Life on earth as a test of choosing God alone over Satan's point of view, with racism named as Satan's principle and faith described as fine tuning away character defects. Masjid Tucson reports its interfaith soup kitchen and scripture study group, and the 1998 conference in Seattle is announced. A closing piece reads the spider's web of 29:41 as the flimsiness of idol worship.
There is a purpose in everything God created.
Nothing has been created in vain including our finite life span on earth.
God emphasizes our purpose in this life in many verses of the Quran:
Why do they not reflect on themselves? God did not create
the heavens and the earth, and everything between them, except for a specific
purpose, and for a specific life span. However, most people, with regard
to meeting their Lord, are disbelievers. (30:8)
We did not create the heavens and the earth, and everything
between them except for a specific purpose, and for a finite interim.
Those who disbelieve are totally oblivious to the warnings given to them.
(46:3)
The One who created death and
life for the purpose of distinguishing those among you who would do better.
He is the Almighty, the Forgiving. (67:2)
Had your Lord willed, all the people would have been one
congregation (of believers). But they will always dispute (the truth).
Only those blessed with mercy from your Lord (will not dispute the truth).
This is why He created them. The judgment of your Lord has already been
issued: “I will fill Hell with jinns and humans, all together.”
(11:118-119)
If God willed, He could have guided all the people. He could have made
all the people believe. The idea, however, is to let the people have the
freedom of choice. We know from the Quran that the whole reason for our
existence
occurred when Satan claimed he could be a
god besides God. Our Lord called Satan’s challenge. “All right,
I’m going to make you a god and all the creatures will see how you
handle it. It will be clear that you can never be god.”
God made Satan a temporary god. God created the planet earth as Satan’s
dominion and created human beings as Satan’s constituents. God gave
human beings free will and they could, therefore, choose Satan as their
master, if this was their will. We can either join in Satan’s point
of view which is that God alone is not enough, or choose the only true
point of view which is that God alone is enough.
If all the people sided with God’s
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Towards Submission
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Continued from page 1
point of view, there would be no further reason for our existence.
We learn from the above mentioned verses in Sura 11 that God knew
we would dispute and disbelieve, and many of us would choose Satan
over God alone. Anytime that we side with Satan, we enter into His
kingdom. We can see that Satan is incompetent. He cannot keep the
world from having accidents, misery or pain. He cannot maintain
a perfect world. We must use caution not to do anything that remotely
resembles Satan’s point of view or we will become his constituents.
Thus, he will claim us.
One idea greatly promoted by Satan is racism. Satan is the number
one racist. God quotes Satan as saying the following:
“...I am better than he; You created me from
fire, and created him from mud.” (7:12)
This verse is repeated several places in the Quran. Satan was obviously
looking down on the human beings. This is racism and one of Satan’s
principles. God teaches us that we are supposed to stand against
oppression. However, we have to be able to distinguish racism from
oppression in all its forms. Oppression comes in many forms and
racism is one of them.
God created us in certain form, gender, or color. He knows what
is best suited for us even though we may not like it.
He knows what is best in order for us
to go through the test in this world to distinguish us. If we continually
complain, then we are not submitting. We have to address the character
defects in our selves in order to submit. Our bodies are mere garments
that we keep in this dimension. What is important to God is how
righteous we are. God created us all for this test.
O people, we created you from the same male and female,
and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, that you may recognize
one another. The best among you in the sight of God is the most
righteous. God is Omniscient, Cognizant. (49:13)
Every nationality, every color, every size, and every shape will
face the test of racism. Whatever I say or do which resembles racism
will cause my entry into Satan’s kingdom. For example, the
celebration of Martin Luther King Day in some states has been subjected
to debate. If I go ahead and march in protest, I have to ask myself
if I am doing this because of his color, or it is the right thing
to do in the sight of God. Would I do the same thing if they canceled
Columbus Day? Washington’s Birthday? Lincoln’s Birthday?
They are not black. They are European-Americans. Would I do the
same thing? If I’m doing this for color, that makes me a racist.
If I’m doing it for God, then I’m submitting. One can
be a racist from any angle—as the oppressor or the oppressed.
In either case Satan can claim us and we would deserve to be with
him.
We don’t have to wait until we
die to experience heaven. The prize is attainable now. God tells
us in the Quran that we can be kings and queens on earth. This can
belong to us now as well as in the Hereafter. We have made a decision
to worship God alone. Now we must work on fine tuning our faith
to rid ourselves of imperfections. This is comparable to polishing
a stone to a fine jewel. How long does it take? It depends on the
roughness of the stone, what tools we use, and how often the polishing
takes place. Fine tuning eliminates our character defects little
by little.
As for myself, even though the process seems slow, things do come
into focus and the light comes on. What makes the Quran so great
is that you can read it over and still find something that is new,
at a time when you are to understand it in a new way, or paying
attention to it for the first time concurrent with your life experience.
This again, is called fine tuning, or taking care of shortcomings
within ourselves.
Thank God for allowing us to reach this point of worshipping Him
alone and letting us look at our imperfections and shortcomings.
Let us move forward with the fine tuning and polishing of the stones
of our shortcomings into jewels of perfection, total submission
to God alone.
