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IWDM Study Library
Jumuah and Public Address
Tuskegee AL

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Bismillah, Her Rahman, Nir Rahim, La illaha ill Allah, Wahdahu La Shareekalahu, There is no G-d but G-d. There is no partner with him in the rule of the heavens and the earth, nothing comes to him except as a servant. He is G-d alone. And we worship him and worship him only and associate nothing with him in worship as a G-d. We witness that Muhammad, to whom the Quran was revealed, is the seal of the prophets mentioned in the Quran, as one coming to teach the religion, teach the book, the Quran, and one coming to break all bonds of servitude, that we have no slaves to any except to G-d.
In the Quran we're told that he is the prophet and messenger of G-d, the seal of the prophets, the last of the prophets and the messenger, and that he is the one mentioned in the Torah and in the Injeel, meaning the revelation that came to the people before we call Jews, and the one mentioned in the revelations that came to the people we call Christians. So, the message of Islam is no new message.
It is a continuation and a completion and a perfection. It is not a new religion. It corrects what had been made incorrect and left with the people in an incorrect form, and it continues that progression and is a completion and a perfection. We're told in the Quran that the Quran contains the books in their corrected form, kutubun qayyimah, books that have been made correct and perfect, elevated books in their best form as G-d intended them to come to mankind.
To believe in Islam is not to reject any of the previous servants of G-d. We believe in all of them. Allah says in the Quran, "Say, 'we believe in them.'" And we believe in all of them. And we do not make distinctions saying, "One is legitimate and the other one is not legitimate," but we accept all the messengers of G-d, all the prophets of G-d, Moses and Jesus and all of them, peace be upon them.
A Muslim is the best follower of Muhammad, and the best follower Muhammad is the best follower also of the other prophets. The best follower of Muhammad, the prophet, is also the best follower of Moses. The best follower of Muhammad, the prophet, is also the best follower of Jesus Christ, peace be upon them. So, we shouldn't think of ourselves as being in some kind of enemy situation with the people of the book.
No, we should be the best followers of those prophets claimed by the people of the book and knowing that we are a continuation and that we are supposed to be living the best life of the believers in G-d with faith in all prophets and in the books that they brought. We should be thinking of them as people that we should want to embrace in their goodness and their righteousness and their desire to contribute to the good future of people, of mankind. We should be thinking of ourselves as people who want to embrace them and all of their goodness.
When I became a leader of this community very long ago, many years ago now, an Egyptian brother from the Ulamaa of Egypt came, and he told me, "I just came to see for myself and to see you and ask you questions." And he did. He said, "We are satisfied that the community, the Nation of Islam, has good leadership, and we pray for your protection, for your future." And he said to me, "Remember, the good Muslim doesn't look for something to tear down, but he looks for something to build upon."
That was my position. When he said those words to me, it just made me stronger in my position. That was my position, that we should look for something to build upon, not something to tear down. Not that we're not going to tear down something if it's in the way of correct worship. If something is in the way of correct worship, we have to get it out of the way.
It has to be toppled. It has to be dismantled. It has to be gotten out of the way by whatever method or whatever means that is necessary to do that. If it's in the way of correct worship, we have to get it out of the way. But that shouldn't be our spirit. Our spirit shouldn't be to look for something wrong, to look for something bad. Our spirit should be to look for something good.
The prophet Muhammad Salalahu Alayhi Wa salam, the prayers and the peace be upon him, he was a man always looking for something to approve, not to disapprove. He was a man always looking for something and in an individual to approve, not to disapprove. Always looking for something in the people in the society to approve, not to disapprove. But if anything stood in the way of correct worship, he had to address that and make the situation as it should be.
G-d is G-d, and G-d is good. This is what Mohammad said. He said, "Surely, G-d is good. And G-d does not accept what is not good." G-d is good and does not accept what is not good. Allahu Tayyibun Wala Yakbalu illah Tayyiban. G-d is good and accepts only what is good. G-d is good and does not accept anything other than good. We know that. But G-d is also merciful and forgiving. So merciful and forgiving that he says, "His wrath extends out and comes upon whomsoever he wills, but his mercy extends further than his wrath." His mercy exceeds his wrath.
G-d is a good G-d. G-d is a loving G-d. G-d is a merciful G-d. G-d says to us in the Suratul-Baqarah, "Surely, G-d does not want hardship for you." But some things require that we accept hardship. When we make the Hajj, we have to be prepared to accept some hardship. When we fast for Ramadan, we have to be prepared to accept some hardship.
When we try to establish a good Muslim life in a bad environment where there is plenty of Haram, liquors, drugs, killing, the loss of respect for human life, when we are in a situation like that and we're trying to establish our Islamic life as G-d wants it, there's hardship. There's going to be plenty of hardship.
But G-d does not want the hardship for us. G-d wants ease for us. And G-d says Inna maal yusri yusra. Surely, by accepting the difficulties that you must accept to have the good life will come the ease. And we know how difficult it was for us to live this religion 50 years ago or to attempt to live this religion 50, 60 years ago. I know how difficult it was. But look how better the situation has become, because some were willing to endure and accept the hardship, accept the difficulties in their life and stick with G-d and stick with the Quran, stick with Muhammad as our leader.
And as a result of us accepting the hardship for the sake of one day having the good, now look at us today. We have it relatively, very easy in this country. Living as Muslims is relatively easy for us. When we consider how difficult it was for us to even just say we were Muslims in this country 50, 60 years ago... My message to you today in this Khutbah is, take it easy. Don't kill yourselves and wear yourselves out for nothing.
You don't have to do that anymore. Take it easy. Be kind to each other. Respect each other. Love each other. Be as Muhammad, the prophet, taught us to be. Be as Allah instructs us in the Quran to be and consider that even your enemy sometimes can be won over by kindness. Don't think that every enemy has to be met with hatred or has to be met with violence or met with a plan to kill him or undo him or defeat him.
Sometimes the situation requires that you use intelligence, diplomacy and look in your enemy to see if there's some good in your enemy. Find some good, even in your enemy. And maybe you can build on that good. Maybe then you can embrace him in that good. Even your enemy. G-d says, "Sometimes kindness can change an enemy, an avowed enemy, into a bosom friend."
