Self-Improvement Study Guides - The Will of God, Part I
THE WILL OF GOD I
WELCOME
GREETINGS TO YOU. I AM MINISTER LOUIS FARRAKHAN, SPEAKING TO YOU LIVE TODAY FROM THE HOME OF THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO. WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL TO HAVE THIS PRIVILEGE AND THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH YOU MORE OF THE TEACHINGS AND THE. WISDOM OF GOD, REVEALED TO THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. OUR THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE LISTENING ON RADIO STATION WBEE AND OUR THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE LISTENING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND EVEN FROM THE CARIBBEAN, BY WAY OF A NATIONAL RADIOTELEPHONE HOOK-UP.
IT IS A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO BE HERE IN THE HOME OF THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD; A HOME WHICH ALLAH (GOD) BLESSED HIM WITH; A HOME THAT IS REALLY A SPLENDID MANSION, WHICH HE REFERS TO AS "THE PALACE". I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET EXCITED OR UPSET AT THE REFERENCE TO THIS MANSION AS A "PALACE". FOR A "PALACE", OF COURSE IS THE -RESIDENCE OF A KING OR EMPEROR". BUT A "PALACE" IS ALSO THE RESIDENCE OF A "DISTINGUISHED PERSON".
THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD IS BIGGER THAN AN EMPEROR AND HE IS BIGGER THAN A KING; AND CERTAINLY HE WAS, AND IS, A DISTINGUISHED PERSON. AND THOSE OF US WHO ARE CONNECTED TO HIM ARE BEING MADE
DISTINGUISHED BY THE WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING THAT HE IS IMPARTING TO US FROM THE ALMIGHTY GOD, ALLAH.
WE WELCOME YOU INTO THE HOME OF THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. AND FROM THIS HOME, YOU MAY EXPECT THAT PARTICULAR GUIDANCE THAT WILL RAISE US FROM A DEAD LEVEL AND INFUSE US WITH A NEW MIND, A NEW SPIRIT, A NEW DIRECTION.
IT WILL ALSO CAUSE THE RESURRECTION OF THE TOTALITY OF HUMANITY.
(OCTOBER 26, 1986)
-1-
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.
I BEAR WITNESS THAT THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH AND I BEAR WITNESS
THAT MUHAMMAD IS HIS MESSENGER.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, our subject matter for discussion today is titled: THE WILL OF GOD.
Everything in Creation is the manifestation of the Will of God. All of Creation expresses the Attributes or Characteristics of this Mighty Being, The Originator of the Heavens and the Earth. But the Will of God is the Power behind the throne. The Will of God is the Power behind the Universe: its creation, its maintenance and its sustenance.
The Holy Qur'an constantly reminds us that Allah's command is just "Be!" And it is. But this is not some spooky term such as "Abracadabra!" or "Open, Sesame!". When Allah (God) says 'Be!", He summons the Power of His Own Being, His Creative Mind and Will, to bring about that which He Wills.
When Allah says, "Be!", this is an expression of His Will. But it is more than just the expression of His Will, for when He says, 'Be!', He arranges forces, resources, angels, people - according to a Plan - to bring about the Fruition of His Will.
Allah's Will never fails. There is no plan by any school or
scientist, no power in the Heavens above or in the Earth beneath, that can circumvent the Plan of Almighty God. In fact, the plans of the present world leaders were all taken into consideration. Before they were even a thought in the mind of their father, their plans were known. Their scheme was known. And Allah took their plans into consideration. He places His Hand over their plan; He places His scheme over their scheme, so that even their wicked schemes help to bring about The Fruition of His Will. That is a Mighty, Powerful Being we are dealing with. When He says, "Be!" it is.
What a wonderful thing, that Almighty God, Allah chooses to share this Power with Humanity! Think of that, Brothers and Sisters! Almighty God, Allah, Who has created everything by His Will, shares His Power with you and me! We, today, have the ability to Will. We have the ability to plan, to organize and to bring into fruition our plans. We, too, can say "Be!", go to work, and it is.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has taught us that the brain of Man is 'infinite'. I want you to think on it - THE BRAIN OF MAN IS INFINITE. If the brain of Man is infinite, then Man can bring into existence whatever he conceives in his mind; the repository for Allah (God), the place for the God to dwell. God is infinite in the brain of Man.
