07/11/1999
IWDM Study Library 
Greensboro, NC

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Progress cannot come without good education. There has to be good education. Not only progress, but also freedom. If we want to free the slaves, then the best way is through education, with education and through education. Once the people are educated, they have a high appreciation of themselves, their purpose on this earth, and they have higher expectations of themselves and especially of their leaders. And this is what really makes for real freedom and real progress. When a people take up education as a number one priority for their society to see it advance so that the intellect be freed. Correct knowledge frees the intellect and the intellect rules over the rest of the life. Under G-d. Under G-d, the intellect rules over the rest of the life.
Yes. So, what we are going to see in the future is more work as sacrifices, so that we can have more and better Islamic schools, private schools. We are going to see Muslims joining other religious communities to get more recognition to the value of private schools in our society, America, the American society. We are going to see Muslims, especially African-American Muslims with us, accepting more responsibility to provide for our young, our families and our youth, our teenagers, an environment that satisfy their need for cultural expression and wholesome entertainment. So, you're going to see theaters going up. We are going to be responsible for those theaters going up. Social centers. You're going to see on the block near us social centers, banquet rooms for marriage. For weddings, pardon me, for weddings, and for social gatherings, for wholesome entertainment for the youth, for the teenagers. You're going to see us providing for their expressions in the sports.
You're going to see more Islamic teams. We got a terrific soccer team in Atlanta, Georgia right now in our private school. Terrific soccer team. You're going to see more of that. We got some terrific swimmers who are making, setting new records. Olympic candidates. We got them in the community already. One in Atlanta, two, two now in Atlanta, a boy and a girl and one in the Chicago area, a boy, a young man. You're going to see us giving more money to create for ourselves in our immediate surroundings, the things that we need to express our life through. And we need this. We need these buildings, these constructions and these programs for the expression of our life. And if we have to express our life through something provided for us by non-Muslims, it's difficult and we lose too many young teenagers to the world because we don't provide this environment ourselves.
You're going to see more investment dollars invested not only in the Muslim's idea of the Muslim's vision for themselves, but you're going to see charity coming from the poor, from poor Muslims like us, poor community like us. You're going to see charity coming from us to other poor communities who have their poor there. You're going to see poor uniting to help the poor across religious lines. That's what you're going to see. The new world is demanding that of us and Prophet Muhammad, I'm sure when he pressed on us how we should regard the neighbor, he was preparing us for this day. And our neighbor is not just the person in this small town but the next town to you. And maybe they'll be an Amish community or something else, but they'll have similar problems as yours. Then your leaders and their leaders should get together because all of us are winding up in the same situation.
It's a one world situation and we are forced to live together and grow together and it looks like, "Oh, so oh, we are going to have to give up something." No, G-d is putting us in a position to enjoy more. Yes. The more you embrace more numbers who are supporting the same interests that you support, it frees up the life more for all of us to have more room to live and live as our best motivations are asking us to live. That's what I'm seeing. I'm seeing a beautiful bright time. I'm seeing.... When I read the Bible. Now I'm free to interpret it as I want to because I'm not a Christian. You can't hold me to your disciplines or to your schools of thought. So, when I read in the Bible of how the earth is going to one day, just be illumined with light, the throne will first have the light, then the light will go out from the throne.
Just fill the whole world with light. Well, that's what I've seen coming in the very near future. The world is just this dark world of many questions and many fears and doubts. It's going to change and we are going to be more hopeful. We are going to have faith and hope and belief in ourselves and belief in our fellow man. One preacher, he touches me every time I think of him and saying this, he came on television ministry. He came on and the first thing he said, "I believe in G-d. And then he said, he paused and he said, and I believe in you," Dr. Schuller. He said, every time I think of him saying this, it touches me, because I believe that's exactly where we are going. I believe that's the maturity that G-d is growing us up for that maturity where we will believe in our fellow man.
I believe we are given the Prophet as a model that we should believe in who, if we believe in him and we understand it and interpret that belief in him, is saying that I believe in the best of humanity. That's what it's saying. That G-d obligates us not only to believe in G-d and G-d says, "Believe in G-d and believe in His Messenger." That's a man. His messenger is a man says "Believe in G-d and believe in His Messenger. Peace be upon the Messenger of G-d. So, I believe that when we look for how to be, to interpret that in the life of mankind, we are to see it expressed in this way. The creatures of G-d, people, are not only to believe in G-d that made them, created them, but we are to also believe in the humanity that G-d created us all to have. The humanity that G-d created us all to have. The best human sensitivities, the best human motivation, the best human concerns, the best human charity, the best human work, et cetera. The best of the human creation. We have to believe in it just like we believe in G-d. Believe in G-d, but also believe in the best human creation. That's the potential in all of us. G-d created all of us with that potential. We don't realize it like the Prophet did, but all of us have that in us. That's in all of us.
