1999
IWDM Study Library
Brothers Meeting
Los Angeles CA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
QUESTIONER: Imam... What do you want us to do as men in the Muslim world society to help implement the vision that you have for Islam in America? I think that's a fantastic question. Imam W. Deen Mohammed.
Imam Mohammed:
As-salamu alaykum. Al Hamdulillah Rabbi Alameen. Praise and thanks to G-d. The lord sustain of the worlds we went in and said, he's one and we witness that Muhammad is his servant and his messenger. sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the prayers and the peace be upon him wa ahlihi wa Sahbihi ajma'in and on his descendants, his companions, all of them and upon us be Peace wabad, Ameen.
Yes, this question is the question to ask. And I don't know if anyone ever asked that question of the prophets, but we are following in the way of the prophets and especially in the way of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the way of our prophet, the last prophet, seal of the prophets, Muhammad. Upon him be the prayers and the peace. Now I'm going to go to scripture for just a minute. Our prophet, Muhammad, is identified in the Quran as a promised prophet, that would be raised up from among the believers, the brothers, the brethren. And he would be a prophet like Moses, like Moses, like Musa. Moses.
Now let's look at Moses and look at Muhammad, quickly. In the journey toward the fulfillment of the vision, the materialization of the vision. The vision is the hope. Millah of Ibrahim Hanifa. The hope of Abraham, the upright in his nature. Yes.
Moses was leading the people out of Egypt, the land of bondage. But what kind of bondage? What kind of bondage? Most of us would say they were slaves. What kind of slaves? Slaves to what? Well, they were slaves to the Egyptian rule, to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Yes, but that's not all. To understand what kind of slaves they were, we have to understand what their state of life was. What was the condition of their life in bondage or in Egypt or in the territory that was under the rule of the Egyptians. And when you look at that life, they didn't have any authority to decide their steps that they would take to the road of progress. On the road to progress. They had no freedom to envision a life for themselves or a future for themselves. And they weren't taught that future. They had no freedom to do that. Not under Pharaoh, not in Egypt. In Egypt, you could only serve the Egyptian order and you couldn't have your own.
So this is what was paining their hearts, that they couldn't go the way of their prophets, the way of their forefathers who were guided by G-d. So they couldn't follow that way and they were most miserable, especially those who knew their life and what their life should be under G-d. Many didn't care because they had no knowledge of it. So they served the order of Pharaoh with no problem. Like Dathan. Dathan, he had no problem serving. And he was hurt when the Pharaoh permitted them to go out, or banished them. He was hurt. He wanted to stay there. So at every turn when he saw some difficulty for the group that was going out, he would mention that, "Look at this trouble he's leading us into. Look at all of this trouble Moses is taking us into. Look how well off we were back in Egypt." And he wasn't alone. He had fine clothing, he had money. He was well off.
So it was very much like life in America for oppressed people. There are always a few that can have riches. They can have riches. They could even have political power and respect, but they'll be serving the order that's oppressive on their people. Well, they can go up, they can rise. This was our case in the past, wasn't it? Some of us could rise and be big shots. Money and power and authority. But we had to walk to the cadence of the establishment. So when they were going out, some of them started complaining about little small things. They said, "Well, look at this food. How come we are out here eating this one kind of food all the time. How come we can't have lentils and onions and garlic? And G-d, according to the Quran, gave a reply to Moses, saying, "If that's what you want, go to any city. Go to any city."
Now, the word for city is Egypt. Misran is Egypt. They translated any city. But actually, the literal translation is not any city. It's any Egypt. If that's what you want, then go to any Egypt. But it means any society like Egypt, any society like Egypt, any model society, any established society like Egypt. Egypt was the established society in that time. The model of civilization or the model of achievement in society. It was the biggest and the most popular. So go to any Egypt, go to any city. Go to any city, if that's what you want. Now, what happened? Moses was called by G-d to the Mount Sinai and Moses went up Mount Sinai, and there he received communication from G-d on Mount Sinai.
When he received the communication from G-d, it's said that he brought it down on tablets, written into the tablets, written with a finger of fire. Brought it down written on tablets and he began to give the people what G-d had given him for their life. Now, this was an exodus. An exodus is a kind of migration. An exodus and a migration to a destiny. And the vision was cloudy, very cloudy. G-d was inspiring Moses to move forward, to take the people where they had to go. But even in Moses' own mind, the vision wasn't clear. He was waiting for it to become clearer and clearer for him. So all night they were in spirit, under the spirit and the winds were blowing all night and the day came and the winds had parted the waters and they walked across on dry land out of Egypt. They went across on dry land. I'm not giving you the whole story, just certain parts of it. They walked across on dry land. So what does all this has to do with our question that we asked you, Brother Imam?
It has everything to do with it. So they walked across on dry land. Now, where are we going? We're going to where Moses went. Where are we going? We're going to where Muhammad went. We're going to that ideal society that G-d wants for the human family under him. We're going to the ideal society, the best society that G-d wants under him for the family of mankind. That's where we're going. So that's the vision. The vision is no more (no longer) schools, mosques, seen separately or together. The vision is no more (no longer) a national order, a nation of Islam, To this order. No, the vision is not that. We're not going to a watan. Watan means nation. We're going to a Ummah. Ummah means society, community. So we're not going to a nation, we're going to a community, we're going to a society.
For men, nation form and they don't have civilized societies. Many nations have formed, but having have limited the freedom and the productive life of the people and have done nothing to evolve society. They just kept an oppressive order over the people. So having a nation without the design that G-d intended for us and the nature of the social man, the human man, is nothing. It can be oppressive and very oppressive. In fact, nothing has oppressed the potential of man, nothing has restricted and held back and oppressed man's spirit and held back him from his potential more than that emphasis on nation and nationalism. Right now we have many nations in Africa, but look how oppressive they are.
We have many of nations around the world, but look how oppressive most of them are. Look how they are holding back the movement in man to go to that heavenly society that G-d created him for. That's the vision. To get to that model of how human beings ought to live in society under the rule of G-d. That is the vision. That's the vision. The vision is not progressive land. The vision is not Whiting H&G. The vision is not University of Islam. That's not the vision. The vision is a society that can accommodate, not only those interests and those entities, but every need for man in society. That's what the vision is. Oh, that's pretty big for you, brother Imam. Well, Moses didn't have any education either. And Muhammad wasn't formerly educated either. And I follow both of them. And Muhammad is my leader. So how come this is too big for me? It's not too big for me. It's clearer for me. Praise be to Allah.
So that's where they're going. How many people are going there? Go there and go to Mount Sinai, G-d communicate to him. When G-d communicated him some dos and don'ts, he brought that down to them and gave them dos and don'ts, Ten Commandments, right? But that's not all he did. You read the Bible and the Bible tells you Holy Qur'an alludes to these things. Bible tells you of both that Muhammad and Moses did. He wasn't a city builder. He was a construction man in Egypt. He was working on the physical buildings, not the ordering of human society. So he wasn't familiar with culture and all these things that make up society. So what did he do? G-d didn't tell him to do that, G-d didn't burden him with that. The resources were there among his people.
So what did he do? He asked all of the people who had professions to organize according to your profession. And then he charged the one who could best head up that professional order. He charged that person to be their advisor or to be their organizer, their coordinator. This is what Moses did. So he ended up organizing professional people so that they would be able to serve the needs of the new society. The new society. That's what he did. Yes. So what do you thing we're going to do? We walk the path of the people who walked the path that G-d showed them. We don't have a different path. Our path is the same. So we're not going to do it any differently. And when you want to know how to respond to my call, to materialize this vision, make it real for us. You shouldn't start as though nothing is happening. Look around, see who is working on it. Somebody may be working on it already. And somebody's working on it already even if they have less intelligence than you, less schooling than you or whatever. Don't ignore what they've done, at least they are in the road and they have made some steps in the road already. And you haven't started. You're at point zero.
Though you have more ability than they have. So don't ignore them, join them. Join them, seek to join them. If they don't accept you, then you have to find another route, another way, to begin progress for the vision. But if they accept you, join them even though you think yourself superior to them. Join them, embrace them, respect them in that position of number one, they're first in the effort. Respect them as first in the effort. And you earnestly seek to enhance, increase and make their efforts more productive. That's what you do. And if you come in as a friend, as a brother, who respect them as the one who's made the initial step, they will recognize your contributions as you begin to expose them to your contribution. They'll recognize your contribution and they'll welcome you.to head up the effort, If they see that you qualify over them. They will do that, because they are sincere people. Praise be to Allah.
So this is my advice to you. My advice to you is not to wait for G-d to speak to you.G-d spoke to Moses. G-d spoke to Muhammad. Don't wait for G-d to speak to you. Just do what you're told and have faith that if you do what you're told, you're going to realize the results. Yes. Then I'm telling you to use your resources and don't start out by yourself if somebody already got started. Join those that started already. And believe me, they have very good efforts on the way. And I see the vision coming into my view. I can see it with my eyes, now. I don't want to point to particular town or city, not on this day. But I can see the vision becoming a reality. It's materializing. And it's just a matter of time before we have a model of human society at its best state. Excellence. In its excellence. To show America and to show the world. G-d says that there will arise out of you a group. Now, he's talking to whole Ummah.
