09-30-1985
IWDM Study Library
IWDM at Rice University Austin TX

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Speaker: O mankind, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other. Verily the most honored of you, and the sight of G-d is he who is the most righteous of you, and G-d has full knowledge, and is well-acquainted with all things.
[music]
Speaker: The American Muslim mission in focus. This program deals with the misunderstandings that exists in this country about the Muslim religion. We hope this program will bring about a better understanding of the religion of Al-Islam. We also hope this program will encourage all people to begin to know each other better, so that we can work together to ensure the survival of our country. Now, your host Imam Ibrahim Kamal Al-Deen.
Imam Ibrahim Kamal Al-Deen: Dear beloved people it's a great honor that you have invited Imam W. Deen Muhammad to speak. I'd like to begin with a verse from our Holy Qur'an. The Holy Quran is the last divine revelations that were revealed to Prophet Mohammed, peace investment be upon him, 1400 years ago, from Almighty Allah. In the verse 13 of Surah 49, chapter 49. Almighty Allah says, "O mankind, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and we made you into tribes and nations, not that you should despise each other, but that you should get to know each other, and the most honorable among you in the sight of G-d is the one who is most righteous and just among you."
So, dear beloved people would we get from this verse is that we as human beings were separated for a long long time in different parts of the earth. Then, Almighty Allah blessed us with the knowledge of how to travel long distances, how to build vehicles, boats, ships, and recently airplanes. Until the world became smaller and smaller, now we have close contact with each other. Now we can get acquainted. Well, this one thing that we should understand about all this that this is a serious test for us to see how will we treat each other. Will we follow the guidance and the instructions of Almighty G-d, or will we follow the selfish desires of our own minds.
In many of our countries, we have developed an idea of religious bigotry and racism. We have ventured into all kinds of things, ideas other than what Almighty G-d intended for us to be into. Almighty G-d has blessed some of us with more knowledge than others, but instead of us using that knowledge to help one another many times we use that knowledge to take advantage of each other, and we see proof of that in the world over thousands and thousands of years of man enslaving man. We take advantage of our brother and sister, but its one thing we must always remember that we have to answer for our deeds.
One day we have to pay for whatever we do to each other. It's a test to see how we conduct ourselves. Almighty Allah today and for many years, He has raised up people like Imam W. Deen Mohammed, and He has blessed them with a profound and clear understanding of his scriptures, especially, the last one the Holy Qu'ran, and the life example of Prophet Muhammed. Because there's one thing we must understand the Prophet Muhammed peace and blessings be upon him, he is the last prophet raised up by G-d he is the seal of the Prophet this doesn't take any credit away from the prophets that came before him, but actually, it verifies and it complements all of the prophets that were raised up before.
I say this because many of us belong to religions, and I would name the major religions which is Judaism, Christianity, and Al-Islam, and the prophets that brought the scriptures to us as a people they were brothers. They didn't contradict one another; they were raised up by the same Almighty G-d. They were given the same message, and it's been a continuous thing like an evolution of truth growing in the world, and as it's talked to man then men evolved and men grow in the world. We're supposed to become better. We're supposed to become human, that's the idea is to grow to become a fully developed human being, so they will know how to treat one another.
To keep this truth from dying in our hearts and in our minds, Almighty Allah raises up men not prophets all time, but sometimes he raises up men, men who have wit pure hearts and have a desire to want to serve Him and they keep this truth alive in the world. You'll find that many times it brings us closer and closer together, and today in America especially America, we are in bad need of the truth, the pure truth so that we can come together as one human family in this society because this society is made up of many ethnic groups from many parts of the world, many nations and races as we call it.
We have a problem and we've had a problem for years of racism, religious bigotry, and one person feeling they're superior to another and if they happen to be superior knowledge they misuse one another. Something has to be done in order to bring us together. This last divine revelation was revealed to Prophet Muhammed peace and blessing be upon him, and he was an example of how we are one human family and we should come together to make a better and a safer society for all of us to live in. I have found that for the last 10 years that I have known Imam W. Deen Mohammed, that he has been a man that has shared the knowledge and understanding that Allah has blessed him with which is the Holy Qu'ran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed peace and blessings be upon him.
Please, I would like to ask you to know that we come with good intentions. The good intention of creating a better understanding and a better relationship among us as human beings, and as I said, especially here in America. I would like at this time to present to you our very distinguished speaker Imam W. Deen Mohammed.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Distinguished persons, students, Imam Kamal Al-Deen, we greet you with peace in our religious greeting Assalamu Alaikum.
Audience: Wa Alaikum Salaam.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Praise be to G-d in our holy book His name is Allah, the Lord, sustainer of all the worlds. We praised peace and blessings be on the last and universal messenger prophet Muhammed on his descendants, his companions the righteous all. Amin. And upon us be peace. We'd like to express our appreciation for the opportunity to do this taping, this TV taping on the campus here of this very beautiful Rice University. When I walked into the yard out there I said, "This this looked like what I have imagined a small paradise to be." It's very beautiful and I feel very good being here. There's a saying of the Prophet that has been recorded and preserved to this day for better than 1,400 years now.
The Prophet said, before the creation came about G-d showed the Arch-angel, Gabriel, Jebreel, in our Islamic language. The creation as He created it or as He had intended that it be. When Gabriel beheld the creation when he saw the creation as G-d had made it or intended it to be, he said, "O Lord, how can anyone go wrong in such a creation?" Then, Allah that is G-d showed Gabriel the creation after Satan had come and influenced it, and when Gabriel saw the creation he said, "O Lord, how can anyone go straight in such a creation?"
Our life since the beginning of man on this earth have been changing as the scripture tells us, and man has been created to grow by steps or stages to change from one circumstance to another until he reach the fullness, or the completion of his life as G-d intended it for him. We believe that nature has been created to urge man on to his fulfillment, and we believe that nature is good, nature is to be respected, that nature is not the problem for man the problem is in his own limited visions, or in his own limited capacity. However, we believe that this limited capacity of man has too a potential to enable him to meet the challenge of the growing world, the dynamics of nature, and man society.
With this, we are given the light of G-d, and we believe that the light of G-d is the purest knowledge, the highest science, that makes possible the construction of other knowledge other fields of knowledge to meet this great demand on the capacity of the human being to sustain his functional life through these changing circumstances. G-d made man and put him in the garden. We believe that that term garden there means that the situation He put him in was good for his life, good for his development; it was conducive to the best growth and possibilities that G-d had created for man.
However, Satan influenced the changes and brought about great trouble, and as a consequence, G-d had to send messenger prophet behind prophets, messengers behind messenger, to aid man in his struggle to sustain his functional life and reach the fulfillment that G-d intended for him on this earth. I don't say this to say that the Muslims have some special or exclusive insight. No, this insight that G-d has blessed Muslims with is also the same that He blessed Jews, and Christians with and others. My focus- or main focus or theme here tonight is the freedom plan.
It seems to be a plan for freeing man, and that plan demands that our concept of freedom develops so that if we can be free for the future. Free for more trying times and more difficult circumstances. To be free when the world was not developed, it was not as difficult as it is not to be free. If all of us would just turn our clocks back and go back to the time where there was no civilization, no civilized systems, or disciplines, only raw nature, the majority of us could carry the burden of freedom the weight of responsibility of freedom. But in the circumstances that we are in now, majority of us can't carry the burden or responsibility of freedom.