And believe me, I feel so happy in my heart welcoming this time, as I see it is the time that my soul has been existing to see before I was born, when my genes were in my parents and in their parents and their parents and there parents. And in Adam the first parents, and now these genes are being titillated like they've never been titillated before. Oh, they feel so good because the soul now can have the life that G-d created it for on this earth, can have the life that G-d created it for on this earth. So that's my belief. It's time for us to believe in our fellow man. Stop distrusting each other. Start believing in each other. Stop doubting each other. Start having faith in each other and you'll see the marvelous work you'll be able to do if you'll just come into that state of mind and spirit. Also, I see us because of this disposition, this healthy and productive way of looking at ourselves and possibilities for ourselves on this earth, we are going to become very productive ourselves. And we are going to have sizable monetary investments to make and they're not all going to be made in America. We are going to invest some in different countries of the world. We are going to be investing in different countries of the world. I'm no Prophet. This is not the predictions of a Prophet. These are predictions of an economic speculator.
We are going to see it as a social speculator, a student of the movements of society in the traditional history, patterns of the movement of society. Of society. Yes. We are going to see leaders with honor. Too many leaders, we have helped them rise up and become our leaders and they didn't have to be honorable, they didn't have to be trustworthy. They give us the gift of gab and we go for it. They come out with certain persona and we go for it. Certain charisma, we go for it. We blindly just pay them. Vicariously, we are living out our fantasies through that person, right? Giving them our support, living out our fantasies through that person. I've heard members, poor members of certain Christian followings and we have them too certain Christian following say, "Yeah, I gave everything I had to put Reverend so-and-so in that Roll Royce. Well, hell, I'm in it too, girl. I helped him get it." So, they living out their fantasies by supporting somebody who just wants these material things just to be a show off person.
That time has come to an end. It's already come to its end. The time now is for us to give our support to honorable leaders of good character, trustworthy people who cares about another human being and living not just to have their dream, personal dream realized, but living to see the dream of humanity realized. That's the kind of leader we're going to have in the future. And that is going to assure us that we will have a future, that will be the real future. We are going to see faithful people at work, people who are serious about their religion, faithfully devoted as servants of G-d in their religions, whether it is Islam or Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism. Performance is going to be better, going to be more genuine, more sincere. The time of truth and righteousness is coming, is here. Charity is going to become great and great and great and great.
A day going to come soon when no one will be worrying about how a poor person will fare if they rush to the hospital. Nobody will ask them for a medical card. Just start taking care of them. They'll only ask those questions after they know the life is no longer at risk. Thank you. Let us pray to G-d for guidance and forgiveness for our sins and shortcomings. Ameen. As Salaam Alaikum.
Host:
At this time, we're going to open the floor for questions and answers. The Imam is going to answer any questions anyone may have. We ask that you come up to the microphone so that we can hear your question.
Speaker 2:
As Salaam Alaikum. Yeah. The question I wanted to ask was, you had spoke on the relationship between Christians and Jews in Muslims society. Many people who are of the Muslim faith, they will refer to Christians or non Muslims as kafirs. And we had a ta’aleem yesterday and the question or the conversation came up, what is the significance of Prophet Muhammad Peace be Upon him. When he first got received revelation, he went to non-Muslims to get peace or solace in particular his wife Kadijah, who at that time was not Muslim and to her uncle the Christian monk. If people keep referring to, some Muslims keep referring to Christians as non-believers or as kafirs, what is the significance or the importance of Prophet Muhammad going to Christians for solace?
IWDM:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, that's an excellent observation. Yes, yes. I'll repeat that because it's very important to register what he just said. The history of the Prophet is well known. It's part of history for all Muslim societies that the Prophet received, experienced revelation coming to him and he had no knowledge from his past to explain, to help him understand what was happening. He wasn't raised as a Christian, a Jew or anything like that. He didn't know the ways of people or scripture or revelation. So, he hadn't read Bible or heard or anything like that. So, he was lost for understanding of what was happening to him. And he expressed that to his wife, Lady Kadijah, G-d be pleased with her. And she said, "I have a Christian relative, an uncle." She said, "He may be able to help you understand this." So, she got her uncle to talk to, told her uncle of Muhammad the Prophet, Peace be Upon him. And he said, "I think I understand what is happening here." And he said, there is in the scripture a promise that there would be someone coming from these people who would be given to them by G-d, that G-d would give them this particular person. And so, he had faith that Muhammad perhaps was this person mentioned in Christian scriptures. So, he talked to Prophet Muhammad and helped Prophet Muhammad understand what he was experiencing, which was G-d beginning to condition Muhammad for revelation. To receive revelation as the Prophet or Messenger of G-d. It's very important to understand that as our brother just presented it to us in connection with the belief among many Muslims that all Christians are kafirs. And kafirs means rejecters of faith. Kafir simply means ungrateful person, not grateful to G-d and rejects faith. Kafirs. But here, these Muslims who take this position now, most of them are Imams and scholars, not many scholars, mostly just religious leaders, Imam means religious leader. Religious leaders and persons influenced, influenced by these religious leaders. They take this position that when G-d mentions the kafirs in the Qur'an, He's talking about Christians and Jews. They don't say atheists. Isn't that something? Yes. They don't say that G-d is talking about atheists or G-d is talking about the un-G-dly. No, they just say G-d is talking about Christians, Jews. When He says kafirs, it means disbelievers or people who reject faith.
