09/02/2007
IWDM Study Library
Annual Muslim Convention 
Moral Crisis and Community

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
0:00:47 IWDM: Thank you, Praise be to Allah. We thank Allah for this beautiful day, we thank Allah of your presence here, Allah is with us always. Even when we are going astray, he's with us waiting on us to repent and as soon as we repent we have his help. We're thankful to Allah for our honorable guest that are here with us on the platform here. I recognize the face of the doctor who just gave us good medicine. [chuckle] He's the son of the revivalist late Maulana Maududi of Pakistan who had written so many wonderful books, more in the other languages than in English that have reached us here in America, but one of his books on the Life of Prophet Muhammad, I was a young man, I was not yet a leader, and I read it and it really renewed my life as a Muslim and gave me so much love, understanding, pardon me as the basis for loving our Prophet with all of our heart and soul. His father was a wonderful man, hope you will read it if you haven't read some books by Maulana Maududi, please if you run across his books or look for his book, please read them. His books are really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. He's called a revivalist of this time.
0:02:51 IWDM: The one who is reviving Islam in this particular period of time we are right now, and certainly always made so happy to see and to be with my brother Khurshid Khan who heads the Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA. So happy always to be with you in your presence and to have you say words to us. I asked him, I said, "Don't come and just say As-salamu alaykum, but speak to our hearts and soul." Thank you so much each of you. And we have our dear brother in humanity from the Presbyterian Church, J. Rock. That must be a good rock. [laughter] With us also, and we're building a relationship, it started few months ago and we are building a relationship, and I'm sure it's going to be even more wonderful for all of us in the near future. So many acknowledgements I want to make before I present, giving you what I have as a presentation for today. I want to acknowledge the things that are occurring for us in our community by our own leaders. When you lose a big population from your community, it hurts. Philadelphia, my father sent me there in 1958, I was just a fresh, what you call it? Fire-eater among the fiery Ministers of Elijah Muhammad my father, I was just one of the little young fire-eaters and he sent me to Philadelphia.
0:04:54 IWDM: Before he sent me there he said, "Son, I'm sending you to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, Temple No. 12." The organization started with Detroit, that's where the mystic Mr. Farrad, I call him "WD40," the mystic... No, not WD40, what'd I call him? WD40? I'm referring to that all they use in there. WD40, that's what I'm talking about then WD40, "ABCD," four, okay, WD40 [laughter] Yes. It started there, so the honorable Elijah Muhammad when the mysterious leader, Mr. Farrad who introduced everything to us, when he left, that is the concept for building a nation of Islam in America. When he left...
0:06:03 IWDM: Honorable Elijah Muhammad understood that the number for that temple was one. And my father came and established his leadership upon the teachings of his teacher, Mr. Farrad in Chicago. So Chicago became number two. And even while the Mr. Farrad was still among us, but was kinda withdrawing from focus, or from leadership, turning it slowly over to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, my father, who was Elijah Poole down in Georgia, and had no more education, formal education, than three years of elementary school. So Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Mr. Farrad, they went to Milwaukee and established a small community there. And that temple became temple number three. Mr. Farrad left after that, he went by way of Mexico, and from there I think he went to Fiji Islands, but I can't be certain of that. He might have gone back to Pakistan where I'm sure he's... That was his home. And then, from there, maybe went to Fiji Islands or somewhere. We're not sure. But we have evidence, we have cards, postcards from him, communication from him that came from Mexico after he left us and left the United States. He left it under pressure from the Police Department.
0:07:25 IWDM: I'm sure some of you are aware that there was two outbreaks, violent outbreaks. One in Detroit, at the police station. The Muslims were arrested because they took their children out of public school and put 'em in private schools, even if they had to teach 'em in their homes. That was not approved by the system at that time. And the same thing happened in Chicago. So when it happened in Chicago, Mr. Farrad decided that he would leave. And I think he left at a time when he felt confidently he had accomplished what he wanted to accomplish for his stay among us. Yes. And after that, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad went to Washington DC and established the fourth temple, in Washington DC, temple number four. And they grew, number by number, to many numbers. But I think five of them are very important to us for our understanding of how Mr. Farrad designed and planned the building or the development of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America. Five. The fifth one was Cincinnati. Cincinnati, Ohio was the fifth one. And now, I didn't tell you that to really give you something special. And what I'm gonna give you now is something special.
0:09:03 IWDM: Those who worked hard to build those temples under the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, they're still working. And the minister, who later became, got the title Imam under my leadership, who would build a great following, big following in Philadelphia, after I was imprisoned. I was imprisoned for not answering Selective Service offer... Military order, Selective Service order. I was sentenced to three years, but I only did about 14, 15 months. I was given parole as the judge said. Judge looked at me and before he sentenced me and he said, "The boy is dominated by his father, so I'm gonna give him three years." Said, "But I will recommend parole." That's what he said at my sentencing. And I did make, get parole after about 14 months. Some time in jail, in Chicago, waiting to be taken to a Federal Correctional Facility in Sandstone, Minnesota. And then, when they didn't take me directly to that facility, they took me to Twin Cities, Minneapolis, and there I spent another week or two, and finally got to the Federal Penitentiary and thought they had let me out. I don't know how it is now, but back then when I was in prison, you were happy to get out of those jails, [chuckle] where they give you oatmeal in a big bucket, looked like the mop bucket, and the man that's mopping the floor was the one bringing us the oatmeal.