All glory be to God!
Frank Yeargin
Masjid Tucson Activities
Page 3
Soup Kitchen
We participate in an ongoing project to help feed the hungry in
our town in cooperation with Casas Adobes congregational church
and Temple Emmanuel synagogue. This project has started over two
years ago with soup kitchens every other month. However, since May
1997, we were able to do a soup kitchen every month because of the
increased interest and contributions from the community by God’s
grace. Now, we are going one step further. Starting this month,
we will be able to feed the poor twice a month. May God accept our
efforts.
Up until this year, we have been using the kitchen facilities of
the Salvation Army. However, in January 1998, the city closed the
place, not wanting homeless people in the central part of the city.
Therefore, we have contacted Casa Maria, a Catholic run kitchen
facility in south of Tucson, to see if we can use their facility
for feeding the poor. Since February 1998, we are able to use Casa
Maria’s facilities.
With Salvation Army, we used to be able to feed 200-300 people.
Now with the bigger facilities of Casa Maria, we are able to feed
600-1000 homeless and poor people in town. Again as mentioned earlier,
we will be able to hold the soup kitchen twice a month starting
this month. Thank God
The soup kitchen is run by volunteers from the three communities.
These volunteers get together during every other weekend of each
month. They buy all the necessary food for the soup kitchen. They
prepare, cook and distribute the food the next day at the Casa Maria’s
kitchen facility. The last soup kitchen participation was on April
11. Hot meals and sandwiches were served to about 800 needy people.
The next soup kitchen services will be on May 12th and 24th.
Interfaith Study Group
An interfaith scripture study group has been on going at the ICS
Mosque since October 1997. The group started meeting at 7:30 p.m.
on the first Tuesday of every other month. However, because of the
success of earlier meetings, the participants have decided to meet
more often. Therefore, the group now meets every month. So far these
scripture studies have been very fruitful and lively. Discussions
in these studies have generally been on the root texts of each of
the faiths assembled: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The audio-taping
of these studies can be provided if there is interest for it
Soup kitchen and interfaith scripture group activities are coordinated
by Senobar Tafazoli.
Y.E.S.
Young Enlightened Submitters
There are reading materials available for our Young Enlightened
Submitters on the internet. If you have access to internet, you
can get to these materials at submission.org/yes
Your comments, suggestions, and contributions for Y.E.S. are appreciated.
1998 Annual Conference
September 4-6, 1998
Seattle, Washington
God willing, we are planning to hold this year’s
United Submitters International Conference in Seattle, Washington.
The dates of this conference are set for September 4-6, 1998.
Please mark your calendar and start making your plans
to attend the conference. Remember that this is a great opportunity
to be with Submitters from all around the world.
Look for more details in the coming issues of the
Submitters Perspective.
SPIDERS
There is not a creature on earth whose provision
is not guaranteed by God
The spider is a creature
of God. For many people it’s a scary creature, but spiders are very
beneficial in the number of insects they consume. This is how God has
guaranteed its provision, through the myriad of insects as an unending
food supply. Spiders have different ways of catching their prey. Some,
like the wolf spider, hunt and stalk their food. The jumping spider lies
in wait, ambushing its prey. But spiders are most renowned for spinning
webs.
The silk glands, the spinnerets, of the spider create fine silk threads.
It’s actually protein. It cannot be dissolved in water and it’s
the strongest natural fiber known, much stronger than steel and elastic
to resist breakage. An intricate web, truly a fine work of art, may be
completed by the hard working spider in under an hour. The spider begins
with a bridge line from which the foundation lines are laid. The spider
uses 3 or 4 objects to attach the lines to, such as branches, leaves,
and walls.
Then it will lay out radial lines between
the foundation lines and bisect and rebisect these lines creating spokes.
Finally spiral lines are laid on top using a sticky layer of silk for
trapping prey. A French entomologist once commented: “What a refinement
of art for a mess of flies.”
The Quran states:
The allegory of those who accept other masters beside God
is that of the spider and her home; the flimsiest of all homes is the
home of the spider, if they only knew.
God knows full well that whatever they worship beside Him
are really nothing. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise. We cite these examples
for the people, and none appreciate them except the knowledgeable. (29:41-3)
This is a very interesting reference to the spider. God uses the feminine
gender because it is the female spider that spins webs and is very apt
to mistake a male spider as prey and eat him. But the important aspect
of these
verses is the reference to other masters beside
God. It is true that the silk thread used to make webs is a very strong
fiber. Yet if we simply sweep our hand through a spider web it completely
disintegrates. That is what the knowledgeable must appreciate. The idols
that people set up in this life seem important and strong and beneficial.
Yet, one sweep of God’s hand and all idols become nothing, making
it clear the flimsiness of idol worship.
Say, “Consider the idols you have set up beside God;
show me what on earth have they created.” Do they own any partnership
in the heavens? Have we given them a book wherein there is no doubt? Indeed,
what the transgressors promise one another is no more than an illusion.
(35:40)
O people, God’s promise is the truth; therefore,
do not be distracted by this lowly life. Do not be diverted from God by
mere illusions. (35:6)
Lydia Kelley
About this work
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International Community of Submitters
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International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson