10/30/1988
IWDM Study Library 
Al-Islam in Promoting Productive Life for the Individual, and for the Society.
IWDM in Los Angeles CA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Al-Humdulilahir Rabbil alameen. As- Salaam Alaykum. Peace be unto you. We thank Allah first of all for enabling us to be here today for this address before this gathering. We pray that He bless us with the outcome that we desire. Also, I appreciate the words that was spoken by Imam Abdul-Kareem Hasan regarding myself. I’m not the kind of person that enjoy hearing people talk about me in any kind of way, whether it’s good or bad. But I do appreciate those words. And I pray Allah that I do better.
Always we begin with Allah's name, the Merciful Benefactor, the Merciful Redeemer. There's a chapter in the holy book of Quran, titled Ash-Shams, or The Sun. The first 10 verses or ayah of this chapter or Surah. We say Surah for chapter, ayah, for verse. It read as the following, “By the sun, and its stretching brightness. And by the moon as if it were following it. By the day, as if it were giving it clarity. By the night, as if it were covering it. By the sky and how wonderfully it is structured. By the earth, and how wonderfully it has extended out.
By the soul, and how wonderfully it is ordered. Then its inspiration as to its enlightenment, and its regardfulness. Whoever cultivates it is sure to succeed. Whoever neglects it, is sure to fail.” That is the 10 first verses from the chapter called the Sun, Ash-Shams. We know the sun has been a symbol for man in the religion. And has been thought to also be worshipped as G-d. With those words from Quran from the revelation of G-d, the holy book, the last revelation revealed to Muhammad the last messenger of G-d. I introduced this topic for this gathering. Islam in promoting- or Al Islam as it's called in Quran. “Al-Islam in promoting productive life for the individual, and for the society.”
“Huwallahu la ilaha illa huwal hayyul qayyum.” He is Allah, meaning G-d, the one and only. There is no deity, that is to say, there is nothing else to be worshipped except Him, or beside Him. He is the living, the eternal existing without a need for anything outside of Himself. Ar-rahman, Ar-Raheem, the merciful benefactor, merciful redeemer. Al-Aful, He pardons sin. Al- Ghafoor, He is forgiving. It is He who has sent His messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that it should prevail over all religions. How are we to understand that?
Many take that language as a signal to go to war against other religions, until those religions are wiped out, and there is just nothing on earth but Al-Islam, our religion. There is much to be said about that attitude in some would be authorities in our religion, claiming to be authorities, claiming to be models for Muslims. But I just have a few words to say. And first of all, that such persons should look at the community of Muslim, and go to war there first. And then maybe if we succeed spreading over the earth, we'll be able to survive. I have to make these comments before really getting into my topic.
I’m obligated to do it. Recently there was a publication brought to my attention, where such person pretended to use our holy book the Quran as support basis for his position. That after the Quran, all other religious communities are to be seen as unbelievers, Kafirs, and to be treated like the earlier religious communities of Christianity and Al-Islam justly treated the heathens, criminals, and corrupt societies that would not respond to civilization.
That is, he suggests that if they don't say, “La ilaha illallah, Muhammadar Rasulullah, there is but one G-d and Muhammad is His messenger, that they should be killed outright.” And he named them, “Jews and Christians.” He did more injury to our purpose on this earth as Muslims, than all the Kafirs he mentioned. And I understand that that's not the end of it. We have intelligent Imams that are going to get on the case and bring the matter to the attention of world Muslim authority.
We can't put our life on the line like this, and labor so hard as do to project the true image of ourselves, and then sit quietly while someone claiming to be an authority and a scholar even above us in knowledge, is reckoning everything that we're trying to do. And this particular person connects himself with a world Islamic society or organization based in Saudi Arabia. The name of the organization, it’s a youth organization, it’s WAMY, World Association of Muslim Youth, WAMY. I said, well, they got the right name. It is just what they are, a whammy.
As they are being presented, that's just what they are, a whammy. But I know that he is out of step with the leaders of that world organization. And I'm sure that they don't know the damage he's doing. And when it’s brought to their attention, I’m sure they're going to take our opposition and do something about it. This is not out of any sentimental thing with Christians or Jews. My sentiments here are coming from my love and respect for our religion. Not to run to the rescue of Christians and Jews. Because we know they say ugly things too about us and many of them won't stop, in the face of truth, they won't stop. So, don't think I'm all emotional and sentimental when it comes to having friendly relationships with Jews and Christians.
I can't be emotional and sentimental over that until I see a more willingness and more desire on their parts to be friendly with us. But that's something we should pursue, that's something we should believe in, that's something we should care about. We should want friendship and friendly relations with Jews and with Christians, and with all other decent people on this earth. In spite of the fact that some that have annoyance among them, seem to have the loudest voices, don’t invite us to that kind of concern. The best way to serve the needs of a troubled ridden society is the first make a study of the conditions of its soul.
In terms of human promoted progress, not much can be expected unless that society, a trouble ridden society, starts to grow in consciousness and reach a point where they can no longer tolerate its stressful state of affairs and reject its problem-breeding psychology in favor of a problem-solving psychology. Psychology is a term directly related to the soul. Earth's great religions hold out to their people, a psychology for surviving the challenge of the world as also for meeting it. That is, such religions promote a psychology as a deterrent against deformity causing influences forming of the needs of the people, and the same psychology aimed at promoting their advancement in the world.
“Wabtaghi fima atakallah Darul akira, wa la tansa nasibaka min Ad-dunya.” Here is the balance position, the position of true equilibrium, balance of mind, and spirit, et cetera, for approaching and dealing with matters of the world, the challenge of the world. In the English, “Seek by the means that G-d has made available to you the hereafter. But do not neglect your share of the world.” This is Islamic teachings, straight to the point, straight to the point. Now, the influences for bringing us into that state of mind and attitude will be found in the major religions. But they are covered so much until it's like searching for a needle in a haystack to reach that kind of idea or influence.