0:10:56 IWDM: And I don't know what happened to the others, but the one who was mopping the floor also had another bucket full of oatmeal, and he was bringing that to us. One bucket for mopping the floor and other bucket for feeding... Well, I don't wanna see the halls but I think that's a way to achieving it. [chuckle] And if you didn't eat pork you were really in trouble. If you didn't know how to fast you were in trouble. But things have changed, times are not bad like that for our prison system. And that's good, it's becoming... Humanizing. They mention the destiny that G-d wants for us, G-d is constructing the human life. He is constructing the human life at all times. And he has created this world to motivate us, or to force us either to conform or be rejected. Yes, he's building a wonderful world all the time. And on Qur'an it says G-d is always at some... Engaged in some wonderful, marvelous work at all times, at all times. Yes. Now, that's also true scientifically speaking, isn't it? Because they tell us, those who study the stars, the astronomers, they studied the heavens, the tell us that and they said, "No, this creation has not rested or ceased to grow." There're new stars being born in the sky or in the space that we cannot measure and cannot know completely. Out there, new stars, new galaxies, nebulas, they call 'em, forming. The Earth and .....
0:12:56 IWDM: And growing all the time. Yes. So I want to mention Philadelphia, because we thought Philadelphia was a loss. Bad news happened there in the leadership, for the leadership, and things went down, the press came in and exposed the bad stuff, and didn't tell us too much about the good things that happened, but that's what the press is all about. The press is about bad news more than good news, it's about exciting news. Yes, it looks for excitement, or something that make you wanna buy the paper. So, that's the way the press is. And we want you to know that the leadership there was not only in my old friend, Shamsud-Din, but it was in others who were his strong supporters, and those strong supporters, especially brother Rafiq, who was the number one assistant to him in the secretary department and then the business department, he stayed right there, he didn't give up, and with the help of the members, the true believers and devoted followers there, he was able to win the case, and the charge of the temple was turned over to them.
0:14:26 IWDM: They got charge of the temple. And they contacted me and told me... He gave me the good news and they said, "We are with you and we want to invite you back to the Philadelphia to speak to us." So I'm to go to Philadelphia. I think it's early next year, and they're making excellent preparations to welcome me and have me address both the Muslim audience and the public audience there. So we congratulate you all on your victory. G-d gave you a victory in the court room. We congratulate you and we hope to see you soon, Inshallah, G-d willing. Also we thought Los Angeles was a losing. I think the whole area was marked to be lost. They call it Lost Angeles. The angels just keep falling down from heaven. Honorable Elijah Muhammad, when he sent the minister to go there, I heard one minister he sent... He knew the minister was very aggressive and energetic and intelligent, and should really realize a big success, but he warned him. He said, "I wanna tell you something." He said, "Now, you can't talk to them the way you talk to the believers in this area where we are." He said because they're not ready to really discipline themselves and straighten up like that.
0:16:00 IWDM: "So if they wanna wear their dresses a little shorter than we do around over here, don't try to force it on them." My father was getting him ready. [chuckle] And he became a very successful leader there. And after him, the present Imam, Imam Abdul Kareem Hassan, who has been the Imam in Los Angeles for a long time ago, but he was there before I became leader, a little bit few years before I became leader. He is a very productive Imam, very educated Imam, an Imam who has been with us for the whole time of the history almost, and he is one who takes notes, very excellent notes. So he is well-briefed, aware, knowledgeable of the history of our struggle in the United States of America to establish ourselves. He's well aware of that. And I thought that everything was lost, but it's not. He recently announced that they're completing the school structure after it was neglected for some time. I would say no one was supporting it with enough money to complete the structure and open the school, but the change came, favoring them doing that, and they did it very quickly. Recently, a month ago, they had a celebration there, celebrating the completion of the school structure.
0:17:38 IWDM: And they have a school structure that does not only house school rooms... Not only a facility for education, for teaching our children, but they also have a wonderful Musalla there, a place for Masjid, Mosque for prayers, and offices for business. It's a structure that's serving the neighborhood or the general community. And they hope, in time, to raise enough money to build a Masjid structure separate from the school structure. So we pray Allah, to G-d for that is, for their success. These are two places that I wanted to mention to you, but I want you to know we also, that we have Muslims who have been in Las Vegas long before I became leader. They followed the Honorable Elijah Mohammad, and most of them, I understand are with our leadership here, and I wanna give you a good news of a very beautiful restaurant that's gonna be built there soon by brother Ghalib Ghallab, the great entertainer that we saw last night, saw and heard last night. Ghalib Ghallab, who has supported my leadership for as long as I can remember I've been having an office. He's very constant as many of you are. He's very constant and contributing to my leadership. So he's gonna build a beautiful restaurant there, all halal. Once you... If you see the picture you'll be inspired. It's going to be a very special place. It's gonna be a tourist spot for everybody coming to Las Vegas. It's gonna be a tourist spot, definitely.
