06/12/1999
IWDM Study Library 
Ta’aleem Charleston SC

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
And only accept to confront somebody and take chances on making them an enemy or engage them as the enemy when you've exhausted all other options for all other possibilities. This is my advice to you. Don't think that you know it all. I was hired as a welder and I was just out of the welding school. The supervisor that my boss assigned to me to work with me on the work bench was an old man. Back then, in the welding field, if you can weld, you can weld for as long as you are able to weld. They don't get rid of you because of your age.
So, this man looked like he should have been retired. He was up in age and everything, but he was not. I don't know how old he was but he was old. He was much older than 65. So, this is the first day I'm starting work. The man assigned to me, he said, "What's your name?" He had been told my name, said "What's your name?" So, I told him, "No need to tell you, you wouldn't even know the name." I sure didn't use Muhammad. I wanted a job. Back then, believe me, it was very, very difficult, almost impossible. So, I told him my name again and he said, "Alright, let's go to work."
There was a young fella, old man told him, said "Come on. Said let's put this tank together." Then the young man started telling the old man all about the tank and everything and how it should be done. And every time he would say something the old man would check him. He wouldn't let him just keep talking, the old man would check him. Every time he said something the old man would check him and say, "Who told you that? Where you got that? Where you learn that at?" So, at the end of this kind of a duel they had between themselves, the old man said, "I hope it won't offend you but you don't know a damn thing on your own, do you?"
He said "Okay, let's go to work." He got me ready to go to work. And not that I had presented any problems but I guess he said, I guess he handled all the new guys like that. Young guys, gonna handle all the young guys. He was going to make sure he didn't have any problem with none of them from the jump, from day one. Well I hadn't presented any problems. I wasn't just going ahead of him. In fact, that wasn't my nature. I was going to wait for him to tell me where to go, what to do. But to play it safe I guess he said for this particular young fellow, I'm going to let him know that he doesn't know a damn thing.
That's the way he put it. So let me tell you, if you want to really be wise young leaders say to G-d, "G-d I know nothing" and mean it because you don't. Say "G-d I know nothing." That's what the believers say. When even the angels who had the nearness to the Throne of G-d, they knew that what man perhaps would never know. They had knowledge of things that maybe man will never know of the unseen. And when G-d asked them, questioned their knowledge, their response to G-d was, "We know not." And we know that as the devoted hajji making his circles around Ka'aba, he will say to G-d, "G-d and I know not." The worst thing that can happen to our leaders, young and old is that they get bigheaded.
They think they more special than they are. They think they know more than everybody else. Never think that. We only know just a little bit, nothing but a little bit. And no matter how long you live on this earth, what you know is just a little, little bit. With all this technology, all the science we got, there is no government, not even United States of America can bring their scientists on television and draw the boundaries of the universe. They don't even know where it is. They cannot map what G-d did. They can map the earth that they walk on and travel upon and can see with their eyes. They can use a telescope and go so far out there, but they never can go to the end of it. They can't even give us a satisfying picture of this universe. What I mean by a satisfying picture? They leave too much unanswered.
If this is space, where and when does it stop being space? Who can answer that question? No man. This is what we call space. This is space? Yes. Where does it start and stop? When and where does this space start and stop? At the end of that space what is the other thing called beyond the end of that space? No man knows. Think about it. That should make you a believer. And when G-d says He is the biggest, Allahu Akbar. G-d is bigger than the biggest Akbar. He is bigger than that. And yet He can become your company in your little small world and your little small concerns. He can become your company. He's bigger than the universe. But he can become your company in your little small house and in your little small affair. He can become your company and your comforter, your friend, your helper in your life.
That's G-d. So, if you believe in G-d in the correct way, you are going to be successful. If you desire to accept all that G-d has ordered us to accept in the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad, if you desire that desire to have it all. Be honest. If I were you, I'd be honest. It saves us. Say "G-d, I want to stay a Muslim. I want to be called Muslim. I want be in this community. I want to be with the believers, but I don't want to get too right. I don't want to get too straight. I can't separate from this thing wrong and that thing wrong and this thing wrong. Let's be honest.
But pray for those who want to be completely obedient and complete as the creation that G-d wants them to be. Pray for those who want that, that they achieve it. That they have to have the courage to keep asking for it until they get it. Cause it'll be those people who will carry us to the end of the road. Only those people can carry us to the end of the road. Those who don't want to pray too straight because they're afraid G-d may really answer, and they won't be able to do some of the things they shouldn't be doing now, they can't carry us to the end of the road.
Let me conclude with these words. Somebody mentioned home. G-d revealed to mankind, to His Prophets and servants that we all came from one parent, one ancestor. So that means in the beginning we were one family. G-d says one community. That's how He put it. The beginning, mankind, people were one community. Ummatan Wahida. So, G-d give us a picture of parents, father and mother. Mother and father and then offspring coming and a garden that they were given as their home. Their home was a garden. The garden of paradise was their home. That was their home. Now as Muslims we have as a symbol the Ka'aba that we turn to, to pray to make Pilgrimage and Umrah and visit to the sacred precinct, to the house.
