THE NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MOST HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
AND
THE NATION OF ISLAM
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.
As-Salaam Alaikum.
Dear Fellow Students:
May this little reminder find you well and enjoying your course of study and practice.
All of the prophets (worthies) of Allah (God) are given to us in the Bible and especially in the
Holy Qur’an as examples.
We study the biographies of great men and women, for in their lives there are circumstances,
successes and trials that stimulate the motives, the intentions and the desires of us along certain
lines. We study the lives of the prophets, for we are engaged in an endeavor to raise Black
people up in America and throughout the world, from a state of spiritual and mental death.
The lives of the prophets, their trials, tribulations, successes and failures; their opponents and
their complete reliance on Allah (God), is a prerequisite to motivate us and give us confidence in
the eventual success of our mission.
The lives of the prophets will cause us to see the ups and downs, the ebb and flow of our lives,
when we are committed to a very consequential mission. This knowledge will not permit us to
give up because of a temporary setback. Like the prophets, we will press on, knowing that the
bitterness we taste in every setback is temporary and will be removed by the sweetness of the
taste of the ultimate victory over all opponents to the rise of Black people. The Truth that Allah
(God), revealed to us for our resurrection and the resurrection of the righteous will be
established.
Study the lives of the prophets, for their histories are given to us as signs of the one who would
be raised up from among us, the Lost-Found members of the Nation of Islam in the West, in the
Fulfillment of Time.
The mixed feelings and controversy that surrounded the prophets, surrounds the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad. Their complete trust in Allah (God) in the face of overwhelming opposition,
the tenderness of heart that they felt for their people, are but signs to us of the demonstrated
commitment of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
He said, of Himself, “I am a Fulfiller.” He is not a carbon copy of any prophet or messenger, he
comes as the quintessence of their collective experience. Study the life of the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad carefully, for His is the path that we have chosen to follow.
May Allah continue to bless you with deeper and deeper insight into these lessons and a stronger,
ever-determined will to succeed.
As-Salaam Alaikum
Your Brother,
Servant of the Lost-Found
Nation of Islam in the West
LF/am
Self-Improvement Study Guides - Study Guide 4: The Struggle For Balance
STUDY GUIDE 4
THE STRUGGLE FOR BALANCE
READING MATERIAL
Surah 55 "The Beneficent"
Page 4, Paragraph 1
FACTS
In our scriptural reading assignment last week (Study Session 3: Overcoming Difficulty) we saw that Allah (God) created the entire Solar System, including the great symmetry of its arrangement and the motions of the various planets, placing each in its own orbit. Holy Qur'an 21:30-33.
The Planet earth is inclined on its axis at approximately 23 degrees, 30 minutes, to the plane of its own orbit. This inclination, along with its rotation on its axis and its revolution around the Sun, makes life forms as we know them here. If the Earth were to alter its motion, it would lose its balance and leave its orbit.
Question: What is the meaning of Balance to you as an individual?
DISCUSSION
1 First, let us review some key words and their definitions. Please look at the Glossary.
2) Read Page 4, Paragraph 1 of Self-Improvement. What is the first struggle the bird experiences after overcoming the difficulty of pecking its way out of the shell? What is the significance of the bird's experience to you and me?
3) Read Surah 55:1-9. Why is this surah called "The Beneficent"? What is Allah's (God's) intention for us concerning "balance"? Has He taken any actions to help us to attain it? What does He say He has done for you and me?
4) Are you in a state of balance today? Why or why not? If asked to evaluate your marriage, or any interpersonal relationship you are currently in (parent/child; brother; sister; friendship), would you say that it is balanced? If not, why not?
5) By what means can balance be restored to you personally and in your interpersonal relationships? What is the source for balance?
6) When each of us achieves balance in our individual lives, what effect do you think it will have on the community we live in, if any?