0:19:34 IWDM: So that's something else I wanted to mention, but there are many things I like to mention. Since I mentioned him and he was number one on entertainment list last night with... Sharing that number one place, spot, with Melton Mustafa, who is a classic all by himself. Oh, yes he is terrific. So he was the one responsible for our entertainment program, Melton Mustafa, who is a big band leader, big band leader. We just didn't have the stage and situation for, really for us to realize or see his full picture. But G-d willing he'll be back soon, at least next year. He'll be back and we will have better circumstances for the show, the big band show, G-d willing.
0:20:34 IWDM: And many other things I would like to say to you, but lemme tell you, on the whole, generally speaking, I know that you know that Black people, they don't... Nobody crying the blues. Somebody would rise and start crying because nobody is crying the blues. But generally speaking I want you, to let you know, I'm in touch with the community all around. I travel, I'm not resident Imam, I'm not placed in any one place. So I wanna give you the good report with the other reports that I've given you yesterday. I wanna give you the good news. Our spirit is high and getting more Islamic day by day, not night by night, day by day. Alright? It's getting better. And Islamic spirit, the Islamic spirit is rooted in the original human soul and nature.
0:21:37 IWDM: Yes, and that never leaves you. You die to it, but it doesn't die. We're coming back alive on our best foundation and that is the great edifice of the human life that G-d created. Religion is faith and religion is knowledge, but you can't have the knowledge unless you first have the faith and that's for most things. We wanna see our material life improve as a community, as a body of people, as Muslims, as African American Muslim, we wanna see our material life improve. It cannot improve without faith. And the circumstances that we have been exposed to as a people in our neighborhoods and our homes and etcetera, the things that have influenced our souls and our spirits have put us in a situation where it's very difficult to have faith. We have seen so many false Black leaders, or African American leaders, come up and promise us big things and let us down. And we have seen so many impressive movements come up for Blacks, lift our expectations and let us down. And we, some of us are aware that this wasn't done all because of our shortcomings as people. No.
0:23:25 IWDM: There have been people who have... From the establishment, from the American establishment, there have been people who have organized efforts, organized influences, organized even activities, to take our mind away from intelligent life and planning and put our life in a playpen and a fun place. Yes, that made it very difficult for us to even get control from our own environment. They have money, they can build a big facility to bring in entertainers and they decide what entertainers come in and singing in these big facilities. So our culture has not been in our control or under our control. Our culture has been in the hands and the controls of those who wanna make big money. They don't wanna see you get serious. If you get serious about taking over your neighborhood and doing something about supplying your neighborhood with clothing, food, services, whatever, they know if that happened, that you will have less money for fun time.
0:24:52 IWDM: And they are really the ones who are providing you with most of your fun life. Even though we have great rappers, we have great performers, in order for them to perform, they have to go to a facility that's big enough to take their audience, and we don't have facilities big enough to take their audience. So they control the performance and they control what comes to us as entertainment. Now, we talk about culture. Culture is a very broad term, but usually when we hear culture we really think of entertainment culture, don't we? Yes, when we think of culture, we're thinking of the entertainment culture, but education is culture. Education is the most important part of a people's culture. Correct education. Yes. And we don't control that either.
0:25:51 IWDM: And we don't have to necessarily control that, but we should try to, we should try to control the entertainment culture that's provided for us. We should try to control it ourselves. I will never be pleased until we are in control of our entertainment culture.
0:26:09 S?: Oh, yeah.
0:26:10 IWDM: I'll never be pleased because that's how they are mastering our souls. And keeping our souls from developing out of the woman to be established upon the land in structures of business structures, schools. Masjid, schools, business facilities, etcetera. The soul cannot be satisfied, brother, just at a party. If you're a real human, your soul ought to feel that it achieves something more than just a fun play, a fun place. Yes. The soul will never rest until it has established community life. That's why Islam and Christianity and Judaism places responsibility on the believers to establish their own neighborhood, their own neighborhood life, their own community life. It's difficult with so many powerful greedy elements working against that now in the world. Everybody just care more about getting over on the next person. Yeah. So you wanna make your enemies happy? Keep spending most of your time listening to funk and rock and all that stuff and watching that stuff on TV in movie screens, just keep doing that and you're strengthening your enemy. You're making them very strong and comfortable, so comfortable and strong, they can sleep and rest while you play in your playpen.
0:27:46 S?: That's it.
