05/06/2000
IWDM Study Library 
Establishing Model Communities 
in America
Cincinnati OH 

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Peace be unto you. In Islam we say, As-salamu alaykum, peace be unto you. We praise G-d as it is given in our holy scripture, [...] say, meaning, say to Christians and the Jews, and another group of people recognized as being people who receive scripture from G-d, called Sabians. Say to them, our G-d and your G-d is one and the same. [Arabic] Pardon me. Meaning, [Arabic]. Yes, [Arabic] means one and the same G-d. With that, I will now share with you, I hope, the true picture of Islam firstly. After presenting the true picture of Islam, then we would like to address our obligation, not just to live our faith, our religion as individuals accountable to our creator, to our G-d, but also to be of help, of support in the effort to establish model community life. Model community life.
When Islam began on this earth, about 14 centuries ago, roughly, in the land peninsula called Saudi Arabia now. It was not called that in that time. It was referred to as land of the Arabs and it had the name Hejaz and other names that were given to that area. It was an area occupied by tribes and the tribes were not united. They were not united. The most respected tribe was the tribe of Qureish called Qureish. Q-U-R-E-I-S-H. The tribe of Qureish. The tribe of Muhammad the Prophet and messenger of G-d. given to us in Qur'an. They had...
Sometimes before the time of The Prophet, maybe less than 200 years before his arrival or his birth, they had an effort by one great leader who wanted to see the whole area, that is called Saudi Arabia now, the peninsula of Arabia, that whole area socialized. By that I mean, the leader wanted to see them having respect for each other's rights, tribes respecting each other's rights and working together for the betterment of the whole peninsula, believing in responsibility for family, also believing in responsibility to their neighbors. To work to have peace, social harmony, progress for that area. That effort didn't survive too long.
Then, comes Muhammad with the message of Islam. With the message of Islam, those estranged tribes who were not respecting each other, they were like territorial bosses. You had to pay a toll. If you belong to the other tribe, when you come through that area to get where you have to go, you have to pay them a toll. You have to pay them something to go through that area. They were United as brothers in Islam, as brothers in faith, faith in G-d. It only took about 20 years for Islam to become the religion of a land that was before a land of idol worshipers, who worshiped gods they made with their own hands, made of wood, made of clay, made of metal, different things.
They had about three or four gods that were major gods for all the tribes. Their names were given in the Quran, one of them named, Wood, W-O-O-D, Wood, not wood now, Wood, and another one named, Laat, L-A-A-T, Laat. They have several popular gods, but those gods were not strong enough in their hearts to unite them and keep them from being enemies of each other. When Al Islam came to them and said, the G-d is one, and the G-d is the one who created the heavens and the earth, the skies. In Arabic, heaven's the skies. Samawat means, the skies. The G-d who created the skies and the earth. It United them, not without a lot of difficulty. Not without an effort to persecute and prevent Islam from ever becoming the religion of any of the Arabs.
Yes. Murder, killing, boycotting, based off of all those things, it was a persecution of religion that they had to suffer, but they were victorious. They were victorious. The Prophet Muhammad used to have to ask the idol worshipers for permission to, once a year, come to the site of the house of Abraham, Ibrahim, in our Qur'anic language, the site of Abraham, that little house he built as a sign of the unity of mankind under G-d, the family of man under G-d. He used to come to that house once a year, and he had to ask permission from those who were persecuting him. He was able to get permission in time because the Muslims were given the right to defend themselves against the people who wanted to prevent them from having their religion, the idolaters, the idol worshipers. There was this, the word came in the revelation, it's in the Qur'an, in our holy book now, saying, "Now permission has been given to you to fight the persecutors.
When Muhammad, the Prophet was given permission to fight, he got very brave soldiers joining him, and though they were much smaller in number, and not as skilled in warfare, like those who were persecuting them, they were very victorious, very victorious. In time, the idol worshipers had to make concessions. They had to give in and at least yield some ground to the Muslims under the leadership of our Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace be upon him. They finally gave permission for Muhammad and his followers to come to the house of Abraham and make pilgrimage, that we call Hajj now, most of us know. We are making efforts now to have a big, big number from our community, going in the year 2001 on Hajj, this would be a second effort for us to make a big numbers. The first time was... Oh, been almost 20 years ago. We took over 300. I think it was about 360. This time, I think it's going to be 2001 Hajis, sisters, men, women and some children. Anyway, he had got permission to make it.
Here's our prophet now, the prophet of Islam, he's taken his followers to make Hajj. He's doing it with permission of the unfaithful, ungodly people, idol worshipers. He's doing it with their permission. Why am I saying these things? To show you the rational picture of Islam, rational picture of Islam. Islam is not a religion for fanatics who say this has to be, there's no discussion. No, we are open to what is rational, reasonable, rational. The Prophet finally, as you know, got to be very victorious over the opposition. He came into Mecca with, they say, 10,000 soldiers. His army had grown to be very large. Mecca submitted. The forces there of the idolaters, of the idol worshipers, they gave in. Did Muhammad say, "Each one of you have to profess this religion." [Say, La illaha illallah Muhammad ar rasuulallah]. "If you expect to continue to live in this land that we have conquered, that Allah has given to us, into our hands, into our charge."
No, he did not say that. You know what he said? He didn't even say you had to be Muslims, no. He said, "Whoever accepts to respect the peace, they will be protected," their lives, their property, et cetera, will be protected by the Muslims. Whoever will accept the peace. That means, don't pick up arms against your neighbor, don't go to war against us, don't threaten us, don't make trouble for us. If you agree to that, then you would have the same protection, as citizens, that we would give the Muslims. Not only that, the obligation, the responsibility was heavier on the Muslims to protect them from each other and from anybody else, from Muslims, anybody. The obligation was on the new state formed as an Islamic state under Muhammad, the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him.
Jews and Christians, they were told, "You should practice your religion. You have permission to practice your religion just as you did before." This is documented. He didn't say, "Well, you can practice your religion, but we want have some say so in it." No, the Muslims didn't have any say so in the way that they practiced Christianity, that was their religion. It was for them to be responsible for its teaching, it's preaching, it's, et cetera. He said to the Jews the same. We know trouble started. There were a group of rich Jews in Medina who weren't happy at all with Muslim state being established over Medina or to the city next to Mecca, our holy city. In fact, both cities are sacred for us now because Medina, it's the city of the prophet Mohamed. He moved to Medina, invited to come away from the Meccans, who were persecuting him, had boycotted him. The boycott was so severe that it took the life of his first wife, and at that time, his only wife. Took her life, lady Khadija, may G-d be pleased with her.
