"All is Vanity...Except Surrender to Allah(God)."

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower.

After listening to a Beautiful Message from the Hon. Louis Farrakhan this past Friday, I was forced to look at myself, my family, my people, Humanity...and even God...from a different perspective from the usual.

NONE of us, except the Originator of the present Universe, had the opportunity to choose the vessel that we came into this world in. The "Black" man or woman could just as easily have been born a "White" man or woman, and vice versa.

How then, can we glory in one and ridicule the other, when NEITHER had any choice in the matter? Should a person be honored, invalidated or persecuted for differences in his or her being over which he or she had/has no control?

Allah says, in the Holy Qur'an, "...into whatever form He Pleases, He casts thee...".
Whatever form HE pleases...not what "we" please!

With this in mind, of what use is it for the one born in "black" skin to devalue the one born in "white" skin (or vice versa), when both emanate(d) from the same Essence? Of what use is it for the one born a male to exalt himself above the one born female (or vice versa), when both are manifestations of the same Divine Reality?

I am not suggesting that it is wrong to appreciate one's self or one's attributes; but the Truth of the matter is that it is not "color" or "gender" or "ethnicity" that makes one person or people "better" than another or "lesser" than another. It is the quality of our conscious behavior, compared with our Divine Purpose for existence, that determines whether we are "better" or "lesser" than another.

Allah also says, in the Holy Qur'an, that the "best" among men are those who are "Most mindful of their duty (to God)." It does not mention color or gender or culture. The Bible teaches that, "In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no bond nor free, no male nor female...for all are one in Christ."

Quite simply, we are what we choose to be, and we cannot "choose" our race or gender; but we can choose how we will live our lives in relation to God's Plan, and at the end of the day, that is really all that matters.

Peace to all.

RM