1980 February 24th
Grand Finale Mujeddid
Imam W. Den Mohammed

Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
To all of you, peace be unto you, As-salamu alaykum. [crosstalk 00:00:04] We are very much thankful to the Almighty, for blessing us to gather here today, to address the Muslim community called the World Community of Islam in the West. And also to address our friends and fellow human beings in the radio audience today. I'm happy to see members of the council of Imams here today that represent the leadership of this community. Along with myself and I'm happy to see all of the Imams, officials of the community, schools, etc, here with us today. In this first hour of my address, I hope to speak to you on significant points, important points. I consider to be eye opening thoughts on the history of the Nation of Islam and what that history offers to the general community of Bilalian people or African-American people.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And how the community called the Nation of Islam, or Temple of Islam or The Lost Found Nation of Islam, how their community helped to bring about a better appreciation in our community for self and self-worth and how that community helped under the honorable Elijah Muhammad to bring about more desire in us for significant, more significant social roles and more significant involvement in business, etc. I'll begin though with a statement of fact or truth, that holds for me great significance and that fact is this, that Almighty, the Almighty whose proper name is Allah, the creator of everything, he has designed this physical material world and everything in it, including ourselves, our human life. He has designed it to operate in the pattern of a pair, the life operates in the pattern of pairs in the pattern of two.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And the pattern of pairs. Wherever they are effects there are causes for those effects. Wherever there are problems, there are solutions for those problems. G-d has not given us imbalance in life and G-d has not given us, a severed us, a truncated life, a lamed life in any part of it. G-d has given us a whole life, a complete life, and wherever we find one thing operating in a disease way or in a problem way, we will also find the help for that thing if we look close enough.
Audience:
That's right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There is help for us, no matter what the problem is, there is always help for us. I'm speaking now of the problem that we seem to have in finding a comfortable state of mind for ourselves. Most of us don't seem to be able to find that comfortable state of mind for ourselves. Most of us seem to worry that we are in an inferior position all the time. That fortune is not shining on us or that the way to progress is so filled with obstacles, so filled with problems and hardship that it's too much for us to tackle. Dear people, if you are feeling that way today, you who are listening to us and the audience, then understand this and at least know that there is one person that doesn't feel that way. I don't feel that I am in an inferior position.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I don't feel that the path, that the road ahead for me is filled with hardship. I don't feel that some other person is better favored than I am. Although, when I look out into the world, I do see Caucasians with greater positions of power in the world. I see Caucasians with greater command of wealth, a greater command of the forces of life. I see them deciding life and with the tools to do that, but I still don't think that they are more fortunate than I am. And the reason why I don't feel that they are more fortunate than I am because I also see the mess up that they have made and I see the mess up that they that they continue to make. [crosstalk 00:05:49]. And with the life that Allah has blessed us with, I don't think that we can mess up that much.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And my purpose for being with you is to share with you my high hopes and optimism. Believe me, nothing in me is stirring more vigorously than that desire in me, to see others catch on to my high hopes and to my optimism. I used to carry a low head too. I used to walk very lowly and half the time I didn't know what the night would bring and not to think of tomorrow morning. I didn't know what the night was bring, but I finally latched on to a fact of life that only Allah could show us. I found it in his holy scripture. And once I found that fact of life, my head has been carried very easily on my shoulders thereafter. So dear people let's not brood and left's not sing blues that hold us down.
Audience:
Right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But let's lift our heads up, let's have faith in ourselves and faith in our future. And above all, let us have faith that there is a just G-d who is always in command of everything [crosstalk 00:07:21] and he's just waiting for a change of heart on the individual's part. And once the individual experienced that proper change of heart, then he will get the help that he needs from the source that has always been in command. It's a beautiful day today [crosstalk 00:07:45] and I really, I don't even like to think about people suffering identity problems, but we have to deal with that. We shouldn't have anybody suffering identity crisis. Another simple truth is the best informed society, or people, is most likely the society, are people with the best opportunities.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You know our holy scripture, the Quran and the Bible as well, if you know how to understand it, doesn't put the problems on the individual. It puts the problems on the attitudes of the individuals. Allah has made the individual rights, but the inability to select proper, correct information causes the individual to take on attitudes that are disruptive to self and life, you see. And what we have in the world today is the great problem of incorrect information, incorrect knowledge.
Audience:
That's right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And consequently, bad attitudes, self-destructive attitudes. There was a gentleman who wrote the book, the book is called Black Ghett-Colony. This is the word he formed himself, ghetto colony. He shortened it to ghett-colony. The author of this book is Eugene Perkins. When I read the opening chapter of his book and a few pages, from the last part of his book and I read some of the center pages, I said to myself, "This man started out on a right foot. I don't know how he lost the ability to walk on the right foot." He ended up walking on the left foot. He didn't even use the right foot no more, but he did point out a problem that's a real problem for us. He feels that our life is still under the influences of the plantation system. And I must agree with that.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
In fact, I didn't just come to that conclusion upon reading his book. It was under the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, when I was ministering for him, that I came to that conclusion. That the problem was not so much the denial of opportunity as it was the habits of carrying slavish attitude. Opportunity can be there right in the hand reach, right in the reach, your own reach, but you can't get it, you can't get the advantage of opportunities because you don't see the opportunities. And many times we don't see the opportunities because of old slavish attitudes.
