STUDY GUIDE
13
THE PRICE OF REDEMPTION
READING MATERIAL
Holy Qur'an
Surah 12 "Joseph"
Bible
1 Kings,
2 Kings
1 Chronicles,
2 Chronicles
"To 'redeem' means to 'buy
back'. This suggests that the
item being bought back was once
owned by the buyer and for some
reason he had temporarily lost
possession of it. Thus, a price
has to be paid for the object to
be returned.
What is the price of the
redemption of a people who
belong to Allah (God) but have
become captive in the hands of
strangers; who have gone astray
from the path of Allah (God) and
are living a life contrary to
Allah (God) and contrary to the
nature of themselves?"
(From: "The Price of
Redemption", Final Call, October
3, 1988)
INSTRUCTIONS AND DISCUSSION
1 Read and discuss the
Instructions to the Believers.
2) Read and discuss the five (5)
words defined in this study
guide.
3) What are the qualities of a
Redeemer?
4) I included in the
above-referenced article, the
statement "Our Redeemer liveth,
the price of Redemption has been
paid." Do you agree with this
statement? (Note that it has two
parts) What is the basis for
your agreement?
5) If the price of Redemption
has been paid, is the object of
Redemption relieved of
obligation? What is the duty of
the one who is the object of
Redemption?
6) What is the value of
obedience to the laws, rules and
regulations of Allah (God)?
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE BELIEVERS
1) PRAYER
It takes 21 days, according to
scholars, to break old habits
and make new ones. Let the
Nation of Islam get into the
habit of prayer, 5 times a day
at the prescribed time and in
the prescribed manner.
"Recite that which has been
revealed to thee of the Book and
keep up prayer. Surely prayer
keeps (one) away from indecency
and evil; and certainly the
remembrance of Allah is the
greatest (force). And Allah
knows what you do." Holy Qur'an
29:45
Prayer will give us the strength
to resist the impediments to our
development. Start immediately,
beginning with the dawn prayer.
"Keep up prayer from the
declining of the sun till the
darkness of the night, and the
recital of the Qur'an at dawn.
Surely the recital of the Qur'an
at dawn is witnessed." 17:78
"So when you have finished the
prayer, remember Allah standing
and sitting and reclining. But
when you are secure from danger,
keep up regular prayer. Prayer
indeed has been enjoined on the
believers at fixed times." HQ
4:105
"Successful indeed are the
believers...Who are humble in
their prayers ... And who shun
what is vain ... And who act for
the sake of purity ... And who
restrain their sexual
passions..." 23:1-5
From Self-Improvement Study
Guide Number 7, "Building The
Will (Part 111)".
"Each morning, let us rise and
pray at 5:00a.m. Let us resist
the power of sleep and pray with
Allah on our minds instead of
sleep. During the day, no matter
how busy or involved we are in
our work, let us excuse
ourselves after the noon hour to
remember Allah; then we may go
right back to our activities. At
the end of the day, let us
resist tiredness and remember
our Lord...
In our study of the prophets, we
saw that patience was a
pervasive virtue. They were
mocked and ridiculed by the
disbelievers for long periods of
time, but were instructed by
Allah to "bear patiently what
they say." In overcoming the
natural force of impatience,
they were rewarded with vision,
or the ability to see beyond the
present. They could "see"
through their patience, that the
ends for which they were
striving would ultimately come
about.The
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Impatience, or the desire for
relief or change, may be removed
from us, not by yielding to this
natural force, but by seeking
refuge in Allah.
Whenever impatience threatens to
cause us to turn away from a
desired goal, we must go to
Allah, the Lord of the ways of
ascent, in prayer. Prayer will
give us the security and peace
of mind that will relieve our
irritation. It is in that frame
of mind that we then must
re-identify with our desired
goal. The desire (and the
willingness to be patient in
order to obtain it) will then
return.
Prayer is the re-affirmation of
desire. We endure by reaffirming
and reidentifying our desire
until we reach the goal."
