October 22nd 1995
IWDM Study Library

Montgomery AL Address: Part 2
Imam W. Deen Mohammed


IWDM:
True Islam and the west. Looking for the compatibility, the agreement, the similarities, and the news of their understanding are reaching some of the [inaudible 00:00:22] in the west. Some of them are beginning to study Islam too. The social idea in Islam, the political idea in Islam, and particularly the economic idea in Islam. To see if maybe this religion that we have not known but took for granted may have something to offer western civilization. That may strengthen it more and give it a promise for a longer future or greater future. This is happening right now. This is serious business. I myself heard a powerful western thinker say that maybe Islam might have something to contribute to our economic system.


What makes America so special and great is that America never believes that she has been all she could be. America is an idea, a country in progression. It is a country in evolution. Even if idea is an idea in progression, it's an idea in evolution. And idea that is evolving, and evolving, and evolving. Look at how the leaders of our government before the union was formed. The confederacy. Look at how it regarded it's public. Look at how it regarded it's subjects and then look how after the union of certain mind sets survived, that didn't respect the African American or the black citizen. Didn't get equality with other citizens. Gradually the nation changed and they themselves saw the direction for change that was express ... and we're free.


Constitution wise we're free and something gave support, it's in the constitution of the United States, gave support for them to establish equal opportunity and employment. That everyone is to have equal opportunity and employment. All of this has been born out of the document we call the United States constitution. It is an elastic constitution. The preamble to that constitution sets the stage, it sets the stage for what should follow and what should not follow. When laws are written into the constitution ... pardon me, clauses are put into the constitution that are discovered later that went against the language of the founders, the founding fathers then that clause is a question, and in time those clauses are abrogated, done away with. Write new clauses that are more consistent with the original purity, the intent of the founding fathers.


The constitution, denied us folk voting rights, made property the condition for voters. You had no property you weren't supposed to vote. Many things happened to deny us our freedom. Women were not allowed to vote. They were seen as not having the right to vote and they had to wait too a long time before they got their right, but something, a power, an original purity, in the language of the founding fathers set the stage for all these great things to happen. For the evils to be removed. This is the constitution of the United States. A precious document. Very precious document.


We know that not only Muslims but Christians,[inaudible 00:06:03] citizens, they don't like what has developed in the name of the separation of church of state. The secular world and secularism that seems to be getting more and more approval and growing bigger and bigger over our lives. Over our religious lives. This is not something that's welcomed by decent religious people. They don't like it that sin has more presence on television than holiness. They don't like it that the [inaudible 00:06:56] district invite more wrong than right. They don't like that and we don't like it.


We should look not just at our differences, we should look to see where and what measure are we the same. Christians worship G-d, love G-d, we do too. Christians believe life should reflect faith in G-d, we do too. Christians want to preserve a G-d fearing world, a G-d fearing environment so that their children will come up knowing G-d, we do too. We are citizens in the same living space. Muslims and Christians and Jews but because the Christians are so numerous I'm talking about Christian more than the Jews. We are sharing the same living space. What happens to the block or to the neighbourhood is going to affect all of us on the block or in the neighbourhood. What happens to the town will affect all of us that are living in the town.


If the media gives more presence there and more authority to Satan all of us are going to be affected by the power of Satan on the media. All of us. Christians and Muslims. Then it makes good sense for us to look at what we share in common, what we want together and the life that we have to live together on this earth in America. Look at that and say " I need these people as my friends". We have greater odds to fight. We need all the friends on our side we can get. Now I believe that sensible thinking Christian should be thinking that way and should be looking at the Muslims say "their numbers are growing" . "Those people believe a lot like we believe, they will be our supporters. They will be on our side against drugs. They will be on our side against criminals. They will be on our side against pornography. Child abuse".