Audience:
That's right. [crosstalk 00:11:22].
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
What I mean by old slavish attitudes, what am I referring to? I'm referring mainly to that position that we took as slaves and discriminated blacks or Negroes as we call ourselves in this, the world of America. That attitude that we took that says this world belong to the white man.
Audience:
Yeah.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
This is a white man's world. That attitude that says we can't get in, they won't let us in. That attitude that says, we are excluded. That attitude that says, that's the man's flag. As long as we have that kind of attitude, we won't have the courage to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us.
Audience:
That's right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Because whenever an opportunity to get involved to the extent that you become a deciding factor or an influencing factor in the life of the total society. Brother, when you come to that kind of opportunity, you have to be yourself able to identify in the total society. If you are not able to identify in the total society, then you are not going to progress very far with attitudes that don't recognize the need to identify in the total society. You can't serve the nation while thinking that yourself is excluded. While thinking that you don't have the right or the freedom or the opportunities to really compete with any other person in this society. We have the right and the opportunity. We always have the G-d given right, but today, thanks be to G-d and thanks to our great leaders.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And to the reception that our (unclear) found, among other people in this country, thanks to all of that, that today we do have opportunities. We have opportunities as well as rights. Don't think about the economic situation for America at this present time. Although the economic situation for America at this present time, it's better than the economic situation for Israel at this present time. Still don't think of the economic situation for America at this present time. But, let's think about something more at home. Let's think about our identity crisis. Usually when we talk about identity crisis, we think in terms of color. We think in terms of nationalism, or who am I? I am a black man. I'm a black woman. Who am I? I am a black child. Africans are my ancestors, Africa is my mother land.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Well, they are identity crisis that will cripple you more in life than the absence of that knowledge will. Although, that knowledge is needed. You need to know where Africa is. You need to know that your ancestors came from Africa and you need to know that you got your black skin from Africa. You need to know that. Whatever I said before, I repeat it now, there are identity crisis more serious than that. And to me, the most serious identity crisis is that one crisis, is that one that really stems from a neurosis, a failure within the individual to make unity within himself. This black white thing has contributed to that, but I am convinced that it's something in our genes. It's something that has come to us in our genes. For how can I inherit a problem like that through my genes, brother Imam?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Go to any psychiatrist and he will explain it to you thoroughly. I'm just going to hit and hope I don't miss too much today. I believe it's a genetic problem. Most of us, we like to look back to the greatness of yesterday, but if we expect to solve problems that we have today, we have to also have the courage to look back to the inferiority of yesterday. We have to look back to the sad aspects of yesterday, you see? And there are things in the yesterday years that we don't want in today's years. We don't want primitive tribalism.
Audience:
Right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Among us today. And I have been convinced that most of us still carry primitive tribalism as a burdensome thing that keep us working against each other. I'll to explain what I mean by primitive tribalism. When the Caucasians went to Africa to bring our ancestors over here for cattle slavery, they came behind a development in Africa that had really established civilizations par excellence on that continent. Timbuktu, Askia the Great, we can point to countries and point to great leaders. Most of them were Islamic who had raised civilization to a high level before the Caucasians went there and brought our ancestors here as slaves. Many of the contributions that we now give such great respect to, didn't come from Greece or from Rome, it came from Africa. Came from Al-Islam, and from Africa, even before the dawn of Al-Islam on that continent.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
These are facts of history. But there was also something else existing there that had not yet been embraced by civilization. And that is this tribal mentality. Whatever I have, I have to have it to myself. It has to belong to my tribe. My tribe have to keep it independent. I won't accept that tribes come together under one leadership. My tribe has traditionally been known for its leadership. I don't like to merge my tribe with your tribe. When Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, came to Arabia, he found the Arabs in that same state. The Arabs were divided against each other in little clannish groups under a tribal peace. And a great part of Africa was in that condition when our ancestors was brought to America. Many of our people were under narrow-minded, selfish, tribal chiefs.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Plantation life, plantation slavery exploited that and fitted one Bilalian, or one African-American against the other. Making the job of the slave master very easy for him because the slave was an enemy to his brother slave. He competed with his brother slave for favor. He would even kill his brother slave out of justice to get favor from his master. This is the ugly side of our history that we also need to look at because we carry much of that problem today. Many of us today, if it wasn't for us having that tribal selfishness, we could lend our support to decent, fair, honest human effort, coming from a leader like ourselves. But many of us can't live open in free support to a leader like ourselves because we are still dominated by that primitive tribal selfishness.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But when I read the book by Eugene Perkins, I had to agree with him and also disagree with him. I had to both agree and disagree. I agree with him that we do suffer a plantation problem, but I am aware that the plantation problem goes beyond the plantation. If we had our right minds as slaves, when we were freed, we would've taken better advantage, we would've made better advantage of our opportunities, but because we didn't have our right mind as slaves, when the opportunities came, we couldn't make good advantage of it. We have been sloppy in our effort to try and take advantage of our opportunity, very sloppy. The various proof of that is the fact that more money comes through hands than comes through the hands of any other minority in the country or in the world.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There's not another minority in the world that has more money coming through its hands than we do. I heard a figure just, not so long ago, a $130 billion a year come through our hands. They have been estimated recently of 90 to $130 billion that comes through our hands annually every year. At one time, our spending money amounted to more than the gross national production of Canada. But we have the greatest percentage on welfare. We have the greatest percentage out of jobs. We have the greatest percentage in crime. We have the greatest percentage behind bars. Those are facts that we as responsible people and especially leaders have to deal with. We have to face those facts, we have to deal with those facts, we have to find the causes. All problems have causes.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
If all this money is coming through our hands and our conditions stay relatively in the same place, what I mean by relativity, we go back in history to find it doing reconstruction time. Many Bilalians held more positions of prestige than we do now. We do not hold as many prestigious positions now that we held in the time of reconstruction. And I am not considering numbers that we grown so much. Even considering that, I mean, dismiss that, we dismiss the fact that we have grown so many million times over. Still, we don't have those positions. I think now we don't have one member in the Senate, is that right? We don't have one member now in the Senate. We did have Brooks in the Senate, but he's not in the Senate.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There is no member from this great majority that we have here, among the minority, over 30 million people, and we don't have one representative in the Senate. And we have a poor share of the seats of Congress, very poor share. Many of us are fools to think that our political situation is okay because you see a lot of preacher congressmen. A lot of a, preacher, a preaching captain. And you think all these preachers, oh, we got all these preachers around here, we must be doing all right politically. We are not doing all right politically. It is not the fault of the system, it's the fault of the community. The community of Bilalian people have not become sophisticated yet. We are not worldly sophisticated enough yet to really make the sacrifices necessary to compete with leadership outside of our race.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
These are the things that we have to say. These are the problems we have to look at and we have to find answers for them. I wouldn't talk if I didn't have answers [crosstalk 00:26:49].
Audience:
That's right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You should only talk when you have answers. [crosstalk 00:26:57]. Yes. Until you get answers you said listen and ask questions. And I thank my parents for raising me that way. Dear beloved brothers and sisters. I want to now mention another writer who is a Caucasian. This writer, his name is Christopher Lasch. I believe you pronounce his name, is L-A-S-C-H. He has a book out now called The Culture of Narcissism. In that book he also points out a very serious problem for the African-American people we call Bilalian. He says, in words, I'm using my words, but you can read it, get the book and read it for yourself. He says that black consciousness backfired on us. Now the term backfire is my own term. When it came to me, I liked it so much. I said, I got to say backfire and I have to agree with him.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
It backfired on us. It backfired on us because it wasn't our pistol to start with. We' picked up the white racist pistol, to use his pistol and it backfired on us. Don't you know the history of, you study the history of African people. They have never had any black superiority complexes. They've never had black supremacists, not in the history as we know it. No, they have always been a people who respected the individual for the individual content. And they never named themselves color. They never named themselves black. It was a Caucasian that named them black. They named themselves after human being characteristic. They named themselves after the divine characteristics. Characteristics that they saw in human beings that they felt were a reflection of what was in G-d. They named themselves love.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
They named themselves compassion. Then they named themselves worker. They named themselves names that had real social meaning.
Audience:
Right.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
They didn't name themselves black, white, brown, yellow. We're talking about identity crisis. Now look dear people, I hope that clock is right because I only have an hour on this day on the air, be on WJPC you know, and we take great pride in saying that WJPC belongs to a Bilalian. Dear beloved brothers and sisters, we're talking about identity crisis, color, color, look at other races. They are called by color names too, but who gave them those color names? They didn't give them to themselves. Caucasians gave those color names to them. There is a race called the yellow race, a red race, a black race, but how many Indians do you find saying, "I'm red."
