first structure in the construction? The oneness of G-d and His Messenger. It is because man has had great difficulty knowing himself and knowing his G-d. That has been the heaviest question on his mind down through the ages. What is G-d? Who is G-d? What is man or who am I? These are two big questions. Two big questions. So, since these two have occupied man, all the along the path of history, religious history, they have occupied man. Then they are answered together in one acknowledgement. Because the man didn't come by knowledge of himself until he first discovered some proof or some sign in creation that there is G-d. And he didn't come into knowledge that there's a G-d, not the real G-d until he came into a knowledge of himself. They both happened together. He was searching for G-d and found himself or he was searching for himself and found his G-d. They both happened together. And if you don't keep them together, man, because of his very complex, very involved, involved nature and makeup, man will slip back into the habit of thinking he's G-d. So, to protect man from slipping back into the darkness, we have the acknowledgement. Two acknowledgements in one statement or in one acknowledgement.
And we have to say it every time we say G-d. Every time I give my creed, I have to say that man is not G-d. See that's something even the Scholars don't understand. I said it and I saw there eyes get this big. I had just became your leader. I was in the national house sitting there and he was my guest leader. Learned Imam, great, great mind, no disrespect. And when he said, I said yes, Shahadatain, I said Shahadatain. Because I wanted him to know you ain't talking to nobody here just jumped up and said, I want be a Muslim, that G-d is One. I also studied G-d's Messenger and I'm a follower of G-d's Messenger. And he kind of slumped to the side in his chair and he said, "I was born into this and now here you are teaching me. You are correct. Yes, it is Shahadatain."
Yes. But it's Shahadatain also. You are making two statements, acknowledgements under one testimony or in one testimony. You are making two statements. You are witnesses to two things in one statement or in one testimony. I testified that G-d is One, Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d, right? That's not because we don't want to lose Muhammad. That's because we don't want lose our knowledge that G-d is G-d and man is man. Now where is the logic? We just touching upon these things. I don't think I'll be exhausted.
We just scratching the surface. Now where the logic for man, for man being what that testimony say he is. That testimony says that man, more than Muhammad, that testimony says that man, Muhammad is the name of a person, the name of the Prophet, the last Prophet, the name of the perfect man certainly. But Muhammad is a man. And if a man is the Messenger of G-d, then I want to know how does a man like me become the Messenger of G-d? Where is the logic to support that? So, it is not only a belief, this is a logic. Because the topic we're discussing is Buneya. Constructed. Which suggest that a logic has been formed. Now Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d. It could have said any other name. It could have said Adam is the me of G-d. It could have said Moses is the Messenger of G-d, right? But the last one. Says the last one. Others were Messengers too. That would be true, but our creed is that Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d. Why? Because all those men were on the road of progress toward the completion that G-d wanted in every man. Muhammad was at the finish line.
Muhammad was chosen because he's at the finish line. He's given the message, he's at the finish line. So that statement, Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d dignifies every man from Adam to us right now. It is saying that man, not just Muhammad, it is saying that man is created and worthy and of nature and an excellence that makes him worthy to be the Messenger of G-d. The vessel to receive, for G-d to deposit His message in and His plan for man in. And then it should be passed on, spread out to the many men so that all men will know what G-d's plan intended for them, right? If Muhammad's excellence is not for me, why am I to practice his Sunnah?
Obey G-d and obey G-d's word, but also practice the Sunnah of his Prophet.
Yes. And if we can live that in the measure that satisfy the whole requirement, we have furthered the presence of Muhammad, it must much we made after that, the more we further the existence, the reality and the presence of Muhammad on this earth. Not in his body but in another human being that G-d made having that same nature, having that same capacity, having that same potential. If he strains to please G-d enough, he will become the model after the model Muhammad,
So here a man has been given to us as a pattern and we are to pattern ourselves after him and his excellence. So, we end up with many models from the original model or many patterns from the original pattern.
We don't have that capacity. I don't know. Who knows, who knows? Muhammad said, meet me at....
Audience:
Al-Kauthar, the fountain.
