Brainstorming Conference
7-31-99 Greensboro, N.C.

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed


Form Alliances

O ye who believe! persevere in patience and constancy: vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah; that ye may prosper.

[raabetu] form alliances, make effort, believe, be conscious, make effort, be persistent in making the right effort, don't let up, keep the drive but also form alliances to be successful and that's what this occasion here, this conference invites us to. This conference by its very presence and the make up of this conference, the persons who are here, their resources, their personal experience, knowledge and experiences and resources, what we have in the conference itself invites us to make alliances, to form alliances.

When we come together if we follow certain procedure for our sessions I think we can get more results, more of the results that we're looking for, I think if we just make it formality to assemble and have the general concern addressed and the identify persons who are supporting politics or more political awareness in the community and more involvement on the part of our community, business, dawa, invitation to Al Islam, dawa what ever, identify these separate groups and then have these separate groups meet even in this open room here we can do that, these tables can be separated that you're sitting at, these long tables they can be separated and you could go and sit at separate tables and speak low. We've done this, I've done this with others who invited me, big workshops, conferences, I've attended and they have done just what I'm suggesting to you, I've learned from others, from participating in conferences that others have been responsible for that this is the best way to do it. And I've been to conferences that didn't follow this procedure and they don't get as much done.

So address the general concerns and the person or persons and I think a female should be included, we should never, this community is a community and a community needs to hear from males and females, not just males. And you're doing that I'm not criticizing, this is not in the spirit of criticism, this is in the spirit of sharing information. Males and females should address us and address the general concern and then someone who is knowledgeable of the make up of this conference, the persons and the skills, someone should know all of us, should have pretty good knowledge of all of us and what we have to offer; if we don't have this we can grow into this, we can grow into it. You know maybe I'm speaking beyond what we have right now, but that doesn't mean we can't do this, we have to grow into it if we don't have it.


Team chair man or moderator 

We need a person who is familiar with each and everyone of us and knows who to select or who to suggest that the group select, i.e. the group the political group, 'we suggest that you have such, that you select such and such person or persons to chair your meeting'. I'm using chair for want of a better word, chair does not necessarily have to be that word, you see, to chair your meeting or to chair your committee meeting. I don't know? For want of a better word, committee maybe that's not the word, your team, I think that's the word we're looking for.   To chair the team or to be the moderator for the team you see? And I think we will get more done.

This is a beginning for us and a great beginning. I went through the material I was very much impressed with how materials have been organized, the focus, what has been included for us to focus on. I'm impressed with all of that very much and even more impressed wit the faces that I'm seeing that we don't usually see at meetings.

You have attracted people here that we need and there is more an atmosphere of sanity in this room than I've experienced in a long time. Yes. So this is very good and that's why I said in the beginning congratulations and that's very sincere congratulations.

I have a few comments but really what I want to see happen is what you're doing, not for me to speak to you or address you or to tell you anything. I believe like David Hasan believes and he has really spear headed this effort with me, he's the person that I'm aware of that has spearheaded the effort and going back months and years, a few years ago in fact And he told me he said a few years ago "brother Imam what you need is in this community, we have to find them, bring them together, that's all we have to do. If we find them and bring them together we'll have results, we'll get results. That's what he said and that's what I believe. If we just can come together, the people who have the strong interest in realizing the vision for this community, if they can just come together, they will find ways to do what has to be done. That's what he believes and that's what I believe and I believe that's what most of us believe. So the big step have already been made and that was us coming together. Let me say that I feel very good in my soul to meet here in this facility after being told that's its own by an African American, that makes me feel even better to be here, that helps my spirit.


The Religion man originated upon

So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith: (Establish) Allah's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah: that is the standard Religion: but most among mankind understand not.

You know Al Islam is what we're about we're Muslims, so Al Islam is what we're about. But Al Islam is the Religion that G'd gives us to compliment and assist our natural life, it is the Religion that man was originally formed upon. The Religion that man, humanity, people were originally formed upon.


I have perfect Al Islam as your Religion

This day have I perfected your religion for you completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.

And G'd says that He perfected your Religion, now that tells us now that tells us there was already, the Religion was not coming from G'd to us, the Religion was already with us and G'd was just helping us with it. Say, "Have perfected for you, your Religion and completed His favor on you" So G'd was obligated to favor humanity with the good life. And they already had life but they needed assistance with it G'd had created life for them, but they needed assistance with it. And they strained with their brain, with their souls, with their spirits, wit their brain to better their life and G'd responds to that, when that is being done by a sincere person, G'd responds to that and we have the Prophets and Messengers of G'd as our leaders as they were the persons who strained in their souls and in their minds to make improvement upon their life. And G'd guided them and they came into the light of truth.