But if you expose yourself to the doctrine of these great religions. I'm not naming any of them in particular. I'm including also the religions of Asia, the far east. If you expose yourself to the doctrines of these religions as a sincere person, the effect of those religions on you will bring you into that same state of mind as I do. If you’re sincere. That's why no sane Muslims would want to go to war with Christians, Jews, or even Buddhists, to exterminate them so that there will be nobody on earth but us. No, because we know that the same Lord, that favored us, at one time or another also favored them.
In these religions, it is also true of even other persuasions outside of religion. That is their philosophy, ideology that influence the soul in the same way. And these religions say that it is also true of other persuasions that the collective psychology signaling its members to act and to think, operate from above our heads, and by some remote control. I have read the language, the literal language of the great religions. And I said what is this that keeps these particular religious societies in a decent state. And I said to myself faith, the faith. And then I wanted to understand faith for them. And I started examining the teachings that they have to conform to, to understand the faith for them.
And I came to the conclusion that it's not so much faith that accounts for that decency among them, but it is the influence of the psychology of that religion, the influence coming from the psychology of that religion. The heavens are qualified for the role of influencing the situations on earth. Who'd imagine a sky empty of stars, no moon, no sun, no night, no day, no clouds, no thunder, no winds, no lightning, no rain. Of the thoughts from the beauty of heaven, the loftiness from the sky, an innocent faith is born. An innocent faith is born. A pure faith is born. The Lord G-d Creator does not reach us directly, but He reaches us through creation. “His throne was first upon the water. That you maybe tried to manifest who has the most excellent deeds.” The strength of a culture’s faith. Christian culture and its faith. Jewish culture and its faith. Islamic culture, we have a culture. Islamic culture and its faith.
Is at the same time the strength of that culture’s psychology. Now, I know you would say, “Why would he come to us with this kind of language that?” It is my firm conviction, belief, that preachers of religion disrespect the intelligence of the common person. And for that reason, we don't have progress in the masses, the religious masses, that should be there. Nothing I'm saying is heavy for the average person in this audience. It's all very simple. But you have been turned off to the language. And I'm going to go very slow and carefully with you until it’s turned on. Time is too far from the days of ignorance, from the days of belittling the worth of the human person, the average human person, for us to speak stupid to the level of which doctor to excite an audience. In order to be more comfortable with the feeling that I'm having right now, and in hoping that we all are having, and are all looking at the same thing. I now turn to the American Heritage dictionary for the definition of psychology, the term psychology. "The emotional and the behavioral characteristic of an individual, group or activity." That's the definition that I’m entertaining. I repeat, the emotional and behavioral characteristic of an individual, group or activity.
This psychology is also identity. We think of ourselves as being identified by the physical reality. That's not how we're identified in the important sense. We are identified according to our emotional and behavioral characteristics. Our psychology, our emotional and behavioral characteristics. You may not accept what I'm going to say now, but I’m going to say it, I've said before. White people have not been conditioned to reject our blackness. They have been conditioned to reject our emotional and behavioral characteristics. That is the black that they hate. They come from a cold region. And they have been influenced by the coldest tribe in their region, the English. And they have taken their high-mindedness from the English people. And not even knowing themselves or understanding themselves their own behavior now on the masses of whites. They hate blacks. They see blacks as inferior, they see blacks as unwanted, trouble for white society. And some of them would like to separate the blacks into some area all to themselves, but never give them a country of their own, never give them a nation of their own, unless it's under white authority. “Put them to themselves, so that they won't contaminate us.”
That attitude is still strong in western society. I’m running into it often. And we're not doing much to influence a correction in them. If it is our skin that they reject, the color of our skin that they reject, how come they love dark skin on themselves? And if black itself is a thing that turns them off, why don't they reject everything black? Why is black their favorite color sometimes? A black suit. And why do they say, “The darker the vegetable, the richer in nutrition.” I heard them say that.
And two or three of their greatest research institutions have warned us against white things. White sugar, white flour, white rice. They're attacking all the whites, white sugar, white rice, white flour. That's not coming from us that’s coming from them. That’s just to throw in a little humor. Not witch doctor stuff, just a little humor. When man makes a childish mess of the order of the environment, someone discovering it to be unsuitable for human life, can retreat to faith. A kind of free-floating balcony, upper sky light order of peace and beauty. A heaven for us. Those words of the Quran, “By the sky and how wonderfully it is structured. Lofty influences make for lofty consciousness, and for lofty psychology, in person and in society, lofty influences. 
“The condition troubling a people does not change, until they change the condition of their soul, until they change the condition of their soul.” And again, word from the holy book of Quran, “That is because Allah never take away the His blessing on people, until after they have changed the conditions of their souls. And Allah is hearing and knows.”
Moral immaturity will eventually give a person or a community, to a disposition towards life that leads resources to being wasted by the forces of ignorance, and by crimes against self and against society. I'm not talking anything that is out of your each. I'm talking to the thing that you're looking at all the time. You're seeing all this all the time. Until you're aware of what I'm talking about, you can't escape it. It's everywhere.
Another quote from the holy book, the Quran, “corruption appeared in the land and in the sea by what occurred in consequence of the doings of the people.” This is from Surah Rum, the chapter called Rome. That's the quote that I gave you. The process of sin and productivity. Here I am relating sin and productivity as opposites. We may think of sin and righteousness, real, quick, opposite. But I choose to express it this way, sin and productivity. The process of sin and productivity may be compared to the process of death and life. In the absence of native conscience. Native conscience. We have a belief in the creation of man that differs, greatly, with the idea in western thought.
That is, we do not believe in any man of sin, that idea is not accepted by us. We don't believe in any man or sin. Allah says, “I have not created the humans or the Jinn, for any purpose other than My service.” He did not create any man in sin. He created man for His service. He is not created in sin; man is not born in sin. The only explanation for that kind of idea that man is born in sin, is that man deviate from his nature, and sin increases in the environment. And then the new baby born is born in the sin of those that went before, but no baby is born in sin.
