بِسْــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِالرَّحْمَنِ اارَّحِيم

Why Muslim Women Adhere
Strictly to Laws of Islam

By Bayyinah Sharrieff

LIFE IN THE SUDAN

     The females with whom I lived in the girls’ hostel in the University of Khartoum, Sudan, were able to differentiate right from wrong, truth from falsehood with just a glance. They would not even deliberate on something which seemed contrary to the laws of Islam. They refused to show a sign of interest in a subject if it did not agree with their Islamic upbringing.

     I TURNED 21 years of age in the Republic of the Sudan. I wanted to celebrate my birthday. As I spoke of the approaching celebration and of my plans for a large party with drinks and music, my female colleagues at the university questioned me as to why I wanted to celebrate my birthday. They thought it was a silly idea.

     I wondered myself. Why did I celebrate my birthday? Because the people in America (where I was born) celebrated birthdays, was my answer. They continued to question me. Why would the Americans celebrate achieving another year unless they doubted their chances of living another year? Were they afraid that they would not live to an old age and achieve much wisdom?

     I felt very silly and ignorant after their questions, because I did not know why Americans celebrated birthdays.

     I MADE arrangements to celebrate my birthday in the home of the Nigerian embassy’s secretary. His wife was a young woman, and she was one of my best companions in the Sudan. There was one Muslim girl (Sudanese) named Leila (a medical student at the university) who listened to my plans and helped me select the menu and the decorations for the party. She lived near the Nigerian family’s home, and she helped me decorate the garden and the home for the party.

     When I invited some of my colleagues to the party, they again questioned me: What time would the party start? Would we be back in the hostel before dark? I had planned for the party to start after dark. From this fact alone, they informed me that they would not be able to attend the party.

     They asked where it was to be held? The neighborhood in which the Nigerian family lived was good, but the family was not Muslim, it was Christian. The girls said their families would not approve of them going to a non-Muslim home.

     THEY NEXT asked me who would be there? When I told them that I had invited some of the male students from the university, they said a big NO! They would definitely not come to the party.

     They could not attend a party in the presence of men without their relatives. Some of my female colleagues were insulted by my invitation and asked me what kind of persons did I think they were to invite them to such a party with men at night. This was the habit of prostitutes. Even my friend Leila left soon after the party began.

     The party was a failure. Only two Christian girls and one Sudanese girl (who had been raised in America) came to the party. The number of males present greatly outnumbered the number of females present. I tried to get them to dance, but they refused. The Nigerian lady and myself were the only two females at the party after 9 p.m.

      THE SUDANESE thought I was ridiculous to celebrate my birthday. It was not until I joined the Nation of Islam and became a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad that I realized why the Muslims do not celebrate birthdays.

     The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the Nation of Islam has no birth record. It has no beginning nor ending. Why then would a Muslim celebrate achieving another year when their years are not numbered nor their time limited.

     The Honorable Elijah Muhammad instructs us that we should not celebrate the days of our birth for we are of the original man, who has no birth record. Islam is the natural religion of the Black man. We are links in a continuous chain.

     THE HONORABLE Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the white man’s time to rule the Black man is limited and that at the end of his time, the God of freedom, justice and equality (Who Came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom Praises are Due Forever) would come and the white man’s power of unequaled justice would be broken, and he would be destroyed.

     This God Has Come and is present, so the Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us. We can see that the white man’s power is disintegrating daily: His unstable dollar. His lack of gold. His unstable government and the confusion of his people. Therefore knowing that his time is limited, he thus celebrates the achievement of completing a year every time he does so.

     If we celebrate birthdays we are following in the way of the devil (white man). The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has the clear evidence and is the plain warner that we should not follow in the way of the devil, i.e. practice what the white man practices, when it contradicts with the religion, and when it is not in accord with the Islamic way of life.