Atlanta Jumah Address
July 4th 1980

Imam Warith Muhammad

Praise be to Allah; Guardian Evolver, Cherisher and Sustainer of all the worlds. We seek Him for aid, (Arabic) and we seek Him for forgiveness, as we believe in Him with faith (Arabic) and we do not break or separate from him. And I bear witness openly that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah alone. And I bear witness openly that the Messenger Muhammad to whom the Qur'an was revealed is His servant and His Messenger.

Highly Glorified is Allah above all that we can imagine. Allah has revealed in the Qur'an that He is highly Glorified above what the winds of people, what the minds of men aspire you can't-- Highly Glorified is Allah that is the Creator of every single thing. Who began His creation out of water and as Allah says in the Qur'an that in the beginning. His throne was established on the water and later the revelation came and explained to us very clearly that His throne extends over the heavens and the earth. Over land and sea. Over everything, that His throne extends over everything. In commenting  on these verses I will simply say that water represents the spiritual conscience of the person and everything began with a spiritual conscience, consciousness. We know scientifically that this statement is also factual. That all life came out of water. But its spiritual application is to be understood as we have just explained that is that spirituality is the first life for the human being.

The human being is not rationally nature before he is a sentimental being with a spirituality believing in something and seeking something for direction in his life. We know this to be a fact not only of human being but this a fact of all—the nature of all living things.

We look at animals and we think of then as purely animals biological creatures but those animals have a spirituality. That spirituality is not human spirituality it's their animal spirituality. That is they sense by instinct what is good for then and what is bad for then and they have fear. Those animals are dominated by fear and they are driven by hunger and by fear and they have compassion. They have hearts. The animals have compassionate hearts. They are very compassionate.

You know I noticed my dog. How generous my dog is. How selfless my dog is. I have a dog that if I give her a good, nice piece of meat she won't eat it. She will wait until her puppies eat it. If her puppies don't want it she will eat it. She gives it to her puppies first and I notice her and how she seems to be very peaceful at times, very serene at tines and I don't know what she's thinking about but I do know that dog has a spirituality and every living thing has a spirituality.

We have a social nature and a spirituality and this nature was first. This form of the consciousness was first. We speak of primitive man and we go there in the primitive societies where science hasn't been developed and we call that society primitive society and we find that in some of those primitive societies they have better morals and better care for each other, better love for each other than what we find in so-called civilized society. That's the first life. The life that cones from the nature, that grows out of the nature that emanates from the nature. That grows out of the nature.

The life that is first rooted in the nature, that is the first life and Allah says that He has established—His throne was first established on the water. Throne Means rule. That the law for governing us from. Allah is clocked into our creation and the nature of the human being if we study it, it is very implicit of a law. It implies a law and if we study it we can derive from that nature a law. We can derive from that nature a law.

The throne being established on the water again it means that order was established, a order was established. The life was under some kind of order. Without the developed sciences that we know of, we can have some kind of order in our life and it cones as a natural process. The heart finds its way. The nature finds its way and eventually the people find some kind of social order, some kind of order for their lives and they have a spirituality and if they're natural in their spirituality, their spirituality is Moving theft to find the true Allah.

Man will stop at the things that he conceives to be Allah but he's never satisfied until his heart says, "This is indeed the true Allah" and eventually man cones to that Oneness of God that we have in Al-Islam; Nothing is worthy of worship except Allah alone Who created everything. Who has created the nature and set the order and design for every single thing. Dear beloved Muslins, coning to the second part now He said His throne also extends over everything. When man comes in his rational grasp of his life and he has a rational control and a rational grasp of his life, sometimes he thinks that he's a product of the academic world. He thinks that his intelligence is a gift from the academic world and he brags as though he has not been graced by Allah Who created everything. The intelligence, the rational gift also is the gift of the sane God. His throne extends over every thing. Every aspect of the human life, all the sciences. All the sciences, if they are true, they are derived or they are arrived at from a study of what Allah has created. It is all implicit in what Allah has created.

Dear beloved people, now I would like to bring your attention to a Qur'an, a very snail chapter of Qur'an. It addresses the people called Quraish and it begins with the words, "Bismillah hir Rahmanir Raheen" It begins with the word, "Concerning the people of the—called Quraish. Allah has provided for then, their sustenance, their livelihood in both the winter and the summer and they are cautioned then to fear and worship Allah because it is that Allah Who had also saved then from fear and from hunger or from hunger and from fear.

