10/26/1997
IWDM Study Library
Political Responsibility
Richmond, VA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
IWDM: Thank you. Thank you. We greet as Muslims, "As Salam Alaikum."
Audience: Alaikum as salam.
IWDM: That is peace be unto you. We are very happy to be again in the city of Richmond as your guests. Guests of the Muslim community and guests of the city. We appreciate the special way that we have been received here by the mayor and the establishment here in Richmond.
I'm going to have to get some help for my eyes. My daughter tells me I need a hearing aid too.
I can't wear that hearing aid yet. We begin always asking G-d to accept us. Accept our intentions, accept our presentation and give us the results that G-d will be pleased with. We've chosen to speak on political responsibility here in the great city of Richmond and that is because I have some knowledge of the African American professional class here in the city of Richmond. And the leadership, the African American leadership that has been with the city for many generations. Having a respect for your professionals and their interests in this city and in the future of this city is what caused me to select this topic because I felt they would appreciate it. I hope they will appreciate it. My prayer is that our leaders, our African American leaders will appreciate what I will be saying to you today.
I am a Muslim first and last. I believe in G-d who created everything, cares about all of us. And a follower of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah. The prophet of our holy book. The book that's now read by 1.2 billion people on this earth. And theyre in every quarter of the world. I follow him the best I can. I believe in him as G-d ask us to as Muslims. G-d in our holy book says, "Believe in G-d and believe in His messenger." And G-d asks us to obey G-d and obey His messenger and I have accepted all of that. I strive to obey G-d. I've done that since as far as I can remember. Because my mother made sure I knew that obedience was to G-d.
I also believe that the best way I can obey, believe in and obey through my belief in Muhammad the prophet who was on this earth about 14 centuries and 18 years to 17 years ago. The best way that I can demonstrate my faith that I believe in him is to try and support and act upon the things that were most important to him. I believe the reason why many Muslims misrepresent themselves is because they are not aware of the way that we're supposed to live Al-Islam. We are aware somewhat of our religion in terms of what is faith, what is Al-Islam, what is faith and what are the practices, or the ritual practices in Al-Islam. Such as prayer and charity and fasting and visiting the holy sacred precinct. The Kabah, the house built by the prophets Abraham and his son Ishmael. Peace be upon the prophets.
We are aware of those things. But when it comes to being aware of how Al-Islam is to be lived. I think most of us haven't been given a situation where we can know that or learn that and practice it. And for some reason or another. And I believe I know the reason. Lifestyle in America especially in the big cities, keep you so busy, you hardly have time to put on your underclothes. And those are the most important clothes.
I thought I should make that clear first. That I'm a conscious Muslim, a conscious Muslim. I love it, I love it so much and I gave my life for it. In our religion according to the teachings of Muhammad the prophet, the prophet that G-d gave their holy book to, the Quran. In our religion, we're to firstly want to qualify, to be responsible for our individual personal life. We're not to want our individual personal life to be a burden on another person if we can carry our own weight. That's first, that's number one. That means the brother shouldn't put his cross on his wife's back and tell her to carry it. And a sister shouldn't put her cross on her husband's back and tell him to carry. We are supposed to bear our own crosses.
I believe the cross is all about being able to live with conflict. Live with conflict and yet live honorably. Live with conflict but live honorably. Now, each and every one of us should be willing, after hearing it from G-d said it to you as a Muslim, everyone should be willing to accept what G-d asks us to accept. If G-d says we're supposed to carry our own problems and not put our problems on somebody else, then we should do that. It doesn't mean you're not going to get help. When you do that, you get more help than you ever would think you would get, than you ever would dream you'd get. Because people love to help somebody who's trying to carry their own burden.
Yes, even as a little child I use to see women, and my parents raised me with the sensitivities to have these sensitivities. I used to see women carrying a lot of groceries and boys did it for money but I wouldn't offer help for money. I'd be offering help because I thought they needed it. I said, "You want any help with that lady?" I said, "Lady, I'll carry that for that." In fact, I did it in the terminal today. This lady was getting off the plane and she was loading, I got a bad back. The doctor told me not to lift over two pounds. This lady looked like she was as old as me and she was moving like she had a back problem worse than mine. She was struggling with these boxes and her bag. I said, "Give me some little lady," and she accepted and I walked out. I said, "I got some friends waiting out here," and I was almost crying for those friends.