[applause]
0:27:51 IWDM: Praise be to Allah. Thank you. Religion is faith and knowledge, faith and knowledge. And what did our prophet say? He said, you will never get into paradise until you have faith, and you will never have faith until you practice loving one another. You know, when you look at what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was able to achieved. Now We knew he had army to help him to get what he wanted called the FOI the military, the FOI, but you know, most of them that was supporting the Honorable Elijah Muhammad were not supporting him because they were forced. Not supporting him because of the captain or the lieutenant or the supreme captain or whatever that. They were supporting him because they believed in him and they loved what he was doing. That's why they were supporting him. So we had faith in him, and that's why he was successful in accomplishing material things, accomplishing his material goals, reaching the material goals because we had faith in him. We supported him heavily with our money, even though we poor.
0:29:02 IWDM: We gave much of it, more percentage of it than was justified. We were just very very interested in seeing his accomplishments come to reality be fulfilled, be established. So we would give, give give give... I mean give big percent of our poor salary, our income to help the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's plan for us. So you have to have that faith. Now, if you lost faith, and I understand it. If you lost faith in Black leadership, that's okay. I'm not asking you to have faith in Black leadership. I'm asking you to have faith in religious leadership.
0:29:45 S?: Yes, sir.
0:29:46 IWDM: And not just to have faith in it, but get some knowledge. Get some knowledge so you can grow on the land as well as swim in the water. You know you swim and float in water do the dog paddle and all that, you know. Dog paddle and stay, keep your head above water. Dog paddle to keep your head above the water. "How you doing dog, hey brother dog. How are you doing dog?" That's what the youngsters say, ain't it? "Hey, dog. Where you been man?" Dog. I'm glad they stop barking in the shows. That show irritated me. Be watching the movie.
[vocalization]
0:30:36 IWDM: That's evidence that they have stepped out of what they were in under the leadership of the past when we had better leaders. Leaders who are more sincere and less interested in big time show for themselves and big money for themselves. They were interested in their people. Yes. That time is gone almost, completely. We still have some wonderful leaders though, but they're very few and they're not seen and known most of them are not seen and known. But time is changing. Now, what this presentation is all about here is getting us to understand or have the knowledge of our life, how it has been affected by developments in history, beginning first firstly with religion and then with culture. In the Arabic language, the term black "black" has meaning, has meanings or definitions similar to meanings in American and English our language and culture. The word of respect, mister or the address of respect, mister so on and so on and so. If you say that an Arabic, the root meaning it comes from a root that refers directly to the color or to the hue black, black or blackness.
0:32:25 IWDM: The word of respect, mister addressing males is a term literally meaning black. We use the same term referring to females, by putting a feminine expression to it by making it grammatically feminine but it's still the term black and you say Mrs. Instead of Mr. Title of respect. The word Sudan is Arabic, that word is Arabic, Sudan. And it comes from the root word too, meaning black, darkness or black. The word Saudi, for the Peninsula Saudi Arabia also comes from the same word, meaning black, root meaning is black or darkness. The term for West is in Arabic, Maghreb. And there are others too, the root meaning black or blackness, black or blackness. So in the evidence in the language that still, that we still have and current language that is spoken by Arabs and by Arab-speaking people who are many, most of the Arabic-speaking people are not Arabs. The religion, which gives us the Qur'an from G-d in Arabic, is the reason why so many people that are not Arabs speak Arabic, speak Arabic.
0:34:24 IWDM: Infact, the people who live on lands that were mostly populated by Arabs, but they're not Arabs, they speak Arabic because they live in those land like we speak English we live here, in this land, in this English-speaking environment. They also speak Arabic, also speak Arabic and when they say G-d, they have no other word respecting the concept or that idea better than Allah. They say Allah, they're not Muslims, they say Allah. See, so if we don't have some knowledge, we just can't have faith, we have to be taught, we have to be led in knowledge. So we become more knowledgeable. Yes. I'm trying to stick with this so we don't spend too much time. We have, I think we're expecting a performance here another great performance here this evening and I wouldn't wanna miss it. Yes, oh yes, I see where I'm at now... In scripture, the origin of human life is in blackness, is in blackness, and that's reality too. When the baby comes from this mother... And into the sunlight or into the light of this world... Where did the baby come from? Did the baby come from a lit environment? Was it lit up with light? No. Inside the mother, the baby was in the dark.
0:36:18 IWDM: The baby was in the dark, germinating and developing as a fetus and finally enough to come out and join the family. The term or the amount of time is expected to be nine months, some come earlier, maybe a little later, but the expected time is nine months, nine months waiting for the creation to be finished, in the light or in the dark? In the dark! [chuckle] In scripture I repeat, the origin of human life takes place in darkness. It comes in darkness. In the scriptures of the major communities of faith, the story of the creation of human beings began in the darkness. Even for Buddhists, I've read the story of Buddha himself the enlightened one, and he has to first survive the darkness, and after surviving the darkness, then he comes, finally comes to illumination, the path of light and illumination. The light is generated under the gravity of darkness. Yes. Darkness is a weight on life, and that weight produces pressure, and pressure energizes or destroys. So am I energized? You respond to the pressure by meeting force with force. Yes. You are energized and you are able to struggle through the darkness until you stand up in the light, G-d willing. After the first appearance of light... We are told of the presence of the sun, the moon, the stars, the whole world as we see it.