So, if Christians are such people, if we have to identify Christians as the people in the that are called the disbelievers, then I would ask the same question. The question I just asked, how do we explain Prophet Muhammad going to one of them to get solace or a better understanding of what was happening to him when he was experiencing the beginning of revelation? That's an excellent question and a very, very excellent observation that our brother just made or made. I don't know, he just probably just shared it with us. Maybe he made it some time ago. Yes. There's no question in my mind that the disbelievers are the unG-dly who do not live faith in G-d.
They're not living faith in G-d. They're the unG-dly. That's what the kafir is, those people who do not credit G-d with their for having life, human life and having blessings of goodness in their life. They don't credit G-d with that. They're the ungrateful, ungrateful kafirs. Kafirs mean also, the word kafirs implies, this term implies that you are covering something. You're covering up something, covering up something. And most of the people who take that position, they're covering up something. And where is the cover? The cover is over their conscience. They'll not let their conscience come clearly, come freely to be expressed by them. So, they express something from the conscience and they cover up the rest of what's in the conscience. Desperately holding on to lies, falsehood, disbelief in G-d. And believe me, you got many people like that. These are the real kafirs. Yes, so much for that question. Thank you very much for the question, brother.
Brother Imam, I have one. This person happens to be my wife and I couldn't convince her to come up here to ask it herself Brother Imam, so I'm going to try to ask it. I wanted her to do it. But she says what she has seen is so many people, instead of staying in a place to struggle to build up something, their first inclination is to migrate to another place. She said she wants to know how do you know when to migrate and when to stay and fight for something.
G-d will let you know. Yes, G-d will let you know. That's it. Okay. Yeah. A lot of our supporters, when the courts defeated us and left us with no property, they took our properties from us in the probate case, a lot of our supporters, they went to Atlanta. And now in about two years we are going to be established again in Chicago. I can see them coming back. So, Brother Imam in Atlanta, you better start looking for more converts out there to support your properties.
Speaker 3:
My question is, I was at work and I told the brother that we were going to have questions and answers and he wanted to know about Armageddon. He's Christian, but he wanted to know about Armageddon.
IWDM:
Yes. Armageddon. I'm going to try. Armageddon is a term in the Bible and in the Christian faith, I guess we might have the same term under a different name, but if it is, I'm believing correctly that a term in the Qur'an for us is the same as the term in Bible for the Christians Armageddon and then it is Gog and Magog. For us as Gog and Magog. The time of Gog and Magog. And Gog and Magog means the forces of the belief, people of faith, or maybe not even faith. I better put it this way. People who uphold the traditions of good life, excellence, or the traditions of good life, the forces people upholding the traditions of excellence or the traditions of good human life in society. Civilized people against uncivilized people. The civilized against the uncivilized. They'll come together. The people that are uncivilized and the people that are civilized will clash one day and that will be Armageddon for us. For us, that's Armageddon. When all over the world we see the forces of civil life and the forces of unG-dly life or uncivilized life brought against each other, coming against each other in a showdown, which one is going to prevail. The community of civilized people or the community of uncivilized people, destructive people. So, it goes further than just faith.
It's not faith against people who don't believe in G-d, or the people of G-d against those who don't believe in G-d, but it's the people of civil life against the people who don't care about civil order. That's the way I see it, the Armageddon. Now, to have the Christian explanation, you have to address the Christian representative for the Christian explanation. I would like to hear the Christian explanation. Would you like to hear the Christian explanation? Will someone give us a word on Armageddon? Thank you. 
Focolare Representative:
I don't know how representative this is, but as I understand Armageddon, that is the end times. And there was something that Imam Mohammed said that I found very fitting also with a Christian outlook. And that is the hour we do not know, which is also what Jesus said that is we don't know when the end time will be.
There are signs and so we should always be prepared, especially by living this moment now, but we don't know when that time will be or exactly how it'll be. Although there are things that Jesus also said, that there would be signs. But also, what occurs to me, some things that Chaira has said as well. And that is for all of us who are people of faith who are trying to do what is right, people of goodwill where we could say the spirit of G-d is working within us, that we're open to that. For all of us to be united to love one another is also a way, a means for others to come to know G-d, to come to know the truth, to come to know faith. And so, something which I've been very struck in listening to Imam Mohammed on different occasions is that G-d is very involved in history in what's happening and we can cooperate with His plan by living that ourselves and loving one another because as we do that others are able to come to see and to know G-d as well, so we can cooperate with that plan as well. I don't know if this is exhaustive or official, but something at least. Thank you.
IWDM:
Yes, it was very helpful, very helpful. Thank you very much for your comment, explanation. There are no more questions. Yes, sister, we would love you to come up here, but if you don't get to come all the way up here, you should at least go to that mic so we can hear you better.
Speaker 4:
Can you talk more about the Prophets saying regarding having faith and tying your camel?