The European romance with sex, and sex organs comes right into the religion. And we confuse Christianity with that kind of influence from pre-Christian Europe. Many think sex is sin. And the psychologists make so much money because many think sex is sin. Married and can’t perform. I have read documented cases of Catholics and others with that problem, where on the day of marriage they could not preform, because sex had been made so ugly. What did our Prophet say about sex? He said, peace and blessings be on him, that “there is a blessing in the act of sex”. And he was questioned to explain that. They said, "How can it be a blessing in the act sex?" He said, "Well, if you perform sex unlawfully, wouldn’t there be a punishment?" So, that tells me that there were some misconceptions back then when it comes to sex.
It is this unhealthy, sick way of looking at sex, that is responsible for all the sex abuse that we find in western society. The society that has lifted sex up as ugly more than any other society, is the same society that has the most sex abuse. In the absence of native conscience, and I hope you're beginning to understand what I am talking about.
In the absence of native conscience, value relativism, that's an expression from western mind, that have studied the society. Value relativism forms to challenge and to replace Taqwa. This is an Islamic term, Taqwa, and its traditional values. Another way of saying native conscience is to say inherit regardfulness. The essence being, attachment to benefits, and fear of losing benefits.
To lose this is to lose Taqwa, and to drown in the pool of diverted reasoning. Reasoning that take us away from the real things that are important, from the real disciplines that account for the greatness of man and society. In developing this address, on “Al-Islam and promoting productive life in the individual and in the society, attention for the next step in the procedure will be given to performance.
The Prophet said, peace be on him, “Qullun ya’malu ‘ala shaakilati”. And this is a saying of the holy book, this is the words of the holy book, also. “Qullun ya’malu ‘ala shaakilati”. The English is, “performance is according to each one disposition.” Muhammad the prophet led our world, the world first into global sensitivity, into universal thoughts and concerns, into a global conscience 1400 years ago. He awakened the universal concerns of man, and brought about a global consciousness. And just today in our advances as a civilization, we’re beginning to acknowledge a global community and a need for a global conscience.
This Prophet said, "Everyone is Muslim." But I continue with my own words that are to the best of my knowledge, his words. “And it is the circumstances to which one is given that makes a Jew, a Christian, or other. From the secular world, we have heard the like of this saying, “By and large, behavior results from heredity and environment.” Modern society believes environment to be the major influence on attitude, personality, and behavior.
Environment, it's held by modern society right now to be the major influence determining the outcome of our personalities, et cetera. Of the need to lighten the burden on performance, another saying of the last prophet is seen as complementing, “Excellence has been prescribed by Allah for everything.”
To put in focus the best we have going for us and the worst we may expect, two words are enough, excellence, neglect. Excellence, neglect. Now, I hope I'm going to strain your mind even more. The potential of man is like a rubber. If you don't stretch it, you don't know how far it will go. It is not generally true that persons given to sinning are consciously going after sin. I suspect there's hardly anyone who's in this gathering guilty of consciously going after sin.
The person that commits theft is unlawfully supplying a need. That interpretation applies to all sinners. How then are we to focus the problem? Some will point to man’s flesh, some to Satan, to conspiracy. I used to have some of these problems. I used to point to Satan and conspiracy. I never pointed to flesh because my religion never told me flesh was sin. Although some guru in Al-Islam had tried to make me believe that.
But I refused because the evidence in the world is too strong for me to believe anything like that. I am a father and now a grandfather. I've never picked up any newborn baby and saw sin. Never. So, I know flesh is not sinful. The things that come into the flesh, after the flesh, that's where the problem lies. However, attesting to the soundness and to the timelessness of revelation is an insight given by philosophers of universal process, of a process in democracy. Which hold that both condition of the “soul” should be the focus when we're looking for what is troubling man and society.
That is according to the Quran with the Holy Book. Still focusing on performance. “Al-Qadaru khairihi wa sharrihi min Allah ta’ala”, the potential for good and evil, or good and harm or benefits and harm. It's from Allah, Most High.” The potential. Now what does that say? Does that say G-d has made us to sin? No. G-d has made us to do good. And G-d has made us more than to make us to do good. G-d has made us free to earn merits for our deeds. How can someone fixed by some kind of natural law that he cannot move outside of, merit respect, reward for his deeds? Impossible. So, G-d freed us. He has given us enough in measure of freedom of choice, et cetera, for us to earn respect and merit.
He has given the potential and then trusted us with it. Again, that speaks so highly of G-d that He would give us such a powerful thing as a trust. That means that He trusts us more than any nation trust us. I don't know a single nation that will encourage the people to live out their potential without interrupting them. They will do it for a season, and then they interrupt you. They call you back. With this freedom, we are also to respect a framework. We are to respect a context for our lives. We are to respect boundaries. Anything without limit is destructive. Even good. Please, please. Just look at me and see a white man with degrees.
Then you don't have any problem.
If you can't do that, look at me and see a black man with degrees. But please, I prefer the first.
Yes, anything without limits is destructive, even good. I'm not going into all the information. I'm not going into how to apply it; we don’t have the time. You’re intelligent. You can apply it. So, we have in our religion a respect for limits that Allah has set. Allah has set for us limits. In our religion, we don't see divine happenings in our lives the way many other religions project them. For us, there is hardly no mysticism and absolutely no superstition.
There is real mysticism for us, but they are very, very limited, small in our religion when we compare mysticism in our religion to mysticism in other religions. That's not to say that we don't have as many mystics as other religions have.
But they are out of step with our religion.
They woke up on the wrong side of the bed with the wrong dream.
So, I repeat because we in trouble. G-d said, “He did not create the human or the Jinn except to worship Him.” You say, “Now, who is this Jinn?” Now, this is an area for the mystic.
One thing we know about the Jinn is that he's rational. Because Allah says in our Holy Book, "And the Jinn said, upon hearing the recital of Quran, our Holy Book, “we have heard a wonderful recital. And we advise both men and Jinn."
So that tells me a lot about the Jinn. Whatever else there is to know, I'm not interested because I'm not a Jinn and don’t intend to me him.
Because they creatures of another reality.
You know, I could have come up here and took five minutes and did a lot in my judgment for this talk. I could have come here and recited Al-Fatihah. Just the opening prayer that most of you've heard so many times. And I’m not speaking to Muslims now, I’m speaking to others who have frequent our meetings that are not Muslims. They've heard the opening prayer so many times. And after finishing the opening prayer, I could have just made the Kalimah. “Ash hadu anla ilaha illallah, Ash hadu anna Muhammadar rasul Allah.” And then said these few words to you. We need a suitable situation. When need desire to respect, qualified priorities.
We need direction for realizing those aims. And we need the spirit for excellence. And just go back to Chicago or where ever I got to go. And would have accomplished a lot in my judgment. But my spiritual won’t just let me do a quickie like that. So, I hope you'll have patience with me. Allah, Most High, also says to us in our Holy Book. What are we addressing? The need for better performance. Performance. There are conditions that must be brought about first to influence our soul. To hold for us an overhead influence. To feed and influence our psychology. To bring our psychology into suitable shape and form. Where our psychology is not working against our human need and human purpose on this earth. That's what we need.
We need a mothership, not the one that dropped bombs and outcome a mountain a mile high, different than the honorable Elijah Muhammad mothership. Not that kind of mothership. Not to knock it because in its place, it is as powerful as white man’s mythology. We need a mothership like Ezekiel’s wheel in the Bible. It said, “a wheel rose up from the earth and it had influence on the creatures down below. Wherever the wheel went, all the creatures went also.” Don’t we need a lofty psychology to help us as the stars help those who are at sea. To help us find your way and go make the right moves on earth. So, Allah, He knows what happens to the condition of the soul. He knows what man by his own neglect, I didn’t say sin, by his own neglect gets into. If we are really so sinful, how come G-d keeps coming at us to help us? If we’re really that terrible G-d would have ended the life of man, that would have been it.
G-d says, “Fa ahsana soorakum”. He has made beautiful and excellent your features. Now this is needed in the world today. It was needed much more forty years, 50 years or so ago, when most of had our heads hung low, if we were not looking like white folks. White hair was the thing. White features were the thing. We kind of got away from that.
Now white leadership is just the thing. You know that’s the truth.
I once saw two boys together, and they were buddies running together. And I noticed them because they were hanging around all the time where I lived. I'll be out there working in the yard. Those boys will be hanging around all the time. They’ll go away a little and come right back. They were just fussing all their time, but they love each other. And one would just constantly be complaining against the other. And soon, the other would start to walk off and he would run to catch up with him.
On the whole, that's the way our race is with the white male. 
All we have to do is study the condition of the soul. And then we’ll understand the behavior. And we’ll have the tools to correct it. G-d says, “He has made beautiful and excellent your features. The ending of this statement says “Kum”, it means all of you. He is not leaving anyone. You know there is always the person that will come up with some hidden message to prove his prejudice. “No, “kum” is for a certain class of the human being, it’s not all.”
Well, Allah didn't leave it just right there. He says, "In the mountain top, you will find beautiful colors running through the mountain, through the rocks in the top." White, red, intensely black like feathers of the raven. Now that’s for the mystic. 
My interpretation is that G-d is saying that black race, red race, and white race and those was three color back then. We didn't have our brown; we didn't have yellow and all that stuff. That wasn't in the language. That those people, all of them have had great intellect to reach the top of the mountain, in intellectual development. Yes, that’s what G-d is saying. The black has gone up there, too. But you went up a long time ago.
Long time. When the white man went up, you were tired. You were resting, and he made sure you stay resting. Until just recently, things are changing. Yes, we are happy about that. Again, addressing really the soul in hopes of bringing about a climate, an atmosphere, a psychology for better performing.
Allah the Most High says, "He has not created us except for His service." Now, we know that there is a big problem in the history of man because of men wanting to put other men into service, and not do justice by them. Even reduce them to slavery, and animal existence. This has happened not only to us.
We are a recent and our case is a big one. Perhaps the biggest one in the history of man. But others have been enslaved too and have been treated just like a corralled animal or worse than that. I used to think we were the only ones, then I read some of the history of the Irish under English domination. And the same treatment that I've heard was given to many of our people in the south, was what I read in that history of English domination over Irish. The same exact, no difference. The disrespect they had for the family. Their favoring the women over the man. Threatening the man in favor of a woman.
Tell the woman that, "This boy don't do better, you let me know. I'll come here and give him a good lash." I'm talking about a man. Now don't you know that haven’t gotten completely out of some of our women? Some of women right now want to call another man on another to whip him. I mean when we don’t deserve it. And she should just be rational, reasonable willing to come halfway. Some of our women are terribly spoiled. They are willing to put a man down for the most, petty thing. Just destroy it, through with the whole relationship. Now I know our men have faults, plenty faults. You don't have to get on them, they know it. Ain't nothing you can't tell them about themselves that they don't already know. They feel that they ain't such bad guys because the white man won't give them the opportunity they say. I know our women are ready to scrap everything over the simplest matter. "How come you won't buy that coat for my baby?" "Because it ain't your baby, sucker."
"Look, you can get out of here right now, and don't ever come back."
"What! Wait a minute, am I hearing you correctly here dear? Do you know how much we have invested in this relationship? And you want to end it over a goddamn coat for your baby?"
"Please don't say nothing else. Please. Because I won't be able to come back if you hurt me with any more."
It's not the white man, but it's the white man world that have made not only our women, but other women the same way. White man got problems like that too, crazy.
The Asians coming in here with a different psychology and they say, "Hey, we ain't got nothing going on with the people over there, so let's go to America."