Soon as we got at the gate they were going to say, and they did, they saw me, they rushed up there and took the box out of my hand. People rush to help you and they will help you when they see you are struggling with your own burden. If you're not caring about your own burden, you're leaving your burden for somebody else to pick up, people don't want to help you. Now, if she had just been leaving all her things down in the way of the aisle of the plane and just stand up there looking like, "Who's going to come and pick this up?" I would have climbed over her boxes and went on out of the plane.
G-d ask that of us. But second to that, G-d asked us to care about our own family and to accept responsibility for our own families. The words are, this is the Quran, "Oh you who believe save yourselves and your families from the hellfires." Oh, you who believe save yourselves, that mean individuals, your obligation to your own self. In fact, the word for yourself in Arabic is your own souls. Save your own souls and your families from the Hellfire. That means I'm obligated to be conscious of my own life. I'm obligated to be aware of my own condition and to keep myself in a condition that will keep me in the good graces of G-d.
It says, "And also your families." That means I can't see my children going astray into destruction, going the way of destruction and not do my utmost to pull them back. I can't say, "Oh, my son, he makes a lot of money," and close my eyes. I don't want to hear where you got it from. Don't tell me where you getting it from. Thank you, son. I'm going to pay the rent and get me a new coat with this. Well, that won't be saving your family from the hellfire. In other words, we can support, our children, or our family our brothers, our sisters in the household. We can't support the wrongdoings of those persons. We have to be a support in their life for their good moral nature.
We've chosen this sub-topic with political responsibility and that this political responsibility is inherent meaning that it comes with our life. It's in our life. Just like the ability to learn a language, to learn a human language. The ability to function as a human person on the job in society et cetera. To qualify for a driver's license. All of that is inherent ability. We couldn't do that if we weren't created to do that. We were created to be able to do those things, and we are created to have political responsibility. That's what we're saying. Inherent, inborn qualification that has to be expressed outwardly. It has to be trained. It has to be taught but it's there.
It has to be taught and it has to be trained in order for you to use that great tool. It is there. And everything, even the seed that we plant you don't instantly get the result of that seed. You have to care for that seed. If you're a gardener or a farmer, you have to care for that speed and eventually in the season, in the right time, you get the results or the benefit of that seed. The full benefits of that seed. After family comes the neighbor, the neighborhood. Prophet Muhammad said of the neighbor, he said G-d had pressed him so regarding his neighbor, his neighbor's need, his neighbor's life. He said, at one point, thought that G-d was going to have the neighbor inherit him.
I'm giving you his language. This is not a rephrasing, that's the way he put it. He said at one point he thought that G-d was going to have the neighbor inherit him. Now, who's supposed to inherit the prophet? His followers. The Muslims are supposed to inherit him. Inherit him means that we carry on his mission. We keep his work for alive in the world. We keep his mission alive in the world. That's how we inherit him. We do it as an obligation. We do it as something that we feel we are obligated to do because we identify with him as Muslims, as his follower.
So, if he said, and he did, that at one point he thought the neighbor was going to inherit him, who's he talking about the Muslim neighbor? No. He's talking about the non-muslim neighbor. The non-muslim neighbor. You may say, "Well, he didn't have any non-muslim neighbors." Yes, he did. He had even heathen neighbor. Idolaters, yes. Idol worshiper in his family. Yes, but I'm sure the prophet was talking about his neighbors of the book. Those that are called people of the book in the Quran. He was talking about Jews and Christians in particular. But all human beings are included. But his Jew and Christian neighbors in particular that they would inherit him. He thought at one time that they would inherit him at one point.
Then G-d speaks of Muhammad the prophet in the Quran. And He lets us know that He didn't create Muhammad or put Muhammad in this world just for those who will embrace the faith and say they are Muslims. Allah says of him, G-d says of him in our Holy book Quran the word of G-d to muslims. To us and to all the world. That Muhammad is an excellent model of human life and behavior. The word uswaah is the Arabic word. He is an excellent model of human life and behavior for any person who believes in G-d. He didn't say Muslim. But any person who believes in G-d, and believe in the last day. Why are those two so much important? Could have said for any person who believes in G-d and finish it. It could have ended that right there, but no, and who believe in the last day.
So, that gives us this picture that G-d is saying that Muhammad's life and his behavior is an excellent model for any person who has faith in the almighty G-d who created everything. And believe in being responsible for their behavior. Because those who believe in the last day are people who watch their own behavior. Because they don't want to meet G-d in the judgment with a life that G-d will reject. So, they have to have those two factors in their life. That they believe in G-d and they also believe that they have to be responsible for the record of their own behavior. The record of how they live their lives.
Isn't that Christianity, isn't that the obligation of a Christian and a Jew and others? That they believe in G-d and they also believe that they are accountable to that G-d. That one day they're going to have to answer to that G-d. So, any person who believes in G-d and believe that one day they have to answer to that G-d or before that G-d. Muhammad is said to be by G-d in Revelation to us in the Quran, an excellent human model for them. Now, they don't have to accept him. They don't have to accept.
This religion is not a religion that forces itself on anybody. Not even on Muslim. A Muslim don't have to accept this religion. He can reject it if he wants. After he lived with it for 100 years. On his 101st birthday. He can say, "I don't want it anymore." We can't say, "No. We're going to beat you until you accepted again." We can't do that because G-d says no forcing in religion. No forcing. Forcing, compelling in religion. It says, the way is clear. It said, the way has been shown clearly. The good from the bad, the right from the wrong. Let him who chooses to follow the wrong, let him follow the wrong. And let him who chooses to follow the right let him follow the right.
How come G-d has to say both of those? It looks like it would be enough to say, "If anybody want to go wrong let him go wrong." But no, G-d says also, "If anybody want to go right let him go right." Because the bad people if they get into power, they want to stop the good person from going right. G-d is saying to the community of human being, to their leaders, to their government that I have ordered my creation to have freedom of choice. Those who are choose to be bad let them have it. G-d says to us, Allah says to us in Quran I consider all of this to be necessary background for my statement I'm going to make to you here in Richmond. G-d says to us, that the community of people was at one time one community. Thats in the Quran. The scholars of Al-Islam, the scholars of Quran, the scholars of Al-Islam they believe that what G-d is saying is not only that that was the original situation.
But G-d is saying more importantly that thats going to be the situation at the destination. Life on this earth has been described by our prophet and by all the great messengers and prophets as a path that you're traveling upon. Now we can give explanation for what that path is in many ways. But I think that path is applicable to the whole of human life. His moral life is on a path. His rationale life is on a path. But also, with social and his community life is on a path. His community life is on a path. The destination for his community life has already been told in advance. By the great prophet, by the great seers has been told. That one day you're going to have to again live as one community.
I dont know what the Reagan Administration meant by or the Bush administration meant by new world order. I dont know what they meant but I sure know what G-d means. I sure know what G-d means. Believe me there is going to be trickle-down. You aint going to get no heavy rains anymore. And its going to be trickled down. No matter how much the Democrats dislike it. Its going to be trickled down. No heavy downpours anymore. Why? Because the whole earth needs these fertile rains. The whole earth needs these fertile rains. We are moving toward or just order for the whole community of man. Thats what we are moving towards.
Allahu Akbar. G-d is greater. Thats what we are saying. The great religious community of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and others are meeting together. I know because they have accepted little me among them. They're meeting together. What are we discussing? What is our agenda. That we have to use our influence to make more of our congregations aware of the global trends and what religion ask of us. Religion asks that we work for a day, that the whole earth will be shining with justice, freedom and opportunity for all. An ethical community of man on this earth. A community of people who have more than justice, but they have compassion and charity.
Thats where G-d has directed us to go. Now is the time. Now is the time. I thank the almighty that I'm living in this day. I wouldnt want to live in any other time. Ive often said this and I'm going to say to you in Richmond here. As much as I love Muhammad the Prophet. And I can recall many times that I have tried to imagine myself back there in his day. Walking behind him, walking beside him. Going in front of him if he wanted me to. To search out the dangers and risk my life so that when he walks that road that I covered it would be safe for him. In other words, I love to give my life for him and the struggle to establish Al-Islam.
And I have imagined him in his life and everything. I can put myself back there in that time and I enjoy doing it. Ive never gotten any spooky communication. But if some spooky communication would come to me. Wallace, Imam W. Deen Muhammad, you have a choice, you can either stay in the United State of America and continue with your work there or you can instantly join the company of Muhammad the Prophet. I love you very much my prophet. I love you with my whole being. But the best way for me to serve you is to stay right here in America.

And I would close it out with a special prayer. Oh, Allah, bless Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad as you blessed Abraham and the followers of Abraham. And make Muhammad successful and the followers of Muhammad as you did for Abraham and the followers of Abraham, Ameen. I would hope that he would get thats spooky communication.

Because it will be spooky if he got it. It will be spooky if I got it from him too. We dont expect it to happen that way. But I'm very happy to be here in this time. I couldnt have dreamed, I couldnt have no way of knowing that Id be here in such of time. A time when the faith communities of Jews, Christians, Muslims and others, Buddhists, I have told you about others, are meeting together. Not just to learn about each other, but to see what we can do in the way of cooperation. So, that we put our energies together, we put our minds together, we put our resources together to work for a just society, for all people on this earth.
I never thought that time would come. Thats what G-d is telling us. When G-d tells us that, in the beginning there was the darkness and the light. And G-d separated the darkness from the light. And G-d said, in the beginning there was the water and the land. And G-d separated the waters from above from the waters below and cause the dry land to appear. Many of us dont understand that. I wouldnt try to give you my interpretation, but I'm just going to generalize a bit. Now look. What G-d is saying is that at one time there was not a whole lot of difference between people.
They were the people of darkness and the people of the light. They were the people who gravitated, who are land-oriented and there were people who are water-oriented. And the world has come back to that. Man is being forced now to see as being more important than the way he dress or the way he speaks his language. The tongue of Arabic, English, French or whatever. To see that there are things that more important. And that is the human soul. We all have one soul. Dont you know that? G-d made only one human soul and that soul is shared by all of us. We all have the same human soul.
The only thing makes your soul different is how you relate to your soul because of your experience, et cetera. Training, knowledge, experience, et cetera. But we have the same soul. We have the same land. Land is one for everybody. Water is one for everybody. The water is water. Land is land. Soul is soul for everybody. Thats why G-d says, He made you one soul. He made you from one soul, you are made. The nature of human intelligence, the nature of our human mind is the same for all of us. G-d didnt give a man one nature for his mind and a woman another nature. What do I mean by this? Ability. Ability and communication. We have the same ability and the same tools for communication. We are all rational creatures made the same. I reason, G-d has created us to reason so that we get the benefit of the external. Ourselves, our personal life and the external environment. This reason that G-d created for us it's not for an ether real world. It's not for a world of angels, is not for world of ghosts.
The reasoning that G-d gave each of us is for this world on this Earth. The material world that we live on and in. That's what G-d created this reasoning for. Our reasoning is the same, if it's different that's because some of us have drifted from the nature. We have drifted from the way of thinking that G-d created us for. You tell me somebody is doing mathematics and not following the rules of mathematics. You can't do mathematics without following the rules of mathematics. No way for me to do arithmetic differently. I can't say I got my own opinion about addition. I can't have my own opinion about addition, I got to follow the rules of addition if it is going to work for me.
The same thing goes for this external world. There are certain basic truths and logic and logical disciplines that we have to follow with our rational mind. That world was made for our rational mind and our rational mind was made for that world. So, the world begins with these great common tools in the hands of the people that G-d made. The world is going to end with us putting importance back on these great common assets. The moral asset, the spiritual identity, one soul. The spiritual identity, the moral nature that G-d made, the rational nature. And the rational disciplines that G-d created us for. The world is going to come back to this.
