06/03/1990
IWDM Study Library
IWDM in Cleveland OH

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
IWDM: Assalamu alaikum.
Crowd: Wa alaikum assalam
IWDM: [Arabic language] Praise be to Allah the Lord Sustainer of all the world. [Arabic language] We seek him for assistance and we turn to him asking forgiveness. [Arabic language] and we believe in him who is mighty and sublime [Arabic language] and we witness that there is but one G-d. As we say Allah, and we witness that Muhammad is his messenger. [Arabic language]. The prayers and the peace be upon him. [Arabic language] and on his following his family, the companions of the prophet. All. Amin.
Before addressing the topic for today in Cleveland, Faith and Works Religion for us as Muslims, I must express the great joy that we experienced last night at the Seventh Annual Observance of the building of the Masjid Bilal and achievements of the Imam Clyde Rahman and the people who were working hard with him. We certainly have a very inspiring and historic meeting occasion last night that I'm sure will benefit us in our spirit, our morale and many other ways for the rest of our lives and for the lives of our children to follow for many generations.
I don't think the impact of this is registering on many of us as is registering on myself and I'm sure a few others. The impact of this may be too much for the people that care nothing about anything but what is the grocery list today and who is coming over, or what am I going to have before going to bed, or what's on channel seven or whatever. For persons who busy their minds with nothing but things like that, I know the impact of this escapes you right now but somewhere in the future it's going to hit you too and you're going to realize what occurred last night. Not that this is the first time but last night was the most impressive I've seen anywhere. We haven't had anything to equal that anywhere in this United States.
[applause]
It's a great thing when one man among us is recognized for his goodness and his merits in a big way by big people or by important establishments, but it's a bigger and greater thing when a person that says he is beneath that person in the importance and leadership also receives that kind of recognition. That's a greater thing. It's greater thing when we have people working with us like Imam Clyde Rahman who says Imam W.Deen is his leader but he got recognition last night that few African Americans get in this country anywhere.
Things that are happening are too big for our small focus right now, and they are going to really strike us much later in the future. I guess prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, I guess he was facing similar situation when he was following G-d and starting out with his great mission that now incorporates about a billion people on this planet. They say about one out of five human beings. If you get five people, one of those numbers goes to the Muslims.
There's a lot that's to be said about the great achievement of our prophet and that's not our topic for today but it's hard to resist talking about it. Very hard to resist it. Especially once it hits your mind. Once your mind becomes aware of it. Very hard to resist talking about the achievements of our prophet, peace and blessings be on him.
Getting back to the point. From what I've read in the Quran of him, and from what I’ve read of him in his own reports that we have in the records, the life reports of our prophet, the reports on the life of our prophet, I am convinced that he faced a similar situation himself where the worth, the magnitude of what he was doing was too much for most of the people that he was addressing and trying to reach at that time. For that reason, he spoke to them of the future. That in the future many things will be realized. "In the future you will realize this."
He would refer them to people who had circumstances that made it possible for them to have a better grasp of the importance of what he was doing. For example, in the Quran, Allah gives the revelation and says, "And ask the Christians. Consult the Christians. Consult the people of the book." It says.
We take that to mean people who believe in Christianity and Jews. Right? Consult the people of the book for verification of what I am saying to you. Why? Because you don't have the experience and the circumstance behind you to really be aware, to really grasp the magnitude and the great gravity of what I'm talking about. You only have me as a witness. Since the circumstances behind you have limited you, go ask those people whose circumstances have been favorable. [laughs] They have great learned people among them and they are aware of the world and the world's history. They know better how to estimate the value of individual's work. So consult them.