PART 1 OF 8 ENDS [00:31:04]
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
How many Indians do you find saying, "I'm red"? How many Japanese do you find saying, "I'm yellow"? When you locate the people calling themselves after color, you find where the devil is. And I'm talking about now that devil that exploits racial differences to dominates all races. Oh yes. More than has been done in Europe and in America than anyplace else in modern history.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So in America, it's common to call each other black and white. And no matter how close I am to white, as long as there's any African blood in me, I'm black. This worked well for the slave master because he wanted to multiply the production of slaves. And if they all didn't fall under one identity, he would lose some of them while trying to produce slaves. So many immoral, filthy wretches among the Caucasian slave masters were so low that they would go with their black mistress to produce more slaves for free labor.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Many of us got our Caucasian looks not from the freedom that has been given to us here recently, and not from some wild-eyed, red-eyed buck that jumped on the mistress, knowing he would be lynched. No. Many of us got this blood in our veins from a white slave master daddy who did not make babies to enlarge his family, but to enlarge his free labor camp.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, dear people, knowing that the Caucasians called us all blacks during slavery time to keep the camp of slavery multiplying and full, that alone should make us put down color labels as a way of identifying ourselves.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The man who's called yellow, he also has another nationality. He has a proper name. Yellow is improper. He has a proper racial name. Chinese, Japanese. The man who's black in Africa, he has a proper name. If you call him black, he might answer to that, but he also has a proper name, a name more at home. He's Ghanaian. He's Nigerian. He's Swahili. He's Yoruba. He's Hausa. He's Sudanese. He has a proper name.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But when it comes to us, we're negro. What does negro mean? Black in Spanish. We are colored people. We are black.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
(silence)
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
... our babies from here on until we correct this thing. You might say, "Well, what answer do you have?" I have a natural answer. I have a natural answer. People have gotten their name from their father. They've gotten their name from their human family, social, national experiences.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We have a figure in our past that identify us with a religion that has dealt the blow against slavery and against racism and against color consciousness, more courageously and more intelligently and more effectively than any other religion that has ever come about. This is a fact of history. The religion of al-Islam is filled with denunciations denouncing racism, denouncing color consciousness, denouncing any unjust, immoral position of power or superiority over anybody.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
This is our religion. We have in our ancestry a figure that accepted that religion, a figure that was a caller to that religion. Not an ordinary caller to that religion. He was number one caller to that religion besides the prophets of that religion, Muhammad, upon him be peace. His name is Bilal.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So here is an identification that's not a color identification, but nevertheless, it permits relief from identifying with color inferiority. Because here is a man by chance was of our color. Here is a man by chance was African, black and nappy headed. But by good fortune, by divine fortune, he became a shining star in the history of al-Islam. Here's a man that we can look to not to draw some kind of power, some kind of security, some kind of courage for racial dominance, for militarism, but for humanitarianism to conquer those inhumanitarian things that have made the world miserable.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Can you point out to me a better ancestor? Mansa Musa he was great. But when I identify with Mansa Musa, I identify with another social or political leader. Askia the Great was great, but to identify with him is to identify with something political. Bilal was not in a political position of authority.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Bilal was in a prophetic role representing justice for the common man, representing the undying spirit of the common man, that spiritual dignity, that spiritual truth, that spirit for moral righteousness that would rather see the flesh dead than bend or knuckle under. That's what Bilal represents.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
He was put in the hot desert. In Arabia, the desert in the daytime goes up to 120, sometimes 130 degrees. The sun is so, so hot that it'll give you a stroke if your head is not covered with white cloth or some kind of cloth to keep off the heat.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
They put Bilal stripped on the hot desert and they placed heavy, hot stones upon his chest. They placed heavy, hot stones upon his chest to make him give up this dignifying religion that digify all people equally. He refused. Every time his master would send somebody to him to see had he given up, they'd find him shaking his head no, no. He said, "One G-d, Muhammad is his messenger."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
At one point, he was so weak from the heat and the torture that he couldn't speak. He raised his finger. He couldn't speak, but he had the finger, he had the strength to point one finger, and with that one finger, he said, "One G-d, one humanity."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
If we want to make some progress in the satisfying or correcting this identity problem in us, then we should look to what has come out of the Lost Found Nation of Islam in America. I'm talking to you on the outside now. You on the outside who take pride in being intelligent, who take pride in being schooled, who take pride in your degree, who take pride in your worldly experiences.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You on the outside that belong to the African American people, who we call Bilalians. I'm asking you to do yourself a favor. Do yourself a big favor, and study the development of the Lost Found Nation of Islam in America as it has now grown from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to myself. Study that, and I'm sure if you study it with the sober mind and the rational senses of a civilized, intelligent scholar, you will rush here to me and put your hand in mine and never separate from my leadership again.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
What we have in this 50 years experience is scientific proof, scientific proof that the Qur'an is the superior book, the superior knowledge, Muhammad is a universal prophet, and Warith Deen Mohammed is the leader for today.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, I have said that we have scientific proof. I can back that up. I didn't say we have Bible proof. I didn't say we have scriptural proof. I said we have scientific proof.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We got a few more minutes on the air, and I hope that we take good advantage of it. Dear beloved people, the Qur'an tells us miseducation is the main contributor to oppression and inequality. Miseducation, the wrong information.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We know as students, dear people, we know that progress improves with more correct information. The more correct information you have at your disposal, the better the chances for progress for you. There are those rare occasions when physical might, when brute force is depriving the people of their freedom. Those periods don't last long in history, because the humanity is one, and the moral judgment of humanity soon comes upon the group.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
