05/24/2003
IWDM Study Library
Spirit For Community Life Establishment

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Speaker 1: His work speaks for him, an American throughout the world. Our leader, Imam W. D. Mohammed. Thank you. Assalam Alaikum.
Audience: Walaikum Assalam.
Imam Mohammed: That is peace be unto you. We thank Allah that is G-d. We thank G-d for this day and this occasion. And we thank G-d for the sincere ones who are working hard to get us to be bigger and better. Inshallah, that's G-d's permission. We begin always with Bismillah al rahman al rahim, which is translated in the name of G-d or in G-d's name, the beneficent, the merciful, but also with G-d's name, the merciful benefactor, the merciful redeemer.
Let me say this first before getting into my short address, that I hope will be short, I didn't expect to find a fashion show when I came. It's a great pleasure. I was delighted. I said, "Wow, this is really nice." They prepared for it, I see. That's the way it should be. I shouldn't have to worry about these things and many other things, I shouldn't have to worry a bit because we have plenty good people who can do things and many times they're not adopt doing those things because they don't think that they have the authorization or are accepted.
We want more and more of you all to come forward. You know you have resources, you know what you can do, please come forward and make this community bigger and better. Praise be to Allah. We welcome our friends and our guests among us today. I want you to know that our concern is not so small or so narrow that it doesn't also welcome you when we are planning our future, we are also planning what we believe will be appreciated by good Christians, good citizens, whoever they are or whatever faith or persuasion they belong to.
We believe that what we are doing will be appreciated by all good citizens, and all good citizens will benefit in small measure or big measure from what we are doing. This is the way of the true Muslims. The true followers of Muhammad, who received revelation, the guidance called the holy book Qur’an or Qur'an from G-d over 14 centuries ago. This is his way. We follow his way and if I am doing good is because I follow his way. If I am to be praised or admired for anything, is because I follow his way.
He is my model, my leader, my guide and that's what he is for all Muslims. And G-d says of him in our holy book that certainly, you will find in him that is Muhammad of 1400 years ago. You will find in him an excellent model for any who believes in G-d and believes in the last day and are doers of good. This is what we believe and we follow him. We want no recognition for ourselves, we don't want you to look at us, we want you to look at what we are inviting you to. And we are not inviting you to ourselves, we are inviting you to the goodness, to the great goodness and benefits that we have found following this path.
We thank G-d and we witness that he is one, the Cherisher of the heavens and the earth, who care about all of his creatures, the smallest and the biggest. We'll be speaking on the community, the spirit for community life establishments. G-d promises us in our holy book, and I'm a student also of the Bible for a long time, I'm a good student of the Bible, G-d promises us in our holy book good establishments.
Many people who forget what religion is all about. Religion is not all about what kind of head piece you wear, what kind of dress you got on. Religion is not all about that. Religion is not about the songs you like to sing or hear or the music you prefer. It's not all about that. Religion is not all about your ethnic food, the kind of beans, rice and meat and greens, etcetera, that you like. Religion is not all about that.
When people asking about such things, G-d told Muhammad the Prophet, and it is in our holy book, if that's all you want, go to any city. Praise be to Allah. Religion is all about having human life in the best condition. That's what religion is all about. Having human life in the best condition and not cheating the human life. When you give somebody a perception of their life that is no bigger than the three or four blocks that they walk around in -- for some people live on three or four blocks for the whole of their life, then you're cheating them.
If you give them a perception or picture of their life that does not include the skies and the earth, you're cheating them. G-d created not only a little piece of ground for human beings to have, G-d created the whole ground, the all of the earth, all of the land for human beings to have. G-d did not have in mind a particular race when He did that. G-d did not have in His mind a particular sex when He did that, He created it for male and female and for all of us.
When we look at the sky, you have to realize that G-d created that for every human soul living or existing and those that are to come, and all of those that are to come. When you walk out of your house, you should feel like the pious believers in G-d, that when you look at that sky, you're looking at the sky G-d made for you. When you look at the ground in the distances before you, the clouds and everything, you should feel like the pious worshippers of G-d from different nationalities, from different persuasions.They all believe the same when they are enlightened. They believe that all of this G-d has created for them.
No wonder, the faith of the ignorant people is so weak. It's weak because the world have cheated them out of a full perception or picture of their own value. That's what this is about; awakening people to your great value. The great value that G-d gave all of us when He created us human. In Scripture you find G-d saying that He gave all human beings the breath of life.
Now, we know it's not in this air we breathe, it's the breath of pollution. Not the breath of life, not the purer air that was here before industry polluted it. They try to clean it up now and it's costing billions and billions, costing as much as they pay to do it the wrong way is costing them more to get it back, to get the right way back. But they're paying the bill, the governments-- good governments are forcing them to pay the bill and stop poisoning or polluting the air we breathe.
This breath of life G-d's talking about, our G-d is acquainting us with Scripture is more than this breath that our newborn babies, sons, and daughters breathe and they'd mind their mind that comes on. Before the baby breathe, it's not hearing, is not seeing, it can't speak but when it breathes this air that G-d made for us to support our life, for us to breathe, that newborn baby becomes awake in his body.
Now to me this is a miracle. How many poets have spoken of life, the birth of life as a miracle. Many of us don't think deep and think seriously as the poets think, so we don't understand fully what the poet is sensing or feeling when the poet says, "The birth of life is a miracle." You breathe air, you hear you're living, the body is living. It was in his mother living and it's out here now it's living. It's not dead, but it has to take in this breath of life, this breath of air before its mind can come on.
This is no new situation for me. I remember preaching and I was only in my early 20s or younger and a lot of noise came by and I said, "Well, just be patient. We wait till it stop." I can't speak over that noise. My voice is not as loud as those things. I wait till it passed by. Now, it's gone. You breathe this life, this breath and the new baby breathes the breath and it become conscious. It becomes conscious.
Now, it smells with his nose and it sees with his eyes. It feels with his flesh and it also is thinking, begin thinking right away, thinking and nothing was done, it just took in breath. It was already living. It wasn't dead, but it wasn't living as a conscious creation. It was living as an unconscious creation until this air, this air we take for granted was taken into its lungs, then his mind was awakened.
Now, G-d has given that to us as a sign of another awakening. Many of us live in this air, breathing this air with our mind seemingly alive, and our spirit and heart and soul seemingly alive. But many of us are not alive, we are dead. When G-d speaks of the dead in Scripture, don't think He's talking about the dead under the ground. Very seldom is G-d speaking of the dead that's buried under the ground. He's speaking of the dead, that's dead in their purpose, dead to their purpose. They are dead to their purpose for their existence.
G-d created you very differently and very valuable above all the living things He created. Now, you are not to live like those things beneath you in creation like a cow, like a rabbit, like a lion, like a dog, like a snake, like a buzzard, a vulture, but we find as one philosopher said, "In the human race, you will find all the creatures of the wilderness." A philosopher once said that, great philosopher.
We know that many are in those forms in terms of how they think and live and are not in the human form. That's disgraceful. That's shameful for such a valuable creation as a human being. A man or a woman is limited to that low life that's very much beneath the excellent value of the human person. Religion is all about awakening you to this, that's what a religion is all about. Awakening to your value, to your special creation and its special value. And once you are awakened to that, then you become a human being.
You're not truly a human being if you're not awakened to that. You can have human feelings, but also those feelings you call human feelings, we find them among the animals. Or I go, "I'm a human being, I care about another person." Well, there are birds that fly into my backyard and find food that I leave out there for them, and they share it not only with the birds of their own family, but many of them share it with the birds of other families. So they care about each other too. They care about their own families and they care about strangers.
We start talking about these sentimental values, we will find animals that are beneath us in creation having the same sentimental values, caring about each other. I have read reading of animals that some animals have died of heart failure. Why? Because the mate they were with for so long, suddenly, was killed. And just a few days later, the mate of that animal also died of heart failure.
We don't have much to boast about if we're just talking about what we call human sentimental thing, sentimental nature, sentimental value. How is the human being above these other creatures? We're above these other creatures in terms of what we can do with our life. And the reason why we can do so much more with our life than they can do with their lives is because of the higher intelligence that G-d created us with. Not only religion, but also science tells us that the human being is distinguish above other life because we are homo sapien. Homo sapien means thinking creature, thinking human being or thinking creature.
We have the ability to think and the ability to think is an ability to think freely and to think without bound, without the restrictions or boundaries to hold our thinking in it. I believe science won't say this, but I know a dog thinks. I look at his face, I can tell he's thinking. I can see in his eyes he thinks. Other things think, they think like we do. I went to see a big ape in the zoo once and a bushmen when I was young but he died, may he have peace in his grave or wherever he's going in his bushman heaven, ape heaven, wherever he's going.
Anyway, I look at his eyes and right away I knew he was thinking. He didn't have any good thoughts. He was looking at me and made me feel so uncomfortable. He was looking at me like, "How come you're free out there and I'm all locked up in here? Are you another one of those human dirty dogs, got me locked up in here, and you free out there? So out you save me yourself looking at me behind bars. I can't go anywhere and you're free to go about and eat popcorn and looking at me and having a good time." He made me feel so bad.
Well, I know they can think, but they can't think out of the boundaries for their life, for their physical life. Man can think out of the boundaries for his physical life. He think into spiritual dimensions. He think into abstract dimensions and not only can he think, he can also think and then reproduce pictures of his mind in the environment that is real. He can think and picture something and then show it to you in a form. He's also a creator, isn't he? Yes, he's a creator.
That's why G-d says in His scripture, "G-d is the best of creators." He didn't say that there are no other creators, He just said, "He is the best of creators." You can create nothing except by the will of G-d. G-d has willed that you have this ability, otherwise, you couldn't be creators. What you use, you must go to G-d's creation for it. Whatever man as creator use or benefit by, he has to go to G-d's creation to get it, to get it.