The trouble with the civil rights movement, people, those who were radicals in their day, and they still are in spirit of the radical, and the time has changed. The season has changed. The circumstances have changed. The problem with them is that they can't get out of that old mold. They still have to think that the enemy is there, and the war is still on. And they miss all the good opportunities to better their life and prepare for the future of their children better.
We don't want to be Muslims fixed in that old mold of the past. When we look at the world as enemy, and everything is enemy and felt ourselves alone with no help except our belief... That's not the case anymore. You know that's not the case anymore. So, let us recognize changed circumstances, and let us thank Allah. The prophet said, "It's the mercy of Allah." It is Allah's reward to us that has given us this better situation for our lives in America. Let us take advantage of it and advance ourselves.
And remember that life for us is like life is for everything. Everywhere there is life. Life is existing in some kind of environment that supports it. The life of a Muslim is his Taqwa, his faith, his goodness, his consciousness for G-d's sake. That's Taqwa, your consciousness for G-d's pleasure, for G-d's sake. That's your Taqwa. And it's his faith, his Iman, his faith in G-d and faith in those things that G-d has established for us to have faith in, including life after the death or resurrection, more correctly. The resurrection after the death. All of these things, that's our faith.
But we need support for that. That doesn't exist without support. G-d didn't make a human being without a flesh body. G-d made a human being, he gave him a flesh body to receive the faith, to receive Taqwa in this flesh body. And this flesh body is the means for us to communicate what G-d has given us, what is more valuable as a life to us than this life of this flesh body. But nevertheless, this flesh body has been given to us as a means for communicating what is more precious, what is more valuable to each other and to the world.
How can we communicate our faith if we don't have this flesh body, this tongue to speak, this mouth to speak, this flesh body that G-d has made a servant of the higher cause, of the higher life? That's what Muhammad said, Salalahu Alayhi Wa Salam, that this body is a willing servant. It's a Muslim. G-d has given us a body that's a Muslim by nature.
We may not accept to supervise it, and it goes astray, because our own appetite is going astray. But as long as we will accept to go right, the body is there to serve us, and the body will show that it dislikes us going wrong. You tell a lie, sometimes the body will begin to sweat, and it's cool in the room. So, the body is telling you, "I don't like your lying. You're causing stress. You're making me stressful."
So, we know Muhammad says, "The body is a natural Muslim." And when you investigate it and think about it and study it, you'll find that it's true. There's evidence that the body likes to do right and not to do wrong... the human body. Even when we eat too much and get fat, too heavy, like I am. The body long ago told me, "That's enough." But no, my eyes said, "It's not enough. I want more."
And the body say, "Well, you are my master. G-d didn't make me your master. G-d made you my master. Master, eat some more. That's what you have to do." So, the body is a Muslim, and the body is our container. And the body is the means for us to express ourselves, the higher life inside, to express that life and communicate that life out, so my mother can hear me speak through my means, my body. My father, my children, my loved ones, all can hear me speak.
And if I am trying to preach Islam, I preach it with this instrument, and this instrument makes it possible for me to convey the message of Islam to the audience or to the person. So, respect the body, and take good care of the body. The Muslim keeps his body clean, every day cleans his body, be prepared for five daily prayers with a clean body. We know this is Islam. This is the way of the prophet. He taught us these things.
"Cleanliness is next to G-dliness," the Christian say. And the prophet has taught us that purity, purifying one's self is half of your faith [Arabic 00:18:06]... purity, purifying yourself. And we know also that Muslim after the order of Abraham also respects the rational life of the person. So, we want to be intelligent all the time. We want to behave intelligently, and we want to strengthen our rational life and our rational behavior with the logic that G-d gives us in the Quran and in Muhammad's life.
We don't want to use this world's logic. This world's logic is subject to be exploited by wrongdoers. And you can rationalize anything completely off of its original basis. Yes, you can rationalize anything off of its original basis. Didn't the Satan come with rationalization? He told the man, Adam, the man that G-d had made the first man, our father, he said, "This is good for you. And this will open your eyes. This will give you sight that you don't have. This will make you like angels and like G-ds if you eat of this fruit of this tree."
He said, "No, you won't really die, but your eyes will come open." So, this is rationalizing, right? So, this rationalizing, the position, and G-d's instruction, rationalizing it, took it off of its original basis and out of its original purity and permitted the man to do something, made him weak for it, and he did it. He erred and did the wrong thing. So, we can take anything, and we rationalize it.
We need community life. We are people of faith. We are people of Taqwa. This is the more precious life. We are people living for G-d's pleasure and living for the future when all of this is concluded. That's the more valuable destiny. But we cannot have any of this if we don't take care of ourselves, in the whole picture of self. You can't just take care of yourself in the spiritual picture. You have to take care of yourself also in the physical picture. You can't take care of your community in the spiritual picture, you have to also take care of your community in the material picture.
And when you accept to do this, you are living your religion completely. You're accepting the whole religion Islam when you do that, and you will gain respect from your family, from your parents, from your wife, from your husband, from your children. The children, if they accept it, they will be loved and respected more by their parents. And your neighbor who is not Muslim will love and respect you more. And the country will open up more opportunity to you when they see that you are caring for the whole life in the whole picture.
That's why G-d says to us, "You are a community. Kuntum khaira Ummatin Ukrijat lilnas. You are the best of communities brought up for the good of all people." So, we ask Allah to complete for us our faith, make our faith whole for us as he did for Abraham and Muhammad, the prophet, the model man, for all people, the mercy to all the worlds. Ameen.
Bismillah Her Rahman Nir Rahim, Ashshadu anla Ilaha ill Allahu Wahdahu La Shareeka Lahu, Wa Ashshadu Anna Muhammadan Abduhu wa Rasullahu, Salalahu Alayhi Wa Salam. Wa Alahi Wa Sabahi Ajmaeen Amma bad. Dear beloved Muslims, believers, we ask Allah to keep us in the faith, to give us his protection, to guide us and keep safe for us the guidance. Don't let us lose the guidance. Don't let us err and lose the guidance.
