05/09/1999
IWDM Study Library
Plans for Future Peace, Universal Brotherhood State of the Muslim Community 
Phila, PA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Warith Deen: Allahu Akbar. G-d is greater. Peace be unto you, assalaam alaikum. We praise G-d, we say Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin which means the praise is for G-d, the lord of all the worlds. We witness that he's one and cares about all of us. He has created everything and human being and he cares about his creation, all of it, and he cares about the family of human being, all of us.
We are his dependents. He cares about all of us. We are planning for our future, and G-d has blessed us with his guidance, the people of faith, all of us have been blessed with his guidance. We look for miracles. Are there any more miracles? There are miracles all around us but we are not really thinking of those things as miracles. It's a miracle in my mind that the people of faith have survived the troubles of this world, that civilization has survived barbarism, savagery. To me, these are miracles.
That the people of faith and now having more charge of this world, this Earth than the unG-dly, the unG-dly have no place at the control of the world. Communism was threatening the world of faith to convert the world of faith to materialism and a belief in materialism but Communism died. The death of the disbeliever, and now its people are returning to faith after 70 years of being dominated by Communism, materialism, Marxism.
To me, this is a miracle. Muslims and their territory that was once under Communism have returned to their mosque, to their places of worship. Christians have returned to their churches, to their places of worship. Other are returning to their places of worship after being dominated for 70 years by those who said, "Forget about G-d, it's all about materialism."
Wake up, the day is here that we've been looking for, we should wake up and see it. This is the day of religion, and religion prevails over the unG-dly ideas the unG-dly people and their unG-dly ideas. I'm here the son of Elijah Muhammad enjoying comforts and great respect from people of the various faith leaders and from establishment, the business establishment. From the media, I'm enjoying great respect from them. Why? Because I stand for G-d and G-d's ways. Nothing can explain the place I have now in your heart and the place I have now in the world except my obedience to G-d and G-d's ways. I'm not a college graduate, I'm not a wealthy man, I have no credentials that would impress you that much, so what is the answer? I have followed the way of G-d and I have been sincere, G-d has rewarded me. Look at the signs in all of that.
[applause]
We plan for our future knowing that the future belongs to the conscious people, the future belongs to the regardful people. The future belongs to those who have respect for things that should be respected. We want to be the friend and the co-worker of all the people who have that kind of makeup in them. We don't care whether they call themselves Jews, Christians, Buddhist or whatever. If they got that kind of makeup in them, we want them to know we are their friends, we want to befriend them and we want them to befriend us. We need them against those who are unG-dly, against those who have no respect.
We are here in the city of Philadelphia, a city that my father sent me to replace a minister that was here in 1958. Our first child, Leila, was born here in Philadelphia. She came back with us to this convention for two reasons. Naturally she's a Muslim, she's with me, with you, Muslims. She came back to attend the convention but she came also to visit the city of her birth, Philadelphia. When my father sent me here, he said, "Son, I'm sending you to Philadelphia." He said, "It's the city of brotherly love, number 12."
[laughter]
Now when he said number 12, I was lost. I understood everything until he said number 12. I know 12, 10, 11, 12, 13, I know 12 but it was just a number. [laughs] It took me years of maturing as a student of scripture to really register fully what he was saying to me when he said number 12. 12 represents the universe, the whole world. We have 12 months in a year, 12 signs in the wheel, the heavenly wheel, 12 disciples. 12 represents the universe. He was saying to me, "Son, I'm sending you where your soul wants to go," because my soul wanted to be with humanity. My father knew it perhaps before I did, that I wasn't satisfied to just be calling myself a black man. I wanted to be a human man, I wanted to be a man with all men, I wanted to be a man after the likeness of my father, Adam, the first man not in his fall but in his bright, shining form. I wanted to be a man like that.
I wanted to be a man with all men so I wouldn't have to worry in my soul about what's going to happen to all of us because I know if some of us want to dominate others than all of us have cause to worry. I have no desire to dominate anybody. G-d has always blessed me to have a peaceful heart, a peaceful soul, to want to be just by everybody, fair by everybody, and never wanted to do any wrong. I thank Allah for making me like that and keeping me like that.
[applause]
Now may I have my little umbrella I brought that cap? My daughter has my cap. Tell her bring my cap please? That sun is hot on my head, I need the cap. That's not a symbolic message, that's real, I need the cap. No, no. Please, no attention to the cap now. The cap has finished its job, it's cooling my head.
G-d wants us to know our life, our existence, the beginning and the end, or the beginning and conclusion of things so that we will live with respect for what G-d established as life for human beings. At the same time, knowing the path of our progress, the path of our development. What will be demanded of us as we live year by year, generation by generation, what will be demanded of us?
G-d created us as one human type called Adam, that father type, that original pattern upon which all of us have been formed, the first human life that G-d made. We know that as we begin to grow and multiply and produce, there is going to be demanded of us uniting of effort, or working together as one. G-d made us one, and as we grow and demands increase upon us, we are going to have to live and work as one.
We have lived to see on this Earth our world become one living room for all of us on the many continents, Asia, Europe, Africa, America, on all the continents. We have seen all the men and women around the world and our children put into one living room now that the African called the global village that we are calling it now, the global village, one village.
It seems that we had just been put into one village in one living room, we can't escape each other, we have to see each other. Television will make sure of that to happen. We are going to see each other. If we make a mess in one part of the world, that's going to affect another part of the world, the media will let us know it, television will show us that mess so we can't hide anymore from one another, we can't create problems for one another that won't be discovered for 50 years, that won't be discovered for 100 years. That used to be the world.
The world of today is not that anymore. If we make a mess for each other, that's going to affect the other, we are going to see it right away so we have to live together. This is G-d's plan. G-d says, "Man's community was once one community, community of our first ancestor."