In the New Testament, Jesus says that he knocks and if we will open up to him, he will come in and sup with us. This does not mean that he is a visitor standing outside your door (though it could mean that, too), but just as you would open the door of your home to allow Him into your home one who is a friend, likewise we should open the door of our ears, the door of our heart,
-2-
the door of our mind, to let Almighty God, Allah come in. For there He wishes to dwell: in the Infinity of the Brain of Man!
The Will is the Real Power of Allah (God) in Man. However, the Will must be buttressed, or supported, by Faith and by Knowledge. Let us look at Will and its meaning; Faith and its meaning; and Knowledge. Let us look at what Allah (God) has given us of His Will. And what do we have of Faith? What do we have of Knowledge, to buttress and support the power of our being?
"Will", according to Webster's, is "the faculty of conscious and especially of deliberate action.' There is no action that is not preceded by a conscious thought, planning and then the carrying of a plan into action. "Will" is the power of control that the mind has over its own action (s).
To be able to Will is to have a creative force within that actually can change the conditions of our lives, the condition of our homes, the condition of our community, the condition of the Nation and the condition of the World.
But will without Faith; Will without Knowledge; is Power without direction. It is power that can be manipulated. It is power that can actually be used by a smart, crooked deceiver to make slaves of the totality of the human family. Therefore, all of us must be possessors of Knowledge and Faith.
Faith, of course, is "confidence or trust in a person or thing."
Faith is having confidence in your own ability or in someone else's ability. In the Divine Scheme of things, Faith is having confidence or trust in Allah (God). Having Faith is having confidence and trust in His Word: knowing that His Word never fails- His Plan never fails; His Will never fails. When we put our trust completely in Allah (God) in His Word, we have the ability to see beyond our knowledge - for what we know is limited.
Faith can be as big as a mountain; Faith can be as big as the
Universe itself. Regardless of what you know, you must have a greater Faith than your Knowledge. For your Knowledge is, of a. surety, limited, no matter how much you know. But if your Faith in Allah (God) is great; your Faith in His Word is great; then that Faith will lead you to greater and greater Knowledge.
We must be faithful men and women, but we must also be possessors of Knowledge. There are so many of our people who have a lot of Faith but very little Knowledge. We need both: Faith and Knowledge; to buttress and support the power of our being, which is our Will.
Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) said, nearly 1400 years ago, "One who goes out in search of Knowledge is in the Path of God until he returns." Why did Prophet Muhammad make such an utterance? It is because when we go out in search of Knowledge, we should never return. For Knowledge is the Path of God. And Knowledge, like God, is Infinite. When you go out after Knowledge, never say, 'I found it!', for when you have said you have found it, you have stopped searching. You have stopped seeking. When you stop searching, stop seeking, you reach a plateau of learning. That plateau leads to the death of your society; the death of your own power; your creative energy. Unfortunately, this is what has happened to this world
-3-
in which we presently live. Man has amassed a lot of Knowledge, but, unfortunately, he believes that he has found it. And in finding it, he has lost it and is no longer in the Path of Allah (God). So the Knowledge that he possesses leads his society to greater and more complex problems which his own Knowledge gives him neither the light, nor the ability to solve. This is when Allah (God) steps in - when our own Knowledge fails us.
Knowledge without Faith is like a ship without water. Can you imagine a ship without water? No wonder the people in he days of Noah laughed at him because he built a ship and there was no water. But Noah knew what the People did not know; he knew that water was, indeed, coming.
What about you with this tremendous skill in science, mathematics, physics, chemistry? Don't you realize that you are, yet, a baby? You have a little bit of Knowledge and very little Faith in Allah (God). Consequently, your Knowledge takes you nowhere but to self-destruction. And so, Beloved, each of us would want to develop the power of our own being; use that power to better ourselves, our families, our community; our people, our Nation, the World. We must
seek Knowledge and we must develop Faith. For it is Knowledge and Faith that buttress and support that great Power of Allah (God) in Man: Man's ability to will.
The Will is Protected and also sustained, not only by Faith, but also by our Attitude, which demonstrates the degree of our Faith. We cannot have a powerful will and a weak Attitude. The Attitude that we have is for the Protection of the Will. Change your Attitude and you might redirect Your Will.
Attitude is "the manner, disposition, feeling, Position" with which we regard a thing. It is a tendency or orientation, especially of the mind. " Think of these words. It is a "tendency" or an "Orientation" of the mind. In fact, Attitude can give you or damage --- Your ability to perceive reality. Mood can color your perception. So we have all of these things that affect the Will, and, in fact, redirect the Will- Beloved, we must be careful of our Attitude. (We are going
to talk about that a little later on in this Program, but I want to
lay this base before we discuss Attitude.)
Will is Power, but Power must be guided. Guided by what? Power of Will must be guided by Knowledge. But there is an emotional force that gives direction to Will. And the emotional force - which is the creative force upon which the entire Universe is constructed -- is Love. And it is out of this awesome Power of Love that the Will springs up; it springs up out of this emotion, and it is directed and guided by that emotion.
When you couple Will and Knowledge and love, then You have a balanced individual, whose Will is being used in a creative, constructive way; not in the way of destruction. Let us take a look at the things that adversely affect the Power of Allah (God) within Man. From the time that the baby comes into the world, we see a demonstration of Will- Mother is not teaching the child from "day one", yet the child accomplishes much in that first year of life. From What? From the Will.
-4-
The Will moves the child to grow and grow. The first year of life is the strongest year of educational development. It learns more in the first year; and without a teacher! The teaching comes from within. What does that tell us? That there is a Power within every human being that can teach and direct. That Power is connected to its Source. It can be a Source of comfort, guidance, protection and deliverance for every human being.
Let us look at the things that adversely affect the Will:
FEAR
Did you know that Fear is what the enemy of Allah (God) at hand, uses to restrict the Power of your own Will? What are you afraid of? Once someone can make you afraid, they restrict the Power of your own being to express itself.
Look how many people today live in fear. "I'm on a job and I am afraid that I am going to be fired" (by a cantankerous boss or foreman). Think of it. So the foreman is threatening your security. You are afraid, so it restricts your Will. And, in a sense, it helps to make the individual not just a worker on the job, but a slave to the job.
Anytime we are afraid to think, to move, to express ourselves, for fear of being censured; for fear of losing a job; then you need to get away from that type of job, for you have lost the most precious thing that you could have and that is a Free Will. That is what Allah (God) has given you. But if your choices are made out of Fear, then you have made yourself a slave.
Fear is a distressing emotion; aroused by impending pain and danger. Of course, the Scriptures teach us that the Fear of Allah (God) is the beginning of Knowledge and that, of course, is true.
The Fear of Allah (God) is restricting, but it does not restrict us in a way that damages our development. The Fear of Allah (God) frees us to act in accordance with His Will.
VANITY
The next thing that hurts the Will, redirects the Will, redirects the power of our being in a negative direction, is something called Vanity.
Vanity is excessive pride in one's appearance, one's qualities, one's abilities and/or one's achievements. It is Conceit. Vanity can lead to Arrogance. And, of course, anything that is done with the spirit of Conceit lacks real value. In fact, it is hollow and worthless. And those of us who are self-conceited; who are overly concerned with ourselves and who see too much importance in ourselves in our relationships to others; our acts are shallow. Our words are hollow; they have no real value. Consequently, we are considered, in the Eyes of Allah (God), worthless.
-5-
PRIDE
The next terrible distortion, or that which distorts the Will, is
Pride. Pride is a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit or superiority. Whether this is cherished in the mind or expressed openly by our bearing or conduct, makes no difference.