He moved to Medina, and Medina is now called by Muslims all over the world, the city of the prophet. Is also called, more formally, Medina al-Munawwarah, which means, the city of enlightenment, or the illuminated city. The city of enlightenment or the illuminated city, Medina. To close this part out, Islam was very successful. G-d opened a way and Arabia became an Islamic country, or state. Islam spread from Arabia to Persia, Iran, Iran what's called Iran now, to Africa, to Ethiopia, to Egypt, Ethiopia, and to other parts of Africa, and also went as far as Europe. The Turks eventually became Muslims. As you know today, the Turks are white people, but they're Muslims, and a strong and ancient civilization. Very ancient and strong civilization with a very, very fascinating history. Islam reached as far as far as Rome, few people in Rome converted to Islam.
Also, it went to Asia, eventually. We know the Mongols, the Huns, who were very fierce people, or war natured people. In fact, their society was based upon war, that's what it was based upon, war. Expanding, conquering more land, conquering more people, becoming stronger and stronger. They at first rejected our religion, Islam, and caused a lot of trouble and a lot, great losses, especially to education. They burnt libraries that contained thousands of volumes of very precious books on the religion, on the history of Islam and the religion.
But, those same enemies of Islam later learned about Islam and they converted to it. Those who were the enemies of Islam became also the great defenders of Islam in time. The Huns, the Mongols became the great defenders of Islam in the far east, in Asia. That's true for Christianity before the preaching of Islam. We know that it was Rome that persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him. But the same Rome became the leader of Christianity, the church of Rome, yes, along with the Eastern church in Greece. Just trying to give you a kind of picture of what Islam is, how it started and what it is and our prophet, what kind of person he is.
When Muhammad, the Prophet was being persecuted by the Meccans, his own fellow countrymen, some of his people who were suffering, they pleaded to him to find some relief for them. He sent a group of them as an Envoy, as a messenger, a messenger group carrying the message of the persecution of Muslims, of Muhammad and his followers in Arabia, to the leader of Ethiopia. Ethiopia at that time was not called Ethiopia by the Arabs. I don't think the Arabs ever called that land, Ethiopia, they called it the land of the Habashi. They were sent there, and when they got there, they introduced our prophet to that Christian ruler of Ethiopia.
One of them, perhaps least educated of them but strong in faith, he was the one who came up with the correct approach to make to the Christian ruler. He recited to the Christian ruler passages from our holy book, Quran, on the Virgin Mary, peace be upon her, the mother of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, and how the Quran introduces the blessed mother and her blessed child. Also, John, peace be upon John, who was born before Jesus Christ. When the Christian ruler heard the beautiful story that came with the revelation to Muhammad the prophet, he was so touched by it. He told this group that came for protection, "Don't worry. You have nothing to fear here. You have the protection of this country." He gave them asylum or protection.
The Meccans, knowing where they had gone, arrived soon after. When they arrived, they said, "These people you have, you don't know these people. These are bad people. You have to give them to us so we can take them back and have their hearing, their courts or punishment, whatever. The Christian ruler told them, "I see no problem with these people and you cannot have them back." They were very, very angered and they left in that state, but never were able to get those former citizens of Mecca back into their charge. We have, as Muslims, this in our history, the beginning of the progress for Islam on this planet earth, we have that in our history.
Many of you, I have shared this with, but I will tell you again, those who I have not shared this with who are Muslims. This is very important for us to remember, particularly in the United States of America, where we are living as a small minority among the great majority that are Christians. We should remember that our religion started with help from Christian ruler and protection from Christian ruler. That should endear us to Christianity. That should endear us to Christian leadership. That should make us feel a debt to the Christian Church. Yes, we should feel a debt to the Christian Church. We shouldn't see them as trouble in our path, we should see them as people honorable, receiving scripture from G-d, who share the belief in the same G-d that we believe in, and we're now citizens with them in the same country, in the same situation.
We should be looking for occasions to have peaceful, healthy, intelligent discussions with the leaders of Christianity in this country, church leaders, etcetera, so that we can serve each other and not be a harm at all to each other or against each other. This is what I want, and this is what most of these Imams want with me. This is what we want. If you are in the audience and you don't know this, we want to share it with you so that you will consider it and join the effort to form peaceful working relationship with the Christian leaders in our neighborhoods, in our city, in our state, in the United States of America, in the country. G-d is greater, he says. With that little bit I shared with you.
You can see that Islam began as a very sober, sober, not a fanatical movement, but as a very sober mission, very sober mission, sober mission, or movement, a very sober movement, not fanatical at all. If we want to continue to make progress as Muslims with this religion, we have to continue to respect the leadership of Muhammad, the Prophet, how he established it. He didn't establish it by looking for enemies, he established it by looking for friends. G-d says in our holy books, and we know Islam is a religion of disciplines. It's a religion of self-control. We have to take control of our own personal life and make it conform to the will of G-d, to the plan of G-d for Muslim life. It's a religion of disciplines. We can't do anything we want. We live to please G-d. We live to serve G-d, and serve G-d means, obey his commandments.
We don't drink liquors; it's forbidden in our religion. We don't take drugs; it's strictly forbidden in our religion. Very serious offense in our religion, and for Christians too. But I'm speaking for Muslims right now. We don't take drugs, a very serious offense, and we don't steal, we don't lie, we don't cheat, we don't deceive. All the virtues of Christianity are embraced by us, yes. Now, when we look at the articles of faith for Muslims, we share with Christians, Jews, Sabians, and some others too now that we are not aware of, these articles of faith. Number one is to believe in G-d, the G-d who created everything, who made human beings and everything that exists, and to believe that we are accountable to that G-d for our behavior, that if we don't behave as we should, one day we will be judged and we'll get the consequences of our bad deeds, that if the good deeds outweigh the bad deeds, we'll get the rewards, the good rewards for having been a good person.
Understand this, G-d says, "You're no angels." If the earth had been populated with angels, I would've sent you an angel to be your prophet, a messenger, so you're no angels. That's not to excuse bad behavior because G-d has created us with angelic qualities. The human being has angelic qualities, as well as human qualities. We are to always strive to be as perfect as we can be, but never think that we are angels, because once you think that you are an angel, you can't see your imperfection. G-d wants us to see, have knowledge of our imperfections so that we can constantly be improving upon our own selves. Now, we believe in G-d, we believe in his angels, we believe in the books that he revealed, all of them, to Moses, to Jesus, all of them. We believe in the resurrection after the death, its called, Al badi badh al Mawt. Al Mawt means the death.
We believe in the resurrection after the death and we believe in the judgment day, that there will come a final judgment day, that the guy that did the terrible thing and thought he escaped, he didn't really escape. There's coming a final judgment day when every deed of good is going to be rewarded and every deed of evil, or bad, is going to be punished. We believe in a final day. G-d doesn't want us to be terrified, "Oh, I've been a terrible guy. I believe in this religion, but I've been such a terrible guy. I know I'm going to go to hell fire." No, G-d says he is the only one can judge you. Say, the only one can judge you is the one who has been around for all time. He knows what happened to you in your life, from the day of your birth to the day of your death.
But he also knows what happened in man's world, from the beginning of the world with Adam to the end of the world, he knows what happened. He knows how much you are responsible for and he knows how much the world is responsible for. You can't judge yourself, only G-d can judge you. G-d doesn't want us fearing judgment day, G-d want us working for freedom day. Freedom from everything that is against the human life, the good human life that we want for ourselves and that G-d intends for us. We have these similar beliefs that we share, and we have these in common. When it comes to faith, Muslims and Christians are very close together. We don't have much difference. We only differ when it comes to practice, how we live this in the world.
What distinguishes us from Christians and Jews mostly, is our five articles of practice. Number one is, to make Shahadah, and this we share with the Christians. How do I know? I'm a student of your Bible, Christian brothers and sisters who are here. I'm a student of your Bible. I'm a good student of your Bible. G-d blessed me to be a good student of your Bible. I believe in the purity of your Bible. I have great respect for your Bible. I handle your Bible like I handle my Quran, I handle it with respect and care, I put it in a special place, it's not just left anywhere in the house. That's because I read it for myself twice so that I would understand it and be able to... How can we represent Islam in this country and demand the freedom of speech to preach Islam and not know our Christian neighbors who are in the great majority, and who actually are in the controls? Most of the people in control of this country, they're Christians.
How can we say we're imams and not want to know them first? You're out there on the corner preaching and you don't even know the Christians, shame on you. You should know Christians. You should know the church, what it stands for, and know Christians, what they believe. You should know the best of their life, don't look for the worst of anything. Always look for the best of everything. You should know the best of their life so you can have respect and love for them, then you'll feel free of preaching in America. You'll feel free of exercising this freedom, this life of freedom of speech, free speech, or the freedom to speak out in the public.
I'm advising you to do that because I know what it has done for me. It has freed me up to free at home in America, as a Muslim, with every right of citizenship, and it would do the same for you. I don't care how much rights you have on the law books, if you don't feel at home with your Christian neighbors, you just ain't free to preach Islam. G-d says, it is not G-d's wish to put you to any hardship. He does not wish any hardship for you, but it is his wish that you be purified, that you be purified. Islam, the religion of purity, and Christianity is a religion of purity. (silence) Islam is also the religion of all people. If you understand Christianity, Christianity also is a religion of all people. But, how can this be? How can Christianity be the religion of all people and Islam, too, be the religion of all people?
Islam means, resign to do the will of G-d. It comes from a word meaning, peace. When you render peacefully to G-d, give yourself peacefully to G-d, we believe that you will have peace, so Islam is a religion of peace. Our greeting is peace, Assalamu Alaikum. If you have read your Bible, Christ Jesus greeted people, his disciples, his friends, the people, he said to them, "Salam Alaikum." Read your own Bible. He said, "Peace unto you. Peace be unto you." In our language, in Arabic, religious language of a Muslim is, As-Salaam-Alaikum, peace be unto you. That's how Christ Jesus greeted people. It's in the Bible, you can read it for yourself, if you haven't already read it and made note of it [....] that, it's there.
Not me that, to say you're Christian mean to be like Jesus Christ, that's what it means. To say you are Christian means to be Christlike. How was Christ? More than anything else, he was a man of peace, more than anything else. I read the gospel; I know. I read the New Testament more than once. He was a man of peace, more than anything else. He would excuse small defects for the sake of peace. He would tell people to excuse their enemies even for the sake of peace. G-d's peace was his nature. G-d's peace was Christ's nature. His nature was peace, that's Muslim. Our meaning, our language, that's Muslim. So, Christ was a Muslim. For us, the name for that condition that was Christ, is Muslim. For you, the name of that condition, is Christ.
Christ didn't come to tell you, "Oh, I am this, but you can't be this." He said, "I in you and you in me," this is the gospel. I'm not saying this to teach a Christian anything, I'm saying this to let you know that we are closer than you think we are. You think we are so distant apart, and Muslims need to hear this even more than Christians. We think we are so far from each other. No, we are very close to each other, and G-d says to us in our holy book, I'm not speaking independently. I'm speaking with authority. G-d says in our holy book, he says to the Muslim, "You'll find the nearest people to you to be those who call themselves Christians."
But in that time, the Christians of that area didn't call themselves Christians, they called themselves Nazarenes, but they're the Christian, they're the quiet followers of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, says that, "You'll find the closest to you, will be those people who call themselves Nasara." Nasara, in Quranic Arabic means, the people of Nazareth, the Nazarenes, who were, the name for Christians in that early time of history. G-d wants that we be purified, and Christianity is religion that wants purity for its life, for its people. We know Christ, what's the meaning of Christ? It means purified. Christ means purified. It means anointed.
How do you anoint? You anoint by cleaning with a certain oil. All of that is ritual, but is it saying in plain language, this man was purified. He was born pure. Then as child, he was purified. He was anointed after being born into the world, he was again anointed, which means you can be born pure, but if you don't get some cleaning in the world, you might lose that purity. That's the Christ, that's the Christ. He said, "I am in you and you in me."
Muhammad came behind him about 500 years, or so, later. What did Muhammad say about his own identity? He said... G-d said through Muhammad, pardon me. He said, "Say to them," G-d says in our holy book, say, Muhammad, "Say to them, I am a mortal human being like you." Basharuun Mithlukuum is the Quranic Arabic, our holy book, the language of our holy book. G-d says, "Qul," means, say, [...], ["Ana]," I, Basharuun, a human mortal, Mithlukuum, just like you. He said it to them, "I am a human mortal just like you." What was he saying? Same thing that Jesus Christ had said, "I in you and you and me," we are one and the same type. The human type G-d created. (silence)
... basharun is just one of the names for a human person. What does bashar un say in this strict language or meaning? It says that the Prophet Muhammad is a sensitive human being, just like you. Now, wasn't Jesus a sensitive human being?
When he said to his people, "I in you and you in me," he was saying that we have the same nature that G-d gave us to be sensitive, to feel for the other person, to feel hurt that the other person is having, to feel hunger that the other person is experiencing, to feel for each other, to feel joy that the other person is experiencing. To feel elation, to join in the celebration of life. Isn't that the nature in which Muhammad existed?
You have to remember that you hate a person sometimes. When something like that come into your emotions, I better check myself. You ain't no friend of mine. You have to really check your own nature. That's naturally, G-d made us naturally just to share with each other these things, to cry when another human being is crying or suffering; and to have happiness when they are happy, et cetera. And this nature is given by G-d.
Allah says to us in our holy book, it is G-d who created you, who gave you laughter and tears. Laughter and tears, and all the faculties we call the human faculties, there is a G-d that created you like that, he gave you that. Yes, he wants that we be purified. G-d says, hardship, it is not hardship that G-d wants for you, that he wants us to be purified. For the sake of purity, of being made pure and better, you have to accept some hardship. Sometimes, much hardship. That G-d has not wanted that for us; he wants ease and purity for us. And he says that too. So he wants ease for us. But he says with difficulty will come the ease. Accept the challenge, face the difficulty, and overcome it in the name of G-d. Then we'll have the ease, that you want.
Now, look at the ease that we have as a society now, this country, the United States of America. But look how difficult it was for the early arrivals, for the pilgrims, for those who opened up the route, the West, the country. Look how difficult it was. Look at the diseases they had to face, look at the lives they had to lose. Look at the problems they had to face in taming the land, taking over the land, from Natives who were described by them as savages. The lives that were lost fighting natural things and also fighting the original inhabitants of this land, the Indians, fighting each other to see would the savage rule in the new land or would the civilized man rule in the new land. Big prices paid, big prices was paid.
But now we live in America, respecting and loving the Native Indians, the Native Americans, caring about them, registering their conditions in our own hearts, and wanting them to have it better. We are now looking at different denominations and saying they have as much right to have the freedom of religion in this country as we do. Not only to looking at different denominations of Christianity now, but now we look at even different religions, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and say they have as much right and freedom of religion in this land as we do.
Look at the great progress that has been made, we have overcome our prejudices, our fears, prejudice-based fears, and fear-based prejudices. We have overcome those, and now we live in a time of peace, and we're not worried about going to war with each other over religious differences, or going to war with each other over political differences, which order is going to rule on this land. No, we have peace. Then look at the great price that was paid by those who were here before us and made this great land open for peace, democracy.
But Allah says in the Quran, G-d says in our holy book, it's proven right here. Don't just look to your own self. G-d says, surely, with difficulty comes ease. That's a truth. I have had it real difficult. It's still difficult. We are one little, isolated situation. Look at the major movement of mankind on this earth, and you'll see that with difficulty comes ease. That should make us strong in the faith to overcome the difficulty in our personal lives.
Islam is a religion of service, service to G-d, yes, that's Christianity. But how to serve G-d? Just as Christians are to serve G-d, if you understand Christianity. G-d says in our holy book, that blood through sacrifice, in G-d's name or for G-d, does not reach him. He says that your piety does. Your piety does. Piety is your good religious conscious. Good religious awareness or consciousness that's under the rule of G-d. You live it, you live for G-d's sake. You respect G-d, you live close to G-d by making your behavior more presentable in the presence of G-d, and you also respect whatever G-d has established for you to respect. And when it comes to the certain condition of mind and spirit called consciousness, for Muslims, Taqwa, the word in the Quran Taqwa. It is firstly for G-d, but then secondly for parents.
G-d says have this consciousness for him and have it for the wombs the bore you. Some of the Arabs translate it have it for the close family ties, have it for the close family ties. Mama, daddy or your close relatives. So really to have this condition of mind this consciousness, out of respect for G-d secondly respect for parents and the family and the close family. And G-d says, also have this respect now this will let you know that this word is not what you think it is. We translate it G-d fearing, we translate it G-d conscious. Not an English translator by different translators, But I want to tell you to let you know that these terms are not as proper, these English translations are not as proper to so this word in the Quran as is the word special consciousness and the word regardfulness, regardfulness. You can use regardfulness, you can use respect. You can use special consciousness you can use all these translations and not have any problem.
But to use G-d fearing and all that. The parent is not G-d. G-d Says Itaqullah that's the verb from the verb Taqwa which is the noun names the condition of consciousness. G-d says Itaqulllah you have this consciousness for G-d. Then it says Wal-arharm and the close family ties. So, if this is the consciousness I have only for G-d, G-d wouldn't say and for close relatives, the close family ties. It says consciousness that offensive to G-d and because G-d has ordered respect for parents both in the Bible and in the Quran a sacred respect for them, we also have this special respect and regardfulness to our family our mother and father and the close family ties. And it also says wa taqull-nar and also this consciousness, a qualifier, a qualifier, An-Nar (fire).
So we want to be conscious of G-d the highest idea for us to consume and the greatest good, as pictured but also of fire. But I used to wonder why G-d says to have this Taqwa for fire. It came to my mind; I said Hey, you are studying too hard. Every child and every animal knows to respect fire. And fire has proven to be a great service to man and society. Yes. Without fire perhaps we would have never had civilization. So, I came to understand that I was studying too hard. So, I could understand fire. Fire is fire, period. But there is good fire, which is not designed for sinners, or not used for sinners. See the same fire that we use to cook the food with could also cook the sinner, could cook sin out of the sinner. So it aint the fire itself that bad its the purpose for which it has been kindled. If it was kindled to cook sinners, then that's bad fire.
Now, I want to continue with the principles that we say distinguishes us from Christian and Jews and from Sabien's and others. Firstly, to witness that there is G-d as I have already said. And to witness that there is G-d in Islam means to live a life that says G-d is one the creator of everything. So we just can't say G-d is one or I believe in one G-d, our life has to say that too. That G-d is one, the Creator of everything. So if I say to White people, you're are enemies. You are the enemies of Black people, and we want to live separate. I'm saying that I don't believe, or I don't live the belief that G-d is one. Because if I live the belief that G-d is one I have to accept that G-d is his G-d as much as my G-d. And I can't write him out of humanity. I have to accept him in humanity. Because the same G-d that created him created me. The same G-d that made the world for me made the world for him and I don't think that so hard for African Americans to understand that he got the world, and we are trying to get our share of it. So, we have to live, we call it the Kalimah.
This creed. We have to live this creed G-d is one. And the way to live it you have to be educated brothers and sisters. This Shahada needs education. Our Imams are to educate our following or to educate the congregation. So that when you here Shahada you know what it means you have to know what it is saying in its letters, you have to know what it is saying in its spirit. It says something in the letter and it says something in spirit. And you have to come into the spirit of Shahada not only to the letter but also in the spirit of Shahada and in the spirit of Shahada you become a universal man. You become a universal woman living in the family of mankind and recognizing that we are not only a racial family that we are also a species family, or family of human beings. This is what G-d wanted from us from the very beginning.
The next, second article of practice for us is prayer, salat. And this one distinguish us from others more than any other thing. If you really want to know what others see, as a Muslim, they see us in prayer; when they see us in the picture of our prayer, standing shoulder to shoulder with each other, man to man, boy to boy, sister to sister, girl to girl, standing shoulder to shoulder in prayer, and going through these ritualistic bows, down to the knees, and finally prostrated on the floor with the forehead and nose touching... I'm a kind of philosopher, and I get by with this too, even in Saudi Arabia. Putting the forehead down means you submit your intelligence to G-d, that you wouldn't have it if he hadn't created you out of the ground.
When your nose is laying on the floor brother imam, means you have no power of intuition, you have no mystic way of reaching reality and perceiving it, you are not psychic except that G-d created you to be that way; it's not your doing at all. So we touch it with our forehead, we touch it with our nose.
And mystical symbols, Christianity says that, not for all Christian orders but for one or two Christian orders in ancient times, they say the A in English is the first letter of the alphabet because the names of our father was the beginning of life for all of us. He breathed into his nostrils the spirit of G-d, and became a living soul.
Aren't you glad you came to hear me?
Now, I'm not saying that to brag! I'm saying that because since I was a young boy about nine or 10 years old, I started struggling to know what is truth, what does G-d want for us? And my travels have brought me to so much beauty and excitement, and ooh! What I've found in the world has been so wonderful and exciting for me. When I share it with you, I know if you'll hear me, you got to like it. But I'm not here to make you something you don't want to be, I'm here just to see you in a better condition, to be whatever you want to be.
We have this prayer that we do five times daily. And why five? The human being is a creature of five. The religion said this long before science said it. The empiricle sciences say that we cannot know anything except through our five senses: the sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. Your senses are on two levels, they're on a lower level, and they're on a higher level. On the higher level, the five senses can connect us with that sixth: the door that opens which liberates the mind and the whole life, called sixth sense. But none of it would be possible without the five senses.
Trust in something that is not the five senses is condemned by the gospel. A certain woman was washing her clothes at the well, and Christ Jesus said, woman, you've had four husbands over you, and the one you have now is not yours. Pardon me, I'm sorry, he said you have five husbands over you, and the one you have now is not yours. Now, think about that, you students of scripture, think about that. You've had five husbands over you, and the one you have now is not yours. Which means five are given by G-d. And these five are not just for a woman, for male, for the flesh, our five senses that G-d gave us. And the highest of these is what? Perception.
But, the key to having perception is good hearing. So if you don't have good hearing, you'll never have good sight, not in the faith, maybe in the world. I don't think you have a good sight in the world if you don't hear, because you'll be seeing incorrectly, because you didn't hear correctly.
The third of these practices is charity. Another strong principle of the Christians is charity. They don't call it charity, though, they call it Christ's love. And what was Christ's love? It was, heal the hunger of the hungry, heal the misery of the person in misery, and trying to do something about it to take them into a better condition; The good Samaritan in the gospel. We know that Christ condemned those who saw the man suffering in the road, and walked on the other side, some of them, so they wouldn't have to see him up close. It would be on their conscience too much, they took the other side of the road. And those who walked on that side of the road of the person that was suffering, they would just pass by.
Jesus saw them and gave attention to that person. No, I'm sorry. Jesus saw a Samaritan stop and give attention to that person, and that's where the name good Samaritan comes from. Jesus acknowledged the good Samaritan, and condemned those who passed by that suffering person, or looked away so they wouldn't have to see that suffering person.
So charity, you would say that was charity, but that is a charity that's required by a heart that is human, compassionate, a loving heart. That's why the Christians call it love; we call it Zakaat. The term is zakaat, and it's translated "charity" in English, but it's called zakaat in the Quranic Arabic language. It's called zakaat. Our third principle is zakaat, which is charity, but not just charity just to say it. As G-d says, don't give so that you make a person feel indebted to you, and don't give to become popular, so I give, I'm popular, I'm known to help people. But give to become purified. Give to become purified, so that you purge your own life of stinginess and greed and apathy. This is a Christian principle of love. But we have different languages, so that's why we can't see them as the same thing. Christ's love, charity, love in Christianity, is zakat in Islam.
I could give you a little more proof for this; we don't have the time. G-d's giving is as a grain, and the grain is called habb, and love is called hub. It's an allusion to love.
Yes, and then we have the fourth of these pillars. The fourth is to fast. Is fasting also shared by the... Yes, but we do it differently, but the Christians have Lent, you fast during Lent. They have other fasts too, I think. We have the month of Ramadan. Lent is seasonal isn't it? Comes at the same time. And our Ramadan fast month comes at a certain time, seasonal, in the ninth month of the year, we fast. Fasting for us is a matter between us and our G-d. Allah says to us, quote, I'm quoting what G-d says in the Quran, "Fasting is for me," end quote.
And G-d says, the breath of the fasting person is as the best perfume to G-d. Seems that when you fast, your breath doesn't smell to well, unless you brushing all the time. So G-d says he loves you. If G-d loves us so much for being the good person we want to be, as his servants, that he said, your wife or husband or friend or whatever, they might've said your breath stink, but I want you to know that breath of yours is to me as the sweetest-smelling perfume.
Now, don't just hear these things, but think of your own self. Wouldn't it be nice if we could love each other like that?
I remember a pretty girl, and one time I smelled her breath, I didn't want to see her anymore. Now that I've gotten older, I look back and then I said, boy, what a fool you were. All you needed to do was just wait for her to brush her teeth, and you could've had that pretty girl for your girlfriend.
Yes, and the last thing is pilgrimage, your annual visit made to the house built by Abraham and his son, peace be upon them, in the holy city, the sacred city, Mecca, in the peninsula of Saudi Arabia, now, it's called. We make a trip once a year to that place if we can afford it. We are asked to do it once in a lifetime. That means if you can't afford it, you should be working to afford it, at least once in your lifetime, to make one visit before you die to the house built by Abraham. That's the last pillar.
And the scholars, the learned people, imams, preachers, ulama, scholars were higher than preachers, understand that. In Islam, the ulama, the scholars are higher than the imams. The only way a imam can be as high up there with them, he has to also be a member of the ulama. In other words, he has to be a scholar with authority, a recognized scholar. Then if he's a imam because he's a scholar, he is lifted up to that higher level. How do we know that? The Prophet said, in heaven, in paradise, the scholars will be in rank next to the prophets of G-d. That's what he said. He didn't say the imams, he said the scholars.
And we know the scholar and the Prophet Muhammad, his young wife that he married, that he died, Aisha, her name, they call Aisha, was a scholar, she was one of the surviving scholars. She was quoted by imams. She would teach imams, she would correct imams. She could make an imam, she could produce an imam. So you sisters, don't envy the rooster on the roost; you could be higher than he is.
Now, don't try to crow better than he can crow. I've never heard a hen or pullet crow like a rooster. So leave that dignity, that pride to him, that he can crow better than you. Oh, Lordy! You'll never do that like he can do it.
I don't think I'm too much of a rooster; I don't like crowing anymore. It's okay. Every now and then, I get a spirit to crow a little bit. But it's not my normal way anymore.