G-d is telling us that to tell us, that you have to prepare yourself to live again as one community. It doesn't mean we are going to become one political body, a one national body, or one nation. No, there are going to be many nations. That doesn't mean we are going to become one cultural body? No, it means we are going to become one in our respect for humanity, for the excellence of man created by G-d. If we don't do that, we won't have a place in the future except the place in hell, suffering, miserable in this life and in the next.
G-d is greater, Allahu Akbar. Righteousness, we expect righteousness of any people who say they are religious. We expect at least the respect in them for righteousness. If they say, "I'm a religious person," then the first thing that comes to my mind, is that they prefer a life of righteousness over a life of sin, a life of righteousness but we vary as to how we state the meaning of righteousness. We need conditions to survive. We need certain conditions that G-d put in us originally and G-d wants us to keep, we need those conditions to survive.
Righteousness, what is righteousness? In our holy book, the following is stated in the Qur'an of the meaning of righteousness. Quote, G-d says, "Remember we made the house a place of assembly for all people and a place of safety, and pick you the station of Abraham," Ibrahim we call him in Islam, the prophet, the second father, "and pick you the station of Abraham as a place of prayer. We covenant with Abraham and Ismail that they should sanctify my house for those who compass it round and use it as a retreat. Bow and prostrate yourselves therein in prayer. And remember," Abraham said, "my Lord, make this city a city of peace and feed its people with fruit such of them them as believe in G-d in the last day."
He said, "Yes, and such as reject faith for a while will I grant them their pleasure?" We wonder how is it just that the wicked, the wrongdoer, the criminal, the mean people, the oppressor, how is it that they seem to enjoy the pleasures of life and the pleasures of the world while we who are tried to obey G-d and be righteous or faithful and good at heart are suffering so much because of their wrongdoing? We wonder about that, don't we?
G-d says that he grants many all of this for us, for the faithful, for the doing of good but he has also granted that the wrongdoer enjoy it for a while. I don't care how long your life is believed to be , you say, how long am I going to live? 100 years? How long am I going to live, 70 years? How long am I going to live? 70 million years.
You don't want to think that after 70 million years and one more year, death. You don't want to think about that. That all is going to be erased and you're going to be nothing, gone forever, nothing anymore. None of us in our soul would want to believe that. All of us in our soul want to believe that there's a higher life, a higher form of life.
We want to believe that there is eternity, that G-d is a just G-d, why did he make me fall in love with him and then he's going to cut me out so I can't remember him? I'll be dead and gone and I won't be able to remember him. That's just like a beautiful woman with all of her virtues, making me love her and then telling me after so long, "You're not going to have me anymore. You're not going to even be able to reach me."
That wouldn't be right, that's not my G-d. I believe in eternity. In my soul, I want a life that will live after everything else has passed away, of the material things, of the material nature. That's what I want in my soul so G-d is satisfying me. I don't know about you but G-d is satisfying me.
I used to wonder what's going to happen to the KKK who did those evil things to us. What's going to happen to those who killed little Emmett Till in Mississippi? I used to wonder, will they drink and have a party and party and die a natural death and not have to face the court of justice? I used to wonder. Now, I don't wonder anymore. You might have laughed till end of your life, but you are going to wake up in another reality and pay for your crime.
[applause]
G-d says, "Such as reject faith, for a while will I grant them their pleasure." Isn't that a just G-d? He gave you a free mind. He gave you freedom of choice. He's not going to take it away from you. "Oh, G-d gave me freedom choice, I want to jump in the fire." "Okay now, this might be the last time you make any jump." "I still want to jump in the fire." "Okay now, this may be your last time you may make any jump." "I still want to jump in the fire." "Okay now, this may be the last time you think you make any jump." "I still want to jump in the fire." He hears nothing and he jumps in the fire. It's finished, he jumps no more.
G-d says, "Soon will I drive them to the torment of the fire, an evil destinations it is indeed." That's Quran 2:125-126. Continuing these words from G-d, G-d says, "It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards east and west." We have to give up this superficial idea of what piety and righteousness is. We have to give up this superficial idea. No, you are religious and the average one that says, he means you are not real. Right?
Let's see if righteousness is real. Let's continue to read what G-d has revealed. But it is righteousness to believe in G-d and in the last day and in the angels, and the revealed book and the messengers of G-d. To spend of your wealth out of love for G-d, out of love for Him. On your kin, on your near kin take care of the family. On orphans take care of those young children who are deprived of having the parents, a father or mother. One or the other or both.
The needy and those who are children of the road, the homeless, have no place to go. They are just on the road, in the streets all the time and spend for those who ask. For those who ask. The beggars we call them, for those who ask, spend for them. Give them something. And for the ransom of slaves, captive of wars or slaves who have been enslaved by rich or powerful masters. Spend for their freedom from slavery, to be steadfast in prayer.
This righteousness, that's what we're talking about. G-d gave us this to the Muslim in Quran or to any people who accept it. G-d gave us this definition. Definition of what righteousness is, what piety is, what righteousness is and to practice regular charity. Don't get give when you got a lot. You have obligation on you to keep giving whether you got a lot or a little.
My mother used to tell me, she used to send me to the temple, it wasn't called the mosque back then. She used to send me to the temple of Islam. We had been a people have in transition ever since we heard the first word, - Muslim. We've been a people of transition, called temple of Islam. My mother says, "Son, I'm giving you a nickel," that was way back then, a nickel. "I'm giving you a nickel," she says. "When you get to the temple, you ask them to let you donate and give that nickel in charity." I would do it.
My mother taught me charity as a little boy, the size of my son who is here. He's now nine years old. It stayed in me. It stayed in me. Sometimes a person approaches me and they look like they're alcoholic. Called wine heads, they look bad and pitiful. I don't say, "No, I'm not going to give you anything because you are not going to do anything but hurt yourself some more with it, take another drink."
