JABRIL.MUHAMMAD
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and I left Phoenix for Chicago late in September 1989.
He delivered a short, but powerful talk, in a church, October 1, 1989. I was there.
He opened the body of his talk with these words:
“We talked this morning on principles and the Reverend Doctor Coleman asked me if I would talk on that theme this morning.
“My dear Brothers and Sisters, divine and human nature is built by God on principles. A principle is a rule of action.
“God has built you and me on certain principles that form the basis of human nature and divine nature. These same principles form the basis of what we call religion.
“All revealed scripture is built on the nature of God and the nature of the human being–otherwise the revealed word could not attract human beings. There must be something in religion that attracts human beings.
“There are over eight hundred million believers in Jesus Christ, on this earth. There are nearly one billion believers in Islam. In all of these religions, they started with a man and a message. That message had an appeal to a wide array of human beings because inherent in the message is the very nature of the human being to which the message was sent.
“Since all revealed religion is built on the nature of God and the nature of the human being, religion is not outside of self but true religion comes from within.
“For anyone to say that there is no God speaks against the nature of your own creation. Your whole being cries out in recognition of a God superior to yourself.
“When you come into the world you are born with a nature to submit to one greater than yourself. That didn’t come to you in a book. That is ingrained in the very nature in which you are created.
“So, belief in God is the very essence of our nature, and belief in God is the essence of all religions.
“This is a principle. A rule of action, which if it is fed properly, and exercised properly will cause us to do great and magnificent works in God’s name.
“Each one of us is born with that essence to believe in God. If we carry that principle into practice, if it is fed, and it grows, and we use it, we can do great and marvelous things in the name of God.
“Moses delivered all of Israel with that one principle–I believe in God. David slew Goliath with that one principle; that one stone–I believe in God. Muhammad built a world on that one principle that is the essence of our nature–I believe in God.
“Faith and trust in God and the acknowledgment of him is a part of our nature. You don’t have to be taught that. You already have it. It just has to be fed and exercised.
“The baby came to the world with faith; and knowing that one answers prayers.
“What was the baby’s first prayer? It was a cry.
“Each of us, have cried. It’s a universal expression. The sound coming in is the same. The sound going out is the same. But during life we all make different sounds, and it appears as though a tower of Babel has been built because we don’t seem to understand each other.
“But every mother understands the cry of her child. So when a child–cries that child instinctively knew somebody would be there to answer that cry. That indwelling instinctive knowledge–God is.
“Paul says: ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.’
“Babies have a bigger faith sometimes than grown-ups.
“When the baby was put on the mother’s breast, it didn’t know that something was there. It believed. So it pulled and kept on pulling until its pulling was rewarded with a substance.
“You see, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.
“So, armed with the knowledge that God is, and armed with faith, and trust in God, is all that we need to move out in the world and accomplish whatsoever we set our mind to.
“Yes, prayer; the giving of charity, or the giving of ourselves, and the eternal struggle of good against evil; right against wrong, light against darkness; all is in the nature in which we are created.
“So, religion comes from within. And whenever we do not practice the principles, as we should, then we lapse into spiritual death. Then out of God’s mercy he raises one up from the midst of the people who resuscitates, or revives the principles that our nature is built upon that have died because we failed to practice those principles, or we are not fed properly by those who claim to feed those principles.
“So, God sends us a man, and a man or a woman gives us a word. That word of truth speaks against our actions that are not in accord with our nature; allowing us to correct ourselves.
“So, you see, you can’t get religion from the Bible. You can’t get religion from the Qur’an. God gave you religion when you were birthed into the world, but the word of God is sent down to revive religion that has died in the human being.
“There is a principle that permits God to come to us when we have gone astray from Him. Without this principle; this act or action of God–He cannot come to us–He cannot save us from ourselves.
“What is that principle? It is forgiveness. When God forgives, that allows Him to come to our rescue.
“Let me give you a little picture. God is perfect. He creates us with the essence to become as He is–perfect. But sin separates us from God, but not only, does sin separate us from God; sin separates us from ourselves. Sin separates us one from another.
“Sin reduces us to nothing. Yes. Can you imagine that sin begins to break us up on the inside? Sin begins to make us sense a void in our lives.
“Sin reduces us to zero. When we are nothing, God sees something in nothing!
“The Qur’an teaches us that He created us from worthless water called sperm but in the sperm there is something of value. If it is placed in the right environment–at the right time–something can come forth from that which is considered nothing.
“Nothing is the field in which God expresses Himself.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void. God loves the condition of nothingness; for it is out of nothing that he created the heavens and the earth. And the heavens and the earth glorify God.
“So, when you have been reduced to nothing–God is! (applause) All praise is due to Allah.
“He now sees nothing.
“There’s a possibility for Him. I’m going to make something again out of nothing. But I’m going to wait for nothing to cry out to me. And even when you’ve been reduced to nothing, by sin; God makes Himself available.
“Then he allows you and me to recognize the void in our lives–the nothingness. Yes, people are praising you, “Oh, you’re so great! You’re this! You’re that!” But on the outside you look one way, but on the inside sin has reduced you to nothing.
“So, from the inside out you cry out, as you cried in the beginning, when you came into the world, and there was one to hear our cry. You cry again from the void in your life and He comes quickly to say to you, Yes, sin reduced you to nothing, but I’m going to take nothing and use it for My glory.”
“Forgiveness allows God to come to us but forgiveness allows us–even though we are stained by sin; forgiveness allows us to approach one another, to see beyond the pain that our sin of evil toward self and others has produced.”
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(As the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has told us that God told him that speaking came a very long time before writing. In the article, Allah willing, I would comment on his words, for the first time.)
More next issue, Allah willing and my reason for this article.