Yes. He said, meet me there. I call it a waterhole. He said, meet me there, meet me there. If he said meet me there, that really means that G-d has placed me somewhere that's far ahead of you. That's what it means. G-d has placed me somewhere in my excellence, somewhere in my own development. G-d has established me somewhere that's far ahead of you. But before he died, he said, meet me there. That says that he believed that we can grow and develop until we be established in his excellence.
He must have believed that. He told us to meet him there.
We got people that would say what he meant when he said meet him there meant that we should study the sciences, the work, the sciences, until we arrive at the understanding that he has. And when we arrive at that understanding, we find him there, catch up with him. But if I catch up with him in the understanding of that I will be in his form. I'll be in his excellence. I can't get that understanding unless I'm in his excellence. Does that make sense? So it means both. When said, meet me there, he meant both. Study until G-d bless you to arrive where I am in the light. But also mean that when you come there, you are going to be like me. We are going to be in the same excellence. Our lives will meet in one life, in one excellence and one perfection that G-d intended for us. This is the way we should understand this.
And I can give you this from scripture, from the ancient scriptures. I can give you what I'm saying now. But its upcoming. Another time we can talk about comparative ideas, major themes in comparative religion.
Why not? Don’t under estimate yourselves. 
The followers of the Prophet when the Qur'an came were in ignorance and they were called by the Christians and the Jews, heathens idolaters, the wasted people. That's what they were called. Yeah. And Muhammad the Prophet was chosen and in a matter of time they became so educated that they were looked, sought by others of the world who wanted education. This is history. This is fact. So we know we live in a great scientific world now. So it's so great. So it's really involved. But when I think about it, this is a miraculous word in terms of what they achieved, technology, science and technology. It is miraculous work. But in terms of what they have achieved from the human social nature, it is a backwards and regressive world. Regressive world. It's struggling to come up, it's struggling to find itself, but it's in bad shape. Now, who knows, maybe G-d has chosen us. Who knows. Don't underestimate yourselves. So we witness that Muhammad is G-d's Messenger. Muhammad is G-d's Messenger. How come Muhammad is G-d's Messenger? Because the angel can't think on his own.
Aren't angels Messengers of G-d? But G-d didn't says that G-d is One and Jibreel is His Messenger. No Bear witness that G-d is Oneand Muhammad is G-d's Messenger. So why do G-d have an angel as a Messenger? Because he needs man as a Messenger. He sends the angel to man to help carry the communication and the revelation to the man so that the man can become His Messenger. So actually G-d making angels His Messenger will just make a step toward the real purpose, the real goal and that is to make man the Messenger for man to think on his own. And that's the Messenger G-d wants. G-d wants the Messenger that can think on his own. Why? It says that if this earth had been populated by a community of angels, I would've sent an angel as a Messenger. But there are people on earth and they think on their own. G-d wouldn't need a Messenger to come to the world if there never were people on earth thinking on their own. Everything would be run how G-d intended for it to be run. But the people thinking on their own going to do things on their own and they cause confusion and mess up the system. Bring trouble into the system, right? Yeah, the system of logic and reality, they going mess it up. So G-d is obligated to protect His way and to establish His purpose. And His purpose is always truth and justice, right? Yeah. So, He has to establish a man as the Messenger of G-d.
Is that a progression for man to know that? Yes it is. History of man and spiritualism, history of man and religion is not a history of him beginning with the knowledge that man is G-d's Messenger. It's a history of him beginning with a belief that spooks are G-d's Messenger. That the unknown is G-d's Messaenger. That angels is G-d's Messenger, a spirit of something is G-d's Messenger. Then finally he comes to believe because of rational inquiry and G-d's help for the mind, he comes to believe that man is a Messenger of G-d. So he doesn't only speaking in tongues. He wants to speak in common language. He wants to speak in the established language of the people, not his tongue. Do you know that people were speaking in tongues before the Bible mentions it. Yeah, the people got so much of that communication they culdn't handle it. They start, "hey, halaa heey." I was overcome by the unknown.