How much more that is important for us who are a small minority. That we're going to write this big Christian majority off as all Kafirs. Our enemies? I need them as my friends. The odds that I'm up against in America are just too great. I don't believe little David could handle this Goliath. This Goliath of deception, this Goliath of corruption, this Goliath of greed. I don't think little David could handle this Goliath that is in he modern world today. I got some relatives that are Christians. I got to say they're my enemies too. They can't accept Islam, you my enemy. I never read anywhere in the Quran that G-d says to a Kafir "Accept Islam or else". G-d says to the Kafir tell us to say to the Kafir "you have my way I have my way, you got your religion I got my religion. To you is yours and to me is mine. You ain't never going to accept mine I ain't never going to accept yours" That's what G-d tells me to say.


[inaudible 00:11:23] preaching in South Africa for, to christian preachers who are Kafirs. Why don't we just read that one story to her. If all Christians are Kafirs why did he have to go and do all that Bible research, volumes and volumes, pages and pages. Booklet after booklet. Video tape after video tape, all by Deedat Imam Deedat. The nobel prize winner in the Muslim world. He received the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia nobel prize. They don't call it the nobel prize. It's equivalent. They call it equivalent. I call it the nobel prize. Why is he writing all those arguments for and straining his brain. Putting all that research down, On the Bible and everything and going to present it to preachers to convert them to Islam. If they are Kafirs why don't we just say [Arabic 00:12:30]. G-d told him what to say, why don't he say it to those Kafirs.


I wouldn't be dealing with these things if they were not in our way. If we are to have a future in America we have to get these things out of the way first. Muslims believe in clean upright behavior. Good Christians believe in the same. The moral thinking of a Muslim is too near to the moral thinking of good Christians for us to look at them as enemies. The ethical thinking of Muslims civilization is too near to the ethical thinking of good western civilization for us to think of western civilization as our enemy. We can present an argument to them and we're supposed to argue, even with those people that we believe to be sincere. If they have problems and if we think we can make a contribution to a correction, G-d wants us to start to make that contribution.


We don't believe Christ Jesus is the son of G-d. We don't believe G-d has a son. He has only dependents that He created and all people are dependents of G-d. If G-d was to accept, to [inaudible 00:14:42] holding to the IRA he would have to put every human being alive on this planet down as his dependent. Allahu Akbar. We are not to part with them, we are not to part with them, no. G-d says [inaudible 00:15:10] with them in the best way, with beautiful and excellent preaching. That's what G-d says to us [Arabic 00:15:26]. That's what G-d says and [inaudible 00:15:32] with them with beautiful and excellent preaching. Don't present an argument that's intended to aggravate them, to insult them, to speak down to them or write them off as decent people.


G-d doesn't want us just to have a discussion with the Christians like that. He wants our discussions with Christians to be sincere, respectful, beautiful words and excellent choice of language, wisdom and beauty. Muslims have a destiny. We don't like to use any term that the west use. Just because the west talk about a destiny now it's unacceptable for a muslim to use that term. Destiny. Prophet Muhammad promised that he will meet his followers who follow him, the staunch followers, disciples. Promised that he'd meet them at the water pool. If it is in your heart to meet him there then that's a destiny. That's a destiny. He set a destiny for the Muslims. I believe in [inaudible 00:17:08] to the Muslim. You are best community, evolved for all people [Arabic 00:17:20]. Evolved or brought out for all people.


G-d says the Muslim he brought evolved the Muslim community of the world. He evolved it or brought it out not just for Muslims but for all people I believe when G-d said that, G-d called us to a destiny. He called us to take up the Destiny. We know that the community under the leadership of our prophet [inaudible 00:17:59] it was that community in it's beauty, in it's purity and it was a community brought out for the glory of all people because we know that the contributions, conscience and morality. Decency and civilization reached the west and now the whole world is getting the benefit of that early rise of Islam.


The whole world is getting the benefit. The numbers we use. The algebra, the astronomy, the medicine and on and on and on we can name many areas that if the contribution of Islam was not there, the west couldn't be advanced as it is today. We know that that community did prove to be a community evolved that brought op sort of good of all people. What about today? What is the popular thinking today? Do we still believe that Muslims should have all people in their hearts, all people in their interests that benefits them? That all people get the benefit? Our prophet said in agreement of our not saying agreement. He said, I would say in line with or in the spirit of G-d's word ... he said "The best of you is the one who's most beneficial to people, all people [Arabic 00:19:31]. Allahu Akbar. "The best of you is the one who is beneficial to all the people". Not just to one people but to all the people. Praise be to Allah.