I give them something and I say to them, "Now, don't mistreat yourself." If they do it, at least they got helped more than the couple dollars I gave them. When, I told them don't mistreat yourself. They were ready to listen to it because they saw the $2 coming.
Continuing on the meaning of righteousness. According to the Quran, the word of G-d to us, "Fulfill the contract which you have made." It also means a promise. Not only a contract, it means a contract, a business contract, or agreement that you made, a serious agreement, but it also means a promise. You make a promise, keep that promise. That's righteousness.
To be firm and patient, firm and patient in pain. [unintelligible 00:26:49] To be firm and patient in pain. The Christians know about this. To be firm and patient in pain, or suffering, or adversity and throughout all periods, of vexation. Panic when you are pressed so hard you just can't you control yourself you want to panic, G-d says be firm and patient. What in the world can keep me that way firm and patient, accept faith in something that I know to be bigger, more powerful and in control of the things that are trying to make me come out of my peace. Come out of my firmness. That's G-d.
If you perceive G-d's correctly as having all knowledge, omniscient, knowing all things, omnipresent, present everywhere, closer to you than you are to your own self. Yet, farther away from you than you can imagine and yet as close to you as your own jugular vein. If you perceive G-d to have power over all things, to be in control of everything, testing His human being, testing you, you will remain firm and steadfast.
Like Abraham, He put him in the fire. He said "Oh, finished with Abraham." They opened the furnace and looked in there, said something has happened. He was cool. He was cool. G-d has power over the flame. Allahu akbar, G-d is greater. Such are the people of truth, the G-d-fearing. Such are the people of truth, the G-d-fearing.
Many of us leaders will miss what G-d is saying here. Righteousness. What's righteousness? Righteousness is also truthfulness. Truthfulness. The righteous are the people of truth and righteousness is faith.
In the beginning, the definition of righteousness is you believe in G-d. You have faith in G-d. So it concludes with such are the people of truth. The G-d-fearing. In these crowded days when our growth is crowding us out, fearing there would not be enough on this earth for us all.
The population is going to double in about five years. We are fearing the end of things.
Fear nothing that's happens in this world for G-d has charge over all of it. I'm not fearing what's going to happen that we are not going to be too crowded. I know if we're going to be too crowded, G-d is going to show man the answer. G-d is going to give man the answer. When I say man, I mean man like it was in the beginning of time. In the beginning of time, man and woman was one entity. He caused them to separate and become male and female. From one entity, they became male and female and then he caused them to mate. From those two, came all the people, the many, many millions on this Earth.
Yes, believe in the conclusion of things and we believe in following G-d's light so that we will know how this world is going to be concluded. It's going to be concluded with us returning to oneness, returning to oneness, oneness, one G-d, one design on creation, one system of matter, one destination for all things perishable.
That oneness protects our differences and it protects our diversity. That oneness is our protection. Keep the faith in one G-d, that's your protection. Believe that your human family is one human family of many families, the black, the brown, the yellow, the red, of all other families, but one family. Believe that in your soul, you want the same thing for your children, for your future.
If you want to satisfy the children that you have, go to any mother and ask any loving mother who's sane what she wants for her children. If you don't know, she will tell you because sane mothers, healthy minded mothers, they all want the same for their children. Likewise the fathers, sane fathers, healthy minded fathers, they want the same thing for their children so shouldn't we then work all together for the future of all of our children?
People tend to think that today we still have a big problem of race, that racism is a big problem. Well, it is a big problem but it's much smaller than it used to be. We still have the lonesome frightened racist, going out to get attention from the media so he can tell the world, "We're still here. We haven't accepted the order of the day. We are still around." Don't take that as a great disturbance that now we have to go back to the past, saying, “Oh racism is still alive” as some of our politicians' demagogues say, "Racism is alive and well." How can it be alive and well it was sick to begin with?
[cheering]
That tells me something about his makeup. [laughs] No. In desperate times, you have to understand the desperation with the world now, all favoring respect for humanity and the inclusion of all people in humanity, equal opportunity and equal respect for all the races, the black, the white, the brown, the red, for all people. This is a very, very aggravating time for those who still have the mind of a white supremacist, a very aggravating time for them. They don't have any place, they don't have any honor on the stage of the world so it's very aggravating for them. They used to have the great nation of America, the great United States. They used to have the great United States tolerating the law of segregation, tolerating the Jim Crow Law. Well, it's raining on you.
[laughter]
I just saw a little girl stand up, she put up her hand, she's welcoming the rain. She's welcoming the rain, she's getting a cool shower. If this is the price that we have to pay, what a small price. In fact, I'd like for my podium to be pushed forward to the rain, can we push this podium forward in the rain. Now I feel better.
[laughter]
Allahu akbar. We have to understand the times and how the times have changed to favor humanity and not those who don't believe in humanity. White supremacy has no faith in humanity. White supremacy separated itself from humanity and pretended that none belong to the creation of G-d, of none was worthy of the high place that G-d created for man except the white supremacists. That was a cruel lie put on them. Now that I'm free of that aggravating time, I don't have to worry that someone is going to take me out and lynch me or inslave me again. "Yes, you do have a cause to worry." No brother, you are wrong. All don't even have to ask the government to stop that. I have enough brothers with me to stop that.
[cheering]
It ain't enough of them around to satisfy these brothers that's been training to whip somebody for a long time. I don't worry about that. I feel sorry for them. My heart goes out to them. Why? Because my beginning was similar to theirs. The man who came and introduced my father to religion gave him the same idea that they have. We were told that we're black and supreme and that whites were evil and wicked by nature, that they were inherently bad and naturally inferior mentally to us. I'm giving you exactly what we were taught. Now G-d has saved me from that and has given me peace in my soul, so when I see a racist still tormented by the lie that was told to him of his worth among human beings, it makes my heart go out to him. I want to grab him and hold him even in chains long enough to teach him out of that misery that the world put him in. I say the world put him in that misery. He didn't do it to himself, the world did it to him.