Now, we stopped on the fifth pillar, but I started to say to you, which I'll say now, the scholars in this religion, they say... and understand that a scholar in this religion must also be a purified person. He has to be purified; not only knowledgeable, but purified also. If he's knowledgeable and not purified, doesn't show excellence of human character, excellence of spiritual devotion, we do not accept him as a scholar of authority in Islam, no matter how much he says he knows of logic, of interpretation, et cetera. Yes, so he's a pious, learned person, not just a learned person.
Yes. These scholars say that the fifth pillar in Islam, the pilgrimage to the holy house, the sacred house, is the sign or symbol or message of the unity of mankind, that that house, it symbolizes the oneness of the human family, that all races are brothers under G-d. All people are sisters and brothers under G-d. That's what that house stands for.
Some call it the House of G-d. Now, I'm doing this because I noticed in our Muslim Journal, that it was referred to as Bayt Allah, the House of Allah. That's not proper; it's not called that at all. It was built not for Allah directly. Allah says, [Arabic], this is the first of the houses of this type or nature, [Arabic], built for all people. Didn't say built for G-d, built for all people. Now, we know G-d ordered it. Why? Because Abraham, in this tradition we have, Muslim tradition, he was searching and lonesome, why should he build a house, how should he build a house?
And in the tradition, I say tradition because this is not revelation, this is tradition, a stone fell from the heavens, the skies, and it landed on the earth near Abraham. And Abraham took that to be a message from G-d that that spot is where he should build a house. So he took that stone and he built a house. The stone cooled black, solid black. We know because we've been there, we have touched it, and a lot of them like to kiss it, we've kissed it. That stone cooled to black, and Abraham built the house, and Abraham put that stone in the corner of the house.
In the Bible, you have by accident that we have this stone, this house with the stone in the corner. The Bible said, and the cornerstone became the stone of the builders. Is that right or wrong? You know the Bible, you know that's correct.
Okay. Muhammad the Prophet, when he was born, that house had been damaged by a flood. Now, can you imagine a flood in the desert? Flood must come every thousand years or something. I don't know where the water would come from either. But it's a real flood that damaged the house. What I'm saying, Brother and to you all, it might not have been the kind of flood we have in mind, it might've been a different flood. But a flood, it was damaged by a flood. And then they rebuilt it, the house, in the time of Muhammad the Prophet, before Muhammad was called by G-d. But he was known to be such a wonderful person, trustworthy citizen, we all loved him, Muhammad's character was just loved by all people, enemies, everybody respected, even the enemies of his family did not want to hurt him because he was just such a beloved person.
The tribes wanted to restore the house. So they were arguing, who should have the honor of carrying the stone? And one of them saw the young Muhammad, he was a young man at the time, they saw him in the distance walking. They didn't call him Muhammad, they said, there is Al-Amin; in Arabic, it means "the trustworthy one." He was called Al-Amin, and he was called As-Saadiq, the trustworthy one and also the truthful person, those were the names that he was commonly known by. They didn't say Muhammad to him, unless they were close to him, family members, close people. The townspeople, they all knew him when he was popular, they called him Al-Amin, the honest one, trustworthy one. They said, there is Al-Amin, let's have him come and solve this problem for us.
So they called to him, and he came to them, as the tradition goes, and they said, we are all chiefs, and we each want to have the honor of placing... Now, here are people who were idol worshippers, but they still had great respect for that house and the stone. They didn't even know, they had lost the meaning of it, it had been separated from the roots of it. But they had some kind of superstition that caused them to respect it and revere it and worship it, almost. Muhammad told them, go bring a cloth that's big and strong enough to carry this stone. They did. He said, each one of you, take a piece of the edge of it. They did. Then he, with his hands, lifted the stone up and he placed it in the center of the cloth. Then he said, now bring the cloth to where it's supposed to be restored. And they did.
And he took it from his hands, which is very important to us, especially us mystics, he took his hands... Imam says he's a mystic; you're a mystic too. All of us have a little mystic in us. He picked up the stone with his hands, he placed it in the center of the cloth. And they took it to the place where it was supposed to be, placed in the Kaaba, in the house, and he took it out of the cloth with his hands, and he placed it into the corner where it was before. That's the history of that.
Now, don't forget what I said; for the scholars, it means the unity of all people, or the unity of mankind, meaning that we all have one beginning as a family. We began with, as the Christians say, Adam and Eve, Adam and his female mate, his wife, and we are one family. So that house symbolizes that we all came from one home, one family, because home is not really a physical structure. Some people, especially primitive people, they don't have any structures at all that they sleep under at night; they sleep on the ground, or sleep in trees. Some primitive tribes sleep in trees, they sleep with no roof over their heads. So home is not a physical structure as much as it is a family condition.
Now, what G-d says of that house, I repeat, it is the first of the houses built for all mankind. It isn't built for me, built for all mankind. So G-d doesn't need us to have that perception of ourselves as one family of human beings, we need that perception of ourselves as one family of human beings, so that we can have peace on this earth, and cooperation, and a family spirit to make this world a better world for everybody.
Sorry I'm not finished here, I know our time is short and you might be getting tired of me now.
IWDM:
... Not so professional, but professionals, and we are as religious about getting a material share of this world as we are about building the school and mosques, et cetera. Why? Because we know, if we don't have business people strong in business, we will never have decent structures, schools, and mosques and other housing, et cetera, for our people, for our needy, for our seniors, senior members, and for our people. We will never have those things if we don't have a strong business effort. So, we have insisted that the people to join this effort, be more committed to being Muslims, obeying G-d, than they are to having money in the world. And that, people of that character, are going to guarantee us, because G-d is with us. G-d is with people like that. They're going to guarantee us that we are going to have constant growth, material growth, financial growth, in this community, from now on.
IWDM:
And eventually, within a few years, you'll see. We're going to have enough money to finance this plan that you have in Cincinnati. You have had to go outside because we don't have the wealthy people. We don't people to do it. You've had to go outside to get money, to get a free loan. We hope the application will be approved. We trust G-d and we pray that the application will be approved, but are we being dependent on it for our life? No, we are making an effort, and within a few years, we'll have the money to finance that project. Yes. Don't wait for us. You go on, full steam ahead. Get that application approved.
IWDM:
Yes. And this is dignity. How can you have dignity? G-d wants you to have dignity, not only for your spirit, but G-d wants you to have dignity for your body. G-d has made your spirit. That's your essential life. And you should be, firstly, a person of faith, faith, faith in G-d, spiritual power. But, G-d also wants you to house your spirit in a decent, decent house. G-d says in our holy book just as in the Bible, not the same words, that he promises you "fine establishments," "fine establishments." G-d promised you that, to have the faith that you're going to get that. If G-d wants your spirit to be in a clean body and dressed well, G-d says, "When you come to the mosque, dress in your finest clothes. Don't come there in the clothes that you don't respect. Come there in the clothes that you're proud of when you come to the mosque." It's in the holy Koran. Read it for yourself if you haven't read it.