We have a destiny. Our destiny is a global destiny because Islam is a global idea. It is an idea to revolutionize the globe. That's what Islam is. It is an idea put in the world to revolutionize the whole world. Not speaking of revolution in the same meaning that the political world has it. No. I'm speaking of revolution in the language of the natural environment. Of an area of the earth was barren, realize change in the environment, change of climate or some other change and tat barren area becomes a productive area, producing rich crops where in before it did not produce rich crops. That's a phenomenal change. That's a revolution. That's a natural revolution for that particular land. When a people realize a change from rocky, sandy, stony ground of their own souls and mind to a productive flourishing soul and mind, that's a revolution for those people. Islam wants to bring about that kind of revolution in the souls and minds of the people on this earth. All of them.


Islam has a very potent idea that it wants to bring to the souls and minds of the people on this earth so that they can enter them and affect the climatic change for their souls and their thinking. So that their souls and their thinking that was just sands and rocks, boulders and stumps and things dying will change from that to a flourishing paradise. A beautiful flourishing rich paradise. That's what Islam wants to do. It wants to do this not for one people but for all people, not for one nation but for every nation. This is what Allah says in his holy book. Islam comes with an idea to address the need for man to see himself as one community, not just Muslims as one community but man as one community. Allah says [Arabic 00:22:32]. The people themselves were once one community.


Ask any Arab who has a command of his language. Any student of Arabic grammar. Ask him, what does that imply? He will tell you that when you're [inaudible 00:22:51] you shouldn't say the people were once one community, you should say the people are one community. The wisdom in the language is to tell us though it is not presently it was intended to be that way by G-d. It ain't saying what exactly was past but what G-d intended it to be. Meaning with G-d's plan. When the plan was with G-d, his plan that man be one community on this earth, therefore any Muslim who understands this wisdom [Arabic 00:23:22]. Anyone who understands that he's supposed to look at the world of mankind and say "Man is one family, man is one community".


The Muslim is to work for one destiny, his destiny should be a global society under G-d where all the members in that society gets the same respect from G-d and therefore must get the same respect from each other. Support is by faith and universal principles and values. That's what we should be working for, a moral world in it's best [inaudible 00:24:21]. An ethical world in it's best state. A world that will not violate it's own rules of moral truth or ethical truth. That it will be consistent and that's where Islam is [inaudible 00:24:42] more on the issues than any other idea I know. Islam is on the issue of moral consistency. You must have moral consistency. Don't say this is right for you and not right for him. Don't say this is right for your nation and not right for the other nation. Don't say this is right in the mosque but not right in the market place. The muslim makes the market place his mosque. It is Jumu'ah and he's in the market place and there's enough of them supporting the blind and made sure he'd have Jumu'ah right in the market place. That's Islam that's [Arabic 00:25:28].


We should be struggling to have social excellence and economic gestures. That is the destiny for Muslims. Religion for us ... is our whole life. Most important in the religious life is to recognize that the G-d the created us created us with a spirit to excel. A spirit to excel is the spirit in everything living. Everything living is born with a spirit to excel. It comes here weak, with weak muscles and in a few hours, a few days we see strength where there was no strength yesterday. We see ability where there was no ability yesterday and if you keep watching that life you see it grow and grow in more ability and in more better performance until it reaches the excellence of performance that G-d created it with.


The human being has been created here on this earth to perform and they're created excellent, in born excellence that G-d talked into our life system, that's motivating us and pushing us requiring us to do better, to perform better, to have better, to want better, to see more, to excel. G-d created us like that. The prophet said that G-d has prescribed excellence for everything. It's inscribed into your own creative make up. The Muslim community as a religious community, it is evolutionary life. It's life on the rise, it's life t developing into better and better form.


The Muslim community is our destiny. Community is our destiny. We are created here on this earth as individuals and families to follow guidance and grow into community. We may say the destiny of every social group is community. The state that is desired in our human soul even before we are bale to walk around the table, still crawl on our hands and knees, it's community establishment. Man was put here to serve in community. Serve creator but serve creator in community. G-d I repeat this. You are the best community evolved for all people. Excellence for one's community is a native inherent hunger in the soul of every person.