"Let us recite in earnest the
following prayer as taught to us
by the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad:
"O Allah! I seek Thy refuge from
anxiety and grief and I seek Thy
refuge from lack of strength and
laziness and I seek Thy refuge
from cowardice and niggardliness
and I seek Thy refuge from being
overpowered by debt and the
oppression of men. 0 Allah!
Suffice Thou me with what is
lawful to keep me away from what
is prohibited and with Thy grace
make me free from want of what
is besides Thee."
"We, the lost-founds, should
repeat the above prayer seven
(7) times a day. For it sums up
our greatest hindrance to
freedom and self-independence."
Message To The Blackman p. 152
"Order your children to say the
state prayers when they are
seven years of age and beat them
if they do not do so when they
are ten years old." Message To
The Blackman p. 143
Prayer is a pillar of Islam and
is to be enforced in the home.
With respect to the instructions
above, do not be harsh or
extreme. You are only now
enforcing this rule, therefore
allow some time for your
children to adjust to it. Set
the good example and your
children will follow it.
2) FASTING
Let the Nation of Islam
institute a monthly three-day
fast, beginning with the month
of October, 1988. After October,
the fast will begin on the first
Friday of each month.
"O you who believe, fasting is
prescribed for you, as it was
prescribed for those before you,
so that you may guard against
evil." Holy Qur'an 2:183
In Islam, fasting is an
institution of the improvement
of the moral and spiritual
condition of human beings.
Fasting, abstention from food in
obedience to
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Allah (God), helps us build
the will to resist the
impediments to self development.
Fasting in the right spirit
helps us display repentance. We
must be of humble spirit that we
may show Allah (God) that we are
sick/sorry over all that we have
done to offend Him.
Here are the dates of our
monthly fasts, beginning in
October. (The first Thursday in
October has passed, therefore we
will fast the second week this
month).
THURSDAY SUNDAY
(Fast begins after evening meal)
(Fast ends with evening meal)
October 13 October 16
November 3 November 6
December 1 December 4
January 5 January 8
February 2 February 5
We will observe Ramadan in
December as taught to us by the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
During the first 3 days of
December, we will fast, taking
water, coffee or tea in the
evening. Afterwards, we will
resume the abstention from
liquids and food between dawn
and sunset).
3) ONE MEAL A DAY
"Eat one meal a day or one meal
every other day, and it will
prolong your life. Do not think
that you will starve. On the
contrary, you will be treating
yourself to life, and a life
filled with sickless days. You
can hardly get sick eating this
way.
In eating once a day or once
every other day, you must not
eat between meals. And, you
should try to eat at the same
hour tomorrow as you eat today.
Do not change your meal hours if
you can help it. Do not even
drink juices, milk, or soft
drinks between meals.
And, do not eat candies or
fruits between meals. You are
welcome to drink water, but I
know you will not want too much
water between meals since your
stomach will not call for it.
You may drink coffee between
meals, but do not fill your cup
with half sugar and half cream
and pour coffee on top of that
(smile).
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This (that I am trying to
teach you) is the way that He
(Almighty Allah) has taught me
for you. I have given to you in
this book the type of food that
you should eat as Allah has
given it to me."
(From, How To Eat To Live, by
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad)
4) CHARITY AND SACRIFICE
"And the parable of those who
spend their wealth to seek
Allah's pleasure and for the
strengthening of their souls is
as the parable of a garden on
elevated ground, upon which
heavy rain falls, so it brings
forth its fruit twofold: but if
heavy rain falls not on it,
light rain suffices. And Allah
is Seer of what you do." Holy
Qur'an 2:265
Charity is a principle of action
which is necessary for the
spiritual advancement of man.
The advancement we make through
charity is towards Allah.
The Arabic word for Sacrifice is
"Qurban", which means "To draw
near". We must give of what we
need, that is, we must
sacrifice, to draw closer to
Allah.
