God, Family and the Less Fortunate - The Power of Charity in the New Year
I greet everyone reading this with Peace.
As the "New Year" approaches I just wanted to share a few thoughts about God, Family and as the Bible put it, "The Lest of These.
Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus speaks of the day when He returns and will separate the people of the earth as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The sheep on His right hand are those who have served others while the goats on His left are the selfish who took only thought for themselves.
He tells the sheep (v34-40) "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
In Islam there are Hadiths or Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The 13th Hadith says: "None of you truly a Muslim (one who submits his will to do the Will of Allah (God) until he loves (some translations say: wants) for his brother (and sister) what he loves (wants) for himself."
Conversely we should; Hate for our brothers and sister what we would Hate for ourselves. This is regardless of their religious affiliation, regardless of age, regardless of s*x and any other Willie Lynch like progams that have us hate one another "without a justice cause."
It's simple, yet powerful!
Although the words are simple, for many of us it will be a great struggle to overcome that programing of self hate and purge that virus out of our spiritual system.
How can we purify ourselves of self-hate,of being self-endulged, vain and having only gross self interest? Prayer yes, that is a start. However prayer, faith and believe are nothing unless put into action.
What action should we take? It is one that is manditory, required and obligitory in every religion, and that's Charity.
Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. wrote of Charity stating; Charity, preached by every religion of the world, is a way of bringing justice to society. And justice is the essence of religion, Islam has therefore made charity that is Zakah, obligatory and binding upon all those who embrace the faith; it has been made into an institution in order to give in permanence and regularity.
A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth to fulfil their own desires but reserve a portion of it for parents, relatives, neighbors, the poor and the debilitated. As the saying goes: Charity begins at home. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of his family, to assist other people in need of his help.
Thus the spirit of kindness and well wishing is the essence of charity. The giver is not to expect any reward from the beneficiary as there awaits for him an abundant reward from God - material, moral and spiritual - what God deems it best to confer on His servant.
Why am I writing this? If we don't come together as a people, as a family, as a community, as a Nation we will suffer like not other people have suffered in the anals of history.
Right now, because of the Subprime Crime, many of our people are homeless, that includes 'our' children. Because of the bad economy adoptions are down and aportions are up. Our young people are falling into despair committing suicide by committing homicide.
Let's start with a kind word, let's start by acknowledging each other presents.
I'll end it with this: Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
Peace!
Express Yourself - Leave a comment on "What you plan to do to lift your people up in the New Year."
(Note: comments may be play on radio show @ http://blogtalkradio.com/know4life)
http://know4life.info
As the "New Year" approaches I just wanted to share a few thoughts about God, Family and as the Bible put it, "The Lest of These.
Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus speaks of the day when He returns and will separate the people of the earth as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The sheep on His right hand are those who have served others while the goats on His left are the selfish who took only thought for themselves.
He tells the sheep (v34-40) "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
In Islam there are Hadiths or Sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The 13th Hadith says: "None of you truly a Muslim (one who submits his will to do the Will of Allah (God) until he loves (some translations say: wants) for his brother (and sister) what he loves (wants) for himself."
Conversely we should; Hate for our brothers and sister what we would Hate for ourselves. This is regardless of their religious affiliation, regardless of age, regardless of s*x and any other Willie Lynch like progams that have us hate one another "without a justice cause."
It's simple, yet powerful!
Although the words are simple, for many of us it will be a great struggle to overcome that programing of self hate and purge that virus out of our spiritual system.
How can we purify ourselves of self-hate,of being self-endulged, vain and having only gross self interest? Prayer yes, that is a start. However prayer, faith and believe are nothing unless put into action.
What action should we take? It is one that is manditory, required and obligitory in every religion, and that's Charity.
Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. wrote of Charity stating; Charity, preached by every religion of the world, is a way of bringing justice to society. And justice is the essence of religion, Islam has therefore made charity that is Zakah, obligatory and binding upon all those who embrace the faith; it has been made into an institution in order to give in permanence and regularity.
A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth to fulfil their own desires but reserve a portion of it for parents, relatives, neighbors, the poor and the debilitated. As the saying goes: Charity begins at home. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of his family, to assist other people in need of his help.
Thus the spirit of kindness and well wishing is the essence of charity. The giver is not to expect any reward from the beneficiary as there awaits for him an abundant reward from God - material, moral and spiritual - what God deems it best to confer on His servant.
Why am I writing this? If we don't come together as a people, as a family, as a community, as a Nation we will suffer like not other people have suffered in the anals of history.
Right now, because of the Subprime Crime, many of our people are homeless, that includes 'our' children. Because of the bad economy adoptions are down and aportions are up. Our young people are falling into despair committing suicide by committing homicide.
Let's start with a kind word, let's start by acknowledging each other presents.
I'll end it with this: Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
Peace!
Express Yourself - Leave a comment on "What you plan to do to lift your people up in the New Year."
(Note: comments may be play on radio show @ http://blogtalkradio.com/know4life)
http://know4life.info
Hello Steven Muhammad,
Our way, what we must do and what is going to happen is clear. God has intervened in our dilemma about two years now.
We must first identify our genuine prophet. The first thing that God does when coming to a people is to present a genuine prophet to that people. For instance, when God came to the Arabian people, God presented them with Prophet Mohammed. Likewise, when God came to the children of Israel, God presented them with Prophet Moses. The Prophet is always of the same race that the people are. Consequentially, our Prophet will be as one of us, a Black American who is a descendent of slaves. That prophet will be promoting and advocating our permanent solution since God will be backing that person and only that person. As God only backed Prophet Mohammed and Prophet Moses.
God have inspired me to know that our only permanent solution is that we desire to become sovereign people or have complete independence on a portion of this continent that we could call our very own country with borders. What I say is going to happen. What I say comes only from God.
Mr. Farrakhan neither advocates nor promotes the sovereignty of Black Americans who are descendents of slaves. Consequentially, Mr. Farrakhan is not the anointed one, but I am.
Black Americans are neither Muslims nor Christians. Our guidance comes from our chosen prophet of God and not the Bible or the Quran. Our religious book is forthcoming. Our Prophet will not be following the dictates of previous prophets. In other words, if one Prophet were meant to walk in the footsteps of previous prophets there would never be a need for God. However, each Prophet made it plain that God were inspiring and guiding them constantly, am I right. Do you understand the fundamentals of what I have just said?
What say you?