I'm not speaking to this audience here, I'm speaking to the general public. This program will be added for the benefit we hope of the general public. Freedom brings us to accept and understand and accept responsibility because when I have to start to exercise my freedom, eventually, I'm going to have to recognize also your right or somebody's right to exercise their freedom. Eventually, we will have to come to some kind understanding that our freedom is really a shared freedom, and that will bring us to a sense of responsibility and man was not made to live along he was made to live with others, in a group, in a community.
G-d has put in us an inborn sense, a functional demand on us. He has put in us a nature to accept did to discipline ourselves for the good of the many, and while we're proceeding, or going along in this development, we begin to wonder who among us is worthy of authority to lead us, to head our concerns, to advise or to counsel us. And man begins to differ as to what limits should be placed on Authority, but that is the final destiny of man to progress from a sense of freedom a sense of being free to a sense of responsibility, and finally, to a sense of authority.
Our prophet peace and blessings be upon him Muhammed, he said, "Everyone is an authority, and G-d will question you and make you answer in the judgment for how you managed that authority." I think that message whether it comes from Muhammed the Prophet or from one of our professors on this campus, or anyone else, is a very important message for us in these big cities of the United States in crowded places of the international world. The very important message was now. I was in Cairo Egypt a few years ago and saw how crowded, and how confused the city life has become there, and I imagine its the same in Tokyo. I know how it is here in Chicago, New York City, Houston, and Los Angeles, and other big cities of the United States our own country.
That message is very important that people see themselves as having authority. I think most of our leaders are so occupied by the dreadful possibilities for society if men common men are taught that they are created to have authority, but I believe that's why civilization our modern cities are so plagued by all of the problems we see in our society now, and that continue to grow and multiply. It is simply because we haven't done what G-d wants us to do and that is tell all men that G-d has created them to be an authority. It is man's nature to wear Authority.
Many criminals who rebelled turn to crime, turn all their energies toward destruction many of them are just expressing the range in them because they haven't been recognized as individuals that G-d created to have some Authority. I used to read and hear the story told by my father, my grandparents, and others elders or senior members of our community and our community Christians as well. They would tell me in our quiet talks of the evils of the past, slavery, the plantation life. The days of terror 100 years of Ku Klux Klan terror. Hearing those stories I said, "Boy, no people have suffered like us, no people have been shamed like us."
I've heard from many different individuals how the landowner, the plantation owner are the one who leased the land out to the sharecropper would come in to collect and if the poor fellow didn't have the pay to pay off, he would be told to go outside stay outside for so long. I want to be here long with Sally and that would be his wife, and he would be so afraid to do anything he had to accept that. It was only really reason in my life that I read of the cruel occupation of the Irish people by the English people, their neighbor. Members of that same race, the Caucasian race.
How they dominated them and how it is documented that the English undermined the social roles in the social life of the iris just as it had been done to us by ignorant people during the days of slavery. I come to understand that the same possibilities for evil and good are in all of us. It only takes certain circumstances certain pressures to bring them out and the rule is that man is a product of his environment and the exception is that man triumphs over the forces of his environment to keep his good life that's the exception, that's the blessing of G-d, that's what G-d has created on the nature to save man and bring him back or bringing him to a regeneration a renewal of life.
For most of us, we are not blessed to have that so we go on suffering, but there is a freedom plan and the progress of time the changing environments challenges us, challenges mans capacity. There is an also a Christian plan, there is a Jewish plan. Many of our institutions as this institution I'm sure have a plan to meet the challenge. There's an Islamic plan. Islamic life is a life of disciplines; it is a life of disciplines. It is more than a life of spirit or a life of faith; it is a life of discipline. 
Muhammed the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, he said, "Ad-Deen muamilah." Religion is the behavior. The Prophet did leave us with an idea of religion that just registers in our hearts and souls, but he left us with an idea, of religion that registers in our minds and our intellect. It makes us curious to know what disciplines should I be following. We had to search our holy book, we searched the life of Muhammed the Prophet who said, "I'll leave you to authorities, the Qu'ran, the holy book Qu'ran as we say in Arabic, and my Sunnah."
Meaning, his life as he demonstrated the religion in his life. The demonstration of how the religion is to be lived as demonstrated by him in his own personal life. Said, "I leave you two authorities, and as long as you keep to these you will not deviate." That is you will not be lost from the life of Muslims, you will not be lost from the religion Al-Islam. Naturally as a Muslim, I will stress because I'm concerned for the life of Muslims, my own life, the life of my wife Shirley, our children, but I stress this also for the American people because I believe I'm pretty much acquainted with the Bible, the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and I know considerable amount or I have a considerable amount of knowledge or information on the Jewish life, the Judaism.
I would advise all American people even those who do not identify with these great religions. I would advise all of you to think, rethink your situation in your life, your circumstances, and your all feelings, your own motives. Search them again and see if really there is not in you the same thing that G-d has revealed to us through Muhammed the Prophet, and that is a need to recognize that the best life is the life of disciplines. The responsibility for those disciplines are first in our own hands. As we share community life, our numbers increase, then we conform to an order ordered life civilized order, and we expect government leaders, our institutions, those people who are having access to the instruments, and the power, and the wealth and knowledge et cetera to be their brother's keeper, but It begins all with the individual.
The individual has been given this need and himself for freedom, responsibility and authority. It's best realized when is accompanying a growth in disciplines in disciplines or discipline in life. Muslims life is disciplined from the beginning to the end. There's a Muslim way to receive the newborn. There's a Muslim way to marry. There's a Muslim way to die. G-d says to us in our holy book, "See that you die not unless you die as a Muslim." All of us Muslims should be working hard to keep our life true to the disciplines that are revealed in the Qu'ran, and that are given to us in the great life the Sunnah of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. And to hold fast to the Islamic life so that we die not except in a condition of Muslim or Al-Islam. For Muslims, there is a need to return to proper focus on our life of the Muslim.
We will have our separate concerns and our separate interests, but G-d says to all He has given an interest or motivation or aspiration in many ways we can translate the word. He says, but turn you all your faces to this house, the first house built to the worship of G-d called the Kaaba in Mecca. He said, "Wherever you may be, G-d will bring you all together." Condition for our unity when it is necessary. There are many Muslims who are worried about unity I meet him all the time, especially, immigrants and Muslims outside the United States.
They worry about the United unity of Muslims, they think the problem with the Islamic world the problem that we haven't getting along each other Islamic nations getting along each other, the absence of cooperation between Muslim nations, and Muslims members of society like America Immigrant Muslims, indigenous Muslims, they believe that it is all because we don't have the unity that we supposed to have. We know that unity is the key-note or unity is really the watchword in our religion certainly. It begins with unity La Ilah Ila Allah, one G-d.
The problem is not the unity as much as it is the loss of focus. Some will be concerned about the moral life of the Muslims so they have to focus on the moral issue, the moral issue. Others will focus on the political issue. Occasionally, I find Muslims leaders in the positions of leadership focusing on the social issue, but really what we can't lose if we expect to have a good life whether real Muslims are not is the community focus, focus on community. G-d says of us that we are a community. The purpose of Muhammed coming the last prophet coming was to establish community life, whole consistent community life, complete and consistent community life.