To give only of that which we
feel comfortable parting with is
charity. We receive credit for
this act of kindness. But what
we are after is not just credit,
but purification. Establishment
of Truth requires sacrifice.
"O you who believe, shall I lead
you to a merchandise which will
deliver you from a painful
chastisement? You should believe
in Allah and His Messenger, and
strive hard in Allah's way with
your wealth and your lives. That
is better for you, did you but
know!" Holy Qur'an 61:10,11
Sacrifice means "the surrender
of something prized or desirable
for the sake of something
considered as having a higher or
more pressing claim." It is from
the word "Sacer", meaning
"holy". The significance of this
is that the more we sacrifice,
the closer we become to Allah.
"Nay, whoever submits himself
entirely to Allah, and he is the
doer of good to others, he has
his reward from his Lord, and
there is no fear for such nor
shall they grieve." 2:112
In the 9th Surah of the Holy
Qur'an, "The Immunity", verses
38-42, it speaks of the Tabuk
Expedition, when the Muslims had
to confront the strength and
opposition of the Roman army.
They had to overcome many
hindrances to raising an army,
including drought, heat and a
long journey. This effort
required great sacrifice on the
part of the believers. Indeed,
the sacrifice required was so
great that it drove the
hypocrites from among the
believers.
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"Had it been a near gain and
a short journey, they would
certainly have followed thee,
but the hard journey was too
long for them. And they will
swear by Allah: If we had been
able, we would have gone forth
with you. They cause their own
souls to perish; and Allah knows
that they are liars." 9:42
5) WORK
What is "work"? IT is Force X
Distance; the exertion of energy
on an object that is not moving
on its own, resulting in the
movement of that object. No
matter how much force is
applied, if the result is not
motion, there has been no work.
In the April 10, 1988 issue of
the Final Call, I wrote an
article entitled, "We Must
Depend On Allah and Ourselves".
In it I reminded the Believers
that the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad has warned us against
sitting at home waiting on a
mystery god! He has said we
can't sit down; we can't lay
down. We must get up and go to
work doing something for
ourselves!
In the Lessons given to us by
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
we are given the following
question and answer:
"Will you sit at home and wait
for that mystery god to bring
you food?"
"Emphatically, No. Me and my
people have been lost from home
for three hundred and
seventy-nine years, have tried
this so-called mystery god for
bread, clothing and a home, and
we receive nothing but hard
times, hunger, naked and out of
doors; also we were beat and
killed by the ones who advocated
that kind of god and no relief
came to us until the Son of Man
came to our aid, by the name of
our Prophet, W. D. Fard."
The National Center Drive to
repurchase our mosque and school
began in earnest on February 26,
1988, when laborers from around
the country gathered here in
Chicago.
In order to complete our mosque
and school, additional funds are
necessary. More funds will be
required to complete the Salaam
Restaurant Complex. February 27,
1988 will represent a full year,
within which we were able to
redeem what was lost. We know
that we worked because we made
motion. We were successful
because of work. We applied
force to an object (our own
inertia) and made motion.
In order to restore what we have
redeemed and retire the bank
note which was necessary to
close the transaction, every
Believer is hereby requested to
pledge to raise $1,000 over the
next four (4) months.
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2) PURIFICATION
"Surely Allah loves those who
turn much to Him and He loves
those who purify themselves."
Holy Qur'an 2:222
PURE Being that and nothing
else. Freed from anything of an
inferior or contaminating kind;
free from extraneous matter.
Clear, free from blemishes;
untainted, unaffected; chaste;
immaculate; genuine.
Noun Clarification,
distillation, refinement;
sanctification. Purifier,
cleanser. Purity, innocence,
virtue, immaculance.
Adjective Clean, pristine,
taintless, uncontaminated,
unpolluted, unadulterated,
unmixed, single, sheer;
undefiled, unstained,
impeccable, untarnished,
unblemished.
