IWDM Study Library
National Youth Conference
Jacksonville FL

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

W.D. Mohammed: Peace, As Salaam Alaikum. We praise G-d Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin. We witness that He is One, Ashadu an la ilaha illa'llah, wa ašhadu that He is One alone and we witness that Muhammad is his servant and his messenger. Wa Ashad anna Muhammadan Rasululu'llah. Sallahu alayhi Tala Alahi Walahi Wa salaam [Arabic language]. We pray the peace prayers and peace be upon the prophet Muhammad the servant of G-d and upon his family, his descendants and the believers, the righteous all. Ameen. This is very beautiful. I usually get keys, but they are not a beautiful background like that. This is very beautiful. Now, I need to speak with you. [inaudible 00:07:54] We're going to do it, if you don't have [unintelligible 00:08:03] Where are the [inaudible 00:08:11]. Thank you. So I can go ahead?

Believers we're going to do this a little differently and you brothers and sisters, I will receive your questions or comments that you want to reach me with first. I'll begin with receiving your questions or comments. I can't handle all of them, but we'll have someone, two or three brothers or sisters can come here too. Maybe one sister come and assist us. One sister and one brother. Look at the questions and each of you hand me a question. If you see questions coming that are the same nature or essentially the same question then don't give me the same question over and over again. Okay?

The Imam here and the coordinator will assist me in identifying a brother and sister to do this for me. You can start writing your comments or questions. Share paper and pen with each other. If you don't have paper or a pen you can walk up here and speak to me [pause 00:09:57] but not too many at one time. One at a time come up if you're coming up one at a time. If someone is ahead of you just wait. Stay a distance and wait. I knew a man got stabbed by a female. He was a great leader too, so I have security here I don't think they want too many rushing me up here [laughs].

I used to think bad people are the only ones that people want to hurt. People want to hurt good people more than they want to hurt bad people. If you're being good and straight, you've got enemies. [pause 00:10:52] My mother taught me from a baby to be good, be truthful, be right. I don't know any other way to be. I was a child that listened. I listened and wanted to know from the good people what to do. I listened to good people. I don't want nothing, but good. I only want good. G-d says he accepts only good. That should tell us we should accept only good. Well, if you all don't want this I can go back home. I got a lot to do at home.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: I have backed up work back home to take care of. [pause 00:12:10] All right. [pause 00:12:21] I'll read the question. Write big because I left my glasses upstairs. I left my glasses up in the hotel so write big. I can read this one, this is big. Write big like this.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: I have no problem if you write big like that. [clears throat] 

Question: How should we address the divorce rate in our community? 

W.D. Mohammed: Get married. That's how to address it, marry. [laughs] I'm serious. We should know that to marry is an obligation of all Muslims in Islam. There are many religions that believe that spirituality is threatened by flesh and because they believe that way they have monks, celibates, people not marrying. Islam addresses that through the prophet who says to marry is an obligation on Muslims and to marry is half of your religion.

Actually, it doesn't say half, but it's translated sometimes half of your religion. It says [Arabic language] pardon, to marry is an obligation on believers and marriage it can be a reason that it says half of your religion, but it means it's necessary for the purification of the society. Marriage is very important for the purification of the society. It keeps society from being corrupt. So I think the way we should address it is just to make this known more in the community that marriage is very important. In Islam, it's an obligation on believers to marry. We don't believe in celibacy, refusing to have wives and husbands.

Question: Are we the ASM, American Society of Muslims, still going to hajj this year? 

W.D. Mohammed: I hope so, but I read the paper yesterday before leaving home and President Bush and our government still putting a lot of pressure on Iraq, Saddam and Iraq and threatened an invasion of Iraq. I'm not telling anybody what to do. You do as you think you should do, but if there's an invasion of Iraq I will not be making hajj. These questions are not coming up fast enough. Thank you. [pause 00:16:20] This question here asks it's about CPC investors those who are investing with us as distributors.
The question seems to be, can they change their account from a distributor account to a regular capital investment account. Certainly. All you have to do is send us a brief notice. Just this is one statement to us. It'll be done. It'll be done right away. No problem. Let me get this out right here so we know we're finished. 

Question: What advice do you give single brothers and sisters, of ways to find a spouse. 

W.D. Mohammed: You don't need any advice. You got all the help you need right here. I heard that was what? 35 single brothers and 35 single sisters. This program gave you an opportunity to go and speak with each other directly. Get a feel -- what's there, inside the body?
Believe me that's what's going to keep that marriage together. Not the body, outside, but what's inside the body. That's what's going to keep the marriage together. You had a chance to communicate. I don't what else we can do. I started -- From sisters my age -- I wanted to see what they had to say to me. I want to talk to them too. Yes, I'm single and too old to marry. I swore I wouldn't get married again, and did it. I swearing again, I won't get married. Unless something fall out of heaven in my lap, I'll keep it. I'll keep it. [laughs] If you all hear I got married, you know something fell out of heaven in my lap. I can't -- My eyes not good enough for this one. Read it for me.

Male Speaker: During the time during the transition -- I guess you can[unintelligible 00:19:25].

W.D. Mohammed: I don't know. Keep reading.
[laughter]

Male Speaker: Some people describe it as a time of sleep. What cause that sleep and what were some of negative aspects of that?

W.D. Mohammed: You have to ask those sleepless. I wasn't asleep, I never slept. [laughs] You would have to ask the sleepers, I don't know.

Male Speaker: What is the significance of the meaning of the teacher of Moses?
W.D. Mohammed: The teacher of Moses?

Male Speaker: The name of -- What is the significance of the meaning of the name of the teacher of Moses?

W.D. Mohammed: Yes I can't recall his name myself right now. My head is filled with so many things. What's his name? Anybody knows his name?
[inaudible 00:20:20]

W.D. Mohammed: Write it down. Hand it to me. Write the name in Arabic. I'm not getting what you're saying. I don't think it's green. I don't think it means green. Write the word down and bring it to me. I can't recall it right now. My mind too busy. I didn't come here for these questions. I thought you had different questions. Half of them are right and half the question should be somewhere else. Different situations.

Male Speaker: Why should African American Muslims only marry African American Muslims?

W.D. Mohammed: Why should African American Muslims only marry African American Muslims? Very good question. Let me first say this, there is no obligation on African American Muslim to marry an African American Muslim. No obligation. That means it's not something that we have to do because the religion instructs us to do that. It's not something that we have to do, but it's preferred. I'm not coming from my own mind. I never come from my own mind. I used to do that long time ago. I don't think I did a long time ago, really. I seek the authority. I seek authority for what I do and say. The Prophet Muhammad advised -- Peace be upon him -- He advised that people marry from their own association.

Marry from those nearest to you. The nearest to us are those who live in our neighborhood. Those who we associated with in our community. They're the nearest to us. According to that saying -- Pardon me -- Respecting that saying, then it's advisable. This was not an order that prophet gave, it was an advice. It's advisable that we marry Muslims that we know and are acquainted with. Most Muslims of the world, not just Arabs. Arabs, more than any other group that I know of, they marry cousins. They marry close people because they know them. They come up with them. They know them better. That's why marry them. They marry cousins.

There's nothing against marrying a cousin in Islam. Nothing. Why I wouldn't want to marry my cousin, my relatives, but you all marry your mother's husband. You marry your sister's husband. Much of what the Americans do, what the world does, is forbidden to Muslims. It's worse that I married my brother's wife. You're not supposed to do that. Marry my father's wife. In America, you're my father divorced his wife, I can marry her. There's nothing that says I can't marry her. As long as she's not my mother, I can marry her. I think that's horrible. We have to get our senses straight. Put some good sense into our sensitivities. That's what I mean.

We have to put good sense into our feelings and into our sensitivities. Cousins are distant. They have distant cousin. You can even marry first cousin, and many of them marry first cousins. Why? Because they know each other, they came up together, they were raised up together, they know each other. They know whether they can live with each other successfully, and not get divorced and all have problems. That's why they do it. I'm sensitive as an American too. I don't want to marry my cousin. I would. That's G-d's truth. I would. In fact, I know a cousin I would marry, but she just smiles when I proposed to her. She's 81 years old, I think. That's right. She's 81 years old. Beautiful.
Still pleasant. I enjoy her company. I would marry a cousin, but I don't think to marry a cousin. I'll put it that way. Because I'm an American. I don't think to marry a cousin. We should marry from those that we know best. People who are close to us. Those that you know best. Marry from people that you are acquainted with. Don't go outside. You go way across the water and marry somebody. You don't know how they smell. People smell different. Really. They smell different. You eat different food. Your body give all different odors. You may be sitting up after you marry, "What is this I'm smelling?" Just a smell may hurt your marriage.

We ought to think a little bit more seriously, and look at the whole thing. Look at all the the things involved before you make an important decision like that. [pause 00:25:35] This is -- Hold up -- This is not on the schedule. This is the same one read it then. Oh, I see. Okay. This question is not for a situation like this. It’s not for situation like this. This is for the youth. That's what I was told. I want to hear concerns coming from the youth. What are your concerns? Like the marriage, these are good. All these questions are good.
Like courting, dating. I got requests. Since I didn't get a request from anyone yet. I did get a request from some youngsters. They want me to speak on the do's and don'ts for courting. The first don't is don't court. [laughs] There shouldn't be any courting because courting in this world we live in, courting in America it means you're dating, right? Courting means you're dating. Courting even means you're going together, you're having a girlfriend or a boyfriend. You're girlfriend and boyfriend. You're seeing if you want to be more serious with one another. You're not supposed to do that unless you have a mature and upright person with you.

Your mother, father, an older brother. Someone with you in the company of the person. In the Quran Allah says, "Don't go near adultery or fornication. Don't go near it." Don't go near it means don't do anything that can put you in a situation to commit the act. You don't want to be at home alone with somebody. You're going near it. That's what it means. Don't go near it means don't be in a situation that would put pressure on you or tempt you to commit the act. Don't go to movies in dark, holding each other's hands. You're going near adultery.

You shouldn't do any of this things. So according to the way we court in America, it's not accepted in Islam. Not accepted. You shouldn't do that. One of the youngsters that asked me this question they were about kissing. I said no. No kissing. Kissing is going near the act. You're inviting the act when you're kissing. All these things that are okay for America, for the public of America they are not okay for a Muslim and they are not okay for some Jews. They are not okay for many Christians. Not okay. Many Christians, Jews and other people in religion, Buddhist, they will not let their young girls do those things before marriage because you're inviting fornication or adultery.

If it's a married person, you're inviting adultery. If it's just a single person like yourself then off you're inviting fornication. This is no good. 
Yes, okay, this is a good question. In case we go to war with Iraq, this is Syria, it could affect Syria. If there's a war with Iraq it could affect Syria and we have our families, we do have our children in Syria studying there. Abu Nour Mosque Foundation under the great Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Kuftaro. If they feel any danger they will let us know immediately. They wouldn't let our children stay there knowing that there is a danger coming. They will let us know immediately.

If our country thinks that it's citizens in any areas threatened they will too, the ambassador in Syria will tell those students they should leave and we will be supporting them telling our students to come home. That's the answer to that. 
[laughs] I heard this last night somebody saying. How do you feel about bringing back the MTT and FOI training classes?
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: Go ahead and bring it back. Go to my friend Farrakhan and you'll get plenty MTT and FOI training classes.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: That wasn't disrespect that I said, Farrakhan. That's personal. We've been friends, very close together. I've been in his house, he's been in my house and we socialized as friends not just as workers in the community, but minister Farrakhan. Yes, I have the tape of this PBS, Public Broadcast Station tape on Islam, says it’s a documentary. I do. I did receive the tape and it's very good job they did. [pause 00:32:06] Okay, hey son-in-law they've got a question for you. Come here. This is my son-in-law. Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed can you read that and answer that real quick for me, please.
Earl Abdulmalik Mohamed: Imam, could you explain the role Imam Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed plays in assisting you?
[laughter]

Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed: I am Imam Mohammed's special assistant and a representative of his ministry.

