In the Spirit of the Gracious and Compassionate
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth
It is reported that Prophet Muhammad (the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Fornication will not appear among any people without them being punished by famine.” (Sayings of Muhammad, compiled by Ghazi Ahmad, #109)
Historians and political scientists have documented that famine is not a happenstance of nature but the direct result of human policies and actions — more often than not, the desire of one people to destroy another.
“He [the emperor] devolved on his lieutenants the care of finishing the destruction of the Alemanni [a German tribe], either by the sword, or by the surer operation of famine.”
This is a quote from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). According to Gibbon, in the year 270 of the Christian calendar, the Roman emperor considered using famine as a means of destroying an enemy people. Famine as a strategy of destruction is not a new idea.
Allah the Most High has forbidden fornication: “And do not go near fornication; it is abominable.” (Qur’an 17:32)
Today in America, fornication has not merely appeared; it is in blazing glory. For young men, fornication is obligatory in American society today. And the old so-called “double standard” has vanished; women are now expected to be sexually uninhibited just as much as men.
How does this relate to famine? It is old folk wisdom, common sense knowledge, and the evidence of experience that free sex makes people lazy. Is it coincidence that no one, not even Americans, wants to buy American products anymore? It is likely that the decline in productivity and in the quality of products and services is a by-product of the sexual revolution.
But nowhere is the impact of free sex on economics more apparent than in the African-American ghettos. It is not the babies. Every Muslim should accept on Faith (Imaan) alone that having babies does not cause poverty — neither locally (“babies having babies”) nor globally (the so-called “population explosion”, a lie) — because Allah has told us. (Qur’an 17:31) All of the birth control (“killing your children”) in the world will not prevent the ghetto from sliding deeper into economic helplessness as long as young men, in particular, can go on having sex without responsibility. Traditionally, society requires a man to pay a price in order to have a bride — and requires the young man to have a bride before he can have sex. Young men are required to develop habits of integrity, productivity and thrift in order to have the pleasures of sex, a wife, family life and children. This multiplies the productivity of the society as a whole. This makes that particular society more able to compete with other societies — African-Americans competing with other American groups (Korean-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans, Anglo-Americans, and many others), and the United States as a whole competing with Japan, West Germany, China, and many other nations.
Teenage pregnancy is a false issue. The issue is marriage. Older adults don’t want to give up their free sex, so they make teenage pregnancy the issue. It is beautiful for young people to marry and have children. It is ugly for a society to be mired in rampant fornication. Fornication is an insult and an assault on the human being. Allah constantly reminds us that we are created from the sperm drop. Any time a man and a woman have sex without provision for the future of the new human life that may come forth — or even with the definite hope that no new life will emerge — they are saying that a few minutes of their pleasure are worth more than an entire human life; this goes back into their subconscious and reflects on their own self-worth. The human being is reduced to nothing.
Surely, we have created the human being in the best condition. Then we reduce him to the lowest of the low. Except those who have faith and do good work; for them is an unlimited reward.” (Qur’an 95:4-6)
These are the words of Allah. If the young men have faith and do good work, they will have an unlimited reward. Instead of begging and stealing — and having free sex. Instead of selling dope and prostituting their women and themselves — and having free sex. If the young men will have faith and do good work, they will have an unlimited reward.
This was documented six centuries ago by the great social scientist and historian Ibn Khaldun: “… he was the first to stress that human work is the only producer of value.” (Dictionary of Oriental Literatures, vol.3, p.79) For this observation alone, the name “Ibn Khaldun” should be as well known as the name “Einstein”. This means that money has value because of human work. Not because of gold, or diamonds, or oil — but because of human work. This means that societies survive and prosper because of human work. Not because of crime or conquest, prostitution or enslavement — but because of human work. Give money to a lazy man and he remains poor; the rich man started on “a shoe-string” (or less), had faith, worked hard, and amassed a fortune.