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And lose the guidance to keep our interest whole for the whole of the religion and not just part of it, a facet of it, but the whole gem with all of its beautiful facets. They keep us receiving the whole of the religion and caring for the religion in its entirety and living it fully in society so that we will be, what he asked us to be, and that is a witness for all people, a witness for mankind. Our life and society should be such a beautiful model of how human beings ought to live in society. How G-d wants human beings to live in society. That it be a testimony and a witness for all other societies that they will look at it. Okay.
That society is the best. We believe that that society is what G-d wants for mankind. We should be a witness for all people and how we live life in society. Or as we lived life in society, we should be a witness to all people saying to them, this is what G-d wants from humanity in society on this earth. And we know we are told and the Prophet is a witness for us. Muhammad the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him as a witness for us. If we go astray from his Sunnah, if we stray from his Uswah, if we strayed from his leadership, his sirah. If we stray from his way, then he is a witness against us because he left a perfect record.
And if we stray from G-d's invitation to establish a community of Muslims with Islamic life, then the Prophet is a witness against us. But if we establish it, we are witnesseses for G-d to humanity. This is what G-d wants, not only for the Christians, for the Jews. This is what G-d wanted for the Christians. This is G-d's community on this earth. I'm determined to work for that until I die. And I believe we're making progress. And inshallah we will see it before we are dead and back to the earth. Inshallah we'll see it. And all of us should work for it wherever we are in this town, Tuskegee, Alabama, in Chicago, where I am, the town that I live in near Chicago. Atlanta, Georgia, wherever we are, we should be working to not only have Islam in the abstract picture, we should also be working to have Islam in the concrete picture. And we ask G-d to not to let our hearts deviate after you've guided us through life. Rabbana La Tuzig Qulubana ba'damIth Hadaytana Wa Hab lana min ladunka Rahmatan Innaka Antal Wahab. Rabbana Afrig Alana Sabran Wathabbith Akdaah Mana Wansurnal Quamil Kafireen. Walhamdulilah hir Rabil Al Amin
AllahuAkbar, AllahuAkbar, , Ashadu An La il laha Ill Allah, Ashdu Anna Muhammadur Rasulillah, Hayah Ala Salat, Hayyah Alal Fallah, Qad Qamatis Salat, Qad Qamatis Salat AllahuAkbar, AllahuAkbar, La Ilaha ill Allah
Allahu akbar, peace to you. As SalaAmu Aaikum. We thank G-d and praise him. We say, Alhamdulillah the Lord sustain of the world. Al hamdulillah Rabbil Al Amin The thanks and praises for G-d. The Lord sustain of the world. We witness that nothing deserves to be worshiped except him. We worship but one G-d, we associate no deity, nothing to be worshiped as a G-d, except G-d. The creator of everything as we have it in our holy book Al Khaliqa Kulli Shay the creator of everything. Of everything. And yet this creator says of himself that he is Ahsanu Khaliqeen. That he is the best of creators, that is G-d. That wants men to know that G-d had created him also to create things, to be a creator. But he is to remember that G-d is the creator of everything, including what man creates.
Praise be to Allah. And we have been known as a people and criticized really, stigmatized as a people that produce nothing but babies. Well, that has changed. We know that a few of us are satisfied still producing nothing but babies, but I think the majority of us want to produce much more than babies. We want to produce a future for those babies. And that means accepting responsibility for our circumstance or the conditions in our life, in our home life, firstly, but also in our neighborhood and in our city, in our country. And this is a big responsibility that G-d gave to every human being, knowing that every human being couldn't carry that big responsibility, but G-d knew that he created enough in the human being for leaders to rise up and represent the many. And the leaders would guide the people to a life of production and provide jobs and opportunities to grow to all people.
To all the people, this is what the best of our political leaders want for society. The best of our president of these United States wanted for this society. And this is what the best believers in the faith communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims want for this society. That no one be dealt with unjustly. And G-d says Kunu Quamna bilQisti Shuhada lillah. To the Muslims, he say to us, "Be a people standing for justice as witnesses for G-d. As witnesses for G-d."
So we have to accept this responsibility. And G-d says of us Kuntun Khaira Ummateen Ukrijat Lil nas that you are the best of communities evolved for the good of all people and Muhammad the Prophet Salalahu Alayhi Wa Salam the prayers and the peace be upon him. He said Khairikoom Manya Fanas the best of you are the ones who benefit the whole of humanity. The best of you are the ones who benefit the whole of humanity. Now, if I'm a big man it's because I have accepted a big responsibility. And if you accept a big responsibility and you're small, I guarantee you're going to get bigger. You get bigger by accepting bigger responsibility.
I told my poor community, when I first became that leader, they called me chief back then. And I felt like a chief too. A lot of bucks, lot of bucks, I don't mean Donald ducks. I mean male Indian soldiers, bucks. That was doing more bucking than anything else. But they call me chief, chief minister, supreme minister, chief minister. Then they started calling me chief Imam. Chief Imam, that's what they called me. But I think they dropped the chief now. And I'm more comfortable now, as your leader since they've dropped all that chief stuff. Because I knew I didn't help the Indians at all.
Responsibility. G-d created us for responsibility, created all of us for responsibility and he doesn't want to burden us. He doesn't want to see us miserable under a heavy burden. G-d says he does not want difficulty for us. He wants ease for us, but there are certain requirements that we have to accept. We're required to do certain things and it's not going to be easy, but he promised us if we accept to do those things, that's required of us, that it's going to be difficult at times. And sometimes very, very difficult, extremely difficult. He promised us that if we accept that challenge and accept the responsibility, he promises us a life of ease.
And we know that we relatively have a life of ease now, in these United States. If you don't believe in just travel to other countries and see how they are faring. We have it relatively easy as citizens of these United States. And it has come the hard way. Those before us have paid a big price. Frederick Douglas, Dr. King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And all the people, white and blacks, and all that supported them. And the nationalist movement, Marcus Garvey, Booker T Washington. Then I would say that the business movement, Booker T Washington, the movements for business and education. Booker T Washington, Dubois who was an educator but also political leader, a political theorist. Philosopher in his own right.