The Statue of Liberty saying, "Welcome, welcome. 
Look what Allah says to us, “He created us for His service." Now, if we believe in a Creator responsible for all of this vast unlimited work, we call the creation. If you really believe in such a G-d, and I do believe most of us do. Then we should feel wonderful hearing that that G-d said to us that He created us to be in His service, to work for Him. Now you know a man realizes a sense of worth, a sense of dignity, a sense of pride when he moves up from a lesser position to a higher one. When he moves up from a less important operation or a job to a higher one. When he moves up from being under a lesser leader in the situation, or in the company, to a higher one.
"I work directly under the president of the corporation." He feels great. "I work directly under the president of this corporation. I'm answering directly to the president of this corporation." Oh, he feels so great. That's how I feel because I work directly under the president of this universe. That’s what make other believers that really sees their religion, feels so wonderful. Nothing can make us become so sad that we give in to it. No, our belief picks us up right away. “This is just too petty to stand in the way of my service to my Lord.” And we don’t see service to our Lord coming to the prayer meeting. That's part of it. That's a part of it. Allah has said to us that the Prophet Muhammad has clearly taught us that everything done, respecting what should be respected, is service to Allah. When I respect my relationship with my parents, everything that I do in the spirit of respect for them, is service to Allah.
He says, "Wat taqwallah, and have a deep sacred regard for Allah, for the Lord." He said, "And also have the same thing, “Arham” for the family relation." What relationship is the most important? The one that is directly address in that same statement, Arham, the womb. The word that's used for family ties or family relations also means literally wombs of the female. From their wombs that we were born, brought into the world, and they mothered us. And they were the ones responsible for nurturing not only us separately, but also our bonds, our tie to each other. Brother to brother, brother to sister, sister to sister, sister to brother. For that reason, G-d said, “and also having sacred regard, deep respect for family relationship.
And He says again, "Family has a priority before G-d." Family has a priority before G-d. That means that if I have $50, and a non-member of my family, and a family member. Both of them are in the same need for some of my $50. I do not go to the non-member of my family first. I'll give to my family first. Now the attitude in this society is to give to others first and your family last. How's that? You're supposed to give your family even if you don't like them. Yes, you do. If you got it, and your family got nothing, you're supposed to give to them even if you don't like them.
Don't you know our religion require of us that we keep respect with our family, with our parents in particular, even though they oppose us being in this religion. Allah says, "Don't submit to their wishes, but keep friendly relations with them." We need to hear these things. These things if accepted will create a new movement in your soul. That will eventually become a new condition for your soul. And at the same time, you'll be going up into the heavens, and just stop high enough not the bother you all the time, and work subconsciously in you as the psychology for your well-being.
Well, we're going to get there. Now, understanding of servitude, slavery in the history of man, only needs a little research into the Quran. What we don't want to admit is that many men put themselves in slavery. “Oh, you want to be my slave master.” You ain't got nothing to worry about. You don't want a slave master? We ain't going to worry about you. He can’t make you a slave, you don’t want no slave master. The problem for us are those who want slave masters.
And the most serious part of that problem is that most of them don't even know that they want slave masters. But always inviting someone to enslave them. The victims of drugs are people who fear to be on their own. They have to have something else controlling them, something else serving their needs for pleasure, etc. so, they go to the drugs. I'm not saying this is true for every victim of drugs. But for the majority of them are just looking for something to take over they're life because they're afraid to take their lives into their own hands.
Now, again, most of us who dissipate our resources, dissipate our earnings, waste that is, our resources and wastes our earnings. Most of us also are afraid to take our lives into our own hands. If we get to much money that accumulate, we won't have any excuse.
We say, “I don’t know where it goes.” You need a psychiatrist to tell you where it goes." It goes to pay for you being separated from your responsibility, slavery. If we understand scripture, there was a certain woman who was comfortable as a servant, Hagar. That's what she wanted. That was her plight. She was a servant. So, she became the handmaiden of Sarah. And we used to hear in days gone by, people would say when acting like you didn't have any culture or civilization, “Oh, that’s Hagar child." Yes, they used to say that. And the white man was saying, "They all Hagar’s children. We're the children of Sarah.” And the Jew was looking at all of them and said, “They don’t know they all the children of Hagar, we the only children of Sarah.”
I thank G-d for freeing me from that mess. I'm not talking about religion now. I'm talking about misconceptions in religion that just mess up the ability of good healthy creatures to perform in life. So, servitude is something natural for man. It's natural for man. In fact, when G-d says that He created us for His worship, the language He used is a common expression for slavery. In Arabic “Abd” means a slave. It is a common term for a slave when this revelation came 1400 years ago to Muhammad the prophet, peace and blessing be on him.
Yes, it was a common term for slave. And Allah says He created us to be His “Abd”. And when we say our prayer, the prayer that you're familiar with because we say it so often. We say in that prayer, “eyaka na’budu”. It is a verb taking from that same word means slave. “Eyaka na’budu”. Now, I'm not saying it means literally slave now because the Quranic text gave us a different meaning to it. It lifted the content from that low situation to the highest situation.
Now, no one would like to say it means slave. No, it means service to G-d. But look what 
G-d is telling us in the beginning. “Slaves belong to me. That's the psychology. The divinely given psychology. “Slaves belong to me.” “Ya ebaadullah” That’s what G-d says. “Oh, slaves of Allah.” That’s what He says in his book. “Ya ebaadullah”, oh slaves of Allah. “The slaves of G-d are those who walk meekly in the earth. And when they meet the ignorant, they say, Peace.” 
Look how He dignified that concept. He lifted it up. He made lofty the concept of servitude. Because servitude should be to none but to G-d. Now, that doesn't mean that I wouldn’t serve this brother. I will serve him now to a greater degree than I would in the mind I had before I came into this beautiful understanding. Now, I’ll shine his shoes. And if he says, “brother, they don't look like right.” I’d said, "Well, I’ll shine them some more." Yes. Where before I'll say, "Hey, I went a long way, sucker. Now, I don't like your attitude."