He said, Kuntum You're speaking to all of us. And to Kuntum Khayra ummatin the best of communities. ukh'rijat lilnnasi evolved for all people. That's what G-d says. Then G-d says, "Let there come out of you." Speaking to this big community of excellence. "Let there come out of you a select group of people that will be motivated by obedience to G-d, Taqwa, be motivated by obedience to G-d and they will not be worried about who's looking at them and what they have to say about them. They will not be fearing the criticism of any criticizer." That's what G-d asks for. I think that's us today. It wasn't us yesterday, but I think that's us today. Because G-d knows I don't care what in the hell they think of me. As long as I know I'm carrying out what I believe to be the will of G-d for me. I don't care. "Oh, that's mediocre, what you're trying to do. You're not qualified. You people are not qualified to do these things." Keep talking. I don't have time to listen. I have a work to do.
So that's what we need. We need to see that what we're about has already been done. Muhammad was taken up. Moses went up the mountain. Muhammad was taken up in the air. He didn't walk up on no land. Taken straight up in the air, nothing supporting him but spirit. And he was taken up to the high peak and then traveled across the sky and landed down in the far distant mosque, Asqa. Where the temple of Solomon was. The ruins of an excellent effort to establish a society under G-d.
And then he was directed to go from that point to an invitation, a warm invitation, to do your work in Madina. In our town. Dear messenger of G-d. Your people of your birthplace, Mecca, they don't appreciate you. Come here to Madina where you will find the help and sincere help. The Ansars. So he went there after G-d took him up like an eagle, high up in the sky and could look down and write the map for those on the ground. He's ready now, to go to where the friendly accommodation is and build a new model wa tini wa zaytuni wa turi sinina wa hadha baladi amin laqad khalaqna insana fi ahsani taqween. Ah, the fig and the olive, at Mount Sinai, where the high flying bird goes and makes the nest and the top. And this town may save. Surely we have made man, created man in the best of molds. Isn't it wonderful?
So we want to go to the town, right? And we don't want to go just to any town. The people asked him, "Moses look, you brought us out here in this desert." Now, they were oppressed. They were crying the blues back home in Egypt. But now they're challenged to work, to build a new society of their own, and they're lazy. They want something easy. Saying, "Where's the lentil soup and the onions and the garlic and teas and all that? You got us out here eating this bland food, the only type of food in this desert." Moses said, "If that's all you want, go to any Egypt." The translation is go to any city. But the real meaning is go to any Egypt. Misran means any Egypt. Go to any Egypt means any society of that nature. If that's all you want. But you notice they didn't ask for figs. They didn't ask for olives. And they certainly didn't ask for Mount Sinai. So how could they get to that town, they say? Asking for lentil soup and onions and garlic and stuff.
So what they were asking for is just a comfortable life with pleasantries, you see? Just a pleasant life, a comfortable life. Our taste of foods. And isn't that what most of us wanted from the Nation of Islam? We're just satisfied, happy as we could be. In a state of bliss. Black and bean soup and eating toast. And for dessert, a slice of bean pie. And some of you now may say, "Where are you taking us Brother Imam? Where's our bean soup and our brown rice. Our supreme bean pie?" We lost all of that. At least we had that back in the Nation of Islam. You got us eating this bland food on the desert.
Now, look at the word desert. Desert means dessert. Deserted. Desert. Dessert The tasks have been deserted. So all the work is absent. No production. The task is deserted. It's not the desert of the ground, it's a desert of your intellect. The desert of your mind. It has been deserted by your interest. So since you deserted it, nothing is growing there. Dead land. Empty land. That's what they call it. One of the words for desert is empty land. Empty land. But when G-d wants to make something that has lost its original pattern or design, what he has to do is empty it first. Don't think of them physically going to a desert. Think of them emptying their minds of what Egypt put in it.
And then empty it and start from scratch. The Bible talks about empty vessels. He wanted those empty vessels to put something in there. Didn't look for full vessels, the vessels that were sealed. They won't even see a need. But the empty vessels know they need something. Yes. And most of us, we are empty vessels. We know we need something. As the honorable Elijah Muhammad put it, "We need something of our own." There's plenty of everything, but I need something of my own. You can give me a career that you could offer me and everything and satisfy my financial needs and all of that. Entertainment, I'll have all that. But as soon as I reflect and see that I had nothing to do with this, nothing to do with achieving this, that you just gave me this, my soul still will be wanting. I have to have something that I earned myself.
I have to be in my own house to accommodate my own soul and its needs. That's our situation, brothers. Yes. So the destiny that our creator wants for us is what our soul will be pleased with. And if we know that we are charting the way, according to the inspiration of G-d and the guidance of G-d, and we are under our own leadership, everything we achieve is accepted in the soul and appreciated in the soul and the soul is being made comfortable as we move toward the destination, step after step by step by step. That's why you are so happy with me. That's why you're so happy with each other in this community. It's because we are taking the steps that answers the need in our soul, to achieve under G-d for ourselves. Now, G-d accompanies all people who have been deprived of the opportunity to work their own life out, to work the problems, solve the problems of their life and to establish themselves. He solved the problems for all of them.