The life is light on then own life, the light is light that they need to live their own lives, that's the life. So this is no strange thing, no spooky stuff, not strange and spooky stuff, its just G'd responding to His creature that He made with this great soul and intellect and heart, to strain for improvements, to have improvements on his life, so that his life is always growing better and better and better and he's realizing more and more of the life that he has been created to manage. And when he doesn't realize more of that life that he's been created to manage then he feels sad, his spirit is low, he feels denied freedom etc. All that comes about because this is a nature urge in man.

So G'd is not addressing anything outside of us G'd is addressing the nature urge in us and G'd is just assisting us wit that urge so that we come into the full beautiful life that we already created for. We're already created for, we already have the interest and the spirit and the properties for us to realize this life. We have all those properties but they have to be discovered, they have to be cultivated, they have to be built upon they have to grow etc.


Hayy means living

So this is the way we should understand Al Islam. Al Islam is life, Al Islam is the call to life, the pray call is the call to life [Hayya ala Salat] the word Hayy means living, life and its given grammatically the word is an invitation to life. Hayy come to prayer it is translated but it really means wake up in your life, wake up in your own life, be conscious in your own life and come to worship G'd. Come to prayer.


Prayer is education

What is prayer? Pray for a Muslim is recitation of Quran that's what pray is, recitation of Quran. So Pray is really education. Prayer is teaching, training, education, revealed by G'd, is is the Word of G'd. It is the Word of G'd for direction in our life, for the treatment of our life etc. So actually the Quran itself, the Word of G'd in the full text of the Quran, I'm using the word now referring to the full body of words hi the Quran. The Word itself, the Quran itself is the life and that's what G'd says, this is the life. And it is addressing our lives with assistance to our life and for our own life, so this is the life the Word is the life.


Allah produced you from the earth as a growth

"'And Allah has produced you from the earth growing
(gradually)

And G'd says He has created us so that we should grow. G.R.O.W. and He said he has created us as a plant, that means He has created us to have a patterned growth. Plants just don't grow, they grow according to their own inherent patterns, they have an inherent pattern and they grow according to that pattern. So Allah says that He has given you a Religion the one that you were originally patterned upon, then you should understand that this [fatara] also addressing this patterned growth. But not some pattern that's imposed upon our life or brought from outside our creation and imposed upon our creation, no. It's a pattern that's revealed in our creation and then G'd gives us assistance for it. Life is growth and when you don't have that growth that G'd intends for your life then you don't have freedom.


Khalifa is responsible group, person 

So we're about freedom, we want to free ourselves, we want to free our life so we can have more growth and responsible growth, we're going to be responsible for ourselves and that's what khalifah is. Khalifa is responsible person or responsible order, the Khalifah is really a type, the khalifah is a personal type or type for a collective group or an ordered group that's responsible for the environment of human beings or for society as we say, for human society.

So khalifa is a responsible, organized body working according to the Will of G'd and following the Guidance of G'd to reach more and more growth for the human society, growth in accordance with the plan and Will of G'd


You are the best community

Ye are the best of peoples evolved for mankind enjoining what is right forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah.

We're just not growing with no perception, we're growing with a perception and our perception is community life or societal life, community life, we must grow as a society. We grow as a human organized group organized to realize more and better life, more and better life with the environment, in the environment and with the environment.

G'd says you are the best community evolved, the word [ukhrejat] literally means brought out and plants are brought out. G'd says of the plants, the things that grow, the things that are cultivated on the earth, He called that something brought out, same word [ukhrejat] from [kharaja] means out of, come out of something. And He speaks of us a community [ukhrejat] brought out, brought out how?   Brought as a growth, a growth that follows a pattern, a patterned growth.

Now when you see people not productive and not managing much and not having a representative life with other societies its because they are not evolved, they are not brought out n the patterned growth, their growth is not a patterned growth. They may have a lot of sports they may have a lot of money, they may have a lot of one or two things but their life doesn't show a patterned growth in accordance with what is good and best and proven to be good and best for man living in society or living in a group; man living in society, they don't have that. And Al Islam wants us to have that, we're not just after, we' re not just after business, we're not just after politics, we're after patterned growth for society, the Islamic society.

We want patterned growth for that Islamic society and we want a patterned growth that's in accordance with the best patterned growth that we find in the study of society in the history, when we study the history of society, what we find is the best.   G'd says [ta'muruuna bil maruufe] and command or order or instruct with what is standard proven to be good and excellent that's what [maruufe ] means. What is known, you order, you know [Arafat]; I know several of you, you know what I'm talking about, you know Arabic you know [Arafat]. So you know [maruufe], you know the verb [Arafat] it means to know and [maruufe] means known, what is known.