Adverb Purely, solely, simply,
barely, merely, only (unity).
Arabic meaning, "pure": 'to make
sincere, devoted, chosen,
single-minded, single hearted,
exclusive, entirely.
SINCERE Free from deceit,
hypocrisy or falseness. Earnest,
genuine, real. Truthful, candid,
honest, clean, unmixed.
See also, Cleanness,
Improvement, Innocence,
Morality. Antonyms; impurity,
wickedness.
IMPROVEMENT: Enrichment,
advancement, elevation,
increase, recovery. Cultivation,
refinement, polish; reformation,
progress, correction,
development, elaboration,
purification, reconstruction,
reclamation.
"O thou who wrappest thyself up,
Arise and Warn, And thy Lord do
magnify and thy garments do
purify..." 74:1-4
"But all things commending
ourselves as the ministers of
God, in much patience, in
afflictions, in necessities, in
distresses, in stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in
labors, in watchings, in
fastings; by pureness, by
knowledge, by long-suffering, by
kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by
love unfeigned..." 2 Corinthians
6:6
"Then Paul took the men and the
next day, purifying himself with
them, entered into the temple,
to signify the accomplishment of
the days of purification, until
an offering should be offered
for every one of them." Acts
21:26
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3) RESTORATION
"FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO
SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS
LOST' Luke 19:10
"And I will restore to you the
years that the locusts hath
eaten... And ye shall eat in
plenty, and be satisfied, and
praise the name of the Lord,
your God, Who hath dealt
wondrously with you; and my
people shall never be
ashamed..." Joel 2:25,26
The act of restoring; renewal,
revival, or reestablishment. A
return of something to a former,
original, normal or unimpaired
condition. A representation or
reconstruction of an ancient
building, extinct animal or the
like, showing it in its original
state. Restitution of something
taken away or lost. A putting
back into a former position,
dignity, etc. To rebuild, renew,
replace, reinstate. To rescue.
To save.
Noun - Replacement,
reinstatement, resurrection,
rehabilitation, reconstitution,
reparation, redemption,
reorganization, recovery.
Verb - Put back, give back,
reclaim, recover, correct,
remedy, right. Cure.
Arabic: "Restore": "Adda": "To
deliver".
"Radda": "To return something to
someone"
"For the Son of Man also came
not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom
for Many". Matthew 20:28
"And his disciples asked him,
saying, Why then say the scribes
that Elijah must first come? And
Jesus answered and said unto
them, Elijah truly shall first
come and restore all things ...
But I say unto you that Elijah
is come already, and they knew
him not, but have done unto him
whatsoever they desired.
Likewise shall also the Son of
Man suffer of them." Matthew
17:10-12
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, ye who are spiritual
restore such and one in the
spirit of meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be
tempted." Acts 6:1
"I pray you, let us cease this
exacting of interest ...
Restore, I pray you, to them,
even this day, their lands,
their vineyards, their olive
yards, and their house ... We
will restore them, and will
require nothing of them, that
they should do according to this
promise." Nehemiah 5:10-12
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The sale of the Nation's
products, including the Final
Call Newspaper and ads and
subscriptions to the newspaper,
our tapes, books and records,
and the Clean -N- Fresh personal
care products is not only a
source of income to the Nation
and to the Believer who actively
engages in these sales, but it
also serves as an effective
means of making contact with our
people. We should continue to
host victory parties and to seek
donations to the National
Center. In the near future, you
will receive information on the
implementation of the 5 year
Plan.
The ultimate goal is the
resurrection of our people. Fill
the mosques! The great Mahdi,
Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom
praise is due forever, told us
to "Work cheerfully and fear
not. You are the Best, the
Righteous, the Powerful."
FIVE MEANINGFUL WORDS
1) PREPARATION
A measure by which one prepares
for something. The act of
preparing; to put in proper
condition or readiness. Planning
and making ready for something
expected or thought possible.