But now I won’t to do that because I have a different feel for the situation. If he said, "No, can you get them look a little better?” It would be my pleasure just to try and get them to look a little better because I'm not doing this for him. I am doing that for me. My opinion of myself, my knowledge on myself in my relationship with G-d makes me feel very comfortable doing that for him.
But actually, if he would say, like some people would do sometimes, "Brother Imam, you're sure wonderful. You really put yourself out to help people." And then the real reality comes to my mind. I say, "Look, you don't thank me for that. I’ll do it for a stranger. I'd do it for anybody in your situation. And you being Muslim I'll do even more than that for you. It's not for you. Allah has made me this way.
And still a long time ago when our parents was getting all kind of hell from some of the rebels. I wasn't one of them. No, I never was a rebel, but I've seen some terrible rebels among the children. Not necessarily am I talking about my family, but I've seen them in other families. And I've seen one or two in my family at time. And I've noticed parents, they get so hurt. They have to bring respect back to their goodness.
And this is what they say to get respect for their goodness again. They said, "You ain't worth what I do for you, but I do it because it's just decent." Some of them would say, “I do it because I know G-d would want me to do it.” They were coming from the same spirit. The spirit to be happy, and most comfortable with good behavior, your good deeds. Knowing that the one your most interested in pleasing is not the people that might disrespect it of you, but the Lord most high. Yes, and if we had that kind of faith and consciousness, we could go much further as a people.
Our families would be much stronger. We wouldn't be letting our personal feelings and personal attitude interfere with the management of the household. I don't care how angry I am. I'm not supposed to let my anger become a tornado in my house. Tear up my house, throw my children out in the street. No. No matter how angry I get, I'm at the same time supposed to keep a balance, keep sanity where I will keep respect for the things that I cherish and not let my emotions, my emotional rage, destroy the things that I worked for so long. A fella came to the prophet once and he said, "Tell me something that will benefit me from now on." The prophet said, "Control anger."
You know what Imam Kareem said yesterday. He said, "Well, you know if you're easy to talk to, they might then be gone in 45 minutes. But it's more difficult and it might be hour, if it's more difficult it might be hour and a half". He said, "But it won't be longer than that." I'm going to try to make sure that I don't disappoint him.
I think I got a few more minutes before the end.
Now, I want to return to what I said just kind of sums up what we need. A suitable situation for our life. The life that G-d created. Not the one that we were blindly let to accept. A life of drunkenness, violence, hatred, bitterness. That's not the life. A suitable situation for the life, desire to respect qualified priorities. I'm going to stop right there at this point. Qualified priorities because I'm going to introduce another idea that we should be considering more seriously, and that is bonds of trust, loyalty. Loyalty to the bonds of trust. You say, "Hey, what are you doing mister?" Oh, I am cultivating a field. That's what I think I'm doing; I'm cultivating a field. I see trash in it. I see boulders in it, weeds and strange critters.
And too much water in one area and too dry in another area, and not smooth anywhere. So, I’m just trying to cultivate the field. I need a little water, and I need whole lot of stuff. I need sunshine, water and air. We always got land. But sometimes the land can't get the water in the right amount, or in the right time, or the sunshine. And then some time even the air is bad, detriment. So, these are the first things. But also, there's need for farmer skills, the right tools, the right knowledge of a particular thing that you want to grow.
And I think that's what all of us are who are trying to help the situation of man. We are cultivators, aren't we? Cultivators. And the last picture of the Christ Jesus, peace be upon him, is the picture of him in the garden, working the garden. Yes. And Allah says that He will give us a garden. The extent of it being the extent of the skies and the earth. Now you know that's really mysterious, isn’t? I'm going to go up with my team and I'm going to plow the skies. G-d said it’s my garden, so I should be able to go up there and plow the sky, till the sky. Well, I thought something like that would be good for some of you all.
Now you know the ones that need to go to the real clinic. They'll be the ones that talk seriously about getting that plow up in the sky.
It's good to know those who really belong in the clinic. It’s good to know that. Because you might send a man on an errand, and they may never come back.
Yes, we need bonds of trust. In an address I gave, I spoke on the bonds of trust. I'm going to just read a little of this, I have it here before my eyes. It's from the subject “Productive Ideas for us in Religion, bonds of trust.” There should be trust between all units of society. That is when the ideal situation comes. When there is a maximum respect and trust between all the units of the society. Between you and me, between myself and my wife, between my children and me, between the children and us, meaning, myself and my wife. Between the neighbor and us, between other ethnic groups and us.
Yes, between nations and us. When the ultimate good that we want for society comes. That kind of trust will be established. We'll never reach that ultimate condition, that maximum condition of improvement for us in society until we have that kind of trust. Can we be prejudice against another nation? Prejudice against another race? No, should we have hostility for another people. Oh, that makes us primitive, that sets us back. G-d want us to go forward. G-d is bringing about the influence of Tawheed in the whole universe of man.
To bring man to be one world, one family with bonds of trust existing between every human. Bonds of trust. Now we have to start right with ourselves. Many of us can't have or experience a bond of trust even with ourselves. We don't trust ourselves to do the things that ourselves are qualified to do. Fearing that self would fail. How can we get more respect? More confidence in self? By changing the influences, by doing what we're doing right now, bringing into your sensitivity influences for a suitable psychology. Influence that will make a suitable psychology. Yes, and when that comes about, you will have more faith in yourself.
You'll have more respect for yourself. You will have more trust in yourself. And you will not sit in the last row at the college first day, afraid to go up front. All the seats empty and you go sit way back. Coming to meeting and speaker going to be speaking all the seats empty up there. You look for one, way back there. Shy, afraid of your own self, fearing you're going to be seen and afraid that if you're seen someone might see something in you that will tell on you. Don't be afraid don't be show-offish because that's more sickness than the person that's shy. Don't be show-offish, you know you ain't qualified to sit on the front row. You come and walk right up to the front row and sit down. You're about 10 pounds of artificial jewelry and everything else.