Once the mind is beset with Pride and we swell up with Pride, this directs the Power of our being. So we do things to enhance our merit, our superiority, our sense of importance. And we come blinded, by Pride, to the Will of Allah (God); to the Power of Allah (God). Pride makes you think of yourself as the Power - and not God as the Power. Pride will make you pay lip service to Allah (God) and even feign humility, while in reality, the heart is a boiling cauldron of False Pride which has now corrupted the Will and redirected it toward an end that makes Man a slave of his own self-conceit, importance and, really, Delusion.
[I am sorry to depart from this lecture and make this kind of
statement; but such a statement that which I am about to make -- can be proved true. This (Pride) was the condition of Pharaoh's mind and it caused Pharaoh to make terrible blunders which led to the destruction of his power, his people and his nation. This has been, and is, the state of mind of most leaders in the world. And, unfortunately, it is the state of mind of the President of the United States. It is also the state of mind of the powerful men and women that are gathered around him. They have for so long thought of their own importance above obedience to the Will of Allah (God) that their own Pride, now, is speeding, them toward a hasty destruction.]
ENVY
This is another emotion that can absolutely corrupt and redirect the Will. Envy is a feeling of discontent, usually with ill-will, at seeing someone else's superiority, advantages or success. How many of you - how many of us " are plagued with this disease of the heart, right now? You are angry with someone whom you feel has an advantage or a success that you believe should be yours. This is a terrible corruption of the Will of Allah (God); of the Will of Man.
[So these enemies of the Will: Fear, Vanity, Pride, Envy, must be gotten rid of. But how can we get rid of the enemies that keep us from full development?]
LUST
Lust is a voracious appetite; a sexual appetite that is inordinate. It is out of the Divine Law. It is out of the way of the Order of Allah (God). It is something that we feel we have to do. It is a compulsion. And we allow that drive, that sexual drive, that Lust, to actually corrupt our Will and direct our Will towards ends that are nonproductive of good.
-6-
ANGER
To those of us who are angered much, Anger can direct the Will. Anger directs the Power Of our being toward the object of our Anger. And ofttimes, in our Anger, we can do very destructive things to Self and others. Anger is something that must be controlled.
GREED
And of course, lastly, there is Greed. Greed is the accepted
inordinate or rapacious desire for wealth, power, food or drink. Allah (God) wants us to be satisfied. But when we are overcome by Greed, this lust for wealth or power or food or drink, it manifests itself in our conspicuous consumption. It manifests itself in our conspicuous consumption. It manifests itself in our directing our Will to destroy those who stand in the way of our assumption of Power. It leads to obesity, where one destroys one's health because of one's Greed; or destroys ones' health because of our uncontrolled urges.
When Allah (God) asks us to become His servants, He asks us to give Him the best part of ourselves. What does Allah (God) ask us for? He asks us for our Will. What does He ask us for? He asks us for the Power of our being.
Since He gave it (Power of our being) to you and you say "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away", then if Allah (God) has given you a bit of His Own Power (which is His Will) then He asks you will you give it back in surrender, what should our word to Almighty God be? Of course we should say, "Yes. I submit my Will to do Your Will." Not by force, but willingly.
And this is the meaning of the Arabic word "Muslim". To be a Muslim is not some strange thing. To be a Muslim doesn"t mean being radical or being an extremist or being a parrot. To be a Muslim means that you recognize that your Will that has been given to you by God, as His Gift to you. And He is requiring of us, obedience to His Will; submitting our Will to His. And when we do that, we are called Muslim.
And the religion of obedience to the Will of Allah (God) is called, in Arabic, Islam. And so we say to you, Beloved, that every prophet of Almighty God, was, by the action of that prophet, a Muslim, though he may not have called himself Muslim as such. But his act of submitting his Will and time to do the Will of Allah (God) is an act of surrender, that, in Arabic we say he is Muslim, his religion is Islam.