Noun Preparation, arrangement,
provision, rehearsal;
anticipation, expectation,
precaution; groundwork,
substructure, base, basis,
foundation, scaffold,
scaffolding.
Verb Prepare, arrange, provide,
ready, roughhew, make ready, lay
foundation of, prime, groom,
rehearse; forearm; clear for
action; equip, arm, man; fit
out, fit up, array, outfit,
appoint, furnish, dress. Mature,
ripen, mellow, season, bring to
maturity, elaborate, perfect,
complete, develop. Prepare
oneself, get ready, be on guard,
foresee.
Adjective Available, ready,
primed, groomed, armed, on
guard, foresighted.
Antonyms Suddenness, surprise,
unexpected, incomplete,
unprepared.
Holy Qur'an
"But the Messenger and those who
believe with him strive hard
with their property and their
persons. And it is these for
whom are the good things and
these it is who are successful
... Allah has prepared for them
Gardens wherein flow rivers, to
abide therein. That is the great
achievement." 9:88,89
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"And if you desire Allah and
His Messenger and the bode of
the Hereafter, then surely Allah
has prepared for the doers of
good among you a mighty reward."
33:29
"He it is Who sends blessings on
you, and so do His angels, that
He may bring you forth out of
darkness into light. And He is
ever Merciful to the believers.
Their salutation on the day they
meet Him will be Peace! And He
has prepared for them an
honorable reward." 33:43-44
"Vie with one another for
forgiveness from your Lord and a
Garden the extensiveness of
which is as the extensiveness of
the heaven and the earth - it is
prepared for those who believe
in Allah and His messengers.
That is the Grace of Allah; He
gives it to whom He pleases. And
Allah is the Lord of Mighty
Grace." 57:21
Bible
"BEHOLD! I will send my
messenger and he shall prepare
the way before Me..." Malachi
3:1
"The voice of him that crieth in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the
way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our
God." Isaiah 40:3
"And the house, when it was in
building, was built of stone
made ready before it was brought
there, so that there was neither
hammer nor axe nor any tool of
iron heard in the house while it
was in building." 1 Kings 6:7
"They have blown the trumpet,
even to make all ready, but none
goeth to the battle; for my
wrath is upon all their
multitude." Ezekiel 7:14
"And Samuel spoke unto all of
the house of Israel, saying, if
ye do return unto the Lord with
all your hearts, then put away
the foreign gods ... from among
you and prepare your hearts unto
the Lord and serve him only; and
He will deliver you out of the
hand of the Philistines." 1
Samuel 7:3
"Be ye, therefore, ready also,
for the Son of Man cometh at an
hour when ye think not." Luke
12:40
"But watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work
of an evangelist, make full
proof of thy ministry...For I am
now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at
hand..." 2 Timothy 4:5,6
"O Lord our God, all this
abundance that we have prepared
to build an house for thine holy
name cometh of thine hand, and
is all thine own." 1 Chronicles
29:16
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"He Who has made the Qur'an
binding on thee will surely
bring thee back to the Place of
Return. Say My Lord knows best
him who has brought the guidance
and him who is in manifest error
... And call not with Allah any
other god. There is no God but
He. Everything will perish but
He. His is the judgment and to
Him you will be brought back."
Holy Qur'an 28:85, 88
"And certainly We tried before
them Pharoah's people and a
noble messenger came to them,
Saying: Deliver to me the
servants of Allah. Surely I am a
faithful messenger to you. And
exalt not yourselves against
Allah. Surely I bring to you a
clear authority." 44:17-19
"And We indeed delivered the
Children of Israel from the
abasing chastisement, from
Pharaoh. Surely he was haughty,
prodigal. And certainly We chose
them above the nations, having
knowledge. And We gave them
signs wherein was clear
blessing." 44:30-33
4) CONSECRATION
The act of consecrating;
dedication to the service and
worship of God. To consecrate is
to make or declare sacred; to
set apart; devote, dedicate to a
purpose; make something an
object of honor or veneration.