W.D. Mohammed: Thank you, special assistant, representative of my ministry. [pause 00:33:16] 

That's hijab? Now, there's a lot of confusion in the air now about women covering. It's a hijab. They're calling everything hijab. Everything is hijab. This influence is not coming from the scholars. This influence is coming from the public, it's coming mostly from Muslim public. These terms like hijab. Find me hijab in Quran. Do you have hijab in Quran? I haven't seen it. I can't recall seeing the words hijab in the Quran. The word is khimar in the Quran. Hijab now in the public mind, in the Muslim public mind, hijab can mean covering your whole head up, face and everything. That could be hijab. Covering your whole face up. It includes the veil. The veil, okay. Hijab can just be covering the head. Covering your head.

The idea is covering the head for most, but some of them it's covering the whole face. Like in Saudi Arabia and Gulf States and many other places they cover the whole face. You don't see anything. The whole head, the face, everything and the veil is a part of the covering that you call hijab. It's all one piece, all one thing. It's attached. The veil all attached. Sometimes nothing, they just drop it down. They put it on, they drop the front part down then it covers the face, everything's covered. That's their local tradition. It has nothing to do with Islam at all. It's not in the Quran and it's not required by the prophet.
This is what the scholars say. I know you, youngsters, you're very argumentative, some of you. You come to fight, you don't come to agree, you come to fight. I have one or two in my household.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: I’m used to boxing with you. Nothing to do for me. I know you're very argumentative. You're ready to argue. You want to differ before you agree. That's not good for you and it ain't good for us. Yet all the scholars agree. No scholar that I know of have any difference with this. The prophet says very clear in the Hadith, "Cover everything except the face, the hands, and feet." Everything except the face, hands, and feet. That means you don't have to cover your face. The veil is not Islamic. It's traditional, it's local. That's their local customs.

If you go all over the Islamic world you won't find women wearing the veils except and mostly in the area within the region of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates because they're almost the same. They leave in the same area they're very close to each other. They do a lot of business with each other. They're like a united group, they are tied to each other. Sometimes economically and culturally, sure, culturally. As Yemen, Bahrain all the Emirates, all those places and Saudi Arabia. That's where you see women faces all covered up. In Saudi Arabia, some women don't go with their faces covered up, but many of them do. Many of them do. Especially, the more well-to-do women, most or all the time, their faces are covered too.

What is this? This is a male protecting his woman, this is a male protecting his woman. If you got money, he doesn't want you to look at his woman. He doesn't want his woman looking at you. That's a male order thing; it's not a religion order thing. That's enough. You can wrap yourself up like a mummy, don't think I'm going to be sad.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: [laughs] I remember my father. He got so disgusted with our people in the MGT, sisters. He would tell them how they should dress. They kept coming back again. I was at the table once, and this sister came to him and she said, - (I almost called her name), she said, "Dear Holy Apostle, the headpiece you designed for the sisters, some of them say that it's too tight?" Now, what kind of question? What kind of complaint is that? If the design ain't too tight, your measurements made it too tight. But the Hon. Elijah Muhammad didn't say that. He said, "Tell them I hope that it tightens up on their heads until it squeezes their brains out."
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: I'm telling you exactly what he said. He said, "Tell them I say that I hope it tightens up on their head until it squeezes their brains out." What was he saying? A disgusting people, very disgusting. Coming to me with some stupid thing like that. You're saying there's something wrong with your brain. [laughs] Tell them I hope it tightens up until it squeezes their brains out. He was trying to tell them, "You're some crazy people."
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: "If I tell you to drink black coffee and eat black bread, you'll do it. You're some crazy people. [laughs] If I tell you to live off of sweet milk, you will try. You're some crazy, people. A lot of the stuff I told to, you buy. You're some crazy, people. I'm trying to wake you up." See, one way a wise man wakes you up, he puts the ridiculous on you to see if you would throw off. [crosstalk] [pause 00:40:15] 
You didn't say whether this is a brother or a sister, but if this was a sister, I'd like to talk to her.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: [crosstalk] All right. This is a good question. What is the role of the Islamic Center or the mosque in helping the youth establish relationships when they are looking for marriage when they're looking to be married? 
The Imam, as these leaders here are doing, the Imams, you should always be aware of the youngsters or the people that are not married in your congregation. You should address their concerns. You should make sure that there's some socials given. The masjid or the center can give socials where they can come and eat and dine with one another and enjoy some entertainment together in the presence of Muslims.