But finally, man was able to express what he was feeling, what was stirring inside him, what's moving all inside of him of the spiritual side and listening to him. He was able to understand it. G-d blessed him and empowered him and guided him towards understanding enough for him to articulate, to speak it so that other men, other people could understand. And when he arrived at that development in his spiritual evolution, then they begin to say that he is the Messenger. Man is the Messenger of G-d, right? Man is G-d's Messenger. Yes, yes. I don't want go from what I am trying to convey. So when we say that Muhammad is a Messenger G-d, understand that we are also saying that the man G-d created has been created also to be G-d's Messenger to other men. That's what He's saying. That's why G-d says of all His Prophets that He created them. Did you know that? Hadn't thought about it huh? Yes. G-d says of all His Prophets that He created them. Why would he say that? He says that He didn't have a son. G-d didn't have any son. Say when He wants one, He creates one or He takes one from those already created, right? Yeah. So that says to me that all of G-d's Prophets were created by Him. He created them. That's how come they are Prophest. He created them.
Now we know the first man who created was Adam, right? And we know in Islam, in Islamic science, whatever, Adam is also called to be a Prophet of G-d, a Prophet of G-d. He was a Prophet of G-d though he is the first man, he had to wait for children to come to deliver the message, right? He's just a man alone. But we believe according to our teachers, we believe that Adam is also a Prophet of G-d. And according to Muhammad, the Prophet's revelation of his own experience in his ascension and in the travel the night travel, we know that Adam is in the line of Prophet, right? Everybody the line going up from Adam, the first, they are Prophets. So if he has been put with them that says that he's the Prophet, that he's the first one and all the others came after him. Man has been given the great station, the great honor of being G-d's Messenger. As believe it or not, every man created, if he is sane and in good health, he will experience at some time in his life his role as the Messenger of G-d. How? Not the Messenger of G-d in the major, on the major scene. The Messenger of G-d on the minor scene, on the minor picture. He would experience himself as the Messenger of G-d. Not only man. Every man and every woman. This is the Deen Al Fitra. From the very beginning, man has been made of one spiritual nature, one spiritual nature, and both receive revelation. Both.
That's why the correction had to come and establish that Mary received revelation from G-d. So if you know that not only did G-d send revelation to men but also the women. This is the Deen Al Fitra. We can't be afraid of truth. And be afraid of people, to trust people with truth. "Oh, I'm afraid they're not intelligent enough. I'm afraid they're not strong enough. Understanding not good enough, they'll take this and run away and go in the wrong direction and soon we'll have a lot of bidah." We can be afraid like that, to keep our mouth closed and not say things that we ought to be saying and we'll keep this community and this religion burdened on this earth. What we're doing, we're liberating.
The religion needs liberating. Liberate the religion so that people can live it freely and feel comfortable with it and see it as really consistent with their own life. That's what G-d says about the religion of originality. One, that it is consistent with your own life, with your own true life and nature. It is consistent with the same logic, same life. Really what is the religion but language? The religion to man is only language until he takes in that language and acts upon it. Then it becomes life. Right? It becomes life. But first it comes to him as nothing but language.
Language.
So, what is that? Language? Language of my life. That language that G-d revealed to me. The thing is that I react to it, that I act upon. It is the language of my life. In the beginning was the word, and the word took on flesh and came to dwell among man.
Amen. Amen. Allhamdulilah.
The word comes into your life. And your body responds to the word. And the word becomes one consistent logic. And now you established in your own life and the word is established in you. The word is you and you are the word. And now it's more than just a concept. It is an living concept, it's a working concept. It's a producing concept. And here G-d says the word should be known and bear fruit.
Genesis,
We talked about this earlier.
Yes. The word is a word in its progression to it's completion. So the word itself is a developing thing in the world of man, isn't it? It comes first from Adam and it is not complete. So He sends another to further it and another to further it the and Muhammad to complete it. The word itself is in progression, the word is in progression and the word in itself is extended. Extended. And growing up and building out and branching out in itself is a growing thing in man's world. The word. Though it is complete with G-d, it didn't have to grow with G-d, it was complete with G-d. But man, not qualified to get complete from G-d what man should have in his life. So it's given to man in stages though it was complete with G-d. G-d could have revealed it all that once. We know that. G-d could have given it all out. We know that. But G-d has given it to us in portions and stages and we learn it and live it, according to the will of G-d and eventually we see a whole word. We see the whole religion, we see the whole scripture. The Qur'an, that's it. The Qur'an. That's the whole word. That's the whole scripture as the complete revelation. The Qur'an. We see all of it.