From "secr": "sacred, holy"
Verb. Sanctify, hallow,
enshrine, anoint, bless
"And who, then, is willing to
consecrate his service this day
unto the Lord?" 1 Chronicles
29:5
"For the law maketh men high
priests who have infirmity, but
the word of the oath, which was
since the law, maketh the Son,
who is consecrated for
evermore." Hebrews 7:28
"Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of
Jesus...By a new and living way,
which he hath consecrated for
us, Through the veil, that is to
say, his flesh ... And having a
high priest over the house of
God, Let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of
laith, having our hearts
spr4nkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water." Hebrews
10:20
5) DEDICATION
Devotion, adherence, loyalty.
Dedicate: To set apart and
consecrate to a sacred purpose;
to devote wholly and earnestly,
as to a person or purpose.
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"Behold, I build a house to
the name of the Lord my God, to
dedicate it to him, and to burn
before him sweet incense, and
for the continual showbread, and
for the burnt offerings morning
and evening, on the sabbaths and
on the new moons and on the
solemn feasts of the Lord our
God. This is an ordinance
forever to Israel." 2 Chronicles
2:4
"And in the eighth day they made
a solemn assembly; for they kept
the of the altar seven days, and
the feast seven days." 2
Chronicles 7:9
LAW, RULES AND REGULATIONS - THE
VALUE OF OBEDIENCE
Beloved, there is much that we
have yet to learn about Allah's
(God's) Will and our suffering
for the sake of purification.
Allah (God), the Sovereign of
the Universe, has established
rules and laws governing
everything in His Creation.
Nothing in this Creation
disobeys the laws under which it
is created, governed and
controlled, from the tiniest
insect to the huge planets and
stars, except Man.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
taught us that the so-called
Indians were exiled from that
part of the Earth, Asia, to this
wilderness, for breaking the
Laws of Islam. "Islam" means
"Obedience to the Will of God."
"Exile" means "prolonged
separation from one's country or
home, as by stress of
circumstances; expulsion from
one's native land by
authoritative decree." Breaking
the Law of Islam means we
rebelled against obeying our
Sovereign Lord.
The fall of the so-called
Indians, members of the
Aboriginal People of the Earth,
was due ' to rebellion; the fall
of the Black Man, member of the
Aboriginal People of the Earth,
was due to rebellion. The
Caucasian was made in the nature
of rebellion. So, our rebellion,
white, red and black, has earned
us all a place here in America,
where in our rebellion we can
heap punishment and evil upon
each other.
Allah (God) permitted the
Caucasian (so-called white man)
to take this country from the
so-called Indian and bring
millions of Black people into
slavery in the Western
Hemisphere. This was to be a
prison for all of us until we
learned. the price of rebellion
and decided we had enough and
were willing to submit to Allah
(God) that He might get us out
of the condition that our
rebellion against Him has placed
us in -- Death-- spiritually,
mentally, morally, politically
and economically.
The Bible depicts us as
stiff-necked, hard-hearted and
rebellious people, lost sheep
who follow the devices and
desires of our own hearts and
who refuse to submit to the Will
of Allah (God). It is this
rebellion, dear Brothers and
Sisters, that has reduced
humanity to the level of the
beasts of the field and even
below.
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I of the Native American
rituals of traditional religion
that I know of, inflict
suffering for the sake of
purification, that they might
once again gain the Allah, Whom
they call "Grandfather".
The Caucasian people have set up
rules, laws and regulations
governing this society and its
institutions. Most of these
laws, called "common law",
spring from their (Caucasians)
understanding of Divine Law.
Many of these laws, rules and
regulations are made to insure
the safety and security of
people and property from the
evil intentions and actions of
others.