No, don't escape into that kind of thing just to be seen coming up front. The bonds of trust. Now I have experienced myself, I have observed myself serious problems for us as a people. Now I'm speaking to you because you make this audience today my own racial or ethnic group, African Americans. But really, I wish I was talking to Hispanics and many other people. Many European Americans. I wish I was talking to them too, because they have the same problem. But the only thing they got going in their favor that we don't have going in our favor is that their group is in control of the establishment. Their group is in control of the world. That's the thing they have going for them that we don't have going for us.
I thought to say this earlier, I'm going to say it now, it came back into my mind. This attitude in the European American that makes them want to see us inferior to them and unacceptable or should be pushed aside. If they're intelligent, they will identify that's what it is in us, that makes them feel that way. And once they identify, if they're identified as inferior performers as a human being, then they should give us a whole lot of company when they separate us. Because they got many among themselves that are worse off than we are, and more so.
What makes the difference, I repeat, it's that their group is in control of the world. That's what makes the difference. But as far as being able to perform, many of their people are in the same situation than the worst of our people. Many of the Europeans people are in the same or even worse situations than the worst of our people. Many of these other people coming over, among them the same thing. Some of them even with education, same thing. Pitiful condition.
So, if they are going to separate people according to worth, in the light of what is standard or excellent or exceptional for a human performance, we're going to have a whole lot of company if they can get past our skin, a whole lot of company. Getting back to our concern now for loyalty, bonds of trust, and loyalty. I have experienced, observed that is, the behavior of customers, African American customers. And believe me, this is a real serious problem for us if we want to have better relations with self, and better relations with other people. White people, European Americans. I'm not saying that it's a problem that is ours alone, no.
I'm sure that many of them have the problem too. But because we have more of us with the problem, and we're in this disadvantaged kind of situation. We're not running the world. We are the ones that’s noted for the problem. Somebody comes into our area, into the black community. I hate to use that language because it’s kind of have the influence to separate us from ourselves. It brings up right away the white man, and unite us for competition, or for argument with the white man. But it does not unite us for healthy competition, and unity and peace with each other.
So, I hate to even use it, I rather say African American. I like what Garvey said. A lot of things Garvey did that I’m not interested in now. Just like a lot of things my father did I'm not interested in now. It's touchy because he was a Jesus for many our folks that followed him. It was just like saying some of the things that Jesus said, I'm not interested in anymore. And by the way some of the things that Jesus said, I'm not interested in any more. I won't name any of them. I just want you to know that. I'm not singling out anybody for bad treatment, I treat everybody good. I try to anyway. And if you don't think I love my father, I'm not going to try to convince you.
I'm not going to try to convince you. A new business comes into the African American community, and right away the word goes all over, "Hey, have you been to that new store?" "Oh , girl, you still go there?" They got a new store, no loyalty. Right away, just pull your support from a business that you've been with for years, just because there's a new store, and now it's just a craze to go to the new business. We will go way out the neighborhood. 20 miles to get groceries because a new store opened up way across town. Now I know I'm touching some of you all, you're guilty. I know perhaps what some of you are saying, "I am guilty of nothing. I go where I want."
That's just like that sick bed child yelling out, "What I do is my own business." We have to be able to establish, recognize, qualified priorities. Now, here is a new business. But if I go there, and so do my friends and many of us go there, what will be the effect on my neighborhood?
Less money is coming into my neighborhood now, and more money is going out into another neighborhood. So, less taxes will be collected in my neighborhood, and more taxes will be collected in the other neighborhood from business, so that's going to make my property tax go up. That's going to make my rent go up, that's going to make my food bill go up too. Because I'm spending gas.
I don't know I'm spending gas and time. I get in an accident on the way and lose all the little pennies I was trying to save up. It'll take me 20 years to make up. I totaled the whole car, $10,000 gone. An accident going way across yonder to a new store. When we should look at the store and say, "That store over there it has features that we like. Why don’t a committee of us go to this store, and talk to them? See, we’re not working to build better relations. We don't have bonds of trust and loyalty that will make us sacrifice.
Sometimes we have to sacrifice. I'm going to close up. It's time to go. It goes even for the domestic bonds. Here you're married to a lady, my wife, I don't care which one it is, and you see a little opportunity to do a little better by having luck with another lady. She has a little more education, or a little more culture, or a little more beauty. And most of the time, it's nothing but a little more fun. 
And we will go break that relationship just to have a little more. All you had to do is sit down and have a powwow or a conference or whatever and say, "Baby, I saw something look good. Let me tell you about it. Now I think you got that. But I’m just going to go tell you about it.” And you tell her about it, and man watch her. Pretty soon, she would have that of what you were looking at. I don't say she has a degree from the University of California, I'm not talking about that. What I'm talking about is you know.
Yes. You can work that out and get more powwow. And sometime, all you need to do is start washing yourself up more. And she will come home stronger. Stop leaving your dirty drawls where she can find them. That turns her off. Stop blowing your nose in the handkerchief that you tell her to carry to the laundry. That turns her off. Stop snoring in her face when you know you’re snoring. Go in the next room. Or say, “Dear would you like for me to turn m back or go in the next room because I’m awfully tired tonight.
Respect the bond of the relationship. Respect, you see? And If you can't have that, don't do anything. Everything I say, people won't to tie it to my own personal experience.
Just because I point to sicknesses, they don't mean that at all of them.
So, sister next time that you don't feel like cooking, don't cook. Don't let that man see you.
It takes too long to overcome that damage. Don't do it. 