It just takes a matter of time. It's only a matter of time that the full moral force of judgment comes down, bears down on the head of the group. How long did Hitler last? His rule was just for a spell, because he was a spellbinder who spellbound people. He wasn't dealing with the facts of humanity. He was dealing with prejudices He was dealing with misinformation. He was propagating untruths. And it just took a matter of time for him to stir up the wrath of humanity against him.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
His day was short-lived. Now, look, brothers and sisters. Think about the evil, inhuman forces that have dominated us. You think it has been a long time? It hasn't been that long. 300 years? 400 years? That's not long. If you don't believe it, ask the Irish. The Irish were 700 years under British domination. The Irish were 700 years under British domination. They had no dignity. They had no independence. They were treated as inferiors.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
700 years. We have only been under American or white, Western, Caucasian domination for a little over 300 years. If we consider all the people who came under this domination, since the voyages to this part of the world, by the Caucasian people from Europe, it can't measure tantamount to more than 500 years. The Irish were 700 years under it.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Dear beloved brothers and sisters, we have to understand this. The problem is information. That's the most serious problem, right? Information. If there is somebody in an inferior position and he really deserves more, he can't make it, that person needs right information. If there is someone responsible for holding him down, the one holding him down needs right information.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We have common enemies. Black, white, yellow, red, brown, all colors have a common enemy. That enemy is the one that feed all of us color consciousness. Feed all of us racism. To keep all of us divided one against the other so he, by himself, can rule all of us.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
"Oh, mister, I don't buy this stuff now about no spook, no demon ruling the world and setting races against each other." Well, this demon I'm talking about, buddy, he buys his suits where you buy your suits. He eats the same food you eat. He even drinks sometime and get high. He never gets on a habit, though. He can't afford it. He has to run your life.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And I'm talking about those who create and orchestrate racism in the world while they stay out of sight, pitting whites against blacks, blacks against whites, races against races. And at certain times in the history of man, we have proven fact that at certain times in the history of man, they shift the whole climate and put black supremacy in fashion. Then at later periods in the history of humanity, we have proof that they have shift the whole climate and put white supremacy in fashion.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We got that son of a gun's water on and we're going to cook him to death. The Earth is too small for that kind of foolishness. When the Earth was not yet populated as it is now and not yet connected with strong and fast lines of communication, and sneaking wretch like that had a place to hide. The world is too small today. The word goes around the world too fast for us to tolerate the presence of a devil human being who manipulate and exploit racism to keep himself in a position of eternal power.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Dear beloved people, my radio time is running out and my spirit is just building up. And that's usually the way it works for me, but that's okay. I hope to talk to you again on radio one day.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, in wrapping this up, let me point to some kind of humorous peculiarity, comical peculiarity, and close this out. You know in our search for identity, for comfortable mind, for comfortable identity, some of us reach out in the dark and grab anything that's not ourselves, because we figure that nothing can be worse than we are. Anything I grab that's other than myself is going to dignify me a bit more.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So some of us reach out and we get a artist tam and we wear our artist tam. We get us a smock and we wear our artist smock. Others go to the, what they call the army salvage, or what do they call that place? And we go and get us an old soldier uniform. Others go to the costume shop and get a desert garb. Some will take their regular dress and make a uniform out of it.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I remember when I was a boy, I used to see some of our menfolk wearing pop bottle tops around their hats. It was the closest thing that they could get to a five star general decoration.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The Nation of Islam has come through this experience as students studying the problem, although most of us weren't aware. We had our uniform, our FOI suit. Oh, and we really understood what it means to be in a new dress. Oh, we felt so free, so independent, so powerful, and our identity didn't weigh no more than that suit weighed. In our FOI suit. The sisters of the other military unit called MGT, they in their MGT suits.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And believe me, for most of us, that identity, that sense of newness, that sense of superiority, weighed no more than the clothes we were wearing. These are the facts.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I remember one day in Chicago at the dinner table of Honorable Elijah Muhammad, one of the sisters of the MGT and also was a worker there in the secretary staff of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, she was talking about the discomfort that the hat, the MGT hat was bringing to her, and she asked if they design a different hat that would be more comfortable.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Honorable Elijah Muhammad shook his head. And I said, oh, I said, "I wonder why that man, I wonder why this man didn't tell that sister that she could design a hat that would be more comfortable on their heads.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And it wasn't till here recently in my leadership that I understood that. I'd say maybe two and a half years ago. Not too recently. The man was so hurt seeing his people so ignorant that he actually wanted to hurt them to get them out of their ignorance. I guess he said, "Maybe if that hat choke your brains out, you would stop putting so much importance on that uniform."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I have noticed around here, around the masjid a certain character, you know? And I know there's an identity conflict. You see, they can't fool me. I've studied the neurosis for some time now. And I notice some of them are slipping about like slimy snakes. Others are walking very obvious, exhibiting such mannerisms or personality quirks that make your (unclear). "Ah, what is that?"