Of course, there are many laws
that are unjust and these laws
are changed by our protest
against these unjust laws. Civil
disobedience in the civil rights
movement was not designed to
create chaos in the society, but
to rid society of unjust laws,
thereby making a better and
healthier society for us all.
When we act outside of the
parameters of the laws of this
society, we may find ourselves
incarcerated (imprisoned). At
that point, yet another, even
more restrictive set of rules
and regulations is activated in
our lives, governing the
relationship between those
confined and those who are the
guards and overseers of those
confined. There are rules
concerning what we should say or
do, when we can say or do it,
how we should act and dress.
Some of these rules may seem
stringent and some even foolish,
however, they are designed to
train the inmate to recognize
and respect rules and
regulations.
Allah (God) says to us in the
Holy Qur'an, "obey Allah and His
Messenger and those in authority
over you", whether they are of
your faith or not. We are
admonished to respect authority,
because that is the way to
Peace.
Respect for authority and rules
and regulations governing our
daily activities, whether
developed by Caucasian people or
Original people, would serve us
better than rebelling against
those rules because they are
against some of our personal
desires. Is this not what led to
our being there in the first
place? Was it not the violation
of Divine Laws governing our
relationship with Allah (God)
that gave our enemies the chance
to kidnap and enslave us,
depriving us of our freedom, our
name, our religion, our
language, our family and loved
ones? Should not our suffering
serve to make us better able to
handle ourselves and the Divine
Laws governing every: respect of
life?
What would we think of a person
who would enter into our home,
knowing the rules of behavior we
have established, yet would try
to get around them,
disrespecting the sacredness of
the home? How do we feel when
someone disregards our privacy
without thought or
consideration? Does this not
anger us?
We must learn to be respectful
of the laws, rules and
regulations of people and their
societies and cultures,
otherwise, we will not be able
to build good relationships
The Price of
Redemption - Page 13
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them or enter into their
societies. This may be the
lesson that we most need to
learn to secure our freedom
permanently.
In the Bible, Jonah rebelled
against the Will of Allah (God)
in running away from that which
he was commanded to do. He was
swallowed by a whale and
imprisoned in-its belly, which
the writers describe as "Hell".
It was in this time of need that
he cried out to God and in
crying out to God he realized
that it was God Who permitted
him to fall into adverse
circumstances that he would know
the price of rebellion and
rejection of his duty. It was
when he cried out to God, or
submitted that he would do what
God commanded him, that the
whale spat him out.
We must learn to obey Allah's
(God's) Will. We do this by
learning how to respect little
laws, for when we take liberties
with small laws that are
designed for our safety and
security, it leads to breaking
Divine Laws which are designed
for our safety and security
spiritually with Allah (God).
When we are driving down the
street, we should stop at the
stop sign; we should proceed
with caution where the sign
directs us to proceed with
caution; we should not go down a
one way street in the wrong
direction; we should stop at
railroad crossings. Don't excuse
yourself from the rules that are
for your own protection and the
protection of others. As we take
chances, we do not rain
ourselves to obey. 'We feed the
spirit of rebellion until we
become hardened in the way of
rebellion; then it is easy to
rebel against Allah (God)
Himself. In excusing ourselves
from rules and regulations, we
make ourselves the criterion by
which we judge the veracity or
goodness of the rules and
regulations, thereby setting
ourselves up as judges.
In our prayers, we ask Allah to
"make Muhammad successful" as He
did make Abraham successful. We
pray the prayer of Abraham, who
said, "I am the first of those
who submit." It is through our
submission that we come up out
of the condition of hell that
our rebellion has placed us in.
Even if we do not fully
understand why we must submit,
we must submit until
understanding comes. 'The
dwellers of the desert say: We
believe. Say: You believe not,
but say, We submit; and faith
has not yet entered into your
hearts. And if you obey Allah
and His Messenger, He will not
diminish (anything) of your
deeds. Surely Allah is
Forgiving, Merciful.' Holy
Qur'an 49:14.
The Price of
Redemption - Page 14
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