02/27/1996
IWDM Study Library 
Does Religion Promote or Heal Racism

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate this opportunity to address this gathering here on the campus of College of Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Delaney, student body, all of you, we greet you with peace. We say As Salaam Alaikum, Peace be unto you. We are happy to see lmams from the area here today. We hope that what we will share with you will be appreciated, helpful in some way, and not harmful or hurtful. This question, Does Religion Heal or Promote Division Between the Races or Racism. This is a very interesting topic, and I have occupied myself with thoughts like this for many years, for many years, at least about 30 years. Now, so that we don't be in suspense, I'm going to tell you from the very beginning that I believe religion, all the great religions heal, racism, heal the people, cure them of racism. But when those religions are misinterpreted, misunderstood, then they contribute to the division of the people, to ugly divisions of hatred. Hatred and racism. It is my understanding as a student of scripture that Satan, Satan, the arch enemy of man and G-d, is the one that have inspired the people to misinterpret religion. And Satan himself is behind racism. That is my understanding.
Our religion tells us in the words of our Holy book called the Qur'an or Koran, to say, "Our color is the coloring of G-d" or our dye. The word Sibga is the word in the Arabic text of the Holy Book. Sibga. It means a dye, something that stains and leaves a color on what it touches. So, we are to say our coloring is the coloring of G-d. Now, as a student again of scripture, I understand this coloring to be that as G-d has given color to the rainbow, color to the flowers, to the animals and the other things that grow out of the earth, and even to the stones that jumped out of the earth and reach high up in the mountains as G-d says in our Holy Book. That we observe in the top of the mountains, high mountains, stones with colors, some white, very white, some black, very black, some red. All of these are signs, signs of G-d. So, it is my understanding that G-d is saying that man should seek to understand, to have knowledge of how coloring is given or colors are given to the natural environment all around us.
Someone came to our Prophet, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad of 14 centuries ago, and he had a child and his child didn't look like him. And he told the Prophet that I have so many children, but this child doesn't look like me. And the Prophet said, don't you also raise animals? He said, yes. He said, sometimes will there come a young from the mother that doesn't look like the others? He said, yes. He said, that's the explanation for you. So, it's genetic. That's what he was telling him. It's genetic and sometimes the genetic pattern or color or sign or design will not come from parents before like grandparents or parents even before our grandparents. But certainly, it comes and there is a child not looking like any of the rest, but it'll take its color or its looks from some parent in the genetic lifeline. So, this was the answer. This is not to say that Islam is natural science. No. But Islam respects natural science, and Islam wants us to be aware of natural science. There have been writers who wrote on racism, explaining how people get their different features. Some of them have been American whites, European Americans, Irish and others. Some have been Jews writing on this topic, especially during the forties, the fifties, and I think even in the sixties there were books on trying to explain the scientific explanation. Or trying to give scientific explanation for the variation in features, colors, texture of hair, et cetera.
I believe in my heart and my mind that scripture wants us to have that kind of attitude toward our appearances. We should look for scientific reasons for us being black in color and for others being white in color. For some having straight hair, soft textured hair, and others having nappy hair or coarse hair. G-d wants us to look for natural scientific answers and not be superstitious or be made prejudice because of our differences. This is what I believe that is in scripture. And I believe the Prophet of Islam and all the Prophets wanted us to be that way, wanted us to have that kind of disposition or that kind of attitude. But when G-d says, "Say, Our dye that makes the colors for us is the coloring of G-d", I believe that's what He is saying. Look to the natural way that G-d has made colors and understand it. Try to understand it. Now, we know that colors are many, many things in religion and scripture.
