May 1998: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

Page 2

Towards Submission

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