I want to inform you of something about anger. In a sea of calm, anger has no air to breathe. It is shunned; turned away�like a leper amongst the nobles. In a sea of turmoil it is a reflex, a surge of rage that comes out when you�ve had enough. Anger is a combative tool, a catalyst for change.

The problems we face today, the anger we face as Muslims, stem from the sea of oppression and turmoil which we live in. Hatred fires it�injustice fuels it�and only justice can cool it.

I want to give you an example of the way we as Muslims can use the turmoil of our society to our benefit, and to the benefit of our society. I want to take Imam Siraj Wahaj as my example.

We all love Imam Siraj. Man oh man has that one person, with Allah�s mercy and guidance, made such a difference to the Muslim community. Have you ever been to the corner of Bedford and Fulton, the heart of Bed-Sty in Brooklyn? The smell of bean pie from Ali�s bakery, the Athan filling the streets (a sound you though you could only hear in Muslim country), and�what�s this�the scores of people coming for Salat?! You say to yourself �wait a minute�let me check my watch again�it says 3:00, time for Asr prayer�and it�s a Wednesday�what the heck is going on here?!�. You�re more astounded than that when you walk into the humble two-level building and can barely find a place to pray in. The Masjid is packed with Muslims coming to answer the call to prayer�and after Salat the people stay. There is a lecture in the main room�an Arabic class in the adjacent room...and the sound of ninja Kiyas coming from the basement. You are quite overwhelmed.

Like I said before�we all love Imam Siraj Wahaj. We listen to his tapes on our way to school, and then we flip it over on the way back�we buy the boxed set to save some money, and then we used that money to see him lecture. My favorite line: �Those suuuuuuzy feminists!!!� I don�t even know what a suzy feminist is, but I rewind the tape over and over again just to yell it out with him��Those Suuuuuuzy Feminists!!!�

In my words, Imam Siraj is the angriest man since Malcolm X�and he did some extraordinary things. But this anger I speak of is not anger in respect to what you would normally think. This is productive anger. Productive anger is anger that is used as driving force for good, that produces action. This kind of anger sets slaves free�it drives revolutions.

I am talking about using our frustration against our stagnation. Humans tend be this way. We wait and wait until the problem gets so bad that we can�t take it anymore. Then when we are driven, we move mountains. For the French, the boiling point came when their poor had not even bread to eat. The Russians tolerated Nicholas until they too were driven to starvation and then brutally murdered one bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg. How long will the Muslims decide wait? How long will the American people decide to wait until their justice is handed out?

La ilaha illah Allah! A Muslim can never tolerate injustice.

Do you know why we cannot tolerate injustice? If you don�t then go take a trip to Alexander library at Rutgers, College Ave. campus, floor 2B, walk straight ahead and to the right. You�ll see a book entitled �With Justice for None� by one of America�s top lawyers, Gerry Spence. (I mentioned it to you last week in �So you want an Ummah��, if you didn�t read it before please read it now before continuing). So what does Mr. Spence say? He says that humans demand justice�we cannot exist in a world without justice�which is why we seek it, in this world or the next.

So what should we do when we are faced with injustice�we get angry�we stand up for ourselves�we quit taking it.

In the case of the Brooklyn community�they were so fed up with the bad things (drugs, prostitution, etc.) going on around them that they took to the streets. The drug dealers were not kicked out by the NYPD and Rudolph Giuliani�it was done by the blood and sweat of the Muslims. The crack houses did not disappear by themselves�it was the Muslims. It was Imam Jamil Al-amin and the Muslims of Georgia who cleaned up the streets of Atlanta and reclaimed the dignity of a community overtaken by crime and poverty�only then to be arrested and harassed by the very police whose jobs he made easier and lives he made a safer. It was the Muslims who built their own Masjids in America when they got tired of praying in secret and on the pavement of the street. It was the Muslims in Indonesia who built there own brand of car when they got fed up of spending their money on the American and European auto industry�and it will be the Muslims insha Allah who will be the one to bring down this global machine of injustice and tyranny when we remember that the power is from Allah, and that Allah is the only one we need to fear.

No more fighting�

And a sea of calm�

That�s what we strive for�

That�s what we Demand!

So just as fear is the weapon of the warrior (Fear keeps you alert, fear keeps you ready) Anger is the weapon of those suffering injustice. When a person becomes fed up he speaks out, he tells it like it is, he doesn�t pretty things up so that he is careful not to offend. He goes from being stagnant to being active. His anger becomes his driving force to do good, to make change. But the key to using anger is to control it, to channel it for good. Then to have patience in achieving your goal; because after you push yourself forward you need patience to keep yourself moving�to not slow down�and eventually cease altogether.

Don�t suppress your anger, and don�t suppress fear�Face it�Challenge it�Beat it up and make it work for you. You are a Muslim; you are strong enough to face anything!

Let me tell you�I had a chance to speak with Imam Siraj once, for maybe 5 minutes at best. And just as he said on his tapes�he was reading. A stack of books a mile high beside him (take note of the importance of reading)�and he was as calm as the sea, a wave of peace. And then�BAM! When he gets up on the stage he becomes the unwavering unstoppable voice of the Muslim people. He manifests of your frustrations of not having an ummah, of being mocked at, and being terrorized by your �elected� officials. He tells it like it is�his emotion is real�and you feel it with him. You want to help, and you want to make a difference.

You can�but if you don�t try, you never will.

First, arm yourself with knowledge. You MUST know what�s going on in the world. This is Islam�our religion teaches us to be wise, to be thinkers and to be scholars. Then when you are armed with this knowledge endowed by Allah, you take to the streets (figuratively speaking) in whichever way you can do best. Your Eman is your weapon, your Deen is your shield, and you trust is in Allah.

If you fail�then you have not died�.so you try and try again�you are a Muslim�and Muslims never give up!

In a sea of calm a Muslim is calm...in a sea of anger a Muslim is ready�and when the battle comes to him he stands up strong�and fears only Allah.

Nor are the two seas alike - the one palatable, sweet, and pleasant to drink, And the other, salt and bitter. Yet from each (Kind of water) do ye eat flesh fresh and tender, and ye extract ornament to wear; and thou seest the ships therein that plough the waves, that ye may seek (thus) of the Bounty of Allah that ye may be grateful. (Qu�ran 35:12).