All of them paid a price and many of their followers had to lose their life. Had to shed that blood. Many of their supporters lost lives and shed blood. It wasn't easy. It hasn't been easy. Being an African-American mother, even in the North. My mother didn't have it easy when I was a boy in Chicago. But look now at her son. Her son makes so much money. He takes care of three or four families, pay their bills every month, they don't have to worry about it. Those are not my wife’s sisters. No, I said three or four families, I didn't say three or four wives.
I thank G-d. I thank G-d for blessing me but it wasn't easy. My mother paid a big price. My father paid a big price. My sisters and brothers, and especially the senior citizens of the nation of Islam that supported my father and family and my mother and us, the children paid a big price. Yes, paid a big price. Many of them are gone. They're not here anymore. And some of them have died because they just worked too hard. Worked themselves to death. One of them was the secretary of the temple. And I used to see him in the streets as a boy, about 11 or 12 years old. I saw him pulling what they call the push pop, but his was so big. He couldn't push it. They call him a push cop. It was too big to push, and he wasn't the only one. They made them big, like biggest ... a ton and a half truck.
And they had to pull them, and he would load it up with the metal, scrap metal and whatever he could sell at the junk yard. And he would pull it with belt, big, wide belt, like two and a half inch wide belt. Be over his shoulder. And sometimes he'd be at an angle. He would be at an angle. He'd be leaning over at an angle of about 45 degrees, pulling it. His body would be jetting out like that in front. And he's pulling, that's how heavy it was. He did that so he would be able to donate money to the temple of Islam so that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad would have financial support. His family would not have to be hungry for food and shelter out of doors. He did that for those reasons. Big sacrifice. How did that man make that big sacrifice? Because he was working for something bigger than himself, something bigger than his family. Something bigger than even all the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's family. He was working for a whole community.
We called the temple of Islam, all the nation of Islam. He was working for that. That's how he got the energy and that's how he could endure. That's how he could survive. And accept the misery, accept the discomfort. For the hope, or for the end result that we would be free from these unnecessary problems we were having out in our life. Because of our ignorance, because of our neglect of our own selves and our responsibility to self, but also because of white man cruelties to the black man. During the early years of this century, up to the middle, up to two thirds of the century. Up to two thirds of this century, we were suffering the bad conditions that the white man was imposing upon us. The white society, white establishment was imposing upon us.
And then as you know, 1960s things start to break. Opportunities started to open up for us, but only with the price, blood, sweat, and tears. And the 1970s, equal opportunity came, early 1970s. We have equal opportunity now and our people, as a people, are still needing to have an awareness of the state of their own race or the state of their own people. When we had leaders fighting for justice in this country, they kept this country and therefore also kept us informed of the state of African-American people. Now you have to go to the NAACP, or go to the Urban League and ask them, "What is the state of African-American community in America? What is the state of our people in America?" And they could give it to you. They'll give it to you and they'll tell you that there's still a lot of work to be done.
Still a lot of work to be done. But recently they'll show you, we are making progress. Recently the head of the NAACP, called for the NAACP ACP to be not an organization, just for Blacks or African-Americans minority, but to be an organization for all minorities who need their assistance. That tells you that there had been progress, African-Americans, though we still have need for these organizations, NAACP and Urban League and others. And we still have a need for organizations, militant organizations, or organizations that concentrate on our men, our males, our youth, our males, young males, to see that everything is done possible to give them something productive to do.
Like Minister Farrakhan and the nation of Islam under him. We still need leaders to make us conscious and to make us aware of our own responsibility to ourselves, to our families, to our communities, to our neighborhood. And I'm happy and very pleased, feel it a special blessing to be invited again to this city, Tuskegee, Alabama. To say to the people of this city and especially to your leaders like Johnny Thorpe , the keynote speaker last night, to say to your leaders and to you that we have a lot in common. We who represent the Muslim American society, who identify with my leadership. We have come from a past that gave us a new life.
Most of us who joined the nation of Islam, we believe in G-d. We believe in being righteous, we believe in being good people. But we were not happy with our situation as citizens or as people in this country. So we heard the message of the nation of Islam, inviting us to become separated from this world, society. It on the white man's world. We accepted that and we believed that the new religion, that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the temple of Islam was offering us, was the right religion. And we believed that we would realize the promise of the nation of Islam, on the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's promise to us, that if we would unite and become Muslim in the nation of Islam that G-d would be with us. And one day we'd be free from all of these problems. And we would have a life in dignity with dignity and a life of comforts.
This is what he promised us. He promised us that. And he emphasized education. He put emphasis on getting a good education. And he, as you know, built private schools, opened private schools in many of the cities, we still have those private schools. Many of them have more even now. And then when you look at what Booker T Washington was all about, and look at what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was essentially all about, you see two people doing a similar work.
Booker T Washington didn't just want us to have education for the sake of having education and being accepted and educated as a society or the society of the educated. He didn't just want us to have vocations, jobs as builders, bricklayers, beauty shop owners, or whatever. That wasn't the end for him. All of that was for the dignity of the people. He wanted that the African-American people would one day have a normal existence as a people in a civilized society where that they wouldn't be ashamed of their station and their representation beside other civilized communities. That's what he wanted. And that's what all of our leaders wanted. All of our leaders just wanted to see us free in our own light and in our own identity. And comfortable with our citizenship and comfortable with our future. That's what they all wanted. The betterment of the race simply put. NAACP national association for the improvement of colored people. So improvement for the people. That's what they all wanted.
And it's compatible not only with that tradition that we know in the nation of Islam, under the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, but it's also true for the religion of Islam, this universal religion. Religion of nations, not one nation, the religion of nations. The religion of over a billion people on the face of this earth. Black, brown, yellow, and white folks, are Muslims. And all of them have nations, and they have Islamic nations that are white, black, brown, red. So it is a religion of humanity. It's religion of the children of Adam, all of them. And now we have ourselves included in that big following, that universal following, that we call the Muslims of the world or the Moslems of the world, as some say. They pronounced it as the French does Moslems of the world. The Muslims of the world.
We have members there and is it asking us to do something else? We lose sight on the real beauty and the real meaning for the religion. The real beauty and the real meaning of the religion is not just doing prayers and Dhikrs. Some of you all have followed the traditional, so-called traditional rituals. You follow them in their rituals and you think Islam is nothing but doing Dhikr on your fingers, on the beads, brushing your teeth with a stick.