A community life that is consistent in his moral nature, consistent in his moral demands. The true Islamic community will require every institution every government function to meet the highest moral standards. And when that moral consistency is lost anything can happen in a society. When we were segregated or discriminated against in this country during the Jim Crow days of the South, there was a strong moral sensitivity in America, but that great evil was existing. I would meet Christians and I didn't think they were immoral, they were strongly moral, but many of those Christians that I met and since that great strong moral position in them were not bothered by segregation, by Jim Crow, et cetera.
I'm not saying that Christianity or Judaism does not require the same kind of moral consistency in the life of community perhaps we all lose it at times, but for Muslims its emphasized. It's made a major concern throughout the Scriptures that is throughout the Muslim scripture Qu'ran. So, Muslims let us understand that a Muslim life is a life of discipline; it is a life that requires us to identify priorities to know what is more important than what is less important and give proper respect to everything. We say Allahu Akbar, and it's translated in English G-d is the greatest, but actually, for those who study Arabic who know Arabic grammar Allahu Akbar means G-d is bigger. It means G-d is more important.
Allahu Akbar, G-d is bigger, G-d is more important. We have to say this all the time when you begin our service the first thing we hear Allahu Akbar when we call to prayer the first thing we hear Allahu Akbar, why? Because in the morning Fajr time before the sunrise we like to sleep, we are comfortable in our beds it's still dark outside, and the dawn has just begin to appear in the sky as a little white line, and we don't want to get up, but we hear the Mu-ath-then, the name for the call of prayer says, Allahu Akbar, and we are we are reminded that G-d is more important.
We get up out of our beds, and we go about our duties, for G-d's pleasure. Now, I've heard people saying, especially, the intellectuals. They criticize this absolute total, this total trust in G-d, total dependence on G-d, and they say It makes man weak. No man should have anything in his life, dominating him like that. I wouldn't dare get in there position. I would rather be dead I don't even rather face hell almost because that's what it is to get in that position, you have to go to hell. I much rather have G-d dominate me than to have my silly passions dominate me, or to have wicked men dominate me, or to have the evil influences of Houston dominate me.
I must rather have G-d dominate me, so Muslims be happy to wake up Allahu Akbar and get up to your responsibilities. Man has been created to have a master that's what we believe in our religion. He has been created as a servant; he has been created to obey a master. That's why I guess we were tolerating slavery for so long. That was Nat Turner who rebelled and perhaps a few others, but there were not many rebellions because we didn't have Allahu Akbar. If we had had Allahu Akbar, slavery would have been finished in the United States long before the Emancipation Proclamation.
When Bilal Ibn Rabah when he heard La Ilah Ila Allah, and Allah Akbar, he couldn't break the forces that kept him in slavery and bondage his slave master, and his gods, his bosses that he put over the slaves they were too powerful, but he wouldn't accept slavery anymore even though his circumstances were such. He told his master there is no god, but one G-d, and he said, "Ahad." One G-d only, and his master tried to get him to change and acknowledge the idol gods that it that he believed in, and under torture severe, extreme torture. Bilal Ibn Rabah he continued to say, "Ahad." Only one G-d.
He was one enslaved and he rebelled because he believed in his heart and soul that G-d is more important. Now, I will conclude at this point and I hope that I have at least share with you our concerns that I think should be all of our concerns. I know many of the awake people in these United States and in the international world have these concerns registering strongly in them, and we should be a part of that international movement for bringing man along a road that gives him the freedom to make dignified steps into his full possibility, into his full potential that G-d created for him.
It makes possible for him to walk a path of dignity to the responsibility, the freedom, the responsibility, and the authority that G-d created for him. I don't see myself as a person that knows it all, in fact, I see myself as a person that knows nothing. Alright, what I know is nothing. I hope I can answer your questions. Yes?
Male Speaker 1: I have a couple of questions, one is the Muslim community here Shiaa or Sunni, and would you like to answer that-?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, I'm sure you were talking about the community that I, our immediate community?
Male Speaker 1: Yes.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Is Sunnah. Our community is Sunnah. Not Sunni, not Shiaa.
Male Speaker 1: One of the attractions to Islam is racial equality and besides that, what attracts the black community to Islam?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Having now about 40 years or more experience in the indigenous African American Muslim community. That's really what attract us is not the--I would say mainly the teachings importance of racial equality our brotherhood of man. What attracts most of us is the demand in this religion for a Discipline life. We find the inmates in the prisons they prefer our religion most of the African-Americans in prisons are the Negroes or blacks I don't know what to call ourselves in prison they tend to respond to the invitation to be Muslims more than the invitation to be anything else Protestant or something else.
This is what we're hearing from prison authorities. Islam gives us encouragement to live a good life by first approving our creation, approving our nature. In our religion, we are not told that we born in sin, not to attack anyone, not to knock anyone. We are not told that we are born in sin, we are told that G-d has created us in excellence, not sin, in excellence, and that He have rendered everything in His creation. Subservient to man, and only man is to be subservient to G-d nothing else and everything else has been put here for him put in the creation in the vast environment, universal environment for man they utilize, for man to use taken to services to improve himself in society. That's what we believe.
I think that concept, at least for me, that concept satisfied my heart and soul so much, and it made me so grateful to G-d. I don't think anything could separate me from G-d. I don't think anything can come and take my heart. I don't think it's possible, not in my same mind because I appreciate what G-d says so much about my own worth that He see me in such high esteem. I think that's the greatest motivation in us to be good. We appreciate our Lord that made us, so He wants us to be good and we want to be good.
Male Speaker 2: I also have got this question, how you deal with the increasing pressure toward evil.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I think thats how you deal with it. I didnt care to answer anymore because that's it. If you believe that you don't have no presses to go to Evil. What can evil offer me better than that? Evil won't make everything subservient to me in the universe.
Male Speaker 2: The question is pressures for good on you, pressures for evil on you. The religion helps you with the good pressure, what does it do to the evil pressures?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: The same influence that helps us with the good pressures protects us against the evil ones. We don't need to dwell on evil, just appreciate good. If I love my children, I won't want to see them catch a cold. I won't want to see them become drunks, if I really love them in a healthy way. The positive force is taking care of the negative thing.

Female Speaker: What's the position of women in Islam and has Islam undergone reformations like say Christianity has recently as far as women and leadership.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, we believe in a kind of filling up and emptying out that you rise to your peak and something comes in and you become lacks, and you lose your discipline, and finally, the things that you were once frightened by it don't frighten you anymore, and pretty soon your life is all out of whack. We believe that as you have a provision in your religion for that, our provision is in our religion. Prophet Muhammed said, "After me, after I go," peace be upon him he said, "My community will go to sleep in comforts." He says, "And it will come back, it will rise again just as it began with the poor."
Yes, that happened we have people leaving their disciplines, but if we are alert and informed Muslims, we can keep our community from going too far away from the standard life for Muslim because Prophet Muhammed he said peace be upon him, "Whoever follows the ways of other people is not one of us." Whoever of Muslim he calls himself a Muslim, his name is Mohammed Abdullah Raheem Sharif Bayeed Sharif Shaheed, and his lifestyle is that of the unfaithful people in the society who are not Muslims or who a Muslim, then really he's not entitled to be accepted as one of our community.
We will say yes, he says, "Assalamu Alaikum," And he wears a Muslim name, he says he's a Muslim, but he steals, he breaks his promises, he sells dope or whatever so he's not one of us. Now as for the women, I know that's the touching one. Yes, that's a touching one, what about the position of Muslim women? The position of Muslim women is that they are the mothers. They are our mothers, and Prophet Muhammed was asked by one man, he said, "If my mother has needs, and my father has needs, who do I respond to?" the prophet said, "Your mother." He asked again, the prophet said, "Your mother." He asked the third time, and the Prophet said, "And also your father."
We see the value of woman as mother, and we think that's her main value as a mother. Many women never bear children, one reason or another they don't bear children, but we see every woman as a mother, even a little girl, she's a potential mother. We believe though she doesn't bare children from her womb doesn't have children that if she grow in the qualities of a woman she will grow in motherhood qualities. If she's going to serve us as mayor, or as a professor on the campus we would like to see those feminine qualities in her, most female qualities in her, and those motherhood qualities are those motherly qualities in her.
We would like to her to remain feminine, we would like her to remain a mother, we'd like to see her covered up. We don't like to see her selling cars with the G straps on. We don't like that at all. Now, if you think that's an old-fashioned backward well, I love it and they can't change me. And Im telling you I would like to see all the women like that. I wish all the women could go back to the days in America when they wore long dresses. I've seen a lot of western movies I said look how they look crazy in hell, they shooting up each other, but those women sure look good in those dresses.

Female Speaker: You said as far as the reformation goes you haven't had any sort of liberal organization of the religion.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Sure. Yes, there's been many attempts to do that, that's why we have so many off brands. We have got off brands. There are some groups small groups that you don't put very much importance on the custom, Islamic customs. They say as long as you believe that La Ilah Ila Allah, there's no g-d, but G-d one G-d, and Muhammad is the Messenger of G-d and you have the Qu'ran as your book that's all that they emphasize, that's all that they stress. Many Muslims as you know in the Islamic world though they themselves came up under the strict teachings of the religion, and the strict disciplines of the religion.
Because of the precious of big city life, they have left it like I told you in Cairo. I saw the Muslims in Cairo didn't any different to me than the people in Rome walking the streets of Rome or any other city in the Western Hemisphere, Western society. They had those high-heeled shoes on when I was over there most of the men had high heels those high-heeled shoes on, and they bell bottom pants, and Italian cuts and everything. The women were in short dresses and looking just like the Western woman. For some reason, they tolerate those things. We have our problems. Yes, there is liberating process, the generating process; we have all that in our religion. There's attempt to liberate the woman by Muslims, but the great majority of the Muslims think the woman is liberated by the Word of G-d the Quran. And these movements are very weak in our society.
Female Speaker: Do you consider yourself the conservative or something like that?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I consider myself to be a fundamentalist. I believe in what is fundamentally right, but I'm not a radical, I'm not a fanatic. I don't believe in terrorism, I believe in justice. I believe in kindness toward all my people, and all my people mean all humanity. Yes?
Female Speaker: The question I have is a two part. In general Christians that looked at life as a process you are working towards achieving something in life you are working toward a greater understanding yourself, developing a philosophy to live by. Does the Muslim look at life that way?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No, not quite. We have the same needs, and I believe the same awareness, but we think that all that's already provided for in the revelation. We believe that the Quran is an all-inclusive revelation, and that it is timeless, that no matter what kind of situation we may can be confronted with in the progress of life, or the advancement of society. We believe that the Qu'ran has already provided for that. We believe that G-d is really G-d.
Female Speaker: Okay. My question also has to do with when you decide then which it is right there's really impossible way the extent to everything we have. Every rule written down already. Like philosophy or stuff like that. Now, something that you use to implement to the extent that philosophy to the rest of your life is it something that Muslims do?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, We have to rely to a great extent on education in our society, in the Muslims society. Education. If we don't-- the Prophet Muhammed he classed men who dedicate their lives to education, to learning for the purpose of educating others. He classed them in the rank next to the prophets of G-d, The Messenger of G-d. If we don't have, if we don't keep up the process of education, then we'll have people who have no vision, who won't have those aspirations, who won't be trying to fulfill any purpose. Yes, we have it in the Qu'ran in a divine way, but it's to be taught so that everybody will understand.
Female Speaker: Okay. When you say everybody you mean everybody should be taught to have aspirations do you mean women also?
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Yes. Surely. Do you know--let me if I may, I can't recall the exact year when the women were given the right to public education, in the western society, but from the very beginning of Prophet Muhammed's mission, he said, to get an education is a duty on every child born, male and female. He didn't leave it right there, he gave an extra incentive on encouragement to the men. He said, "If any man will see that two of his daughters are educated, G-d will give him the paradise."
Female Speaker: Is there a hierarchy of men having greater aspiration than women you have said that women are mothers. I personally plan to be a mother, but I have higher aspirations than that you would not advocate as a Muslim.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I don't think you have higher aspirations than mother aspirations. I don't think you do, and I can't have higher aspirations than father aspirations. That's the highest I can have it and its the highest as you can have, but you don't see it as I see it that's the problem. You may say you want to be a surgeon, why you want to be a surgeon?
Female Speaker: I don't want to be a surgeon.

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I know, well I said if.
Female Speaker: I'm talking about--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, you say I want to be a surgeon, and you may say well to make money, to have more money, that's what the fools say.
Female Speaker: I'm not speaking about material aspirations. I am speaking of a self knowledge.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Look motherhood to us is not just in the home having babies, physical babies. Motherhood is a whole concept of woman. One half of the life of man in society. We see society as a mother and we see the teacher, the individual, the leader, the president, like a father. The authority is not in the president in our religion. Actually, it is against our religion to have monarchs, kings, and you know our religion have those. It's un-Islamic but they have it. The authority is in G-d number one, the messenger of G-d as he lived the Word of G-d number two, and then its in the community of the people.
When Prophet Muhammed left, he didn't leave us under at the mercy of a tyrant of possible terror, he gave power to the public. Society, the collective body is like a mother. We are born out of that environment. We see mother in a kind of symbolic sense. The demands that are on the mother in the common sense are to preserve the ideas for the bigger picture, and it's good for society too.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Did I at least explain-- It looked like I left something hanging.

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Okay, all right. She seems to be satisfied. Okay.

Male Speaker 1: You keep emphasizing discipline in your religion. Is there any disciplinary action taken against the others who defy disciplinary religion?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes. Once the Prophet was told that there were group of Muslims at a home, and one man started drinking liquors. The Prophet was not instructed by G-d to just- from the very first day say no drinking liquors. The verse came saying that you should not come to prayer, to congregational prayer, under influence. Finally, the verse came abolishing it completely.
When it was abolished completely, the Prophet enforced the law. He punished people for breaking the orders of G-d. This man he'd dranked in the presence of other Muslims. Prophet Muhammed said--he ordered everybody that witnessed that to hit him, to take a strap or whip and hit him. All of them had to hit him a lick.
We have cases where Muslims have beat their own children, fathers have beat their own children in the public for drinking liquors. You perhaps have heard that people have been beheaded for adultery. Hands cut off for theft, but in most of the Muslim world, you won't find people walking around with hands cut off for theft. People commit adultery, their heads are not taken off. Actually, this was ordered under conditions of extreme deviation from what is civilized and morally acceptable. If you would read about the- what you call the Jahiliyyah, the pre-Islamic state of the Arabs, you would understand why these strict laws that had to be enforced in the time of Prophet Muhammed.
Once there is an awareness of what is decent behavior, you don't find people carrying out that kind of severe punishment. The Prophet was saying something else by that, and one woman she was anxious to confess her sins, she said, "I have committed adultery." The Prophet kept ignoring her. He don't want to- say go away, go away, and she just kept insisting that she has committed it and she want to be punished. Then he said take her to her punishment, and she was stoned.
It is my belief the Prophet ordered many people to be punished in ways that cannot be supported by the Qur'an. Only if we understand what the Qur'an says. The Qur'an says, "For each is a law, for the Jew is a law, for the Christian is a law, for the Muslim is a law." And that each be tried by his own law. I believe those were non-Muslims and their law of death society required that they be stoned and Prophet Muhammed being over the whole society like we're under the whole law, here in America to be a minority community. We have to come under your law, under the majority people law, which has to be our law too now.
It was different in the time of Prophet Muhammed, those minority groups that were recognized as legitimate groups, they were judged by their own laws. I believe Muslims have missed that, and they think that Prophet Muhammed ordered stoning as a Muslim requirement, or an Islamic requirement, and I believe it's not so.
When Quran says that you cut the hand, keep reading the Qur'an, and you will find that it says, "And G-d punishes whomsoever He wills, and forgives whomsoever He wills." That's to the judge. Certainly, that's the punishment but you have to look at every case. You can forgive whoever you will. Punish whomsoever you will in the light of the law, the spirit of the law, the letter of the law, the circumstances.
In many countries of the Islamic world, the thief's hand is not cut off, they look first to the circumstances. This man was starving. They might instead of turning their anger toward the thief, they'll turn it towards the members of the societies. How come this man is starving? That's the goodness, and all that I'm saying can be documented. In fact, it is documented. I could have documented if I had known I would get all these questions.
Female Speaker 2: Well, I'm just curious. I have a couple basic questions. Besides being a basic guideline for your religion. Can you make the comparison- I'm totally unfamiliar with the Qur'an and I'm just curious. Is it like parables and stories or is it more just "listen to this"?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: All right, okay. The Qur'an is-- first of all, what we call common sense teachings. That's the most important part of the book, common sense teachings. The other part of the book G-d says that it is we might say allegorical, as one translator gives it, its in parables. It relates history, but not to give us a chronological picture of history. Its purpose is revelation to show man his nature, his role, his destiny, his responsibilities, et cetera. There's a great difference between the- I would say the process, the revelatory process in its literary works. Theres a great difference.
Many Westerners they read the Qur'an and they say "Where is it, it looks like a book that's not consistent." That's because I guess we used to seeing a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. The Qur'an is addressing human needs, and problems, et cetera, et cetera. There is a continuous theme throughout the Qur'an. There is a consistency there, but you need a lot of patience and a lot of innocence to see that.
Female Speaker 3: I have two questions to ask you, one is that earlier when you speak, you said that man was created to be- every man was created to be an authority and you also said that man is created to have a master.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, to have only one master, that is G-d.
Female Speaker 3: Okay. The other a question now I wanted to ask you, not to beat a dead horse, but when it comes to religion, your women in religion, are there laws to take part in any way in say this act or services and also, are there any women who do become leaders as yourself?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, when I visit one country, the person who was heading the religious resurgence movement there was a woman. She was a woman, but I think you're asking me the same question that they asked Catholics a lot, can a woman be priest? Right?
Female Speaker 3: Well, no, not really. 
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Yes, the Holy Book says that women have the same soul, the same qualities that men have. Men are thinkers and women are thinkers. Thats what G-d says in our Holy Book, the thinking men and the thinking women. We don't think women are just put here to listen to us and not think for themselves, but Muslims of the world are far behind the Holy Book. Prophet Muhammed gave it, but the world of Muslims have yet to catch up with it.
Female Speaker 3: Okay. The last question is I was talking to some of your followers today, and they were telling me, said Muslim is a religion who encourages all the followers to study other religion such as Christianity, Buddhism--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I won't say that. I don't think so, but in our Holy Book, G-d says to us certain things are said about Christians, and certain things are said about Muslims that can be verified by Christians or by Jews. G-d says and consult the people of the book, meaning Jews or Christians, if you have any doubts about this. We are told to consult, the Christians are Jews in certain cases or certain matters, but that was at that time. I think now with the knowledge of what's in Judaism and what's in Christianity all known to everybody, I don't think that any of us would be going around trying to get anything verified, or see what Christians have to say about Ayah 2 of a certain chapter of the Qur'an. Yes?
Male Speaker 3: In the Qur'an, it says that Jesus predicted that somebody would come after him named Ahmad. When you go back to the Bible, there is no such explanation. Please comment about that.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, actually that's what you said is not in the Qur'an, but there are some Muslims who feel that Jesus said, "After me will come the Comforter, and he used the name, Ahmad." Now, that's the Muslims say that's in another scripture, I think is the Book of Barnabas. Some Muslims say that's in the book of Barnabas, that some of the books that were rejected when they canonized the Bible. Some Muslims say that, but for most of us, I don't think we think that's an issue. We think is enough what G-d says in the Qur'an, that's enough, we're not worried about it.
Male Speaker 3: Can you talk,
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Can you speak louder? That's not working. I don't think it's working at all. Just talk to me. That's not working.
Male Speaker 3: When you talk to Christian fundamentalist they take a very narrow-minded view and say that unless you believe that Christ as your personal savior, you burn to the fires of hell. Do you think we as Muslims have to get a narrow-minded view as well? Could we be more receptive to other religions?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes.
Male Speaker 3: We should also say that, "If you're not a Muslim, you're pagan, you're this, and youre that, you don't have a chance or something.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No, I think there are many Muslims, they are quiet. Always the people who are right, tend to be the quietest and the people who are wrong, they make all the noise. I believe the majority of the Muslims don't feel that way at all, they don't feel that all Christians are going to hell, all Jews are going to hell, other people going to hell. No, we believed that if anybody intentionally and knowingly rejects the Qur'an, they will go to hell, but how many people who was sincere in Christianity, and Judaism, and other faiths, have that opportunity to become acquainted with Qur'an, to make that kind of judgment.
Many of them have been prejudice against it and so they can't even approach it. No, I don't believe they will all go to hell. I believe the verse that says if any is a doer of good and believes in G-d, he has his reward with his Lord, there's no cause for him to feel greed. I believe in that.
Female Speaker 4: What is the definition of hell? Is it separation from G-d or is it a fiery place?
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Well, I think it's a fiery place.
[laughter]
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: That is separation from G-d, it's all of that [laughs].
Male Speaker 4: I like my own Islamic religion but I'm also a Christian. How do we feel about other religion itself as fulfilling the scriptures in the Qur'an and the Bible?
