Getting Fit for Success

By Audrey Muhammad

Have you ever seen people who have had experienced a “horrible” childhood, but were removed from an environment, gained an education and became very successful? What helped to lead them to “get fit” to be successful? In one case, a young man may have been taken out of a bad home environment where he was abused and now was given an opportunity to get an education and better himself. He or she studies and becomes successful in spite of the pain of their past. How did he do it? Did he get help? In a sense, he went through “therapy,” but not in the traditional sense. Three things are needed for a thing to grow: the right conditions, the right environment and the right food. In order to accept the truth, our heart and mind must be in an “accepting” condition, we must be placed in a better/safe environment and we must me fed the proper food, mentally and spiritually. The teachings is providing all three.

One day I had a discussion with a believer about how the teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah is almost like a "therapy" or “treatment” for the condition of Black people in America that prepares us for success. A “treatment” is “a process or manner of behaving toward or dealing with a person or thing(Oxford Dictionary.) According to the book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, valid forms of therapy or treatment, along with “dianetics” include: Environmental change, education, and physical treatment(183).

What is considered “environmental change?” For example, think of how we were taken out of a "worldly environment" and placed in a "mosque" or more secure environment. Another example would be to take a teen out of a violent neighborhood can help improve his mental well-being and “tone scale” or mood. Being in a peaceful and prayer environment can help improve your health also. We should strive to turn our homes a beautiful and peaceful “environment.” Remove harmful cleansers with chemicals and keep your home clean and beautify it with plants, pictures and fresh air. These actions will help you get your home life “fit for success.”

Education or gaining of knowledge is also considered a type of “treatment.” When we gained knowledge about God and ourselves, we are EMPOWERED to change our lives and INFLUENCE or motivate others. One of the greatest feelings a person can have is a feeling of accomplishment. Seek knowledge…it empowers you. Minister Farrakhan mentioned in Closing the Gap that the “highest form of communication is to speak on, ask questions about, argue over what God has revealed to His servant (321). A couple of months ago I was motivated to pick up "Our Saviour has Arrived" when a believer quoted something interesting from the book. I couldn't go to sleep until I found the passage because I love getting insightful and spiritual knowledge. The “truth” energizes you. The Modern Science of Mental Health Book even states that you can be so "educated into a strong faith that it helps you to "rise above your engrams" (p. 184). Hmm, hasn't Islam helped to improve the condition of many brothers and sisters? No matter the religion, the knowledge of the “truth” and FAITH in God helps enhance a person. An excellent book to read to gain “knowledge of yourself,” how to pray and how to develop a business blueprint is Message to the Blackman.

The last type of “treatment” mentioned is “physical treatment” or improvement. For example, we are taught how to “eat to live” and fast (abstaining from food or drink). Eating the proper foods can not only improve your health, it also can improve your mood. Exercising is also a part of physical treatment. It rejuvenates and strengthens our mind and body. We have been given a wealth of knowledge in the teachings. Master Fard Muhammad knew what he was doing when he came for us and gave The Honorable Elijah Muhammad the teachings; we just have to work on implementing it MORE into our lives and influence others. As we expressed our tormented past with the Slave-master and his children, it was almost like having a mass “auditing” session as we shared our experiences and open us to receive the truth and further develop ourselves. (Note: to “audit” means to listen and also “to compute” according to Dianetic terms). Please Check out the book, How to Eat to Live by The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

My point? We have been given a wonderful foundation in terms of “treatment” and how to create a righteous environment, improve our bodies with physical treatment or exercise and improve our mind with proper mental and spiritual food. Remember, the Restrictive Law of Islam is our Success at any time. Obedience to it will help prevent the need for “therapy” in the future. As my Sister Nisa Islam Muhammad would say, “Islam(Peace) is not the problem, Islam is the solution.” It is helping us “get fit for success!”

May Allah (God) bless us all with peace, love, health, wealth and happiness.

(Audrey Muhammad is a certified fitness instructor and the author of the terrific book, Get Fit to Live: Be your best you! available at www.getfit2live.org and the Respect for Life Bookstore. Her audio book, Get Fit to Live is also available. To order the Book and get a FREE copy of the audiobook CD, send a $12 money order(plus $3 shipping) to Get Fit To Live, P.O. Box 61402, Raleigh, NC , 27661. Please consult a physician before beginning any new workout or dietary program). Also, visit www.virtuemag.com to order your copy of Virtue Today Magazine.

