06/28/1997
IWDM Study Library
Masjid Malcolm Shabazz

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alamin. The Almighty Lord, Most High, says in the Quran of the Quran, that this Book, it is the Book, it is guidance for sure for the Mutaqeen. This word is translated, "those who fear G-d", it is translated, "those who reverence G-d." Those who fear G-d, those who reverence G-d. Those who have Taqwa. G-d says, "To fear Him, Ittaqullah. To fear G-d, to reverence G-d, to fear G-d, to reverence G-d, Ittaqullah.
And Allah says also, “wal-arham." Now, this is different. The fear and reverence we have for Allah is a total fear, total fear, complete fear. It is the fear that the whole soul gives itself to, the soul gives itself to that fear. It becomes taqwa. The soul itself becomes taqwa. The other fears then can be overcome because the biggest fear is the fear of G-d, the biggest respect is the respect for G-d. So, then the other fears can be overcome, the other attachments will be safe because the biggest reverence is for G-d.
This is Allahu Akbar, this is Allahu Akbar. When we have ourselves made up like that, constituted like that in our spirit. When we are made up like that, constituted like that in our spirit then our spirit is saying, "Allahu Akbar," though the voice is not heard. The spirit is always saying, "Allahu Akbar," and the soul is registering, "Allahu Akbar," G-d is the greatest, G-d is the biggest, G-d is the most important. That's what Allahu Akbar is. G-d is the biggest, G-d is the greatest, G-d is the most important.
This taqwa is so important. Once we have the correct fear of G-d, a total fear that our whole life gives itself to, in its fear of G-d, taqwa, and piety, and regardfulness, and reverence. All of those meanings are in taqwa. G-d wants us to have a respect for the family ties also, respect for our family ties, "wal-arham, and have respect for the family ties." It includes to fear. A man fears when the family unity starts to weaken, and he sees the members of the family drifting apart. He starts to fear.
When he sees them in unity and harmony as they should be, then he has a regardfulness, he has a regard for them. He regards them highly. But as they lose that togetherness, he starts not to regard them highly and he starts to fear the consequences. If we have this taqwa for G-d, we have this taqwa also for the family ties. G-d also said, "And fear the fire." Ittaqun Nar, which is natural, it's natural. Fear the fire, fear the fire, but this fire is the fire that consumes even the spirit.
It's the fire of hell that will distort even the spirit. The physical fire just distorts and deform the physical. But the hellfire, it will distort even the non-physical. It distorts the non-physical as well. Then G-d says, "And fear the fire." But should we also have a reverence for the fire? Should we have a respect for the fire? Certainly. Should we have a regard for the fire, a reverence for the fire?
Yes. History tells us that man has gotten great benefits from fire and great harm from fire. So, we have fear of fire, and we have respect for fire, and we even have a reverence for the fire. Subhanallah. Highly glorified is G-d. G-d says, "O' you who believe, save your souls, yourselves from the fire. Save your soul, yourselves, and your family from the fire."
We know that Allah says in the Quran, in His Book also. Of those who Al-Islam saved in the beginning of the mission of Muhammad the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa-sallam. Prayers and the peace be upon him. Those first ones who were saved from the ignorance age and from the ignorant life, the pagan life, or the life of idol worship and pettiness. Allah says of them, “that they were found right on the brink, on the edge of the tip of fire.”
And He saved them from it. And He saved them from it. We know that G-d, when we have this right disposition towards G-d, G-d is salvation, G-d saves us.
We know also when we have the redisposition toward human life. Muhammad is the model of human life, the model of human life that G-d wants for us. He is the perfect model of the human life that the G-d wants for us.
When we have the right respect for that too, we have respect for the life. Then we also can have progress, we can have salvation. We can have salvation, and one respect leads to the other. When you begin to respect Allah's creation, respect what Allah wants for you in creation, in a human model, and et cetera. This brings you closer and closer to G-d and it saves you from the fire, saves you from the hellfire, save your life. It saves your life.
G-d says, "Why do you not respond when it is that you call to that which gives you life?" You’re called to that which gives you life. The answer for all of this is Allah's Word. If we want to be saved from the hellfire, then respect G-d's Word, be acquainted with G-d's Word, read the Quran so you will know the Quran more, Allah's Word. Study it so you will better be able to benefit from it and use it for the benefit of your family and others.
This is how G-d saved them from the pit of fire. What saved them from the pit of fire? They were on the edges of fire, about to fall into the hellfire, and it was the Quran that came by way of Jibreel and Muhammad. Peace be upon them, that made it possible for them to have salvation while they at that time when it came, they were right on the brink of the hellfire. This is what will save us, this is what will save us, too. We are to use the Quran to save ourselves, our own souls. We are to use the Quran to save our families, but we can't do it unless we have that taqwa. We will give our attention to other things and we will try to save our family with the advice from the shrink or something, from the head shrink, the psychiatrist. Before we get to that point, let us respect the Quran and save our families with the Quran. Save ourselves first. G-d says, "Yourself first." Qu. He didn't say yourself but G-d put self, Qu Anfusakum, save yourselves, your own selves, Wa Ahlekum Nara, save your own selves. You go save yourself first, attach yourself to the Quran so the Quran can feed your whole life. The Quran is the life. "Why did they not respond when it is that they are called to that which gives them life?" That’s the Quran, that is what gives you life. We know that from the language of Adhan. The Adhan says, "Hai al-Salat," "Come to the Salat."