I say last night you received a recognition that you would never receive from your people for the next 10 generations. Because we don't have that kind of circumstances in our lives to make us value what he is doing as they valued what he's doing. I'm not saying this to condemn us. I'm saying this, I hope, to enlighten us. To let us know that though we are perhaps the best people in preparedness when it comes to sincerity and enthusiasm, we are not the best people in preparedness when it comes to a situation for measuring the value and worth of individuals who are doing great work. We will grow into that. We are growing into it. We are growing fast. I'm happy to say that. We are growing very fast. We're becoming a sophisticated body of people real fast. It can’t happen too quick for me though.
[laughter]
So much for last evening. Again, it's hard to turn from the focus there on what occurred last night. So much that it’s steering at me that I would like to say it. I will simply close that last evening out by saying we think a lot about the achievements of Imam Clyde Rahman and the hard working people with him. We pray that Allah always bless him and the people working with him and preserve their works, and increase their works. Amin.
I would like to open the topic for today or the subject for today if you want to call it that, the address for today, I like to use the expression address for today, with some reading from the chapter in Quran called Ar-Rahman or the Beneficence. Before reading from the contents of this chapter or the Ayat or verses of this chapter, I would like to make some comments on the very title itself. Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahman.
Ar-Rahman is attribute or name of the Almighty G-d, Lord Creator of the heavens and earth or one of the-- we say the 100 names or 99 attributive names of Allah. Ar-Rahman. We know that that number is only a number we use in formal situations, or in formal kind of conversation and discussions. We know that for Allah-- Allah says in the Quran, for him are all the most excellent names.
Ar-Rahman, first of all, is important to know the root of Rahman. The root, that is the meaning, the core meaning of Ar-Rahman, the core, the nucleus if you understand nucleus-- Core's the main part of a fruit or something, right. Center, the most important part. Nucleus means the same. If we understand what we mean by this expression then the root or the heart of the word is mercy. Mercy. It comes from Rahma. Rahma. Mercy.
Ar-Rahman is the one who is so bountiful having so many much resources, everything that exists as resources really come from him, the Creator, Allah. He gives it to his creatures. It has been created for his best-behaving creature. That's why he created it. To influence goodness in his creature, to influence good behavior in his creature. To influence thankfulness in his creature. That first word, first part means development in his creature, - faith. To increase, or to influence and increase faith in his creature. Faith in his creature for the Lord, for G-d, you see, so he had created so much and so much.
Now let's read some verses from the Quran. The last revealed book, the chapter titled Ar-Rahman. Though most of us will not speak Arabic or understand Arabic or read Arabic, still I think all of us can appreciate the soothing, and for want of a better word, melodious sound of the Quran. Melodious means like music.
It begins, and we also always ask Allah's protection from the rejected Satan. It begins Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. "In the name of G-d, most gracious, most merciful." [Arabic language] "G-d most gracious it is He who has taught the Quran." [Arabic language] Means to make someone know, to bring someone to know something, by teaching, by informing. He is the one--
[00:46:33] [END OF AUDIO]
Speaker: [unintelligible 00:00:04] The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed. We understand the word computed. Now the computer is so common, I think everybody understand the word computed. I remember about maybe 30 or 40 years ago reading this and I had to stop because I know many in the audience doesn't understand what a computed means because I didn't either until I run into and learned what it meant. I would have to explain computed, but we know now because computer is another tabulator. It does much more than that, but that's one of its functions.
The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed. It goes on to mention many many other things that we see and marvel at in Allah's creation and some things that many of us take for granted in His creation. It moves from addressing the operations that are in the sky, the heavens. Before doing that, it reminds us of the obligation to establish justice by others, balance and justice. It comes down to the earth. The focus comes down to the earth and brings our attention to the great wonderful bounties that we find on the earth.
Earth with plenty herbage, herbs, plants that are useful to man in so many ways, giving him fruits and spices and serving his needs in so many ways. It also brings our attention to the waters, the seas, the bounties in the seas, the beautiful things that are formed in the seas from the fish that we eat, the food that we eat, but also the beautiful things that come from sea life that we use as jewelry and coral and all those nice things. You can make nice utensils, vases, whatever and jewelry and everything from it.