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Yes, Muslims if we understand our religion from the Qur'an and the life of Muhammed the Prophet. Then, we hold true Christians to be the closest to us at least in the conscience and the conscience, the religious conscience. We hold Christians be near to- G-d says, "You'll find that the Christians are the closest to you." and the description that He gives of them in our Holy Book is one that shows their genuine sincerity. Most Christians even those who are Devils on Friday night, most Christians who really love G-d and the church in Jesus, they're genuine theyre sincere.
Male Speaker 4: Going back to what you said about on adultery. I've seen many films of Indian why do they treat since adultery is so cruelly burn the woman that they found in the act of adultery.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Well, that's not Islamic, a lot of things happen in India like they happened over here on this part or in this continent. You can't blame everything that happened over here on Christianity, and you can't blame everything that happened in India on Muslims. That's not Islamic.
Male Speaker 4: Ok getting back to religion itself, I've read many- I read the Bible myself also and there's a quote that says- they describe Jesus as having wooly hair and being a black person.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, the Bible gives that description. Prophet Muhammed didn't give us that description. No, he said he had long straight hair. He had long flowing straight hair, black like the raven's hair, long and flowing hair. That's the description that the Prophet gave but the proleptic books gives us that description of Him as having wooly hair, and red fiery eyes, et cetera.
Male Speaker 4: Yes, but he's also written down as if and also the long hair as god having the image of me, and you eventually see that on the churches, his image of the way Jesus is supposed to look.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, do you recall reading or seeing pictures of the judges and lawyers in the earlier history of America, how they were those wigs of wool? They had some kind of degree of something they gave out called sheepskin. Well, thats their hang up with the sheep. So go ask them what the sheep means and I think you get the answer.
Male Speaker 4: But you didnt answer my question. Why does it differ so much? If you said God or Jesus has black and wooly hair, the--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I'm not interested in His black wooly hair, I'm interested in mine. All I need is a little oil and washing, then I can take care of it.
Male Speaker 4: They're not golden hair but as is supposed to being relevant or to the Christian believer--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, I heard some blacks they say yes, Jesus was a black man. The bible says his hair was wooly and the white man aint got no wooly hair. If they say he got red eyes too does that make him a wine head?

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Now, if you stretch those things and gone too far, you'll end up in a lot of confusion, you'll never get out of it.

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: The answer is go ask the preacher what sheep is. What is wool?

Male Speaker 6: Bring up someone in religious environment how do you get out or fit i in the society such as ours in the United States?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: It's needed. It's needed very much. Yes. I believe in it. It's needed very much. We need to develop a group of people who are academic-minded and develop leadership among them, universities or colleges, for the good of the Islamic community, for the Muslim community. That's very much needed. Those things come in time. As you know, when the Prophet preached, the mosque was his school. He educated people right from the same place where they prayed.
They had their town meetings right in the same place where they prayed. That was because that was in the beginning. It takes time to build up and to establish institutions and to grow that way. It takes time. I believe that we are at the point where we really need that. I think we'll soon realize that because we have persons who have education and have that interest, but it's not enough, we don't have enough. When we get enough we'll have that, we'll see that.
Male Speaker 7: Can you explain the term Muslim?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes. It means one who has the desire for peace as a discipline in his life. Peace has become the discipline in life, the factor disciplining his life, desire to be at peace. Now, his peace should be the peace that G-d directs him toward, not his own idea of peace, peace as G-d reveals it. Yes?
Male Speaker 8: I converted to Islam about three months ago and I'd like you to explain the term Al-fitrah.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Al-fitrah?
Male Speaker 8: Yes.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Al-fitrah comes from the word Fatarah, which means to bring into existence for the first time, Fatarah. Fitrah is understood to be nature, but nature in its original form. Man because of his freedom of will, of intellect, of conscience et cetera, he can take nature out of its original form. But as long as man does not tamper with nature with his own mind, the nature is original, and that's fitrah. We believe that it is out of that nature that everything is possible for a man in terms of his growth, his destiny. When he separates from that nature, he loses himself.
Male Speaker 9: Yes. Earlier, you were speaking about freedom. We have to respect freedom of neighborhood. You have in there to seek pieces of man's world, peace with individuals and nature, meaning the stability, progress, and prosperity at the same time, it's- Muslims use their sword to conquer not convert. Is the peace for stability, prosperity want to convert everyone the same for this or is it power and acceptance?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No. Again, we have to be aware that what the crusades left on us, Christians and Muslims fought each other for thousand years or more. We've just had a few centuries to recuperate. It made Christian leaders drunk and crazy, and made some Muslim leaders also drunken and crazy. What you're hearing in the atmosphere is the hangover, the fallout from 11 centuries of drunkenness on the part of Christianity, on the part of Muslims. Our book says, "Plainly, whoever desires to believe, let him believe. Whoever desired to disbelieve, let him disbelieve." Plain as day.
Another chapter of Qur'an, G-d says and it says, "Say to the disbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, you do not worship what I worship. I'm not going to worship what you worship." You are to say, "I'm not going to worship what I worship." It concludes like this, "To you, your religion. To me, mine." Is there any religion that says everybody in another place? See, I can go on for hours. You're right in my ball field now.
[laughter]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Another part of the Holy Book to Qur'an says, "If G-d had wanted everybody to belong to one courageous religious community, He would have made it that way. He would have made it that way." That means we are not to try to make it that way [laughs]. We're going to have to conclude this at some time now. It's after 9:00.
Imam Kamalud-Din: We should go about 10 more minutes.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I didn't go to dinner yet. And I have to go to bed. I don't stay up all night.
[laughter]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: My books say, "G-d made the night for rest and the day for activities."
[laughter]

Female Speaker 4: You say that Muslim women are revered as mothers.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes.
Female Speaker 4: Christian women also says for every [unintelligible 01:26:48] for their role as mothers. At the same time, it'd also been expected to subordinate themselves economically, emotionally, and sexually to their husbands. Is that true of Muslims as well?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes. It's true for those too many Muslims. Yes. In fact, we find the same problems among mostly Muslim that we found among Christians regard to the treatment of women, yes. It's not because of the Holy Book, it's because of the ignorant men not being in touch with the Holy Book and following their blind macho, or whatever you call it. They follow that. They just follow that. They want to boss the women around and tell her where she's to be, stay at home, and don't come out, and this is-- no, that's not right.
In our religion, women have rights of inheritance. They can inherit wealth. They have the right to spend it. They have right to go into business. The Prophet himself, before he was a prophet, he married a woman that he worked for, the Lady Khadijah, may G-d be pleased with her. She was a woman who dealt business and dealt in trade. She hired Muhammed and liked him so much because he was so honest. He remained working for her until he became the Prophet, the Prophet of G-d. He didn't change that. G-d didn't instruct him to change that. That same right for women remains until today.
You'll find that in some parts of the Muslim world, the real rich women, very rich women in some parts of Muslim world, they're in India, Pakistan, and some other parts of the Muslim world, perhaps they're in Saudi Arabia, I don't know, but I do know Pakistan, and India, and also in Egypt, there are some wealthy women. Yes, women have the same rights that men have. G-d says in our Holy Book, He does not short whats due or the reward of any person for what they do, whether it be male or female.