This will be good; that's all you need. The first sweetheart I met, I met her in the temple during the time when they were passing out some apples, delicious apples near Saviors Day time. I was a boy and they were giving delicious apples out to everybody. I saw this little, young sister bite that apple. When she bit it, she looked at me. My eyes caught her and we got acquainted. Every time I saw her, it was with the Muslims, not at my house. My mother wouldn't allow that and not at her house, her mother wouldn't allow that. Not to say I didn't sneak off and do things with the Muslims mot watching. I was a normal boy just like all the rest of you are.
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: If you don't get some help, you're going to sneak off and that's bad. 
Well, this, I don't know, I believe I understand. The importance of our youth, the need to have balance. It's very important, but this is what the Imam has to do when he gives his lectures, kutbahs, he's to address the balanced life with Islam. G-d says in the Quran, he has put everything in a balance and everything is measured, measured. Everything in a balance and everything is measured. "Do not exceed the limits." This is the teachings; this is the spirit of the Quran.

Everything in the proper balance, everything with due respect for how much you should go, how far you should go with this, how far you should go with that. Africa, the people of Africa, North Africa, not typical Africa, but even North Africa, Egypt, their character obviously impressed the other outsiders and made them see their character as too humorous, too humorous. You have Ham. Ham in the Bible is called Egypt, so Ham is Egypt. You have Ham the son of Noah, one of the sons of Noah. When he saw his father in an embarrassing situation, the Bible says he laughed.
This really marks all the people of Africa now, but back then Egypt. Egypt, at that time, was so popular until actually, Egypt was Africa. Africa was Egypt. If people thought of the whole continent of Africa, they say Egypt, they would say Egypt. There was a time when Ethiopia was so popular as a power in the known world of its time that the whole Africa was called Sudan. Pardon me, I'm sorry, Sudan. Sudan and so the whole continent of Sudan and once the whole continent of Ethiopia. These nations that came to be very popular because the other people were not popular at all. They gave character or image or picture to the whole continent of Africa.

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. When we look at our people, we do see a tendency in us just to take too much for fun, take too much for fun. We look for fun before we look for intelligence, we look for fun. This is typical of us; we look for the fun in it or for the humor in it before we look for the wisdom. Or the good principle or the good thing in it, the good moral or whatever. We look for the humor first and this is no good, that's no good. We should strive to keep balance, proper balance in our life. Don't let your humor side become so strong that it's drowning out your intelligence.

Don't become so rigid in your intelligence that you dry up your humor side and have no humor. This is what is Islam is; Islam is keeping the proper balance. You stay a rounded figure, a rounded person with a beautiful, rounded character having all the beautiful facets of the human soul and nature in your personality, in you. Work hard to keep that balance. The Imam should speak on this more, G-d shows us the universe itself to see how everything is kept in a balance. The stars in the heavens, these planets, these galaxies, they all are situated so that they are in a balance. They balance each other. It's called universal gravitation, for you students who love science like I do. I'm still a student of science.

Universal gravitation puts all these bodies in proper distances from each other, and that's called the balance. The balance for the universe. Then there's a balance of nature down here on this earth. Things that are interacting but they are kept in the balance. The seas don't over pour the land, the oceans don't over pour the land. Everything is kept in a balance.