0:38:51 IWDM: A week in man's world, the whole world we see it, all those things are in place. Finally all those things are in place. So what is this telling us? This is telling us that there is G-d's plan, that G-d has a plan to bring those who are in the dark into the light. And when they come into the light, they're not gonna be in the twilight zone. When they come into the light they're gonna be in the light of man's world. They're gonna be in the light of man's world. That the deceitful man, the Shaitan follower, those who give themselves to the wisdom of Shaitan, follow his logic and follow his plan, they design this world and give it a language to bring you to Satan. But G-d plans to bring you to the best future that you could possibly have, we call it Paradise. But it is on this Earth as well as in heaven, alright?
0:40:13 IWDM: And we don't wanna miss it on this earth. G-d says, "Who has told my devoted servants that this world of material things is not for them?" So to the contrary, it is for them, and in the hereafter it's going to be exclusively for them. Now, isn't that justice? Should G-d give the best of his creation, authority over his creation, the resources of his creation to those that work against him, against his plan for human being? That wouldn't be justice. So, eventually, it's coming to the best people who believe in G-d and have G-d as the number one authority over them, it's coming to them. And I'm happy to say that our prophet, because we got Christians in our audience and Christian leaders sitting on this platform with us today, it is said, in the tradition of Prophet Muhammad, coming from his words, it is said that G-d showed him hell and also showed him heaven. And he said that... Who he saw in heaven? He saw the followers of Moses, followers of Jesus and his followers, saw 'em there. And I'm sure that there're some others that's there too, but he mentioned those that are closer to us and because we're all people of the Book. We're all people following the same prophets that G-d sent.
0:41:56 IWDM: What I'm referring to now is the belief of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Our prophets are the same prophets. You know we have some minor differences, but our prophets... Some differences, but... I won't minor 'cause they can be a major difference, but we have one or two exceptions maybe, but we believe in the same prophecy and we believe in the continuation of the same scripture, that scripture was coming from G-d, and G-d was sending prophets, as Allah says in Qur'an, and Prophet Muhammad has told us also, one after another in succession to make a contribution to the edifice of the human being that G-d wants on this planet. And each one has contributed something to it, to make that edifice more complete as G-d intended it to be, and in its final completion there was something missing in it, there was a block missing in it, in the construction, and we are told in Islam, our prophet, that he was sent to put that last connection into the structure, to complete it. So, we are tied together in very important ways, and we're coming closer together in these times and it's really of natural consequences as well as faith.
0:43:42 IWDM: It's not only faith that's bringing us together, but it's also of natural consequences that we are coming together, people, the real people of faith, who are serious about supporting and fulfilling the plan that G-d puts in our hand. For the G-d says, he gave the people a covenant, that means he gave you responsibility to deliver his plan till it's complete.
0:44:09 S?: Allahu Akbar.
0:44:13 IWDM: So when the boss-man said, "Hey, come here, Black boy", he was saying something that you didn't know about. You thought he's just talking about your skin color. He said, "Come here, Black boy. Get away from the porch and go out there in the field." And he call the black dog, his black dog, blacker than you, "Come here, boy." Call him boy, too. Black dog run up and he jump up in his chest and he hug him, he kiss him and feed him, feed it and let him bite of his hamburger, [laughter] and you can't even eat at the same restaurant he eats at, you had to have a Black place to go, drink out... If I can't drink out of the same fountain, you gotta go drink out of your Black fountain, he drinks out of his White fountain. But he hug and kisses a black dog and eats a hamburger after the black dog bit off of it. He let the black dog lick spit all over his White face. It's a strange world, isn't?
0:45:17 S?: Yes it is.
0:45:19 IWDM: Yeah, those are the people in the world who follow Satan plan, Satan plan, White folks who followed Satan plan, and they didn't even know they were following his plan. Yes. So we have to conclude that such language of human creation attempting to explain or give us the creation of human beings is metaphorical, symbolical, allegorical. It needs some translation. It needs some interpretation in order for you to understand it. If you take it literally, it's gonna keep you in the dark forever.
0:46:04 S?: Oh yeah.
0:46:12 IWDM: The words of scripture pointing to ignorance, the ignorance of scripture, that one day that ignorance would grow and grow and grow, to cover the whole world in darkness... Under darkness. That's in the scripture, the scriptures that proceeded the Qur'an. It would be a darkness that would cover the whole world. That means it would be a darkness in the minds of human beings. Not, out here. You think the sun went out? That sun never went out. That sun was there before we were on this earth, and it's been doing the same thing, lighting the one period and bringing darkness over it after that. It had been doing that all the time, before human beings were put on this Earth. That was happening. So when you read the origin or the genesis of man, understand that you're not reading this world that G-d made. You're reading the world that man would make for you. The world of his entertainment culture, the world of his entertainment culture. Most of those are not following the guidance of G-d. It would capture them and hold them and give them their complete life. Do you know we have children that we have lost?