One beautiful example I can readily give you is the example of the rainbow. The rainbow is made because of the sun shining on the water and the water being in such a certain kind of situation, reflects the colors, the colors of the sunlight, the colors of the sunlight. It is a beautiful sight to see for religious people. It had great meaning in times long before we were here in America. It had great meaning to them. It said to them that G-d want more than just white people. G-d want colorful people, colorful people. Now I'll explain what I'm talking about to you. I'm not talking about our physical color. I'm talking about our spiritual life and spiritual color. A person who separates himself from the world and becomes a celibate or becomes a hermit or a saint, not wanting to marry, not wanting to enjoy a day at Disneyland or whatever. That kind of person, if he's without sin, he's like white, white light.
But you can be a human being, accepting a human role in society, accepting the human life in its fullness, and have beautiful colors of the spirit, beautiful colors of the soul, all of them. You could have all those beautiful colors and that's what G-d wants. G-d has made us human and G-d want us to be human. G-d want us to have all the beautiful colors, and these colors are not given in black and white. In religion, I have learned that white has more than one meaning in scripture, and black has more than one meaning in scripture. It is interesting to note that J.A. Rogers, a historian that has not been given much credit, but he's well known by black nationalists and also by many other black, I would say rational thinkers. As a very, very interesting historian, J.A. Rogers wrote many books, but one of his books dealt with color. And he investigated the problems of color in the different parts of the world, and he came to the conclusion that white was not always thought of as the best color for human beings for people. Since I read this in the book by J.A. Rogers, I have studied the religion of Islam and also have come to know that in the culture of the Arabs, black once had the same respect and the same, I would say reverence that we give white in Western society or in the world now. In fact, white in the whole world, it means the choice color. And black, whether it's said or not, it means the undesired color.
That doesn't mean that blacks are ashamed of their color in Africa. No, I'm not saying that. But when they're thinking of colors, they think of white as a choice color. White is purity. White is purity and white is everything. White is divine. White is purity. In Arab culture, black was once used to say Master, master, M-A-S-T-E-R, master. And the word that means Mr right now in Arabic language comes from the word black. If I say Mr, I say, Saeed, saeed. Saeed John. Saeed Hasan. Mr. John, Mr. Hasan. Saeed. And black is sueed. Sueed. Sueed means black. Aswad is another derivative, meaning black. Sueed. Aswad. Sueed. Saeed is a derivative from the word, from the term black. So, if they once addressed Masters or the most esteemed people among them as Saeed, that tells us that once black had a very special meaning, a very rich meaning and a very honorable meaning for them.
So, I tend to believe J.A. Rogers conclusions that once in ancient times black had the same, was given the same value, the same regard, the same kind of reverence almost I would say, that we are giving to the color white. Going back again to the scripture, I find that in the Bible, the world begins in darkness. Everything is under darkness. And G-d had done this. Nobody else had done this. G-d had done this. G-d had made everything under darkness. And our Holy book, the Qur'an says very much the same. It says G-d began or started the night and the day, meaning that the night was first and then the day came. The night preceded the day. And over and over again we read in the text of the Qur'an that He causes the night and the day to follow each other in turn. And the nights preceded the day went ahead of the day.
Jews and Muslims, we start our day at night. Now you may say, well, we don't. We start our day in the morning. No, we too start our day at night. AM is after midnight. That's the next day. So, when it gets one second after 12 o'clock, midnight our day starts. Our day starts at night in the depths of the night. And this is what the Bible says you see. The evening and the morning was the first day. The evening in the morning was the second day. The evening and the morning until it get to the seventh day. The last day was the seventh day. And this is how it went you see. So, in my study of these colors in the Bible, I come to understand that they both have favorable meanings and unfavorable meanings. White because it has so much importance to man meaning as a term meaning consciousness, consciousness, consciousness.
When you awaken, when you wake up out of sleep and you are conscious, that's the white of yourself. When you are asleep and don't know what you're doing, that's the black of yourself. That's the original black, the first black and the first white. The first black is when you were asleep in death or asleep in your mother's womb. And the first white was when you became conscious of yourself and conscious of your environment. So, consciousness is white and unconsciousness is black. And you hear the expression blackout. Blackout. We hear that expression. So, these are not meanings that we have lost completely. We still have these meanings with us. Now, there is also another meaning to white. So white in its innocence means without sin, means the conscience is without sin. And black in its innocence means your natural behavior is without sin. And G-d made us originally with a behavior that was not sinful.
