THE NATION OF ISLAM S T U D Y C O U R S E FRIDAY CLASS WEEK 26 GOD S HEALING POWER By The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (The Final Call Newspaper) Muhammad University of Islam 2011
Study Course Instructions This study course is designed to be done both in a course room, mosque, study-group or self-paced at home. Certain parts of this course (Key Word Study) will be done with a partner. Other parts will be done independently (by yourself). When its time to partner, you and your partner (twin) are to follow the steps provided in this guide. The study course is laid out in the order you do them. It is important not to skip any steps of the guide. THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BE FOLLOWED IN OUR CLASSES. Purpose of this Study Course Guide: The purpose of this study course guide is to guide you through this course of study. Time to Complete: Although the hour and a half that we have for study this evening will hopefully allow you to progress through most of this study, however it is strongly recommend that you continue to work on this study course at home at your own pace. Important Note: During the study course session, if you have any questions raise your hand for assistance. Each believer (student) should have a copy of this handout and its instructions to take home and continue studying on their own. All steps may not be completed in the class sessions in its entirety. Study Course Steps Step 1: Key Word Clearing Key words are important words related to key concepts found in the reading. Having a good understanding of the meanings of these words will help each student better understand the important concepts and ideas of the study, as well as eliminate misunderstandings that come with misunderstood words. Use the key word list and definitions found in this packet to do the drill (exercise) a and b. 1.) Select a partner (closest to you) and study the Key Words together, through reviewing the questions and answers to master. (If done in course room or mosque/study group the time allotted is 30-45 minutes) 2.) First time through: The student has the questions and answers in front of him or her. The partner asks the student the question, and the student answers it. He/She can look at the answer if needed. The answer does not have to be word-for-word or memorized; just the concept must be correct. 3.) Second time through: Once finished with the drill the first time, you start again from the beginning, this time without the answers in front of you. Your partner asks the question and you answers. If the answer is incorrect, your partner shows you the answer. Look at the answer again and repeat until you have grasped the concept, then continue to the next one. Step 2: Independent Reading After completing step one, you may begin to read the selected reading materials. Step 3: Check Your Understanding Questions: Time Frame: 30 min Review the lists of questions. Each question is formulated to check your understanding of the key concepts and ideas found in the reading. Answer each question on a sheet of paper and be prepared to discuss your answers at the conclusion of this session. Sufficient time may not be given during class session to answer all of the questions. If you do not finish in class, please continue this step at home. 2
What does it mean to perpetuate? Perpetuate means to cause to continue or prevail; preserve (something valued) from oblivion or extinction. What does sustain mean? Sustain means to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure; strengthen or support physically or mentally. What is a relationship? A relationship is the condition or fact of being related; involvement, connection or association. What is a force? Force is strength or energy; might; power. It is the capacity to do work or cause physical change. KEY WORD CLEARING What is power? Power is ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something. What does it mean to heal? To heal is to make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment. It is to free from evil; cleanse; purify. What is a vitamin? A vitamin is any of a group of substances that are essential, in small quantities, for the normal functioning of metabolism in the body. They cannot usually be synthesized in the body but they occur naturally in certain foods. Insufficient supply of any particular vitamin results in a deficiency disease. What does adverse mean? Adverse means to be unfavorable or antagonistic in purpose or effect; opposing one's interests or desire. What is a burden? A burden is that which is carried; load; that which is borne with difficulty; obligation. What is an intercessor? An intercessor is a person who intervenes on behalf of another, especially by prayer. What does it mean to disconnect? Disconnect means to break the connection of or between. It means take (an electrical device) out of action by detaching it from a power supply. What does overcome mean? Overcome means to succeed in dealing with (a problem or difficulty). It means defeat (an opponent); prevail. 3
GOD S HEALING POWER By The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan [Editor's note: The following text is excerpted from an interview with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, originally appearing as Part 2 of a five-part Final Call Newspaper series on health in 1991 (FCN Vol. 10, No. 16, August 5, 1991).] In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. Allah (God), in His Absolute, Perfect Knowledge of His Creation, has provided for us in the Earth everything we need to have a beautiful, health-filled, long and productive life. Something has interfered with that. What is that something? Our illnesses are due directly to our rebellion against divine Will and Law. Sickness is not natural; health is natural. When we are sick, something is wrong with the way we think and live and what we eat and drink. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has taught us that Allah (God) has always intended long life for the righteous. When you open your Bible to the Book of Genesis, you read of the old patriarchs who lived 400, 500, 900, nearly 1,000 years. You may think that is fantasy, because you hardly know anyone that makes 100-years-old. To live nearly 1,000 years is not a fantasy the old patriarchs knew the Law of Life and they kept themselves in harmony with that Law. There is a song they sing in church, I Ain't No Ways Tired we should not be so tired at the age of 70 or 80 that we want to leave here. We have not learned enough about anything to want to die. We have not learned how to live. We must study how to perpetuate and keep in motion this wonderful life that Almighty God has blessed us with. The human being has to keep in a certain way in order to be worthy to hold the Spirit of Life. This finely tuned magnificent creation is its own hospital. We can cure this body of ills that it has if the person inside the body knows how to connect with the Powerful Being that created it and then makes up his or her mind to live in accord with the Law of Life that sustains it. The Earth purifies itself. You can pollute water, but it will continue to run and purify itself. You can pollute the body and if you know how to cleanse it, you can save it. The Earth has a relationship with the sun as well as a relationship with the family of planets of which it is a major part in the Universe. Look at the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. The light of the sun is what the Earth depends on for Motion and Light. The Earth cannot move on its own. There is a Force that is moving the Earth and the Force that moves the Earth is the Power of the Light coming from the Sun. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the Sun gives everything its color. The Sun up there that we take for granted is the source of Life, Light and Energy. In its rays are billions of vitamins that we cannot 4