0:47:33 S?: Yeah, that's right.
0:47:34 IWDM: We can't reach 'em anymore. And what has happened to them? They have come so much under the influences of the entertainment culture that they don't have any other life.
0:47:45 S?: That's right.
0:47:52 IWDM: There are many things that I would like to say to you directly from scripture. The scripture of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Well, I think it's better to leave that to you. Allah says in the Qur'an, "Why don't they... " Mean the people who have an argument against the Qur'an, against Muhammad the Prophet, against Islam, or they have difficulty. They say they don't believe he is what he says he is, or they don't believe the book is what it's presented to be said, "Why don't they research the Qur'an?" Research the Qur'an. That doesn't mean just read it. Thank G-d I answered that call.
0:48:32 S?: Allahu Akbar.
0:48:34 IWDM: I researched both the Bible and the Qur'an.
0:48:37 S?: Allahu Akbar.
0:48:39 IWDM: And I can tell you, I'm the son of Adam. And I'm the son of Abraham. And I'm an enlightened Muslim. And I'm in heaven while yet on earth.
[applause]
0:48:57 IWDM: Praise be to Allah.
[applause]
0:49:00 IWDM: So Shaitan comes into the world and the language that the natural world G-d made, communicates to the soul of man.
0:49:10 S?: Yes, teacher.
0:49:11 IWDM: And I say, man, I mean mankind, both male and female. Now let us go to the caption here I have. Shaitan's business and man's culture of Black and White. Yes, culture of Black and White. And the month of fast called in Arabic, Ramadan, begins during night time or darkness. It is celebrated on the first day of the month coming after Ramadan. This celebration is expressed as a celebration of nativity or originality. Also the fasting is during the daytime, and the breaking of the fast is when the sun has set. And I think that Christians can identify with this. Isn't it said of Jesus Christ that he said, "This world is not of me?"
0:50:08 S?: That's right.
0:50:09 IWDM: And the light of this world is not his light. No, his light is not the light of this world. Yes. So we fast during the daytime to say that what you show us in your man-made world, we reject. We don't want anything from it coming into our system. We're gonna fast until the sun go down on your world. And I think the sun is going down on this wicked world fast.
[applause]
0:50:46 IWDM: Further, we observe that the term, or the expression for breaking fast, Iftar, a term which has in its roots also in its root meaning, a clear reference to nativity or originality. So actually, you know when we go to make Hajj, a pilgrimage to Hajj, and we visit that simple home, a home for all mankind, meaning the home that G-d wants all people in, the whole of mankind in. It's a symbolic house. A house that needs translation, interpretation, needs to be taken out of symbol into plain language. Huh?
0:51:33 S?: Yes, sir.
0:51:34 IWDM: But it's enough, it calls us, because something is in our soul that accepts it. And we see that simple house, we see a simple house... Little house sitting out there in the desert by itself. Simple little house, so lonely looking. When we see it and we remember that G-d said, "It's the house for all mankind." That what He said, "It was built for all mankind. For all mankind." We don't have to have a communication that's verbally, something that's communicated spiritually. So fast that you just... Oh, you just melt. You just melt in the light of G-d's truth. You just melt. And you go there and you're so happy. You salute it with your right hand. I got to, holding the paper in the right hand. You salute it and peace to the house. You salute the house and you go there and you see all your brothers and sisters from around the world. And what I noticed right away that the brothers had on baby... Infant clothes.
[laughter]
0:52:45 IWDM: A big diaper down here, and one wrapped around up here. And I noticed the sisters had the clothes they wear back home. They had on their clothes that they wore wherever they came from, whatever the land they came from, they had on those clothes. They didn't have to change clothes. Sisters, you didn't mess this world up, man did. And he's gonna have to get back in his baby clothes and submit to his maker.
[applause]
0:53:13 IWDM: Praise be to Allah. Thank you. We thank G-d for this day. A sign in the sky signalling those who intend to observe the fast to begin, or to begin their fast. The language gives us a picture of a horizontal line, a line of the appearance of dawn, first sign of day coming. Running parallel with the horizontal line of the retreating darkness of last night. And these horizontal lines are expressed in the Qur'an as the black thread of night running parallel to the white thread of the day.
[pause]
0:54:09 IWDM: Now Shaitan, G-d said never did he offer or present something to his messenger, or to his servant, that Shaitan, Satan... Satan for Christian language and English, didn't right away get busy to present something just like it to deceive you and make you think the real thing is here in this world influenced by Satan. Now brothers, I know you love to call yourself Black. That's in your genes. It's in your gene bank, because there was a time when you were in Africa and you became a mighty people. And your greatness was recorded and influenced in the language and influenced the language of that time in that environment. So Black was a honorable word. In your past history, in the past history of your genes. Black was an honorable word, great word. But let me tell you, our accepting to be called Black was a big mistake. Black is nothing but a color. That's all it is.