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You see one standing in the shadows of the building with half of his face shaded from the brim of his hat, pretended to read a newspaper. Another one slipping about round the premises pretending to have some abnormality, you know, pretending he has some mental disorder that's real. But he's actually, what he's doing, he's acting in the role of a secret agent. His own comfort comes in him thinking that he's a secret agent. He ain't crazy.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The sister that come out in that uniform down there on Madison and State, Randolph and Dearborn, and just snap heads around. Woo! Wah! They ain't always crazy. Tribal or plantation identity crisis.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, dear beloved brothers and sisters, now that we have discussed identity problems, and we promised that we were going to talk about how the community called, once was under the name The Lost Found Nation of Islam, how it has contributed.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Let me just say this in a two-minute summary. Even though we did have, too, this neurosis, this identity problem, and we found our new identity in uniform, in formality, in costume. We at least had a degree of independent mindedness that most of us did not have. And that degree of independent mindedness gave us the environment and the circumstances, the conditions and circumstances needed for pushing us forward to do something for self with our own hands.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
A community of very poor people, a community of very poorly educated people, grew into thousands and hundreds of thousands under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And with his courageous leadership, and I say courageous, because when we look at his distinct significance. We see it in his courage. Because he didn't have material power. He didn't have the academic achievements. He was from elementary school, and didn't go very far in elementary school.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But what he did have was courage. He had the courage to say, "I can make it without Harvard, without Yale, without the city hall, without the federal government. I can make it without the intellectual. I can make it without the professional." He had the courage to say that. He had the courage to get into business and have faith in his own limited knowledge and ability and his courage that he could make it prosperous.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I saw him myself working as a butcher when there was no skilled butcher around. I saw him butcher a whole cow. I'm talking about the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I saw the Honorable Elijah Muhammad butcher a whole cow, and he never was a butcher. He never slaughtered an animal. He got the chart and he followed the chart and he butchered a cow not once, many times. And he put nice, clean, decent
PART 2 OF 8 ENDS [01:02:04]
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And he put nice, clean, decent cuts of meat on display. He built a business. I saw him serve in the grocery store. I saw him go to the markets and order produce. I saw him build a grocery from the bottom. His education didn't go to the 5th Grade, elementary school. The man had courage. The man had faith in himself and his own individual worth. The man was fired up with a sense of greatness. So he was able to do, with his five years of elementary school, what many of you so-called professors haven't been able to do for 300 years. These are the facts we need to know, and we need to study, to see where is man's superiority? Does man have to wait for the college to come to him and give him his superiority?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Does man have to wait for the government leadership to come to him and give him his superiority? No, man has in him born, an inborn, man has a native, natural superiority. He only needs faith in it, and once he has faith in it, he can accomplish things of great worth for himself. That's a lesson that we have not just been told, that's a lesson, dear people, that we have experienced. All right. In the second half of this talk, we're going to deal with the other side of this problem. But I think that's enough for our radio audience today and for our visitors. That's enough to let them know that there is a new vision on earth, in America, and in this leadership. That there is a new sense, for the problems that we face. There is a new way of interpreting the problems that we face.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There's a Doctor on the scene who does more than just say you've got a disease, but He writes a prescription. That's what we want the people to know today in the radio audience, and those that have come to look at us today. And at this point, I hope that we will see you at another time. We have to talk to the private members of this community, because we have a lot of neurosis to deal with. As Salaam Alaikum.
Audience:
[crosstalk 01:04:58].
Speaker 4:
It's the truth, brothers and sisters, we now present to you once again, Imam Wallace D. Mohammed.
Audience:
[crosstalk 01:05:15]
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Allah u Akbar. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin. All praise is due Allah, Guardian Evolver Cherish and Sustainer of all the worlds. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah, I bear witness that there is nothing to worship, nothing to pray to except Allah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. Dear beloved Muslims, again, I greet you in peace, As salaam alaikum.
Audience:
[crosstalk 01:05:50].
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
If any of you would like to stand and just shake your legs for a few minutes, it's okay. If you want to take a couple of minutes just to stand and move about, it's okay. We are not going to be here all night, but still you should have a little break. I missed the earlier presentation from the Shakur family. Brothers and sisters, Shakur, yes, they are really terrific. And I missed the ensemble too, our Chicago group, but I'm sure they're scheduled to be on the program again, so I'll get a chance to hear them at the end. Allah is blessing us with the best. Oh yes, Allah is blessing with the best. The best singers, the best everything. I expect Stevie Wonder, to come over here and declare his Shahada pretty soon.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Dear beloved brothers and sisters, I want you to listen for right information. Don't listen to cheer, to applaud, listen for right information. There is an author of a book, I think it's a recent work on Al-Islam. But it just shows us the misrepresentation of this religion, that has been just a regular procedure, normal procedure for the so-called scholars on Al-Islam. I'm speaking of non-Muslim scholars. And I'm going to point to a misconception, maybe I could just call it an intention, a willful intention to misrepresent the religion. As it is seen in this book, as I saw it in this book, to open up a criticism of un-Islamic ideas, among us, and outside of us. This author is called Bernard J. Bamberger. Brenard J. Bamberger. He wrote the book called, The Story of Judaism.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
This author, he revealed something that has presented a problem for some innocent Muslims, I believe. And this problem is, the misinterpretation of the identity or role of Satan, commonly called the Devil. In this book, this author says that Judaism does not see Satan or the Devil, in a role that is altogether evil. In fact he says that Satan, as this particular author interpreted, and I say this because, I don't believe this author represents the whole of Judaism. I believe he represents a part of Judaism, but it's a fact that a great number of those people calling themselves Jews, believe that Satan or the Devil is not an enemy of G-d.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