Also, the sea supports our cargo and supports us and carry us across the sea. What is being carried across the sea? On that surface of water is a lot of means to support tons and tons and tons within a vessel. The water itself created by G-d. The water is filled with useful things for man and beautiful things for man, then the ships that he's made that sails the water, he made it from materials provided by Allah. He himself riding in the ship, he was created by Allah and all of his abilities and everything his talent and everything was given to him by the creator.
Whatever cargo is in there, raw or manufactured came to him from the creator. I'm just summing this up and briefly commenting so we can see the point. The point is Allah has been most kind to his creatures. Most kind to his creatures. We are born within our nature to know that whether it is Allah, whether you call it Allah, whether we even know the name, but we're born with the nature to know that kindness is in the world for us.
The baby hollers and screams coming in the world, most of the time, but it's not because it's afraid of what's out here in the world, it's because it's suffering pain. The medical profession has described the pressure that's put on the infant's skull when it's being drawn out through the womb is great pressure and a lot of pain. I guess that's the way Allah tells them, "You think this is bad, wait 'til you run into some of those relatives of yours."
[laughter]
I guess Allah is conditioning them, getting them ready so he can survive worse things that's coming. Anyway, it's there but once he's out he's just as contented. Once he touches his mother and he feels her and the warmth from her, he's just as contented. Looks like he knew he was going to be put in good circumstances. It's just like nature just made him know, or her know that the child's going to be put into good circumstances.
The baby is born with the nature to have faith and trust in something of the world that's going to take care of it, be kind to it, right? That's the mercy of Allah, that's the grace of Allah, that's the goodness of Allah. He has done so much good for man, woman. Now, when we say man, we mean man and woman. He's done so much good for man, down through the ages, down through the generations, that this has been clocked into our genetic make-up. It's in our genetic make-up. It's in our genes, it's in our blood, it's in our bones to expect goodness and to have faith in goodness. To trust goodness.
I wanted to come back to the first verses now because these first verses they're different. We want to see the uniqueness of this religion. We want to see this religion's distinction from other religions. We have to go back to the first verses. The most revelation before the prophet, the prophet is the last prophet. He's the last prophet. The last completes. What's given in the finish, in man's growth process should be better in degrees, it should be more progress, it should be higher in man's-- I would say it should be higher in man's eye when he looks at it to evaluate it.
The last should be higher because it's given to him according to his developmental needs. That's how Allah has served us. He created us and he's given to us according to our developmental needs. That that is given lastly for the final maturity in man. For the final maturity in man, for the final growth in man, it must also be more valuable and more important for man. It must also be higher in man's reach when he's aspiring for something. It must be higher,` and it is.
Instead of just dwelling on these things that man behold in the physical environment because that's how the scripture is before us, this scripture, it mostly dwell on the stars, the heavenly bodies, the wonders of the heavens and the beauty of G-d's creation, but never address the developmental line in a human being. Look, the intellect of man, very first. It says, "He who has taught the Quran. The Beneficent G-d who has taught the Quran.
We understand the beneficent of G-d, the giving and kindness of G-d and his mercy, great mercy when we recognize that G-d has served the intellect of man. G-d has served the intellect of man. Many of us forget that man's value in the world is really the result of the growth of his intellect more than anything else. The growth of his intellect.
Now we know the heart is very important. The heart is the key to the growth of the intellect. It's the key, very important key, to the growth of the human intellect. But we know dear people from the studies of the history of man, his life, his growth, and development, that the growth of his intellect really explains man's ability to achieve great wonders in the world. You can have the best people in heart, but if they don't have no schooling and have no intelligence, it's just like being in a rabbit field. Rabbits are sweet and nice too. Beautiful, sweet, nice things.