If we think of this short surah which I have just quoted from briefly, if we think of this short surah it covers very much. It covers very much. Hunan beings seek, want security. The most active, the most violent, the most boisterous, they don't want that all the tine. They want sometimes to find a place where they can get to themselves or get with other people for quiet kind of life so that they can rest. We won't rest from the loudness and from the fast and violent or excitable activity.

Our nature, occasionally calls for quiet in our lives and this kind of quiet many tines is Misunderstood because the human being doesn't know his nature. Most of us don't know our nature. We think that the quiet that we're seeking sometimes with a particular person or in a particular environment it night be a movie house, it might be something else. It night be a church too. Many times we confuse the nature and what the need is in us but most likely that need in us is a need for obedience to our Lord. Obedience to Allah Who created everything. The need for obedience.

When Allah's blessed us with guidance and a way of life, the Muslin way of life that saves us and gives us a sense of security and Islam is security. It gives us a sense of security no matter what conditions we night be living in or what conditions surrounds us, if we are faithful and we're true in our faith, if we're sincere Muslins we have found a security.

Now, the Arabs in Mecca before the advent of Prophet Muhammad (Salallahu alayhi wa salaam), they had already been blessed by Allah in some degree and the verse when it says that Allah Who has given you security and has saved you from hunger and fear, it is not talking about the believing Muslins it is talking about the pagan Arabs who benefited just because they were at that Holy House, that sacred place. The sacred precincts of Mecca.

Once a year, people would gather there and often times it was more than once a year. They didn't have to worry about living because there was a great market there. People would cone there and they could sell and exchange goods and there was a market there for then.

There was some livelihood there for then and who had guaranteed the safety of that house even before Prophet Muhammad, even before Prophet Esau or Jesus, even before prophet Musa or prophet Moses, (peace and blessings be upon then)? Who had made that house sacred? Who had made the precincts of the Ka'aba sacred? The sane Allah Who created everything. He had made it safe for the people. He had made it safe.

You perhaps you recall the history of the great warrior Abraha, the Ethiopian warrior, who came with the herd of great elephants. He was a great, great empire man and he came with the great herd of elephants to conquer the sacred precincts and Hashim the ancestor of Prophet Muhammad he net him, he was the caretaker there and he told hin that, he said, "Well, where's your army? Who's going to defend this house?" Abrahams there with his great army and his elephants he said who's going to defend- he (Hashim) said, "Allah will defend the house." He said, "Allah will defend the house" and we know the story as it is told in the surah Al-fil that the birds came with pebbles that were poisonous and they dropped then down on the herds and the herds were turned into stubble as something chewed up and spit out. They were just done away with, completely.

So, what are we saying here? What are we trying to say with this khutbah here today? I'm saying that if Allah has designed something, circumstances doesn't change anything.

Circumstances will blind us to Allah's plan. Those Meccans before the preaching of prophet Muhammad were parading around the ka'aba, Making the circles and with themselves indecently exposed. Now, if someone had looked at that they would say, "Oh, this place is filthy. This place is no good for anything." A great warrior, if he had been successful in coning there, if Allah would permit it, he would tear down everything. "This is sick. You don't want to remember anything. Let's finish, do away with this thing here. These filthy heathens." But, the sane place, the sane precincts, the sane sacred grounds, the sane sacred house that those pagans disrespected since the day of prophet Muhammad, the people have been respecting it. Muslins clean and upright, dignified, full of faith circling the House of God is that right? Oh, yes! And this same precincts where they met and mistreated each other and cheated each other and did terrible things, now is safe. The law of Al-Islam is reigning there.

The same relics, the relics weren't changed. The sane house, same ka'aba. The same stone, same zam zam, the same well all is still there. But once those things used to be associated with paganism is that right? Allah's design was there. Allah's Will is there.
Now, some people don't like for me to say this but I come from a history. I come from a history. I've struggle to find the path of God and behind me is many blessings. It didn't just start in 1945. Behind me there are many blessings. This place has been made a secure place in spite of the pagan things that we used to do. That house has been made a secured house and you're the members of our secured place. Yes and I want you to know this; That Allah has been with us. That Allah's design has been on our community since the day the first slave was brought here and wade slave. The first man from the ancestors was brought here and made slave. Since that very day Allah's Hand has been on us. His company, His presence has been watching over us and with us and Allah has kept us safe.