The plant life doesn't threaten animal life. Animal life doesn't threaten plant life except in certain rare occasions, where there's hunger and too many animals, but soon something's happens to bring the balance back. They will be threatened by their own gluten, glutinous nature. They will be threatened and eliminated and the balance eventually is restored again.

Allah want us to be conscious of the balance in the whole life. We should have balance when we are reasoning. For your judgment have the proper balance. [Arabic language] Imam Shuaibe, a very studious Imam and has been that way since I knew him. I knew him when he was very young man, like a boy to me. I think of him almost like my son now Shuaibe, from Oakland.

He was just a youngster in the mosque, when I came here to be the Imam and he really blossomed. He became my student and he's still a special student and advocate of Imam W. Deen Mohammed's methods. He mentioned this last night, "G-d has contained everything and extended everything upon the principle of knowledge and mercy. Knowledge and mercy."
G-d is saying to us, whatever he has created to give us knowledge, it is to give us also mercy. Look, this is beautiful. That's why I'm taking this time. When we look at the societies of the world like America and the Europe and few others in the world, that have worked to industrialize and educate, educate and industrialize. Their publics enjoy a measure of comfort that's not found in those countries that did not do that.

The world that G-d gave us and the education that we get from the study or interacting with that world has also been a mercy to us. It brings comforts to the society that engage it. If you teachers register that, believers should register that, then when you teach your students you teach them with human feelings as well as academic interests. Don't just have academic interest but have human feelings and know that G-d has given us knowledge so that knowledge can bring comforts to human life.

If it was left up to me, as soon as youngsters felt the desire to have sex, I'd be trying to get them married. That doesn’t mean that they're going to be responsible husband and wife, responsible for themselves, - no. With my children or my grandchildren, I would do my best to still be their parent, take care of them, but they would be married. I would tell them to abstain from sex. Just because you're married doesn't mean you have to have sex. Ain't no law that says, "You're married go to bed."
You don't have to have sex if you're not ready for it even if you're 50 years old. If you're married and you're head's still wrong, wait till your head's cleared up, then go to bed. They don't have to have sex consummated. They don't have to do that, but marry them, then if something happens and they have the sex out of wedlock, they were married, right?

You want to encourage them not to engage in that yet, to finish school. The question is, what about those who are in school and they want to marry or need to marry? I'm given the answer. We should have them married if they desire one another and want each other as mates. If you want to have sex with each other, you should want each other as well. There isn’t any wanting each other to have sex in Islam without wanting each other as man and wife, husband and wife.
If you have the desire and you know it's a danger for you, my strong suggestion to you is get married to that person. You all should get married. Don't be afraid to give up something you really want. The brother may really want the sister, but when he approached her with something as serious as marriage maybe she's not ready for it and maybe she's not really ready to be with him, but for a little while.

He should be strong enough no matter how much he wants that woman. He should turn then to his Islamic side, turn to his Islamic strength. He should say to her, "Well, I made a mistake," and never see her again unless it's an accident. If there's an accident, you make sure you turn your head right away. Don't invite temptation, be strong enough to turn. I don't care how much you want something.
I heard a man say once, he said, "Before I get involved in that, I'll take an axe, cut my leg off." You all know he's lying. He said he'd cut his leg off. Well, sometimes you need that kind of determination in yourself that you are not going to let something bring you down. You all have to be very strong, you're Muslims. Muslim mean you're conscious of your relationship that you should have with your G-d, your Creator. You're conscious of that.
No relationship is more important than a relationship that you have with your G-d, your Creator. If the girl you're crazy about is threatening that relationship, you go to G-d and to that Islamic strength and you cut that relationship off, just cut it off. Same thing for the sisters, cut that relationship off. I don't care how bad you want the person. Cut that relationship off and Allah will give you something better, something better.

That's what Islam teaches us, that's what I know. If you will have the strength to do what is right, you save your own face from being made ashamed of your act, putting yourself down to have something that you're hungry for. Don't put yourself down to have something you’re hungry for. Go without it rather than put yourself down.
I've been married several times as you all know. You go visit any woman I was married to and ask her, "Could you handle Imam W. Deen Mohammed, could you tell him he can't go to a big kutbah today, jumah kutbah? Would he stay home for you?" Hear what she says. She'd say, "What? Never. Wallace? No indeed." But after say, "Would he spend his last dime on you?" "He sure would." "Would he stay up all night with you when you had problems?" "Yes." "Would he put the Holy Quran down? Did you see him put it down?" "No."