Female Speaker 4: You mentioned- my question is that women don't necessarily have to be economical to do with their husbands?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No. Not emotionally and not sexually, no. I don't know what you mean though. My wife always had the upper hand on me sexually.
[laughter]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No, I mean, we all respect the book. We expect that we respect the Holy Book. G-d has said what a woman shouldn't do sexually and what a man shouldn't be sexually, and we all be that. It's not the man imposing anything upon the woman, it's all of us, both of us male, and female accepting what G-d has honored.
Female Speaker 4: Is it fair to say for equality in the rest of the world, it's not because of the [inaudible 01:30:01]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: I don't want to pretend to be ignorant here or to mislead you. Men are allowed four wives. Women are not allowed four husbands. Now, all I can say is that G-d's doing. Personally, I don't want four wives. I want one. That's enough for me. I guess some men need four so G-d made the provision. He didn't say every man had to have four, He just allowed four for those who can afford it.
Male Speaker 10: In retrospect, the fact pure nature what do you mean by pure nature physical sense or the mental sense or what?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: When I mentioned earlier Fitrah?
Male Speaker 10: Yes.
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Yes, nature in its original form, in its original design. Nature in its original design, it stimulates man's movement into excellence, into excellence, into higher vision. Nature does that.
Male Speaker 10: About your intellect--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Hmm?
Male Speaker 10: Having intellect.
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Yes, influences intellect and everything. That influences his intellect, his morals, every aspect of his being. Nature in its original state influence the whole man and every aspect of his being to go into greater and greater degrees of excellence.
Male Speaker 10: [inaudible 01:31:46]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, this is natural. This is a natural process. The advancement of man as we see it in civilization, yes, is expression of this need in nature. Right. Certainly, it is but a lot of the things that come out are deviations. We have a lot of deviations too because of the irresponsible man being in charge of civilization.
Male Speaker 10: Deviation do you mean by cloning someone or somebody just--
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: That might be it. In fact, I think that would be a deviation. I don't want to be cloned.
[laughter]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Because I don't want my children cloned.
Male Speaker 10: [inaudible 01:32:34]
Imam Warith Deen Muhammed: Hmm?
Male Speaker 10: Test-tube babies are also a part of the deviation from pure nature.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: What kind of baby?
Male Speaker 10: Test-tube baby.
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Test tube baby. I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't carry it that far. I appreciate science too. In fact, we see science as revelation but it's on a level beneath divine revelation or Qur'an but we see science itself as revelation.
Female Speaker 5: In the earlier question, an answer to an earlier question, you said if G-d wanted to be one religion, He would have. In the same thing, if G-d is so powerful why doesn't He do away with evil? What is the answer to that?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: He would have been very weak if He had done away with evil.
Female Speaker 5: Is there a Satan?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: The parent that keeps their children away from sin, they're weak. The parent that raised their children to understand the world and trust them in dangerous situations, they are strong parents.
Female Speaker 5: Is there a Satan that causes evil?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, I believe in the reality are real devil. Yes, Satan. Yes, I do. I believe there is a being, a devil, because he gives me hell a lot. He got to exist and nobody else is around, I'd be at home by myself. Nobody around, I know it must be Satan.
[laughter]
Male Speaker 11: What aspect of the Islamic religion has to do- as opposed to seven-year rapture and also the second coming of Jesus Christ?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: Yes, all that's Christian terminology. I can find a slight connection with some of the things you mentioned like seven-year rapture but in our Holy Book, those things are mentioned just as concerns or occupations or even obsessions with some people with some esoteric groups and we are not to put a lot of importance on to that.
Male Speaker 11: So it's all based on mythology?
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: No, I wouldnt say it's based on mythology but we do believe that there's too much mythology in religion, yes. All right. Well, thank you very much and I hope I haven't bored you, I have enjoyed it.
Imam Kamalud-Din: Yes, I appreciate it. Thank you.
[applause]
Imam Kamalud-Din: Takbir.
All: Allahu Akbar.
Imam Kamalud-Din: Takbir.
All: Allahu Akbar.
Imam Kamalud-Din: Takbir.
All: Allahhu Akbar.
Imam Kamalud-Din: I want to thank you very brother Imam for sharing with us the great blessings of knowledge and wisdom that Almighty G-d has blessed you with. I hope everybody has benefited from this and we intend to have this edited and prepared to show on television and we hope that millions will get a chance to witness what we have today. I want to thank you very much for being so courteous and being so serious. I really appreciate that.
I've been coming here for about six years, maybe a little longer and thanks to Professor Freeman and I've always been treated with the utmost courtesy. We get into some pretty heated discussions but it's still on the friendly basis of trying to gain understanding. I've appreciated that time with you and I want to thank you very much for respecting our leader and I hope we'll have him back again. I'll turn you back over to Professor Freeman. As-Salamu Alaikum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be with you.
Professor Freeman: One of the aspects of the assignment of our students is the visitation of religious centers. Would you mind spending a little time indicating the location of your services and the conditions under which they would be welcome?
Imam Kamalud-Din: Yes, okay. Okay, we have two places that you can visit. One is 3110 East Side Drive that's the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. We have a masjid there and also at 6641 Bellfort, we also have a masjid there. You're welcome to come on Friday at one o'clock which is our Jumu'ah prayer. We have congregational prayer every Friday. On Sundays, we have Islamic study. It's called Taleem.
This is the days that you can come and perhaps even ask questions and we'd like you to come and get acquainted with us and get to know us. There are also some other locations that might be closer to you than those, I'd like for brother Saeed Gomah to come up and give us the address to some of those if you will. He's the president of the Islamic Society and we're very honored to have his presence tonight.
Saeed: To Houston, is a great support and a great helper to the Islamic movement in this country. We have so many places here in Houston. There is one in Moonmist. There is another one is in Adel Road close to by the airport area, and the one with the main center is in 3110 Eastside Drive and also 6641 Belfort. There are other places also on Teneck in the southeast area and in the south area of Houston.
They are all listed in the Islamic Society of Greater Houston which is at 3110 Eastside Drive. You are all welcome at any time to ask questions to any of this place. It is almost at every corner of Houston. You'll find a place, you'll find some people, they can respond to your questions.
Imam Kamalud-Din: Allah will bless us all with light of understanding and As-Salamu Alaikum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you. Thank you.
[music]
Voiceover: The American Muslim mission in Focus. This program has dealt with the misunderstandings that exist in this country about the Muslim religion. We hope this program will bring about a better understanding of the religion of Al-Islam. We also hope this program will encourage all people to begin to know each other better so that we can work together to assure the survival of our country.
[music]
Imam Kamalud-Din: Dear beloved people, this has been part two of a four-part series of Imam W. Deen Muhammad lectures at Rice University in Houston, Texas. 
[music]
Imam Kamalud-Din: As-Salamu Alaikum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you. Dear beloved people, there is so much controversy about the religion of Al-Islam and those who practice this religion who are called Muslims, that I decided to talk about this subject today. Not to try and convert you, but to help you have a clear understanding.