Just as it began with that, it shall come back to that. An appreciation for human life in the abstract. We are spiritual creatures and the greatest learning that we can get on this Earth is the knowledge that we are more importantly abstract than concrete. Our identity is more important in the abstract than it is in the concrete. Now, everybody here should understand what I'm saying. Everybody here should readily grasp what I'm saying. Concrete I mean you're flush and body, your flush. Many people have seen my physical picture, but they don't know me. It's only those who have seen my invisible picture who really know me.
They've seen the way I feel, they have seen my emotions, they've seen my way of thinking, they have seen me in abstract. They know me but many have seen me in body and they don't know a got dd-thing about it.
I excuse that for coming in but that's something I left behind in the neighborhood.
It almost expressed itself fully.
To understand this inherent responsibility, this inborn responsibility that G-d created us for. We have to have that background I just gave you, we have to have that background. G-d put in one person and I shouldn't say person there. I should use the language translated literally. G-d put in one soul. G-d put in one soul all that was necessary for man to live on this Earth, benefit from it, utilize what it offers, share it with his family and prosper. And have a virtual paradise on this Earth. He put it in one soul.
If we are really believers in Christianity or in the Bible and in the Quran or in Al-Islam. Then we believe that we all descended from that one soul called Adam, may peace be upon him. And if we believe that we can reason a little bit further that Adam still lives. How does a peach tree live? It lives because the seeds from the previous tree has been put in the ground again.
This is because the seeds from the previous tree has been put in the ground again, and the tree has come up again.
How does Adam live? Because the seeds from the previous man was put into the womb again and it kept living. So, actually, whatever G-d created Adam with, all of us still have it, all of us still have it. If Adam was created to have responsibility for himself and for the whole environment on this Earth. Yes, the whole environment for this earth. The Bible speaks of it, but its more vague, more shrouded in mystery than what the Quran presents.
The Quran make it very clear that G-d put Adam in the Earth. And said to the angels, "I'm make Khalifa in the earth." Khalifa means one who's going to be responsible for himself, the human community and also the natural environment. That's exactly what it means. He's going to be responsible under G-d, he's going to be responsible for everything that's in his reach even for the sky.
Because G-d in the Quran doesnt tell us we cant reach the sky. He said, You cannot do it except that you have great knowledge and power. He didn't say we can't reach it. But that you can't do it without great knowledge and power. We know that's how man have gone to the moon, right? With great knowledge and great fuel power, rocket fuel power.
Great power to lift that rocket and cause that rocket to break the pull of gravity and go to the moon. Yes. So, many proofs that we have in this real world today. Today is the most difficult time for people to come to faith and also the easiest time for people to come to faith.
At the same time, at one and the same time. It's difficult because we are not in the immediate picture or surroundings that G-d made. Our immediate surroundings made by man. Those walls there, clothes I wear, the transportation out there. A horse is not waiting for me out there. I hope its not. Something with horsepower, but not a horse. Ill be terribly disappointed I ain't got nothing but a horse out there waiting for me when I get ready to go to the airport. But at one time there was only G-d's creation everywhere you look G-d's creation. Even the house you live in, very simple house in the beginning.
Tree leaves, straw, and mud. Yes, very simple start, very simple beginning. Now you live within man's mind. That's what you live in. You live within man's creations. You live within man's mind, all around you. Really, if man doesn't help you to be aware of G-d and what G-d wants for you in your life, you won't get it. Because the whole environment is showing you nothing but man. That's what makes it so difficult now to have faith and have it truly. And travel the path faith.
At the same time, I say it's easy now. With knowledge of scripture, you will see that G-d told us about this time coming thousands of years ago. Hundreds and I would say even thousands of years ago, G-d told us this time was coming.
I have so much proof now that G-d is G-d and is real and is present at all times. That I would actually have to go insane, I would, to step outside of religion. I would have to be absolutely insane. In fact, I don't think I would do it if I was insane. Many insane people, they keep to their old life, they know how to go to bathroom. A lot of the insane, they know how to go to the bathroom. They know their old complaints they used to have. If they didn't like this particular thing on the table while they were eating, they're insane now, but they you know.
I'm sure, I'll still have my Islamic mind. I'll still be G-d's servant, even if I was insane. I'll just be a crazy follower of G-d. I guess we have a lot of those out there.