Do you know that before '45 I didn't eat pork. I didn't start this life in '45. Before '45 I didn't eat pork. Before '45 I didn't drink liquors. Before '45 I didn't display vulgar behavior or vulgar manners. Before '45 I was a morally decent man. Before '45, oh, yes. When the name wasn't Warithu Deen. When the name was Wallace D. I was a good man. Clean man, good morals, praying man, praying in the name of Fard Muhammad. 
Un-Islamic, not Islamic to pray in the name of Fard Muhammad, W.D. Fard. That's not Islamic. I was like a pagan wasn't I? But very special pagan right? Very special pagan. Allah's Grace was on me wasn't it? Wouldn't you say so? Yes, I would and Allah's Grace was on most of you who were with us. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and many, many thousands of people, the Grace of Allah was on us and He kept us secure, He kept us safe and now look where he has gathered us.

He has gathered us into the sunnah path, the path of prophet Muhammad and now we're following after that example and we're not number 2 we're number 1! We are number 1 and that is the blessings of Allah and don't forget that. Allahu Akbar.

Bismillah hir Rahman ir Raheem. With the Name Allah, Host Gracious, Most Compassionate. (Arabic) We ask the choicest blessings be upon prophet Muhammad and I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah alone and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger of Allah.

Dear beloved Muslins we pray the blessings of Allah upon the prophet to whom the Qur'an was revealed as guidance for all people for all ages. Allah says in the Qur'an of
prophet Muhammad that he is a Mercy to all the people mercy for all the people, for all humanity. Not just for us, not just for Arabs, but for all humanity. Not just for Muslins, for all humanity. He's a mercy for all humanity.

Many of the benefits now that we are enjoying in so-called modern world, scientific world, Many of those benefits have cone to us because of the revelation, the Qur'an and we would not have those great sciences, we would not have the great benefits if it was not for the revelation, the Qur'an.

Those Christians and other people who are benefiting from the sciences, the great sciences that cane out of the early rise of Al-Islam under prophet Muhammad and his great companions, they must occasionally, if they know, thy must occasionally give thanks to Allah for prophet Muhammad because he's the mercy to all people.

Simple terns like we use now in academic world and we don't make the connections but if you study you'll find that the connection is in Al-Islam. The connection is in the rise of Al-Islam under prophet Muhammad of Arabia. Algebra, geometry, these terns are Arabic terns. Even the numbers we use, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine, those characters cane because of that burst of science under the leadership of prophet Muhammad upon hid be peace.

Dear beloved brothers and sisters let us not think of our life as a spiritual life as one of prayer and hymns, of fearing God but doing no work in the society, in the world. We must think of our life as a total life. Muslim life is a total life. We must think of the gift of God to us as the gift of science as well as the gift of spirituality. And everything that the human society need in order to survive and progress is Islamic and only what it doesn't need is un-Islamic.

So dear beloved brothers and sisters we want to make a short khutbah because we hope to join the parade but in concluding this khutbah let me congratulate your Iman here, Iman Pasha for his part in keeping the community on foot and Keeping it moving ahead and for his part in bringing about the parade, the Patriotism Day parade in Atlanta, Georgia and that means congratulations to you because with you, he couldn't do anything. Just as without you, I couldn't do anything. So Allah blessed us with people. We are community people. We can't do anything by ourselves but when we cone together as people, collective body of people then we can do something. Your leader is no greater than you make him and Allah has blessed—you with a leader so that you can show what you can do for a leader, you see, and the way you show what you can do for a leader is try to measure up to him and even surpass him in what he advocates for the community.

We follow the Qur'an as our number 1 book. It's the number 1 hadith. Yes. The word Hadith neans a report. Hadith neans a report. A discourse, a conversation, a report and the Qur'an is number 1 hadith, with no imperfections. God has guarded that Book, He has protected that Book Himself. The other Hadiths have grades of purity. The Qur'an has no grades of purity, it's pure all the way. No impurity in the Qur'an. So let us understand that and keep following your leaders and respect your leaders and keep giving then good support and keep pushing then forward. And the way you push then forward is to try to out do then in following Qur'an and carrying this message in the spirit that your Iman
delivers it.

