09/03/2000
IWDM Study Library
MAS Annual Convention
Pt. 2

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Imam Mohammed: Praise be to Allah. Thank you. Praise be to Allah. Thank you very much. Believers, Muslims, all peace be unto you. As we greet in Islam, As-sal?mu ?alaykum.
Audience: Wa-Alaikum-Salaam.
Imam Mohammed: This is a great day for us again, having these very special, distinguished guests with us today, from the office of the Grand Mufti, the great sheik Ahmed Kuftaro. It's really a special blessing to have his son here with us today. Allahu Akbar.
[applause]
It is also a great joy for us, deep in our souls and in our hearts, to have Minister Louis Farrakhan, the honorable leader of the Nation of Islam with us today.
[applause]
I'm personally grateful to him for making the efforts he's made to arrive from Africa in time to address us on this occasion.
[applause]
As you have been told, we are addressing the community and their guests, in many sites around the country. In this area here, we are addressing the Muslim gathering and their guests at The Harvey Center, and also at Kennedy King college. There are three audiences in this immediate area here, so we thank Allah. We did that because we thought there possibly would be an overflow, if we tried to have everybody here, at this one location. I do believe that we would have had an overflow if we had tried to have everybody here at this location. We are hopeful, we're always hopeful, we're looking for the biggest results and I was thinking that every place would be filled to capacity. We still have plenty of seats here. We thank Allah. Allah rewards us for our good efforts, and what he gives us pleases the believers.
I have several things I'd like to bring to your attention before getting into my address. I would like to say that we are very happy to hear that the prime minister of Malaysia, the honorable doctor, Mohamad Mahathir, is a guest of the United States. He's in the country and meeting with representatives who have interests in doing trade or business with Malaysia, and we are definitely among them.
We are very happy again to have the company and friendship of the great international movement, founded by it's leader Chiara Lubich, a lady that I believe to be a servant of G-d and an inspired servant of G-d, inspired by G-d. She's not a Muslim, she's Christian, Catholic. I have met her, and she has touched my soul very deeply, with her message of Christ's love and how every one of us in the world can practice that, and have better families, and better communities, and better life.
Christ's love is in Islam as well. Our prophet Muhammad said, prayers and peace be upon him, "You will not enter paradise. Or the garden, paradise until you have faith, and you will not have faith until you've practiced loving one another." We have this in common, with these beautiful Christians of The Focolare Movement. The International Focolare Movement. I have found, after getting acquainted with them, making very significant visits to Rome and the Vatican, and being in the audience of the pope, and returning to the Focolare people, and discussing what had occurred, and how I was affected by listening to their concerns and preaching of love for one another and sharing, and unity, has caused me to see many other things that we have in common with them.
There is a saying in the Bible, well a statement in the Bible from Jesus Christ, peace be upon him. He said to his disciples, he said, "Wash, W-A-S-H you, one another's feet." Wash each other's feet. I take that as a sign, not only to Christians but to all people of faith in the world. As a sign, that we are going to have to serve each other, support the cleanliness and the purity of each other when the time comes, that is here now. A time that is making life too much for the old way and order, to support. If we live like we did generations ago, we won't be around here, we can't live separate to ourselves, take care of our own small affairs. We have to join the efforts of the many and work together. By doing that, we all can survive and eventually have the good life that G-d created us for.
We welcome Focolare representatives of New York, Mariapolis city. A model city of the Focolare people in New York area. They have many of those models around the world. Cheri and Julian who are sitting with us, and I believe you have already heard from them, Cheri and Julian. We thank you for your presence.
[applause]
We are planning a very big occasion in New York. In fact, we have succeeded with the planning, and we're just waiting now for the calendar date, so we can have the event. It will be in Washington DC, November 19th. There's something else, November 19th. I should have the notes here. I don't have this in the notes. November 12th, in Washington, DC and I plan to be there with my family- my children, we all plan to be there to witness a very timely address, an important address by Chiara Lubich, the founder, and leader of the Focolare movement, and by Imam WD Mohammed. My Imam, WD Mohammed will also be addressing the audience.
It will also be accompanied by a concert and musical presentations. A concert by the Focolare youth, the youth of the Focolare movement of different nationalities from different places in the world, and also contributing will be musical presentations contribution by our community which will be led by Sister Salima Omar. Some of you know her, all of you should know her, she is a wonderful lady, with a great mind, great talents, and has made great contributions during her life. She's getting younger and younger it seems every year.
