The First Step of Millati Islami

1) We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction and our1ives have become unmanageable.

From an Islamic viewpoint, what does it mean to say that one is powerless?

It is to say that we, in and of ourselves, are totally dependent upon Allah for our total sustenance. We come into this world powerless. We bring nothing but total dependence with us when we are born. Yet, we are taught that this is when we are most Muslim. This totally dependent, powerless state is unconsciously Muslim.

As we grow we become conscious of our dependence on "a power greater-than ourselves", which in most cases is our parents. This consciousness brings with it knowledge that even our parents are dependent on something greater even than themselves.

As we become more conscious of our dependencies, we come to realize that all our help, aid and provisions originate with Allah, and it is at this stage that we become believing Muslims, or "Mu'muneen", or we become something other than "full" believers. In other words, we are still Muslims, but with room for other influences to enter that will lead us away from "sirat'ul mustequeem", or the straight path.

We then find ourselves dependent upon various "powers" that are not necessarily wholesome for our well being. This is a fate worst than death for Muslims, and leads us down all the wrong paths, eventually destroying whatever potential peace and security that can be attained in conscious, total dependence upon Allah.

Here in the west, most of those that are dysfunctional and have become addicted to drugs came to be so before ever reading the Qur' anic injunction against intoxicants:

QUR'ANSURA V; AYATS,90 &91 Bismillah ar Rahman nir Rahim (Translation)

0 you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling. Dedication to stones, and divination by arrows,

Are evils, Of Satan's handiwork:

Avoid such evils, that you may prosper.

Satan's plan is (but) To excite hostility and hatred between you with intoxicants and gambling and hinder you from the remembrance Of Allah, and from prayer: Will you not then abstain? '

This can also be said of those that were raised Islamically, but chose to ignore this protective clause recorded in the book from the "Power Greater Than", that we all depend upon. In other words, to depend solely upon Allah is to avoid the many pitfalls of addiction, but most of us learn that great lesson too late.

Many of us learned that great protective "ayat", or verse, after participating in the "Holy Communion" of the Christian church, with it's wine and so-called body of Christ ceremony or Uncle "Bubba", with his moonshine. We also had already become fully "SuperFlyed" or "Hippied-Out" by the Hollywood crowd by the time we read the words of Allah. So it has been an uphill struggle with one leg tied from the start.

The progression of things naturally leads to unrnanageability. And this cannot be stated too fully. Most of our lives began dysfunctionally and in an already mismanaged way. Mismanaged by the consumer society and its adherents that we were exposed to from birth.

We will find many in Millati Islami, who are now Muslims, from the African-American community. The issues that this group has had to face from their total experience in this society cannot be discounted when speaking of addiction. These are topics that are not brought up in Alcoholics Anonymous, but they are issues that must be considered when speaking of dependencies, dysfunction, and mismanagement. That the cocaine, alcohol and narcotics problem is overwhelmingly affecting the minority communities, far out of proportion to their numbers, is an understatement. And only a very naive person can imagine Un-orchestrated dilemmas such as generational addictions, AIDS and "crack babies" having materialized within the African, Hispanic, and Indian communities, without a catalyst.

We are not bad people trying to become good. We are people awakening to our true dependence, which is not to drugs and alcohol, but dependence on Ahad (One) that can arrest this addiction. Ahad (One) who can even cure us of our dysfunctionally mismanaged lives. That Ahad (One) is Allah. The solution to powerlessness is in Qur'an and the example of who Allah honored with delivering the Book to the people of the earth, Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

The realization of this, we believe, is the first step in solving our addicted problems. This is the first step to the fulfillment of our Islamic destiny. This is the first step of Millati Islami.

The Second Step of Millati Islami

2) We came to believe that Allah could and would restore us to sanity.

In following in the same approach as mentioned in step one of Millati Islami, we have to question if as Muslims residing in this present system with values other than Islamic, if ever we really knew what true sanity is suppose to represent. We have to ask, "who is doing the defining"? Admittedly, Millati Islami is not for everyone that could possibly benefit from our step methodology, but it is for those that truly want freedom from addiction AND an Islamic way of life.

Most of us that are practicing the religion or "deen" of Islam, came into this faith after much exposure to what was passed onto us as sanity. After coming into the knowledge

of the Qur'an, we saw how sorely short we were in the true understanding of the nature of things. Let us examine a few of the so-called "sane" ideas that many of us grew up believing.

After being exposed to the Qur'an, we saw just how IN -sane such notions as God dying on the cross, Easter bunny, Santa Clause, tooth fairy, white is right, all others are wrong. Pride in things that we had no hand in making, such as ones race or country.