When G-d said, he's going to make man a Khalifa. G-d is saying that he's going to make him responsible for the whole environment, for himself, his family, people, the whole environment. Who has that responsibility now in our national boundaries? The people? But who carry out that for us? Our government leaders. They carry that responsibility for our public, responsibility for the total environment. We have air space that belongs to this nation. We have waters that belong to this nation. We have the resources and the land, and in the water, all belonging to this nation, belonging to the people.
We have a government, great government, democratic government. The best model of justice for human beings on this earth. I didn't forget the holy land. I said on this earth. We have this great society and we hold our government leaders. The government leaders hold industry, et cetera, responsible. So, actually, our government carrying out the wishes of its citizens, us. Are serving as Khalifa, right? Yes.
Some of us might say, "Well its certainly not a good Khalifa." You have that right. But you're free to use your influence as an American citizen to get a better government. Really, we are not in any terrible situation. We're in a good situation. If we don't have good government, we can do just what great Americans have been doing all along, holding government accountable and getting a better and better government.
I'm talking to you all that don't want to claim your share of America. I'm claiming my share. I already claimed it. I'm obligated under Allah, G-d, your G-d and my G-d. I'm obligated under G-d to claim my share. Because before America said it, G-d said it. The Quran is over 14 centuries old.
And G-d says in the Quran, "Get it by the means that I have given you, work to get the hereafter." It's called the last, the end, the latter, not even called day. It didn't say the last day. It says, get the latter. That means coming later, that G-d promised you in the end, destination, at the destination. It says, use whatever G-d has given you to get that, but don't forget your share in this material world. That's what G-d tells us, each and every one of us in this religion.
Now I'm in America, G-d obligates me to have a material share of America. Believe me, if you have material holdings, it puts you in a situation to care more about all of your rights. In fact, it awakens in you rights that you never knew, or rights that you perhaps have forgotten. Yes. But you have to strongly identify with it. We in this city of Richmond, Virginia, we just shouldn't be here with our minds in another city and not here. Our minds should be firstly in Richmond, Virginia.
I'm a citizen, resident of Richmond, Virginia. How am I fairing here? How are my neighbors fairing? Thats if you are a servant of G-d. Thats if you are a Muslim, a believer in G-d. You can't just be here. When you know how your religion obligates you, then you have to stop thinking so small. You have to stop thinking so narrowly. You have to begin to open up your eyes to see bigger responsibility. The more responsibility you see, the bigger your spirits gets. Yes. I've heard some guy say, If you have spiritual strength, you will conquer all things. How do you get spiritual strength? Spiritual strength come when I see there is hope and opportunity, and I can meet the demand. That's when my spirit gets strong and stronger. When I know there is hope, opportunity, and I know I can meet the demand, then my spirit gets strong.
We live in Richmond. Richmond should be our responsibility. Community, G-d awakens in us an obligation to Him to present ourselves always in the best condition. Then, G-d tells us that He made you not just for yourself, but He made you for community life. He made you for community life. G-d says to us, the Christians are a community, the Jews are a community. There are many communities that have not been mentioned in the book, but G-d have made man community. Isn't that wonderful?
And G-d says, that if you follow this religion, you are the best community, evolved for the good of all people. Look, a prophet who is a mercy for all the nations, all the world. A prophet who is a model for any person who believes in G-d and is accountable to that G-d. Then, G-d says, a community, that He has evolved if they follow the religious guidance that He gave to Muhammad, that is the best community for the good of all people.
How can we work on building a Nation of Islam and leave out our neighbors? "We're going to have a great Nation of Islam. We're going to have enough bean pies for every Muslim to have bean pies on the table every day." What about the neighbor next door who can't eat sweets, can't eat dessert today? They've got Campbell soup ravioli or something. You are not really living up to the model of Muslim if you are not having them in your plan. We have plans. We have a plan. We know how we're going to reach it. We have a plan to measure up to more of our responsibilities as Muslims following the guidance of the Quran in the way that it was shown to us by Muhammad the prophet. We have that obligation and we know in order to fulfill that obligation, we just can't have a place to pray.