I must mention also before beginning my address for this occasion. Yesterday's cultural show at Kennedy Kings College, I was there with the family. It was just one of several featured activities in the program of Muslim American Society Convention 2000, hosted by W.D.M. ministry. There was a beautiful dance performance, a dance troupe called KMG Cultural Dance Group. I remember them years ago when they started on Stony Island, I was the minister on Stony Island, the leader and the Minister of Stony Island.
We supported them because we were so excited when we saw how well he had trained those youngsters, and how beautiful their performance was. They performed for us yesterday at Kennedy Kings College, and a young girl 14 years old from Washington DC, the daughter of our Imaan Yusuf Salim and Sister Marion Salim of Washington DC, she performed and she just captured us all, she captivated the whole audience with her magnificent dance, she is definitely going up up up, but I appreciated very much the performance of all of those who participated, we really got a treat. I was so surprised to see the talent we have in our young children, in our middle age members, and in the senior citizens. It was really wonderful, and I personally thank you for entertaining us yesterday. I personally thank you, it was wonderful.
This young lady, 14 years old, she also introduced the President of the United States Bill Clinton, who had invited the Muslims to the white house for a Ramadan tribute to all Muslims, and she of our community, the daughter of Imam Yusuf and sister Marion Salim, introduced the president of the United State.
[applause]
In the words of President Clinton, he said, "She could have been 44 instead of 14." That's how he was impressed by her maturity, by her mental, moral, social developmental maturity. He was so impressed. That's what he said, and you know that makes us proud.
[applause]
I believe the parents and the daughter are on the stage. Can you three beautiful human beings just stand once more you've done it already? Where are they?
[applause]
Thanks be to Allah. That's Naema, her name says something too. The blessings -that's what her name says, the blessing from Allah.
I would like to acknowledge that-- Certainly, congratulate WDM ministry office and it's workers, a big congratulations to them and to the committee from the Chicago area, most of them, I believe, from the Harvey center under Imam Darnell Kareem's leadership, and the Ephraim Baha Center under the leadership of the Imam Sultan Salahudin, so we thank you very much, and congratulations to you.
[applause]
I was reading the Sun Times this morning, so I have to include this in my address. It was a caption and it said, United States seeing big growth in the Muslim population, this morning I read it's was yesterday's Saturday Sun Times I believe, and I was also held for at least a moment or two by another caption that was just opposite it, and it said, Muslim doctors live their faith. Then I said, '' That was so good for me to see." Muslim doctors live their faith. I stopped right there and my mind says, '' You better go see what follows that." So I did, so the next line says, caring for the poor, the sick fits in with Islamic doctrine. They are acting out their belief." Isn't that wonderful to read in the Sun Times? After reading so much unfavorable news and reporting in the papers for so long?
We're living in a time of great change for a better world. When I was a young man and an old man just years ago, we didn't expect to find that kind of congratulatory language, a complementary language in the daily papers that we have in the cities of the United States. We didn't expect to find that. We expected to find nothing, but either language and news ignoring us, like we didn't exist in the world while Muslims have been a major quarter percentage of the world's population, not just recently, but for a long time. Muslims have been a major part of this world's population, but we didn't read about them, it was as though they didn't exist. When we finally started to hear of the Muslim world in the media, television, the printed media, radio, it was mostly negative stuff that misrepresented Muslims and our religion, Islam, but time has changed and is changing.
There will always be enemies of Islam. There will always be enemies of Muslims. There will always be enemies of just good people. I don't care what you call yourself, there will always be enemies of good people. Many think there is no greater threat to their world and what they want than the rise in to power or recognition and presence of good people, righteous people. If good people rise in recognition and power, bad people are going to have less representation in the establishment, and they don’t want to lose that. That’s something we have to accept, and we have to be prepared to meet the opposition, to struggle with our best life and be victorious. You should believe that you will be victorious if you keep faith in G-d, because G-d says, “Surely. The believers must win. They must be victorious.”
Our whole life will be without any support or worth, if one thing was taken out of it, and that is Tauhid. The belief that G-d is one. The belief that G-d is one, and everything has to one day conform to His will, what He wants. The belief that He is the only cause that brought in the existence of the natural order, heavenly stars, planets, moons, weather, whatever. Whatever is in this Earth, the land and whatever it produces that supports us, and without it we could not exist. One G-d is responsible for all of that. One G-d is responsible for the clothes you got on right now. Those clothes were made with what G-d created. One G-d only is responsible for the transportation you used to get here, because that transportation was taken from what G-d created, et cetera I can go on. We have nothing. This building, these lights, all of these, One G-d is responsible for us having these, because all of these came out of what He made.