[inaudible 00:29:27] how comes we can't be satisfied. How come there's not enough to be James Brown or Aretha Franklin? Or the drunkards on the corner, or the dentist down the street, or the mechanic across the road. How come it's not enough? How come everybody got to be a [inaudible 00:30:00] before they can feel free? How come we need all that sense of power? To have lasting peace in the soul, man must contribute to community excellence. In this country every citizen is invited to make a contribution. No citizen is discouraged. They don't say this government has gone as far as it can go in excellence. They say citizens rise up and make a contribution. They don't say America society and it's way of life is the best it can be but it welcomes any citizen who wants to rise up and lead it further down the road or further into the road of this excellence.


This is a free society. This is a democratic society. Don't say it's not and sit still and do nothing. If you don't believe it then say it. I believe the one that said this is a liar, didn't mean it, but they said it. Go and make them live up to it. Ain't that what made our leaders great? Paul Douglas, Du Bois, Dr. Martin Luther King. I'm sure that they said "we know these people don't believe what they say themselves. They believed that we wouldn't be in the condition we in. Wouldn't have one law for the and one law for us. We know they obviously don't believe this beautiful language but they said it. As a legalist I can stand upon it and argue with them and force them to respect it."


You who feel that America's not for you criticize your distrust maybe you're. Maybe they are hypocrites, but make the hypocrite live up to his own lie that he told and said it was true. That's what we've been doing. That's how come we've got this far. [inaudible 00:32:34] Douglas and Gr. Martin Luther King, we've gotten this far because we said "Look, what you said. Live up to it." You made this law. Now live up to it. You made it the guideline for your law, now live up to it. If you that distrustful. You think the white people don't want you and don't like you and they lying to you when they say this country's for everybody. I'm telling you okay, I'll accept that. Keep that in your heart. They're all liars but make the liar live up to what he wrote or live up to what he says he will support. Force him to honor what he says he stands by whether you believe in him or not.


That was my decision many years ago. After everything the world says if there's something I can use I'm going to take it and force the to respect it. We have holy Quran and we say that we are under authority of G-d's word the holy Quran, right? If I'm your Imam and I don't treat you right maybe I lie when I give you those real beautiful [Arabic 00:34:08]. Maybe I'm not much a hypocrite but you got the word, you got the law against me. Don't you act as I want you to act. You act upon the law. You take the Quran up act upon the Quran and then remember the Imam tell you "Hey, why you doing that? You can't do that" say "But Imam, this is the book that you read to us, the one that you preach ...". it is right here Imam. That's what our people did up from slavery to the lawmakers of this land. They picked up the idea and said "look you and I can conforming to this beautiful idea" and they forced them, shamed them and made it very uncomfortable for them to go on doing the other things that they were doing against the image of Christ Jesus peace be on him and against the purity of the constitution.


Why can't we use that same wisdom, that same powerful wisdom and strategy. Religion asks believers ... religion asks believers to cherish that national life, that national community. We find in scripture where G-d referred to the people of faith as being a nation and reminding them that he made them a nation or aided them into their national life. For the religion wants us to respect and cherish our national communities. Religion wants us to do this in obedience to G-d and that means we're to value humanity and to have our national life respect humanity and make a contribution to humanity at large. Serving Allah, the serving G-d in this particular way. In this very intelligent way.


Serving G-d is beneficial to all people. G-d wouldn't want us to serve him if it wasn't good for all people. When we serve G-d as a [inaudible 00:37:27] of G-d we are the friend of all men. All mankind. We are the friend. We are a helper to all people if we serve G-d in the right way. If there's an urgency in our life on earth more than any other urgency, more important than any other thing staring or moving in our hearts and souls, it is the need to have Muslim communities in America. Muslim communities in America. We have to stop thinking of just having Muslim meeting places in America, or Muslim house of prayer in America or Muslim schools in America. Allah says he made us not a Muslim prayer house. Allah didn't say he made us a Muslim school. Allah said he made us a community. A community of excellence.