Now if you're not an educated student of the Quran you won't know what this [maruufe] is talking about, you think [maruufe]Js 'oh what is known' like a lot of the stupid Imams around the world, 'what is known'. They think 'yes we have to stick with what is known, what G'd has given us'; they think its limited to the Quran. Its not limited to the Quran, its talking about the history of human society, what has proven to be excellent and worthwhile for the human society as standards for living, how you live your life, the best standards for living life in society, this is what [maruufe] is referring to. And stay away from those things that have proven to contribute, proven to be things that to the voiding of that life, [wa tanhauna ia'nel munkar] and stay away from the [munkar] those things that have proven to be things that void that good life that we get by following proven standards for society in terms of its organization and how it should go forward with its organ or with its organized life.


Leadership must know direction

So these perceptions are very essential, for leaders, if you want to be leaders you have to have these perceptions if you don't you can't help us very much, you can't really, we just, we can use you but you can't lead us and you can't lead yourself really, we have to watch what you're doing and we have to interfere with what you're doing at times because you don't know the direction unless you know what I'm telling you right now.

And all you have to do is just listen to me, I give it to you in one hour what it take you 10 yrs to get somewhere else, really because I've gotten it, so its easy for me to give it to you. And I didn't get it from a professor, if I got it from a professor maybe it take me maybe 10 yrs to give it to you, I didn't get it from a professor, I got it from searching and straining to get it and G'd helped me to get it. So I can give it to you in a few minutes.

Where to focus, how to perceive what is to be perceived, perceiving correctly, focusing correctly, perceiving correctly will permit us to be directly correctly and have the right attitudes. But if we don't have that we just don't have it, I'm thankful to Allah that we got better minds coming forward in this community and we have some very good ones who have been with us and are working, we should really reflect on our own life here and our growth here too. You know we're doing things that we never did before, we have really grown, as I'm standing here right now talking to you the convener of our Shuraa Imam Plemon El- Amin is perhaps talking to very important persons, educators in Bangladesh, right now.

And one of our sisters who didn't do nothing but type for my father and try to understand his Religion and do the best she could, she just come from a high level world leadership level conference in Egypt, she was invited not through me, they found her and they invited her, not through me she thought I knew something about it. She
said "brother Imam did the____" no I didn't know anything about it until she told me, so this is a new day.

Now why are we getting this kind of attention?   There's an explanation for it, you should look for that explanation if you don't know it, you should ask yourself 'why is today we got a minister, I mean an Imam, Plemon T. El Amin invited to Bangladesh to talk to an educator a man who have established universities, in fact he's building one, he's establishing, he's organized, headed up the organization and planning of a university, got the money for it already and he's interested in talking to our leader from Atlanta. It's a new day, a big day and Imam W. Deen Mohammed appearing on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, a big day, really it's a new day that's what it is.

I didn't get a lot of calls from you I guess you so stunned by it you can't even respond but Christians called me, Christians, yes, called me and congratulated me and said that really thrilled me to see you on the front page. Tony Brown he had to call the office and get an interview on his show and when he introduced me on the show before I spoke that's when he said "Mr. Mohammed appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal that was great news, big news you know.


Spiritual most powerful help

And believe me if you don't register your own progress how can you benefit from it? We're suppose to benefit spiritually from the progress that's being made, if you don't register how can you benefit spiritually? And believe me the most powerful help that you have for your life is your spiritual power, your spiritual force, your spiritual life, your spiritual power. That's the biggest help you have for your whole life, for your mind, for your physical work and everything, if you don't have a strong spirit inside of you, you're not going to go very far with anything. So benefit spiritually from what is happening to us in this new day and time.

Prophet Muhammad 

Q.7.158; Believe in Allah and Messenger

So believe in Allah and His apostle the unlettered Prophet who believed in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."

Q.3 32; Obey Allah and Prophet

Say: "Obey Allah and His Apostle"; but if they turn back Allah loveth not those who reject Faith.

So we need to focus for more and better clarity. Clarity for what? We need to focus to see Muhammad the Prophet clearer, try to study him, think on him, put your attention, put your mind on him to see him better to see him clearer because he is important for our whole life. He is most important for our whole life, believe in G'd and believe in His Messenger Muhammad, obey G'd and obey His messenger.

Q. 4.59; Consult Allah, and His Messenger in your affairs

O ye who believe! obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves refer it to Allah and His Apostle if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best and most suitable for final determination. 

And when you meet to decide on matters when you have differences consult G'd, that is the Word of G'd and G'd in spirit with your prayers and His messenger not just G'd. And you will not be successful until you make the messenger of G'd an arbiter in your affairs, this is what G'd says. It didn't say you spiritual affairs, in all of your affairs

So we know the life of Muhammad the Prophet (pbuh) we know his sunnah, we have his history, the Seerah, we can consult this to see if we're proceeding correctly with out business, if we're proceeding correctly.


Principles protect us

Principles protect us more than anything else, principles and the Guidance is to establish principle. G'd's Guidance to us the Quran the teaching that directs our life is to establish certain principles. And these principles protect our life. So we can study the life of Muhammad the Prophet (PBUH) and we can see his principles, what he stood for, his principles that govern how he responded to people and what he did, how he made decisions, what he involved himself in and what he stayed out of. So we can study that and we can use it to protect all of our interests, political interests, business interest whatever it is and that's what we're going to have to do if we're going to Islamize our life and have really a Muslim society, we have to do that.


Imam's role 

Q.62.10; When call to pray made leave business

O ye who believe! when the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly) hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if ye but knew!

So this is not easy task and this can't be left to Imams this is a responsibility of all of us, Imam leads prayers and G'd says on the day of Jumah says when you hear the call to Jumah prayer leave those business and respond to the call to Jumah, that means come to Jumah, join the Jumah congregational prayer and after you have finished the Jumah then return to the avenues of interest, business, profit whatever; profit maybe that's a strong word especially in a capitalistic society.

But return to your business interest, what does that say to us? That we come to the Jumah and listen to the Imam and the Imam gives us the Quran and the way of our Prophet, the teachings of our Prophet (pbuh), that's what he has to give us, if he doesn't give us that he's not qualified to be Imam, we will tell him; Imam shut up, stop Imam you are not teaching the Quran and you're not teaching the sunnah of the Prophet, stop, stop someone one else have to continue.

So we will stop him, so that's what he's suppose to do, he's not suppose to teach economics, he's not suppose to teach politics, so when the Jumah is over you're suppose to go back in those areas. So who is going to lead you? Your representatives, maybe its yourself, you're going to lead yourself.


Setting priorities

Setting priorities, focusing and setting priorities, we focus on the life of Muslims and see that the life of Muslim is life in community, that's what life for Muslim is, life in community. And advancing life in community is our obligation, to support that, to lead it if we can, all of us are obligated to support it, all of us can't lead but all of us are obligated to support it.


Alliances Prophet formed with non Muslims 

And to form alliances, firstly among ourselves, you are to form alliances but we don't stop there because we know the Prophet formed alliances with non Muslims, this is his history, he formed alliances with non Muslims.


Alliances form among yourselves 

So it doesn't stop there but it starts with us, form alliances. You have like interests, you have similar minds and similar interests so form alliances, know each other, seek out each other, search for each other find each other. This conference is so helpful because it brings so many of us in touch with each other that we never would know if this conference hadn't been called, yes.


Networking similar to [raabitu] form alliances 

The term is used now networking but isn't networking [raabitu] isn't that what it is? That's what networking is, its another, [raabitu] could be a translation of networking, [raabitu] form alliances. I'm having this interest, you share this interest we can strengthen this interest and get better results for this interest by working together, so we come together we form an alliance.

Networking is the common word now, you know this society has seasonal language so the word now is networking, if you could live l0 yrs or 15 yrs from now it won't be networking anymore it will be the same need but it won't be called networking, they will have another word for it. But right now its networking and for me its [raabitu] team work and alliances.


Brain storming creative powers 

We say brain storming, we come to brain storm that's what you have been doing, I've been listening to you, you are brain storming, but we need to practice more we need to believe in G'd more, we need to believe that G'd will reward our mental efforts, say Bismillah before you start thinking, before you start brain storming, say Bismillah if you're a Muslim or Believer. Say Bismillah in the name of G'd, with G'd's name say that and believe that G'd can help your thinking and improve your thinking and give you assistance to get better results for what you're after and then your brain storming will be the brain storming of a Muslim group. Yes people of faith brain storming of a people of faith.

And believe in creative powers, G'd has created our brain, soul and brain in such way that once its touched or stimulated by an influence, I'm using influence because influence is the big general term, it takes in everything. A word, an idea, an information, a piece of news, a happening, an occurrence whatever reaches your mind it has an influence. So believe in the nature of your mind that G'd has given you and made for us that, that nature is such that it can be stimulated and just as a seed gets the right water and right consistency of soil, the right things in the soil and the right temperature and everything, it burst into life and it starts unfolding what was hidden in itself. And from a little thing you couldn't hardly see now a big beautiful thing comes up out of the earth, rooted standing in the earth. 

The same for your mind. Believe that the same thing can happen for your mind. You're looking for the right ideas and look how consistent a plant is. Some lectures use a plant as a illustration to go by when they deliver their lecture. They will put a tree or a little plant and the root, they will call the root something, the idea or something or their thought that they want to develop and then they will call the trunk of it the main branch that holds it up they will call it the central idea and they will branch off with everything else they want to say.