IWDM:
It says, "When you come to the houses of worship, to the masjid, come in your fine clothing," and I like that about Lucretius, I'm telling you. I had been ignoring a young lady on my block until I saw her going to church. Man, she looked so good and she passed by me. Whatever he was wearing got in my nose. I wanted to go to church with her.
IWDM:
So, G-d wants us to put our spirit in a clean body. Have your hair nice. Look good. So, look, your spirit is also in this building. Don't you know that? Your spirit is free. Your spirit goes as far as your mind can perceive, and even beyond that. Your spirit wants to go beyond the limits of your rational, physical sight, and rational mind. It wants to go beyond your imagination. It strains your imagination to try to imagine what's beyond the end that I'm looking at. That's your spirit, because your spirit has been created to fill the whole universe, to fill up the universe with your spirit. So, G-d didn't say, "The man is charged with just making his town beautiful and cultivating it," but G-d charged the first man, and we have inherited that duty, our responsibility, to cultivate the whole world.
IWDM:
Thank G-d for industrious US, scientific US. They ain't got the best moral record all the time, but I have to take my hat off when it comes to cultivating, exploring, discovering, opening up the world for man's mind and for man's possibility. I have to take my special cap off to the United States of America.
IWDM:
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. You're not alone. G-d's angels are with you, and the best of human beings are with you. And certainly, this organization with me, the Muslim American Society, we are with you. So, don't think you're alone, and we are working, whether you see us or not, we are working, and we are going to get there soon. So, we ask G-d to forgive us our ignorance, our errors, our sins. Show us mercy, our Lord, and guide us always. Thank you.
Speaker 2:
Yes, we have about 10 minutes, and [Iman 00:06:03] has accepted the offer that those who would like to ask questions, then he will answer or respond to those questions.
Speaker 2:
As-salamu alaykum.
IWDM:
Wa alaykum s-salam.
Speaker 2:
First Of all, I'm a part of Islamabad [inaudible 00:06:43], and I would like to thank Father [Elias 00:06:52], [inaudible 00:06:52].
IWDM:
Allahu Akbar.
Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:06:52] But I thank you for giving the advice, and the encouragement to try and [inaudible 00:07:01] Islam, and I really thank you for working with Allah [inaudible 00:07:09]. I wouldn't be here [inaudible 00:07:09].
Speaker 3:
So, I just want to thank you [inaudible 00:07:24] for being here [inaudible 00:07:26], and for myself and my family, but first, I wanted to ask you. So, you touched on it before, when you were already [inaudible 00:07:33], and that was the role of the woman for the outside. What I mean by "the outside," it's like being, when it comes to, say, collective ideas on dealing with your community, and sort of rallying and coming together with differences in the different organizations, and Muslims, there's protection around us and so I wondered if you could please give us some dalil on the role of woman working in the community and [inaudible 00:08:06]. I find that in Cincinnati, it's still been kind of difficult when sisters try to come together collectively, and concentrate their ideas together within the community, it doesn't always feel like the support is there from the brothers on that question?
IWDM:
Yes, ma'am. Let me first say that Allah, missioned, Muhammad the prophet, peace be upon him, to guide us into a better world, a world that would be a just world, and with established respect, as G-d wants respect to be established for a human being, for males and females, for fathers and mothers, for children, and for those who are oppressed. The prophet Muhammad, he stressed, emphasized the making of opportunity for women, females... "Females," pardon me... To be educated equally with men, and he told his followers. He said, "If any man among you will see that he educate two of his daughters, he will earn paradise."
IWDM:
Now I think that our attention to, needs to have respect for females, due respect given to females, and equality of opportunity given to them in society, should begin where the prophet began, and that is by emphasizing the role of education and liberating humanity. I'm not finished. Education for Muslims is the main tool for the liberation of humanity, not women, men, the society itself, education. And so you sisters, if I were you, I would concentrate on taking advantage of opportunity to become better educated, better educated. The more bettered educated you become, the more powerful you become in society. And you all recognize that. Now, you need organization. You have to. You mentioned that you do organize, but you don't get the attention from the males that you expect. Well, suffer that little disappointment. Keep getting bigger and bigger and they may coming, doing sajdah at your door one day. Yes. Thank you.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:11:00].
IWDM:
All right. Thank you. Yes. Wa alaykum s-salam.
Speaker 5:
[inaudible 00:11:54-00:00:12:51].
IWDM:
Yeah. Sure. I know what you're saying.
Speaker 3:
[crosstalk 00:12:54]
IWDM:
Yes. I see your predicament, as you are in. Y'all let me reply to him first, please. Yes. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was the first person that I heard to say, and this was early in my life, but he used to say it often when he was coming out on Sundays to preach. He said that we object to the word G-O-D, he said, because when you reverse the spelling, you have dog. Later, I learned that very learned and pious Jews also refuse to write G-d, G-O-D. They would put a hyphen to take out the O, so you can't read it in reverse. It's D-O-G. I share that sentiment with them. Now, if you search for a curse word for any letters, you can do it. I can take any word, and I can find some curse words to say, "This A stands for this, this and that." You know what I mean? So, GD, GD means the curse word, the swear word. Now, yes. All right, but I don't think anybody except somebody like you. That's just trouble with that O being missing. We'll come up with, "G-D means, 'Gid Damn.'"
IWDM:
The first person that I ran into, and I ran into a lot of them believe me all the time I'm here. Why do you have the O out and almost a hundred percent of the ones that we explain it to. They feel comfortable with the explanation, but you have a problem. So please write it. G-O-D brother, but I'm not going to write a G-O-D. Okay. Yes. Now you write it the way it's there and when we write it, you read it you take your O and put it over that hyphen. Ah, don't don't disturb the brother, please. Ah, please don't put where the hyphen is. When you get the paper, put your O there, please make yourself comfortable because the point is that we are not comfortable. Now whatever makes you comfortable good. We are not comfortable, I'm not, my father wasn't.
IWDM:
I'm not spelling G-O-D. I'm not comfortable with that. Many Jews are not, I'm not comfortable with G-O-D because when I see G--D I see D-O-G, D-O-G then I see D-O-G and what are we protesting? The idea that man have been given some special divinity that certain elects of the human creation have some special divinity and because of them being born with this divinity, this little spark of divine light in them, they can rise up to God and fall down to a dog, or can rise up from a dog to God from dog to God, by this come from ancient Egypt, mythology. This idea, the role of a dog in divine matters.
