11/24/1997
IWDM Study Library
WDM in Los Angeles California

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
We pray to Allah. Highly glorified is He that our efforts be acceptable before him and we achieve success. To the Imams, Iman Abdul Kareem Hassan and to all the Imams here today, I really enjoy meeting with you and being a part of any affair or event supported by you. I really appreciate the support that I get from you all. We appreciate those who come from surrounding area to be here today for this meeting. We enjoyed the banquet last night very much. It was a very big success as always. The theme for the banquet, the banquet that's given to honor our leaders who work in the community for the benefit of the community and the broad community.
The theme is those who are far most in their usefulness to society is the theme taken from Islamic teachings. The Quran directs us to be respectful of G-d, to give G-d due respect, regard Him as He should be regarded. That's the beginning of what we call taqwa, consciousness for Muslims. That is really a consciousness that every human being is created with. Every human being is created with taqwa. How do we know this? Our prophet has taught us that. Peace be upon Muhammad the Prophet who preached and guided us and showed us how to live this religion over 14 centuries, over 1,400 years ago. He taught us that.
We know that the Islamic life is a life in obedience to G-d and that G-d obligates us. G-d obligates us. The G-d that designed our creation, how we are made up and gave us life also gave us a direction for this life. We have it in our nature to follow that direction but we lose it as we come up in the world among unconscious people or among people that haven't been blessed to follow the best of their nature. Circumstances have warp their nature or took them out of their good nature that G-d created them in. We know in Al-Islam we say every human being is born a Muslim. Muslim is a word that means peace. Muslim means peace. Means peace-loving person, peace-seeking person. Muslim means a person's whose own nature require that they have peace in their souls.
The proper meaning of that term Muslim is that that person lives the life of a Muslim. We can have that in our nature and not know how to live the life that G-d has put in our nature. G-d gave revelation, guidance from himself, highly glorified is He to men and to women. Because the Quran saying, "And He revealed to the mother of Moses and He revealed to the mother of Jesus," two great prophets, peace be upon them. We know that G-d revealed His way and the way for us is given in the Quran. It's the last revelation from G-d to the world. The Quran. In the Quran is where we find the guidance for living the life that Allah created us for.
That's why it's called the religion, an accord with the nature of man created by G-d. Deen Al-Fitra is the religion after the original order for human life, design, pattern, makeup, and life, how we live that. G-d says with revelation, Khalaqa-He created Fa sawwa then He established the balance, the equality for life. Qadara-He empowered the human being's spirit Qadara He empowered the human spirit. These statements are addressing something that every human being got equally. Equally. We possess these things equally.
Khalaqa the creation that G-d wanted for us, how G-d wanted us to be in our picture, in our description, in our lifeform. G-d determined that originally. G-d determined that. We take ourselves out of that because of the world misguiding us. Khalaqa that's inherent in us. We have that inherent in us. That's our inherent character, our inherent creation, what we're born with, what this body possess naturally without anybody giving it to it. Fasawwa there's a balance that G-d wants for this nature, for this human being and this is the basis for our equality with each other. That we have the same created form and the same balanced life to make it possible for us to enjoy it. To enjoy it.
In that respect, on those two points, we are equal to each other. That's our equality.
Our common human creation that G-d made and the soul that G-d has given all of us to want peace, to want Seewa, to want peace, Seewa, balance, equality. Equality of recognition, equality of estimation, how do you esteem this person? How you value this person. You value him to be a dog or you value him to be above a dog? You value him to be an ape or value him to be above an ape? You value him to be a human being, man? You say that value is above the animals? Well, G-d said that value is the same for every man. That value is the same for every man that He created. Seewa Balance, equality.
It means both. Seewa means balance, Seewa also means equality. That's our equality but G-d has also given us something when He created us. He's given us something more than that in our natural creation that this body comes here with. That's what it means. The human body comes out of its mother with this. Already inside of it. Just have to live to see it manifest outwardly, to see it expressed, to mature and grow, be taught and learn so that these treasures or these skills and talents et cetera that G-d created us with, you will have expression in a civilized society or in a civilized environment.
Qadara He empowered the spirit.