And the biggest boost to man's own progression toward his excellence that G-d created him for came only with the Qur'an. Just look at the progress for man after the Qur'an came. That will tell you, that's the evidence. Oh yes, the religion of original, of the original nature, of the original pattern, of the original excellence that G-d patterned the whole creation upon really. And then He patterned man upon that. He patterned man upon that. So it's actually inscribed in nature, in the nature of the universe itself. This law that we should obey, this excellence that we should evolve up to or into is already prescribed or inscribed in the creation itself. G-d has prescribed, the Prophet said that G-d has inscribed excellence on everything. Everything. That means there is a need for excellence in everything created or made. And I don't care what you study. You can also study its progression from a weaker or simpler form to what it is today, right? Or you will find it in it's progression. You'll find it in its progression trying to reach its better form that it has been created to come into. Yes, it goes for everything.
Trees, plants, animals, everything and us. Everything. Even the hair on your head. Yes. It wasn't always like it is on your head. The hair on the infants head tells you that, right? The downs on the bird tells you that, right? Look at these those downs. They couldn't fly with those little downs. But behind the downs comes strong feathers. And on the man's head, baby's head, bald or anything little weak hair, weak hair. I know you think nappy hair is a weak progression I don't. I think nappy hair is a better progression. It's a better protection for the head. It is. Believe me, the nappy hair is a better, a more durable protection for the hair. I don't know what was in that African climate that needed that better protection. But that's what we got. Now everything has been given an excellence that is to grow into a progressive point. So has man. And he has been chosen, designed by G-d or chosen by G-d to be G-d's Messenger in the world of man. G-d's Messenger in the world of man. The most important thing to understand about this of the two Shahadas, of the two testimonies in one testimony is that man in his search for truth thought everything communicated for G-d but himself.
He thought everything else communicatws for G-d. If you read the Prophets of the Bible, the old Prophets of the Bible, the Old Testament, you read how they looked at the workings of the sky and everything and in the workings of the sky they saw the sky, the working in the sky speaking to them. So they saw the sky communicating for G-d to them. And others saw things happening in their life, sickness, and beauty and all this, the changes in life. They saw all that communicating for G-d to them. And the spooky people, they believe the unknown. They imagined things upon spooky happenings in their life. They created descriptions and concepts of other world creatures. And they believed that those strange creatures were communicating to them for G-d. The progression leads to man believing that man communicates to man for G-d. So that's the highest progression.
That's the last. Muhammad is the last Prophet. Muhammad is the last Prophet, the last. So they can't get no higher than this. That's where we need to go. The highest we can go is to believe that a human being communicates to us for G-d. Yes, that's the highest we can go in the knowledge of that communication, how that communication comes and how we can see it. And it is the progression. Man is the mouthpiece, becomes the mouthpiece speaking for G-d, speaking the word of G-d into the ears and hearts of other men. Yes. Now what is important here again, that if you miss it, you miss everything. Yes sir. Is that the idea of G-d and the idea of man as a Messenger of G-d, is all supported by natural logic, nature, natural creation, natural logic, reason, rational truth is supported. Both are supported by rational truth. Rational truth. Rational truth means we arrive at that truth when we study the objective world, the material real natural world, all of that is established upon rational truth. That's why we say Ashadu, I witness. But at the same time we say I believe we believe in G-d, His angels and all the other articles of the belief, of Iman. But we also say Ashadu. I witness. It means that there is a logic. There is a logic. A human being can see with his rational mind, the truth that supports a man saying G-d exists and G-d is One. And that a man is a Messenger or a human being is a Messenger of G-d. So this is more than just a phase.
It is a practice, it's a truth that we testify to, a truth that we testify to. If we testify to it, it means we have something in our intelligence that convinces us it is right and correct. So that's for that one pillar of our faith. The first one we call the creed. La Ilaha Ill Ala, Muhammadan Rasulalah. Now the salat, the salat. I would go through this fast because the time is up. The Salat. Look at the salat. Salat for the Muslim is the daily prayer. We make five daily prayers and the other, Sunnah prayers and other prayers. This is our salat. Most importantly the five daily prayers. That's what our Salat is. Now this is our Salat, but how has the term Salat been used in revelation of Qur'an? Says "Every creature knows its Salat every creature, every creature knows its Salat. So this what we have in Salat is a form of Salat for us. This our form of Salat. But other forms of life have their forms of Salat. They have their form of Salat. So without getting spooky or going the way of the mystics, let's try to find practical answers for it. For this statement. Thank you. Let's try to find a rational, practical explanation for the statement.