So when we are asked to submit to our Will to do the Will of God, He takes that Will and He fashions it. He makes that individual unto Himself So when the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked us, "Who is The Original Man?", he is gently directing you back to your original state, since your original state is to submit. You came into this world not knowing anything. You came into the world pliant, ready to
be taught, to be shaped, to be guided, to be developed, to be
evolved, to be nurtured. And so, you
-7-
submitted when you came in. Your original state is one of submission to Almighty God, Allah. And if you return to that state, you can become the Original Man of a New Dispensation. You can become the Cream of the Planet. For those who submit to the Will of Allah (God) rise above all of those who reject obedience to His Will. By submitting to the Will of Allah (God), we can become the Fathers of a brand new civilization; a civilization; a civilization superior to those who have rebelled against His Will.
In fact, we can become that which the Holy Qur'an calls "Caliphat", or, "one who takes the place of God"; God's Vicegerent. We can become the Supreme Ruler of the Universe itself. It starts with obedience to the Will of Allah (God). Because of the awesome power that Man can come into by obeying Allah (God), he must learn valuable lessons.
Brothers and Sisters, whenever Allah (God) has chosen a People, He chooses them for Eminence.
He chooses them for Greatness. He chooses them for Exaltation, but he requires of them obedience to His Will.
If we submit, Allah (God) starts exalting us. There is a requirement --- a prerequisite, if you will - for Exaltation. And Allah (God) gives us that prerequisite in the very first verse of the Holy Qur'an: Al-hamdu li-llahi (The praise belongs to God.) If you submit your Will to the Will of Allah (God), The Most High, and He begins to exalt you, to nurture you into greater power and creativity and greater influence, then there should be in us obedience.
So Humility is the state of mind that each one of us must be in, in order for Allah (God) to continue His Plan of Exaltation of any of us. And, unfortunately, History tells us that every time Almighty God chose a people for exaltation -- when He gave them Power, when He gave them wealth, when He gave them Influence, they began to forget Him. They lost their Humility. Their Will became corrupt. They became hypocritical. They began to speak what was no longer in the heart. And so, Allah (God) chastised those people and He brought other people in their place.
Dear Listeners, this was the fate of Israel. According to the
teachings of the Bible and the Holy Qur'an, Allah chose Israel for exaltation. But He wanted them to submit. He made Israel above the nations of the Earth. But when she got to a certain stage in her development, she lost her Humility. She became vile; she became envious; she became greedy. She became all of those things that corrupt and redirect the Will. So her Will was no longer the Will of Allah (God); it became the selfish will of Israel, with God's Name added to that Will. So Allah (God) punished Israel and made her an example for us today.
The Prophets and their magnificent accomplishments that make them of regard in this world and worthy of regard in the Hereafter are all due to the quality and the degree of their submission of their Will to do the Will of Almighty God, Allah.
The only reason that we call the names of Moses, Abraham, David, Solomon and the great worthies of Allah (God) is because they distinguished themselves by doing a mighty work. They submitted their Will to do the Will of God. They are on the pages of history as an example for you and me.
-8-
But what about the breaking of the Will? Whenever another individual wants to make you a slave, he wants to break your Will. He wants to absolutely interfere with the faculty of conscious, deliberate action on your part. He wants to take control of our minds over our own actions.
This is terrible, Brothers and Sisters, but all over the world today, humanity is enslaved by people who come in the name of Allah (God). People who come in the name of politics, medicine, religion or science. But their aim is to make you and me submit to them as though they are God besides Allah. And the knowledge of no leader, no teacher, no prophet is absolute. The prophet only gives you a knowledge of how to reach the Absolute. The prophet's knowledge may be absolute for that time, but it is not absolute for all time. He brings you a knowledge that you can rely upon, but it is a knowledge that must lead you to Higher Knowledge, or leads you to the Absolute. And the Absolute is Allah (God) Himself.
Why, then, must you be enslaved to a textbook by one whose perception of reality may or may not be proper? One whose mind may be damaged by one or more of these damaging things: Envy, Fear, Greed, Lust, Anger, the swelling of Self-Importance? This kind of thing, that come out of the textbooks of learned men, can corrupt our knowledge if we take our doctors of law and our monks for lords besides Allah (God). No, no, no! Their knowledge is not perfect.