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Dhikr on your fingers, on the beads, brushing the teeth with a stick that's made soft on the end, and wearing garbs for the desert. You think that's the religion, that's the religion. And putting some incense in the house, burning incense and some oils, some musk on your skin. And that's the religion for you. And saying As Salaamu Alaikum Rahmatulahi Ya Ahki. Alhamdulillah IYa Akhi, Masha'Allah, inshallah. Got about 10 sentences and that's the religion. That's not the religion. And I'm not saying it as a big joke. There's humor and I welcome you to enjoy yourself. But to me, I have no joke in me. I'm very serious. Yes. No attempt to make a joke, very serious. This is real, and this is serious. So this is not Islam. Islam is a full life for human beings. Deen aladhi fatra nasa alayha].
The religion, original in its original state. The religion upon, or the pattern upon which he patterned mankind. Fatra nasa alayha. The pattern upon which he has fashioned or established all people. This is a universal concept, universal concept. It's no in the sky away from reality concept, it's a universal concept. G-d does not reject natural life of the human being. How could he reject it when he created it? So G-d says that the best of your natural life he gave you and the religion that he gives you, is only a compliment for the life that he already created. It's a compliment. It's not to be in conflict with your natural life.
So you love to smile, that's Islamic. You love to appreciate beauty in your environment, that's Islamic. You love to express your talents and share them with others so that others enjoying of them, are entertained and enjoy what you offer, that's Islamic. Some people met the Prophet when he was coming into a small area, and they knew he was coming, so it was tradition for them to meet him, to meet the guest, the important guest, with tambourine. Beat the tambourine. And with some chanting, sounds like. The Muslims of Arabia they hadn't known such entertainment, or such culture. Their culture was different. And they didn't think that this would be nice to welcome the Prophet with such entertainment.
So they told the Prophet that these people are such and such people. And he said, "Every people have their culture." He said, "Leave them be." He refused to let them stop those people from beating the tambourines and chanting. Now you will find some of us, I know the subject, don't think I don't. You will find some of us, we will go to the extreme and use such support to support us performing, singing, dancing out of the spirit of Islam and out of the respect for Islam. The best of Christians, they don't conform to the culture, the popular culture of this society.
And the best of Muslims, we don't like it. Our spirit is strained. Our spirit is hurt. When we see Muslims performing with no respect for the spirit of Islam and no respect for the teachings of Islam, it hurts us, pains us. Muhammad the Prophet said, "Whoever behaves, whoever takes on the behavior of people who are not Muslims, are not one of us. So understand that.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad worked all those years to take us out of the mold of the popular culture of this world. Now are we going to become Muslims, that all Muslims of the world and go back in the dark that foolishness, hollering, screaming, shaking yourself, not caring about rules of decency, well for religious people? No we can't do that. This is a big task we have. And is the responsibility of the leaders in Islam to remind us when we are verging off from the life of Islam. Islam calls us to our life, the life of Islam. It has his own identity. It's not the life of the Jews, it's not the life of the Christians. And certainly it's not the life of the unG-dly, unconscious people who do anything and everything with their bodies.
No. We'd be better off going back to the church. You'd have a bit of time in court with G-d going back to the church and being a decent Christian and behaving according to Christian principles and spirit, than you will calling yourself a Muslim. But now you don't know the difference between Muslim behavior and street behavior. You don't know the difference between Muslim behavior and popular culture behavior. This is no good, and this will never get us where we want to go.
And the mosque is a center for the people, Muslims, but it's a center for all the people. Understand this, and especially for the Imam, please understand this. Your mosque is not only to serve Muslims. Your mosque is to serve all mankind. G-d says of the Kaaba that we turn to directing ourselves in prayer and for Hajj, for pilgrimage.
That center, or that central focus for Muslims all over this earth built by Abraham. And his son Ishmael. Or Ismail in Arabic. G-d says of that house I will Iwawla baiti Bunya linnas. It is the first of the houses built for all mankind. Not for blacks, not for white, not for Muslims or Christians, built for all Mankind. Bunya linnas built for all people.
Now we know Christians don't go there. Christians don't turn that way to pray. We know that we know that's our orientation, but our orientation has to respect the life of all people. It cannot offend the life of anybody, no race, no religion. No. It must be respectful of all people and all persuasions. And the Jews, they embraced the Muslims, especially nowadays. They did it in Spain. When the Moors were there ruling. Christians and Jews worked side by side with Muslims to better the society for all the people of Spain.
That time is coming again. It's here again. Christians and Jews and others meeting together in Saudi Arabia, in Rome, in different parts of the world. In China, in all places of the world, we are meeting Muslim leaders with other religious leaders to see how can we better understand each other so we can better respect each other. In order for us to work together and support each other for the advancement of all people, for the advancement of good life for all people. This is what's happening right now in the world. A good time, a better time than even Islamic Spain. It's a better time than that. It's the best time for religions that man has ever witnessed on the face of this earth. So we in the mosque, we have to be aware of this. We have to be aware of Islam as a religion, bigger than your shoes and your pants, brother, and your coat and your kufi.
Islam is a religion that G-d gave us to accommodate all the needs in human life. All the needs in human life. Islam is a religion of the individual. It's the religion of the family. It's the religion of the community. It's the religion of the earth. That's what Islam is. And Islam has it's own ideas for promoting human society. Advancing human society. And this idea is not Christian, this idea is not Jewish. This idea is strictly Islamic. So you leaders. You Imams, you teachers of Islam. You educate us. You have to know Islamic identity. And you have to know the mission of Islam on this earth. And you have to know firstly, that it most certainly respects mankind first. And then it calls the Muslim.
Muhammad the Prophet, was he practicing Islam? In the first 40 years of his life, he didn't know Islam, G-d had not called him. But he was practicing the excellence of human nature. He was in the excellence of human nature and he was living the excellence of human nature. He wasn't identifying with any religion, when G-d called him. But G-d called him and made him the last Prophet, the seal of the Prophet. And G-d called him. In the Quran G-d says of him, "He is a mercy to all the worlds."