IWDM:
Your camel, tie your camel. Oh, oh. Tying your camel, tying the camel. Yes, yes. Well, I understand that that means you're supposed to have faith in your camel too. Yeah. Really. Seriously. Seriously. Yes. The Prophet Peace be Upon him and he told the people to trust G-d, but tie your camel. And you know we've been criticized by, what's his name, William. His name is Dr. Williams, Bill. His name is Bill Williams. Bill Williams who heads up the organization called Christians and Muslims for Peace. William Baker, Reverend William Baker. He criticizes us in a very nice way. We say something, he'll say, "Well, can I expect someone to come by and pick these materials up from here? And we'll say yes. He'll say "Inshallah, Inshallah." And I guess maybe Prophet saw that tendency of some of the people in his day and time you know. Everything Inshallah, G-d's will if G-d's will. So, to have a proper balance, certainly we trust G-d, we have faith in G-d, complete faith in G-d, but we also have faith in our own intelligence. So, Prophet Muhammad says, "Trust G-d and tie your camel. So, you say, well, today is Jumu'ah. I have to go to Jumu'ah prayers. And you just heard over television news that a tornado's going to be right down there coming right in the path of that and you say, I got to go to Jumu'ah. I trust G-d. Well, you didn't tie your camel if the tornado swept you away, right? Yeah. Is that okay? That's clear. Oh, thank you. All right.
Speaker 5:
This is for an invited guest sister. She didn't want to come up, so I'll come up for her. She was concerned with the Muslims that are united with other faiths for unity like today.
IWDM:
Yes.
Speaker 5:
What effects do they have for us for marriage like different faiths united for marriage in America.
IWDM:
Intermarriage.
Speaker 5:
Yes sir.
IWDM:
Different faiths, intermarriage. Well, that's another question I think you ought to ask G-d. When I'm asked questions like this, I can't just give my own personal position. I've been asked about intermarriage marrying outside of our race and I've always come from my own personal experience and I've given them my own personal experience, my own personal opinion because our religion does not address these problems. Our religion simply want us to be good people, the best people and to be proud, happy and proud of our own identity, to be happy with our identity, to love our own identity, to have Islam as our choice.
And I think the rest of it is left to us. But when it comes to marrying now outside of your religion, you have to realize that the position of the authorities in Islam called the Ulema. That's the learned, informed, supposed to be pious. They're not always pious, some of them are not pious. The learned, informed, pious leaders in Islam, the authorities, students and authorities in Islamic knowledge. Their position is that you are not to marry your daughter to a non-Muslim. Your son can marry a non-Muslim, but you're not to marry your daughter to a non-Muslim. That's their position.
I kind of sympathize with that, especially for those who live in most of the world outside of United States. They fear one of their, this is a cultural, this is a position influenced by cultural life too. They feel that if you marry your daughter to a non-Muslim, to Christian, the children may go from Islam to Christianity or to whatever the religion of the husband, the father would be. Because in most of the cultures of these Ulema, members of the Ulema, of the learned leaders in those cultures, the man has the say in the court. The man has the say as to what's going to happen to his children, who's going to take care of his children, et cetera, if the marriage is lost or hurt. But in Chicago, according to my understanding, that woman going to have her say and the children going to go with the woman. So, I don't know, I'm just giving you my observation and an indication as to how I would decide. But for you, you have to make your own decision. That's why I say turn to G-d. If you have a son who's interested in a Christian, a non-Muslim for a wife, then the Ulema will have no problem. They would like to see our males marry a lot of Christians and Jews and bring their future to this Islam. They would like to see that. So, no problem. But your daughters, they don't want to see you marry your daughters to non-Muslims.
Was that the end of that question? I think so, yes. Now what I hate to see is a bad life. Muslim marry a good life Christian or anybody or a bad life them marry a good one of us. Now that's what I really hate.
Speaker 6:
As Salaam Alaikum. I have a question my brother wanted to ask you. It's two.
IWDM:
Yes
Speaker 6:
One he wanted to ask if you have any connections with the Nation of Islam.
And the other was when you was on the subject of kafir...
IWDM:
Yes.
Speaker 6:
He was unclear about that because some Christians have a tendency to pray In the name of Jesus instead of the In Name of G-d.
IWDM:
All right.
Speaker 6:
Thank you.
IWDM:
Yeah. For the first question, do I have any connections with the Nation of Islam? Yes I do. I have half brothers, sisters belonging to the Nation of Islam under Farrakhan. And I myself, when I was born, I was born into the Nation of Islam in what's called Hamtramck, Michigan, Detroit. So yes, I have a lot of connections with the Nation of Islam and I have a heart that every time I hear the word Nation of Islam, it kind of changes its rhythm. And says, "When are they going to become like we are, when are they going to become like we are? Yes, I have connection with the Nation of Islam. Now this kufar, kufar is not the term that we use. We use kafir. Kufar names the condition of the kafir, both Arabic terms and Qur'anic terms, kufar and kafir. Kufar is the condition of the kafir and you can look at the word kufar and you can almost reason pretty safely, that cover came from the word kufar. The word cover in English has its origin in the word kufar, and this is the condition of the kafirs. I mentioned that he covers up something, covers up his conscience. He won't let something in his conscience, he won't let it come to his mind. He covers up part of his conscience so he won't have to be bothered about it. Keep it out so he can do the wrong thing he wants to do. That's the kafir. Now I think the question that was given to me was that the Christians don't have the same idea of G-d that we have and would that make them the kafirs? My answer to you on that question is no, that does not make them kafirs unless they have that condition in them that they're covering up part of their conscience to keep their conscience from disturbing them while they're doing a thing that is wrong. I don't know about you, but I smell chicken and I think some warm fresh bread. I'm about to cut out on you.