No, I let nothing interfere with my relationship with my G-d. Nothing can hurt my relationship with my G-d. I don't allow that. I pray G-d keep me like that. Ameen. I'd be asking G-d right there to keep me like that.
Okay. Some of these questions I wasn't expecting them today, but I'll answer them. Okay. Our business effort is a religious effort. We're not in business for business sake. We're in business as a religious obligation. We should not be looking to Saudi Arabia and other countries to finance our needs in this America, to give to our masjid, to give to our schools, to take care of us. We shouldn't be doing that.

We won't turn down their generous gifts or sincere gifts, but we shouldn't be depending on them. We should strengthen our business community, our business lives, our business community so that we can take care of our own mosque, our own schools, provide for our own families, have a decent community. The only way to have that, you have to have a strong business effort in your community. That's been our failing since the Hon. Elijah Muhammad passed.
It started years before he passed. It started to go down, neglecting business and bringing corruption in business and taking advantage of business for our own personal interest. That started before the Hon. Elijah Muhammad passed. Now we need to come back to the clean days of engaging in business. The clean days were the '50s and '60s. Late '60s got dirty, by the '70s corrupt.

I'm not telling you what I'm thinking, I'm telling you what I know. By the '70s it got very corrupt. We want to come back clean and we've waited for it a long time now we're engaging in business again, we're coming back clean and we're going to stay clean.
The youth wants to know how can they assist to make this a reality, to make our dream for our business community and our community a reality. Well, get behind the best of your leaders. You have youth that we admire, we have youth who are investing in CPC and we have youth who are promoting investments in CPC. Like the young man here, Brother Waleed Shamsid-Deen. Will you stand?
He's in the corporate world and his father is a very successful in the fish business, fried fish business. This is his son, his father sent him to school and educated him, now he assists his father and he's a active person in the corporate world. He's a speech motivator, motivational speech maker.
[laughter]

I'm trying to get it straight here. You should know persons like brother Waleed and your local people here also, you should know them, be in touch with them and they will give you the help you need. If you're not from this area, when you go back home look for someone. I'm sure you're not too far to contact someone, maybe in another masjid. Write down the masjid, contact them, give them a call or write them and tell them of your interest so that you tie it together.
The best should be in association with each other. That's the key for progress in every area of this community. If you have an interest in education, the best minds should be in touch with one another. Business, the best minds should be in touch with one another. Youth level, the best minds should be in touch with one another. This is the way you do it and make progress.

Somebody is asking, "Are sisters able to read the Quran?" Okay, "Should you read the Quran while you are having your monthly discomfort?" Yes. Do we have something from the prophet? Yes. There's a hadith, prophet Muhammad was in the Mosque and he sent for his wife Aisha, (peace be on him and may G-d accept her and be pleased with her), to bring him his Quran. She was hesitant to do that. She didn't feel comfortable to do that because she was having her time of discomfort during the month. He asked her, "Are you going to soil the Quran?" She understood what he said, she brought him his Quran.
The reason why women are not to come to the Mosque and pray during that time of discomfort should be obvious to men as well as to women, it should be very obvious. They are not comfortable and you and them should know why they shouldn't be, but at home where they can attend to themselves and in the privacy of their own home with their family, what is wrong with them reading the Quran? Yes, read Quran, but not to go through the steps of prayer during that time, but to read the Quran, yes.

There's no time when you shouldn't read the Quran, read the Quran any time you like. In fact if a person is sick, some people are sick even and for some reason they think that, well I know a [unintelligible 01:03:36] because some sickness involves real serious problems to. For the way you look even, for the way you smell. No, read the Quran. Wash your hands and read the Quran any time you like. It's a comfort to us.
Participant: There's this woman [unintelligible 01:04:02] I want to make sure it's a woman.

