January 2015: Page 1, 2, 3, 4

Submitters Perspective

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Who Are We?

The first issue of the Submitters Perspective newsletter was published in February 1985. Dr. Rashad Khalifa was the editor of the newsletter. He was the one who established Masjid Tucson and the United Submitters International organization. The newsletter was then called the “Muslim Perspective.” Dr. Khalifa gave it the current title “Submitters Perspective” with the December 1989 issue. This newsletter has been in continuous publication for 30 years, praise God. We have had many distracting events happen over the years. However, we are persevering in the face of adversity and against Satan’s schemes. God willing, we are determined to continue the work Dr. Khalifa has left for us to the best of our ability. We hope to spread the same message all the messengers and prophets came with. This message has been specified for all humanity since the days of Adam: There is no god but GOD. Worship Him alone.

A Submitter can be defined as a person who submits to the will of God. The state of Submission, which can only take place between the person and God Almighty, is considered to be the only acceptable form of worship by God. (3:19, 85). Therefore, Submission is not a name of a religion; rather it describes one’s devotion to God alone.

Submission is the path whereby one recognizes God’s absolute authority, and reaches a conviction that only God possesses all power; no other entity possesses any power that is independent of Him. The natural result of such a realization is to devote one’s life and one’s worship absolutely to God alone. This is the First Commandment in all the scriptures, including the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Final Testament (the Quran).

While every religion has been corrupted by innovations, traditions, and false, idolatrous doctrines, there may be “Submitters” within every religion. There may be Submitters who call themselves Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or anything else.

 

Surely, those who believe,
those who are Jewish,
the Christians,
and the converts;
anyone who
(1) believes in GOD, and
(2) believes in the Last Day, and
(3) leads a righteous life,
will receive their recompense from their Lord.
They have nothing to fear,
nor will they grieve.

[Quran 2:62, 5:69]

To join our organization, you do not need any membership, nor do you have to pay any dues. If you are a Submitter, then you are our brother or sister. Submitters are members of one family (49:9-13). They are allies of one another (9:71). They help and support each other as God and His angels help and support them. They are united in one column when striving in the cause of God (61:4). They are kind and humble (52:26, 2:263, 48:29, 90:17); tolerant (7:199, 24:22); patient (10:109, 16:127, 20:130); and forgiving (42:37, 42:43, 45:14). These are traits of a submitter.

If you have been searching for a way to worship God alone, then God is guiding you to Submission. He is the Guide, and His scripture, the Quran, is enlightenment, and healing and mercy for the believers. During the past fourteen centuries, traditions, customs, and myths have crept into Islam (Submission). Gradually, they have become dogma or ritual, to such an extent that anyone who questions them in the light of the Quran finds himself or herself regarded as a dangerous innovator and heretic.

Submission (Islam) today is like a precious jewel that is buried under piles upon piles of man-made innovations. Our aim is to purge these innovations by upholding the Quran and nothing but the Quran, and present the jewel of true Submission to the world.

For more information, visit our website or email us

Masjid Tucson

 

CAPA: Cultivating a Practice of Appreciation

Recently, I have been thinking about the importance of appreciation and what it means to be appreciative of God’s blessings.  I realized appreciation is our “offering” back to God.  From there, the concept of CAPA (cultivating a practice of appreciation), grew by God’s will.  I coined it CAPA to remember easily.

Some of the ways I found to develop my own practice started with

  • Thanking GOD for my worship practices and worldly things.  Since there are so many things to be appreciative for, it helps to separate them.  For example, thanking GOD for the Noon Prayer and the great diagnosis you got at the doctor’s office that morning, or for giving zakat and not getting that parking ticket!
  • Seizing every chance to be appreciative.  Since we are blessed with observing 5 Contact Prayers, God willing, we have 5 chances to thank GOD for those prayers and all material things we received in the previous time window.
  • · Thanking God for guiding us TO the worship practices, and for things we see and don’t see. 

[7:43] … and they will say, “GOD be praised for guiding us. We could not possibly be guided, if it were not that GOD has guided us. The messengers of our Lord did bring the truth.”

[31:20] Do you not see that GOD has committed in your service everything in the heavens and the earth, and has showered you with His blessings— obvious and hidden? Yet, some people argue about GOD without knowledge, without guidance, and without the enlightening scripture.
Realizing that everything we receive is a tool to be more appreciative and grow our soul. If we buy a car, we can thank GOD for creating this item and subduing it for us.  It’s not easy

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