Speaker 7:
My question is because ecumenical relationships between all major faith groups are so important and not only ecumenical relationships but also multicultural relationships. I would like to know not only from our beloved Imam, but also from our Christian and non-Muslim friends and counterparts, what they see as perhaps the major factor or factors that stands as the barriers today against this all important coming together of good, G-d fearing people.
Speaker 8:
We have to, I can answer as a Christian and also someone from the Focolare. There's the writings of Paul, St. Paul in the Christian scriptures that he refers to the new man and the old man. And the new man is putting on this life of G-d, this new life which is to love my neighbor, to go out myself, which is not easy as we all know as we try to live this, as we try to live a spiritual life. The old self is to be lazy, to not want to love, to not be out of myself, maybe to judge others to say the others are like this or like that. That's the old self. And Paul says, it's for us to live our new self and this way we can be open to the others and build this rapport. So, I think the greatest obstacle or the greatest factor that impedes our dialogue with one another is precisely this attitude that we can have whether we're Christians or Muslims or any other faith. That is an attitude of closure that I don't have this new attitude. And so for me it's a resolution to want to try to live this, to always put on the new man as St. Paul said.
Speaker 8:
All right, thank you very much. So let us trust G-d. Always tie the camel, trust G-d always who gave us the camel. Peace, As Salaam Alaikum.
For more on the Ministry of Imam WD Mohammed, Muslim-American Spokesman, call or write WDM Publications. Call 1708 862 7733. Or write Post Office Box 1944, Calumet City, Illinois, 60409 for Muslim Journals, see local distributor and thanks for listening.
IWDM:
We thank G-d for this day here and we are happy be your guests here and certainly honored that so many of you from the leadership, government, religion, religious community have come to share this with us, to be with us today and to share this time with us. Our focus today is on Islam as the Religion of Peace and Unity. Islam is not a new religion. According to our Holy Book, the revelation from the G-d of all of us Christians, Jews, Muslims to Muhammad. The revelation to Muhammad the Prophet who was an Arab and a citizen of Mecca. He was born in Mecca and made his home in Medina and what is now today called Saudi Arabia. And that revelation, that book revealed to him by G-d. G-d says that this is no newly conceived revelation. That Muhammad had not received the Qur'an, which is Islam, as something new. But it is a verification or confirmation and verification supporting what had been revealed before and also a completion on the revelation.
We believe that with the Qur'an, the Holy book that Muslims follow 1 billion or so now on this earth. With that revelation, revelation was concluded. That is revelation that will come from G-d in the form of a book and be left with people as revealed guidance. We believe that that was the finality of Prophethood also. That there would be no Prophet like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Peace be Upon them, coming with a book, the final book. Not that G-d wouldn't reveal to anyone anymore, but there would be no new Prophet, another Prophet and no revealed the book for humanity after the Qur'an.
And in that book G-d also makes it clear to us through Muhammad, when He revealed that book, He makes it clear to us that the Qur'an is the essence, or condensed form of the scriptures, the major scriptures that came before. So Islam according to our Holy Book, was the religion or is the religion of all the Prophets. Though we recognize Judaism, Christianity as religions, we see them in their essence, those religions in their essence, as Islam. And Islam simply means accepting the will of G-d, to live by the principle of peace or by the rule of peace under G-d according, that is to say according to G-d's will. Living truthfully in peace or someone can say, surrendering to peace so that you would have peace with G-d, peace with yourself and peace with your fellow man. That is the meaning of Islam. And it's properly called in the Qur'an the surrender to peace and Al-Islam. If you would read our Holy Book and the original language of our Holy Book, you'll never read the word Islam by itself like that. Just Islam. It's always the Islam. Al-Islam.
G-d also says to us in our Holy Book that He is the Peace. G-d Himself is the Peace. As Salaam is the name of G-d, one of the divine names of G-d in the Qur'an. G-d is The Peace, As Salaam. His name is called. One of his names, many names. And we are also told that the paradise, the heaven that we're invited to work for, to earn while we live in this world is the abode of peace, or it is the destination of peace. It's a destination that will be peace. Peace. Further we are told that when we get in that paradise, those who earned it, therein will be their greetings and their greetings will be peace. Salaam. Peace. Muslims, our name is also taken from the word in Arabic, peace. We Muslims. Muslims meaning a person who has accepted Islam, that means we have also accepted to be at peace with G-d. And at peace with ourselves, our own souls and at peace with our fellow man, at peace with the creation of G-d too. We believe that working, striving to have peace with G-d makes possible peace with our own souls. Also pleasing and pleased returning to your Lord. This is Qur'an. "Returning to your Lord, Enter you my paradise, G-d says, Enter you my paradise my faithful workers. Enter into my paradise."
So, we know that peace of G-d is what makes possible peace with ones own soul As a result of having peace with G-d, we end up among the workers, of G-d's faithful workers. And we should mention at this time that it was our Prophet who told us, it is written in the collection of Sahih, the Prophets hadiths, his doings and his sayings and his work among people. It is written that he said that G-d had blessed him to see the paradise and he saw in the paradise Christians and Jews. So, we know that when we get there, we see written in among the faithful words of G-d, that we are going to also see Christians and Jews. And who knows how many more we might be seeing.
