09/01/1996
IWDM Study Library
Dawah Workshop at Islamic Convention

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Praise be to Allah. As-Salaam-Alaikum. Peace be on you. We thank Allah the one Lord, creator, sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all between them. We witness that He is one. We witness Muhammad to whom the Qur'an was revealed is the last of the prophets, the seal of the prophets. Mentioned in both the Old Testament, the Torah and the New Testament, the Gospel, the Injeel. We follow him and we follow his example and his leadership and we say, "Sallallahu Alayhe Wasallam." The prayers and the peace be upon him. I came to this Dawah workshop to address you for a few minutes, just for a few minutes on the Dawah, invitation. Dawah means to invite, invitation.
Isn't it wonderful that our G-d loves and has faith in His creation, His human creation? So much so that He speaks to us with more respect than we speak to each other. He invites us. He invites us. He didn't have to invite us. He could have sent us or did away with us but He invites us to the religion of His choice. G-d says that. He says, "I have preferred for you this religion, the religion of Al-Islam," and that's in the Qur'an. He invites us to the religion of His choice. That tells us too that G-d acknowledges that there are other religions that are not of His choice. Certainly.
If He invites us to the religion of His choice that means there are other religions the G-d is saying, "There are other religions that is not my choice for you. I have preferred for you this religion Islam, Al Islam." G-d says. Now what can I say to you in a few minutes that would be a big help to you? I think there are many things that I can say in about five minutes that'd be a big help to you but it depends upon your state of mind and your sensitivities. If you're not sensitive to certain concerns then all the hours, time spent will do no good probably.
But if you're sensitive, a little time can be spent and if you're in the right state of mind. If you're in the right state of mind and you have sensitivities for it, it could take a few minutes to give you a big message on Dawah. Today in an interview, our cameramen and our TV group. Isn’t that wonderful? We got them now, north, east, west and south and Midwest and they are professional. I mentioned on the show W D Mohammed and guest that's on cable television, and growing, we thank Allah. That this religion is a religion for the salvation of the individual, for the spiritual, good life of the individual person that situates them spiritually to enjoy the fullness of life.
The fullness of life, family life, business life or career life, the whole life. But this religion is also, and it does this for the community too but it does it with their individual in the focus.
The religion also focuses community life, our community life. It has in its focus as its community goal, the global community, the whole world. Our religion is not just a religion for personal salvation. Our religion is a religion that's in competition with world ideologies. And its purpose is to advance the good message and advance to good life so that the whole globe will one day at least have an opportunity to have it to say yes or no to it.
Our Dawah can never be limited to ourselves or to our nation, our Dawah must be opened and extended. Opened for the world to see it and accept it or choose it if they want to and it must be extended to them as an invitation. The Islam, the invitation to be a Muslim, to accept the religion of G-d's choice, Al-Islam. This is the Dawah. This is the Dawah. First, we should know if this is the Dawah, because Dawah also has another meaning. It means to call because G-d says, "Id-oo." Call, "Iles sabillila," to the path of G-d. The Dawah is an invitation, the Dawah is a call, we invite and we call people to the way of G-d, to Al-Islam and the call is to go out to- from us to our nearest relatives, friends or neighbors, the whole world eventually.
This is where it's going. Al-Islam started in Saudi Arabia, started in Mecca, went to Medina in Saudi Arabia. It’s called Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t called Saudi Arabia at that time. Much of the world was not called what it's called now. It went from there to Abyssinia, Africa to what is called Ethiopia now. It also went to Persia- Iran, what is called Iran now. It went to Syria and it went to all the middle eastern countries. It went to Europe, to Spain and to Europe and eventually to India, far east India and to China and eventually to Russia. This is a global ideology for the global reform to bring about global change, global reformation so that man will have come back to the original nature that G-d gave him when He put him in the garden.
This is the religion. We've looked at it from that viewpoint. We've looked at religion from that standpoint. What is this religion for me and for the world? It is personal salvation but it's also salvation for the community of man on this earth. It is in competition with other ideologies that claim that they serve the good and the good future of the whole people on this earth. Western democracy has that claim. Western democracy is pushing itself, pushing itself to advance itself all over the world.