What is now Salat is really a ritual. A ritual that tells a story as well as provide for my spiritual need in me to express my obedience to G-d with my whole being. It provides that for me. But at the same time it is a ritual, a ritual holding a story or a message. What story or message it holds? The message or story it holds is the message of my evolution or progress on the scheme of G-d. G-d has given me to a scheme, has given my existence to a scheme. That scheme is to motivate me and urge me on into the excellence that G-d wants me in. And my prayer is a ritual that tells the story of the history of my progress along the pattern of the road of that scheme. You following me?
Audience:
Yes sir.
IWDM:
Yes. So that's what it is. Now. So every creature has his Salat. A learned translator says every creature knows his mode of Salat. He didn't say just prayer. Knows it's mode of prayer. That tells us that the human is one form, life form. So he has his mode and another life form is different. So it would have a different mode, but they all have a prayer. They all have a prayer. So the Salat then is the obedience. The obedience in the creature to the Creator, to the Creator. His obedience to his Creator is his Salat.
And everything has been created to obey the Creator. Everything has been created to obey Creator and will obey Creator. Willingly or unwillingly. Yes. So the prayer is the man or the womans life of obedience to the Creator that designed the life. Now can you see a reference to our growth from the wombs of our mother to be men walking around on the earth. We begin our prayer like this. We talked about it standing up erect, but we make sadjah, which is the fullest and the most complete submission to G-d. We make sadjah and we're in that position that we are in just before we come out of our mothers, right? Yes. Yes. We in that position. You know, first we upside down looking at the sky in your mothers and you have to turn over. And you turn over with your arms folded like an animal. Then it's time to come out, right?
Yes. So that position, that last position that enabled us to come out into the world is a position that we are in during prostation with our nose and forehead on ground. Is that not true? Yeah. Take a picture of it sideways and look at the baby in the womb. The baby is balled up like that. Down like that. Or balled up like that. We are too. So our position is like that position in the womb that the baby finally comes to just before the baby comes out of the mother into the world and join the world. We rise from that position, stand up with the men again in a standing position again. So actually it is like a picture story, huh? Animated picture story of our humble beginning as a helpless infant in the dark womb of the world of the flesh. The flesh his mother. And then he comes out by the way of the door that G-d created them to come out.
He comes out into the light and gradually he's able to come up out of the prostation position on his own. And then he comes to the standing position direct and he joins the men. So who have evolved you that way, who have made it possible for you to come from that humble state to this proud position that you take in the world? It's your G-d who created you. But look now if we study the baby, the life in the womb and study it's beginning even before it took the position of sadjah, we find that we trace it back to something that doesn't resemble a human being at all. And no indication that a human being, visible indication, that a human being is going to be here.
So, it really leads us to try to know our beginning, our evolution in the scale of life or scheme of life. Our evolution in the scheme of life. So the Qur'an doesn't mention sadjah for the womb, but it tell us about us being formed in the wombs of our mother. We are formed in the wombs of our mother and it has a reference to something that has already been said in the scrpiture. We were talking about this morning that the Qur'an containing the books in their right state. In their straight form. Yes. So the Qur'an tells us about man being made from clay, man being made from dust, man being made from water, man being made from clot of blood or blood lump, lump, fetus lump and all. It takes us back to our earliest stages in the progression toward full completion as a human form. Life, physical, biological form. Am I correct? Yes, yes. Now where is the reference to scripture here? The reference to scripture is in many places I'll give you just one, but there are others I'm tempted to give you. Yes. In the scriptures that came before, a certain person is said to have asked Christ Jesus, Peace be on him. How can I be born again of my mother?