The intellect is what establishes man as the crown in the kingdom of creatures. He's the crown. He crowns the kingdom of creatures. It is the intellect and that is addressed first in the Quran, after the verse saying, Ar-Rahman. Ar-Rahman is a verse to itself. Isn't that something? The one word, the name of G-d formed one verse to itself. Ar-Rahman and you can stop, you can stop right there. Ar-Rahman stop. One verse. The Beneficent, the Merciful, the Beneficent G-d. Ar-Rahman. Complete verse within itself.
How is this a complete verse within itself? How is this a complete thought, a complete line of reasoning, a complete thought, a complete message to man's intellect, to his heart mind in itself, just the one-word, Ar-Rahman? Not even Allah. Is there any verse that says Allah and stop? Why? Because when we say G-d, G-d is a name that incorporates so many other wonderful attributes that cause us to know G-d by his description. When we say Ar-Rahman, it touches--
All of us know that someone has been kind to us. [laughs] All of us know that we have received mercy somewhere along this road. All of us know that. All of us know that we've received mercy from somebody along this long road that we've been walking on, or whatever. All of us know somebody had to be kind to us in order for us to be here enjoying what we enjoy. Somebody had to be kind to us. I've had individuals tell me, "I had nobody treat me right. Nobody ever just treat me right."
I have patience with people like that because I know they met with some people that was so terrible that the experience just obliterated, blotted out, killed and made them forgetful of everything else that ever happened good. That one experience was so ugly, it just, "Bam!" it shattered everything that ever happened good in their life. I have patience with them and I just listen to them until they get tired of telling me all the bad stuff. Then when I see they're about ran out of telling me all the bad stuff and then I'll say, "How you get this?" I say, "That's nice."
I say, "Where you get that nice-- those are nice features from us, you know you’re a handsome person." I'll find something. If there's nothing but the looks, I'll say, "You know you're a handsome person. Where you get that?" Maybe he's ugly physically, I'll say, "You got a good heart."
[laughter]
Sometimes it's not that, but he's sharp-witted. I'll say, "You're a sharp-witted person." I'll say, "Where you get that?" So he has to start grappling in making him conscious that he ain't mistreated all the time, somebody must have treated you nice at some turn in the road. Somewhere down the line, you were treated nice, and then you can bring it on to him gradually. Most of them, you bring it on to them gradually saying, "Look, how are you here talking to me?" [laughs]
A lot of people are dead. A lot of people can't talk. They ain't got speech. How are you here talking to me? Then I will say, "You better start counting your blessings." All right? Yes. That's why you could tell and say. "Stop counting the misery that you've experienced and talking up all the people and record of all the bad things that happened to you. You got to keep a record of some good that has happened to you." You have to change them from a pessimist to an optimist if you can.
The one verse, Ar-Rahman, just the name of G-d, has one word and that is the name of G-d Ar-Rahman, the beneficent G-d. Do you know, and the evidence of this is in the Quran, that at one part in the prophet's mission, his followers were so moved and touched by the name Ar-Rahman--and you know it begins in every chapter, it begins Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim, Bismillahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. Those are the two names opening up every chapter except one, and then those two names come in that chapter that is not opened by those two names.
If you read the body of that chapter, you run into Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim in that chapter, so every chapter contain it, and every but one has it in the beginning. Bismillahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. Hearing this come from the prophet, Allah revealing this to the prophet, and they're hearing as he gave it to them, the name, Ar-Rahman became so endeared to them that they were calling on G-d by Ar-Rahman, not Allah.
More of them, they're in a habit and they will say, "Ar-Rahman." More of them will say, "Allah." The verse came, it says, "Call on G-d by Allah, Ar-Rahman for unto G-d belong all of the most beautiful most excellent name." It must have been creating a problem, I'm sure some of the believers were probably saying, "Look, are we changing from calling G-d, Allah, from calling the Creator, Allah, to calling him Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahman."
However, when we understand the name, Allah, we understand why Allah has remained the most dear name and the richest name for man's intellect when you want to really comprehend or behold the name of G-d or the concept of G-d. That Allah is the richest and complete and perfect, and holding the concept that man wants to give a name to is Allah.