0:55:33 IWDM: Well, in scientifically speaking, it's a hue. It's not really a color. 'Cause colors are formed out of darkness, out of black and out of white. So black and white are called hues. Not really colors. And you know color, and when you go to college first, you first enter college, you learn that color also can mean to deceive. You colored the language. It means that you deceived us with the language. And in Arabic grammar or language, color means a defect. Yes. Color means a defect in grammar, a defect. It's not pure, it's defected. And what I disliked by colors, even as a young minister... I hope I don't hold you all here too long.
[background conversation]
0:56:37 IWDM: What I didn't like back in the Nation of Islam as a young fellow, I was not grown. I didn't like us putting too much emphasis on black. One big brother, he was strong, about six feet two. And I was the manager of the restaurant, Muslim restaurant under my father's leadership, and he came in one day and I didn't feel too good anyway. He came in the door and the first thing, he said, "Get out here, sister. Serve the Black G-d!" Oh, man, did he irritate me and make me mad. I wanted to tell him to, "Get out and don't ever come back."
0:57:21 IWDM: But now, a little bird that flies away long before you get near it. If you come near the nest where the babies are, that bird will come at you like a mad fiery eagle. Yeah! Come at you. Now, actually will attack a man. A little bird, in defense of his babies. So, certain things can make you forget the suicide that you're about to accept. This big old tough burly guy, I went up to him right in his face with my little self. I said, "Look, you're not my Black G-d." I said, "Don't come in here like that again". And you know he didn't say anything, I saw a little sign of him realizing his power, but it melted, it just disappeared. Under his respect for me, he had respect for me. So he sat down and he ate and he never came in that way again. I didn't like that it discriminated against us. It was the term that really suddenly psychologically divided us. We know all of us are not Black, even the first teacher of our father, he looked like a White man and we were told that his mother was a White woman. And then, we look at each other and we see Black, the extreme of Black, but also the extreme of light complexion, almost White. Infact we have some among us that are Whiter in complexion than many people called White. Yes! So I said we shouldn't have Black as a rallying flag for us. We're gonna rally on the flag of Black. I said that suddenly, psychologically, it's dividing us. I said that as a young minister of Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
0:59:35 IWDM: It wasn't nobody telling it to me but we kept on saying Black, my Black man, my Black brother, my Black this. Yes, we came from the continent populated mostly by Black skinned people. But what is more important for those people on that continent? Is it the colour of their skin that they got from the sun? And by the way, in Asian myth in one of the Asian myths, there is a story of the deity called Rama and in their myth Rama is said to have come to Africa and flung the sun disc so close to the head of the inhabitants of Africa that it shriveled their hair nappy and it darkened their skin black. Now that's a myth, an Asian myth way over there. So when our Pakistani is gonna come over here, if he's influenced by that myth, he's gonna think that your color is a punishment. Your nappy hair is a punishment. [laughter] And what's worse is that at one time in our history, we accepted that and I wouldn't be surprised if right here at this particular time, that some African... We say African American but we African. African, on the soil of America calling another African on this soil, a Black, nappy headed Nigga. They say you can't use the "N" word, I can use it to heal people. Isn't that something, now they don't want us using the N word. It's been forbidden to use the N word. But the same ones that are told not to use the N word, they calling each other MF and every other damn thing and nobody is telling them you can't use the MF word anymore.
1:01:41 IWDM: Yes, we have to change the times for ourselves. Yes, so these myths can be shackles of slavery, they can be enslavement tools if we are not careful. J. A. Rogers, who remembers J. A. Rogers in the audience? Raise your hands. Wonderful! Wonderful! J. A. Rogers was a very devoted worker working to get our people to come into knowledge that would get them to be natural and have natural respect not imposed respect like some organisations were designed to do, impose upon us an obedience to a certain respect. No, not an unnatural or one imposed upon us but J. A. Rogers wanted us to come naturally and easily into a sense of value and respect for our own human worth as people on this planet Earth. And he did lot of research, lot of research. He was a historian in his own right. He collected documents that supported his findings or his position that he took after he collected his findings. He told us that at one time in the history of our people, we were the most evolved or progressive community of people on this planet Earth.
1:03:49 IWDM: I, in my studies, came upon a map of the continent of Africa. And blazing all across the whole continent, in big letters, was the word, Cush. Not with a K, with a C 'cause we know there's cush in Asia, with a K. But this is with a C. All across the map where we find Sudan, Ethiopia and lower parts of Africa, the continent, all that land were ruled by a people called the Cushites, people of Cush. A reference to these people is in the English word "cushion", cushion. Now, this word is not the only word that goes back to an ancient great people. The word also "plush", plush. You know the people who lost their kingdom, when it was at its peak. It was lost. I'm trying to think of its name. I'll think of it. Just give me a few minutes here, I'll think of it.