They believe that he is acting in the role of an agent for G-d. And that his purpose is to help G-d, but under the screen, or the cloak of evil. Now, listen very carefully. I hope you're listening very carefully, because I told you before I started, that some Muslims, some innocent Muslims have been affected by this idea. Let me say before going any further, that this is one of the main evils that the Holy Quran attacks. But most of us don't understand it, because we don't understand the issues. So we read portions of the Quran, dealing with this evil, but since we don't recognize the issues, we don't make the right connection. This is one of the main evils, that Quran takes up.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Main purpose for the mission of Prophet Muhammad, upon him being in peace, upon him being the peace, that is to expose this wicked idea in religion that says evil can be done, for the sake
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
(Silence)
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
...so I'm not to die physically, unless I'm not good. Yes, you are to strive to keep your Muslim life, so that when you die, you die a Muslim. That's the first message. That's the general message. But there is a specific message there. Something that is of greater consequences, for the world society, when we look at the evil that has been put on goodness, the evil charge is made against righteousness. What is it saying? You're never to change your Muslim state. When you go outside of this masjid, and going among people that's not Muslim, and you put yourself off as a non-Muslim, you have died, other than a Muslim. You have allowed yourself to die, other than a Muslim. You must be a Muslim at all times. You must never change your Muslim consciousness. Your Muslim morals, your Muslim principles, your Muslim role. You must never change you Muslim character. You must never take off your Muslim faith. Never.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The moment you do, you'll be guilty of dying, in a state that was not Muslim. Let us go on. Allah says in the Quran, in the very beginning of the Quran, [Foreign language 01:15:21]. This is the book, there is no defect and no doubt, no guesswork in it. It's not a book of chance, it's not a book of experimentation, it's not a book allowing defects. This is the book. And again, Allah says in the Quran, that none touches it, except the purified one. None touches it, except the purified one. Now, let us associate the two. Allah says, [Foreign language 01:16:04] [Foreign language 01:16:13], not guess guidance. Not guesswork guidance, [Foreign language 01:16:17], guidance sure perfect guidance. For who? [Foreign language 01:16:21], for the G-d fearing. For the G-d fearing.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
For the pious, for those who are morally conscious all the time, of the judgment of G-d on them. All right? And the other verse I'll quote it says, that the impure do not touch it. Now, let us understand the two. They're saying the same thing. Guidance is only for those who properly respect Allah, and the impure can not touch it, meaning the impure cannot get its valuable teachings. They're not entitled to it. They are not worthy of it. They don't have the right intentions. They don't have the right disposition of mind, or heart. Why should they be in entitled to it? The valuable precious teachings and other teachings of that book. So Allah has put a divine protection on that book, that keeps the impure from touching its wisdom and it's precious science.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Dear beloved brothers and sisters, let us go on now. Allah says again in our Holy Book, He says this Book [Foreign language 01:17:45]. It has no hypocrisy. No double dealings. No two standards of justice. No two moral roles, playing one moral on this side, and then breaking that moral role in the other side. No. And what does Allah says of Prophet Muhammad. Brother imam if you read before, if you can get Quran, turn to the chapter [Foreign language 01:18:21]. When he get it, he will read it, he will read it. But let us continue to talk. Allah says of Prophet Mohamed, that he is reason missioned to warn people against all wrongdoing, against all evil. He's missioned to do this with open talk, with plain talk, with the talk, the language that reaches the average common ear.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
He's not sent to talk over the heads of the people. He was not sent, to talk around the ignorant. He was sent to talk so everybody will hear and understand. Let me read now in English, because it takes too long to read in Arabic and in English, and you have to understand, we read in English. The chapter is Al-Muzzamm and it begins with the name Allah, most gracious, most compassionate. I'll give you now the translation, my Abdul Yusuf Ali. Abdulah Yusuf Ali. I start with the first verse and we are going to read it through. 20 verses, the last one is longer. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,- Half of it,- or a little less, Or a little more; and recite the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones. Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message. Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise).
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
True, there is for thee by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties: But keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him whole-heartedly. (He is) Lord of the East and the West: there is no god but He: take Him therefore for (thy) Disposer of Affairs. And have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble (dignity). And leave Me (alone to deal with) those in possession of the good things of life, who (yet) deny the Truth; and bear with them for a little while. With Us are Fetters (to bind them), and a Fire (to burn them), And a Food that chokes, and a Penalty Grievous. One Day the earth and the mountains will be in violent commotion. And the mountains will be as a heap of sand poured out and flowing down.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We have sent to you, (O men!) a messenger, to be a witness concerning you, even as We sent a messenger to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger; so We seized him with a heavy Punishment. Then how shall ye, if ye deny (Allah), guard yourselves against a Day that will make children hoary-headed?- Whereon the sky will be cleft asunder? His Promise needs must be accomplished. Verily this is an Admonition: therefore, whoso will, let him take a (straight) path to his Lord!
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Thy Lord doth know that thou standest forth (to prayer) nigh two-thirds of the night, or half the night, or a third of the night, and so doth a party of those with thee. But Allah doth appoint night and day in due measure He knoweth that ye are unable to keep count thereof. So He hath turned to you (in mercy): read ye, therefore, of the Quran as much as may be easy for you. He knoweth that there may be (some) among you in ill-health; others travelling through the land, seeking of Allahs bounty; yet others fighting in Allahs Cause, read ye, therefore, as much of the Quran as may be easy (for you);
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
and establish regular Prayer and give regular Charity; and loan to Allah a Beautiful Loan. And whatever good ye send forth for your souls ye shall find it in Allahs Presence,- yea, better and greater, in Reward and seek ye the Grace of Allah: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Allah speaks truth.