Qualifying priorities. Lastly, on this problem of bonds of trust and loyalty. Setting the priorities according to qualifications. Now I get my check. I got $250, over the bills for this week. So, does that means I got $250? No. I got $250 over the bills this week. Doesn't mean I got $250. They're bills coming next week. And next week. And next week. At the end of the month. The only one way I got $250, is that I look at the expenses for the whole month, and then I come up with a remainder. And I say I got a remainder of $25 for this month.
Not for anything more than this month. Now we got to live this year. And next year. So, you'll look at what you got to spend this week. Always look at what you got to spend until spending, stop being needed. So, you'll look right away to those children that’s growing up in your face. And look them to their future, see how long you got to keep them under your roof, in your care. Say, “Well, there is 8 more years old year with Mary, and about 7 more years with Joseph.
“Brother Imam, how come you don’t say Yusuf and Maryam?” I'll say it's just for you. Yusuf and Maryam. You have to look at them and say, “Hey, honey we can't spend all this money. We have to invest something in next week, and next month, and next year. In this child’s education. I that child education. In case that child get sick, in case I get sick. In case something develops and need to be fix in the house that we not prepared for. Maybe the roof would get a leak.
Maybe the furnish would go bad. Maybe the air condition would clunk out We have to consider all these things. I hear people tell me, “You got money. You know you got money.” They be looking, you know. I say, “I ain’t got no money.” I'll say it just like that, “I ain't got no money.” While I’m laughing, I’ll say, “I ain't got no money.” You're looking at a crisp hundred-dollar bill, $200, & $300 bill, you know.
I ain’t got no money. I know where he's got to go. This money already spent. When I need such and such. I need such and such. I said, Yeah?” You need more than that. You need somebody with more than I got.
What I'm saying brothers and sisters, we have to get to control. We have to get control of our life. We have to create the situation we call environment. We have to create that environment. There's no need of us being overcome by the environment, the situation we're in all the time. Let's not necessary. Mexicans in Mexico have gone through a crisis recently. This was in the newspaper. The wall street journal and other media carried it. Because of heavy loans and borrowing so much money from the west, and other problems that they have. The lack of productive machinery, and machinery of reproductive I guess, along with the problem of borrowing. Going so deep in debt.
Anyway, they came through a period of crisis. And I read where families, Mexican families, took their matter into their own hands. And they didn’t go out in the streets demonstrating, and condemning the government. Although, the government, was greatly at fault. They decided that they would see could they use their own ingenuity and survive. So, what did they do? They told relatives to come move in with me
Those that space in their homes encourage relative to move in with them. So, they wouldn’t have to pay rent in so many places. That made their money go further. They also start doing things for themselves that they were depending on other people to do for them before. They start making garments, got a little used sewing machines brought it in the house, start making shirts. The business increased so much, they got up to 12 sewing machines in this house. Employers went up so much, they had to employ enough family members to meet the work demand. And this was just one example of what they did in many families, to cope with the situation and survive. Now, what do they have going for them that we don't have going for us? A stronger sense of loyalty to the bond of trust. Relatives, relationships a better sense. Even they have a problem of a sense of respect, loyalty to the bond that brings citizens and governments together. If they didn't, they'd be like us. “Hell, Reganomics got to go.” 
Have you caught that dollar once that keep going out of your community? Because that’s what he through at us because we complained about Reganomics. He says, "Well look you've got billions of dollars that come to you as your earning power and they don't make one circulation in your community. They come into your hand and then go out.” He like me, I would've just pushed more. I would have punched again. I would have said, “Before you come to me asking for some more money, you've better hold on to some of that you get.” I would have punched again. But he didn't say that, he just said, “It doesn’t circulate.”
He said, “You have it, but it doesn’t make one circuit in your community. It goes right out." You know he got that information from African American organization. Like the Urban League and other who compile that kind of information. Don’t think the government did that study. They ain’t interested in that. That’s not their interest. They just want to know where is the money? How much it is? Is it coming back this way?
“If it didn’t come back in, send the FBI to take look at it.” Yes, in my conclusion. What I have said to you amounts to this. Let us work for suitable situations for our life that G-d created for us. Let us have desire, people with no appetite aren't going nowhere. Let us have desire for big and important things. No matter how small we are or how insignificant our situation is in the world now, don't be afraid, they say to dream. I don't like that kind of language. Don't be afraid to expand your appetite for bigger and more important things.
That's not dreaming. I don’t know why they say dreaming, that's the language to keep the little people from getting too serious about the big dream. “You can dream.” They have songs about dreams. No, it’s no dream, just say appetite. But not for the things that hurt and oppress and destroy and disrupt the good life. Get a big appetite for those things that will make you strong, established. Yes, get a big appetite. Establish yourself singly, establish yourself as a family and always respect the need to establish the neighborhood, the community, the bigger unit.
Yes, because that kind of interest in you for the big unit, it just automatically without us having a psychology to even explain it. It automatically prepares you better for achieving the things you want to achieve in your small circle. It's that extended hope. If I want to walk over to that chair the way I make a difficult for myself is looking right at that chair. Limiting my focus to that chair, then it becomes more strenuous. But if I just look over at the chair and in the focus even at the wall back there, I'll walk over there with such ease. Now, sometimes you have to focus just on the chair but that's a difficult walk. Now if the chair is going to get up and run away, that’s different.
Things that are going to getting up and may run away, you’re supposed to run on that. But the big picture, ain’t nobody watching, there's no one thinking, "I'm watching here, if you go out there, I'm going to stop you." Nobody is watching you. So, don't just look here look out there too. "I have things over there too." Not today, later on. Work for the small picture with the concentrated concern but also invite the big picture and its concerns into your concentrated concerns so that you're guaranteed the big picture getting some benefit from your efforts in the small picture.
See, this is what make people great. We should do this as an individual with an interest in the home, with an interest in the neighborhood, with an interest in the United States. That's what makes a difference in people. Some people are working for a thing too small to develop the big muscle that G-d gave them. Thank you very much and peace be unto you. As-Salaam Alaykum