We must not take imperfect men or textbooks as the Absolute and build our complete world on that which is an assumption or theory that has yet to be proved true. Only Allah (God) knows how to direct the Light which He has given, for He alone is the Light-Giver. When we submit ourselves to these "Johnny-come-lately(s)" and become slaves to preachers or teachers who come in the name of Allah (God), or in the name of science or education, then we put ourselves under the control of a mind that is lesser. We become, (in the words of a movie) "The Children Of A Lesser God". Why should we be the children of a lesser god, when we can be the children of the one True God?
Every day that we live there is someone trying to break our Will. In fact, Black brothers and sisters, that is what made us slaves. Our Will was broken; our ability to control our own minds was broken. Somebody wanted mastery over our thought processes and over all of our actions. Somebody wanted to make us a slave. And I respectfully say to you, that in making us a slave, white people, who are the descendants of the slavemasters, have made themselves slaves.
Now they are slaves to their own material world. Slaves to the Lust for Power. Slaves to Greed. Slaves to their own Self-Importance. Look at all of these slaves that are in the world. So any of us who come today in the name of Jesus, in the name of Muhammad, we come to redeem and to free a world of slaves. Some know that they are slaves and some know not. Many Black people under the sound of our voice think that they are free. How foolish could we be? enslaved to false ideas and concepts espoused by those who know how to trick and deceive the mind and fill you with false delusion; breaking your Will.
Today, there are people who are fat -- just plain fat. Fat for what? You eat too much. What do you want to do about it? 'Oh, God, I'm so fat ... I'll go to my doctor, maybe he will give me a pill.' A pill?! A pill to do what? A chemical? To slow down your Lust for food? Or,
-9-
"Maybe I will go into surgery and he will put a balloon in my stomach or clip my stomach." Clip your stomach?! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, what fools we have become. We are relying on surgery, when the very thing we have to clip our stomach - the very thing that we should be developing that will give us Power over our actions, is our Will.
But your Will has been broken. Your Will is destroyed, so the Power of Allah (God) in you is almost non-existent. You are, in fact, slaves.. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, your knowledge is undermined and your faith in God and Faith in Self is broken. How many preachers I hear on Sunday morning talking about Faith in God.
But they do not demonstrate this Faith. They are afraid to make a move because of political consequences. "I am afraid to do this because it might cause that." What are you afraid of Fear restricts the Free will to choose. "I can't choose my friends because I am afraid. I will not walk with Farrakhan because it will hurt me. I will not speak to him publicly because it may hurt me." What is it? It is Fear that restricts you and it is Desire and Lust that make you a slave to your own desires. This is a shame, for men whose Will is to be leaders, to be bound and fettered with such demoralizing chains and yet claim to be leaders of the people.
This is the way it is with politics. These politicians are the
weakest of leaders. One should never put a vote of confidence in a politician, because he is like a leaf which blows whichever way the wind is blowing. How can we put our hand in such leaders' hands? Politicians, it is corruption of your Will, the breaking of your Will and the making of yourselves a slave. Again, the Government of the United States is guilty of misdirecting the people's Will. You can be angry, justifiably, but suppose someone lies to you. They make you angry and then the Anger directs your Will and your Will becomes destructive of the object or the person for whom you have this Anger.
Can you imagine that just a few weeks ago, it came out in the
newspapers that the President and his staff sat down and agreed to a Lying Campaign. Oh, they give it a nice-sounding name: "Disinformation". What is "disinformation", but a big, bold, Lie? What is the plan behind the Lie? The plan is to create Anger by lying on Qaddafi.
You create Anger against Qaddafi. When you lie on Qaddafi, you make the people angry then you direct their Will against him. So now, the government, which is to do the Will of the People, says 'We must destroy Qaddafi.' Then you bomb the home of a Head of State. "We are not doing wrong, we are doing the Will of the people". But who manipulated that Will? You manipulated it by lying and you have the audacity to quote Winston Churchill to justify that by saying that in
war, the truth must be protected and surrounded by a big platter of lies. What are you saying, Mr. Schultz? That you are a liar? And that you wish to make slaves of the people, misdirecting their Will? And those who will not go along with you, you will put out a propaganda campaign against them in hopes of breaking their Will.