And it is called a house. And you actually can go into it, walk inside, but it's only one room. One room. It's one open space inside. And the place, the yard, the house and the yard space around it, the ground that belongs to the house, is a ground that should not be violated. You are to respect that G-d has ordered that and you came to obey G-d and to be present there in His presence. So, you're not to argue with each other. You are not to kill anything that G-d says do not kill. You're to strictly obey the rules for that territory of those grounds that are called sacred grounds. And the place is called a place of security and safety. G-d called it that. G-d named it that. He made it a place of security and safety.
Isn't that what we want by a home life? Isn't that what every human being wants for his home life? He wants to be able to go to bed without fearing that somebody's going to break in the door or enter while he's gone and take all his possessions. Or come in and beat up his family or kill him. He wants safety. He wants to be secure and safe, right? And he wants for the home peace. He doesn't want his family to be upset all the time. He wants peace for his whole life, peace for his family, security for the house and his possessions. He want exactly what G-d described for us for that place called the sacred grounds, the Ka'aba, the house of G-d and the sacred grounds and relics and whatever. All that makes up that sacred ground in the territory there.
So, what is the need in man's soul for his future on this earth? Peace, security. To be safe from power coming from another man or from another human being. To not to be at war with another human being but to be at peace. To have peace. This is what is in our soul that we want, especially for home life. I emphasize the home life. Now the population, these children of Adam, Peace be upon him and our mother, first mother, these children have become so many now. They have populated world and they have grown so much in their ability to travel and reach far distant places that no place now is unreachable. All of us have met each other and we've touched each other and we've engaged each other. We've discovered each other and have interaction now with each other. So now that need must be carried home to its fulfillment.
It must be answered to its satisfaction. It is now necessary for man to have this whole state in the whole world. And wherever he goes, he must feel that he's safe. That no one is going to take his property from him by force. That no one is going to disrespect his rights of marriage, the rights to have his wife, rights to have children, right to have a home for them. His right to go out of his home and seek livelihood, support. To work for his future without being hindered. Without being held back if he has the ability to do it. So, man, now this is the condition of the earth. Now the earth is so populated, so filled and we are so acquainted with all of it and all the people on it that it's a need now for us to work for that home state, for the whole global community.
That the whole global community becomes that home state where I can move about. And when you look at a house, especially a house that has grown, you start with one room and you got everything in that one room. But as your means increase, your knowledge and means increase, you then have the cooking in one room so that cabbage is not on the curtain of every room. Cabbage smell, not in the curtains of every room. So, you got to a kitchen now and you try to keep those smells right there. And you got living room, guest rooms and you got a bathroom, keep those smells right there. You got a bathroom. Where before, everything used to be in one room.
If you think about it, especially the brother that gave us that description, that description of Economics 1 0 1. If you think about what's happening to this world now economically, what is happening to the world in terms of its economic development, you can see the whole world now putting people in the world kitchen. In the world bathroom or toilet. Listen, putting people in the world living room, even putting people in the world bedroom. "Oh, what do you mean by that? All of us in one bedroom?" Yes. The people are asking that man be permitted to marry whoever he wants to marry. Whatever race he wants to marry. That woman be able be permitted to marry any race she wants to marry. This is what they're demanding.
So that means every house will be alike. Not that you're going to always have somebody different than you in your bedroom, but at least you have the right to have a different person than you, a Chinese or whatever in your bed as your mate. You are free to select from the family of people any race, any ethnic group you want for yourself. And nobody intelligent in this moment in America will deny you that right. "Yes, you have the right to do that." So actually we become one family again living in one house again. You see my point? We're like one family again living in one house again.
So, the demand on us to civilize our sensitivity, to refine our sensitivity and civilize our sensitivity is greater than ever and will never be the same anymore. No, never be the same anymore. The world ain't going shrink up. You think something going to happen where we going to shrink up? And we're going to lose awareness of each other. They're going to have to discover Africa all over again. Discover America all over again. Discover China. No. It's been discovered once and for all. No need to ever be discovered again. We have grown from these separate places to be connected and we are connected and it'll never be changed again. So, we have to live with each other. You all have to plan your future. Plan community life. Don't plan community life in the United States of America for Muslims without the awareness that if a Christian want to move in your town, they can do it.
Christian want to live on your street next to your Mosque, they can do it. The law permits that. So, accommodate the Christians in the future of your community plan. Accommodate them in the future, that vision. Accommodate them. Say "Yes, we are going to have some Christians. We know they aren't going to flood our town with themselves, but we know we're going to have some." So, this is how we going to treat them. We're going to accommodate them. We're going treat them as Prophet Muhammad would treat his Christian guest. We are going to make them feel at home. We are going to invite them to share in the wealth of our town. Yes, invite them to invest in the wealth of our town. In the future of our town. We are going to respect them under the law of the United States. We are going to have our own chief, Fire chief.