Now are you his follower? Brother Imam, you his follower? If you his follower then you'd better know who you're following. You're following a man that G-d says is a mercy to all the world. Do you have mercy for all of the world? To follow him you have must have mercy in your heart for all the worlds. And mercy in your heart for all the worlds, meaning that you have it in your heart, to want to see all the worlds benefit, justly, fairly, equally.
This is no small religion. This religion cannot be made a fad. You can become a fad with the name Muslim, but the religion will live to see you dead and your fad gone. It will never be a fad. It's permanent. It's permanent, not seasonal. If you accept the truth of Al Islam, and you're a leader and you express this truth to your congregation, I'll guarantee you with my presence, and with my life that you will not stay 10 and 15 and 20 and 50 and 200 in number. I guarantee you in a few years you will be a thousand in number. Because you will be reaching and touching the life of human beings. And there are many human beings out here waiting for a true hand to touch them. Yes, they're waiting for that.
So we must first understand the role of the mosque at the time of Prophet Mohammad by understanding him. What was his leadership? What was his role? He was a man serving humanity. And he challenged his own people. He didn't preach national glory. No. He challenged his own people, the Arabs. And he didn't have more faith in Arabs than he had in humanity. The last sermon, when he spoke at the last big gathering at the pilgrimage site, what did he say to the people? That you who are present, he's speaking mostly to Arabs, convey this message to those who are absent. Per chance they will understand it better than you. That's what he told them.
So his hopes for the future of Islam did not rest in the hands of Arabs, but he told them to tell it on to others. Per chance the others may understand it better than you and if they understand it better than you, then there'd be a better future for Islam because of them joining it also. And even though he was in a sea of Arabs, members of his own race, or his own people, racially speaking, or tribally speaking, he had with him in his immediate circle of leaders the white skinned Muslim, the black skinned Muslim, the brown skinned Muslim. His leaders, his organized group of leaders working with him directly was a reflection of the colors of the people we call the race of mankind. The race of mankind, the human race.
So I have tried registering that more and more over the last 20 years. I've tried to bring into my immediate circle persons of color. And I have white, I have black, and I have brown and I have red, working directly with me for the future of Islam and the future of Muslims in America, in the world. Praise be to Allah. The role of a mosque in the time of Muhammad the Prophet was a community center. And emphasis was on learning how to read, literacy. So that after literacy could come scholars, knowledge, higher education and scholars. If you can't read, you can't be educated. So he put emphasis first on literacy, learning to read. He obligated every follower of his to write down what he would give them and then teach it to another person who could not read. So he made, really, teachers of all of his followers. He said, "If you only can remember one line, then teach that one line to another person."
And in the Quran he's mentioned as a liberator. And our holy book called the Quran, G-d says of him, that he is the unlettered meaning was not formally educated. He received no formal education from anybody. He was not belonging to any rabbinical school, of any order that would educate him. No. He was not formally educated by anybody. He belonged to no, he had no teachers and belonged to no school. And G-d says of him as he is ... the unlettered messenger and prophet mentioned in the Torah and in the Injil.
So brother Imams, how many of you all are conscious that G-d said to us, through Muhammad, that our Prophet is mentioned in the books that Moses' people received and in the books that the Christians received? How many of you all are conscious of that?
I don't think you are. I listened to most of you, most of you are not even conscious of that. You think Prophet Muhammad is a Prophet separate from all other prophets. When the point is clearly made to us in our holy book, that this is no new religion. This is a religion of the prophets before. That's what we are taught. And we are told that we are to believe in those prophets, all of them. And we are told to not only we have to believe in Jesus Christ, as a prophet, we are told that we have to believe in him as Christ, also. How many of you are aware of that? If you are, you don't show it in your language.
We have to believe in Jesus Christ as a prophet. And believe me, the Bible says he's a prophet. The Bible says he's a prophet. And we have to believe in him also as a Christ. The Bible, you know, says he's the Christ. We're believing in him as a Christ. Even further than that, because Christ only means the anointed. And David was anointed by them putting special oil on his head and wiping his head with the oil. So he's more than just that. He's also the child, man of the immaculate conception. The immaculate conception. Do Muslims believe in immaculate conception? Yes.
But how do we explain that? I would say great sign. Allah says, he and his mother, not only Jesus Christ, peace be upon him and his mother. He and his mother are for a sign. How do they explain it in Islam? In Christianity we know how it was explained. I don't need to go over that. In Islam we say G-d is the creator and has power to create whatever he will. And Jesus, his creation, peace be upon him is as the creation of Adam. The first man, Adam. That's what we are told to say. Oh but I want to know more, you got your mind on sex too much brother. You will never learn the religion if you're just going to be sexy through and through.
Get your mind off of sex is not about that thing that you do. That's not that small brother, it's a big thing. This is a big, big conception. Yes. So you believe that G-d has the power to create whatever he will. And as he created the first life, he can create the second and repeat it. So that after he created a man from the dead earth, he can certainly create a man from a living woman. This is G-d you're supposed to believe in the power of G-d to create whatever he will. And G-d again says. To make it very simple for us, he says, if I want a son, I can get a son from those that I've already created.
Thank you. And he created Adam. Didn't he create Adam? Was that not the first man he created, Adam? And he said, if I want a son, I can get a son from those I have already created. And I read the gospel, the New Testament. One of the books of the New Testament that's giving us the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Peace be upon him. And the genealogy of Jesus Christ is traced from his mother back to Adam, says who was created by G-d. Need I say more? I think I should. Not for the sake of you people in the audience, but for the sake of our Imams that are fixated.
In Christianity, in Christian theology, Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, is also called the second Adam. The second Adam. That's why the Bible, the New Testament has to trace his genealogy back to the first Adam.
PART 3 OF 4 ENDS [01:09:04]
... trace his genealogy. back to the first Adam. Was Adam a man? Adam was a man wasn't he? That explains why Jesus Christ is called both the son of man and the son of G-d. When Jesus Christ wanted his father to know him better he said, "Who do you say I am? Who do you say I, the son of man, am?" He didn't say, "I'm not the son of a man." But he let it be known that... to keep you imams from going astray or from missing me while you're fixated. He said to his imams, he said, "Who do you say I the son of man, am?" And one of those imams said, "You are the son of the living G-d." And he let it be like that. He let it be.