The operative phrase in step two, after exposure to the Qur'an, is "came to", as in awakening. It is our belief, in Millati Islami, that we were awaken to the only Sure Reality. We were allowed to "come to" in that we believe that life must have a design and pattern to it, and that Allah is the Great Designer.

It is also our belief that spirituality devoid of Allah's divine guidance as given in Qur'an leaves still so very much room for so many of the other evils besides addiction to invade our sanity. That to be truly sane requires more than JUST quitting drinking and drugging. It requires an entire submission to "The Power that is Greater than us all". And if one is to stay sane and sober, it is our belief that following the prescription, following the cure as given to us by Allah, is THE assured method for remaining so, and this on a daily basis. On a salat to salat basis.

The Third Step of Millati Islami

3.We made a decision to submit our will to the will of Allah.

In Millati Islami, there should never be any misunderstanding about what step three entails. Step three is the beginning of submission in Islam, pure and simple. Before any conscious action can be taken a decision must be made to take that action. For converts, (or reverts as it should properly be called) the decision to become submitting, conscious Muslims had to be made before we could proceed to learn what that entailed. And for those born Muslim, it was, and is, a matter of committing to practice the "deen" or religion of Islam.

In the simplest terms, Islam means submitting to do the will of Allah. In Millati Islami, we do not say "God as we Understand Him", because we cannot understand Allah, without His revelation, the Glorious Qur'an. Allah has revealed something of Himself to us in the Qur'an. To try to understand Allah, without the guidance that He Himself has provided for us is the supreme folly of man. Trying to develop an understanding of Allah without the Qur'an leads us to our present catastrophic circumstances. Drug addiction, unwed mothers, diseases, escalation in greed, wars, and you can add more to this list ad infinitum.

Of course it is also futile to think that living and coping with the trials of life will ever be a cakewalk. It will not, but Allah has provided us with a workable way to obtain some sense of peace and security in this life. That way is the study and application of the Qur'an and following the life example of the man, Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and those that followed him the best, the "Sahabas", or companions (may Allah be pleased with them) of the Prophet (pbuh).

It is also necessary to realize that we have unique situations that confront us each day that call upon us to reach really spiritually deep down inside, in search of solutions,

Oftentimes we face trials and have to ask ourselves, "What would the Prophet (Pbuh)

do?" Or I should say this is the question that a practicing, repentant, recovering Muslim must ask himself, if he is to truly remain in a state of submission and recovery. In other words, when faced with some of the debilitating states and crisis that we have used as excuses to continue to drug and drink, or to relapse, we have to take a pause, a breath, and ask, "what would 'Rasulallah' (the messenger of God) (pbuh) do?"

Now a question arises, "can we make conscious contact with Allah?" The answer is a resounding YES. It is imperative that we are conscious of Allah's presence and will in any given situation. Our very lives depend upon a living, merciful, Creator. One that can communicate His will to us in our present state. The Qur'an says listen to Allah with your will. To hear Allah with one's will, requires that we turn off our infantile wish list way of thinking and think using the criteria that He has so graciously granted us. We cannot think in Republican or Democratic ways. Neither can we think in capitalistic or communistic ways. Tribalism and racism has no place in this approach to Allah. Nor does sexism or any other -ism.

The condition that has been set by Allah Himself for "a conscious contact with Him" is submission to His will by way of the Holiest of objects in this physical manifestation that we call life. That object, again, is Qur'an.

In concluding step three of Millati Islami we should have arrived at the understanding

that our Lord has provided us with an excellent blueprint for living in this world, whether we experience distress and hardship or peace and security. To have placed at our use a Book that has come down from the Heavens, from the Supreme Creator, is an immense blessing that cannot be looked upon lightly. We are creatures that have been given the leadership in the earth. We are the caretakers of all that we see and use. We have a god, The One and only God, which is alive and literate. We are literate. How best can He communicate with us, in a clear and unambiguous manner, BUT by the written word? Communication by way of a word that leaves no doubt. For a Muslim to place ANY book or written word, at any time or era, on a par with or greater than Qur'an is indeed the height of "shirk" or idolatry. It is indeed fool-hardy to not take advantage, if we submit, of that which will not only save us in this life, but will save us exceedingly so, in the life beyond. This is a promise from your Lord, Allah, as recorded in the Qur'an.

MILLATI ISLAMI  MUSLIM 12-STEP RECOVERY/REPENTANCE PROGRAM