And they will take a diagram and they will talk from a diagram and you will think he say hey' that guy really had that speech together'.    That diagram kept his speech orderly, consistent and following the pattern he wanted to follow, the diagram. So believe that G'd can do that for your mind, that G'd you're straining for better ideas for better perception, better focus whatever, for better things to work on for more things to work on. Believe that G'd can give you assistance and something will happen while you're straining and oh you will have a burst of ideas, beautiful burst of ideas and they will take logical form, you will be able to put them in logical form and this is really growth.

You think business world doesn't use that?   The business world use that, I read how the business world puts a team together, put them in a room a beautiful, peaceful environment and then they even sometimes certain kinds of music very low to help rest the mind, so that the kind can have this burst of creativity. So don't mis-perceive who's talking to you because I don't have college degrees don't mis-perceive who's talking to you.


Our vision

So the sessions that we have they should follow the general kind of form that I gave you earlier and we should be working with out minds to help the vision that we have for our community. You call it the vision of W. Deen Mohammed it should be our vision, it's the vision of this community although I introduced things its our vision for this community.


Invite more resourceful people 

And you should also be straining to recall or find more resourceful persons like yourselves to be invited to join the team work and you should be straining also especially you who are familiar with the Quranic text, the book the Quran, you should be straining to find more Quranic support for what we are doing. I like what you put together there in the paper, the package for us, our package that we have, a lot of Quranic references have been selected and that's what we need.


Quran informs, enlightens

Also understand that the Quran is not just a Holy Book it's a Generous Book, it is a Book of enlightenment it is a Book that informs us not just spiritual, its informs us, its our first education, our first and highest education is the Quran. It prepares us to get the best advantage from all other knowledge, so believe that and you will be more successful.


Khalifah help from his own nature

The life of khalifah is life lived in accordance with divine plan, G'd planned, created him and he has an inherent plan on his life or in his life, in the constitution of his life is that inherent plan. And something just automatically happens for him when he's blocked from proceeding on with his life in accordance with that plan. As long as he stays constituted as G'd created him, believing in help from G'd he will get help from G'd and help form his own nature, in fact G'd's help to him will be help from his own nature. His own nature will come alive and assist him more and more for him to have life and proceed with the life in accordance with Divine Plan.


Freedom

Khalifa a responsible order

G'd made the man, the khalifa the order for the society to be responsible, a responsible order and really freedom for us is growth in the management of responsibility.   The more we can take on responsibility and manage it successfully the more satisfaction we will have not only in our minds but in our souls, the more freedom we will be realizing. This is the real meaning of freedom. The real meaning of freedom is freedom to grow into more and more responsibility that benefits you and the society.


Islamic contents

So we should be strained to build more in accordance with Islamic contents of our life and when we say Islamic contents we're referring to character, Muslim character, content of character as Dr. Martin Luther King said " a man should be judged not by his skin but by the content of his character so we're talking about character, the content of character when we say the Islamic contents, but we're talking about more than that we're talking about the content of our own minds, our own mind set.


Mind set

What is your mind set? Is your mind set Islamic, is your mind set in accordance with Quranic guidance and the life of Muhammad or is your mind set taken independently with no thought of Islamic guidance, not thought of the Quranic guidance, no thought of how Muhammad (pbuh) would live. You have come to a mind set, if that's the case which it will be in this habit world of ours in this fashion world of our, in this seasonal fashion world of ours, it most likely will be the case that the mind set of many of you all will be a mind set that you came into unconsciously, you didn't think it out, you didn't select it carefully with intelligent thought, you just conformed. So content should also be the content of our minds, the mind set that we have we should question it


Work see as children

And lastly we should be straining to improve the projects that we have correctly perceive them so that we can contribute to them and not harm them and then strain to come up with more projects. Life continues from one person to the children, the next generation and it continues on from that one will come more young ones and the generations continue like that You should use the same kind of vision or perception when you're thinking about increasing the life of this community work or your specific work that you're assigned to or will be assigned to. You should see it as children of parents so we have a parent project don't we? We have a parent project that's the community. The community is our parent project so whatever projects we have in specific areas of interest they should be seen as the children of the parent project. So children should look like their parents shouldn't they? And children should have the good behavior of their parents and children should have the good spirit and good mind of their parents you see?

This is the help that comes from Religion that has put Jews and Christians over the world and Muslims will get their place back once they get the thinking right again. We once had it too, they don't have it now but we once had it, in fact it was the Muslims who gave the Christians life again and the Jews, the Muslims gave all of them life again. We should have a sense of urgency.