However, some of these names especially Ar-Rahman touch the heart in such a way that it makes the believers cry out, Ar-Rahman. Oh G-d. Ir-Rahman. In fact, you hear them. If you go among the Arabic speaking Muslims in the East, especially during Hajj, you hear them calling out Ir-Rahman, Ir-Rahman, Ir-Rahman, Oh Ar-Rahman, Oh Ar-Rahman which is natural and proper and acceptable.
He created the man. He created the human being. Understand, G-d is saying the merciful one created the human being. Allah, the merciful one, G-d Himself, the merciful one. The merciful and beneficent one. He is merciful and kind and giving and He's serving your need. He created the human being. That's very important. Understand, this is the third verse. Very short verses. The first one Ar-Rahman. The second one, Allamal Quran, He taught man the Quran, or taught the Quran. The third one, Hal Al Insan, He has created the human being, the human man. It is very important.
Why? Because the mercy and kindness and benevolence and charity and goodness of G-d to man, touches man in his emotions, in his heart so much that he began to look for that concept or that image as G-d, the one that will show him the most kindness. He has a tendency to make him his G-d. The one that he believes is more kind and gentle and loving and serving his needs and everything and has given him gifts, oh, that must be G-d. Yes, it is G-d, but the one that does that is Allah, the creator. Everything ties back to the creator. Everything ties back to the creator.
I don't know how many Christians we have here today. We're always are happy to have Christians among us and they have good sound faith and healthy faith we don't want to take that away from them or to shake that or shatter that, for them. We'd rather see them hold that than to come over here and be a bad Muslim. I don't know how many Christians we have here today, but I do know that we have a lot of ex-Christians here today.
For that reason, I'm going to say this. The Quran addresses the most important matters in the life of man. The most important matters. When I say life, I mean the whole thing. History and everything. The most important matters. At the same time, it touches the individual and communicates to the common person. He doesn't have to know anything about the history. He doesn't have to know anything about Christian theology or anything.
Allah is speaking directly to his common creatures. He touches his heart, he touches his mind, he touches his aspirations, he touches his whole life. His whole life, everything. Directly communicating to him directly. At the same time, Allah has the ability, the power to communicate, to the whole human family while he's addressing the common individual person. This is addressing-- it seems like it's not addressing Christian theology, but it is.
In Christian theology, they made the mistake of taking the beauty and mercy and kindness and generosity of Jesus Christ the prophet, peace be upon him, to be the proof of divinity in him that he's a G-d because he was so loving and everything. He loved him so well, "Oh, he must be G-d. That must be G-d."
Right now, we have to be careful of loving certain spiritual people or spiritual men. An Imam, or a preacher, a minister, a priest, a Rabbi, he has to be careful being real kind and loving by a believer because there's a tendency in us to appreciate that so much we make the mistake of thinking that's G-d, and especially in the Western world.
In the Western world, man, though he's lift up high as the image of G-d, or if they say he has in him the divine spark-- some more confusion, that's all it is. If he got a divine spark in him, it's nothing but a human spark and it ain't going go nowhere as a god. He'll go a long way as a human but nowhere as a god. We don't believe like that and I thank Allah he saved us from that kind of idea.
The problem is that this world, the Western world, has made all of us in our nature and in our originality feel bad or say, "Man is born in sin." That all of us are just doomed, we're just born to be sinners and we're doomed unless we be saved by the one with the divine in him. In the Christian theology, this one is Jesus Christ, the prophet. That kind of idea has influenced the way we perceive each other, I would say the concept we have of each other, the attitudes toward each other, our treatment of each other. It has influenced all of that.