But Jesus said, "You have to be born again" according to the Gospel, the Bible, Christian Bible. And this man said, "How can I be born again? How could I go back into my mother? I can't do that. It wasn't answered. Nevertheless, you have to be born again. That was the answer again, same thing. Nevertheless you have to be born again. So that says that as a man is born in the world from his mother, from a helpless state when he doesn't have any mind of his own or where he had no mind of his own. He didn't argue In the mother's womb, he never would've got out. And as he grew up, he was honoring, he was listening and obeying. The older he got and the more he went into the world, then he started arguing and debating. But he already made a human being. If G-d had given him that kind of mind while he's in the womb, he never would've got to evolve. He probably would've died in the mother. He probably would've died. He wouldn't have made it to the Alaq state. And I guess it would have been said of him like it is said in the Bible. "And you found me wallowing in my own blood.
He never would've made if he would have used his own mind. So there are things that you can't understand in religion. But G-d has revealed these things to the Prophet, to the Messengers of G-d, to the Prophets and Messengers of G-d. You can't understand them completely. Don't be so argumentive. Be like you were, go back and be like you were when you were in your mother. Obey the will of G-d and don't question it. Conform to G-d's will for you and don't question it. Become a baby again. Empty out that vessel. Empty that stuff you done put in your head. Throw it all out. Don't stand on any of your opinions you got in the world.
Or any of the lot you've gotten from the secular. Don't stand in front any of it. Of what you've got from the spiritual experiences you've had on your own, from your own own mind. Throw it all out and try to start at the point of zero in the activity of your mind. Stand still. Stand still. Be still. You want the Lord to speak to you. Be still. Be as dead. Be as dead to your own mind, to your own logic, to your own opinion. Be dead to it. Just stand still. Don't move your thoughts and hear what G-d says and start to grow. That's the way you have to do it. Then you'll start to grow and you'll grow big enough that you can start baking on your own.
And you won't be arguing with G-d. So that's the prayer. The prayer is a story of how we were born as an obedient intellect, obeying G-d. It is the first of the intellect that is obedient to G-d. And the prayer is a ritual that preserve for us of reflection on that great truth and that great knowledge. It's a reflection on it. We start here on our own and we start to bend down.
We bend down here. Highly glorified is my Lord. What does that relate to? The social evolution of man, the social evolution of man. You are facing the ka'ba or the house, right?
Audience:
Yes sir.
IWDM:
The house is the first social unit, isn't it?
Audience:
Yes sir.
IWDM:
It is a symbol for the first social unit because that's where we have formed family back then in a house somehow. Whatever was the house for us. Yeah. So the simple built little structure there is symbolic of a home. It's called bait, home. So we make a bow to it. Bowing through the social beginning that G-d put me on. G-d put me on the social beginning. G-d created me to be that, right? Yes sir. Bow to it. I submit to it. But in the history of man's social progression, it is that very social unit that went to his head.
He became many in strong sons and he made war with the next family. So he became an oppressor. He became a dominator, huh? Yes, yes. He started to take over other lands because he had more strong men. So the same family that G-d wants him to be orientated to. He wants him to be orientated to that social nature, the family nature. But it goes to his head when he got an army. Men now under his command. So his social grouping now is not for human excellence, is not for human edification. His social grouping now is for dominance and power.
So, he could think for himself. "I got a mighty army. " So hey, look at that heart. Glory to Allah the Almighty, not your army. And the very word might is rooted in the same root for bone and bones are the hardest thing in your structure. Bones is the strongest support in your structure Bones. So you structured strong, you are might now because you have this mighty army and all this material worth. You have strong bones holding up your flesh. Huh? Okay. So man is evolved upon the social life, the social pattern, that's what he's evolved upon. But he bends over in that position after he recite the words of G-d. Words of G-d such as heart. You have to go down, realizing that my Lord is stronger than me.
Stronger than my bones. That's the structure there. Stronger than my bones. The social pattern that G-d wants to hold me up is better than my bones. A man has thought that his own science holds him up. Not his own seperate science. No, no. Not your science. Separate from the group. It won't hold you up. But your science as a group holds you up. It is the social science that will hold you up. Isn't that true? But now he comes back up saying "Allahu Akbar." Now saying G-d is the mighitest, not man is the praise of G-d. G-d gets the credit. Isn't that right?