get anywhere else. There are some vitamins in the Sun that we cannot get from any planet life so to run from the Sun is to run from Life itself. That Sun and the Earth what a magnificent relationship! This Earth spins by the Power in the Light and that spinning gives us seasons. That motion is what puts Life and Energy in the Earth. When you walk on the Earth, you may think you are moving on concrete, but study it and you will realize that it is a living ball. Look at the little blades of grass coming up through the concrete. Look at the little creatures. Go out to the park sometimes and sit on the Earth out of which you came and to which you must one day return. Feel it on your hands and feet. Go to the sea and look at the various forms of life in the sea. We are surrounded by Life! Why is there so much sickness and death among us when Life is all around? Beloved, when you are disconnected from Faith in Allah (God), you are forced to rely on your own limited knowledge to sustain you in a world you really know very little of. No wonder we are sick, diseased and covered with death. There is no Healing outside of Allah (God). He is the Healer. Doctors do not heal; nursing does not cure. The only Healer is the Creator Himself and when you do not have a connection to the Creator, more than half of your power is gone. Righteous people who put their trust in Allah (God) are already on the path to victory over disease; if we have Faith in Allah (God) and also know how to eat to live and how to think right, there is nothing of disease that we cannot overcome. Paul wrote, The wages of sin is death. What kind of death is he referring to, since everybody has to die? The kind of death that the prophets die is not the kind of death we die. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches that Allah (God) does not take a prophet's life without that prophet's permission. You have never read in Scripture where a prophet was on his way to the market and suddenly died of a heart attack. Allah (God) has so much love and respect for His Servants that He will not take them without their permission. You have read in the Bible and the Holy Qur'an instances where Allah (God) gave a prophet a certain number of years to work and then granted that prophet's request for an extension. He continues to send Messages for a time and then the prophet finally decided, It is time for me to come in now, I have done my work. There is no sense in staying around after you have completed your job. The prophets did not live long. They did not live 500, 600, 800 years. Were they sinners? No. They were from the people they spoke to and Allah (God) had already set the time for the people to live in the world, based upon the degree of sin that the people were living in. Moses lived 120 years. That was the time that Allah (God) gave the people of the world. By the time of David, the wickedness of the world had gotten so bad, until the days of life shortened to three score and ten, which is 70 years. The prophets knew how to live, but they were in such an adverse world, Allah (God) allowed them to do their work and then He took them away but when the man Jesus comes, He is a different kind of man, according to both the Holy Qur'an and the Bible. The Jesus figure comes to end death and introduce to the people a way to live that will extend their days. I come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. You and I must rid ourselves of the burden that we carry. If you are awake and conscious, you cannot do things you know are wrong and not bear the burden and scar of your own actions. When you know what is right and willfully go against what is right, then your mind carries a burden. That is called the burden of sin and sin produces the death of the mind and spirit. 5
You cannot fool Allah (God) and you cannot fool yourself. You know what you did last night and what you did last week. Sin is something you cannot forget. You can forget some of your good deeds, because good is in accordance with your entire nature and does not burden you. But every evil thing you ever did in your life, even as a small child, is a burden on you. You can remember it and call it back, because it is not natural. Sin is not natural to you. If you invaded your brother's house when he was not looking and took his wife, that is a burden. If you saw a woman on the bus that other night and slapped her and took her pocketbook so you could buy some crack (cocaine), you have a heavy burden. You may have been high at the time, so you don't think it registers. But, one day, when you come out of the effect of the drug, you will feel the pain of a searing hot flame on your conscience, then you will know why Jesus comes to the human being, God forgives. You and I need a God that will say, I forgive you. Do you know what that means for Allah (God) to wipe your slate clean? That is why Muslim followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad look so good because when we submit our will to do the Will of Allah (God), immediately, everything you ever did in your days of ignorance, even if it was murder, is wiped away as though it had never been. What mercy! How wonderful! The way to relieve yourself of the burden of sin is to recognize that confession is good for the soul. Do not go to the preacher to confess, go to Allah (God). You have no intercessor between you and your Creator. You do not need any minister, priest, father or pope. Go to your Creator and talk to Him, because He already knows. Then you openly confess. No one has to be there, just you; if you are sincere and sorry over what you did, you will start crying as you pray because you are so sad for what you did. When you finish your prayer you will feel clean and when you come out from the private place where you confess your faults, the burden is lifted. Don't ever go back to that behavior ever, ever again. When you make up your mind and not go back to that behavior, you are free of it. 6
STEP 3: Check Your Understanding The following questions are for discussion at the conclusion of the study session. The remaining questions can be completed at your own pace as you continue your study at home. You can use your book if you need help answering the questions. Write your answers on a sheet of paper. Questions For Discussion: 1. What has our rebellion produced? 2. What is the root cause of our illnesses? 3. What is meant by, The human being has to keep in a certain way in order to be worthy to hold the Spirit of Life? 4. How can we initiate self-healing? 5. What is the earth's relationship with the sun? How is this significant to our relationship with Allah? 6. What is the result of disconnecting with Allah? 7. Why does sin have such a powerful and damaging effect on the human being? How do we overcome it? 8. What does Jesus come to do? How does the work of Jesus correspond with the work of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan? Questions For Further Study: 1. What gives everything its color? How does this relate to God and self? 2. What does the sun provide us with? 3. What does the earth s motion produce? 4. Who is the actual healer of our illnesses? 5. What is the formula for overcoming disease? 6. What determined the life span of the prophets? 7. What caused the life span of people to become diminished? 8. How can we relieve ourselves of the burden of sin? Muhammad University of Islam 2011 www.noi.org/gostudy 7