This is what you should understand, the human person is very valuable, the human person because of this high value, you are expected to be producing more than monkeys, cows, chickens, and things like that. You are expected to be producing more. There was a time when man built a little cheap grass hut, that was his house. He'd take mud, build a little house, that's his house. Mix some mud with straw and it dries, that's his house. That was not enough for him because a bird builds a house of mud and straw.
He throw together a few pieces of wood and he builds a cheap looking house, but that's not the end of his aspirations. He wants more than that because beavers also will cut wood and build a house, a wooden house on the water, beavers and ant -- pardon me, and bees. They build such lovely houses, such lovely houses. But man is not limited there, a man is given the ability much beyond that. So man eventually makes houses, air-conditioned, heated in the winter, cooled in the summer, skyscrapers, houses so elaborate, he builds the best of houses.
Now, coming up near to what we are going to present to you today, Muhammad, the prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, one of his predictions or sayings go like this, "The sign of the end of time will be when the poor people, poor men will be competing in the building of skyscrapers", isn’t this something. It is one of his sayings. A sign of the end of time will be when the poor man is competing in the field of construction to build skyscrapers.
It's been a long time now, a few decades ago, long time and we have a very successful excellent model of industry in the Chicago area, African-American people. Mr. John Johnson, he couldn't get all the way downtown but he came close. He couldn't build his building as big as others down there at downtown, but he built it high, high enough for you to see it a long ways. It's the Ebony Building, Jet and Ebony Building on Michigan Avenue.
Well, where did he come from? He came from the poor, came from the south to the north, and came from the poor. He made progress up here, enough progress for him to compete in the building of tall structures. Now, he's able to do much more than that. He can do much more than that. I'm sure he probably got buildings taller than that, I don't know. But most likely he got some buildings taller than Ebony now, he's very successful.
Getting back to this Prophet's saying, the Prophet is telling us that one day, poor people will not be satisfied to have nothing. Poor people are going to compete for what the rich man has. Why is G-d telling us through Muhammad, the Prophet, that poor people will one day compete to have what the rich has? To tell us that we have equal value. That G-d didn't make a rich man in a different way that he made a poor man, when G-d made man He made man and circumstances, situations make some poor and some rich. But He made all people to be productive and to get to full benefit from his creation that He made, this material creation.
G-d says to us in our Scripture and it's in the Bible too, I told you I'm a good student of the Bible, I know what the Bible says too, "See with the means that G-d has made possible for you, the better life to hereafter when all this is finished, but don't forget your share of this world." G-d tells us, "Don't forget our share of this world. Don't forget your share of this world." All of us by virtue of us being the same creation of G-d, all of us are entitled to a share of this material world.
If you don't want to share this material world, then you're going to be punished because G-d created you for a share of this material world. Just like you neglect to brush your teeth, you're going to be punished. You're going to get some pain in that mouth sooner or later. If you choose to forget your share of this material world, you're going to be punished sooner or later.
What is the punishment for those who don't care about having their share of this material world? To be a slave to those that don't care about you. And don't think slavery is over., there are plenty of slaves, there are slaves right here in Markham, in my town and I love this town too There are slaves right here in Markham, they are slave to drugs, they are slave to alcohol and the drug out of drug dealer.
If you're a slave to what he's selling, you're his slave. Slavery hasn't stopped, there are still slaves. There are slaves to many other things, but we don't have time to list all those things. It would take us two hours just to list all the things, maybe, that we are slaves to.
Slavery hasn't ended and Allah sent Muhammad and those before him the righteous, the figures, He sent them to awaken our conscience that He created us for. When you're living, you have a mind, but maybe it's not the mind that Allah, our G-d created you for. You have a mind that you have your experiences or your environment gave you, but it might not be the mind that G-d created you for.
When you have the mind that G-d created you for, then you become truly conscious as a human being. You become productive and you will be in heaven while yet in a flesh body. You will be in heaven while yet in a flesh body. Now, I told you I am a student of the Bible too, what I'm saying is supported by the Bible too. When I invite Christians and you are invited, you are my friend and our guess, we love you like we love ourselves, we want for you is the same thing we want for ourselves.
We don't want to change you from your religion. If you're happy in your religion, we want you right there. Because if you change, you might be a worse person later than you were before, because you're changing might not be for the right reasons. You may change for the wrong reason and we'll have our worst person in a Muslim name than we had before in a Christian name. Understand that and G-d is the one to change our faith. We can't change faith without G-d's permission.
Now, getting back to this. I am speaking from Scripture, I'm a follower of Scripture, I speak from Scripture and what I say to you will stand up beside Scripture. It won't fall. It'll stand up beside Scripture. It will stand up strong beside Scripture, what I say to you. I'm not going to say anything to you that won't stand up beside Scripture. No breath of life, no life. Human life is learned. You don't become a human being just because you were born flesh. You become human being because you learn the life of human beings.
There have been students of anthropology, etcetera, studying how human life comes into existence. They have shown proof that you can take a perfect human body and put it in an animal environment and that human being will never become human. It will bark like a animal or howl like animals. It will run around like animals, it will be animal. A human life is not just created, but human life is learned, L-E-A-R-N-E-D, human life is learned. If you keep people ignorant, that the level of-- they're beneath intelligence, will show us the level they are beneath human life.