We have to be responsible for passing on Islamic knowledge to our children. And qualifying leaders in the future to carry more of the responsibility for the community of Al-Islam that we are carrying presently. We have to have better Imams in the future than we have today. That means we have to be working to give our children thats coming a better Islamic education than we had the opportunity to get ourselves.
We have to see Muslim schools on the top list of our priority for our agenda. Muslims schools. Quality Muslims schools teaching Arabic in the best way. Not in any quick makeshift way. Just snatch somebody up to impress us. Yes, Alhamdu-lillah, yes.
We want the responsibility for planning the neighborhood and developing it. We want all of the responsibilities that G-d has created any man for. Teach your children to think that way and we won't be arguing rights anymore.
We won't be complaining too much anymore. We will be making progress. Yes. You don't have to be rich. "Oh, well these immigrants, come over here. They get in the neighborhood and the reason they are able have stores and operate stores and pretty soon own things. It's because they get so much help from our government. And you don't know that.
But you hear somebody say it. Some of them do get help. The government feels it owes help to some of them. You don't know what they've been doing over there in their country to have this government. Putting their life on the line, risking their family line to support our government. When majority of their people was against it.
Some of them that come here that was there situation in their land. The government offers them so much protection for putting their life on the line trying to help make the land better as America sees it. Through the eyes of America. They come over here. They come back here and they don't have anything.
Their people didn't give them a chance to have anything. They took everything from them and some of them lost everything. The nations, communists or whoever took over that would be in charge of the land. They lost everything. They wouldnt permit them to have anything.
Some of them were rich. They had factories and everything. A new order come in and take everything. The government confiscates everything in the name of the new nations and they come over here with nothing.
The government knows about this and feels obligated. Then some of them the government feel obligated to give a certain amount of help to a certain percentage of people outside of America anyway. That's their obligation. You're supposed to help your own but youre also supposed charity for those abroad.
That's the way of the government. They come here and we jealous. Those people come here. Most of them they come here and they would do without colored television. They would do without that fine furnishing that we have.
We are poor people with rich life. Yes, we are. We are poor people with a rich lifestyle, rich lifestyle. They would do without that fine car and everything. They will suffer to live. They got three rooms. They will suffer to have three or four families in that small apartment.
They will save money because they are not spending it. They will save that powerful US dollar until they can get enough to invest it wisely. Then they will invest it in a business of their own. It might take them maybe 5,10,15, years. But finally, they get enough money. They invest that money in a sound investment.
Yes. You jealous of them. You envy them. We need to be deprogramed and then taught how to live all over again. Anytime a whole race can be described as a consumer market. Something is terribly wrong. And that's what we are. As a race or ethnic group, we are a consumer market.
We are not producing enough to be described in any other way. We are a consumer people, a consumer market. That's what we are. Spending billions and billions of dollars but not having one billionaire. Now, we think that's going to be awful exciting and it's going to come soon, I believe. That we can say we have an African-American billionaire.
I just recently read about one European woman who is handling billions. Not one billion, billions. Private family business. Private family company. I imagine there many more than that. Not to mention the men, the European American men, what they got. I can name you several men who are trillionaires. So, thats not going to be any real big deal. For one person, thats a great achievement. A remarkable achievement. 
Yes. But what are we going to do about our situation as a group? We're going to change it. That's what we're going to do. We're going to change it.
G-d is going to force us to change it. We are going to have to come into business sense and we're going to have to come into community sense. Where we live not just for ourselves in our little house, somewhere, or apartment, but we live for the neighborhood.
Live for the whole neighborhood. And we don't see our success, or our achievement in our family only or in our little house. In the car we own or the business will be operating only. We have to see our achievement in the neighborhood progress. How much this neighborhood has progressed?
How much this African neighborhood has progressed? You can't keep living in the neighborhood and moving from one to another, to have some false sense of achievement. "Oh, yes. I'm separating from these niggers. I'm moving up in there where the white folks live. They shame me every time I come out of my house and I can afford better, so I'm separating from these niggers."