FACTS
Approximately 75% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. It travels around the Sun at 1,037 1/3 m.p.h. 'The Sun draws this water up into the Earth's rotation (which is called gravitation) in a fine mist that the naked eye can hardly detect ... as this mist ascends higher it increases with other mists of water in different currents of the atmosphere until it becomes heavier and the gravitational pull causes it to distill back to the Earth in the form of drops of water (or drops of ice, depending upon how heavy the mist was in the current of air it was moving in) ... the reason it rains (down) on our Planet is because it (water) cannot get out of the Earth's sphere with its high speed of revolution around the Sun..."
The Earth is not perfectly round; it has a wobble. Allah (God compensates for this imbalance by the imposition of a law regulating motion. Pursuant to that law, the Earth possesses a natural inclination to the plane of its own orbit. This enables us to live on the Earth's surface without being disturbed by its imbalance.
Thus, we see in Creation that in order to achieve balance, it is not necessary that the weight of a thing be equal on each side; Allah (God) shows us that balance can be achieved or brought about by placing the fulcrum (support) at that point which will bring it about. That is, the center of gravity can be placed in such a way as to make a balance where imbalance previously existed.
SUPPLEMENT
1) See Glossary.
2) The bird must obtain its balance before it can fly. This is a sign to us in nature that part of the ordained struggle for us includes overcoming the difficulty we must encounter in order to achieve balance; this difficulty must be faced and overcome in order to proceed on the journey to meet with Allah (God).
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3) Allah (God) brought things into existence for the sustenance of man before his creation. That is, we did not earn the things we need and use to sustain life, but out of His Beneficence, Allah gave them to us. Out of His Beneficence, He has taught the Qur'an, taught us expression, for this is necessary to our spiritual development. Our ability to read, write and speak is a Divine Gift to each one of us for spiritual and mental sustenance, just as the vegetation of the Planet is for our physical sustenance.
We see in verses 5-9 that even as the Sun and Moon follow a reckoning, Allah has set up the measure "that you (speaking of you and I) may not exceed the measure, and keep up the balance with equity, nor fall short in the measure."
Also, read Footnote 2407 in the Maulana Muhammad Ali Translation of the Holy Qur'an for the meaning of the Arabic word, "mizan", which means 'a measure" and also signifies "justice".
4) Allah (God) placed in male and female, a natural inclination towards one another (biologically, physiologically, spiritually). He also placed this inclination, in another way, between mother and child. The power or force that is the source of the inclination is a need in the two (man and woman; mother and baby) for one another. The need causes us to incline toward that which will fulfill the need. The baby needs the milk in the breast of the mother and she needs to give the baby the milk, in order for each of them to be in a balanced state of health.
Let us each reflect on the emotion of Love. When we love someone, really love them, what does that feeling generate in us regarding that person? We think about the object of our love and affection. We think about them, we speak of them often, and whenever possible, we communicate with them and most of all, want to be with them. We give them symbols of love (cards, gifts, etc.).
If we fall in love with a man or a woman because a need we have is fulfilled through creating a bond, then what should our feelings be about the One Who has provided for all of our needs--Who, indeed, is the Creator and Sustainer of the man or woman we love, as well as ourselves? If we call our loved one on the telephone at every opportunity, how often should we call on The One Who brought us into existence from a speck of dust out of His love for Himself and us? We should think of Him not only once a day, or even 5 times a day, but moment to moment.
5) Let us analyze this situation: why do our relationships in life invariably bring discontentment, dissatisfaction, and in most instances, dissolve?
It is because our inclination towards other human beings is not a primary inclination; it is secondary. We cannot find fulfillment in any secondary need if we ignore the primary need. Our primary need is for Allah (God). Though He
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is the true Center of our existence, we have replaced Him with secondary needs, which cannot be successfully done. When we put our personal relationships ahead of our relationship with Allah (God), we are guilty of "shirk", which is the Arabic word for belief in more than one God. When we set up gods besides Allah, not only do we bring about the degeneration and destruction of those relationships, but we destroy any hope of a relationship with Him.
Then what is the means by which we learn to love our Lord the way we should? How is any true love created, nurtured and brought to fruition? By repetition of those actions which increase the bond that is Love.
The child sucks from the breast over and over again. Each time the child draws the milk and the satisfaction that comes with it, the child's love for its mother grows; her love for the child grows as she draws satisfaction from giving him the milk.
