Ramadan Session 2002
Topic: Looking For Happiness
Conceptual Wholeness (Four Sacred Conflicts)
Lecturer: Imam W. Deen Mohammed
At
Ramada Inn - Homewood hotel
Chicago, Illinois
Topics:
I. Conceptual Wholeness (Four Sacred Conflicts)
A. Man's Spiritual Association
B. Man's Industrial Association
C. Man's Dialectical (speech making) Association
D. Man's Political Association Abraham - Ideological Dialectic Devotion
II. Contextual Wholeness: Aspirations (Tauheed) Ideological Development
A. Building the Context to Sexual Expression (Family)
B. Socialization of Spiritual Life; The spiritual expression of human (Mortal Flesh) aspirations
C. The Rational Expression of Spiritual Life - The Moral Urgency
D. The Devotional (Occupational) Expression of Spiritual Life (Culture)
E. Dialectic Expression in the Community Life
F. Shuraa (As Shuraa): Dialectic Rule
G. Securing the Ethical Rule
H. The Spiritual Republic
11-22-2002 Ramadan session Jumah Prayer Friday Chicago, Ill
As Salaam Alaikum
We praise G-d, we witness He is One alone in the rule of heaven and earth, and we witness that Muhammad (pbuh) to whom Quran was revealed over 14 centuries and 20 years and more ago is His servant and His Messenger the last of the Prophets. And we witness that he is the promised one given in the Quran with reference to the scriptures of Christians and the Jews wherein it said that there would be one to lead the people to purity. To lead them out of darkness into light and to take from them the heavy yoke that weighed them down and to break every bond of slavery.
He received Quran in the month of Ramadan, this blessed month, and the first revelation came in a blessed night, and he was missioned by G-d to tell his people and the world what Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, Jabl Nur, and told his people after he had gotten revelation from G-d, that is G-d is One alone. He said G- d is only one G-d. And we know that the people whose ears that fell upon were believers in many idol gods, it is said they had about 369 fertility gods, household gods, all gods made by their own hands. And when they were questioned about these gods they said, "We found our fathers worshipping these."
And when they were questioned about other things that needed correcting in their lives and changes in their lives so that they would have G-d's guidance and His mercy they would always refer back to their fathers saying, "We found our fathers practicing this." And it was said to them, "Even though your fathers were ignorant?"
Amos 8.11; Famine of hearing the word of G-d
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:"
The age or the time referred to, Muhammad's (pbuh) coming is called the ignorant age, Jahiliyyah.
And it is prophesied in the Books that came before to the people that are contained in what we call the Bible now, maybe not in their original form or pure form but they are there. And in those Books it said the world
would come under darkness, there would be a famine all over the land, everywhere but it would not be a famine of food but a famine of hearing the word of G-d. It did not say the word of G-d would not be among the people or in the people, but it said it would be a famine of hearing the word of G-d. And I understand that to mean that the word of G-d was with them but they had no knowledge of it and they were not following knowledge, they were ignorant.
Not only were the Arabs in darkness when Muhammad (pbuh) began his mission as a mercy to all the worlds, the whole known world at that time was in darkness. The people of the Book acknowledge that they were in darkness at that time and they acknowledge today that the grandest time for the people of the Book was the great, glorious page in the history of the Muslims in Cordova, Spain where Al Islam ruled and was respected and loved by the citizens of Spain, even by non- Muslims. It was appreciated and loved for 500 years. And the life of society continued for about 700 years, that is a long time. The United States is not nearly that old and really the people practicing Christianity in this part of the world is not that old, maybe close to 500 years but certainly not 700 years and maybe not even 500 years.
This is the kind of longevity for civilized, G-d fearing, orderly government, and I talked with people from parts of the Muslim world that are descendants of those who left Africa and went to Spain and set up the wonderful governmental order that they enjoyed for centuries. A time of religious tolerance, a time of cooperation in good works for humanity by Christian leaders and Jews and Muslims.
Spain fell because of corruption among Muslim leaders
Q. 19:59; When society misses prayer it is destroyed
"But after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts: soon then will they face Destruction"
When I listened to the Moroccan telling me about that :ime, one of them said to me that history records that ;orruption set into the leaders themselves. Comforts, naterial things and comforts that material things bring ibout or made possible, this Moroccan told me that is what brought them down. And he told me, long before .he society itself began to lose its grip on the land and on :he religion first of all, corruption had already taken its :oll on the leaders.
Q.24:41; Every creature knows its mode of prayer
Seest thou not that it is Allah Whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows Its own (mode of) prayer and praise. And Allah knows well all that they do.
Allah (swt) says never did a people fall until they began to abandon prayers, stop praying give, up their prayers. So we should understand by that, especially if we understand, a few you will understand this, the saying of G-d, "That every creature knows its mode of prayer." If you understand that then you truly understand the statement no civilization fell until it abandoned prayers, salat.
Q. 2:185; Ramadan is blessed month
Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Dur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong).