Without these points that I'm giving you we're going to do nothing but stumble over each other and stumble over our own feet. We have to have a sense of urgency, sense of urgency the leaders that should be your urgency right now because that's the biggest that's happening for us right now, we're about one month from the convention and if you're not registering that as the urgency then you're not awake, you're sleeping or you're dead or you're cripple or lame or retarded something is wrong, something seriously is wrong if you're not registering the urgency of the Philadelphia convention. And if I were you in your place and I would look to Imam Warith Deen Mohammed I say that man he cares about nothing more than he cares about leading us in this community to the right way and to productive life. If that man want the convention to come back to that city Philadelphia where he lived for three years and had his first child, I'm going to do everything I can to support that convention in Philadelphia.

That would be my decision and if it was something wrong with the decision write it in the Shuraa bring it to me and say look we don't think Philadelphia should be the choice we think some other city should be the choice. We have this problem and its good for me to share this with all of you, we have this problem where leaders when it comes to me leaders are afraid to confront me and they are afraid to confront me because they are afraid that they will lose support from you. But they will quietly withhold support and sometimes not even quietly, they will do it with a noise they will withhold support but it wont be directed at me directly, it won't be pointed to me directly. They will just with hold their support and say well lets see how its going to succeed without us, now that's stupid, that's childish, that's stupid, and childish so please you all grow up like I'm trying to do. I question my own behavior we have to we're only human, I question my own behavior and I don't like inferior behavior on my part. And I certainly don't like defective behavior on my part so I question my behavior you know? And you all think I work with you because I like all of you all, I work with you because I like the cause, I like the work and I like your help to the work, I like that part of you. It doesn't mean I like all of you, I like that part of you that's giving itself to the work, to the cause and that's enough for me to embrace you and work with you and be faithful and loyal to you. I'm not going to work behind your back and hurt you behind your back I won't do things like that, no.


Dhikr

So let us think about that, let us think about what we're doing you know and our own positions that we take, let us questions those things. In fact re-think, re-think everything necessary, that's what dhirk is. Dhirk is recalling the names of G'd and re-thinking them again because maybe the second time thinking over them again, afresh may bring out more or bring you to see more than you saw the last time, the time before. So this is what it is progress, looking for progress all the time.


Re-think perceptions

We need to re-think I said we need better focus and better clarity on matter but I also said we need to re-think our own perceptions. Re-think your perception of me, yes you need to re-think your perception of me, how you perceive me. Some of you say oh he's not important, he's done everything, he's put us on the path of Al Islam and the sunnah of the Prophet so his work is finished, we thank him for that. How was I able to do that when the immigrant Muslims weren't able to do that for you? The Ahmadiyyahs and all those others that have come around they weren't able to do it for you.

How was I able to do that? How was I able to get you to change from the Nation of Islam to the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet?   Say oh 'I thank him for doing that", just like you didn't know there was a Quran existing and you didn't know there was a Muhammad the Prophet existing, peace be upon him, and I just came and said lets follow Quran and Muhammad. "Oh thank you for that. How come  you were following it before?

You knew about it, you knew about the Quran and you knew the difference you knew the world didn't agree with what we were believing and you knew Muhammad (pbuh) was not seen by us like he was seen by the world of Muslims. So how come you didn't do that before, what happened with me and you that brought you to make that great change, so you play down even that, I'm not speaking to you innocent people. You play down even that, you say something lightly and you don't even register the gravity of what you're talking about.

Here's a man who brought you from those strange ideas when nothing else happened before to bring you from those strange ideas. Did I do it just because I was the son of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad? That had a lot to do with it but there were sons of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad that you wouldn't listen to also and there were sons of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad that couldn't even come this way by themselves. They had to come this way after I came this way, right.   So you underestimate what you're even talking about. "Oh we got the Quran and sunnah he gave that, so that's it. If a leader can bring you from what you were in to Quran and the sunnah you should follow that man in everything, you should even ask him how to pee in the toilet, yes, if you don't know. Or if you're wetting on your shoes. And my advice is sit down like the women do if you're wetting on your shoes.

So we have to register urgency, register the urgency. Right now on the calendar the urgency is the convention in Philadelphia and for the first time we have a sister who's not bringing me any problems from Philadelphia, she's bringing me nothing but news of more and more success. Sister Amatullah Rashad, yes. So we're blessed by Allah to have her and we should be giving her support, but the Imams are so turf conscious, 'oh this is my turf. Are you a hoodlum, are you a gang land, gang banger or are you an Imam? There is a difference between them, now if you're a gang banger we understand your complaint but we don't have gang bangers leading the community.

If we re-think our perceptions, it doesn't mean you're going to change your perception but re-thinking your perception will contribute to you improving your perception. And sometimes our perception may be incorrect and re-thinking our perceptions will he:p us f the right perception. And once we find the right perception or improve our perception then we can also improve our position.