Islam is a religion of peace, that's my point. Islam is the religion of peace. You say "Well, why has so much been written about Islam to tie it to wars and violence? Nothing invites the oppressive order of the world more than something that is genuinely good. And something that is in accord with G-d's will. Many of us think that if you're in trouble, it's because you've done something bad. If people reject you, or they're fighting you because you did something bad. My own experience has told me that if you really want some serious opposition, take a position to be truthful, upright, honest in all situations and at all times. You are going to really see some real opposition.
In fact, Satan himself, he might face to face. So, the wars, the wars were forced upon the Prophet. The Prophet didn't come to make war. Even after being physically assaulted, cruelly assaulted physically by the people of Taif, a mountain area in Arabia. He didn't return the fight, he didn't gather the Muslims together and tell them, "Let's go on over there, let's get even with them." He took it, he walked away from there. He invited them to Islam, they stoned him out of the city. He took it. Unless G-d told him what to do, Muhammad the Prophet, he didn't move, he didn't do anything until G-d communicated to him. G-d told the Prophet "Gather the people together for war, and to make war on those who were persecuting the mission, persecuting his mission. Which was to bring the revelation of Qur'an to the world. Not just to Arabia, but to the world. He was forced to go to war and most of his life was a life in defense of the religion, defending the religion against the enemies of the religion who were certainly idolaters.
The idol worshippers, the pagans. Well, I hate to use the name. They worshipped idols and they didn't have what we called religion, what Christians and Jews would call real religion, true religion. But they also had supporters among the materialistic people. People that were greedy for material wealth and greedy for political power. The idol worshipers among them had support from them. So, they also were on the other side warring against Muhammad the Prophet and his followers. And he is not only the Prophet of the Qur'an, he is also mentioned in the Bible. One of his most famous sayings reads like this. "The ink of the scholar is more mightier than the blood of the martyr." Now does that sound like a man of peace or a man of war? Sounds like a man of peace to me. In other words, he's telling them that don't trust the soul to establish the order or establish the peace. The pen of the scholar is more useful and more productive for that end.
In many ways who we are promoting Islam if we are following it or obeying our religion as we should are a people of peace. And we can't do that without knowledge. Brother and sister Muslim, remember that G-d said the knowledgeable people who learn and then share their knowledge with others, they will be in the new world that G-d will create, heaven or paradise to come. They will be in ranks next to the Prophets themselves. And the same interest has been given to us in the saying of the Prophet. He said, "Whoever goes out, takes a path to seek knowledge for the benefit that it has in it for others and himself and others, has put themselves upon the path of G-d." That's a strong statement. "Has entered upon the path of G-d." And Allah, the Most High G-d Himself says to us in Qur'an that everything in the sky, earth, everything including our own self, that G-d has incorporated, brought all of this together in a unity, in a harmony, in a unity upon knowledge and mercy. Knowledge and mercy.
So, we are to see every thing that exists in a context. In the context of knowledge and mercy. And when we read the Qur'an, 114 chapters, only one of those Chapters, Chapter nine, will not begin with Bismillah Ar Rahma Nir Raheem. In the Name of G-d or with G-d's Name, Merciful, Compassionate, Merciful, Beneficent, Generous, Generous G-d, Mercy with hope.
Ar Rahman, a name that means mercy, compassion as I translated Merciful Benefactor. Ar Raheem, Merciful Redeemer. Redeeming with His Mercy, establishing with His Mercy. And then when the establishment is lost, to redeem with His mercy> Mercy twice, for every chapter. And in the ninth chapter is the story of Solomon, King Solomon. And the same expression is given. Though it is not be given in the opening is given in the context and the body of that chapter. Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem. These two wonderful attributes of G-d. So, we can say then that though it's not the opening of the Ninth Chapter, the two strong attributes of Mercy goes with every Chapter of the Qur'an. One hundred and fourteen chapters.
Now what is all this? What does all this to say to us about Mercy and knowledge and knowledge and Mercy? You can be cruel with knowledge. With knowledge you can do cruel things. But G-d didn't intend knowledge to be used that way. The knowledge is to be used to bring light to the society, to the human family. And you can be cruel with kindness. You can be cruel with kindness. But G-d intended that our kindness be sincere, our kindness be unselfish, our kindness be the path to know G-d, who is all good and does not accept any bad or any wrong. Muhammad the Prophet said it. He said, "Surely G-d is all good and does not accept any wrong or any bad."
And to give more support to that description of G-d that is all good. G-d says to us, "And therefore do not put into your charity that which would shame you if it was disclosed to people where you got it from." G-d does not accept anything but good. No bad thing, no wrong thing. Islam is the religion of peace, the religion of peace. Islam wants us to have as our goal on this earth community establishment. And it could be put in another way, family establishment. But this family is not our personal family. It's the family that G-d made all of us, the human family. Islam wants us to have community life established for the human family and at the same time we are not encouraged to impose it upon others.
G-d asked of us that we be examples that we be witnesses witnessing what G-d wants according to our scripture that we received through Muhammad the Prophet, who received it from the Arch Angel Jibreel. We are not to impose it upon anyone, we are to invite them. G-d says invite. G-d didn't say demand, order. G-d says invite, it's the religion of peace. Invite the people to the path of G-d with wisdom, translated wisdom. It means with wise, wise words. With wisdom. And invite to the path of G-d with wisdom and with excellent speech, speech, excellent speech. And invite the people to the path of G-d with wisdom and with excellent speech.