Every baby that's born and put in the nursery for mommy and daddy to look at tonight or tomorrow or any time, every baby is innocent and without sin. And no baby there in that nursery is behaving sinfully. This is the original innocence that G-d created us with. And in that sense, every baby in the nursery, whether that baby is a Russian, or African, Nigerian, or Frenchman or whatever, or whatever. That baby is black in that that baby's natural behavior is innocent. Conscience hasn't gone yet to the extent that that baby can act upon its own thoughts and upon its own mind, upon its own conscience. So, it is living in the original black that G-d created it in. Now, why would the Arab culture think of black as being master now, master? I think the movie that gave us Jedi had something to do with that understanding. Or it touches upon that understanding. That when man relies upon his better forces in himself, when he relies upon his innocent forces in himself and he doesn't want his own mind to lead him.
He wants the innocent forces that G-d created to lead him. And he concentrates it. He says, "Oh, let my best self follow." If he follows that he's following the original purity that G-d created for him. He's following the original power and its original purity in its original purity. He's following the Jedi of himself. I hope you understanding what I'm saying. And you don't have to be Nigerian or of Ghana or Kenya or somewhere to appreciate this. The whitest man of New Zealand or anywhere can appreciate this because it's not the black of the skin. This is a black that has to do with the soul in its innocence, the spirit in its innocence. When this language is confused by the devil, by Satan and put out to make people think that it's talking about the concrete and not the abstract, then people will be led to think that because they're white in color, they belong to the divine side, and if they're black in color, they belong to the devil side.
This is what came into religion, and this is why the devil is sometimes described in some certain religions as black. And angels are white. And the suggestion is heaven is white. But when you look to the heavens at night, you find a lot of white stars, white dominates up there. But look closely. Occasionally you'll see a blue star, occasionally you'll see a red star. And when you look down here near to yourself where your real life is, one day you'll see that beautiful rainbow. So, I would like to invite all of my African brothers and sisters, our African American brothers and sisters who have been just bogged down in this confusion of race and color, to take special note, make special note of what I said in this brief address here, and think about it. Think about it. Let your best mind come forward and think about what I've said. And I hope that you will come to the conclusion that I have come to.
That it's a waste of time to be calling yourself superior because of the color that's on your skin, your pigmentation in your skin. It's a waste of time. It's foolishness. It goes against the grain of human life and human progress. It goes against the grain of morality and rational thinking. It goes against the grain of human excellence. So please, I invite you to come out of your racist minds and understand that this is a trick that Satan pulled on the world, pulled off on the world. And it's got us going against each other where we should be looking at the colors of our soul, the colors of our spirit that were created by G-d, like the beautiful flowers in their many colors. Like the beautiful animals with their many colors. Like the beautiful rocks or gems or stones and precious minerals in their many colors. Like the beautiful heavens that we look up to with its black and its white canopy. Or its black canopy bedecked with white lights and sometimes red and blue. Thank you very much. G-d guide us to the truth. Ameen.


Host:
As the Imam catches his breath, he did agree to take some questions and I do hope that, again, as moderator of this program, that we will ask questions and not make statements. So, with that, we will open the floor to questions from the audience and we'll take a few about 10, 15 minutes.
Imam WD Mohammed:
I'll welcome anyone to ask any question you'd like to ask on this subject or this topic, this concern that I've been addressing for about 25 minutes or so. Do you have any question or any comment? You're welcome. Yes.
Audience Member:
How did you formulate your theory of the color of the soul?
Imam WD Mohammed:
Yes. If you are not shy, I would like you to come closer so I can hear you better. I have a head cold and my ears are not open. Up in the plane they locked up and I haven't got them unlocked quite yet.
Audience Member:
Oh, I'm asking how did you formulate the theory of the coloring of the soul? Like the colors, how did you come up with that theory?