Our oneness supports our diversity. Our oneness supports our diverse cultures, our diverse languages. You know we all from the different quarters of the world have our own languages. G-d has made it so any of us can learn the others language. Anytime we want to, we can declare for all of us one common language, and not do away with our separate languages. That's what's happening whether we ask for it or not. The world is bringing to a place where we are going to have to be able to speak with each other, speak freely. It's too close now. We're too close together. Time is not separating us. Distance is not separating us anymore. We're going to have to speak one common language.
Naturally, the Muslims will say that common language should be Arabia [foreign language]. Excuse me. [laughs] It has to be the Arabic language my brother. That's what I just said. The English will say, "Why create so much of a problem for ourselves? Since English is already is so popular, why don't we make English the language of the whole globe- the language of the globe?" I don't care. For G-d says the majority going to hell anyway. I don't care. I can be a majority or a minority. It doesn't matter to me.
If the language of the world become Arabic, I won't be anymore comfortable because G-d says that a majority are going to hell. Let a majority of language for all of us, let it be English. Let it be Arabic. Let it be Spanish. Give the Spanish a chance. Let it be Spanish. I can speak Spanish pretty good already. I have a little head start. All a joke. The point is G-d is bringing us together. He says, "As you were in the beginning, so shall you be in the end." In the beginning, you were the human being he made you. With a human soul, he gave you. The human soul that he inspired in you. G-d in you. Do you understand that?
You're sitting there thinking that G-d is a billion light years up there, away from us. You're right. More than a billion light years up there, away from us. G-d is also right there with you, in your soul, between your heart and your bloodstream. G-d is there between your mortal life and your your heart-- G-d is right there. Watching what is happening to you. That is influencing you and working on you that's coming from outside of you. Watching what's developing inside of you. Yes, your heart-- Watching what's happening inside of you. He's right there.
Saying, well, I think He's here, I think He's gone. I'll wake him up and let him know that I was here all the time. [laughs] Yes, closer to you than your own jugular vein. That's what G-d told Muhammad the prophet peace be upon him. Closer to you than your own jugular vein. G-d said, "when my servants ask about Me, Tell them I am near." N-E-A-R. Tell them I am near. So Baptist preacher, you don't have to holler so loud. No criticism. Just a little help to you. You don't have to destroy those lungs like I used to do when I was a desperate minister for the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. You don't have to go home and can't talk to your family.
So hoarse you can't even talk to your family. Take two days to get those vocal chords back in shape. You could whisper and G-d hears. Tell the congregation you don't have to call on Him too loud. He is near. He hears the thought that makes no sound. That's what G-d says in His scripture. Praise be to G-d. Let us not go to sleep and forget any of the bad things that occurred in history. To set out us back or to destroy our humanity. But let us not step back in the past with those things. To live back there with that dark and troubled times.
Let us call it just for the purpose of knowing how to avoid it in the future. As we march forward with more things favoring human life now than ever have existed since the world began, except when there was the garden. The garden that G-d placed man in. After the garden, after the loss, after the fall, after the man was put out of the garden-- Since that time until today, there has not been a better time for human beings to be on this Earth, living. This is the greatest time ever.
"Brother, what about the golden days of Islam?" If they were here now, Brother, they might get the holy ghost. Now, you know that's not becoming of Muslims-- To get the holy ghost. If they were here and saw all the freedom and the privilege and the freedom we have to speak Islam in a Christian country. A country that's majority Christian. In a country with the history of this country, and they saw us now here preaching from a black body, from a white body, red body, any colored person preaching Islam. Getting this respect and this protection. Don't you know the police will shoot somebody, if they come in here to disturb this meeting if they have to?
If they were here to witness this, I'd say they would get the holy ghost. They would start speaking in tongues. This is the best day, brother. Thank G-d you alive today.
[applause]
This is not only a good time just for our diversity, of cultures and languages and colors. It's a good time also for our individual differences. That's what the leadership has to respect. The right of individuals to their individuality. It used to bother me sometime. I wanted everybody to look alike. We were told that in the myth that was given to the Nation of Islam-- We were told that one black man, he got so dissatisfied because people wouldn't speak one language. He wanted to make everybody speak the same language. He says since I can't make them all speak one language, I'm going to destroy the whole world.
He built a powerful powder that's more powerful than any other powder had ever been known before-- There was a black powder. He didn't say it was dynamite. He said it was a black powder. He said-- A powder said. He drilled a hole one-third of the way down into the Earth. He poured into that hole this powerful powder. He set it off. He caused the Earth to split. It wasn't called Earth then. It was called by another name. We were told in the myth, and in the story for the children in the story. For the grown-ups, in the myth.
When that part that was not called Earth, but our home for all of us, split. One piece of it fell so far in space from its orbit, and was caught in an orbit again. That part is a part we now called Earth. Then, the other piece, it was shot off and it found its orbit again- an orbit. It's called the Moon. This is a myth that we were given of the creation- the beginning of the Earth as we know it and the Moon as we know it. It was all done because one mentally disturbed person wanted everybody to speak the same language.
Brothers, leaders in this community and leaders everywhere-- If you could hear me, I would like you to also give your attention to what I am saying. People have been created by G-d to be individuals. No two individuals are alike, so we're told in science. We know that. No two individuals are exactly alike. G-d said, of that temporal plane that is our direction in prayer and our direction for pilgrimage, to the Holy House once a year, Haji. He says, "All of you, turn your face towards this Qiblah." This central Qiblah means central place for you to focus on for direction in your life, prayer, and pilgrimage. He said, "Where ever you may be, you will be brought all together." He told us, G-d is telling us-- Correction, not told us, He's telling us.