We are not praising G-d when we say, "Oh G-d, you are wonderful. Oh G-d, you are loving. Oh G-d, you are so merciful. Oh G-d, you're so this. But man did this, and man did that, and man made electricity, and man gave us electric, and man gave us stoves and the cars, and man gave us trains and airplanes and man made roads for us. This man gave us these tools, man did all this. No, G-d evolved man. And G-d provided man with what he needed to get all this. G-d gave us all of this with the hand of the man, the brain of the man through the resources of the man that G-d created too. G-d gave us all of this.
So, G-d has given us this. This is in G-d's plan, us to have all this. G-d's plan was for us to have all this thought it came through man's hands. And man couldn't create it if G-d didn't help his hand, create his hands and put things in his head, design his head and put things in his head to make it possible for him to do all those things. So when we see G-d as the giver, G-d as the Benefactor, then we give perfect praise to G-d. And when we accept that G-d is more, we can depend G-d more than we depend on ourself, then we've given praise to G-d. When you say "Sumiala Huliman Hamidu, it means G-d is more dependable than I. Mighty. G-d is mighty. Yes. Yes. Then when you come up and say "Sumiala Huliman Hamidu." When did I praise him? I praisee Him? when I submitted to my social nature that G-d created and I acknowledge that I ain't mighty. G-d is. That's when I praise Him.
So, I come back up and I said, 'Sumiala Huliman Hamidu." I didn't say Alhamduillah when I was down there, but I said it when I acknowledged G-d. I acknowledged my own humble nature, how I have evolved as a social preacher to sadly wreck. And I acknowledged also that G-d is mightier than man. Mightier than social man with all of his army and all of his men backing him and working together with him. G-d is mightier. Now, he stands, he says, "Sami Ala Huliman Hamidu" But soon as he comes to this direct position, he says, Allahu Akbar and go down and make sadjah. He goes down and makes sadjah and in that sadjah what he says? All this just to explain what I said. That the prayer is a ritual telling the story of our progress on the scheme that G-d created for us. Or in the scheme that G-d created for us. Now, when he's in the sadjah, what he says? He says, "Subhana Raabil Ala" Glory be to my Lord the most high. Glory be to my Lord the most high. What is more powerful than the bone? The social force, the army of men. What is more powerful than big armies and big muscles and strong men? Strong fortifications or fortresses. What is more powerful than that? What can break down a fort?
What can defeat big armies. You said it. Intelligence. Intelligence. Intelligence. And how does mans intelligence evolve? It evolves from the material world. m His intelligence evolves upon the material world. So you put your head back down there where that power came from, where that great strength that you rely upon came from. It came out of material work. So you put your head, nose down on the material work. Means whatever came to me by way of intuition or whatever came to me by way of reason. It came out of the material world. So I submit to the G-d that created it. I put my forehead and my nose on the floor.
And when you're walking after you should roll. You don't walk. A freakish man will walk like that with his toes up. When you walk you roll down on the toes, toes push off to the next step. Toes push off to the next. So you got the toes on the floor and your knees on the floor. And you got the hands on the floor. These hands is what makes it possible for man to make these marvelous things, wonderful things that he makes that he has his in his world. Tools. And all these, his hands so precious. So he got his hands on the floor. The nose is symbolic of his gnost. And it's the intuition. Intuition. That intuition comes by way of the gnost. Have the nose on the floor, forehead, symbolic of his rational mind in action. Not subconscious, conscious. Rational. Because it all evolved upon G-d's creation. The material universe.
So, in that position, knowing that, seeing himself coming up like that, being evolced like that in that position, he says, "Glory be to my Lord the most high." No, it's not man that is high. G-d is high. Not high in this physical space, it means high in the ascension, high in the ascension of knowledge, truth, reality, et cetera. High in the ascension of knowledge, the knowledge grows and grows and grows up high. And G-d is the most high. He says, "So glory be to my Lord the most high." Now the men that defeat great armies like the great army of China. So many fighters in China. Oh, they have the biggest army. But the little Japanese ruled the Chinese for a long time.
Why? Because the Japanese were higher. Higher in what? Knowledge.