W.D. Mohammed: I said a sister. Are you screening these two sisters. He's the last screener, you're supposed to have a sister if you're to be the last screener too. I believe in equality, justice-
Participant: So do I.

W.D. Mohammed: -and freedom.
[laughter]

Okay. We have answered this one a lot of times but it's still necessary to answer it. "How do we feel about Christians marrying?" Okay, this is just addressing one of the problems, of Christians and Muslims marrying. When Christians and Muslims marry, this question is about the children. What about raising the children? How are we to look at that, the children being raised?
One parent is Christian, the other parent is Muslim, how are we to look at that? That's the most serious problem. When you have children and then one wants them to be raised in their religion and the other parents wants to be raised in her or his religion. That's a serious problem, that's why it's always best to marry a person of your own religion. Marry a person of your own religion, that's the best.
Sometimes, many times especially in America, it's not that serious. I find that the Christians usually accept to have the children come up Muslim. In fact, I know of very few cases where the brother, and it's usually the brother marrying the Christian sister. The brother has problems since the wife was saying that she didn't want her children to be of his religion.

After marrying him and accepting him for her husband, but later she decided against having them be Muslim, for one reason or another. I don't know, anything could happen. Sometime it may look like it's a problem of religion but it could be something else, because you can marry somebody and they cover one thing up with another thing. Maybe they just don't want you anymore period and they make your religion a big problem.
We can't say that it's always true that the religion became a problem, but to be safe, you should always look for a believing person like yourself. Sometimes when you're a very good believer and you find a person of another religion and they are a very good believer in their religion, the more important thing for you both in your religion is supported by both. Both like obedience to G-d, both like good morals, both like a good character. So you don't usually have a problem. You don't have a problem.

Maybe one will influence the other to his side or her side, not by force but just by association. One will be influenced to come to the other side and I've known this to happen. Most are the non-Muslims accept the religion of Islam after marriage. I've known that to happen. I’ve known the other thing happens too, but very rarely, that is the Muslim went over to the Christian religion, became Christian.
We can't guarantee what's going to happen, but I go back to what I said first. Look for a believer like yourself first. If you can't find a believer like yourself, you run into somebody and you know that this is it, you're sure of it, don't feel this is forbidden to marry that person. But we strongly advise you, especially sisters to marry a Muslim brother if you're a Muslim.

Is that's it? That's all? No, he has some more I think. He has some more question. I can't hear you.

Male Speaker: [inaudible 01:08:58]

Male Speaker: Those are repeats.

W.D. Mohammed: Okay so that's it? Okay, thank you.

Male Speaker: One last.

W.D. Mohammed: Yes, one here?

MaleSpeaker: [unintelligible 01:09:07] do you accept this [unintelligible 01:09:09]
W.D. Mohammed: I'll of course, yes. I'll read it. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Someone took this nice book, Poetic Parenting. A unique approach to parenting, complete literal workbook, by is that Hamina?

Male Speaker: Yes, it's Hamina.

W.D. Mohammed: By B. Hamina Shabazz. Thank you. This is a gift, right?
[laughter]

W.D. Mohammed: Okay, thank you. Thank you. I see how we can all, it we want some more, if I like it, I will order some more. Thank you. Okay, thank you so much for that. Allahu Akbar. Now, how much time did we spend?

Male Speaker: Still have 20 minutes.

W.D. Mohammed: About an hour huh?

Male Speaker: No, we went over. We have [unintelligible 01:10:36]

W.D. Mohammed: We went over an hour, did we?

Male Speaker: Yes, we went over an hour.

W.D. Mohammed: Yes, that's what I thought. See how much better it is to accept questions? Thank you very much. Peace, Assalamu alaikum.

Congregation: Wa alaikum as-salaam.

Male Speaker: [foreign language]

Congregation: Allahu Akbar

Male Speaker: [foreign language]

Congregation: Allahu Akbar.

[01:10:54] [END OF AUDIO]