Imam WD Mohammed:
Yes, yes, yes. The question is how did I form or come up with that color, with that, with the theory that the color in scripture is talking about the colors of the soul or the spirit and not the physical color. In the Qur'an, we are guided to understand that whatever G-d is talking about, whether He's talking about physical objects or abstract objects, the most important understanding to get is this understanding- That G-d is addressing the soul of man and the spiritual life more so than anything else, although other things are important. So, the more important application is the abstract application, not the concrete application. That's what we are guided to know by the teachings of Qur'an and also the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, who lived and preached on this earth about 1,415 years or so ago, that's what we are made to understand.
But when we read in the Genesis or in the Bible, language that addresses white color, not as an innocence or purity, but as a sickness or disease or deception, like the spots. Your spots are the spots of a leper. That's from the Bible. And another quote from the Bible is, your white is not the white of purity. Your white is the white of leprosy, leprosy. That's a disease that make white blotches appear on the skin if you know something about leprosy. So, to me, that alone is enough to suggest to me that the real focus should not be on the concrete, but on the abstract. Because this is talking, the language is saying that the white in your skin, talking about a person that has leprosy is not the white of purity, but the white of leprosy, a disease. This was not addressed to lepers. This was addressed to people that were supposed to be physically healthy.
Now why would that language address me and I don't have that leprosy that way? That is to tell me that my innocence I claim, my righteousness that I claim is not really genuine. That my righteousness is not there. What I pretend, what I'm presenting as a pretense is really a deception or a disease like leprosy. And leprosy is a very contagious disease. They used to isolate them, put them away, far away from the society. And I believe again, and I don't always like to do this because it disturbs certain people and I don't like to disturb anybody. If I could step around Satan, I would.
Yes, I don't want to see him and I don't want to meet him. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I believe that this mentioning in the Bible was the first mentioning of the problem of racism, white racism, white supremacy. That white supremacy has started to grow and the people of scripture was addressing it, and they were saying that don't think that your white skin makes you so great. White is not always good. Look at the white of a leper. The white of a leper is whiter than the average white person, you see? But look how bad that white is, how undesirable that white is. I think that was the first time that the people of scripture addressed black, I mean white. And the Qur'an addresses the problem of black superiority too. It addresses it. It addresses it. The Arab had that idea one time, that the black is superior to the white. It addresses it in this way.
It says that on that day the faces of the condemned will be blackened. Blackened. They weren't originally black, they were blackened. The faces of the condemned will be blackened and the black of their faces will be the black of shame, of shame, of regret, et cetera. Now we know regret and shame is akin to fear, isn't it? And when one is under heavy fear, suddenly put under heavy fear, the color goes out of the skin and the skin gets darker. So, the wise have studied these things, these happenings in nature, and G-d inspired them to address these things. I hope I didn't say too much, and I hope I satisfied your question. If I didn't I ask you to ask me something more, maybe I can explain more. That's it? Thank you very much. Is there another one that have a question or comment? Thank you. Yes, sir.
Audience Member:
As Salaam Alaikum. I hear you speak about language and how it appeals to man’s intellect on different levels.
Imam WD Mohammed:
Yes.
Audience Member:
My question is this. How do you avoid not getting too involved in one and not enough in touch with the other?
Imam WD Mohammed:
I think I understand your question. Yes, that's a problem. Scripture, for the person attracted to scripture, is a fascinating, very fascinating thing. Scripture, whether it be Bible, Qur'an or the Buddhist Bible or Torah, whatever, it's very fascinating. And you can lose yourself. You can lose yourself. You can become obsessed, obsessed with the determination to unlock every secret. That's a punishment. That's not a reward, that's not a blessing, that's a punishment. And that will come to a person who tries to walk into the secret avenues and secret ways of scripture with the wrong intention. If you go into scripture with the right intention, your intention should be to find what yourself should be in the presence of G-d. You should want to know how are you to be in the presence of G-d so you will know how best to live your life as G-d wants you to live your life.