We say, "A hell, a human being ain't worth nothing, anyway. He ain't nothing but a sinner." Those people, many of them who were trying to develop themselves into the divine man, in religion, those in the religious schools of thought. They made the mistake of actually believing that if the human person didn't have this divine spark in them that they were no more than a beast, a common animal and should be treated like animals. Now we don't want to bring ugly history back, but I'm telling you what I'm saying is history.
Actually treated the common people as they call them the common herd. The common herd. The common people are animals. There was a time when you had no rights as we have today, you didn't have any kind of rights. The common public or the common masses were treated just like animals.
If you didn't have what they thought was the intellectual spark or divine spark in the intellect, then you were nothing. Not only that, the women too. The women were thought to never be able to have that. Their nature wouldn't allow them to have that, so they were treated just like property. No education for women and no education for the common public. That lasted for centuries. I'm talking about western society. This is Western society.
You can go in some places, perhaps even today, in some places where still there are traces of that kind of ignorance and that kind of treatment of common people. They'll be treated just like animals, just treated just like dumb animals, and worse than animals because some men are very kind to their animals. It depends on whether they like them or not. They're treated like the rejected animal. The kind of animal that they don't want. Treated worse than ordinary animals.
We know how we were treated when we were first brought to this country. We know how we were treated, so you can see what can happen. Why? Because they believed that the natural man is nothing. He's just a sinner, he's nothing until some divine spark enter him or something. We must understand what G-d is saying to us that he has been most kind to his creatures. Most kind to his creatures. He didn't give this to just some priest or to some monks or Rabbis or Imams, he give this to all his creatures.
He give all these things to all of his creatures. That tells us that he is the same by all of us and he must have estimated us differently. He must have valued us differently, because if he didn't, why was he so kind by us that were not born Christian? Why was he so kind by us that were not born Jews? Why was he so kind by us that was not born Muslims? He's been kind by all. He's blessed people with environmental situation that was a paradise for them. Yes, and brought so many riches into their reach and made it possible for them to realize heaven on earth almost. Yes.
They didn't have to be Muslim, they didn't have to be Jew, they didn't have to be Christian, he did it for them. He didn't say, "Let me first make them a Muslim then I can do this for them. Let me first make them a Christian then I'll do this for them." No, he did before we were made Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
So do you see the wrong in us? Jesus is the Lord and Jesus is the love and-- Allah is love. Allah is the divine love. Allah is the divine mercy. Allah is the loving G-d, he is the friend. He is the friend that never fails us. We make a big mistake. The kindness that we credit one man with is no more than the kindness that we will see in many men if we really know history. There ain't no one man be kind like that. Sometimes a mother that never gets her name in the news, have suffered more than Jesus Christ suffered, according to the Gospel.
I'm talking about according to the Gospel and don't think I'm not a believer in Jesus Christ. I'm a strong and firm believer in Jesus Christ, peace be upon the Prophet, but I know too that there have been people whose names have never got into the news, not even to speak about in scripture or a book and they have suffered more than Jesus Christ have suffered according to what they say happened to Him. They suffered more.
Many of Jesus Christ's followers suffered much more than he suffered according to what they report of His suffering.
They didn't break, they still love preachers. They didn't curse their enemies, they did the same thing. If that's going to make Him G-d, then there are other many of them G-d's then. See Allah (unclear) trying to teach the Muslims. There's a big mistake to not trace everything back to Me, the Creator. What is existing out there by itself? Nothing. What started on its own without Allah? Nothing. I'm just quoting scripture. This is what makes strong faith. When you understand that of Allah, that'll make your faith strong. Strong faith.
Have a little patience, it won't be too long, I hope. In this religion, we are given concepts that protect us from having the truth fragmented and alienated before us. Man's mistake, misguidance in man's intellect and his in heart many times, cause him to think he's right, but he breaks the truth away from itself. He goes with a part of the truth that looks, that attracted him, it becomes so fascinating for him he only takes that one facet. He takes that one little facet of the truth and he becomes so enchanted by it, so fascinated about.
After a while, he swears up and down and he'll go to the gallows, he will go to the fire pit, whatever, this is G-d. This is G-d. No, this ain't part truth, this is the whole truth, this is the absolute, and he will go to death saying it. If he had patience and would accept that maybe he made a mistake, it'll be so easy and simple to show him that what you have ain't nothing but a fragment. You have a small view of the whole.
That's why the Quran, Allah in the Quran, treats the subject that is close to the hearts of people, Christians and even Jews so delicately but at certain points, the surgeon has to save the life of the creature and he just cuts. The whole cancer is taken out in one stroke. You go to the doctor, you go with a bad tooth or something and he first, a good wise doctor, first he acts like he ain't even interested in going directly to the tooth.
He rubbing you all over as you say, "Doctor, the pain is here." He knows it. He say, "Let's see here." He mops the mouth. He starts mopping your mouth. "Are you cleaning my gums?" He start mopping the gums. He knows what he's doing. He making it possible to do what he has to do without you suffering so much.
After a while, you ain't feeling too much, even he done put something there to kill the pain right on the surface of the gum. After he takes a needle and he wipes it around real slow, and a good one, you didn't even feel the needle go in. Then he gets his stuff, you know now he getting ready to pull the tooth, right? You know, you see him, you know what he's doing. But most likely and most of the time, you don't even feel nothing but the pressure. The tooth's gone and it's out, but that tooth's going to come out. It's going to come out or be filled. Whatever he's got to do he got to do it.
At one point in the Quran, Allah brings the truth right to our eyes in a way that let us know, no, I either got to be a Muslim or I just got to give this up. Ain't no room for me holding this wrong belief. What if Allah would will to destroy every creature on earth, including Jesus and his mother, peace be upon them. What is there to prevent G-d from doing that? Nothing.
Aren't we stupid then to worship the one who depends upon the other for his life, for his survival, for his security, even to be resurrected, even to go from death to the heavens, wouldn't we be stupid to worship one as a G-d that's so dependent. You know what struck me though, and another feature of this religion that's unique for it, this religion communicates to man. Remember what I said when we say, man, we mean humanity-- communicates to man by giving first respect to his true self. His true self. The true self of man.
To explain what I'm saying. More than any other religion that I know of, this religion communicates to man through man's nature. It addresses man's nature to communicate to him. It addresses man's nature, his natural life, his natural development, his natural aspirations in communicating to him.
It respects man where he is. What he is essentially. What he has been created essentially to be or what he is. That's what it addresses.
In doing that it brings the life into the intellect, life into the mind, into the reasoning of the human being. It brings life that wasn't existing when he was blindly following myth, fiction, superstition, false beliefs, whatever we want to call it. I used to hear the difference between the Prophet Jesus, peace be on him, and the Lord of the heaven and earth, before I learned the logic of the Quran in dealing with this misconception. I was just partly aware of that logic, at that time.
Before I could really utilize the great logic of the Quran and the methods of the prophet in dealing with that, it was enough to me, it was convincing enough for me. I was a young man, I was a minister for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. A young man and I couldn't understand, I couldn't have patience with certain people that would hold to the idea that there is any G-d other than Allah.
The simple thing about Jesus was enough for me that he was a baby. That was enough for me, he was a baby. How that's something that was a baby can be Allah, can be G-d? I wasn’t raised in the church. I wasn’t raised in this church, but I was raised with a kind of church way of seeing G-d. I was told too that G-d was a man. That G-d was W. Fard Muhammad in the person. I was told that. I was given a similar kind of idea, but I was also influenced, as we all were, who were taught by Elijah Mohammad and his ministers, I was influenced to at least try to reason with things.
No matter how strange the thing were we were taught, we were told to pick it apart, reason with it. That everything should be figured out or proven mathematically. That made me try to pick things apart. I got to make sense out of it. I would stand up as a minister and I'm sure I drove many Christians to dislike me, but some of them liked me and they became followers of Honorable Elijah Mohammad and they're still around here. Yes, I see them, they're still around here.