So that means we have, if we are preachers of Islam, if we are what we call dai's, preachers of Islam, calling the people to the way of G-d, then we have to obey G-d's instructions to us. That's G-d's instruction to us. We have to call the people to the way of G-d with wise words, with wise words, wise words and wise words means this. Attention is given to the selection of those words. We can't just reach out and grab them. Like somebody who put down the pole shovel this morning attached to the city transfer truck, what do you call those things? Excuse me. A garbage truck.
He just got off the garbage truck and got off of working and he saw a light up somewhere in sky and it told him "Don't drive that truck anymore. Don't work on that truck anymore. Call the people to G-d." And he just comes out and start calling to G-d. Without thinking, without reading a book that has in it wisdom. He just reads his own impulses and he just start preaching from impulse to the people. No, you're supposed to take time, select wisely and intelligently. Even from the book of G-d. Why? Because the book is not only preaching to people, the book is reporting on what mankind has been doing to earn G-d's favor and to lose G-d's favor down through the history of time. So, if you get up there and preach with no wise selection from the text of the whole book, you might be giving the people the story of warriors, fighting each other, people doing wrong to each other without introducing that part of the text so that they will understand where those words are to be placed or where they come from.
Many of us will preach and think we calling people in the way of G-d. No, that's not calling people to the way of G-d. Call them to the way of G-d with wisdom, wise selection of the words that you want to share with them. And with beautiful, excellent speech. That's what G-d says. If you who speak Arabic, there's a few of you here. I know your faces, you know the Arabic. So that's what G-d says to us in Qur'an. And some of you are named Hasan. Some of you are named Hasan. And I'm sure you're called that name because you were told it means handsome.
Your words are supposed to be handsome too brother. Your words are supposed to be handsome. This is a religion of peace. This is a religion of faith. And G-d says also of us, He says, "You are one united community and I am your Lord, so therefore worship Me." Calling us to live community life and to work to build the community life. Promotes peace. Promotes peace. Peace has come to the world mainly because people have accepted to live together. Family members naturally accepted to live together and most families in their natural order are peaceful. Peaceful. The members are peaceful. They're peaceful. They don't fight each other. Doesn't mean that little children won't fight each other. But the parent, I've never seen my mother and father fight each other. I never saw my mother or my father strike each other.
Brother and sisters certainly fight each other. That's just natural. To play and fight. To develop community skills. But after you get older, you're supposed to know how to use those skills and when to use them. Yes, the religion of peace, the religion of unity. G-d calls us to work for community life because community life is our nature. It's the nature of people to want to live together in community. Living together in community makes it possible for us to have a much better existence. This is not teaching you anything, we all know this. We just putting it in a certain order. We putting it in a certain order. So that has the effect on the audience. G-d willing, for everyone. Yes. So, living together, the obligation to live together will make possible greater peace and greater unity. The obligation to live together, I repeat, makes possible greater peace and brings about a more meaningful peace and a more meaningful unity.
Islam says what Christianity and Judaism say. That we all are the children of one parent, of one father and one mother. That's what these great religions say. They say we're the children of the same father and the same mother. Now no matter how you interpret that, and some of you all I'm telling you, you can figure each and everything else when you're around the truth. But no matter how you interpret it, it still means that we all have to live together, that we all are tied together. You can say that parent is metaphorical. You can say that parent is mythical or whatever you want to say. If G-d said that, it means that we are all tied together and I accept it as G-d says it, that we are all one family. We are all really one equal or one humanity. We all have the same essential nature as human beings. No matter how much we learn or how rich we become in our emotional side and in our passionate side, we're vulnerable. You hear that? Vulnerable. Where we have weaknesses and we can be attacked through our emotions, through our rational reasoning. We can be attacked by Satan or by feelings and they can destroy us. They can destroy us, they can knock down the human essence, they can destroy and break up, burn up the human essence by attacking us through our emotions, or through our reasoning, our hope.
Not just the appetite but the appetite is the way into all of us, isn't it? Yes. Because if you don't want it, you don't have to take. And that's what G-d says to us. Says Satan only invites you accept it. Satan can't force anything on you. That's what G-d says. So that's not the rule. Satan can't force anything on you. Satan just invites you and you are the one who accepts and get into trouble. You can say no. "Just eat this apple." And G-d says "Don't eat that apple."
The apple is only to say something very attractive, something very appealing to your eye, beautiful in color and beautiful in appearance and appealing to your eye and to your appetite. I was fasting once. I was trying to fast like my mama. My mama could fast! Every month my mother would go on a three day fast. One time she went on a seven day fast for a whole week. And not fasting like we fast. No, she didn't eat or drink anything. She took only water and coffee. That's all. Seven days without anything but water and coffee. So, I loved my mother and I tried to do everything she did that was good and I felt that was good for my spiritual strength. So, I wanted to fast. I said, I'm a fast a week. I'm a young boy. Well I know from the neighborhood I was in, I know the story. I see it right now that I was about 14 years old. I'm about 13 or 14 years old. So, I went all the way up to Saturday. I had one night to go. If I had gone to Saturday night and woke up Sunday, I would've had the seven.