If you rob people of the intelligence they need and of the interaction they need to become intelligent human beings with other human beings who have learned. So that's what G-d says, He taught Adam. Although many people who read Scripture, they will never get it when they read that G-d taught Adam. He created a man and then He taught that man. They won't get it, but the revelation came again to make it even clearer and clearer.
Allah says to Mohammad, G-d says to Muhammad, and it's in the chapter of our holy book called Ar-Rahman. He says the merciful G-d, Ar-Rahman. The merciful G-d taught the Qur’an to Muhammad and created the human person. Without the learning, you don't have the high life, the great life, the great valuable life that G-d created you for.
Human life is learned, are discovered your experiences with your brain, and your sensitivities discovers more and more of the life G-d wants to be you, in you, and to become you. The birthplace for a human pardon me, the birthplace for human life is community. This story I read I think it was by Margaret Mead anthropologist. This story I read of them finding a boy among animals who was not human. Just living like an animal imitating the animals.
Speaker: It's a story of a boy that never had the opportunity to live and develop in a human group, or in a human family, or in a human community. But after all, no matter how small your family is, your family is also a community. The family itself is a community, a family community. Yes. This child didn't have opportunity to grow up in a human community. He grew up with animals and thought itself one of the animals and had no more than animal existence and animal life.
Community concerns have moved certain special individuals, prophets, messengers of G-d, certain special individuals to go up to ascend a mountain, to climb a mountain like Moses did, like Muhammad did also. And to go up in the mountain-- also Jesus Christ went up in the mountain. Isn't that something? I read the bible, Jesus Christ also went up the mountain. Why go up in a mountain? To get a more complete picture and a clearer picture of the community that they belong to.
We're not blessed with wings like eagles. We can't just take off and fly way up and go across town like an airplane. We never get to see, get a good full picture of the place where we're living. An aerial photograph or shot is much better than when we're snapping down here. You get on a plane, you go up on a helicopter, you go up high and then you can get an aerial shot. You can shoot down here with the wide lens camera and you can see much better how we look down here, than us down here they're seeing from this level on the ground.
Those that went up into the mountains, they want to see better, the whole picture but just like G-d has made it possible for you to ascend physical heights and get a better physical picture, G-d has also made that a sign of the possibility that He had given you also to ascend spiritual heights and get a better spiritual picture or a human picture of the spiritual life of the people and come back down and feed that life with a much bigger and better picture of it. Therefore, a much higher appreciation for it too. Huh? Yes. All right, so thank G-d for those special thinkers among us like Moses, like Jesus Christ, like Muhammad, peace be on them.
Some of our mothers, they helped us out a lot. They picked the language from the language environment of their time, that they thought would best get us to go farther and to stay right. I used to hear mother say, "You don't have to hear it anymore." Some of our mothers push us and they would say to us, "Boy, set your mind on something worthwhile." We need that again. We need your mothers to start telling our boys that again. "Son, set your mind on something worthwhile." It means something of importance. Something of permanence. Not something that's here today and gone tomorrow. The reason for most of you being here with me today under this beautiful tent, isn't it beautiful?
Audience: Yes.
Speaker: We got this from a Christian preacher. He was moving on to bigger things, so he didn't need a tent anymore. We are following him. Did you hear me?
Audience: Yes.
Speaker: We are following him.
Right now we are enjoying this beautiful tent and on this American holiday. It's red, white and blue. We didn't go looking for no red, white, and blue tent. We ain't that sentimental about being American citizens.
But this is the tent he had for us, so we bought it. This is the only one he had and he gave us a great, great bargain. Great bargain. You are here on this Sunday, Sun day and thank G-d the sun is shining. I'm looking at it out there. The sun is shining. On this Memorial Day event of CPC, Collective Purchasing Conference Comtrust, LLC, Limited Liability Company Property. This property belongs to our company. How many of you all own this company? Raise your hand. What? Really?
Audience: Yes, sir.
Speaker: Well, this is really the CPC gathering.
Audience: Yes, sir.
Speaker: Now you know what I mean. I don't mean you own it because your brother will give love for you what he loves for himself. I don't mean that. Now if you raise your hand because you really know about it, what's my brother's is mine.
Depending on your character. We don't share with a Muslim brother if his character is too bad. I'm going to ask you again, don't you die on me. I want to see the hands of those who put some money and got a share in CPC. Oh, same. Wonderful. Let me give you a hand.
Your Imam didn't do what he did before praying many prayers to G-d asking Him to guide to that that He approves of because if you don't get what G-d approves of, you're going to lose it sooner or later. No matter how long it'd be coming, you're going to lose it. Yes, you'll lose it. Your Imam prayed a lot of many prayers for this before investing one penny or one cent of money into it, from his pocket or from your pockets. I prayed much for this, I have faith in G-d. I know that but I prayed for it and G-d blessed me with what I asked for.