Now, that can be said in many ways, but I put it that way. If your intention is not to be a better person for G-d's sake, then most likely your intention is tainted. Your intention is defective, it's not pure, it's not innocent. And if you go into scripture to find the mysteries with that kind of attitude or with that kind of interest, the scripture itself will be a punishment to you. You'll become obsessed with your idea and you'll waste your whole life and all your energies and end up in hell in the afterlife. So please respect the scripture. If you don't want to follow G-d's way, don't pick up the scripture. That would be my advice to anybody. Now again, language is fascinating. Language itself is a fascination, especially for the student of language. And there are more words in the languages of man then there are people on earth.
So again, we can waste our time if we want to learn language and master language. Have a special interest, have a particular interest, know what you want to go after, know what you want to be, and know what you want to go after. Then go after what will serve your future, what will best serve your aspiration, your aspiration, your future life that you want. Go after that. Don't waste a lot of time with things that are all secret and mysterious. You'll never get anywhere. You'll become lost. You'll wander and wander in darkness forever. I love language, but language to me is a second field of interest, not the first. My first field of interest is obedience to G-d, obedience to G-d. And I study language because I want to be better prepared to obey G-d. If we have innocent objectives, pure objectives, we don't have to worry about becoming imbalanced, losing our balance, becoming too heavy in one organ than the other.
A man that wants nothing but knowledge and no soul or no conscience or no brotherly love, maybe one side of his brain will grow so big until it'll weigh about two tons and the rest of the part of his body will weigh about six ounces. That'd be a way out freak wouldn't it. That'd be a weird freak with one big side of his brain and other part of his body all shriveled up. So just try to be whole and natural and good. Isn't that wonderful? I like that. Again, I'm going to say it again. Whole, natural and good. Thank you very much. I thought the time was up. The dean says, I can accept another question. One more. Yes, yes.
Audience Member:
As Salaam Alaikum. How would you address those individuals who have come so integrated in their thinking that they turn away from their racial group,
Imam WD Mohammed:
They turn away from their.....
Audience Member:
Racial group, from their people.
Imam WD Mohammed:
Yes. Well, I don't know. Now, if a person turns away from his or her or racial group because they're ashamed or feel better off in another racial group, then it could be because of the number of flaws in their thinking. And the worst one would be to think that their physical color or makeup is not as appreciated as the physical color and makeup of a white person or another person of a different race. That's a terrible ignorance. And some people still have that burden on them, and I think we should have compassion for them, and we should do more of the kind of talking we are doing now to bring those people out of that mind, to look at the real form of the human being. Because after all, if you shave up some animals, they may look very much like some of us physically. In fact, I'll be watching TV sometime, these cartoons and things, and I'm telling you, they can make an animal. They make an animal look just like a human being. I say, Hey, that look like my cousin.
So, we have to bring them away from that kind of thinking where they see the abstract person as the real person. The real person of value is not this flesh and blood image that we see, although that has great wisdom in it. When G-d designed the human anatomy, the human form, its symmetry, et cetera. G-d designed a wonderful thing. So, it is a wonderful thing in its physical composition, but it is even more wonderful and more special in its spiritual composition. The intellect of man, the soul of man, the sentiments, the affections, the faculties of man. All of these abstract entities are much more important that our physical appearance, our physical edifice or structure. So, this is the kind of language that we should be using and sharing with the public. So, the public come back to an appreciation of the human creation that's in the physical body. For we would never be human just with this physical body. Physical bodies of human beings have been separated from human society and they have been discovered by archeologists or by sociologists, and they have been found to be living an animal existence and they're thinking themselves to be animals, barking like baboons. Why? Because they didn't have the spiritual contact with another person so that they would have the spiritual life or the real true abstract entity, the human entity in their physical structure. Thank you very much and we will leave now. Peace be on you and may G-d guide us all to peace and happiness. Ameen.



