by Minister Louis
Farrakhan
[Editor's Note: This
article originally appeared on August 8, 2000, Vol. 19 No. 40]
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.
he 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.
hildren
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. A
train that is on a track is disciplined by the track.
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.
hen 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.
- FinalCall.com
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