No discipline, no love

By the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan | Last updated: Oct 10, 2009 - 7:59:11 PM

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

There is a scripture in the Bible that teaches that Allah (God) is Love. The creative force out of which He created the heavens and the earth is the awesome power of His Love. In that great display of love, Allah (God) regulates the affairs of His Creatures by means of law. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that the first law is motion and the second law is order. Out of Allah's (God's) Love, He puts all things in motion, and, out of His Love, He gives order to that motion by means of law.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

Children today are growing up in homes where there is no discipline because there are no rules. Children today do what they please and their parents, mothers in particular, allow this license not realizing that their unwillingness to train the children up in the way they should go will bring great pain to the parents in the future.

The sun in our universe is the great example of freedom, for, its light gives life to all things within its sphere of influence and also warmth. There are nine planets in our solar system and each planet's affair is regulated by the Law of Light that disciplines each planet giving it an orbit in which to rotate, from which it can never escape. In the Bible, Jesus uses these words, "I am the Light of the World.” He was made by Allah (God) to glorify Him, and, the Light of His Wisdom gives life to those whom His Wisdom touches, and, the warmth of His Love comforts those who are touched by His Light.

The Qur'an refers to Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), “As a Light Giving Sun.” This teaches us that Muhammad in His Person, is the Light of what Allah (God) brought through Him called Qur'an, another name of which is Al-Nur – The Light. Muhammad in the beauty of His Light and Life and in the warmth of His Love, by the permission of Allah (God), gives spiritual life to all those who accept His Guidance and follow His Way.

It is not an accident that the companions of Jesus were called His Disciples. In the word disciple we have the word discipline. A disciple is one who is in the process of being disciplined or is disciplining his or herself according to the Teaching and Way of a Master.

Oft times, in the Bible Jesus rebuked His Disciples.

REBUKE: To criticize or reprove sharply; reprimand: to check or repress.

Why did He do so? He rebuked them because He loved them. Therefore, in His rebuke was correction because He wanted them to be as Allah (God) desired. We can never be what Allah (God) desires of us without correction, rebuke and exhortation. Therefore, the Bibles teaches us, “Train up a child in the way he should go and, when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We cannot teach or train without correction and rebuke. There is no student of any teacher of any discipline that is not corrected in order to grow into the perfection of that discipline. The more correction one is given, the greater is the demonstration of love.

The Bible teaches, “Whom the Lord loves, He chastens much.”

CHASTEN: To punish, either physically or morally; chastise: to restrain; moderate: to refine; purify.

The engine pulls the train. Likewise, the parents should be the example of what the parent hopes for in the children. The parents are the engine that pulls the child along the track. Whenever a train jumps the track, we have what is called a wreck or disaster. The lives of our children are being wrecked, and disaster is in their future if we do not love them enough to lay down rules that we encourage our children to live by.

As we look at society today and we see the police armed to the teeth with bulletproof vests as they go about their duties, it is as though they are in a huge cage with violent beasts that they must protect themselves from as they try to establish some degree of order by means of enforcement of law.

If there is no discipline in the home, is there a chance for discipline in the school? Many teachers who have given their lives to the idea of educating the young are giving up their profession because they lack the methodology and psychological training that would allow them to produce discipline in their classrooms. So, the schools today resemble psychiatric wards in mental hospitals. The poor teachers oft times give up their profession and take other means of employment because teaching is impossible in an atmosphere where there is no discipline.

There was a time when discipline was administered in the church, but, today in most churches there is no discipline. People come to listen to the preaching; listen to good singing, giving their tithes and offerings and then they go back to the life-style that they are living. Very few pastors, ministers and imams will rebuke their parishioners to make them better Christians, better Muslims, or better Jews. If there is no discipline in the home, the school, and the church, then, the streets become a jungle and the police become the so-called tamers of the wild beasts of the street. This is a loveless society.

When children come out of a home where there is no discipline and go into a home where there is discipline, you will find that they like being where there is discipline. There is a human need to be disciplined, and, therefore, to discipline is a human right. As parents, we must have the right and the authority to discipline our children. As teachers we must have the right and the authority to discipline our students. As pastors, ministers, and imams, we must have the right and the authority to discipline our membership. If we do not do our job out of love for those in our care, the judge, then, has to do his or her job and give our children time in prison or sentence them to death because we did not love them enough to train them properly when they were young. Society is robbing the parents and the teachers of the right and the authority to discipline the children and the students. I know that there is child abuse and there must be laws to protect children from abusive parents, but, spanking a child to correct it is now considered abuse, however, when several policemen snatch a man who is shot four or five times out of a vehicle and repeatedly stomp him, the public is told, “Do not rush to judgment, wait until the facts are in,” even though we know we are looking at raw, vicious brutality.

If the police can kill a human being and it is called justifiable homicide, is there not a time in our homes that a parent is justified in spanking or disciplining their children? Is there not a time in school when teachers are justified in disciplining the students?

This society has gone mad, and, because of its madness with all of its magnificence, it is spiraling downward into the abyss of hell.

We must create a movement to take back our God-given rights and the authority that Allah (God) gives us to make a better human being through love that is shown by our willingness to bring order into the life that we put into motion by means of rules, laws and the imposition of punishment when we willfully disobey those rules and laws. These rules and regulations are designed to train us up in the way that we should go.

May Allah (God) bless us to receive the Light of His Love; the Warmth of His Love; and, the Beauty of His Discipline.

In the Bible, David said, “Thy rod, and Thy staff they comfort me.” There is no child who will not be comforted by the proper use of the rod and the staff. We, as parents, must come back to Allah (God) and let Him be the center of our lives that we may grow in wisdom to become the disciples of Jesus, the disciples of Muhammad, rather than those who love to call the names of these Great Ones, but, refuse to be disciplined or discipline ourselves according to the Word of Allah (God).

In the Bible, the early Christians were called by Jesus and Paul, “little children.” When we come into the Light of Knowledge and Faith we are like babies. We do not have the ability to discipline self. Therefore, discipline must be imposed on us until we are able to discipline ourselves. Mothers and fathers, it is our duty to discipline our children. Teachers and professors, it is our duty to discipline our students. Ministers, preachers, imams, and sheikhs, it is our duty to discipline those who are under our charge. If we exercise the right of authority in the proper manner, we will make a better home, school, church and a better society.

Where there is no discipline, there is no love.

The Final Call