We are going to have our own Police chief. We're going to have our own transportation center and the Department of Transportation for our little Muslim towns, little amount of towns. We going to have all of that under the law, and respect for the law of the United States. And with Christian neighbors if they want to be our neighbors. With Christian residents if they want to be our residents. That's the way you should be thinking. Don't be thinking "We are going to have an Islamic community brother. We don't have to let any Christians in, don't have to smell any of their pork cooking brother." Well hell, if you get that, If you people who haven't yet shown that you can be responsible for one wife and one child, many of you have not proven yet that you can be responsible for one wife and one child. If you show these people, American people that you can be responsible for whole a neighborhood, you're going to really be something. Yeah, you going to really be something.
They'll let you have your police department. They'll call your town. Say "Give me your police chief, give me Mahmoud. The police chief there." They call the fire department and they'll happily ask for the chief. "Hey fire chief, everything all right over there? You need anything from Chicago, you know you can get it. Anything you want." Thank you very much. Peace. As Salaam Alaikum.
Imam Darnell Karim:
As Salaam Alaikum We want to thank Imam Mohammed very much for his inspiring words and we pray that we may take it in our minds, our spirit and in our hearts. At this time we would like to bring Darnell Karim, the resident Imam of the Harvard Islamic Center to give us a briefing on the interview that is scheduled for tomorrow with our leader Imam WD Mohammed.
With the Name of G-d, the Merciful Benefactor, the Merciful Redeemer. We give testimony that there is One G-d, One Allah. He has no associates in His rule. And we give open testimony that Muhammad, to whom the Qur'an was revealed, is Allah's last Prophet. Dear brothers and sisters, today we feel so fortunate. We feel very fortunate today to be in the presence of our leader and also among the faithful people who have supported his leadership for all these many years. Dear brothers and sisters, this is really, I consider this a special announcement in terms of the broadcast of our leader, and it was inspired by myself and others at the Harvey Islamic Center seeing the need. They say you see a need and you try to fill it. And Imam Mohammed, I wouldn't want him to feel uncomfortable by me saying these things in front of him, but he's invaluable. Invaluable.
And for a man to have a clear voice of Islam here, not only in the Midwest region but in the United States and also in America, It is our duty who say that we are Imams, who say that we are leaders, who say that we are followers and supporters. It is our personal duty to see that his word speaking from Qur'an, the word of G-d and the way he has improved on the communities and our personal lives. It is our duty to see that others hear it and share it. That is our duty. We see the need and we're going to fill it. It should be so that every time a person turns on the television and the radio, there he is. It should be that way and we are going to make sure that it happens. Praises be to our Allah. So, what we are starting on WMDZ 750 AM every Sunday is our leader has committed to speaking to us live as much as his schedule permits him to speak live.
Where people will call in the radio station, they will ask questions, they will be able to talk to him personally or whatever. And we are going to start in terms of a promotional type of program starting tomorrow morning from seven 7:30 to 8:30 on the 750 AM dial. When we first approached the manager of the station, he was so excited. Of course we paying for this, but he forgot he was so excited about the Imam coming. He started talking about free, free. And when we grabbed it right away, when he started using that word free. But we know free-ain't nothing free. So, he said, "What are we going to do? We're going to let everybody know five times a day for 30 seconds we're going to make announcement and it's on us until the Imam starts the program on June 13th. And they say it's on us.
I said, All Praises due to Allah. Brother Morocco was with me. He's a real good negotiator. He told him, he said they have others on the station too where they have other languages that they speak. And he said, "What about our call for prayer?" He said, "Well, they speak other languages on the channel. I don't think they have no problem with what we call our call for prayer in the Arabic language. He said, "Yeah, why not?" So, we going to fix it so that we working with it right now. So, we are going have them to call the prayer on the radio there. They're going to call prayer, make their adhan there.
And when we told them what the meaning was and we gave them the meaning according to way the Imam has taught us. Very beautiful meaning. He said "We should have that on there all the time." G-d is greater. Come to personal success and cultivation, cultivation of the community. They never heard language like that before. And they can relate to that. Cultivation of self, cultivation of the community. He said "Ah man, we need to hear that all the time." So, we going to make sure that in the conclusion of this is that, and I'm not going to mention their names, but I think we all know. We get tired of people saying that when they ask about Muslim, Islam and all like that, they're talking about the other people. I see them in the street, I see them here and I hear them on the radio, TV or whatever. We going to knock all that out and we're going to let them hear the clear voice of our leader, Imam WD Mohammed Muslim American Spokesman, we are going to do it. Praise be to Allah. Thank you. As Salaam Alaikum
IWDM
Thank you Imam Darnell Karim.