Knowledge. They were higher in knowledge. So, they were able to use their knowledge to defeat a people who were bigger than them in social mass Social mass.
The social mass were much bigger than the social mass without these on those little islands in the water, yes. But they defeated them because they were high in knowledge. And we find in the history of man's life or his progression as a civilized creature or as a social family, we find in his history, his progression, history of his progression, history of his progression, the history of his advantage. We find that what made man conquer and extend his domain, his rule was not so much his physical might, but the strength of his intellect. Intellect, the strength of his intellect. And G-d made Adam from the earth. He made Adam from the earth and all others are the children of Adam. right? He made Adam from the earth. And all of us are children of Adam. So two foundations we have that are very important in our evolution. One is the foundation of the matter, the material world itself that we evolve upon.
And the other one is the foundation of logic. Rational truth. Abraham represents that. He represents rational, the role of reason or reasoning in faith, the firm role of rational truth in faith. That's what he represents. So here's this rational truth, that's why he becomes the father of the nations. Because as Adam was the father of all people, then Abraham becomes the father, Peace be upon the Prophet, the father of all the nations, all the social communities, all the nations. Why? Because he has the rational power. He represents the rational power. And he invites people to rational power. He lived upon the rational. He lived upon the rational. His faith was a rational faith. The faith of Abraham is a rational faith. So don't, please don't underestimate what we have. This is great knowledge.
So, when we put our heads on the floor, we are saying that we recognize G-d as the Benefactor, the one who benefited us. That we received whatever we have of science, whatever we have of insights into the working of nature, into the working of matter and nature. It has been because of our Creator G-d who made us and made everything possible for us. So we acknowledge Him as being the most high. Him as being the giver, and because of that, we are able to stand on our feet again. We're able to stand on our feet again. And each time you stand on your feet, it represents a new thrust for your life along the path of progress. And we know some prayers have oh eight rakats, and 16, they go up to many numbers. And if you want to, you can pray a million rakats and their is nothing that say you have to stop it is the third point. So G-d, the possibilities that G-d has made for us are unknown. Don't think we have made the last thrust today. Tonight. Next time I talk to you, we'll make another. And don't think this world or scientific progress have made it's last thrust. It will make another. Thank you very much. Asalaam Alaikum.
Audience:
Thank you, Brother Imam.
IWDM:
So we have to conclude and at another time, InshAllah. But I think we've established the reason tonight. And you now can see that our religion and our religious community should be based in logic, based in a strong logic supported by the universe, by the creation itself. Yes. And you could now go from Salat to Zakat. You can do that and do a good job. I'm looking at several Imams before me. You can do a good job next week or anytime you'd like to. You can give a good discussion on Zakat and discuss it from the rational base. From its, I would say premise in the creative world. Yes. You can discuss it. Yes. And how G-d has signaled us to be charitable. Because the principle of charity is in His creation. Right? You can go from that to fasting. Isn't winter a fast? Yes. I'll just pick something that's best. I had to grab something fast. Winter. Winter is a seasonal fast. Yes. Three months fast, sometimes longer, sometimes short. Depending on where you located. Yes. So fasting is also a principle in the workings of nations in the universe itself. A mother animal will hold herself away from the food until her baby eats. Isn't she fasting?
She can go and eat, but she's fasting. So G-d has prescribed fast in the nature of faith. Yes, yes. And you could go on from the fast and you would go to pilgrimage. To pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is what? Pilgrimage is a visit to our humble beginning, to our beginning in paradise, to our beginning in paradise. Where we did not holler and swear and do ugly things and did not mistreat us. Now we can't have a perfect ritual. I didn't curse and I didn't treat anybody bad. I didn't kill any animal. I didn't kill anything on my heart. G-d is my witness. I didn't do of that. But I wanted to knock somebody's teeth out.
But some were being real rude. I restrained myself and praise G-d, glorify G-d. And I kept my peace for most of the time. It is an exercise. It's an exercis., An exercise to get back to where we were when G-d created us in paradise. So much for the structured religion, that religion is structured on five essentials and we hope InShallah to take this subject up again in the future. But I'm not only giving you permission, I'm asking you to understand, discuss these things and continue. Thank you.