His fellow man and enjoy equal entitlement to that land, to that society, to that government, whatever. That's what it was based upon. Why are these citizens granted equal entitlement to whatever this land, this great land, this great concept of democracy or whatever we want to call it? Offers. It is because G-d created them and endowered them with certain rights that you can't take away from them. Because government can't give them those rights. G-d gave them those rights when He created them. The rights were in their creation. They're entitled to life on this planet. Now, if you're going to set up another order on this planet to restrict how they should live, then your order should respect the rule of G-d for them. That G-d created them to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you're going to establish a nation or a government that's going to define their movements, how much freedom they have, and how much they're entitled to, then these visionaries who have faith in the direction that G-d revealed to man for his society, they concluded that the political order must respect the rule of G-d in man. A great society have lived over 200 years and nobody been able to defeat it yet. Don't underestimate this society.
Yes, you should have faith in the word of G-d. That's what I'm saying. All I'm saying, what I've set for is to say to you, you should have faith in revelation, you should have faith in the word of G-d. Because men that design the order that contain you and rules over you, they got it from the word of G-d. The vision was not their creation. The vision was given to them from G-d, from the word of G-d. Not that they perfectly obeyed the direction in the revelation or in Quran, or in the Bible for the ideal society. I'm not saying they perfectly obeyed but I'm saying that they had a respect for G-d's guidance and they did the best they could to establish an order that respected G-d's guidance for man, for human beings.
In keeping with the interests of that theme last night, we have the subject today, our plan for the community's future includes an obligation to society. Our plan for our community, the Muslim community in America, its future includes an obligation to society. Not just to the Muslim society but to the society of America, the American people. That's what we mean. Because we all have ties to each other, basic ties. We are basically tied to each other by virtue of our rights to citizenship as citizens of this country.
A doctor once was hearing the complaints of his patient and his patient didn't really have any real complaints except in the mind. The complaints were of the mind not of the body, physical body. This person was living a very unhappy life and needed too much help. Needed more help than some two-year-old children expect. The doctor had been struggling with this patient for a long time and the doctor said, "I'm going to give you a different prescription today." The person said, "What is it?" "Forget about yourself and go out and find somebody that needs some help and help them."

Sometimes that's the only way you can get help for your own self. You have to take your mind off of your own problems and off of your own self and find somebody as miserable as you or more miserable and go try to help them. That'll be the cure for you.

G-d has created us that way. Yes. G-d has created us that way. That the more we are concerned about others, the more we're able to benefit from our own life. As our interest in others grows, we're able to do more to make our own life better. And the less we have interest in others and we build up nothing but interest in my own self, on ourselves, the more selfish you become. Sometimes we don't get the wrath of this, I would say, injustice to the people that we live among and with. None of us came here by ourselves. We had a parent or if we didn't we had somebody to step in the place of that parent and care for us. We couldn't manage by ourselves as little infants and toddlers and et cetera.
None of us have managed by ourselves.
Before we are aware of what we need personally, other people are given of themselves to us. The best benefit will come to us when we do the same thing they did. Find you somebody that needs help and do your best to give them some help. The Muslim community is designed so that we don't have to all go out looking for somebody to help, we just follow the direction in Al-Islam and support our honorable leaders that deserve, have proven that they're worthy of that support. Support them and the community as an effort not personally. Not a personal effort but a community effort. We will be part of a community effort that will be helping others and you get a sense of fulfillment just by belonging to that community and supporting that community.
You get a sense of fulfillment. You know your little bit, no matter how small it is, is contributing to the betterment of a bigger group, of more than just yourself. That's why people want to belong to an organization. That's why they want to belong to a movement. That's why they want to belong to church or mosque, a synagogue. They want to belong there because they have a chance for personal, individual fulfillment by doing something big. Bigger than what they could do if they were just acting alone.
G-d has created us for a big job, big responsibility. G-d has created us for group responsibility, collective responsibility, community responsibility. If we live like this we can't help but benefit others. You're not just going to benefit Muslims if you live like this. If you live with that perception, that recognition of what your life is and how G-d wants you to live it, you are going to benefit anybody that lives in close proximity with you and observe how you live. For your model alone is going to be help to them. Even though you're not having any direct dialogue or direct exchange with them. Just by them witnessing your life is going to be a support for them too if they need that support.