If I remain dutiful and don't change it's for my own nation, G-d is also my protector for that. This is not depending on Imam W Deen Mohammed to protect it and on new investors to protect it. It's in G-d's charge. This is his charge. He will protect it and He will give us assistance and many ways and from many places and persons that we are not even aware of.
You're here because you are for individuals and families getting and keeping a life that is worthwhile. Yes. See, we can put religious meanings and religious interest and many kinds of expressions, but when you get down to the heart of the matter, this is what we want and G-d promises just that. A good life and a productive life. That's what G-d promises to sincere ones. In Christianity, in Judaism, in Islam, G-d promises to sincere ones, if they will do the right thing and have faith in Him, faith and good works, He promises them life and a good life and a productive life.
You didn't come here to have somebody invite you to what's causing the people of these thousand, America and other places to share tears, have them fearing tomorrow. Will tomorrow be worse than today? You didn't come here to have that. You're here because you are for community having a life that says it is a livable life and tomorrow will be better and bigger. Believe me, if I didn't have that hope and that belief in me, you wouldn't see me today. A lot other things I can be doing that will satisfy and please me. I don't have to be out here talking to you under this tent.
No, the purpose that brings me here is much bigger than this tent. Much bigger than this audience I'm looking at. Much bigger than Markham, the town I've grown to love since I've been here. Much bigger than Chicago, the city of my life. City I lived my most of my life in. Much bigger than the United States of America. The plan that G-d has blessed us with, that we call CPC, Comtrust, Graceline, it will live if we will stay with it, even if America falls. It is no more existing.
This that we have is capable of surviving the death or fall of America because it comes from the G-d that's bigger than the whole creation He made and it comes from a plan that G-d gave men, his messengers, his servants, that is bigger than the plan for any nation's existence and future. It's bigger than the plan for any nation and that nation's future.
Now let me tell you something about your government, the United States of America and your government leaders who are wise in the government. They don't want you to just be conscious of the government as the living condition or the protectors for the living conditions that you want. They want you to be conscious of your religion. They want you to be conscious of your bible. They want Muslims to be conscious of our holy book, the Qur’an or the Qur'an because they themselves are in something bigger than the political idea we call the life of the United States of America.
They also are Christian and some Jew and some Muslim and the numbers are growing. The numbers of Muslims are growing in government, in the government of the United States. The number of Muslims from outside of this country and the number of Muslims that were in here for now over three centuries. Yes, as people as citizens or as subjects in this land, the number is growing. We get more and more numbers from Muslims, both indigenous, us, African Americans, and also those who change their citizenship. Left their nation and took up citizenship here in the United States of America. The numbers are growing and very impressive numbers in government, in the government of the United States of America.
Very important, significant positions are being held by Muslims in the government of the United States of America and I mean no area is left out. Business, politics, money, financing, whatever. Sciences, everything. Muslims are growing in leadership of the American people and the structure we call the government. A new day, certainly this is a new day.
Continuing now, the spirit for community life establishment. We are very different from most people on this planet earth. I'm not talking about Africans, I'm talking about African Americans. Not Africans, African Americans. We are very different from most people living on this planet. We are, as I said, when I was a young man in my early 20s preaching for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad my father.
We are a new people on this earth. We are a new people on this earth. Before our coming to life, as a people in the new world, there were no people existing exactly like us. We may look like Africans in our physical picture, like many Indians look like Asians in their physical picture but they're not Asians. They are Native Americans. We might look like Africans in our physical picture but we are a new people.
I told you the human being cannot be human until the human beings learns how to be human and you can't be a people until you learn how to be a people. The scripture speak of a people that are no people. I'm giving you exact words of scripture of people that are no people. Like saying a man that is no man. It's just that I like a little humor sometime. I'm sure some of you right here in this audience right now, you got a man that is no man.
Don't please, don't identify yourself. Don't bear witness too loudly.
We don't want to know you, we don't want to have your man see you and-- no, no please but I know anytime you find this many gather, there's some female with a man that's no man.
Slavery, that peculiar institution of slavery that Brother Daniel Mujahid and thank you Brother Daniel Mujahid for your great support, your great spirit, your great words. Motivating us to have faith and do more, thank you. Brother Daniel Mujahid, great man in the corporate world, big man in the corporate world. We are blessed to have him as a member of our society. Isn't that wonderful?
Allahu Akbar, G-d is great. Yes. A people if they are separated from the traditions, separated from their history, separated from their culture, separated from the language even, that they spoke before they were separated by slavery. Those people can be so thoroughly cut off from their previous learning environment that they become again, no people. Now we know man in his savagery or man in his primitive life, during the primitive times of man's existence on the planet, man was no people. Though he had them body of a man, he had a pattern, the physical pattern for the growth, the development of a man, he was not a man because he was not yet enlightened. He had not yet learned the life that he's supposed to have yet.
We became no people, we were just slaves. A few of us remain human because we had some contact with good human influences coming from individuals. All Whites weren't devils, during the time of the south mistreatment of us. All of them weren't devils. Some of them didn't like what their own people were doing. Some of us were fortunate to have contact with good human influences from individuals and also from writings. It helped us stay in touch with our human spirit. So though we were not establishing the human life, we were still having the human spirit.
Many of us just had the tenacity of willpower, tenacity of will to resist all attempt to make us ignorant and inhuman. Though we did not have learning, we were ignorant, but we had respect for our human life. We held on to it in spite of those cruel centuries that were designed to make animals of all of us. Yes, whether intentionally done or not, that existence in its raw and in its worst form, was designed to make animals of all of us but G-d gave us our human soul and we, who kept the human spirit to live the life of our human soul, we kept our humanity, though we could not have it as a people.
Today, we're free to congregate and then I was telling the Muslims here. In Chicago I spoke at the 45th Arena. I was telling them there on our weekly day of congregation. Jumu'ah day, we call it Jumu'ah. It means congregation day. I was telling them there of how we have been cheated out of a life and cheated out of a job. A life that G-d created us for and a job that G-d created us for. A big job, a job that requires numbers from different families, not just one little small group but it requires numbers from families to get together and help establish and plan a future for all the people.
We were deprived of that and we have to be awakened to that, African American people. Now this is going to maybe not set so well to some of you all. It's not pleasant for me, it's painful for me. Many of you feel the same way I do but a lot of you will be hurt by what I'm going to say. We are still no people. We are no people. If we were a people, we would have property like people have, we would have our life in our own hands like people have their lives in their own hand. Chinese won't let you take a Chinese life out of their hands. The Irish people are not going to let you take the Irish life out of their hand but we never had it in our hands. We don't know that now we're free to get our life in our own hands. We are still letting other people have our life in their hands.
That's shameful, especially when you awaken. We are not sleeping anymore, we are awake. It pains us to see a whole people's life in other people's hands. We're going to change that. My father was determined to change that. Before him, he was influenced by other African American leaders who were determined to change that. His son is just as determined as he was to change that. G-d is the one that has fired us up to change it. We can't give it up even if we want to.
Sometimes I get so much trouble in my personal life, I think of just throwing my hands up and say, "Oh, this is too much. I'm too burdened to take on all of this other responsibilities but I can't do it, I can't give it up." That's just a flashing thought. It's in like lightning and gone, then the sun comes on and it doesn't flash, it just stays there. Praise be to Allah.
The spirit for community of establishment, that's what we have and we are not going to give it up. We are new people and we are new people on the job site, on the job site of building community life and we want our job back. We was once a people in the Africa and we had that land and that land gave us a job. A job for developing it and establishing our life on the continent of Africa. We want our job back.
As citizens of the United States of America, we want complete freedom to choose a place like this and many other places in this United States of America and even outside because our community also is in other places outside of the United States. Wherever we are, we want the landholders, the landowners, the bosses to know that the day-- and the end of time has come and the poor man is competing with the rich man to build skyscrapers. All right? That's what we want them to know and he wants his full freedom to do that, full freedom to do that.
I was invited to speak to some powerfully rich people. They are so proud of their philosophy, the ideas that have made them rich that they don't admit their communists, they published -- I mean, sorry. They don't admit they're capitalists, they publish they are capitalists. They have a magazine that publish them, the capitalism. They have an airplane, there have been an airplane, own an airplane, the capitalist. I went as their guest to their location and there was a big sign out there, the capitalist. They were rich, they're all rich. I'm not going to say their name, you'll know them right away if I told you their name.
They are very rich people. They're investors, they invest in many things, mostly gold, and money, and stuff like that, they're investors. Anyway, they invited me to speak to them. They wanted to know about Elijah Muhammad. This man from his son. They wanted to hear about him from his son. Thought of Elijah Muhammad is very significant, very important. Significant means important. Now the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is very significant in the minds of many big people of the world, not just the United States of America, of the world. Why? Because he did something that was unexpected of any man in these United States, not to mention of a Black man without formal education.
He did things that was not expected of any man in these United States. He did those things and got the attention of the learning world. Yes, he did. The Reader's Digest in the time of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's life, they put on their cover once, "Elijah Muhammad, the most significant Black man in America." That's what they said, Reader's Digest. Not JET, Reader's Digest. It said that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the most significant Black man in America. Now, I'm not sure Ralph Bunch might have still been alive at that time. I know there was some big ends alive, still alive. At that time, when they said that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was the most significant Black man in America.
They invited me to be their guest and for me to give-- and they gave me money. I didn't go there to talk to rich people that a knew wasn't going to be converted but I'm coming back with something in my pocket now.
They promised me a good pay for my time and they gave me even a better pay than I expected for my time but getting to the point, when they gave me a chance to speak, I told them, I say, "We have come to believe what many of you all already know, that you can be no bigger than your awareness. What you are aware of, you cannot benefit from if you don't claim it. We're aware of ourselves as citizens in these United States. The land belongs to us as well it belong long to anybody else and we are determined to qualify to have responsibility for some land of our own.
Yes, and I told them that I'm telling my people what G-d says to us. G-d says, he is the owner of the whole earth and G-d has said to us that he made this earth and whatever is in the skies to benefit us, so we want our share in the benefits. G-d said and he made every human being to be responsible in the earth. Responsible in the earth. I said, "So we're determined to have our share and the responsibility for these things."
I said, "All we want is that you all-- you don't have to help us," I said, "We're not asking for charity." I told all the big shots that and I didn't tell them with macho-- let me tell you how I told them.
I said, "We just want our share." I said, "And we're not begging anybody." I said, "Our prophet told us the hand that puts something in the poor hand is better and more valuable than a hand that's receiving something." I said, "So we are not coming here begging or asking for anything, all we want is for you not to hinder us, or not to get in our way, or make trouble for us and cause us to be defeated. We don't want our effort hurt by you all who have the power and ability to get in our way or to hurt what we're doing," that's what I told them.
Now I don’t talk to you like that, I don't talk like that. "All we want is you don't get in our way, you just don't get in our way. We're not begging you for anything, we didn't come here to ask you for a dime but just don't get in our way, don't make trouble for us with all your power in the media, and all your power in our neighborhood, in our culture, and in our lives with all your power. Don't get in our way or hurt what we're trying to do."
Now that's how I talk to you. I didn't talk to no bigshot like that. I didn't talk to no powerful boys that way. I had a low-- I was whispering almost when I was talking to those big boys.
Let me tell you what the big boys said when I finished. They didn't let the moderator say this, they had the big man, I mean the big man, come up there and he said, "Mr. Muhammad, we will not get in your way." That's what he's told me. He said, "And Mr. Muhammad, if any way we can help you, we will." That's what he told me.
Speaker 1: I was an ambassador for you a long time ago, for us. All right. I want to hurry up and try to finish this. A new people, we have to realize we are new people. A new people bringing their numbers to be with any company of doers of good. To be with others in the common life, for good works. To be in the company of persons who want their minds to be set to something worthwhile. To be with people willing to learn more. As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
To be the ones who have will, a will to die to all sin, before they will accept the spirit of shameful living. Which is really dying in a culture of death. Now I have quotes for this culture of death, because it was the Pope John Paul II, who used this language during one of his address that he made. He called the culture of the West that have gone all around the world now, a culture of death. He doesn't mean the beautiful culture, he means the culture of drugs. He spells it out in one of his speeches.
The culture of drugs, the culture of corruption, yes. To be connected to human life in the original form. The form it was in before its innocence was fall. The scripture tells us how that innocence was fall; although, people from different other religions or beliefs they may not have this story as we have it. But we have it with Jews, Christians and Muslims, we have the same story. It was the Satan, the Shaitaan we say in Islam Shaitaan, or the Satan in Christian Church that seduced, tricked our father and mother to come out of the culture, or out of the life that they were in before it became corrupt.
Allah says and He calls them to take off the clothing or to leave the clothing that they were having. Then Allah says the clothing of righteousness, he calls them to take off the clothing and leave the clothing of righteousness. We know our culture with no respect for high human values, is a culture of corruption and death. The spirit for community life of new people, we're continuing. History is the place to go to find the pieces to the puzzle. The puzzle in human minds, the loss from the life that they want for their own self, for themselves.
Loss from a life of wholeness and hence loss from a functional community life. Until you become whole, complete and your human thinking that Allah, G-d the Creator; G-d the Creator intended for you, then you can never have a whole life within and certainly not a whole life without. You can't have a functional life within and you can't have a functional community without. Allah maid within us a life to be connected with, and engage that that is outside of us.
Human being cannot exist with just soul, or just spirit. The human mind, intelligence soul and spirit must engage the material environment. When we engage the material environment, then not only do we grow the environment but the environment is like reciprocals is interacting with us, and we also grow ourselves. That's why G-d says and He made us like a plant. The Bible also describes human life like a plant. He made us like a plant.
Once you put in the material environment you can have your growth.
You may start as something so small, small like a mustard seed. Or small like a small seed of an olive or something, but once you get into the material environment and you give sensitivities like water. You get your sensitivity, your human sensitivity then you begin to open up and let out the light that's locked up in that little, small, dead looking seed. That's your human life. That's a picture of what can happen for your human life, for your soul, for your spirit, for your mind, for your intelligence.
The same thing can happen for your intelligence. If you just place your intelligence in the material environment G-d created and let it respond to and engage the material life that G-d created. Keep the good sensitivities there, that's like water of life. Keep those good innocent human sensitivities in you and you will begin to experience not only growth for your environment, but growth for your intelligence, growth for your sensitivities, growth for your whole life. Growth for your appetite for beauty for beauty.
Look how man has beautified his environment with beautiful cultural works, pictures, statues, all kind of beautiful things. Structures that appeal to our appetite for beauty. Look how much can come to us. We are a life has to be turned on by intelligence and you can't turn that life on that's intelligent life until you embrace this logical world that G-d has put together. It is a world of logic, this material world. Is a world of logic, is not a world of guesswork. Is not a world accidents, it's a world of logic.
If you'll engage it with your life then it will feed your life and you will give back to it, like a woman you marry, a good woman. A good human woman with good human sensitivity. You give her your love, she gives you her love and you produce a beautiful house for you to live in and she produce for you beautiful children. Produced from your and her body, beautiful children and pretty soon you got a beautiful home and a beautiful life and you're so happy and proud of it.
The same thing can happen with the material world. You can put certain people in the desert where there's nothing growing, the land looks like it offers nothing. And they will use that interest, that human interest and it will engage that land, that barren land with their intelligence and with their hearts and their feelings and their love. They will engage it and they will find ways to bring water to the desert and begin to cultivate it. Pretty soon there'll be an oasis, pretty soon there'll be a garden. Pretty soon there'll be a beautiful town in the desert, in the desert.
Now America's no desert, Markham is no desert, Chicago is no desert, Los Angeles is no desert, New York City, Harlem there's no desert. That can be done in a desert, look what we can do to these places where we that we call unsightly places. Ghetto, soul spots, we can bring life and beauty to those places just by coming back to the original man we are, the human person G-d created. Thank you, Allah Akbar, G-d is greater.
History goes back to the time we call prehistory. Before history was written are being made by man and put on paper. Human life was evolving before that time, before that beginning. It's incredible but true, there's a way back to man's prehistory human excellence. The way back is upon the human soul mode of travel. Human history records that this way has been accessible only to a relative few. In the history of the heavenly religions the names of Christ Jesus and Muhammad as also the name of our first Father, Adam are well known.
These three were established in human excellence with our schools and with our teachers. In spite of their being born in environments that were for animals or that were inhuman or world of plants and animals, not people or not peopled; yet Adam was able to prosper. A baby born in a manger for animals, yet Christ Jesus became the teacher and the people who followed him have prospered. Yes, an orphan on the peninsula of Arabia, born in a time of ignorance. At a time of bestiality and yet he prospered and the people that followed him prospered with him.
Muhammad, our model, our leader, our guide, praise be to Allah. Now identifying our birth, our Genesis among our neighbor's Jews and Christians, will help much if we will only try to know, or accept to know teachings of Moses and Jesus. Promoting sacred respect for virgin nature ,and for a productive relationship, with all matter, or with all creation. To know that this is not just for Jews and Christians, this is for Muslims too. For Muslims, it is our primary and constant interest.
We are to indulge the creation believing that G-d made it for us. If we do that we're on the pathway of obedience to G-d and we are on the pathway to greater and more important possibilities for human life. The master of all creation, G-d himself our Lord made those possibilities for us. Now, what is this language a new people, what is this-- a new people. Human life is formed to engage the job. Human life is naturally having an appetite for it.
Now you may be eating greens and your favorite meat greasy meat whatever. French fries whatever but as a human being, you want more than that. Your existence may be that is not more probably not much better than mice that's in the house, or the roaches that embarrass you when company come over. You want more than that, if you're human you want much more than that. Sometimes you shed tears just thinking while you're looking at yourself. More clearly than it is for any other people in the history of the world. We are in need of human community life.
We need to be responsible for building our own communities. We need to be responsible for its guidance, its direction. We shouldn't have to go to another community to have them tell us how to do it, we should be responsible for that. We can do it if we get back to the original human pattern created in the natural world for us by G-d. We will be able to evolve or as theHonorable Muhammad says, "Raise up." We will be able to evolve or raise up people and have the people produce wonderful establishments.
We can't do that with the spirit of somebody who can't think any bigger than that small environment or that small life that they live. You have to have people who are in touch with bigger environments and who sees life bigger than the small life we have in these apartments and rooms and hotels or whatever motels, places, bad looking places. Somebody has to have freedom beyond that limitation in order to have the feeling and the interest to concerns and the sensitivity and intelligence and more important, the knowledge to take us into the big picture that G-d created us for.
History records a theft and the theft, this is the history of religious people, religious communities, Jews, Christians and now us. History records a theft and giving you the words of Scripture it says, a theft of a whole people. Now we have suffered a theft, a theft of our community life. We need to get that life get it on, get it going forward and we need to get on the job. The job of being responsible for that life and do our part in assuring us and our children a better and bigger future.
We can do that. We are on the job. We talked at the last congregation, congregational prayer. We talked about our job and I asked -- I knew there was some heavy imams in the audience. They knew I was going to give lead the congregation, so some of them had come even from my town. Some of them I know they're Christian preachers hiding among us. Yes, oh, yes, they change identities and come among us and hide, because they want to eat at our table but they don't want to be identified.
I welcome them in fact if I know a few of them in the audience I may add some extra food to the table. I put some extra food on the table for my guest who has different taste than ours. I put some food on -- special food for them. Later I say, "You didn't know I had your treats, did you?" Thank G-d. Anyway, I told them, I asked them I said, "How do you spell job?" They hesitated looked at me like I was full of joke on them or something. I said, "Seriously, how do you spell job?" J-O-B. I said how do you spell Job the prophet, "J-O-B." Thank you very much peace." Assalamu alaikum [END OF AUDIO]