But you have noticed, that no matter what you say about Farrakhan, you have not broken my Will, nor can you. As long as I submit my Will to do the Will of Allah (God), then the Power of Allah (God) sustains my Will.
-10-
That is what made Jesus so dangerous. That is what makes Muhammad of the Holy Qur'an (Peace be upon him) so dangerous. These two men attract the Will, give a buttress and support for the Will, show Man how to increase the Power of his Will and strengthen his Will. This means the breaking of the back of all pharaohs, all slavemasters, all slavemakers. This is why the true message of Jesus is a message that the totality of the human family needs. The true message of Muhammad
is a message that all of us need.
In building, the Will, Jesus asked his disciples to fast. Many of
the followers of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, here in Chicago, have been on a three-day fast. This fast is to develop the Will. It is to develop the Power of your and my being. Why? Because it is only when our Will is developed and properly directed, properly supported and properly encased, that we have the awesome Power to change the reality under which we live.
The support for your Will has to be Prayer. Prayer gives you the humbleness of mind that allows you to develop properly --- to submit your Will to the Will of Allah (God).
Fasting gives you the Power to reject food when you want it; reject drink when you want it; reject sex when you do not want or need it or when you are not in the presence of those whom you are married to. Think about this! It is the destruction of your Will that has made you less than a man, less than woman -- even less than the animals and the beasts of the field.
Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, gave his disciples the "Be
(attitudes)". He wanted his disciples, who were with him in a work of redemption, to develop a "Be (attitude)". What is he saying? Develop a mental posture that will support and encase his Will so that your Will is not subject to the things of the world that come to break your will.
Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven." Now no man that is poor is blessed. I want you to get out of it, of that thought, that your poverty is a blessing. But those of you who are poor of the energy of life; poor in the control of yourself, poor in the Will or development of the Will and poor in submission to the Will of God - for you, Jesus said, is the Kingdom of Heaven. For Allah (God) is going to give you someone that Will give you all that you have been deprived of that has made you poor so that you will once again be rich indeed.
Solomon said, "The House of Knowledge is the House of Mourning." Because the more you know, the sadder you are about the reality under which we as Black people and all of humanity lives. We who mourn over human beings living like animals, to us the Scripture says: "Blessed are you who mourn, for you shall be comforted." We know that Allah"s (Gods) Will is to redeem us; to save us of this condition; to
heal of us of this broken Will, this broken spirit, this broken faith that has corrupted us. When you know that, You don't look at the conditions and fall into despair and let the mood of despair cause an attitude that will redirect your Will in a negative direction.
Jesus said, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." Jesus is saying, again, take the Attitude that you are blessed when people speak evil of you, persecute you, say all manner of evil against you falsely for his sake. Don't think that this is a curse. Think, 'This is a blessing. Keep that Attitude and your Will will grow stronger to resist the persecution and the evil speaking of those who speak evil against you.
"Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the Earth." "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of GOD."
I say to you. Brothers and, Sisters, that you are the Salt of the
Earth. But if the Salt has lost its flavor, wherewith shall it be
salty? You that have been guided by the Message of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, by the Light of the Truth, you are the Salt. You can give flavor to the Light of Black people. You have a knowledge of God and a strong Will that can give flavor to the lives of Humanity. But if your Will and your Faith is broken, and your Knowledge is undermined, then what good are you? Your salt is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodded under the foot of men.
And so, Beloved, in my conclusion of this broadcast, I hope that you will do everything in your Power to strengthen your Will.
Next week, be it the Will of Allah, we will reopen the Final Call Building, which is undergoing some repair - both spiritually and physically. And on November 9th, we hope that you will be present and we will be broadcasting, God Willing, from there.
Until then, until next week, strengthen your Will. Do not be a slave to any man. Bow down only to Allah (God). Fast and learn to strengthen the discipline of your Will, that you may be able to eat, drink and live the good life, without the obstruction of all of the forces that come against the Mighty Power of your Will.
May Almighty God, Allah, bless and keep you, as I greet you in peace in the Arabic language, thanking you for these few moments of your time: AS-SALAAM ALAIKUM!
-12-