This is the blessed month of Ramadan, it is the month in which the Quran was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh), `Shahru ramadaanal ladhee unzila feehil qufaanu hudal in naasi wa bayyinaatim minal hudaa wal furqaan."
Translated the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an :lame down as guidance for mankind and as plain widence of what is guidance and what is not, the ;riterion, the blessed month of Ramadan. And when we witness this month G-d says -- and witness means that (ou know it has started and you are present in your come or in your location -- then you should begin your
)rayers, your fasting. But if you are on a journey, you're lot present, then G-d exempts you from this on the day )f your travel.
Fasting is exempt for the traveling person
The learned Imams, scholars today, the pious teachers, they are saying, most of them that we should accept Gd's allowances that He makes for us. That to turn down His allowance that He makes for you is insulting. Like if a great ruler, or a great man of great stature offers you something, you don't feel comfortable rejecting it. How much more should we be uncomfortable if Allah (swt) tells us when traveling I don't have to fast. Let us not be like the serpent who had to reason with what G-d said and trusts his own reason and came up with his own answers. Let us not be like the serpent, like the shayatan, satan.
Let us accept advice from the best of our scholars and from our pious leaders at least, give it respect. And don't shut it out but reason with it, listen to it, think about it and see if your intelligence and your good nature encourages you to come to that conclusion. I have done that and I have come to that conclusion. Wouldn't you give it respect if your intelligence and good nature
comes to their conclusion.
No matter how comfortable my travel is, this is modern time we know that, no matter how comfortable my travels G-d said when I am traveling I don't have to fast. I'm exempt from fasting, if I'm traveling, if I'm not present in my town. Why is this given? Al Islam is a religion, the teaching of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the Quran and the teaching of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), respects human goodness and human excellence.
It does not at all want to interfere with the natural learned, good nature and good motivations, good desires, good sensitivities, it does not want to interfere with it, it does not want to do away with that, deny you that. It is in the best of human beings, if someone gives them something they are grateful and say, "Thank you," and even if they don't have a need for it, the real good one and intelligent ones they aren't going to say, "I don't have any need for this." They don't want to be offensive, they don't want to be rude, they don't want to hurt the feelings of the person who is coming to them with love. So they will take something they don't even have a use for and when they get out of sight they say, "I don't have a need for this I'll find somebody who can use it." That is respect.
11-22-2002 p.3 of 11So Allah (swt) says when traveling you are exempted from the fast. We reason and go back in the time and we say "Because there was great hardship," that's true, this is why. But isn't G-d the All-knowing? Didn't He know that transportation was going to be improved, the world was going to be advanced and one day it wouldn't be so hard to travel and man would have the comforts He promised him? Even in that time the comforts were not here, G-d promised man great comforts and said a time is coming in life when it is going to be easy for you.
So G-d knew the time of ease was coming for your travel, so why did He leave it like that -- if you are traveling you are exempted? Because that's not the only reason, the hardship they endured or the hardship they encountered was not the only reason for exempting them from fasting. Allah (swt) didn't say "You have to travel on your pack animal for days and nights or you have to walk for months to get to the Hajj, to the pilgrimage or other reasons I am going to exempt you from fasting during traveling. Or you're traveling for other reasons of importance to you, and you are suffering this long, long time on the road and hardship you encounter, so for that reason I exempt you from fasting." That is not the reason. And look, Allah (swt) says of fasting in the inspired hadith of Muhammad the Prophet (pbuh), one that is treated as revelation to Muhammad the Prophet (pbuh), it comes from a group of inspired hadiths called hadith Qudsi that are called holy, sacred hadith. Meaning they came from
G-d.
Fasting exercises self restraint for perfect obedience Hadith Qudsi p64 #10; Fasting is Mine
Abu Hurairah reported the Prophet said, 'Allah (swt)
said, "Fasting is mine and it is I who give reward for it.'"
G-d inspired this in him as He gave him revelation but not on the high level that revelation that came through Jibril. It is said, "Fasting is for Me," G-d said that to us. Now if fasting is for G-d, how can you say, "Well it's not hardship anymore, it's easy?" You are not the subject, whether is hard or easy is not the subject, G-d has required it, that is the subject. G-d has asked you to do that for Him, for G-d we fast. And you know what fasting is an exercise in self restraint to increase our obedience to G-d, an exercise in self restraint, denying yourself what you would ordinarily take or want.
So that your obedience to G-d will become more perfect. Ramadan in the ninth month like life is born within
It is abstaining, keepingauy_fronLtheapgetiteolthe flesh body and also mind that are not
acceptable in mi./elision. It is keeping away from all of them. Though we are to practice this discipline or self restraint all the time in every month, this particular month is a special month for training the muscles of the will power, the muscles of the moral life, the muscles of the will power, this is this month, the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the year. Life delivered
me to my mother in the ninth month.
So it is a chance for you to really be reborn and if you are successful when you're delivered in this month you get so many gifts. You're talking about a baby shower, so many beautiful gifts. I have never since I started