That's why G-d says that he has made us to be a model community, a witness before mankind of what G-d wants in the life of people or for their order, for the order of their life. G-d helps other people by setting up models and we think we have to do Dawah. We have to go out and invite them. Yes, we do. We have to go to the extent. And recognize its merits, recognize its value to mankind not just to Muslim. Because after all what we have as a Muslim life is structured upon what G-d made that we call humanity. G-t didn't take out humanity and put Islam in. G-d revealed to man what it his true humanity what is his true humanity. Then G-d just like you would fit one piece of a structure that's designed to fit another piece. Here's a natural structure but it's got grooves and angles and everything. We need a piece that's fitting not that changes design. G-d knows the design, the human nature that he created, the human life that he created. He knows the design.
He gave us Al-Islam to fit that design. To fit it perfectly without altering the creation that He'd already created. Did G-d alter the creation of Muhammad(saws)? Did G-d alter the creation of Muhammad the peace and the blessings be on him? No. G-d reveals to those who will be called to the way it will come to Al-Islam and identifies with Muhammad as a Muslim under His leadership. He revealed to them that his life was already a Muslim life before he called him to a prophet.
G-d says he's already lived a lifetime. He has already lived a lifetime among you. I find nothing wrong with his life. I didn't say Muhammad reform yourself. G-d didn't say to Muhammad, "Muhammad, reform yourself." G-d said to Muhammad, "Come. let me show you how to reform the world."

G-d was pleased with the creation Muhammad in his own human creation. G-d was pleased with him. He was a man excellent in the mold that G-d had made for him. Human mold that G-d made. G-d says that his model, his human model is good enough for any people who believed in G-d and the last day. Not just Muslims. Allah didn't say Muhammad's model was good for his following. Here's an excellent model good enough for all of his followers. No. It's more than that. It's the model that he created every human being for. It's the model that He created every human being with. But they are taken off of the pattern that G-d made for them. Here's a man without reverence for G-d remain on that pattern that G-d made for him. That he was chosen to be the messenger of G-d. The last of the prophets.
We cant be useful to all the members of the society, those outside of our religion if we're going to establish ourselves in some position that they can identify with just as we identify with it. G-d doesn't want us to see firstly a practicing Muslim, G-d wants us to first see a Muslim model that He created when He created the human being. The Muslim model. Muhammad the Prophet, he recognized that in his words when he said that those who are of excellent character before Al-Islam are of excellent character now and he was the top person among them in that excellence. Yes. But his companions also were excellent too, weren't they? Before Al-Islam. Abubakar, Ali, young man, teenager, young but excellent in his human nature and others. Not just them. All of them, excellent in their human nature.
Because of that, they called the Hunafa after Hanif the word Hanif Abraham is called Hanif because, like Muhammad or Muhammad like Abraham before G-d called him, he was already excellent in his human nature. The Christian report on him, Jew and Christian report on Abraham is that he was just a model human person by nature. If people did something for him, he wanted to do something in return He didn't like to get favors and not return favors. They say if he traveling in a strange land, he didn't want to be a burden on that strange land. He would suffer rather than have himself be a burden on other people. This is Abraham according to the Christian reports about him. Bible reports on him.
He was an upright man. That's what he's called in Christianity too. The man of faith and uprightness. Faith in G-d and uprightness. Honorable life, conscious life, decent life. High standards of human excellence. That's Abraham and he's called father Abraham. Muslims have lost their basic life. They lost it. We have followed tradition like people before who received revelation from G-d. We have followed tradition, conformed to customs and have lost the perception of our basic life. G-d didn't reveal something to us that disrespect what we are. G-d wants us to know the high value that we have in our creation before any revelation comes to us.
Is G-d such a G-d that creates a junk and then have to give revelation to help that junk become something better than junk? That's not the G-d. All of these are signs of what's possible for man. That's why G-d created everything to reveal to us what's possible for us. Its possible that you get so much away from your human life you become that snake. You become just like that serpent. Cold, deceitful, poisonous, treacherous. We know people become that. They become just that.
Man is made honorable. By nature, he's made honorable. G-d says, "Certainly, we made noble, honorable all the sons of Adam." Why is it put that way? Why didn't it say certainly, we made honorable all the sons and daughters of Adam? It could have been said that way, couldn't it? Why doesn't it say certainly, we made noble and honorable all the children of Adam? No, certainly, we made honorable all the sons of Adam. You know what racism is based upon in the West? The world was generated again, started all over again and that it was his sons that gave