Our love for Allah (God) is nurtured from repetition of acts of devotion to Him. Each time we pray and draw the incredible feeling of happiness and satisfaction that comes from prayer, our love for Him grows. Each thing we do in His way increases our Love. And as our love for Him grows, we recognize Him as the True Center of Our existence and the source of balance for our lives. Once we are right with Him, and only when we are right with Him, do we have a hope of right relations with others.
(Note on imbalance)
Each of us has experienced overcompensation. e.g., the human body needs iron. When the iron supply in the body is depleted due to one thing or another, the result is a condition known as anemia. In order to correct this imbalance, or iron deficiency, we ingest certain foods which are particularly rich or abundant in iron in order to restore balance.
Mental imbalance results from the taking away of some component necessary to mental stability. In order to restore that imbalance, the missing component must be restored or compensated for.
6) Black people are not balanced; nor is humanity in general. Allah (God) created us with a-natural inclination towards Him. That inclination causes us to move in His direction from the very beginning of life to the end. But the journey to Allah (God) has been aborted because of Falsehood and the acceptance of Falsehood.
Our brains were created to think right. Falsehood, which is untruth or deception, produces a spiritual and chemical imbalance in the brain. And since the nine (9) systems of the human body all rely upon the brain, its imbalance
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results in a malfunctioning of the entire health system. Even though there may still be a regular heartbeat, normal blood pressure, etc., there is a very real dysfunction that ultimately shortens life--because Allah (God) intended for us not to be nearly balanced, but we are made to achieve exquisite balance.
The proof that humanity is imbalanced is the absence of the three (3) essentials of balance: Freedom, Justice and Equality. This is due to the oppression and mistreatment of people by one another. It is reflected in our speech, our walk, our personal habits, our interpersonal relationships and our relationship with Self.
It is a pitiful sight to see humanity trying to compensate for the imbalance, each in his or her own way and not Allah's Way. We have failed to recognize Him as the center of our existence, so we are doomed for dissatisfaction and disappointment.
And so, marriage is not rewarding. It does not provide contentment because the marriage consists of two imbalanced parts instead of one belief and faith in Allah (God). And so the husband tries to compensate by working in his career day and night; the wife pours herself into her art and music, etc. Our job, our pastimes, etc., become the source of balance and of course are incapable of providing balance, so frustration builds. So the restoration of balance to the individual is the key to the balance of the society.
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PLANET One of the non-luminous bodies of the Solar System that revolve around the Sun as their center of motion and their source of light and life.
ORBIT The path in space along which a body moves about its center of attraction. The course of one's life or range of one's activities.
BALANCE The state of being in equilibrium; equipoise; equality; also, mental stability, sanity. An instrument for weighing; the scale by which deeds and principles are weighed and destinies are determined; a symbol of Justice. To bring into, keep or be in equilibrium; to keep in due proportion.
MEASURE The extent or dimensions of anything. See footnote 2407 in the Maulana Muhammad Ali translation of the Holy Qur'an. The Arabic word "mizan' (measure) signifies justice...the giving of their due to those who deserve it.
FULCRUM The support on or against which a lever rests. Any prop or support.
GRAVITATION (GRAVITY) The force of mutual attraction between all bodies, equal to a constant times the quotient of the product of the masses of the bodies divided by the square of the distance between them; an act or process caused by this force. The force of attraction by which terrestrial bodies tend to fall toward the center of the Earth. From the Latin word "gravis", meaning "heavy".
AXIS The central part of anything. A line on which something rotates or around which something is symmetrically arranged.
SYMMETRY The balance or beauty of form or proportion resulting from the correspondence of opposite parts in size, shape and position.
INCLINATION (INCLINE) A set or bent, especially of the mind or will, a liking or preference, a tendency toward a certain condition. To have a preference of be disposed towards; to deviate from the vertical by slanting, bowing or bending in a certain direction. To listen with favor or willingness.
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RECKONING Count or computation; calculation; a measuring for the future; the settlement of rewards or penalties for any action (day of reckoning).
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