G-d is telling us that if we have that as our focus for your unity, that our differences will not be a cause for us to be alienated from or one another or to separate from one another. That common focus will hold us all together and its protection for our differences. G-d says, "For each one of you, I wonder how many Imams have really read and heard what they were reading. G-d says, "For each one of you." It's a direction. For each one of you is a direction, so turn all of you to this Qiblah. G-d wants to preserve your individuality. G-d is saying, I want all of you to be on the path that I have shown you. All of you to be united in the humanity that I created for you, but I also want all of you to get your individual blessings by yourself, on your own, by your own choice.
I go there to the great crowd of the multitude, I go there and I see people from all over the world, all colors all faces all that, as Malcolm said, "The white, the blue-eyed, everybody there." All there and I see the many cultures of the people all there, the many nations all there, the strong and the weak, the tall and the short, all there, the fat and the thin, everybody, the females and the males are all there. The female walking ahead of me and I can't say, "Sister, get behind a brother." That would break the rule of the Haji. I can't say that. I can't say, "Let my Imam-- No, my Imam should lead the prayer. I can't say that, no."
They all let you lead the prayer. Here everybody could pray, there could be a million Imams all leading, whoever will follow. You may look around, nobody following you, but go on, keep leading, lead yourself, that's the place for it, that's the place, lead yourself. Yes. What a wonderful time, what a wonderful time and they are coming there with interests that's different from each other. The interest of the Chinese may not be my interest. We have different interests, but we're united in one common interest. G-d, want us to have our separate interests, our separate differences.
Then you have individuals who have their separate interests, there's a carpenter, there's a solder, there's a general. The general, he's there too, the general of the army he's there, the banker he's there, the garments maker is there. Everybody is there, the chemist, he's there. All there together, all having their individual interests and their individual aspirations or careers, or professions and they are accommodated there by the Lord of the worlds. There we understand that we ask G-d to accept us in his presence and we want G-d to be there for us. Present there for us. We say, "Oh G-d, I obey You, I obey You." Say to him, "Here I am, G-d, here I am." Isn't that wonderful?
Brothers and leaders, if a brother walks in, in a Nigerian outfit and you wear whatever suit you like, feel no different by him than you feel by the brother who comes in wearing your choice of clothing. We have individual taste, we have individual aspirations, we have individual choices, that's not going to disturb us. Maybe it's G-d's intention to take this United States of America and make it a model of what he wants the whole world to be. We see everybody coming here, in there different dress. The Pakistani, they don't come here and take off their dress most of them, they come here and they wear their Pakistani clothing. And so it is for many of them. The African comes here and he wears his African clothing.
Maybe G-d wants that this be the place for all of us to stand in our individuality and at the same time stand in our unity. Isn't that beautiful? I think that's beautiful. I think that's what all of us should want in our hearts. This might be the day of the gathering, the great gathering of mankind. This might be the day right now, the great gathering of mankind, where we will stand before our Lord and those who are blessed to keep their souls as G-d created their souls to be, they will be rewarded. They will get the benefits of this time.
I used to think, you can still think any way you wish to think or the way you want to think. But I used to think that hell and heaven were far apart, far away from each other, until I listened to what G-d was saying, he said, "Abraham was put in the fire, but when they opened the door it was cool for Abraham. Now, if [unintelligible 00:56:42] was there with Abraham, he would have been burning up, but Abraham was cool. You're looking for hell, hell might be right where you are, hell might be right inside of your body and if you come to the flames there, let faith cool it, you might rid yourself of hell. Yes!
[applause]
We have to believe in the conclusions of things, everything is perishable. The world of science tells us that the sun even won't survive forever. That it's slowly dying. You don't expect it to happen in our generation, we can't even look, we can't even count into the future to say it's going to happen at that time in the future. The time is so far away you can't measure it, but science have said, science has proof that it's perishable, it's not permanent. The sun is going to one day die.
While it's living, what's the sun for us, what is the sun for earth? A planet that belongs to the sun. It's our protection as a center. It's a center and we're going around it, held by gravitation, universal gravitation, held by universal gravitation, because of our nearness to the sun, the balance is created where we're not pulled into the sun and we're not pushed far away from the sun. We're kept at a certain distance of safety, but if the sun was removed we would be lost in the heavens, lost in the solar system, we would have no more family unity, we would be thrown helplessly into space.
Isn't that a sign then, that your soul has a sacred core, and in that sacred core, you listen and G-d speaks and as long as you respect that sacred core in the center of your soul, you will be protected to go freely in your orbit, roam the world but stay in the law and under the law. Respect your center. That's a sign brother. Praise to Allah. We believe in the conclusion of things, G-d says there's coming a time when he will roll up the heavens like as if it was nothing but a scroll. As if it was nothing but a scroll, he'll roll it up and he says again in the scripture, everything is perishing, except the face of G-d. The face of G-d will never be removed, but everything else is perishing. [unintelligible 01:00:06] except the face of G-d.
And G-d again says to us, “What is with you shall pass away and what is with us shall remain everlasting?” That's what G-d says, the invisible, the higher reality, not only for the mystic, but also for the rational, practical person. The abstract is the higher reality. Right now I'm speaking to you from this body that's a little overweight, and I'm working on it. I'm speaking to you from this frame, from this physical flesh, but this physical flesh is no more for me than the trumpet was for Satchmo Armstrong. The trumpet of Satchmo Armstrong carried the beautiful music, the beautiful trumpet playing, the beautiful communication from the artist to the audience. It carried it from Satchmo Armstrong, Louis Armstrong. Great, great performer and entertainer.
This body is doing no more than that for me. It's carrying my communication to you. No part of it will disobey me. When I'm talking to you, my lips, my tongue, my teeth are working, but also my eyes, my eyebrows, my hands, my feet, they can't stand still. My flesh quivers sometimes. My bones become ridged when I say something that cracks the bone. Whole body responding to the invisible that's working in me to convey something to you. You are sitting there and your body is like dead, you're not aware of your body, the invisible is communicating with the invisible. Yes, the higher reality is not the reality that the camera takes, "Click, I got you." You didn't get me.
Yes, believe in the conclusions of things. G-d has created these things perishable with a temporary life to test us and try us in our soul that's eternal if we want to live with G-d it's eternal, to test us and try us, to see if we will latch on to the permanent. If our thinking, if our rationalization, if our mind will lead us to a conclusion that are good for us, or will our bad intentions take our own minds astray. There's nothing wrong with your mind, nothing ever been wrong with a human being's mind. It's something wrong with your intention. Make your intention right, your mind will go right. This is what we're told, this (unclear) are judged by intention.
We have a plan for our future, the future must respect the demand on life for peace, the demand on life for brotherhood. We are one family. Get out of that stuff talking about blood is thicker than water. If blood is thicker than water, find me people that's got water for blood. Where are the people that got water for blood? All of us got blood for blood in our veins, not water for blood so if blood is thicker than water, then that means all of us will all be together like blood brothers, so all of us got blood. "Oh but that's my family blood."
Yes, but if you get hit by a car or something happens to you in a fight Saturday night, you ain't going to go say, "Hey, where are my relatives? I don't want no blood unless it's my blood relatives. I want that blood." Oh you would let a pygmie come up there and give you some blood. I'm talking to your white man out there, my brother white man. "You will let a pygmie come up there and you’ll let a Klan man come and give you some blood." He's a Klan man who wants to give you some blood, brother. "Oh, Mr. Klan man thank you, thank you. G-d bless you, G-d bless you."
Peace is a requirement in our life, our souls have been created for peace. The conclusion of things must be a respect for peace. All of us have to have peace in our souls if not outside. You don't have to have peace outside, still someone may ask you, “How are you doing?” Sometimes those who are suffering, a lot, and they’re my friends, they come to me and look like they say, "Oh, that holy man is suffering now. I heard what happened to him. He's suffering now.” “How are you doing, brother Imam?” I hesitate because first I got to overcome what I know I'm looking at." I hesitate and then I say, "I'm doing fine." I say, ‘I got trouble, plenty trouble.’ I say, but it's doesn't disturb my peace, peace in my soul.
Yes, we have to respect the demand on life, that wants us all to work for peace. Peace for every nation, peace for every people, peace for every individual. If we want to be included in the world that G-d is forming for us, a much better world than the one we know about in the past, we have to be willing to embrace peace as a need in the life of every nation and in the life of every people and every individual. Don't promote your happiness against anothers happiness. Don't want to do that, promote your happiness with respect for the others happiness, promote your peace with respect for the others peace. We are not going to impose our way upon everybody else. We can't do that and be Muslims.
G-d created us different and made us have different choices, different persuasions. G-d says if He had wanted to make you one people, one community, he would have done so. So He wanted this diversity, He wanted us to have freedom of choice to choose these differences. He knows the conclusion of things before we do, before we know it, so what is the great benefit now that the sons of one parent, the sons and daughters of one parent have now populated the whole Earth and they have become different, speaking different languages, having different cultural choices, a taste. What is the great beauty in it now?
If we were one family, one people and we have stayed one people, we would have just worked for one national order and for one cultural desire but now that we have become many nations with many different cultural tastes, we now benefit from the many, millions of ideas of cultural design for the table of mankind, the marketplace, the table of mankind is now so filled with so many varieties of wonderful things created by the people, the children of Adam. He has multiplied our blessings, He has multiplied our reward. By making us different, the rewards are multiplied. They are not just-- even tell, - in a Chinese in the way of Chinese life, for a Chinese to have good life all to himself, I eat egg foo young, I eat shrimp fried rice. I do, I love it. I eat vegetable chow mein, I eat it. I eat Pakistani red chicken, and I love it. I eat the Turkish (unclear) kebab, I love it. Oh, I forgot, I like your (unclear) too, my Pakistani brother.
But at home, I got my [unintelligible 01:09:50] my greens, my bean, my rice, my southern fried chicken, smothered gravy, I've got my sweet potatoes. "Oh, you're the son of Elijah Muhammad, you eat sweet potatoes?" Yes, and I suggest that you go back to eating them too man, they're good and tastey, I love them. They've got more roughage than white potatoes, they're better for my colon. Do I eat sweet potatoes? You bet I do.
When I read in my Holy Book says, "You people trying to get out of the land of bondage and get into the land of freedom, not slavery and you keep worrying your leader about, are we're going to have lentil soup when we get there?" "Are we going to have some garlic and onions?" The word says to the prophet to tell them "If you want those small things, go to any destination, you don't have to go to this destiny G-d has spotted out for you." If you want those small things, go to any destination. You want some brown rice, you want some bean soup and you want some bean pie, and some black coffee.
What else is there? Whole wheat bread, that's good now. If you want that, I tell you with the wisdom of the revealed word that was given to the prophet, who was faced with the people who were not interest in those small things. You don't have to be with us to get that, go to any place you'll find it. Some of us are attached to it so strongly, till we thought it was more important to eat like we were told than it was to live like we were told.
Some of us came out of the good moral life that we were told to stay in, but we still wouldn't eat pork, we still preferred brown rice and bean soup. We come in with whiskey on our breath to a Muslim restaurant, "Hey, sister, give me some of that beans soup." "You've got some bean pie sister?" "Hey sister, get these sweet potatoes off my plate, you know we're not supposed to eat no sweet potatoes?" And he's about to fall on the table, he's so drunk. Took the trivial things and made them the great things and lost the real life. You don't want to do that, come back home, please.
So Allah, G-d said to the holy Quran, "G-d just call you to the abode of peace, He does guide whom He pleases to a way that is straight." Again, G-d says to us, that was chapter 10 verse 25 of Quran, G-d says to us, "For them will be a home of peace in the presence of their Lord. He will be their friend because they practice righteousness." Righteousness is not a possession of any particular religion, righteousness is the possession of the various religions we call the heavenly religions.
Righteousness and we pray, "Oh, G-d grant that I be entered among the righteous. Grant that I be entered among the righteous.” That one day, when all of this is concluded and you gather the people together, G-d please don't put me with the wicked. Grant that I be entered among the righteous. That's our prayer. What is this Islam? Righteousness and righteousness is more than just a show of faith, or a show of holiness. Righteousness is living with G-d in your soul in the sacred core that G-d created for you but also living with your brothers and sisters next door, with a stranger down the street, with a nation that speaks a different language, with a people that have a different religion. It's living with all people that respect a higher reality.
Differences, you're going to have these differences and Islam has prepared us to live with these differences, to live with differences of opinion and to value the right to my own opinion. Muhammad the Prophet, prayers, and peace be upon him, He said, "Every one of you is a (Arabic)." (Arabic), and they translated it “separate”, but what is the literal meaning of separate in Arabic language, it means one who exercise the power of thought and arrives at his own opinion or choice.
Every one of you has that and that's sacred. That's your sacred property. Don't be a slave to anybody, don't listen to me and not use your own mind. I'm talking to you now. I'd rather see you walk out of here and say, "I don't want Imam W. Deen Mohammed as my leader anymore." I'd rather see you do that and exercise your own mind, your freedom of choice, the freedom to think for yourself, I'd rather see you do that, than to kill that in yourself and just sit there and listen to me like you're dead, dummy or something and go out and do everything I said without no mind of yours.
G-d loves us, G-d loves us. He wouldn't give us a limb to use and then fix it so he can't use it. Give me a right arm and I can only use a left arm. He wants me to use everything he gave me and what's more precious than the arms is my thinking, my mind, my right to think and make decisions on my own. You do the same. We're all in the world and this world has become, literally now, our home, the home of all people, the earth that is. Let us go after our life. Let us strive and strain to perceive our life in its best order as G-d intended it to be.
Let us go after our lives, together and separately because I want a dress maybe you don't want. I don't want your dress sister, I want to clear that up, but all of us go after the dress we want. I'll go after my dress, you go after your dress but let us all go after our life that G-d created for us. Go after our life that G-d created for us and let us know that the life of a drunkard is not the life G-d created for us, the life of a dope addict is not the life that G-d created for us, a life of a person that loves violence, love's self-destruction is not the life G-d created for us. The life of bigotry, hating another people, because they don't speak your language and don't walk your walk, don't talk your talk, don't look like you look, that's not the life that G-d created for us.
Let's come back to home to the center and become the baby all over again as the Christians say. Enter in as little babies, enter in as little babies. Little babies come here and they are not prejudiced against anybody. Little babies come here, they are ready to speak in the language you give them. They don't say, "I wasn't born to speak no Chinese, no, no, no." They'll welcome Chinese just as they'll welcome any other language. Let's return to that. Welcome a mother of any race just like they welcome any other mother. As long as we keep our foolishness from it, it will accept any mother, black, brown, yellow, red, they don't care. They love that mother as they'd love any other mother and that mother can love that child as she'd love any other child.
This is one life that G-d created in us and this is the one life that will keep us and preserve us for the destination, for the conclusion. If we accept this, we will be included but if we don't accept this, we're not going to be included in this beautiful world that's shaping. No we will not be included, we'll be aliens, we'll be running around like hyenas, we won't have a place, not even in the amusement park, unless we're caged. We can't have no hyenas running around in an amusement park unless they're caged. Wake up and get ready for the day of religion is here. The day of the great gathering is here now.
Another
thing I want you to be aware of. Music, beautiful music will become monotonous. I don't care how much you love it. If they play that music for you all the time, it becomes monotonous. You'll be all, "I don't care for music anymore." But because you're able to hear the serious music and the lighthearted music, the sad music and the happy music-- Because you're able to hear all of these different paces in music, you stick to your taste. But if nothing was heard but yours pretty sure you'll be tired of it. You won't even want it.
Likewise, for different types of persons or personality. Some of us we’re so loose you know. We are so loose, we just hate a person who is disciplined and organized. We hate it. Look at that [inaudible 01:21:02]. Look at that artificial, son of a so and so. We hate him. Don't hate him. If all of us were loose like you brother, the world would be lost. Has to be somebody organized, disciplined, serious about things. That's how our shura should be. That's how our council of Imams should be. You need a council of Imams that shows the different varieties of personality. Don't have all this stern faces there. Every member of the shura got a stern face. So serious he can't even sneeze. He would rather die than sneeze during the conversation.
No, you don't want anything like that. You want the serious one and you also want the lose one. You want the one that will put a leg up on a table while's the meeting is going on. "Hey wait a minute, I have question." Don’t say, "Hey, brother we don't want you here. You're not disciplined." No, let him do that. It's the diversity that makes the pursuit of the unity peaceful and possible. Yes, we can't get to our unity if we don't respect the diversity. Diversity of people and the diversity of souls, my soul is not the same as yours.
Let us now love the humorous person. Love the stern person. Love them both. There's a place for all of us. Physical work-- You need some humor. If you got to do a whole lot of physical work, you need some humor. They had me working in the steel mill. I thought I couldn't survive unless I start singing or something. I had to have some music to survive. All that heat and all that hard work, coming home I have to take baths and still didn't get all the iron off of my skin. Life is beautiful but we have to respect it as G-d created it. Let's not try to make over something that G-d has made for us. Don't undo-- As you're told by G-d- by G-d in scriptures. Don't change the order that G-d has created. Keep the order that G-d has created. This rain is merciful. It cools you off and gave you enough time to feel dry again.
Ain't that wonderful? Really, I could be wetter myself. I feel hot so more water can come on me if it likes. Praise be to Allah. Some are meek. Some are proud. Probably, you know what, the scripture said the meek shall inherit the Earth. Don't think the Quran said something differently. Says it in different words, but it means the same. The meek shall inherit the Earth, the meek. Not the proud, the arrogant. But don’t be disturbed by a person among us in the leadership that appears to be proud. That's his dignity. That's his pride. That doesn't mean that he's arrogant, the person who has pride and is arrogant. Who wants to put himself over somebody else, thinking that his work gives him that right to dominate somebody, to put somebody else down?
That's false pride. That proudness that will get us in trouble with G-d, it will get us in the hell fire. If we are dignified and we walk with dignity and we command respect with our poise. Why man it makes me want to jump out of my chair and kick my heels, and do that to that person. (does a salute). something in me appreciates that, even though it's not even me. I don't know. They must have put too much cotton on the back or something. The bail must have been so heavy. Too heavy for my ancestors I might have inherited his problem. As soon as I get up, I want to bend over.
I don't know what is. Soon as I get out the of bed, I want to bend over. I say, what is it, am I that weak or something in my genes that makes me want to bend over like that. I don't know. I have a funny thing with these ties too. They look good. I love them. The business look, especially when I'm in a business meeting, I love this. It makes me feel like I belong there. But every time I put one on, my neck- uh,uuh.
[laughter]
I'm sure one of my ancestors was dropped from the limb and that noose. I still got his problems in my genes. A lot of us got some problems in our genes. I don't have the problem of keeping you from going to a business meeting. You put this noose on my neck and go to this meeting. [laughs]
The conscious or the awareness and subconscious, the unaware behavior. The behavior that's automatic. Like me moving my feet. I don't tell my feet to move. It's just doing that. I had to really think about it to realize that I'm still up here moving my feet around. This is happening without my knowledge, without my knowledge or I’m not in control of it. These two forms of power that moves us and have us doing things [inaudible 01:27:12]. They work just like the feet. The left foot goes out and it gets ahead of the right foot. To walk, I have to bring the right foot out and it gets ahead of the left foot. The genetic life and the conscious life or the learned life operate the same. This is science- this is religious science, this is science-- Secular science and religious science. I'm mixing the two together. Yes, so they work like that.
Whatever I have of my first father Adam it's in me now. How can Adam be my first father and I not have him in me? My father, Elijah Muhammad is in me, his grandfather- my grandfather, his father Wally Muhammad called William Poole. He's in me. My ancestors, all the way back to Adam is in me. The Bible tells you that. The Bible tells us that. He's in me. I'm telling you now-- "Where's Adam?" Adam is gone. Adam hasn't gone anywhere. Adam is everywhere a human being is. My father hasn't gone anywhere. He's everywhere his children are. He's in us. Genetically speaking, he's in us.
Okay. From Adam in his obedience, we have Wallace. In his inherit righteousness. My inherent righteousness is the righteousness of Adam who was created to obey G-d in his obedience. That's where I'm at. If I were to say, "Who do I owe for my righteousness?" G-d first of all, but who else do I owe for my righteousness? Adam, the first man G-d made, Adam. G-d created him like that. I have inherit that.
We have inherited Adam. We also inherit learning. Learning becomes also an inheritance. It does. Over the generations, we learn a lot. Learning becomes automatic for us. We do this- this knowledge. We obey this knowledge that men learn. It becomes automatic for us. It's clocked into our genes. See how the genetic life is progressed. It's not where it was a long time ago. The (unclear) life is advanced by learning that goes into the genes too. It becomes the genetic life. Can you understand that? It's very easy for me.
For example I learned how to type the way I'm supposed to type. Not the way some of us type, tick, tick, tick, tick. I learned how to use all five fingers. All fingers on the board. I learned how to type. I sit down now and type, I'm not even conscious half the time. My eyes seeing the words the words that I'm typing, not even conscious. I have clocked that into my genes. It has become part of my genetic memory. "How come you can't then have a child and a child is born ready to type?" No, he's not born ready to type, he's born ready to learn how to type. But He may be able to learn how to type quicker than a child that was born in the jungle and never saw a typewriter, might take you longer to teach him how to type than to teach my son how to type. [laughs]
Dancing, look how the African American people dance, you have to learn that dance, you have to learn how to dance. You wasn't born dancing, you learn how to dance. People came from Europe where all that snow is, all that ice. Who in the heck you think want to go out dancing in all that snow and ice? Where they come from way up there in the cold region where they have snow and ice and they come and see you dancing they'll be looking at those crazy people. "Look at those crazy people". They're crazy. Their brains are not working. Crazy monkey jumping all about and acting crazy.
After about 20 generations the spirit hit them and there's no more ice and snow around. Now it's clocked into his genes. Some of these white folks dance so much like black folks I say, "Hey you got it buddy".
[laughter]
You can teach some of us how to dance now. In time it will be clocked into your natural life and it comes out so freely and so beautifully. So does wrong. If you practice wrong it's going to come out. It's going to go into your subconscious. It's going to work when you're not even working your own mind. It's going to be working against you. If you practice lies it's going to corrupt your whole life. You practice stealing it corrupts your whole life. You practice even envy at other people it'll corrupt your whole life. Whatever you practice is going to become you and it's going to dominate you. When people try to keep you out of it they're going to have a very difficult time, because it's been clocked into your automatic behavior.
Open your mind and use the most precious instrument that G-d has given you, the quality of your brain. Work it and use it so that you don't make wrong choices. If you're strong enough in your intentions you can change anything overnight. We know of some drug addicts with needle tracks all up their arm, no more space on their arm. He went other places, shoot in the other places. Shooting heroine into his veins. He heard a message that got his attention and made him want that message more than he wanted heroine.
He quit heroine cold-turkey, didn't even go to any institution. We have people we know, individuals we know did that. Broke it cold-turkey, left it cold-turkey. Didn't need a doctor, didn't need anything. All he needed was to hear something that hit his heart, struck his intelligence and made him believe in something bigger than--
[01:34:05] [END OF AUDIO]