You all keep being numb in the head and hearing me as saying something I didn't say I'm going to open me up a church. I'll do a better job in church. If you imams don't straighten up. Yeah. It's time to be in accord with the Quran, in accord with our holy book all the way, not part of the way and be at accord with the life example of a Muslim in Muhammad the prophet, the model man, and the model Muslim. All the way. You can't make a little small business of Islam. The Muslim world won't like that. And we won't like that. We don't like that. When we know Muhammad the prophet and know this religion. Then we are situated to be appreciated by other people.
You see how other people appreciate your imam. Christians, Jews, Buddhists. I meet Buddhist people and they heard of me. When they meet me, they're smiling and showing affection. That's love. Nobody loved me so much because they learned in my history that I came from thew Honorable Elijah Muhammad. A man who was very sincere in his work of helping his own people. But a man that did not have Islam in its true and universal picture. But they knew that he wasn't responsible for the in correction, the incorrect representation of Islam. That whoever had taught him, wanted him to concentrate only on improving the conditions in the Black man's life. So they excused him from his error and they love and appreciate him for his sincerity and his great work of trying to uplift the life of poor, neglected African-American people. And we who followed him in sincerity. We love him still. We appreciate him still. Tell you the truth, I appreciate him more now than I ever did appreciate him.
I realize the giant of a man he was. The thing that he did to help me made him a bigger man in my own eyes. He told his chief, his top officers of the Nation of Islam in my presence after I had visited him. And he had rejected me. Putting me out twice out of the temple of Islam, out of the Nation of Islam. He told them, said, "My son can go anywhere he wants to." Then he looked at me because they had bought a tape I made. I had a radio interview. They bought the tapes and I'm they thought they were going to be able to get me busted again, get me put out of Nation of Islam again. But the tape did not affect him as it affected them. He liked the tape. He said, "And son." Looking at me, he said, "Son, go, and you preach that gospel."
He called it gospel with no serious weight to it. But that's how we talk. Preach that truth. He didn't mean preach... that my message would be a gospel, something fit for holy book or something like that. He didn't mean that. He only meant go and preach that truth that I'm hearing from you. He said, "And go and preach that..." That's his exact words to his supreme captain, to his assistant minister in Chicago and to about 20 other staff, people that was in that room when he spoke these words to me. He said, "And preach that gospel." So why was he telling them? My son is not obligated to preach what I taught anymore.
He's free to preach what he has in his mind and heart now. And that's exactly what I did. That's exactly what I did. And who made me the kind of man I am? Who made me fit for the Quran and fit to follow Muhammad the prophet? The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He did. He told me, he said... as he told all the other ministers... and you too... who follow him. He said, "Don't take what is on the surface." He said, "But look deep into it. Study deep " and said. He told me to use my own intelligence. He freed me to use my own intelligence. He freed me to question even what he gave me. When he said, "Don't take what's on the surface, but look deep into it." He freed me to question even what he gave me and in questioning what he gave me. It made me fit to follow . Muhammad the prophet.
Yes. He had already given me a sense of obedience to G-d. I just didn't conceive G-d correctly. But he gave me a sense of obedience to G-d. And he also gave me a sense of responsibility to self and humankind. He made me industrious. He taught me to be industrious. He made me truthful. He taught me to be truthful. He told me as the penalty for lying. He told me, as he told you. Say, my word is my bond. And my bond is my life. And I'll give my life before I let my word fail.
So he prepared me to accept the Quran and follow it and follow the prophet of the Qur'an Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Prayers and peace be upon him. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad did that. So one day he was questioning me and he was a master of human psychology. He knew I was having a hard time out there Wallace D. Muhammad. No job record anywhere, but in the Nation of Islam. Born in the nation of Islam. So he knew I was having a hell of a time. So he took two suitcases, to of those little cases that used to carry... Some of you had one. And he opened them up and it's full of money. I guess like the mafia leader would do.
But he wasn't saying I got enough to hire somebody to kill you. He was saying here's a lot of help my son, if you want to straighten up and fly right. So he opened up those two big cases, man. Oh and money in there. I'm looking at it. And he told me, he said, "Son, I heard that you don't believe in our faith. And I'm the son of a master of human psychology." Right? So the son of the master of human psychology said, "Daddy, I can more easily accept you as my savior." And he tried to pretend that I didn't strike him but I knew I had struck him. So he said, "Well, son, you know what this means?" I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "It means you can't call your mother. You can't write her.
Now, he didn't say us. Me. He knew how to be a master of human psychology. He would say, "Son you know you can't call your father. You can't write your father." He said, "Son, you know you can call your mother. Can't write your mother and you're not to associate with any of the members of the Nation of Islam. That's it son. You're dismissed." Oh he could execute his law now. But I walked out knowing that I had... and I said to myself, I'm not going to obey this law. I said I won't write mama, but I know mama now. I ain't going to get her in trouble. I'm not going to call her. Not going to write her. And I said to myself, but I'm going to write you. So whenever I saw the opportunity, especially on Saviours' Day. On Saviours' Day, I say, uh oh.
Here comes Saviours' Day. He's getting ready for us. I write him saying, dear daddy, I just want you to know that I know that you're getting ready to observe Saviours' Day, your Saviours' Day out there. I said, and I wish you success. And I hope that you have various successful meeting and get very good results and have a big, big turn out. That's what I was telling him. And he just couldn't stand it for too long. He said, who... this what my brother told me, "Have you all seen Wallace?" So one of my brothers told him, say, "Yes, daddy said I saw him on the street while he was looking pretty bad." No you know a brother help his brother. Right? I wasn't looking that bad. He's looking pretty bad. Get in touch with your brother and tell him, come on back home.
Then ask me, our son, you have to confess the belief in our savior, no., accept me back, without asking me any questions. I was accepted back. One day, I'm skipping over some of this, because we don't have that much time. One day, this is important for you to know, the Imams, the leaders of this time, you should also know the man that's responsible for you having these people here with you. He said to me one day, sitting at the table with his staff again on a Sunday after temple meetings. He said, "Son, here's sister, Shirley. She's a good looking sister and a good secretary. And she doesn't have a husband. She's single. And he knew I was married. And my wife's name was Shirley.