IWDM:
I thank God that he excited my curiosities helped my curiosity, and I studied these things and I'm not in the dark brother. So we also want to protest that idea coming into the people of the scripture that man can rise up from dog to God and come down from God to dog. Falling angel from dark can come down from the God, to the dog. The aspiring creature with the divine spark can rise up from the dog to God. To me, that's worse than Darwin's theory. I don't like it, but that's my case will not impose that upon any of you all, if you like spelling the G-O-D we've never put in the paper that you ordered to change, have we, we just write it that way. We don't order anybody and naturally everybody followed suit because they say if the Imam has approved it this is the, what is accept. And they have no problem with that. But if any of you have a problem with it, I respect you and love you still. And yes, as much, you may more for being true to yourself, reject what we have done and write the G-O-D as you please. All right. So that's enough for that one. Next, the sister.
Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:03:15] When you were saying that [inaudible 00:03:17].
IWDM:
Yes. Ma'am
Speaker 2:
You had said or correct.
IWDM:
All right.
Speaker 2:
There are certain people that will be either laid or sent to do a certain job as far as to [inaudible 00:04:06] correct. All, get the drugs out, go far. Because when I look at her, I see it belief nothing into practice.
IWDM:
That's right
Speaker 2:
Now. And I, that are sitting here that with our people in a community, I also want to see a better world, but I don't see us participating to make a change for our children, [inaudible 00:04:15] for us to do this. What is your solution for us to practice until we have a few, because for me, if I'm sitting and children and the children are, we're not enough, the community safe to make a change. And I just feel that until we do some of the things that the holy, the teaching,
IWDM:
I agree. I agree with you a hundred percent. And I could have said just, as you said myself, many times I've been in the spirit say just as you can. And I have said, and said exactly what you have said. And that means we have hope. Long as there are you who not satisfied with status quo, not satisfied with nothing being done, not enough excitement, not enough tactical things being done. As long as they are among us, people like you who will not be satisfied. There is hope. May ALLAH Support you and they help you be more productive. Yes. Enrolled, could you speak more closely to the mic so I can hear you. I'm not hearing.
Speaker 6:
And right now to be African-American and you and in my class and I'm totally out everywhere I go. And I would like to have any words to keep going.
IWDM:
You like to know what now could you put, bring that mic down a little bit to your mouth level? Maybe it a bit. Yeah, there you go. Now you would like to know what?
Speaker 6:
I would like to know if you have any words of encouragement person to keep going [inaudible 00:06:27].
IWDM:
I see you the only black and only Muslim?
Speaker 6:
And the only female.
IWDM:
And only female?
Speaker 6:
Yes.
IWDM:
And a class of how many?
Speaker 6:
20.
IWDM:
20? Oh boy are you in a situation? Well, you can take that two ways. First, you look at it and you see a bad situation for yourself. You, the only African American or black and you the only Muslim and you're the only female. But now if you look at it as a challenge, so I'm going to show these boys something that they have never seen before and are African American or in a female. Let your best keep coming out, sister. And you will be the star in your class. Yes.
Speaker 6:
[inaudible 00:07:34].
IWDM:
I like my [foreign language 00:07:40].
Speaker 2:
I love and appreciate.
IWDM:
Thank you.
Speaker 2:
May ask question?
IWDM:
Yes.
Speaker 4:
Question [foreign language 00:08:01] you out. You.
Speaker 4:
Yes.
IWDM:
Are we addressing the Prophet?
IWDM:
Now I'm going to ask you to pull a mic up a little bit. So you don't have to stain this down. Just pull it up a little bit to your mouth level. Yeah. That's about it. That's about it. Nah, ask the question again now please. Yeah. You give me the question again. Okay.
Speaker 2:
A question about, we say I
IWDM:
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 4:
{{Are we addressing the Prophet in the Salam?
IWDM:
Yes we are. Yes we are. When we say As Salaam Alaiki[Arabic],, we are addressing Mohamed the Prophet. They did it in his lifetime and they continued after his passing away. And will go on that way to the end of the world. Greeting him directly. Yes.
New Speaker:
Okay. Would you ever marry a Christian woman and if so, why and if not. Why not?
IWDM:
Would I ever marry a Christian woman?
Speaker 4:
Yes, sir.
IWDM:
If I find a nice Christian woman and I'm a single man and I haven't been able to find the woman, the Muslim woman that I was looking for, but I have me a Christian wife real quick brother. It'll be an interesting relationship.
Speaker 4:
The third question one can still Muslim not be delivered?
IWDM:
And still not be delivered.
Speaker 4:
Yes.
IWDM:
Yes. That's true.
Speaker 4:
And when one [inaudible 00:09:57]
IWDM:
And is not yes.
Speaker 4:
Then what can one do to develop their faith?
IWDM:
Yes. Nothing, nothing independently. We can only pray to our Allah to God, pray to God and use the best of our own wisdom. Our, our mental skills. Sometimes just like a woman, the average pretty woman. You don't get her by showing her that you really need her. You get her by showing on you that you don't by getting, showing her that you don't need her. When she think you don't need her, then she'll let you approach her. Now after, after she permits you to approach her, now she wants you to prove to her, you need her. So the best the, the first is not the act. Oh, I need you. I'm helpless. I'm hungry. I got to be fed. No, I don't need anything. I'm doing fine.
IWDM:
Because she wants security. And if you needing her so desperately, you're too weak for her. But once she see that you are strong, you don't, you ain't falling down under her charms. And see, I think I want to have this fella. If you can stand up to me, stand up to the other girl.
IWDM:
But then after she have accepted you, now, you got to let her know that you need her. You need her. And you will do for her, et cetera. All of that same way. It is when you're trying to bring a person to faith. Sometimes when you go to them and you tell them, you have to increase your faith brother, you have to increase faith. It works but many time. It doesn't. When that doesn't work, don't keep on. If one time you approach a person like that and it doesn't work, don't try that anymore. Help them indirectly and your wisdom. You have to use it and ask Allah to help you.
IWDM:
Sometimes that person is our own self. Well, if that person is your own self, then you got all the help that you need. You are on your way.
Speaker 2:
you said that [inaudible 00:12:34] .
IWDM:
Yes. Ma'am
Speaker 2:
And any letter and in spirit.
IWDM:
Yes. letter and spirit. Yes.
Speaker 2:
Explain that.
IWDM:
Yes. And letter means reading and understanding what the language says and spirit means. Understanding what that is asking you to be asking you to do what kind of person is asking you to be and how, and what kind of relationship it asking you to have, not only with God, but with God's creation and his creatures, human beings, et cetera. When register its in is broad application, how it is to be lived or applied, then you will have the spirit. You'll have the spirit, not just the meta. And when your sensitivity are agreement with what that statement it, asking of you in terms, what you should do with your life. Then you are in the spirit, not just in the letter.
Speaker 2:
Go to back to [inaudible 00:13:43]
IWDM:
I'm not hearing you now. Maybe you should stand back,
Speaker 2:
Go back to the letter, is that the beginning of it?
IWDM:
The letter?
Speaker 2:
Yes.
IWDM:
The letter is the beginning of no, not always. Faith is the beginning. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Explain, explaining to them that we have to end. Yes.