We are engaged in more than competition. There are people who want us to die. They have established — through the media (radio, television, movies, music, sports) — the idea that the African-American male must be a fornicator, if he isn’t a sissy. They build up the pleasures and rewards of the fornicator’s life, his reputation, his image — on the one hand — and surround the poor confused African-American male with the Great Fear: Homosexuality! “If you don’t commit fornication, people will think you’re a homosexual.” “If you don’t commit fornication, you will become a homosexual.” “If you don’t commit fornication, you must be a homosexual.” There was a time when no one believed any of this, but because people believe the last two statements, the first statement has become true: If you don’t commit fornication (or claim that you do), many people will think that you are gay. (In 1975, the Minister of a Nation of Islam temple that I attended proclaimed to his congregation, “If you are not married and you are not committing fornication, then you must be a homosexual.”)
When we study the behavior of young African-American men, the effects of the Great Fear are peculiar: displays of affection, sensitivity, compassion, love of beauty, tenderness and intellectual pursuits are studiously avoided — except in pursuit of the big P — pussy. Meanwhile — according to what I have read, according to what I have seen, and according to what individuals have told me about their own behavior and the behavior of their associates — most of these young men (in New York City, at least) barely hesitate to engage in a homosexual act, if the price is right. Or for no price at all.
This is free sex. There is no limit. Once you disregard the command of the Almighty, whose command do you fear? What will limit you? Free sex. Oral sex. Anal sex. Prostitution.
Recently, a man complained to me about his situation. Divorced after twenty years of marriage, he keeps meeting women who want to sell themselves for cocaine. (He probably remembers the “good old days” when women had to put on a show of restraint.)
The effect of the Great Fear is both to prevent young men from “doing good work” and to keep them tied up with fornication. Most of the qualities needed to succeed as a human being in a competitive world are proscribed by the Great Fear. Most of those same qualities are destroyed by fornication. A few examples: Honesty and sincerity in speech. People will think you’re a wimp; and you won’t get anywhere with women. Compassion — “What’s it to you, nigger!” or “You’re just saying that because you want to go to bed with me, right?” Charitableness — “Look at that chump!” or “You’re just giving this to me because you want to go to bed with me, right?” Love of beauty — if you love any kind of beauty that is not attached to a vagina, your fate is sealed. Now, if you think that honesty and sincerity in speech, compassion, charitableness and love of beauty are not necessary for success as a human being in a competitive world, you are a damn fool and an ignoramus and a hypocrite besides.
Study history. Study the example of Prophet Muhammad. Study the works of Allah. The Qur’an is, in itself, a work of beauty. Where is your heart? The theories of great scientists are works of beauty. The great bridges of engineers are works of beauty. Great business deals are works of beauty. When I found out what a letter of credit is, my reaction was “Beautiful!” If you think only flowers beautiful, you’re not bad; you’re just in kindergarten. Grow up; appreciate the beauty of the world. If you feel in your heart that fornication is beautiful, you are lost.
What is a man? The enemies who want us to die are playing on our various identity crises with virtuosic agility. What is a man? As long as our young men identify manhood with fornication, they can never be men. A man is not an animal.
What is a man?
Muhammad.
Here is our example. He married at the age of twenty-five. He lived through his teenage years and early twenties without committing fornication. He came from a broken home (that is to say, a home without both a mother and a father to care for him). He grew up in poverty. His society was unjust and unrighteous. He was an orphan. (His father had died before he was born, his mother had died when he was six, and the grandfather who took care of him died when he was eight.) His society disrespected the orphan. And they practiced free sex. As openly as Americans.
I heard of a so-called Muslim who laughed at another man because he had not committed fornication before he was seventeen. That so-called Muslim does not love Prophet Muhammad.
We, as Muslims, have the knowledge and the Faith needed to establish a proper sense of identity in young men.
Islam — surrendering to Allah — overcomes the Great Fear. How can obeying Allah cause a man to be cursed? A Muslim fears Allah alone and knows that Allah will reward him for his obedience.
Originally written in 1987 and published in the Muslim Journal under the name, Abdulhakim Muhammad (which I used from 1976 to 2003); slightly revised
Note: No English words can be the words of Allah. The Qur’an is in Arabic. English words can only be someone’s interpretation. (8/25/20)
Lester A. Knibbs
23 Rajab 1434 / 6 Muharram 1442
June 2, 2013 / August 25, 2020
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