1:05:25 IWDM: They also... Pompeii. Pompeii, the word is not plush, the word is pump, Pompeii. Pompeii was lost but we still have a reference to them in the word pump. Pump not pump oil that's what some of us need to do, pump a gallon of oil or a lot of maybe whole barrel of oil. But a reference to easy living, luxury and easy living. The expression pump and glitter, those who got to, those who got it and don't have to show all and the poor who pretend, they got the glitter and the ones who really have it, they got their pump, they got the pump, the pump, the reference to Pompeii, great people who had achieved so many great things for human comfort, they were living like in a paradise or heaven on earth. But all of a sudden circumstances came and they disappeared from the earth.
1:06:26 S?: That's right.
1:06:27 IWDM: This is the story of the scriptures, both Bible and Qur'an. People who thought they were gonna live forever, thought they were safe from all things and they would have no more worries, they would not have to worry about poverty or anything, and had forgotten G-d and just having a party. And all of a sudden, everything is gone. Again, we still under the title here, "Religion is faith and knowledge." I'm looking... Oh, here it is. Yeah. So a reference to the great day of Black people's rule and superiority on the planet earth, the great Cush empire, or civilization. We see a reference of proof that language, pardon me, that was a reality in the word cushion, cushion. Now, you say cushion the blow, you mean to make the blow... Absorb the blow, so it won't hurt so bad, right?
1:07:49 S?: Yeah.
1:07:50 IWDM: To cushion a blow. When you say, I need some cushion in this chair, you mean you wanna make it more comfortable to sit in. And when you put cushion on a dashboard, you hope that it will make the head hitting the dashboard, if you have to stop too suddenly, not so severe?
1:08:07 S?: Yes sir.
1:08:07 IWDM: Cushion, so it means ease, to bring ease into life, cushion to bring ease into life. In the Inna ma usri yusrah. surely to have ease, you must first face the difficulties. And when G-d says to us in Qur'an, in our holy book. To have ease, you must first accept and face the difficulties. You accepted and faced difficulties under my father, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and now you're with me, you wanna go to sleep. You want a cush that you haven't earned. Yes, you want a cush that you haven't earned. And those behind me are those that haven't caught up with us. They're still the Black nation of Islam. The superior people, the supreme beings. Yes, that's what they are saying. They got cush fever. They got cush fever. Look how G-d has let us go. G-d will not destroy you, he will leave you to find your way. He will not get angry because you are walking away from your salvation or walking away from the plan he has for you. He won't get angry. He doesn't experience these human defects. He will leave you be, but he knows that the world that he created is stronger than the world man creates. And eventually in a world that he creates, is going to get you back. He knows that. Either you're gonna return back to the material system which recycles you. [laughter] or you gonna wake up?
1:10:09 IWDM: Yes, G-d knows that. Merciful, loving G-d. So patient, he waits for us forever. Wonderful G-d. And I have read where G-d said, "You can be even in hell if you hold on to there is, but what the Muslim create "La ilaha Illallah," that G-d is G-d, he's only one. If you hold on to that, it'll pull you up outta hell, eventually. And I believe we're been blessed with very special blessing from G-d. And I believe we're being blessed in that way, or today, in this way, because we have proven that we don't wanna live without G-d. You are here from my father's time. Many of you here, right now I'm looking at a brother, good friend of my father. He visited my father, he knew my father personally and intimately, and if you didn't know him in that way, you never knew him. Will you please stand?
[applause]
1:11:25 IWDM: Yes. You remember him from last night? He offered us a beautiful number, 'cause he didn't want to say no to us, but his wife said, he's not in a... Healthy... He had just got over cold and he shouldn't be doing this. And it was a little cool and he didn't have heavy clothes on. He came from Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, Tennessee, the tourists are made... In a hotel... I picked up tourist information, and then I found you.
[laughter]
1:12:00 IWDM: They feature him as one of the best entertainers and with the best entertainment that they have in Nashville, our brother right there.
[applause]
1:12:10 IWDM: Yeah. Beautiful voice, a natural and beautiful one. Just a natural and beautiful one. Yes. Lemme get to the last point and the main point. Racism is the work of Shaitan. Racism is the work of Satan. We wouldn't have racism progressing as it has progressed and dividing us Black and White, if it wasn't for the influence and work of Satan in our culture. Yes. And G-d gave you an honorable whiteness, the whiteness of righteousness. The whiteness of righteousness, he gives you. And he gives you an honorable blackness, the blackness of original obedience, original obedience to G-d. That's the true Black and the true White that I just gave you right now. Yes. But the Satan comes in and he makes you look to the physical whiteness and the physical blackness, and he has messed up the life and hurt the future of both the White race and the Black race.
1:13:37 S?: Oh, yeah.
1:13:38 IWDM: Let us end it forever! Peace be unto you, we pray G-d to lead us always. As-Salaam-Alaikum. 