What is the Salat? Salat is the Quran. We are reading and reciting the Quran in our Salat, that’s what we are doing. The Hai, the "come to the life" is the life of the word of G-d, the Quran. Again, G-d says, but using a similar language, "Why do they not respond when they are called to worship their Lord, Allah who is their Lord?" They’re called to come to Allah who is their Lord. Their lord is not like the lord of England. Allahu Akbar, their lord is the lord that is responsible for your existence, you wouldn’t exist without this lord.
The meaning of Lord, I’m giving you now from the teachers and scholars and the wise people of the religion. The Lord is the one who made possible your existence and knew what your existence would need. Then He provided for your existence, that that your existence needs in order to reach its completion, it’s a growing existence. It’s not a finished existence, it’s a maturing existence, it’s a learning existence. It’s an existence that needs teaching and learning, and maturing, et cetera.
Allah provides that for you. He is your Lord until you’re able to be trusted on your own. Our prophet, Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, he said there was a person who kept going back to his Lord. He never stayed away from his Lord. Anytime he needed something he went back to his Lord. Anytime he was confused, he went back to his Lord. Anytime he doubted or didn’t know what to do he went back to his Lord. He did it so long, over a long period of time that G-d knew that he could be trusted.
G-d told him, "Go on your own. You’re trusted on your own." Isn’t that wonderful? Yes. Praise be to Allahu Akbar. We ask G-d for guidance always. He is the one who forgives sins and the only one who can forgive sins. So, we ask Him to forgive our sins, have mercy on us, and guide us always, Ameen. 

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, Alhamdulillah, we give all praise to G-d, we believe in Him and we trust Him. We do not make with Him other gods.
We witness that Muhammad to whom the Quran was revealed about 14th century, and 18 or so years ago, is the last of the prophets, the seal of the prophets, the promise teacher and liberator, whose mentioned as G-d says in His book, in the Torah, and in the Injeel, in the Torah and in the Injeel. In the book to the people called Jews and in the book to the people now we call Christians, that G-d mentioned our prophet who is a mercy to all the world, a mercy to all the world, Rahmatan Lil 'Alamin.
He mentions him in the Torah and in the Injeel. And we know that as long as we have the Quran within our reach, it’s available to us. And we have the model life Muhammad available to us. His history, his conduct, his perfect human character, as long as we have this information, we will be saved. We will have salvation and our life will be situated to benefit from all the good things that G-d has made for us, made for human beings.
G-d says, "Who has said that G-d has disallowed the good things for His servants? No, these good things are for them." G-d says, "In this life," in this life. So, don’t live just for the hereafter, don’t prepare just for the hereafter, be prepared to get good life, good benefits, and a good life right now in this world, in this Dunya, in this world. G-d says, "Who has said to them that these things that I have disallowed, the good things?
They have the good things for them in this life and more for them in the hereafter, and more for them in the hereafter." In fact, the word means that it’s going to be exclusively for them in the hereafter, exclusively for them in the hereafter. In the hereafter, the sinner won’t be able to benefit, it will be only the believers. In the hereafter, the good things of that world will not be for those who don’t serve Allah, those who don’t serve their G-d, their Lord.
It won’t be for the disbelievers, it will be only for those who serve Allah the G-d, the one G-d, only one G-d. There is no other G-d but one G-d, and it will be for the believers, the believers. But in this world G-d says, “He does not close the gates to His treasures, the door to His treasures against any, those who are well-meaning and those who are wrong, both the well-meaning person and the wrong person can get the benefit.”
Why? Because G-d must give the wrong person a chance to learn that he’s wrong. If G-d doesn’t let him benefit from the good, how is he going to learn he’s wrong? If he does not respect what he learned from getting all of these good things. Like I told my child, my child being bad, I said, "Look," I said, "Do you like bad?" I said, "Do you like that I treat you bad? You don’t like that, do you?" I said, "Do you like good smell in the house?"
"Yes." I said, "You like a clean bed to sleep on?" "Yes." I said, "Allah has created you to like good, so why don’t you be good?" and I left him. We have a contradiction in our own nature. G-d gave us nature and nature is speaking out against us saying, "Hey, what you’re doing is against your own logic." We pray G-d will always give us the Islamic life, never deprive us of the Islamic life, that’s what saves man.
In fact, we believe that this G-d has been giving this life to people. Ever since the first person was created, G-d has been giving the people the Islamic life. We find it some in some small measures, some in big measure. Sometimes we find a non-Muslim with Islamic life in bigger measure than we find it in the Muslims. Sometimes we find a Muslim with a bigger measure of the Christian purity in him than a Christian, and that’s the way it goes.
We will all lose if we don’t stick to the best. Allah says, "Take the best thereof." Let’s pray to G-d always for faith and Taqwa, purity, for a clean spirit, for a pure spirit. And that He forgive us when we sin or error, orc make mistakes. And that He shows His mercy and give us this Islamic life, Ameen.