The knowledge that the scientists have in his head, in his books, and in his records, et cetera, it all came out of what G-d created. We have nothing without G-d providing for us, - nothing. Allah says, even your emotions, He is the one who gives you laughter and tears. Tears don’t always have to be sad, indication of sadness, or point to sadness. Tears can be tears of joy, but also sadness. Allah says, in our holy book the Quran, he says, "He gave you your faculties." Your faculties of intelligence, speech and everything, G-d is the giver of that, and no two did that. Everyone else who claims to be a G-d. We can go back in their existence, and find them wearing diapers, or maybe no diapers. They were just got the little drops all over the floor. Only one G-d is to be given the credit for creation, and what man and woman are able to do with creation. This is Tauhid. This is the belief in Islam called the belief in the oneness, G-d’s unity and oneness, and in the belief in the oneness of His creation. The unity and oneness of His creation.
Science, I'm a student of Science. I loved Science when I was in elementary school and high school, and I’ve continue to follow up Science. I’ll be following Science for the rest of my life. I love Science. I’m a student of Science. Science tells us that creation, heavenly bodies and all, are one system of one and the same nature. One system of one and the same nature. If the moon is of the same nature as the matter we have on this Earth, so is the Sun, so are all the stars in the heavens, everything, and they’re all under one universal law. Their existence is tied together. There is a unity, and our existence is just a little part of that. It’s a small part of that. G-d said, “Oh man think not. That your creation is a bigger creation than the heavens and Earth.” That's what Allah says in the Quran
We began with Tauhid, and we share this belief in one G-d with you and Christians, and because we share that belief in one G-d with them, and the belief that we all were made from one and the same origin, one and the same ancestory, Adam and his mate, we have an opportunity to do more than look for faults and problems. We have an opportunity to look for likeness, similarities, and to get to know each other better. To change history, put down the cross and crescent as symbols of conflict, and pick up the common language that we have, each of us from G-d, able to forward with human life for a better world. We have that opportunity, and I’m set on taking advantage of it.
When we look at life, creation, the beginning of human being, and the history of man, written by man, and the picture of human society given to man in revelation, and how we have been created to live in accord with the best that is in us. Now, G-d made us like that. To live in accord with the best that is in us, and to grow upon the best that is in us. The best motivation, the best imagination, the best dreams, the best hopes, the best ambitions. G-d has created us to go with the best that is in us, and with the best that can come out of us. That’s what he created us for.
When we look at the history of man’s struggle to go forward with the best that he got from G-d as a gift, we find two major movements or trends. One was to put human beings down, as creatures of great worth and beauty. The other, was to counter that, go against that by announcing the beauty and the excellence of the human creature. Publishing it so that more people will see the other side. That better side and that G-d has really not put man down, but G-d has established man in a great, great, excellent mode of life, conduct or behavior. G-d says in the Quran, "And indeed We," meaning G-d and His servants, "Have made you or created you in the most excellent mode". Again G-d says, "And he has made your forms and your features excellent and beautiful". This tells me that G-d lifts us up. G-d puts us up. He shows us as creatures of beauty and great value and great worth.
Some of you don't read history, you're not familiar with history, you don't bother it and you don't have time. You can hardly read your grocery list. I understand, but some of us do, some of us do. I recall reading the words of a poet-philosopher, a philosopher-poet and I give you his words; "To err," make an error, make a mistake. "To err is human. To forgive is divine". Now, you read that and most of the persons who're here read that, they will like it. They will like it and I have been in the audience of speakers and they have used it in their speech. It was a part of their quotes, and they used it positively, but I have never been affected positively by it.
First time I heard it, and read it, I said, "This is terrible. This is terrible." If I believe this, I'm going to give up on my life. If I take this serious, I'm going to give up on my life because I'm only inspired by what G-d has told me of my work. That I'm a creature of beauty and great worth. That I'm the highest creature in the order of matter. In the order of material things, I'm the highest creature. I marvel at how this material universe exists, and functions, and supports life and so much. I'm a great admirer of the universe itself. Even the plant world, the animal world. I'm a great admirer and lover of the beauty, and the art, et cetera that I see in that.
Now you're going to tell me that my human nature is only a nature that errs? makes mistakes? If I have good in me, it's not from my human nature or it's not from the human person it's...
[00:46:45] [END OF AUDIO]