New Speaker:
Dear beloved believers, this is one of the earliest verses, or revelations to Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace. It addresses him as Muzzammil . Muzzammil means wrapped up. Wrapped up. And it tells him to get up and go out and warn.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There is another chapter that came around the same early time, it's called (unclear). And this chapter orders Prophet Muhammed too. "Get up and go out." And it tells him to warn, tell the people that I am a warner, plain warner. Warning clearly, with evidence as is seen by the eye. This is what Allah tells him in the Quran, to say to the people. He is the last prophet. He's not sent just to do things for G-d, he's sent as an example to us, of how things are to be done for G-d. And If we don't do things in the way that he did them, we are disobeying G-d. Is that clear? It Allah had ordered him to come out of his wraps. And to go out and speak to the people in plain clear language, that they understand. Allah told him, "Clean your clothes. Clean your clothes, and your clothes and make them clean." How come he had to make them clean?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And he's not talking about just ordinary clothes, although that's the first message you should get as ignorant people. The first message you should get is to clean up your physical clothes. But this Quran is speaking to a much higher wisdom than that. What does Jesus' clothes represent in the Bible? "His robe shined with the brightness of the sun." You think it just means clothes? No, it doesn't mean clothes, it means something else. Your clothes, make them clean. Prophet Muhammad brought us wudu. Wudu is to clean our hands, exposed parts of the body, mouth, nose, face, and when there was not clean or acceptable water for Wudu, he instructed us to make tayammum. We can't use any earth for tayammum, we have to use clean earth, for tayammum. And we clean our hands, and with clean hands with tayammum, you have to wipe your face. Allah says in Quran, of the righteous, their face, their faces will bear a light.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
There will be light, a brightness upon their faces. It says of the unrighteous, that their faces will bear a darkness. If you say that, literally all of you that's black you might as well get out of Al-Islam. I'm sure you didn't tell the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, "Hon. Elijah Muhammad we can't except this. It say those who come up with dark faces, will be the unrighteous". So we know better. Because Allah tells us in the Quran that the blackness is the blackness of guilt, sin, for their sin, transgressions. It's very clear. But understand this. That it says, their face shall bear the light. What does that mean? That part of you that you expose must bear the light. It must bear the light. Darkness is about secrecy, is of symbolism (unclear). It's symbolism. Mystery. [inaudible 01:30:28] darkness. What Allah is telling us in the Quran, is that every Muslim must be open and upright at all times. Must be open and upright at all times, brothers and sister.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You can't play to hypocrites, you must be open and upright at all times. You can't wear a face that is not Islamic. You have to wear an Islamic face at all times. You can't be a Catholic priest showing the rituals and symbolism, and hiding the secret truth. You can't do that. Not and be a Muslim. Not and be a follower of the Quran. The Quran is called Al-Bayan. Al-Bayan means clear, express. Clearly expressed book. Not a book of ambiguity. Not a book of dead, cloudy, principals. A but a book that gives you the understanding in simple, plain language. And Allah puts all of on the spot, who will go and grab the foggy plans of things, the mystery, the symbolism. He put us all on the spot who attempted to do that. Allah says in the Quran, that this Book has been revealed, basic, fundamental, and allegorical.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Meaning that it has been revealed in very clear, fundamental, plainly expressed verses on one hand. Hand. And on the other hand, it has allegorical, or symbolic mystical verses. Now, here is the warning. Those who chooses the mystique verses, the allegorical, the symbolism, over the clean, plain simple expressed verses, have in their heart, a corruption.
PART 3 OF 8 ENDS [01:33:04]
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Is it clear? That is clear. Another place says, that the righteous, they will receive their record in their right hand. the innocent will get their record in their right hand. If you get it in your left hand you're in trouble. What does that mean? We cannot follow that old hypocritical philosophy or idea (unclear) some leaders are allowed, to operate and not let their left hand know what their right hand is doing. Or don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. You know what they say. You can't do that. That's forbidden. You can not do good secretly. (unclear) happened to the Nation of Islam (unclear) as unrighteous. I don't care how much good you do in your own heart. If your public image is unrighteous, you're going to get your record not in your left hand, you're going to get it in your right hand. Do you understand?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You're going to get your book in your right hand. You're going to get your book on the basis of what you did in this world that people [crosstalk 01:34:50]. You're going to get your book on the basis of what you did openly, not what you did hiding. Don't confuse the principles of this religion. Allah says (unclear) . The closest friend and your best warrior is your moral integrity. You don't destroy that to achieve no material gains. [crosstalk 01:35:43] (unclear section) ...in his right hand, not in his left.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now let me go on. I want to put a word on the board and I hope we can understand it. Have you ever seen a word so funny to spell, shoe. S-H-O-E. Shoe. Ain't another word I don't think in the English language that spells like that. S-H-U. S-H-E-W. But why S-H-O-E? Well sometime we're going to talk about that too.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
On television, radio, you never know. And it can use any connection with religion. Most likely you'll never know the meaning. [crosstalk 01:38:16].
New Speaker:


