3-6-2005
Chicago, Ill

THE NEED TO BUILD OUR LIFE UP

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

 

With Allah's name, the praise and the thanks is for G-d, we thank Him for the gift and blessing of the model human person Muhammed (pbuh), the honorable and noble servant and Messenger of G-d and what follows of that salute or that traditional salutation to the last Prophet (pbuh), the seal of the Prophets mentioned in the Bible as it is given in the Qur'an.

We praise G-d, the Lord, Creator of the skies, and the earth and for the creation of the model human person; we thank Him very, very much eternally. We are here again, we thank G-d for our presence that is in English G-d and in the Qur'an Arabic, that is our Holy Book we say Allah (swt). We thank Allah (swt) for this beautiful day, the sun is shining and temperature is such that I do not have to worry about arthritis.

Religion is about getting the guidance for the best future

We are addressing "The need to build our life up," that is what religion is all about. Religion is all about getting the guidance that we need for the best future for our life and that life is a life of respect, life of honor, to a life of decency. Do not forget it is also a life of enlightenment, it's a life of wisdom.  G-d helps us when our intelligence reaches its limit and we're trying to overcome bad situations for our life often our intelligence reaches its limit and we just cannot carry for in our life further. In such times behind us G-d has blessed honorable ones among the people with revelation, communication directly from the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We have that communication in Books that have survived political ideas and all of the other ideas. We have it in books called Bible, Old Testament and New Testament or as it is given in our scripture the Qur'an cal led the Torah and the Injeel, the book of the Jews and the book of the Christians and the book of the Muslims popularly called the Koran by most English-speaking people who read about the religion and they get the pronunciation from literature or from books authored by others and they pronounced the name of our book Koran which is very close to the correct pronunciation Qur'an.

We thank Allah (swt) Who is G-d always we ask Him to forgive us our ignorance, our shortcomings and our defects, have mercy won us and guide us. We ask His blessings and peace upon Muhammed (pbuh) the last of the Prophets from to receive a Scripture or a Book that was revealed by G-d, we the peace the peace and the blessings be upon him which is the traditional way that we salute Muhammed the Prophet (pbuh) who received the guidance called the Qur'an, all around the world the Muslims say the prayers and the peace be upon him.

Qur'an 33.21; Muhammed is an excellent model

 "Ye have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern of (conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day and who engages much in the praise of Allah."

Like Christianity has a human model for its guidance and for its behavioral plan, for Muslims have also Muhammed (pbuh) as a model and Allah (swt) says of him in our Holy Book that he is a human person just like we are.  That is to make it clear that he is not a pious figure in who has been transformed in an angel or some other mystical being or creation, no he was a typical human being, typical in the flesh to model of human nature and human behavior.  He had lived 40 years among his people, they respected him they called him El-Amin, the trustworthy and they called him As-Saadiq, the truthful. For 40 years he had established the reputation in all his boyhood life and manhood life for writings on his life had been preserved over that period of time and even before his birth we have the history of his father and mother, his family and for all of that time he was always r espected by his people and loved very much by the Arab people, he was their favorite son. 

He was of the tribe that they most respected; he was a child of that tribe called Quraish.  Human beings need a human model if so we can see the proof right before our eyes and have faith in human life. G-d says believe in G-d and believe in Muhammed the Prophet (pbuh). People need to have faith in a human person especially when you know this person was truly human. This is not to address Christ Jesus, we know he is seen by Christianity as human and also divine. Human beings need a human model that G-d approves of, an excellent model of human life to demonstrate to them how we should live on this earth and how we should relate to things. To our own life, to life all around us that is not our own as plants and animals and how to relate to the whole of creation, the whole world. That is why it is constantly repeated over and over our holy scripture that G-d is G-d in the heavens and of the heavens and He is over both the heavens and the earth.

So the picture of the whole world is kept before us by our own great sacred, holy Books.


BUSINESS IN THE POOR NEIGHBORHOOD IS A RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENT

Qur'an 28.77; Don't forget your share of the world

   "But seek with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee the Home of the Hereafter nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good as Allah has been good to thee and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief."

We here in this area, in the suburbs of Chicago, if I live in Markham,  this is Homewood these little towns are so close together you can cross the street and be in another town. For office is in East Hazel Crest, Ill just a stone throw from here, we are in these places in asking the question, "How come a black neighbor hood has no black business to support it when the Mexican neighborhood has Mexican businesses to support it?"  The Polish neighborhood has Polish businesses supporting it.  The Irish neighborhood has Irish businesses supporting it. The Palestinian neighborhood has Palestinian businesses supporting it and so.   Why is it that the African American neighborhood can't have that kind of business growth representation?  We can't accept that.  Leaders before me didn't accept it and I ca n't accept it. 

I don't want anybody telling me how much you love G-d and how much you serve G-d and you are living in a bad condition materially and nobody is enforcing it upon you, nobody is imposing it upon you, you accept that condition, something is seriously wrong or missing in your religion.  G-d never intended that people disrespect their physical life while putting more importance on the spirit and more importance on the future of the life that will be spiritual more than material. You have to get established spiritually one day because that is a great victory, but psychology knows, common sense tells us that if my material condition is bad it affects my spirit.

A bad material condition can make you have a bad spirit, so we have to be able to rise above material interests into a spiritual enlightenment, but all along the path to the excellence for human life we have to respect the material side; hence G-d says to us in our Holy Book, "Seek by the means I have given you the future life but don't neglect your share of this material world." G-d did not say He was speaking to me personally or to poor people, G-d was speaking to a rich man in our Qur'an. It was a rich man, who was neglecting the spiritual side of his life, but he had great achievements in material life, but he was not fair towards others for. He had benefitted greatly from the society and the people of that society had supported him, without their support he could not have grown wealthy and so powerful.

So the words came to him, this is good, this is okay G-d has nothing against your material interests, working had for the material side, but look you're cheating these people out of their life. Let something back in the community. This is what is addressed in this criticism of this rich man.  G-d says, "seek with the means He grants you, the destiny the hereafter, the future G-d wants for our souls. But don't forget or neglect your share of the material world" Any Arabic student of Qur'an, any scholar in Al Islam,    any leader  in Al Islam who are legitimate they know that person knows that G-d is speaking to that rich man, but why does the rich man have to be told to seek the material interest? He has already done that, this is the language of G-d, it is so powerful and so full of meaning and communication, He is speaking through the man who is not totally innocent of blame, that is the poor. 

The rich they cheat us many times, they build their powerful wealth upon our ignorance and our neglect and our dependency on them, they are the blame also we're the blame. Usually it is the rich man's fault too that the poor man does not know his own personal worth as a creation because the rich man encourages the idea that if you want to be a good person in religious do not follow me I am a businessman, go to church follow your preacher.  It is the people who have the wealth who try to make others think, "I cannot give myself to anything like that." Like there is a conflict and if you give your life, your interest to spiritual life or religion you are not going to be fit for business.  G-d is speaking through this person situation not only to the rich but also to the poor.

It is the poor that have not been told in a rich material environment where everything it is provided by the people who are engaging into material interest, "this is something that you should be interested in also."  When the poor people get the message from G-d; because whatever the world says of religion and of G-d, if the poor people just accept it, they don't argue that. We trust them, they are the ones who are running things, the average person trusts them, that is nature. You are not achieving like they are, you do not have the positions they have, you do not have the honor or the prestige in the society that they have so it is your nature to follow and to accept what they say.  


THE BUSINESSMAN IS IN ALL HUMANS

G-d, Himself has to speak to those who are poor, the rich man is not going to do it, he is not going to turn you on to your economic heritage, he is not going to turn you on to your business heritage, and he is not going to turn you on to your financial heritage.  If I am saying that to make the point that G-d has made the businessman in you equal so that if you choose to be interested in business and you respect your human intelligence from and follow discipline you can have wealth too, found because G-d has put in your makeup, in your nature the same thing that he has put into the rich man's nature. Whatever He has deposited into one human being's life or nature He deposited it into all of us and the only difference according to the teachings of our Prophet (pbuh) is the circumstance that you put in.

So most likely the circumstances of the rich man have been good for what he wants or if not he had circumstances come or presented to him that gave him a chance to establish himself materially; whereas, the poor man who is still poor has not had those circumstances.  G-d wants to give us circumstances; He wants to put us in good situations for progressing both spiritually and materially.

We have come to a point here in our growth here as a group us believers in G-d and Muhammed the Prophet (pbuh) if we do not create finances, if we do not develop businesses we cannot grow anymore.  G-d did not give us a flesh and body for no reason, if we could not have spirituality in this world without a material body. G-d dissenting can then we have no material establishments and then invite us to be responsible for our spiritual life. How can we be responsible for our material life if we do not have a house to live in, if we do not have any income?  Your material condition will become so bad that your spiritual life will not have a chance to stand up.  People walk as though they are miserable; their spirit you can see is broken about hardship, by bad circumstances in their life, broken by hunger for a decent condition, not just for hamburgers.


ABU BAKR HELPED BILAL  SAMARITAN

If someone would just be like the Good Samaritan or like Abu Bakr rescuing Bilal and come to the rescue, then that person may turn out to be a bright star in the heavens of our world.  G-d wants to give us a situation where we will be able to make progress and have the spiritual strength and stand up to all opposition in life and go forward with our lives. 

When I began making the sound of material interest I caused a stir in the leadership that I lead. They couldn't change me with their work they went out and talked to some people from another race of Muslims and spiritual leaders, not from we blacks and they came back and told me what this honorable person said and how he praised you for what you have achieved so far and that you're making a big mistake now to go and get your mind on business.  I told him, "I'm not a spook and I'll never be one," that is all I said to him.  He wasn't dumb, this  was a man who worked by my side, a leader in this community, so I knew he knew the Qur'an well enough to know that we are not invited to just have prayers  as spiritual rituals and not have an interest in the material world, I knew he knew better because he had listened to me.

Long before I ever said it is time to move in a direction of creating businesses and etc., I had always given you the balance that G-d wants for us in Al Islam that you take care, hope for the spiritual life that G-d promises us but you also appreciate and you should have it dignified and honorable, not be satisfied with the material life that reflects the poorly or bad on you making people think that you don't have any respect for yourself or others.   You are making no contribution to society or to yourself. That is ugly we don't want that kind of picture for ourselves and we're not going to accept it ever.

I think Allah (swt) that I was not born to a mother and father who did not wan to have their son established in a material world as well as a spiritual life, both. To do not forget that ever, seek  with the means that He has made available to you  the future which is the spiritual excellence; however, do not forget your share of this material world.   Some say "do not forget your share of the world" and they would treat you again, they will make you think that means the Muslim world.  I remember learning an Arabic song it went like this, "Ad dunya heya, heya, wal iesha heya, heya," it means The world is what it is and life is what it is."   If you want to live you better keep the two together.


HUMAN ESSENCE THE SAME FOR ALL MANKIND

We thank G-d He is most merciful all of the time, we let our own ignorance, our own weaknesses mess our life up so bad, G-d doesn't say, "Didn't I create man, women, made all of them human, the same kind of essence, they don't have difference essence, an inferior essence and a superior essence. I put the same essence in all of them.  If G-d wasn't merciful He would say "They didn't appreciate what I gave them" and leave us to go to our own destruction, but G-d is so kind to us and He doesn't let some check others out of His favors. If others check us out of the favors that G-d created us for, G-d will address others by way of revelation who are cheating us out of our life and that scripture from Genesis to Revelation, from the first chapter in the Qur'an, Al Fatiha to the last in the Qur'an called An Nas.


HEART, BRAIN TREASURES TO WORK TOGETHER

The message is that you have a live that G-d created and you have riches deposited in your nature of your heart, your brain, G-d has deposited great wealth and if you can bring the brain and the heart to work together and be decent and honorable by yourself and others those treasurers are going to unfold, to be discovered by you and you're going to be successful in this life.  Human beings need a win to succeed in life, people who never had a win, all they had was a lost they can't succeed in life.  G-d wants you to know before you're challenged by this world, before you have to struggle to get something in this world G-d wants you know you have wealth already and that you're human for he made every human to have wealth deposited in his human body and nature. The wealth of his intelligence and the wealth of his good moral nature if you keep those two together working for you you're going to have good circumstances materially.


POOR CAN BE ROBBED OF THEIR SOUL BY MANIPULATING MONEY

But if someone impresses you with the idea, "If I want money I'm going to fail because money corrupts and if I give myself too much to this money I'm going to lose my soul," no if you don't get some money others are going to have it and they are going to rob you of your soul. They are going to create a world of material interest so fascinating that you're going to work too jobs, have all of your time taken up just trying to get a paycheck enough to pay your rent, pay for that car, pay for the living conditions that you want in your life that this world says "It is normal to have a nice car, it is normal to have a big car, it is normal to pay your rent and thick carpet."  How did they say that?  When you look at television that is what you see, unless they show it in some film and say "This person has bad circumstances, the society ought to address these conditions."  When they show you life they don't show you poverty, they show you good conditions, nice homes, nice material things in the home, somebody dressed nicely coming from a nice place or going to a nice place getting on a plane and you cannot get on one,  that is the life they show you.  So television generates or makes us believe it is normal to have all of those things so if I do not have them then I'm going to feel free to do something abnormal to get the norm. So I go and rob somebody, I go and sell drugs; I will do wrong so I can get what is normal for me. See how dangerous this world is? It gives you big expectations and shows you the material world how great it is but wants you to believe that if you put your heart on this it will corrupt your soul.

I have heard Christians in our family race down in the South land could be heard saying, "You can have this whole world but just give me so and so." I don't think it makes a difference what the name is, it just means give me somebody to carry my burden."  I have too much respect and lover for the person to use it in this way.  That attitude is accepted by many of us and we don't even know we have accepted that attitude. That the white race, the Palestinians, the Arabs, the Indians come into the black neighbor, lt them have the money, let them run the stores and they can have all of it just give me so and so. We have to put a stop to that G-d has given us plenty of help in both Books. I don't think I have to convince you that the Jews got some help that lets them know money is important. The thing about the Christian world is that they don't need any help to believe that money is important so when you look at the typical black community we need some help.  I don't know exactly the neighborhood that powerful African American lady was raised up in who has just outstripped everybody in hr business, Oprah but I know the neighborhood I was raised up in and occasionally I go back to it just to look at it so I don't forget.  I go back there and I see the same neighborhood, there a different people but they look like the same people I saw when I was a child loafing around on the corners, hanging around the liquor store, wasting their time talking nothing, foolishness, foolish pleasures, sinful pleasures, sharing drinks and smoke I don't see any change for our economic dignity, that is hurting, painful.


ABSTRACT SELF MORE REAL

Qur'an 71.17; Man as a plant

  "And Allah has produced you from the earth growing (gradually)."

We have to accept that the life is one complete whole, you're not just spirit; you are spirit and flesh. If you are not just the invisible, you are invisible and visible, but what you need to know, your abstract self, because your abstract self is more powerful and really it is more you than your concrete self or your physical self, your picture, your meat, your flesh picture. 

It is the house, you have to have the house to live in, the flesh body and it is what you as G-d says, "He made us as a plant."   It means the human life is a parable of the plant life.

Qur'an 31.16; Mustard seed hidden Allah will reveal

   "O my son!" (Said Luqman) "If there be (but) the weight of a mustard-seed and it were (hidden) in a rock or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth Allah will bring it forth: for Allah understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them)."

Matthew 17.20; Faith of a mustard seed moves mountain

    And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."


WATER FOR THE PLANT LIKE SPIRITUAL FOR THE BODY

When you look at plant life you see its body weather it is corn, an apple tree or whenever it is, it could be a small as a mustard plant seed as the parable given the New Testament attributed to Jesus Christ where he told his people if you had the faith so much as a grain of mustard seed; you know how the same goes, faith could move mountains, faith can be very powerful. When I was a boy my mother had me take care of the garden, the mustard is so small that if you had some seeds in your hand and if it was a little windy you have told them tightly because they also small and light that if a little wind hits them it may blow your mustard seeds right out of your hand.  But that little small mustard seed brings up a bush called the mustard green two and a half or three feet high.  If you do not water it and it starts to get dry its roots will start to look like a poor man wh at a lot of problems. That mustard plant will droop, become flimsy and sad looking. You have given it all the material it needs, is not missing any material except water.  If you give it water it just stands up. Sometimes you can give it water and with your own eyes you can see it stand up filling in the spaces inside and becoming beautiful again.  That water is a symbol or something that G-d speaks through that represents your spiritual life. If you do not spiritual life into your flesh body that is visible a life whether you see it or not it droops.

So you will be putting the regular water H2O and we will not see the flesh drooping and looking like it died, but your eyes would tell us, they will give us a picture of you and thought we are seeing they physical body looking like it is unchanged we'll see you looking droopy, we will see you dying, those with the life will see you drooping and dying, lacking in energy, lacking in motivation, lacking in aggressiveness necessary for meeting the obstacles in life, we will see that.  The two have to come together you have to have both. You have to have food for your spirit and your soul and you have to have to food for your physical flesh and your neighborhood.

Qur'an 2.259; Town roofs fell in

   Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet all in ruins to its roofs.  He said: "Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life after (this) its death?"  But Allah caused him to die for a hundred years then raised him up (again).  He said: "How long didst thou tarry (thus)?"  He said: "(perhaps) a day or part of a day."  He said: "Nay thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: and that We may make of thee a Sign unto the people look further at the bones how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh!  When this was shown clearly to him he said: "I know that Allah hath power over all things." 

G-d gives us a parable in Scripture and this is in the Qur'an He says the parable to the resurrection is that of a housing community look at it, the houses have deteriorated and their roofs are caving in. But renewal comes to that neighborhood and He says likewise the resurrection. This is also in the Bible if you know how to find it, that attention to both to the spiritual community and the community life. G-d does not want us to just have spiritual life; He wants us to have success on this earth. Your soul is born to be both materially achieving and spiritually achieving, if you do not achieve materially you will feel a burden on your soul and you might not be able to identify your burden.

We have psychiatrists, we have mental institutions people go to those places for help sometimes the ones who go there is not because he has not achieved academically, he has achieved academically, he has a Ph.D., but now he needs a psyche, he's not going because he is poor, he is wealthy. They are the ones who are always going to see the psychiatrist.


PSYCHOLOGIST PSYCHE, REFERS TO THE SOUL

What is a psychologist? Psyche referring to soul. Right away you say "Psyche," your brain, your mind.  Psyche refers directly to your soul, they won't say soul because this is a religious term, they say psyche, it is related to your brain, your mind.  What you have to understand is that if you do not relate intelligently to your physical body and your material life is going to affect your psyche negatively and retard your intelligence.

Let us stand up to our responsibility not just as individuals' females and male working hard to achieve more material to our credit, more businesses to our credit until our neighborhood looks like a normal neighborhood. It is not a normal neighborhood when everybody else is selling you your needs in your neighborhood and going back to their neighborhood where their needs are provided by their own people, it is not normal and we cannot accept it. 

Let us not start out selfishly as Muslims in America, let us have as our immediate goal the betterment of community life, neighborhood life for we African-Americans or blacks who are really in a pitiful condition when it comes to economic life, business life for our neighborhood.  But let us also have all people of poor and bad circumstances in our hearts and hope that our achievements will also benefit them whether they are Muslim or not, whether they are African-American or not because G-d has made us one life and He has made us to register the hurt and misery of every human being.  We like to say to this radio audience be happy do not be sad because good news is serving in Christianity and good news is serving in Al Islam. And that good new is G-d has not made any life more valuable or more productive or more promising in every good sense that you can imagine than hum an life. No one can take away our human life unless we give it to them, peace be on to you As Salaam Alaikum.

The drug money comes into our neighborhoods among these youngsters who have no desire for work for Mac Donald's or any other place, they come in there and see all of that money now they want to work, but they want to work just selling drugs and it is a hard job because it involves criminal things putting your life at risk. If we can create a situation to attract them to a good living we can reduce the drug problem in our neighborhood. They should never sacrifice their good moral life and loose in this world just to get more money, that is never a justification. My mother raised us and I remember when we were struggling we had no wealth, our men had been arrested for refusing the draft of the second world war, all our healthy able bodied men were arrested, but even before then they were nothing but struggling poor people.  I remember getting used shoes my mother couldn't afford any new sho es, I remember wearing shoes so long that you had to put card board in them to keep our feet off of the ground. I remember eating chicken once a week, fish once a week left over's the rest of the week and beans, rice and cabbage, that was it.  I've known poverty but it was a good life because we had a good condition in our head and good hearts.  We weren't suffering we had a good life, we were happy in a poor material condition but we were happy. 

Once you know what G-d intends for you and know that you are a human being like everybody else you can't accept to be poor and without, you want to use your energy and your human wealth to better your material conditions and that is what this is all about.  It is bettering our material condition while holding on to the precious life that G-d created inside the body, the life of intelligence and moral nature.   I will be at the poll and I will be voting for our dear friend, our sister. 


BLACK ENTERTAINERS TOUCHING THE WORLD

We're going to now start the second part of our program, it is on the new time that this world has come to it is no more the same. It has changed economically, it has changed politically, it has changed in almost every way. Culturally it has changed, the entertainment spirit of the African American has touched the lives of people all around the world and as Mr. Johnson publication the Ebony magazine put it in one issue devoted to this he called it "The browning of America," but it is not just the browning of America it is the browning of the world.

People export whatever they can export to get material benefits, so our African American entertainment spirit or spirit for entertainment has been intentionally exported to Europe and now almost everywhere, Japan etc. we find people having their life styles change by their interest or their spirit for entertainment.  Even their physical demeanor and posture change. I remember when we used to imitate white folks, how they speak and walk we can't do it now because it is all the same. 

I used to imitate Indians of Asia and I'm pretty good at it not as good as Peter Sellers who died some time ago, but now it is hard to even imitate them.  Because the new Asian is now looking like he went to Italy and got dressed up and came to Michael Jackson and got the spirit. The world is greatly changed but it is also a world that is more difficult now to live in and keep your life style because the popular life style is so popular it just wipes your little thing out. We're living in the time that is given in scripture as a time when the great issues for the big religious community of the world will be concluded. We're living in the time for the conclusion of the great issues and you can see it. The great issues of disparity between rich and poor, discrimination against women etc., all of these issues are addressed.


PROPHET MUHAMMED ADDRESSED THE SOCIAL ISSUES

Prophet Muhammed pubh he knew those issues were important in his time and that they were moving to become bigger and bigger issues for justice and moral life. He addressed the neglect of our woman and how men were at fault and he also addressed color consciousness and he addressed poverty, the rich and the poor and he addressed fanatical nationalism, he addressed all of these things in his final message.  He said there is no superiority of a white over a black and no superiority of a black over a white. He said there is no superiority of a rich man over a poor man or the poor over the rich; because some people take a vow of poverty material is not their thing directly.

Everybody has to have material interest I don't care what they say to you, if they say they don't like money they're lying.   I don't care if they just came out of the sky, it doesn't mean they have their soul attached to it or have their hearts attached to it but it is a medium of exchange, it is a means to an end, that is what wealth and money is.  You just can't reach the end for you life unless you have some of it, unless somebody is going to keep you in a cage or something, I won't accept to be put in a cage as a song bird for somebody who is going to feed me and keep me in a golden cage, I don't accept that and you don't accept that.


PROPHET MUHAMMED PUBH ADDRESSED CHEATING WOMEN

Prophet Muhammed pubh addressed cheating women out of their life that G-d intended for them in his farewell speech that is the most known and preserved until now and we quote from it often.  This time is the conclusion of the great issues.


RELIGIOUS BOOKS HAVING THE SAME THEME

Another issue is cheating people, giving them religion that cheats them.  A religion that puts your mind all on the unknown and doesn't teach you how to be successful in the world of the known, it is a religion that is cheating you.  Not Christianity because I studied the Bible, I'm a student of the Bible and a student of the Qur'an and I study these Books and I know that the Bible has the same theme for human life running from Genesis to Revelation that we have in our Holy Book Qur'an running from surah Fatiha to the chapter called An Nas the people, the theme is the same.  The theme is, you have been given a good life and it is your fault if you neglect it and the theme includes a challenge to you from the most subtle creature on earth and that is satan himself called shaytan in our religion, satan for the Christians, what you call the devil. That most subtle of all the creatures, it means he is wise and also difficult to discover.

The challenge is coming from him and he is out to prove that human beings cannot run their lives they have to have a hidden force channel them and keep them on the move and whip them when they misbehave. One of the names of satan or shaytan we call the devil is the whip? That is one of his names in religion, in theology.


JACOBITE IDEA TO RULE MAN IS AGAINST DEMOCRACY

There is a great religion that you know very well they don't believe in any devil or satan in the picture we have for the devil or satan.  They believe that there is only G-d and man; and man on the whole is unfit to protect his interest or the interest of the human community.  This is against the idea of our democracy. Our democracy says that every citizen should be respected, the ranks of the public has to be respected and the government is accountable to its public and ultimate the power rests with the people to change their government to even change their form of government if they choose.  This is the idea that is against the ideology that says, "Man can't be trusted." 

You Muslims you should be happy that you are not in a different world, that you are in a world founded by the founding fathers and is a political order that respects the work of the common person and bases the plan for the government on the common life of the people, not on the elite group, not on a special class or special people.  And it establishes the common people in their right to have their government, to check their government and actually change their government if they lose faith in the government and ask that a new government be formed.

This is what the founding fathers grant the common citizen, "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed certain inalienable rights. Among these is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."  Our government is founded upon that belief that all human beings are equal in their human essence or in their creation as human beings.

It took that idea some time to convert enough persons to it that they would not tolerate ideas or laws that went counter to that idea. Slavery of a particular people went against that idea, that great plan that was given to us by the founding fathers it lived to see slavery abolished. It lived to see discrimination against female, women abolished. And it hasn't lived to see the elimination of the oppression of the poor, we're still oppressed, but it is because of our deficiencies up here in our head.  No law is legislating poverty for us, if we get our heads right we can work ourselves out of this situation.

Just take advantage of the freedoms, the opportunities that all of us are granted as citizens in these United States and be proud and have strength from that freedom, that freedom should give you strength and say, "I'm free to work with my life, I'm free to get together with the people of my neighborhood and form an organization to bring about better changes in my neighborhood. I'm free to address blight, filth, trash and whatever is giving my neighborhood a sore eye."  Don't you know your political leaders will be very happy if you would organize and form groups to bring decency back to the minds of the residents of your neighborhood, decency, appreciation for a clean neighborhood? Don't you know you could relieve the burden of taxes on poor people in your neighborhood by not throwing out so much trash and throwing it all over the place and having the trash collectors come and do extra work in a black neighborhood? You can go to many of the white neighborhoods and others they don't have to work as hard, they don't have to do as much work, they don't need as many trucks, they don't pay as much for gas, and the cost is much lighter on them.

We are living in a time of the conclusion of these great issues so if you want to survive you have to follow those leaders who are not following you in your weaknesses, demagogues who look to see what we have and then they come and tell you, "I'm your buddy, your homie," you like drugs in the neighborhood they never speak out against the drugs. You like violence and indecency they won't speak out against it; they will say only what they know you like to get into office. Those leaders if you follow such leaders you won't survive these times, these times are going to require that you measure up to your own responsibility that given to you by virtue of the fact that you are human just like everybody else is human.


SATAN THE WHIP, THE PUNISHER

Allah (swt) didn't make one a human and another a mosquito, a dog or something, we're all human in this body so we're going to have to measure up to our responsibility if we don't we're going to be eliminated by those forces that are already in place to eliminate those who won't measure up to their responsibility. What are those forces?  I told you there was a whip, a punisher that is what the whip means, when he punishes you.  He doesn't punish you directly, you can't see him, he doesn't appeal to your conscience and say, "Why don't you stop doing these bad things?" He just says, "They are losing their consciousness, they don't care anymore about moral life, they just want to be happy. It is just that we punish them with their own wickedness. Make sure that they have plenty drugs in their community, that is what they want. They like to be nasty make sure they get plenty of help to be nasty.  See that they get some pornography in their neighborhood. Do they have a store selling pornography? Make sure they have it. The whole world has become playful, play minded. This is satan talking now.  He says, "See that they get as much fun as they want, as they can take. They don't care anymore about common decency; give them vulgar figures, vulgar entertainers, half naked leaders in the entertainment world. Bring them down to sex life so they can't stand up to their responsibility, finish them off the population is too much of a problem. Look how much wealth it is going to generate, you use to just sell so many things, now we can see almost anything.  We're going to have more money than we ever had feeding these sins of this un-G-dly world."  This is Satan talking.


JACOBITES THEY DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE HIS EXISTENCE

Satan never acknowledges that he is the devil that is why one of these religions does not acknowledge that there is a devil, not even the existence of a devil.

If you had faith like many of us have men and women in religion you could be very successful.  Bad times are not always times that are unfavorable. Sometimes bad times are the best times for good people.  When everybody is looking you don't have much recognition, but when everybody is bad you are appreciated by good people those who retain their good life, keep their life in good condition they are very much appreciated by good people high and low, in power and out of power.  So this is a good time for good people to make our efforts be known, come forward let your efforts be seen and know that you are working for the good life and you kept your faith in your Creator, your G-d.  G-d is with us to raise the few above the many and if we achieve in our human excellence in these poor neighborhoods and succeed economically as well as spiritually we will be the greatest influence on this earth for bringing people back to G-d.


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Qur'an 2.183; Fasting prescribed

  O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint."

Bukhari 3.118; Fasting is for Me                                         

    Abu Huraira reported the Prophet (pbuh) said, Allah's Apostle said, "Fasting is a shield (or a screen or a shelter). So, the person observing fasting should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, 'I am fasting." The Prophet added, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."

Bukhari 9.489; Allah's attributes dhikr causes one to enter paradise

   Abu Huraira reported the Prophet (pbuh) said, Allah has ninety-nine Names, i.e., one hundred minus one, and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly, will enter Paradise; and Allah is Witr (one) and loves 'the Witr' (i.e., odd numbers).


Question:

As Salaam Alaikum I like to ask you about a couple of hadith and is there more to these hadith than meets the eye. One is about Allah (swt) having 99 attributes and he or she who commits them to memory will enter paradise. And the second Allah (swt) says "Fasting is for Me."  Can you expound on those for us?


Imam WD Mohammed:

The hadith is from Qudsi the Muslim leaders of the world believe were inspired by G-d second only to the Qur'an.  Fasting is for Me when the individual fast he may be fasting for many reasons.  I fast because G-d says fast, so he's fasting to obey G-d but he's also seeing other benefits so he likes the fast for the benefits he derives or for the benefits that he enjoys while he's fasting.

So to keep us seeing the real benefit and purpose G-d says fasting is for Me.  

Matthew 25.45; As you did to the least of these

   Then shall he answer them, saying, verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. "

That is addressed in previous scriptures Jesus Christ said, "As you have done to the least of these you have done unto me."  He is personifying the Word of G-d so it is not Jesus a flesh body person it is Jesus as a personification of the Word of G-d in the world.  He's speaking as though he is G-d, the word speaks for G-d, the Qur'an is the Word and Allah (swt) is speaking.  So He is saying that the suffering of the poor people is a responsibility on G-d to take care of them, His right and His responsibility so if we fail He's going to take care of them. To keep that idea pure and right it is given in the life of the Prophet (pbuh) again not as Qur'an but in the inspired word, hadith from the Prophet (pbuh) wherein he says G-d says fasting is for Me.

What is fasting for?  Allah (swt) tells us in the Qur'an, it is to draw us near to G-d, to increase our Taqwa and our obedience to G-d. But fasting also if you see the logic tied to the duties of the fasting person and the community during the fast month, it is also to help those who don't have what others have. It is to have us share what we have with those who have little or nothing. It is to go to the air of the hungering and those who are poor and destitute who need help. It opens our heart to them and we help them. So fasting is for G-d. If the believer keeps   his fast that way then he benefits his own life more and he benefits the community more.  But if he fast just because he says this is a law I have to fast or if he fast just because he knows when he comes off the fast after the month of Ramadan he feels better health-wise or he just fee ls good, that is not it, the purpose is too serious.  The seriousness is a healthy community where people register the hurt and suffering of their brothers and sisters so that is what G-d means.

The other one was the 99 names Allah (swt) says He is the One Who gives without counting, we count and His names are many more than 99.  You asked does the 99 have a hidden meaning or something that doesn't meet the eye.  Yes it does.   There are shieks who want to see all of us enter paradise and want nothing but that, they just want us to go to heaven.  99 is a number that says there is a change coming, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, there is a change coming ten.   99, there is a change coming one hundred.   You don't have to buy that, I'm talking about what you're reading and what I said.

Qur'an 5.31; Raven scratched the ground

   Then Allah sent a raven who scratched the ground to show him how to hide the shame of his brother.  "Woe is me!" said he: "Was I not even able to be as this raven and to hide the shame of my brother?" Then he became full of regrets."


Question:

As Salaam Alaikum brother Imam could you talk of the raven scratching the ground in the story of the two sons of Adam?        


Imam WD Mohammed:

That is Cain and Abel the story of two brothers, Cain is a man of the ground like his father Adam but his production is the fruits of the land, the ground itself like seeds that you sow that grow into crops, things like that. He is called Cain and it is one of the grasses scientifically speaking, but it is a strong grass it grows up like hard wood, very high and straight. He's the brother who sees his brother in the field and he gets the idea to kill and slay his brother. His brother's field of work is raising animals, he was given as his gift the products of the womb and his brother became jealous of him because G-d seemed to liked the gifts of Abel that were the gifts of the womb, the flesh life more than He like that of Cain that was the gift of the ground or the gift from the material side.

The womb signifies family. So one brother he is devoted to family the other brother is devoted to material interests. The one devoted to material interests he gets jealous and he decides he's going to do away with his brother, so he slays his brother an along comes a raven bird and he scratches the ground where the crime was committed and he exposes the blood of Abel there in the ground. All of that has meaning pointing to material interest and social interest.

The material interests give the life blood of the social people to materialism, to the production of material things. His blood being in the earth gives the message that his brother who was for the material world he took his life that he was jealous of and he gave his life to the forces of materialism. I shouldn't have to say anymore it should be very clear.


Question:

As Salaam Alaikum I like to thank you sir for your visit and your commitment, your patience and hard work and especially I like to thank you for your support of the school.  Each Sunday here you speak to the concerns of my heart and although this is one thing particular to us in Chicago I don't think it is unique and that has to do with our young people as you said earlier talking about shaytan and the sister said what is happening with our young people. Our young are teenagers 12, 13, 14 they are in the grasp of shaytan and as I spoke to you earlier one of the things pressing upon me is the need for a high school.  We have opened an elementary school here and with that we have some children coming into high school and speaking with members of your Mosque Cares committee they are also sharing the crisis with our teenagers throughout the nation.  I guess it ties in with what you're saying I don't know if everyone understands the seriousness, we need to have a high school here but the support for the community is not here for a high school.  One I hate to see even the children, the older ones that we have to turn them away because I know where they're going but I don't want to jeopardize what we're doing with the younger ones. 

Qur'an positions us for the best academic possibilities


Imam WD Mohammed:

I do understand the situation education helps the community more than anything else I often sit in dialogue or conversation with leaders who have PhD's lamb skins, goat skins, pig skins and all that and I don't have all those credentials but I'm fortunate, I'm blessed because of being the son of the Hon. Elijah Muhammed and have had experience in my life that brought me to be who I am now today Imam W Deen Mohammed.  I sit in those meeting and I tell them and they appreciate it and most of them they are aware of it and they are happy that I'm making more people aware that Al Islam does not depend on material weapons it depends on G-d and He has given us to depend on the Word of G-d that opens our intellect to develop academically. It conditions us to develop for the best and the most academic possibilities.

Collection Hadiths Sect 1#14 Ink scholar over blood martyr

  Umraan ibn Husain said the Prophet (pbuh) said "Weighing on the Resurrection Day" The ink of the Scholars and the blood of the martyrs.   Then it will outweigh the ink of the scholars, over the blood of the martyrs. 

Muhammed the Prophet (pbuh) said the blood of the martyr is not as precious as the ink of the scholar, so we have suicide bombers and everything, desperate people who are making jihad and the ultimate sacrifice is to sacrifice your physical self to be a martyr and give your own life for the cause.   Muhammed (pbuh) knew that tendency was in people and when we run into great difficulty, he knew that we are human and we will sacrifice our lives for our interest, for our cause so he didn't want people to make that more important than education because eventually education eliminates those causes that bring us to such desperation. It is prominent education that will prepare the way for conditions on this earth four ourselves and other people that won't allow such desperate situations to oppress us and bother us so much that we say we have to go out and give our life, to die to bring atte ntion to our cause and to get some relief from our situation.

Education, I was on a plane once and a lady she recognized me I didn't recognize her she said "Mr. Mohammed isn't the world changing?"  I said, "Yes it is."  She said, "It is education."  And that is true but not just any kind of education, correct education is changing the world. 

If we don't support education we won't see the real fruits of Al Islam. 

Muhammed the Prophet (pbuh) he preached and started public education in his own life time he said everyone who learns how to write a line teach one who does not know.  So he started a school to teach and promote literacy.  I know somebody is saying, "This is the Qur'an he's referring to."  Yes that's true but if I learn how to write the Qur'an in Arabic I can certainly write a letter in Arabic.  You don't see everything sometimes it was to promote literacy and literacy puts you in a situation to gain a lot of knowledge.  If you can read there is so much in print, so it is to situate you to be educated, that is what it is all about. He also had schools, he started schools at the same time he started propagation.  If we don't support our school we need to wake up.

Support only select people who opens' up a school

Supporting education and efforts for education in our community is just like supporting African American business for our African American community. You don't want to support everybody who says they're opening up a school because some people are not responsible, they open up a school just to have an income or to have importance for themselves.  I can vouch for this sister she makes great sacrifices, she doesn't live for material things she lives for quality life.  I support her whole heartedly I have given a personal donation I have asked my office to give donations trusting her for the school and when I get more you're going to see more coming from me I promise you that. We have someone we can support if you want your children to be educated and come from dangerous environments please look at our school that our sister heads as an alternative.

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