All you have to do is take my revelation, take my revealed word, see how I guided others before you in your condition and worse conditions, maybe. And have faith in me and my word and my servants, my messages, and you will be successful. This is no ordinary role we are taking toward the destination or the vision. This is a divine plan. G-d is as much with this as he was with Moses when they were going out of Egypt, believe me.
So have faith and don't be afraid to be responsible for something. Get out of that regimentation. That has you afraid to take a step unless somebody says, "Take it." Or, "It's okay to take it." I'm not going waiting for me. Waiting for me to do what? I told you where we're going. Let's get there. Some of you got donkeys, some of you got horses, some of you got fast running horses. Some of you got camels. Jump on the back of a snake if you have to. Make sure that snake is going there. Don't fear your own ability and don't fear your own resources. Don't be intimidated or made scared. Don't be intimidated or made fearful by what the white man has achieved or what the Arabs have achieved, or what anybody has achieved. Have faith in yourself that G-d is with you as he was with Moses and Muhammad and let's go to the destination.
Be producers. Be builders. As Booker T. Washington said, "Pick up your bucket when you are." Start right where you are. You know what you can do and your situation you're in, start there. And G-d will help you go further. And do not join people who don't share your enthusiasm, who don't share your excitement. If you're excited and they're not excited, you join them, they're going to put out your flame of enthusiasm. I told the sisters the same thing. Trust each other. Trust G-d. Trust man. Trust each other. And don't say, "I believe he will fail us." If there's not proof, then trust him. Trust him and give him your sincere support. Or her. If we have a woman leader, a female leader, trust them and give the believer your sincere support. And don't look for faults.
Fault finders, they're desired by the devil, Satan Yeah. Oh, yeah. He looks for fault finders. He looks for people who tend to just find fault. And those are the ones he wants to recruit. He wants to recruit them. Because that's what he was from the beginning, a fault finder. He looked for faults. All the positive things that G-d had revealed that would be in the man that he was going to go on make didn't impress Satan at all. He was just looking at what possibly could happen in the negative. G-d said, "Well hell, you haven't given him a chance yet". Said, "Wait until I've inspired him with my own spirit. You're looking at an unfinished product." It's simple, brothers.
Lastly, I want to tell you because you're men. I didn't tell the sisters Your men. Work should be your love. The devil deprives you of a good life by making you think relaxation is what you want, what your nature wants. No, your nature doesn't want relaxation. Your nature wants work. Nothing is more relaxing for the soul than a positive work that satisfies the intellect and the heart.
The sleep you taking light is not more satisfying than that. Your favorite pastime, recreation or whatever, is not more satisfying than that. That's why we have the saying As Salatu khairun mina naum. Prayer is better than sleep. This is prayer in the broad sense. This is not prayer like this. It doesn't mean that. This is prayer in the broad sense. And the Muslim life is a prayer. My whole life is a prayer. Obeying G-d's word in the manner that G-d's prophet obeyed it, my whole life is a prayer. What I do with the prayer, my work, whatever my profession is, is my prayer. And Allah says that you've been bought. You've been given as a lesser hint of the idea of this broad prayer at its broadest meaning. He says, "Every creature knows his mode of prayer."
That means a bird, an animal, a plant, a heavenly body. They all have a mode of prayer. So that prayer is their obedience, their function and their obedience to G-d. The function of answering the demands of that function that G-d has added to them. G-d assigned to them a function, and they are answering it according to the will of G-d and their creator and according to the designs of their creator on their function, on their functional life. Their doing that, their whole life is a life in prayer. And actually, life in prayer for us is education. Prayer for us is learning. When we're reciting the Quran, we're learning the Quran. We're hearing it and committing it to memory. It's an education for us. Standing on our feet in prayer is an education for us. And at certain points we have to submit to the G-d and glorify the G-d that revealed it. Allah akbar G-d forgive us and show us mercy and go back down to Sadjah. And when we complete this prayer, he's established on his throne. He's sitting on the throne. As Salaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatul Allah As Salaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatul Allah
Yes. Consult the sisters. They'll give you the answers. Yes. They'll give you the commentary on what I just said. Thank you and let's go forward. Have no fear. Let's be that select group that G-d has out the international group. We are ready to compete with any other select group. The Egyptians, the Indians, the Pakistanis, the Arabs, anybody. If they want to compete to be this select group, this foremost group, working for the pattern of society that G-d gave us, then let's compete and let us be as a race, toward all that is good and G-d will reward the whole Ummah through our separate excellent efforts of excellence, peace to you. As-salamu alaykum.