Perception of relationships

Our perception of relationship, I'm an Imam I'm relate to an Imam as a co-worker we're related to each other, Imams are related to each other as co-workers, we Imams so we're related to each other. Re-think our perception each other this relationship, this relationship that we ha we should re-think that relationship.


Imam relationships

What is this relationship that Imams have with each other? What is its value, what is it supported by, what has formed this relationship? We should think about these things, what is its value and what is the value of a Imam to another Imam?   How should we value an Imam, how should an Imam value an Imam? Don't disrespect him because he disagrees with you, push him in the back move on brother, like he's an animal or something. Rethinking our perceptions will also help us re-shape our attitudes, correct perception permits correct attitudes, incorrect perception invites bad attitudes, incorrect attitudes, bad attitudes.


Work bigger than the person 

And also we should re-think our works, what we are doing, our projects, the production we're looking for an our relationship to our work. What is our relationship t our work? You work is always bigger than you. Even I'm just a common worker, not a professional man, common worker, I go to work punch a clock 8 hrs, 40 h a week or whatever my work, that job is more important than me because that job is taking care of me and if I'm married its helping me take care of my wife, if I have children its helping me take care of my children. That job is providing a living, a home environment, a living for more than just myself. So when you work even the artist when he trying to draw a nice picture a painting or something, that painting is more important than him, he' not more important than the painting, the painting is more important than him. Your work is always more important than you and your work should always benefit more than just you. Peace thank you As Salaam Alaikum


Imam Fahme Sabree:

Brother Imam can I have a Question?

Imam Hasan: Yes.

Imam Fahme Sabree:

Bismillah, As Salaam Alaikum brother Imam I like to before Allah and before this distinguished group here say open so I can be held accountable and I really, if you don't know it, I really support your leadership and I want to pledge my support once again to your leadership. I believe we need some help on or clarity on your vision, I mean this community vision that Allah has blessed you with. We have already made some steps and progress in trying to come up with a mission statement but we really need is a clarity of the vision. So if you could give us that personally I would appreciate it very much.

Imam Hasan:

I think some of the things that we discussed was a priority starting with the model community concept, a priority of what should be done and how, what is the first
step a person should take towards establishing a model community.


Q.2.143; You're a balanced community [wustaa]

Thus have We made of you an Ummah justly balanced that ye might be witnesses over the nations and the Apostle a witness over yourselves;


Imam W. Deen Mohammed:

Yes, as the brother asked me for clarity on the vision for the community, the vision for the community;   the vision for the community is a model.   A model of community life, community life in the broadest picture, community life in the broadest sense, noting that we value in community life is outside of this vision. G'd says to us that we are a balanced Community, a witness, a model that should be existing as a witness for all people, for mankind. A witness that this is the community life that G'd inspired man to grow into, this is the community life that G'd approves, this is the community life that G'd has had an involvement in and that G'd has helped man to find and to establish. This community life supported by G'd and approved by G'd, community life.

So in this community life as Muslims we can't have in this model anything that's haram, if we have anything that's haram it won't be this model it won't be a witness to mankind or for mankind. And we have been conditioned to want this, we have been conditioned, we've been prepared to give assistance to this cause.


Nation of Islam's impact

The nation of Islam I don't know how it affected you coming from Christianity and other ideas or other street ways and whatever, but I know how it affected me being raised me being raised as a baby on my mother's breast and a boy and a youth, teenager, I know how it affected me. It made me want to be responsible for life in the biggest measure, not just for life at home, my family and not just life on my block, it influenced me to want to be responsible for life in the biggest measure, life in the full context of national society. The term nation of Islam and all that it affected me to want to be responsible for life in the fullest, broadest perception of life in society.


Q.4.97; Is not the earth wide, vast enough? 

So I have been prepared and you have been prepared for what G'd really wants of us and that is for us to establish a model Muslim society. Independently of other societies or within other societies. He didn't say well if you don't have land of your own I excuse you from this, He did not say that If you follow the Quran G'd says if you're persecuted in one place My earth is spacious go somewhere else and here in America we have this opportunity, we have the opportunity to build our model Islamic life.

Christians, some Christians they don't want taverns in their neighborhood they have alcohol free neighborhoods, they get the law to support them, they have the numbers, they have the political clout so they get the support for it they have church neighborhood, no liquor sold in the neighborhood. So that tells us the precedence has been set already for us to have Islamic community life with all the Haram outside of it, all we need is a majority and support and the citizens want that they can have that.

If one township or district will support the Christians in dis-allowing the sale of liquor in their town then how come we can't have the dis-allowance of selling liquor and pork, gambling and what every? The precedence has already been set. Are you understanding what I mean now? Is the vision clearer so why should I mention all the details? The details are too many to mention.