And he had just another Shirley sitting at the table. So I just kind of dropped my eyes like that. And he looked at me and he said, I had my eyes raised up to see him. He said, "Well, son, I didn't think you would want to." Then he spoke... He did that just to say this to this staff. He said, "I wish I was a man my son is. That's exactly what he said. And you who know me, you know I don't lie. And she doesn't have a husband. She's single and he knew I was married and my wife’s name was Shirley. And he had just another Shirley sitting at the table. So I just kind of dropped my eyes like that. And he looked at me and he said, had my eyes raised up to see him.
He said, "Well, son, I didn't think you would want to." Then he spoke... He did that just to say this to his staff. He said, I wish I was a man my son is. That's exactly what he said. And you who know me you know I don't lie. He said, I wish I was the man my son is. That made him the biggest man I ever seen or heard of except Muhammad the prophet that I came to know later in his full role in image. Yeah. But the man that I have known for before, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, became bigger than him. What man, I don't even know if I can do that, would tell his staff that have to support him. That my son that have dinner with me and there's another old man that have nothing to his credit just little... He has nothing to his credit. He hadn't donations and said to them I wish I was the man that my son is. He said that to say to them, I repent my actions that you are aware of. And I'm proud of my son.
Who's turning down Shirley Haziz. That was her name, Shirley Haziz. That made him a big man. Isn't that a big man? That's a big man brother. And let me say this, he has to be a big man with a big spirit, a big, big, big soul and a strong spirit to do what he did and to stick... facing the two. Teachings and plans of his teachers. Mr. W. D. Fard. He has to be a big man. No small man could do what he did. A big man, a very big man, a very big man, a giant of a man. And I agree with those who were saying... not Muslims saying this from the African-American community That he's perhaps the greatest leader that the African people in America have given birth to. Yes. They're saying that now. Some of them are saying that. So I'd have to agree with them. A great giant of a man.
And we should never make our jobs for the community. And believe me, your job for the community is your job for G-d. Yes. G-d says, "Your sacrifices don't reach me. You make blood sacrifice. You sacrifice wealth, you sacrifice your children." G-d says, "Your sacrifices don't reach me only your consciousness reaches me called Taqwa. This the special consciousness for a Muslim or being Muslim in Islam. Said only your Taqwa reaches me. And G-d says, "Taqwa." He says, Al birra Taqwa, that your righteousness is Taqwa. Righteousness is Taqwa. And then G-d tells us what righteousness is. G-d says, "righteousness is not rituals, turning your faces to the East or to the West. But righteousness is to believe in G-d and the angels and in the revealed books and et cetera. Goes on to say what righteousness is. And righteousness doesn't stop at just believing in G-d and those things that G-d has established us to believe in.
But righteousness translates into action. Says and righteousness, is to spend of your money. Mal, Mal The money. Wealth. Spending of your money out of love for him. So you're supposed to be motivated by a love for G-d. The love of G-d. You're supposed to be motivated by the love of G-d to share your wealth. And G-d addresses the rich man, when he says, be you kind to others, as G-d has been kind to you. So out of a love for G-d, the rich man and the wealthy realize how merciful G-d has been to him. G-d has been kind to him to create him with his talents, his productive talents and way of his energies and everything. And then make available to him, helpers. Men and women to help him. A market where he can sell his product. Open field for his expression of all of his creative talents. So the love of G-d then... Share that with those who are not so fortunate. Says and spend of your wealth on the needy. Out of love of G-d, spend on the needy, on the homeless, on the widows, on the orphans.
And all of that is given under, I can recite it by heart, the long passage of the Quran. In the big chapter, Al-Baqara, the passage is titled righteousness. And begins with Laisal birra an tuloo wojuhakum Qibala al masreeqi wal magribi.. And it goes on to say that righteousness is not the turn your face as to ritualistic. Turn your faces East and West, but righteousness is something real and sincere to have sincere belief, beginning with the belief in G-d. And then to present that belief into your actions by helping others that are less fortunate than you. So that you serve the will of G-d. That's what you will be doing. Because G-d create the many people like he created the many lands. All these lands are not equally productive. Some of these lands are not productive at all. But G-d wants to test the people. Test the people to see if the people of the fertile land and the productive land will be as kind to their brothers and sisters and humanity as G-d was to them.
So this is G-d has to leave opportunity for us to earn blessings and earn rewards and to test us. So that we serve others as G-d has served us. This is the test that G-d has created for us and we can't escape it. So never think all your people are going to be productive. You're always going to have some people not productive. You're always going to have some that the strong have to care for. And that's Al Islam, Allahu Akbar. Now no I didn't say it for you to say it. But good that you said it. I said it to make a statement. G-d is bigger. And the biggest serve the smaller. That's not just to say to us, G-d is bigger. All of us know G-d is bigger. Even the primitive man, we have a primitive concept of G-d.
He knows G-d is bigger than he is. It's not just to tell us that. It's to establish a behavior in you toward the small. Now G-d is bigger he provides for the smaller you, his creation. Smaller, small nothing almost. Now you being, are you going to be like G-d? Will you also serve those smaller than you? The bigger is responsible for the smaller. The stronger is responsible for the weak. Your bigger in strength. The rich are responsible for the poor. You bigger in money. That's how we had to read that statement and apply it to our life. Allahu Akbar obligates me, if I'm bigger than someone else to care for them that G-d has cared for me. You see the posters now of Islam and Christianity. And that's why G-d said in the Quran, you will find the nearest people to you to be those who say they're Christian, that's Allah, the old name for Christian. Yes. So the time of our prophet getting away from the honorable Elijah Muhammad and all that, I think I said enough about that. I pray for him and my mother all the time.
Yes I do. I pray for their soul. I believe in the eternal life and I pray for their soul. And I think I'm more an African than I am an American. I do. The more I live, the more I realize I'm an African. An African. I am an African. I am. That doesn't mean I'm not a citizen of the United States. I'm firstly, a citizen of the United States. That's a government. That's different. But people in continent, I'm African. Praise be to Allah. Yes. So the community of the prophet, peace be upon him, was the community center. The mosque of the prophet correction or the community center. That center was made a school. That center was made a welfare station. That center was made a city hall.
PART 4 OF 4 ENDS [01:31:50]