A community of excellence that makes the contribution beneficial to all people. That's what G-d says, then our destiny, our mission on this earth wherever we are, in America or in England or in Saudi Arabia. Wherever we are our mission should be to advance the Muslim community so that that Muslim community be not only testimonies to our obedience to G-d but also a testimony to the fact that we're the friend of all people. We are the helper of all people. That we work not just for our future but for the future of mankind. That's what G-d asks of us in the Quran. There's not an educated Muslim here that can debate with me and prove me wrong. I'm going to do something I don't usually do. When I finish I'm going to invite you to debate with me.


I think it'd be unfair for me to be warming up here for the fight and not give you a chance not to think about. You start warming up for the fight. Even something else we have to recognize. A person who wants to be correct must first be able to see clearly the important things hinging upon their interests. He wants to be correct, what is the interest. I don't care what it is. You want to be correct in this, you want to be correct in that. I don't care what it is. Whatever the interest is, you should be able to see clearly the important thing hinging upon that. What's directly tied to that? What's directly affecting that? If you don't you're going to mess up.


We are in America and we want Muslim life in America. We want Muslim establishment in America. I know I do. We want a future for Muslim establishments in America. I do. We want to see Muslim neighborhoods that has a mosque, a mini mosque, a school, [inaudible 00:41:09] and a thriving Muslim business community and Muslims turning the lights on and off. Not in the house, in the city, for the city. I want to see that. Somebody's doing it. Why not me. If you want to see Muslims in the airlines, Muslims in trucking lines. I know I do. Muslims with a train. On more than on train. Muslims with ships bringing goods across the water and taking goods to places over sees. I know I do. I want to see Muslims as big as anybody else. G-d says we the best. He didn't say you 2nd best. G-d said you the best.


If I'm going to look with hope to that destiny the I also should be looking to one day have as much influence over the wealth of this country as anybody else. That's big talk. You shouldn't be surprised. My father had 3 years education from Sanderville Georgia. Talking about 70 years ago or 80 years ago. You know what that 3 years elementary education was for a black person sitting there 80 years ago in Georgia. That''s all he had. He leaned how to read and write on his own and he had the courage to say :Get up and support yourself. Make job for yourself. Buy farmland, produce for yourself. Buy transportation, transport yourself. Buy airplane" and you did it too. Yeah you did it. I got a chance to go as a passenger on that plane. Though it shouldn't be no surprise to you that his son is now a holding a Quran and saying these things. That ain't no new tone. Same tone.


We have to have some [inaudible 00:44:00] and observation. We are in a very very powerful country. I think most of us even those that are so bitter they have become psychotic. Just insane with bitterness. Even us I think we will admit that ain't nobody equal to this country in power. No other nation equals this country in power. How long can ... but see you don't even think rationally. Allah wasn't even in the [inaudible 00:44:35]. I said nations not Allah. That's the one [inaudible 00:44:41] with me when I get through. He's ready now. He said he warmed up enough. He's ready. I just heard him say " I was warmed up enough for you when I came in the door."


In this powerful country we should want to see in positions of leadership extraordinary characters. Persons with extraordinary character. Not no average old run of the mill character. Old weak person and his character that can't hold up to somebody offering him a thousand dollar bribe, not to mention a million dollar bribe. We shouldn't want to see people like that in position of power. We should want strong characters in our leader. Strong character. Strong character in our leader. We should want that our government has the best leadership.


If we don't like what we're getting, we should pray to G-d and look among our children and see who's coming along. Look for bright ... every time they live and grow up under you look. See if he maybe that next leader. If he may have that genius, that intelligence, that discipline, that respect, those qualities that we need in the president of the United States like Collin Powell had. We should be looking for it. When we find him we should give him the support. Give him the support. Let the community know. Spread the word. We have a special child here with special abilities and if you're not able to afford to send him to the best school let the community get behind you and we all send him to the best school. Allah Akbar. We all take him up as our child, as our concern. We take him up because we want to have better future for ourselves, better future for this great nation. Wouldn't that make more sense than what we're doing now. Weeping and wallowing in the bitter foul, struggle tears of the past instead of coming up and saying the future's longer than the past.