They saw me when I was a young man on Greenwood, 53rd and Greenwood, preaching over there and they're still around. Some of them still around. They stood up and they said, "Yes, I believe it." After I got to the fire and brimstone.
[laughter] I couldn't understand. He was a baby, how can you believe he's a G-d. He's a baby. He was a baby, somebody cared for him. He had to come into the world, he a baby, he came into the world like a baby. He had a mother. That was enough, for me. Then in his own words, in the Gospel, I read the Bible too. Here's his own words in the Gospel he says, "The sent is not equal to the sender, the servant is not equal to the master." I said still the same Gospel says, "They are three in one, all the same, all equal." This is a contradiction.
I said, "I'm likely to understand it when he says, "The sent is not equal to the sender and the servant is not equal to the master." That's where he makes sense to me. When it says, "They are all one and the same and equal," then he kills it for me. Yes, that's what I was telling them as a minister of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. I'm telling you I thought I was victorious, and I think I was.
When you come with common sense against foolishness and I don't mean this is foolish. It's not foolishness, but it's deception. It's myth and deception. It's erroneous teaching, no matter where it's found. It can be found on the holiest scroll in the history of the planet. It's erroneous teaching, it's deception. If you come at it with common sense, ain't nobody can stand against you. What do they do? They run backwards, right?
The best preachers the highest one in theology. When you come at him with common sense, he has to back up off you. He starts running backwards.
[laughter]
[applause]
One, I’m not going to say the denomination because this denomination has been picked on enough. One (unclear) from one denomination, he invited the fight too. He met me when I was cooling down. I don't feel sorry for what I did to him. He invited an argument in religion with me. He said, "Oh, yes, you a Muslim, aren't you?" I say, "Yes." He said, "Your father is Elijah, right?" I said, "Yes." So he jumped on me, he said, "I'm a minister." I said, "Yes." He jumped on me. When I got to throw at him nothing but common sense, "Get behind me Satan."
[laughter]
I was a young man even at that time. I was in my early 30s. "Get behind me Satan." I told him I said, "Where are you coming from in the Bible?" I say, "There's another part that say that a real believer will make Satan flee from them. You supposed to put Satan to flight. If I'm Satan, I'm supposed to be running from you. If you really got something." "Get behind me Satan," isn't that something? Isn't that some kind of expression? "Get behind me Satan." What do you mean? You going to lead me?
"Get behind me Satan." If I'm Satan, is he going to lead me or something? "Get behind me." Or you mean hide, hide because I don't want to see what you got. If I call you Satan. I'd do anything about it, but just get that out of my face I can't stand it anymore. That common sense logic, man, it put some pressure on them and they have to run or start just ranting at the mouth or falsely accusing you of something this, it goes apart, just comes apart. Those really high up in the knowledge, some of them just become silent.
No, they were told not to risk the Ark of the covenant in the battlefield. [laughs] They said they did that once and lost the Ark. It's the Bible, this is the Bible, no kidding. It was the Jews, not the Christians it was the Jews. The Bible says that once they fought the people, they brought the Ark out into the battlefield. The Ark of the covenant, they brought it into the battlefield. They ended up losing it to the opponents because they were told never to come out there with the Ark of the covenant again.
Don't risk it in battle. That's how those really wise boys, they don't risk the heavy stuff in battle. You start getting the battle hot and heavy for them, they just go silent. They ain't saying nothing. I guess that's wise. The Arabs have a saying, [Arabic language]. It says, "If speech is made of silver, then silence is made of gold." [laughs] That's an old Arab saying, and many of the proverbs in the Bible come from Arab sayings. They are wisdom from the Arabs. History, Bible history will tell you that. It's actually Arab wisdom that has been preserved under the title "Proverbs." Not all of it, but a lot of it.
[00:46:33] [END OF AUDIO]