How to Get Peace of Mind: A Look Back at the Million Man March and the Tools it Taught Us

How to Get Peace of Mind: A Look Back at the Million Man March

Bismillah (In the Name of God)

Do you know what can give you a great sense of peace? “Do unto others have you would have them do unto you.” Do you want someone to mislead you? Don’t mislead others. Do you want someone to give you unconditional love? Then try to extend that to others. This saying also sums up the Atonement process which includes the following steps.

1. Point out the wrong - the first stage is the most difficult of all because when we are wrong and we are not aware of it, someone has to point out the wrong.

2. Acknowledge the wrong - So in this context, the word acknowledge means to the truth of the fact that we have been wrong.

3. Confess fault - First you confess the fault to Allah (God), and then to the person or persons whom your fault has ill effected.

4. Repentance - means feeling contrition or self- reproach for what one has done or failed to do.

5. Atonement - means we must be willing to do something in expiation of our sins.

6. Forgiveness - means to cease to feel offense and resentment against another for the harm done by an offender. It means to wipe the slate clean.

7. Reconciliation and restoration - It mean to resolve differences and to establish or re-establish a close relationship between previously divided persons.

8. Perfect union with God - the result of completing the atonement process is achieving the perfect union with Allah (God) who is best at guiding us to freedom.

Over 16 years ago, Minister Louis Farrakhan introduced these eight steps to over 2 million men at the Million Man March. And many have been using this process, both men and women, to improve the relationships in their lives. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said in the book, Message to the Blackman, that “The worst kind of crime has been committed against us, for we were robbed of our desire to even want to think and do for ourselves.” When Minister Farrakhan made the call for the Million Man March, it was a calling for us to atone, improve and think for ourselves. It is a call that improved not only the lives of men, but the lives of woman because the women were positively impacted with having more “maintainers” and “protectors” in their lives. In this issue, we pay tribute to The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and other men we admire.

Now is the time to atone for what we haven’t done for ourselves, our family and our community. If you haven’t been eating right, get it right. If you haven’t been saving and investing, check out www.blackelectorate.com for some guidance on investing in gold and silver etc. If you want to do more in your community, now is the time to atone and make some improvements in ALL aspects of your life.

This atonement process helps us to develop our character and our integrity. If you and I can’t be honest with ourselves and acknowledge what we have done wrong, it will be difficult for you and I to improve our lives. You have one life to live as you know it. Wouldn’t it be best to live your best life and be at peace with your God, yourself, your decisions and your desires?

I will close with this quote by James Allen, author of As a Man Thinketh. He said, “In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, an the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. “Gifts,” powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized…The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—THIS you will build your life by, THIS you will become.”

As Minister Farrakhan has said, “There is nothing more powerful than a made up mind.” Make up your mind to improve and enhance your life TODAY. We can do it! The Million Man March is perfect evidence.

May God bless us all with peace, love, health, wealth and happiness.

Peace from your sister,

Audrey

(To read more about being true to yourself and the Million Man March, visit www.virtuemag.com. You may order Virtue Today Magazine online or send a money order for $6.99 plus $1.70(S & H) to Virtue Today Magazine, P.O. Box 61402, Raleigh, NC 27661.)

Get Fit for Self-Examination, Self-Analysis and Self-Correction

By Audrey Muhammad

During the month of Ramadan, I exercised my mind, body and spirit. It was a reminder of the importance of going through the process of self-examination, Self-Analysis and Self-correction. Although my workouts were not “heavy,” my study was enlightening. I truly desire to have my "thoughts harmonize with my actions." We can't let our mistakes get us down. Helen Andelin mentions in the book Fascinating Womanhood, "In the process of becoming an angel, you are a human being, prone to errors in judgment...If you forgive others, do the same with yourself." I will also add, if you know Allah(God) forgives, and you want to be like HIM, forgive yourself and EXAMINE what went wrong.

Fasting, prayer and exercise gives us a chance to develop “the God within” as we feed on the word of Allah(God). During and after Ramadan is a wonderful time for Self-Examination and to set goals for yourself and “continue” to develop and reach those goals throughout the year. It is also a time to get rid of a bad habit and develop a new one. In his “Fasting strengthens Discipline” article, Minister Farrakhan encourages us try to rid ourselves of “one habit we know Allah(God) disapproves of.” He states that, “the fast of Ramadan and the discipline of prayer at prescribed times during the day is the greatest aid in developing personal discipline and regulating our affairs and habits…The Honorable Elijah Muhammad wanted to see his followers supremely disciplined.”

Not only is there a desire for us to be supremely disciplined, but also to be of good character. Try to engage in Self-Analysis. Let us analyze if our “thoughts harmonize with our actions.” Minister Farrakhan recounted in the same article above about a time he was in the Middle East where the temperature sometimes gets up to 115 degrees, 120 degrees in the desert. He said “I found myself losing a lot of water. In one incident in particular, there I was in the cool of my room, with a refrigerator full of all kind of cold drinks. No one would ever have known if I had taken a drink of water except Allah and myself. But so desirous was I not to break the fast and give in to my great thirst, I took water and rinsed out my mouth making sure that not one single drop passed into my throat, so that I might be obedient to Allah.” Minister Farrakhan not only exhibited discipline, but also good character. He wanted to keep his word to himself and not break the fast. I have many people, myself included, say ONE thing, but our ACTIONS bear witness to something else. I have learned to sometimes turn the volume and just look at a person’s actions. First, be a friend to yourself and be TRUE to yourself. Never deny yourself the best.

Doesn’t it feel good to be honest and be true to yourself, it will trickle into other aspects of your life. Good morals lead to good character. When we are misleading, or not honest, we will see that spirit of “dishonesty” growing and we become misleading in our relationships and business dealings because we our consumed with greed or our desires. Minister Farrakhan states in the above article, “When we can stop eating and drinking, drives which are natural to life itself, how much more easy is it for us to stop lying, stealing and the practice of those sins that destroy the peace and brotherhood of the society? This fast of Ramadan is one of the greatest means of inculcating self discipline…Look how beautiful a society can become when each individual imposes upon himself or herself the discipline of fasting, the discipline of curtailing our own behaviors, our own hungers, our own desires. This makes a very clean, peaceful, righteous, progressive and orderly society. This, by the help of Allah, is what we intend to produce,” states Minister Farrakhan.”

To get spiritually “fit to live”, spend time reading/studying your Quran or Bible before going to bed. The Quran, Chapter 2:183 states, “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, so that you may guard against evil..” The footnote #225 states that fasting “in Islam becomes an institution for the improvement of the moral and spiritual condition of man. This is plainly stated in the concluding words so that you may guard against evil. The object is that man may learn how he can shun evil, and hence fasting in Islam does not mean simply abstaining from food, but from every kind of evil. In fact, abstention from food is only a step to make a man realize that if he can, in obedience to Divine injunctions, abstain from that which is otherwise lawful, how much more necessary is it that he should abstain from the evil ways which are forbidden by God.” Fasting, thus, gives us practical steps for purification. Every concept we are given is followed by an action. Giving of our time and money follows the concept of charity, abstaining from food and bad thoughts follows the concept of fasting, and exercising should follow the concept of health.

Lastly, let us strive on a daily basis for Self-Correction. Whenever you Fast, it is a cleansing time to also give our bodies a mental and spiritual workout. Although the fast of Ramadan is not a complete 24 hour fast, it prepares us for that and much more. It is a time to discipline ourselves by abstaining from food and drink during the daylight hours. Also utilize times that you would normally drink something during the day as a time of study and reflection instead of sport and play. Ramadan is also a time to help us, as followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, to get back on track (if we have strayed) to our one meal a day and practicing “how to eat to live.”

Let us wisely use this time to exercise and strengthen our Will. Our ability to be consistent and reliable helps us to build “trust” in ourselves and one another. Minister Farrakhan states that “Self-imposed discipline leads to a healthy society, one where the people truly can rule…The fast of Ramadan and the discipline of Prayer at prescribed times during the day is the greatest aid in developing personal discipline and regulating our affairs and habits.” (Final Call Vol. 28, No. 47 p. 21.)

May Allah bless us all with peace, love, health, wealth and happiness.

(Audrey Muhammad is the author of the new book, Get Fit to Live: Be your best you!, available at www.getfit2live.org and the Respect for Life Bookstore. Her audio book, Get Fit to Live is also available. To order the Book and get a FREE copy of the audiobook CD, send a $12 money order(plus $3 shipping) to Get Fit To Live, P.O. Box 61402, Raleigh, NC , 27661. Please consult a physician before beginning any new exercise or dietary program.)