Well, youre just like the white bigot. They say, "I'm going to run from these poor niggers. I couldnt keep them out of here. Im going to run from these poor niggers. I'll find me another place to live. Ill put stakes somewhere else." You ain't no different.
Youre worst because he's not leaving his people. He just going to catch with the people of his class. But you leaving your people because aint no people of your class that you can live with for long without poverty kicking in. And the neighborhood going down.
Because we don't respect you either. White man moves in the neighborhood and it look real good. And we can afford to rent there or buy there. We say, "Hey, I've got the money. You can't keep me out of here. Now you think we going to spare you? You're living in a good rich neighborhood with black folks, a bunch of professional negros.
You think we're going to spare you? No. We going to bring our poor ass right in your neighborhood, too. Soon as we do get enough money and we might get it from selling drugs or anything else. We are coming, baby. So, dont keep running. Lets except responsibility for the state, the condition of our neighborhood.
We have a plan. We are selecting business people with a little bit. They're not rich. We don't have rich people. We are selecting and organizing business people who have small amount of investment money and they are investing under the name, in the company called Collective Purchasing Company, CPC. We are committed, we are firstly Muslims, conscious Muslims and our obligation is Muslim community life. That means we must have some geography for our community life if we are to fulfill what G-d asks us about.
We must have some geography for our community life. We must have some geography for house to worship, school, cultural centers for social outlet, et cetera. We must have responsibility for building homes, designing the neighborhood. This is what G-d wants us to be community developers, that's what He created us to be, community developers. So, we won't have satisfaction in our souls until we become the developers of neighborhoods. You think I'm dreaming? I'm wide awake and this is what wakes me up more, accepting this kind of responsibility.
I got people with me, so we are making progress, we are making progress. G-d is with us, G-d is not going to let the Saudi royal family give us no billion dollars so we can have a golden cage to live in owned by the Saudis. No, G-d is not going to let Gaddafi give us a billion dollars from his oil reserves, oil sales, no. G-d is going to deny us that. Why? Because G-d respects what He created us to be. G-d respects it even if we don't.
We have been separated from our Motherland, separated from our traditional life as an independent people and brought over here to America and now G-d insists. He insists that we learn and accept community responsibility. It's in the soul to have it, it was taken away when we were put in slavery, it's in the soul to have it back. Community responsibility, not just responsibility for myself, for my friends or for my family. No, for community responsibility. It doesn't take everybody to do this, it takes nothing but a small number of people.
Prophet Muhammad had a small number of exceptional men and women and they were able to lead the way for the many. So, don't say, "You can't do that, you'll never get all the blacks." I don't want all the blacks, I don't want all the negroes, I don't want all the African-Americans. I just want a few people to believe in what we can do and will accept this vision and we will have the city and our responsibility in our hands. White people in the white neighborhoods will be saying, "These blacks are really wanting this city in a marvelous fashion. They're such wonderful, responsible leaders. I invite my friends in Europe to come and live here in Richmond. That day may come.
If you invite me here. Yes, I will come to Richmond and live. With you being in a majority. With this really very impressive, traditional, African American leadership you have here. Even that show off Saad El-Amin. Attorney Greene, that's his name. Yes, you know who I'm talking about. Even that guy, I welcome him to be my friend again. And if they will support me coming here and will accept the vision that we have to bring community life into our hands. I will come here and be a citizen of Richmond. I will work with you and we will set a model up in Richmond that will revive the black man everywhere in America. That will bring him to come back to life and responsibility for the environment that he shares. Thank you very much.
That's my message today. G-d created us to inherit responsibility for community. We put it in the language of political responsibility. But exactly what we're talking about is responsibility for the community that we live in and share in. Let us be responsible for it. My soul will never be satisfied, my soul will never be at peace until I know African-Americans can be responsible for their own neighborhoods without a lot of help or excessive help coming from outside. We should need no more help than a Mexican neighborhood, no more help than a Polish neighborhood, no more help than an Irish neighborhood. We should need no more help than any other neighborhood, we should be as responsible as any people that G-d has set on this earth. Thank you and we pray for success and ask G-d to have mercy on us and show us the way and never to leave us alone, our Lord. Amin.