Several model communities around the country 

We want to be responsible for Islamic community life and we want to establish not one model of Islamic community societal life but several models around the country. I've looked at land in Florence, South Carolina, I've looked at land near Miami, Florida recently I looked at land in Louisville, Ky, looking at land in Chicago area southwest suburbs and if Allah bless us to get some assistance for the non profit projects, non for profit projects from philanthropists, Islamic, Muslim philanthropists, if we get assistance from them we can throw the essential structures for that nucleus, for that model, for the nucleus of that model and then you business people can help me put the businesses there, put the housing there, put the for profit operations there. Wouldn't that be wonderful if G'd bless us with 50 million dollars or 500 million dollars, a half billion dollars coming from Muslim philanthropists so we can throw up schools and businesses to assist those schools not for profit businesses where the profits got directly in the schools to support the schools, the management of schools, the expenses of the schools etc. wouldn't that be wonderful that we get that money from them to do that?


Philanthropists

Philanthropists that mean they don't want their names known, they identify themselves to me as philanthropists, that mean they don't want credit for it, they don't want their names published.

We can have this maybe in two years time who knows and if we work sincerely as mature men and women behind the business effort we're going to have some big money coming in very soon from our business effort, so just have faith. We will be responsible for a model of Islamic society, that's what the vision is, that means we want the police station to be Muslim, managed, operated by Muslims. We already have policemen in high places so we don't have to say can we manage that, we're already managing it within the system of this country we're managing it, we want a mayor we got people qualified to be mayor. So we want all these people to be us, all the positions to be held by us, yes.

Hospital, health care everything under us and it starts with one step, make one step that's all you have to do, have the vision make one step. One step will put you in the position to make two more steps, maybe ten more steps and step by step you'll get the whole thing, you will get all of it. Have faith in yourself don't be doubtful. These things are not the works of genius, you think this town or Philadelphia is the work of a genius? No, it's the work of people answering people's needs. So we want an Islamic society and we're willing to answer people's needs we can have it, it will happen automatically and naturally, doesn't mean we won't have any help from non Muslims, yes they can come in but we will be the majority, it will be our vision and our project, they will be just supporting it and enjoying it and benefiting from it with no discrimination against them. Are you with that? Thank you.


Imam W. Deen Mohammed:

This is not the first year, we've already tested it and I've gotten nothing but encouragement from the believers I had pioneers tell me say "brother Imam it was just like you being there it was so clear, the picture came through so clear and the voice was so clear in fact it was better than me being there". It shows me in huge image and I'm not that big you know, really it works very fine for us everybody is pleased with it and we encouraging those who are from the regions to go to the satellite showing in your area and save money, save expenses for travel especial when you live long distances, save that money and look at what you save; say "well I was planning to go to Philadelphia, or to California or go to L. A. or where ever the convention would be held" and look at what you're saving dollar wise.


NCC New Africa account convention centers 

And send $200.00 dollars to the information, the address is in the Muslim Journal to NCC bank account It's the New Africa convention center its called NCC send that $200.00 to the convention center because we are saving that money for the building of a first convention and we shouldn't look at just one convention center, we should pick an area for the first convention center and we get more money we go to the next area until we have convention centers in the main major regions. So when we have a convention we won't have to be paying the hotel all that money because the convention center could also have hotel, should have hotel or motels right along with it so that's what we're working for. Its not small thing, its big thing, it going to bring great relief to us and great dignity to us, financial dignity and community dignity to us to achieve what we're trying to achieve.

So give it all that you got and give it justly, we're not, nothing that comes from me will be to burden you, I follow the spirit and Word of the Quran and Muhammad the Prophet (pbuh) so nothing from me will be to burden you. I will be looking for ways to unburden you or to make the burden light, that's what I'm looking for hard, very hard for that. I'm not asking those who can't afford to go, that didn't even have plans to go to send $200.00 dollars only those who have the money to afford to make the trip from where they are to the location where the live broadcast will be, live event will be only you who will
save money by not going we only asking you to give $200.00 dollars of that to the building of the convention center. Now you can give more than that, more than $200.00 if you want and if you can't give more, can't even give the $200.00 we'll accept what you can give. But please you who can afford it, you couldn't even afford to take the bus there, don't say "well I want the convention center", don't hurt yourself and hurt yourself with your family we don't want that, believe me I don't want that, don't hurt yourself with your family and take chances on not having your rent money, we don't want that, that doesn't help us. You can't pay your rent that can't help us, you get put out that doesn't help us, your children are hurt because you're not keeping the lights on or something, that doesn't help us, thank you very much I think you got it clearly