The media, for whatever reason they have, have projected to you the wrong concept of the religion of Al-Islam and the believers. Number one, Al-Islam, when translated into English means entire submission to the will of G-d Almighty. Al-Islam also means peace, the peace that only comes from G-d. Al-Islam is more than just a religion. It is the nature of all things created by G-d Almighty. It is the pattern, the design of all created things including human beings.
Number two, Muslims. Muslims are those who submit their will to the will of G-d. One who is created by G-d in the nature of truth and righteousness. We practice the religion of Al-Islam and the life example of Prophet Muhammed of 1,400 years ago, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon him. Number three, Allah is the creator. Allah is God Almighty. Allah is his personal and proper name because of what the name means. Allah means all in all. He has many attributes, his attributes are infinite. Allah includes all of them. When you say Allah, you say it all.
Number four, Prophet Muhammed was born in Mecca Arabia, 1,400 years ago. He is the last prophet of Allah, the Almighty. He is the completion, the fulfillment of all the prophets who came before him. The life of Prophet Muhammed restores the moral excellence of those prophets and messengers that Allah raised before. As you know, it has been said that the prophets of G-d committed hideous sinful acts. Those charges are lies.
Almighty G-d made His prophets perfect human examples for us to pattern our lives after. When you study the life of Prophet Muhammed, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, you see all of the prophets lives and the messages of truth that they brought is the same. Number five, the Holy Qur'an is the last divine revelation sent to humanity by Allah the Almighty. The Qur'an is still with us today in its original text and language. It has not been changed one iota. Allah has made sure of that and he has protected it from any kind of corruption. The Qur'an confirms and completes all of the revelations that came before from Almighty G-d to the other prophets and messengers.
The principles of Al-Islam are five in number. In order to be considered a true Muslim, you must believe in these principles and practice them without reservation. The principle number one is, there's only one deity, Allah the Almighty and Muhammed is his last prophet. Number two is prayer which means proper worship of the one G-d, Allah. Associate no one with him. He has no partners. He has no sons, no daughters, He exists alone, He is the Almighty. There's none equal or likened to Him. Number three is charity. That means to give help when it is needed and deserved.
Number four is fasting during the month of Ramadan. Fasting is practiced in order to develop and maintain discipline and order in one's life. Fasting develops one's will and make your faith very strong. Number five is Hajj, which is commonly known to most people as the pilgrimage to Mecca. We must make this pilgrimage at least once in our lifetime, if our health permits or if we are financially able.
We can sum this up in six beliefs. Number one is believe in Allah as the one G-d. Number two, His prophets, all of them. Number three, His angels. Number four, His books. Number five, life after death which means the hereafter and number six is His law of reward and punishment. So whenever you misuse or mistreat something in creation, there is an automatic punishment, a law that brings an automatic punishment on you.
Likewise, when you do good, there's an automatic reward. I would like to close out my talk with a reading from the Qur'an to show you the nature of this religion and the book. It is the 49th chapter verse 13. Almighty G-d says, "Oh, mankind, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other not that you may despise each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of G-d is he who is the most righteous and just among you, and Almighty G-d has full knowledge and is well-acquainted with all things."
Dear beloved people let us in the future, study the religions and let's learn what Almighty G-d has revealed to the people and then we will judge the people by the words of G-d and not the words of G-d by the people. Thank you very much As-Salamu Alaykum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you.
[silence]
Imam Kamalud-Din: As-Salamu Alaikum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you. Dear beloved people, we must be conscious of our habits. Habit can be rewarding or habits can be humiliating. What produces habit referred to as habit forming. Meaning something is formed or shaped by what? Well, repetition is what produces habit. Anything you practice over and over and over will eventually become habit.
This practice whatever it might be, good or bad performed repetitiously becomes programmed in your subconscious mind so that the programming operates outside of your conscious mind. This causes you to do things and not be conscious of what you're doing. Habit takes you over and control your actions. Good habits complement you and bad habits humiliate you. Most people are not conscious of their breathing.
They're not conscious of the batting of their eyelids or the beating of their hearts and et cetera. These operations function subconsciously. If a husband or a wife constantly argue with each other always saying insulting words to each other, it becomes habit. So when they are out in public, although they try not to, as long as they are on guard, they will not insult to each other but the moment they relax their conscious mind, their subconscious mind will take over. They will argue until they have made a spectacle of themselves.
A habit is powerful, a very powerful force and it takes great effort from individuals to change the programming, meaning conscious effort. First, one must become fully aware of the bad habit before anything can ever begin to be done about it. So dear people, form good habits and you will not have to worry or be embarrassed by bad habits.
The conscious portion, the subconscious portion of the mind should be in total agreement. Sometimes when you are in deep conversation consciously, your subconscious mind drives your car. You doubt this? Well, you drive the same route everyday going to work, but today you plan to make a stop along the way. You get into this serious conversation with a passenger in your car and your subconscious mind drives you right along the same route that it is familiar with. The stop you plan to make has not been programmed, so you end up at home and you say after you get home, "Oh, man, I forgot to make that stop."
Beloved people, you and I must begin to study human development, so we can learn how to operate and repair or make better our human condition. Our whole society can be better if we learn to control our subconscious and conscious minds, our thoughts. Let us submit to the will of Allah the Almighty and obey His instructions, His words are the best to form our thinking and our habits. As-Salamu Alaikum, may the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you.

Male Speaker 12: On Al-Islam in America, an outstanding piece of work, it's an art form, we call it singing. The Masjid Felix Bilal ensemble, it's the very pretty images.
[music]
Wali Ali: I sit in church. Yet, I don't understand why we pray to a Caucasian man. His hair is blonde and his eyes are blue. Daddy, he doesn't look like you. They say he died upon a cross, then why is it that I feel so lost. They had his picture on every wall and it makes me feel so very small. They say his name is Jesus you see, but he doesn't even look like me. Now I know why I feel so low, he looks like the same masters from long ago.
Choir: What is this image I see? What is it saying to me? Do these images portray divine or it's a picture in my mind?
Wali Ali: Somebody tell me, do these images portray divine? Won't somebody tell me, do these images portray divine? Should we give him nappy kinky hair so an image we too can share? The Lord has shown the world's to see and maybe someone to solve the problem. In Exodus 20 verses four and five says don't make graving images of the Lord up high. The first commandment Moses wrote indeed, thou shall have no other G-d but He. We have his word and it's so divine, we don't need images to cloud our minds. If you believe what your bible says, you won't keep these images for another day.
Choir: What is this image I see?
Wali Ali: What is this image I see?
Choir: What is it saying to me? Do these images portray divine or it's a picture in my mind?
Wali Ali: Sing it one more time.
Choir: What is this image I see?
Wali Ali: I want to know.
Choir: What is it saying to me? Do these images portray divine or it's a picture in my mind?
Wali Ali: Think about it. Come on, come on you all need to think about it. All I want you to do is think about it. Come on, come on you all and think about it, think about it. Come on you all and think about it, think about it. All I want you to do is think about it.
Choir: Think about it.
Wali Ali: Come on you all and think about it.
Choir: Think about it. Think about it.
Wali Ali: Hey. Hey, think about it, think about it. All I want you to do is think, think about it.
Choir: You got to think about it.
Wali Ali: All I want you to do is think about it.
Choir: You got to think about it.
Wali Ali: Come on, come on you all and think about it.
Choir: You got to think about it.