But let me tell you what happened. This is true. This is true. Word for word. Word for word. No nothing added and nothing taken away. So here I am walking outside in the evening. It was in the wintertime. In the wintertime, it's in the wintertime and it's gets dark early. So, it was about six o'clock. I'm walking by this store window and I looked like that. Something pulled my head like that. It wasn't Satan. It was my stomach. Something pulled my head like that. I looked in that window and I saw those apples, those big delicious red apples. And I smelled them.
The doors closed, the window didn't have a crack in it. I smelled those apples. Didn't think about nothing. Just walked like I was hypnotized right into the door, got me an apple, gave it to the man, paid for that apple and started eating. After I got out there, out on the sidewalk, after taking a few bites into it. I said "arrrgghh." And never did I try it again. I never did. And I never will try it again. Mama, you the champ. Yes. So, we know that G-d, united us we are all the children of the same parent. We, in our essential human makeup, or in our essential, essential human nature of both. In our human makeup and nature, we are one. And therefore the same thing that took one people down takes them all down. How were the first nation destroyed? By water. Second nation destroyed? By water. We all have same water. The human water is one and the same for all of us. They were destroyed by storms, winds. We all have the same wind, same spirit. They were destroyed by fire. We all have the same passions. We have human passion. This is how the people are destroyed. So, what will destroy one of us will destroy all of us.
What one of us is vulnerable to, all of us are vulnerable to, no matter how much education we get, we are vulnerable to these things. So, in our society today, it's not uncommon to find a member or a child of a well to do family, very well educated, a family, a traditional, traditional life as professionals, educated people professionally, but the child has become a victim of drugs. Or the parents become a victim of alcohol. And rarely, not often the wealthy and wise, go shoplifting. I couldn't believe that when I heard certain lady was caught shoplifting. It was in the newspaper that a certain lady, I don't even want to tell you her name. I don't want you to think of her like that again. If you heard it before, I don't want you to hear it again. Anyway, this certain lady was caught shoplifting. And she sane and everything. Sane in her performance.
Sane on the job, sane in the streets, but not sane in the department store. Just putting anything in her pocketbook. Believe it, we all one people. And G-d says, "It's your death." Listen. "It's your death and resurrection is that the death and resurrection of one person." That's to tell us that what defeats us in the world defeats all of us. All of us. What defeats any one of us defeats all of us. And what lifts us up lifts all of us up. What will lift the soul of one of us up will lift the soul of all of us up as one people. And G-d says, "Your community was once one community." Now, I don't know whether it would be proper to add to that to say that, yes, we once were under our first parents. Adam and Eve. And that family was the community. That was our original community. That was one. I don't know if G-d means that. I can't say that, but that comes to mind. Then I hear from G-d the revelation of His word saying that your community, speaking to mankind, your community was once one community. The scholars in Islam, they understand that to mean that your community is becoming one community.
That G-d made the community of man to be one community. And though it is divided by race, by nation, and in other ways, G-d intended that we be one community. We're living in, I think the time that the best of G-d's servants can be of one seed on this earth. We're living in a time of the fulfillment of that Prophetic saying. "Your community was once one community." We are living in a time of the fulfillment of that. Modern technology, science and technology, the television that brings us sometimes bad programs that hurt our families. But that instrument, that tool, that instrument has really presented us to be conscious of ourselves and to look at ourselves, to actually look, visualize, not visualize, but actually see ourselves visually as one community on this earth. Since the television we have come to know, I mean the masses of people, have come to know the global, global family of man, Asians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, the Islands, everywhere. People from everywhere watch, turn on the television or six o'clock news or whatever and reports will come and you'll see people from around the world.
I like to read the National Geographic magazine myself and see the pictures of the people around the world. That's the way I like to look at us. But sometimes you have to see us on television. And we do. Yes. So, we now can actually look with our eyes and see the whole family of man on this earth. And we're living in a time when world powers like the great United States, are forced to acquaint the citizens with the unity of man. It's not just the religions, The great religions now that is promoting this belief and this faith in the unity of man. It's the President of the United States and the leaders of other nations promoting the idea among us of the unity of man, that we are all one family. Encouraging us to embrace each other as members in the human family, brothers and sisters and humanity.
To embrace each other and to look at each other's differences as not a cause for us to stand a distance from each other, but as a cause for us to go close, walk to each other and investigate and learn something about your culture. You learn something about my culture in hope of having a more peaceful world, a more harmonious situation for ourselves as a unique creation called human creation. Yes. So, this to me is a great time. We're living in times when great prophecies are being fulfilled. Prophecies that we find in the Bible. Prophecies that we find in the Qur'an. Prophecies that we find in other scriptures. A great time. This is the time for unity and accepting each other's differences. I don't like to use the term tolerate. I used to use that term tolerate. No, that's not the term that I feel comfortable with using anymore. I don't say tolerate each other's differences. Let us learn more about each other's differences so that we can accept each other's differences, not just tolerate. Accept each other's differences. A Christian who sincerely believes in what Christianity is and wants to live that life on this earth in America or anywhere they have my support. I don't have to tolerate that. My soul is bigger than that. I accept.



