Did you know that fear is what the enemy of Allah (God) uses to restrict the Power of your own Will? What are you afraid of? Once someone can make you afraid, they restrict the Power of your own being to express itself.

Look at how people today live in fear. I�m on a job and I am afraid that I am going to be fired (by a cantankerous boss or foreman). Think of it. So the foreman is threatening your security. You are afraid, so it restricts your Will. And, in a sense, it helps to make the individual not just a worker on the job, but a slave to the job.

Anytime we are afraid to think, to move, to express ourselves, for fear of being censured; for fear of losing a job; then you need to get away from that type of job, for you have lost the most precious thing that you could have and that is a Free Will. That is what Allah (God) has given you. But if your choices are made out of Fear, then you have made yourself a slave.

Fear is a distressing emotion; aroused by impending pain and danger. Of course, the Scriptures teach us that the Fear of Allah (God) is the beginning of Knowledge; and that, of course is true.

The fear of Allah (God) is restricting, but it does not restrict us in a way that damages our development. The Fear of Allah (God) frees us to act in accordance with His Will.

The next thing that hurts the Will, redirects the Will, redirects the Power of our being in a negative direction, is something called Vanity.

Vanity is excessive pride in ones appearance, one�s qualities, ones abilities and/or one�s achievements. It is Conceit. Vanity can lead to Arrogance. And, of course, anything that is done with the spirit of Conceit lacks real value. In fact, it is hollow and worthless. And those of us who are conceited; who are overly impressed with ourselves and who see too much importance in ourselves in our relationships to others; our acts are shallow. Our words are hollow. Acts that are done in this spirit of vanity limit the value of what we say or do. Consequently, we are considered, in the Eyes of Allah (God), worthless.

The next terrible distortion, or that which distorts the Will, is Pride. Pride is a high or inordinate opinion of one�s own dignity, importance, merit or superiority. Whether this is cherished in the mind or expressed openly by our bearing or conduct, makes no difference.

Once the mind is beset with Pride and we swell up with Pride, this directs the Power of our being. So we do things to enhance our merit, our superiority, our sense of importance. And we become blinded, by Pride, to the Will of Allah (God); to the Power of Allah (God). Pride makes you think of yourself as the Power and not God as the Power. Pride will make you pay lip service to Allah (God) and even feign humility, while in reality the heart is a boiling caldron of False Pride which has now corrupted the Will and redirected it toward an end that makes Man a slave of his own self-conceit, importance and, really, Delusion.

This (Pride) was the condition of Pharaoh�s mind and it caused Pharaoh to make terrible blunders, which led to the destruction of his power, his people and his nation. This has been the state of mind of most leaders in the world. By the words that we hear coming out of the mouths of America�s leadership, this is indicative that the state of mind is that of arrogance and false pride. They have for so long thought of their own importance above obedience to the Will of Allah (God) that their own Pride, now, is speeding them toward a hasty destruction.

This is another emotion that can absolutely corrupt and redirect the Will. Envy is a feeling of discontent, usually with ill-will, at seeing someone else�s superiority, advantages or success. How many of you, how many of us are plagued with this disease of the heart, right now? You are angry with someone who you feel has an advantage or a success that you believe should be yours. This is a terrible corruption of the Will of Allah (God) in man.

Lust is a voracious appetite; a sexual appetite that is inordinate. It is out of the Divine Law. It is out of the way of the Order of Allah (God). It is something that we feel we have to do. It is a compulsion. And we allow that drive, that sexual drive, that Lust, to actually corrupt our Will and direct our Will towards ends that are non productive of good.

To those of us who are angered much, Anger can direct the Will. Anger directs the Power of our being toward the object of our anger. And ofttimes, in our Anger, we can do very destructive things to Self and others. Anger is something that must be controlled.

And of course, lastly, there is Greed. Greed is the accepted inordinate or rapacious desire for wealth, power, food or drink. Allah (God) wants us to be satisfied. But when we are overcome by Greed, this lust for wealth or power or food or drink, it manifests itself in our directing our Will to destroy those who stand in the way of our assumption of Power. It leads to obesity, where one destroys one�s health because of one�s Greed; or destroys ones health because of our uncontrolled urges.

So these enemies of the Will: Fear, Vanity, Pride, Envy, Lust, Anger and Greed must be gotten rid of. But how can we get rid of the enemies that keep us from full development?

When Allah (God) asks us to become His servants, He asks us to give him the best part of ourselves. What does Allah (God) ask of us? He asks us for our Will. What does He ask us for? He asks us for the Power of our being. Since He gave His Power of Will to us and we say the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, then if Allah (God) has given you a bit of His Own Power (which is His Will), then He asks you will you give it back in submission to My Will. What should our word to Almighty God be? Of course we should say yes. I submit my Will to do Your Will Not by force, but willingly.

And this is the meaning of the Arabic word Muslim. To be a Muslim is not some strange thing. To be a Muslim doesn�t mean being radical or being an extremist or being a parrot. To be a Muslim means that you recognize that your Will that has been given to you by God, as His Gift to you. And he is requiring of us, obedience to His Will; submitting our Will to His. And when we do that, we are called Muslim.

And the religion of obedience to the Will of Allah (God) is called, in Arabic, Islam. And so, we say to you, Beloved, that every prophet of Almighty God, was by the action of that prophet, a Muslim, though he may not have called himself Muslim as such. But his act of submitting his Will and time to do the Will of Allah (God) is an act of surrender, that, in Arabic we say he is Muslim, his religion is Islam.

So when we are asked to submit our Will to do the Will of Allah (God), He takes that Will and He fashions it. He brings that individual unto Himself. So when The Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked us, who is The Original Man?, he is gently directing you back to Allah (God), rise above all of those who reject obedience to His Will. By submitting to the Will of Allah (God), we can become the Fathers of a brand new civilization; a civilization superior to those who have rebelled against His Will.

In fact, we can become that which the Holy Qur�an calls Khalifah, or one who takes the place of God; God�s Vicegerent. We can become the Supreme Ruler of the Universe Itself. It starts with obedience to the Will of Allah (God). Because of the awesome power that Man can come into by obeying Allah (God), he must learn valuable lessons.

To be continued.