It will convert all nations to the democratic idea of the founding fathers. They are doing that quietly and they are doing that loudly. So, Al-Islam is also in competition with western democracy because Al-Islam promises the individual too that G-d is going to bring you into the best life, the ideal life and the ideal society. The ideal life and the ideal society, this is Al-Islam. Now both democracy, western democracy and the Islamic ummah, the ummah. Both these ideas or ideologies, they are responding to oppressors of our humanity. Oppressors of our humanity.
Al-Islam, if you understand, if you read carefully Qur'an and you studied as a student and G-d bless you, guide you and have mercy and guide you in the way, you will find that Al-Islam is addressing notions of human worth that discredited human worth. The Bible addresses this too, the notions, the popular notions in the world of human worth that discredited human worth. Al-Islam comes back and G-d addresses us through the Qur'an, that the language of Qur'an and with the model, Muhammad the model, to tell us but also to show us that this human being, that they lowly, very lowly esteemed is much more than they estimated this human being to be.
Prophet Muhammad, the old idea was if you're not educated, if you don't get the education there's no hope, there's no hope for you without education, that you will stay an animal, you'll stay on the animal level unless you get education. Education was their idea, the illumination of the mind, it was their idea of education. So, the fortunate ones who were able to get knowledge, and because of getting knowledge that others didn't have they got advantages over others, they became the masters, the rulers over others.
The old world, the ancient world and much of medieval world had not changed, they considered the human being in his human reality to be a cheap creation, something to be treated just like you treat an animal. And many times, they treated human beings as human subjects worse than they treated their animals, not just blacks, whites, everybody treated like that, women, men, whites, everybody. Al-Islam is addressing that, Al-Islam wants to bring good news to the human family, specially to the oppressed of the human family.
That these world leaders, the oppressors of your humanity, they have evaluated you, they have estimated you to be something very mean, low, cheap in your reality, but G-d has not. G-d who created you respects you and He highly values you or He places a high value on you, on your real human worth. I could go through the scriptures and bring a lot of these to you but to save time, I'm just bringing you the message and we will continue and just bring you the steps in this short talk that I want to bring to you. Al-Islam and democracy comes in to the world. Western democracy and Al-Islam comes in to the world to challenge this idea in the power structure of the world, that the human being in his true human state is not much to be respected. They thought that because they got knowledge and they were able to master the masses or the many numbers, they thought that they had got some divine essence that had come in to them from upstairs somewhere and it made them super humans or above the natural human. Nature, they looked down on and there's still a tendency in the higher education of the west to look down on nature, to discredit nature.
That's what we have to avoid because we are in the west and we are influenced by their knowledge, by their teachings, by the teachings of the west that is. Now, we read in the Qur'an of Adam, the man that G-d's making, right? G-d says to the angels, "I'm making a Khalifa in earth." The angels got upset, they got disturbed. They didn't have faith in the man, in the role that G-d was creating for him, that he would be successful he would be able to be responsible for that role that G-d was giving him, creating him for.
They didn't believe it, they didn't have faith in it so they were disturbed, they didn't trust it. G-d knew their state of mind or their position that they had taken was too rigid and He didn't want to be wasting His time on it, it seems, He told them, "Well, just wait." He told the angels to wait, "Until I have inspired him of my own Spirit." That's what G-d says. What is it saying? Now, learned people, I hope I don't take too much time. Learned people, learned people in religion. Christianity, Judaism, Al-Islam, yes these learned in Al-Islam.
Many of them don't know what this is saying. What is this saying? They think, some of them saying that they're saying exactly what the ancient oppressors believe, that “the human being is deficient and worthless in his natural makeup, in his human completion. And G-d has to put divine essence into that human vessel in order for that human vessel to be worthy of respect from the leadership, from the power structure of the world”. That's what they think its saying. He is not at all saying that, it is saying that this human being I have created has the natural capacity to obey My Will and register My Intention. He is created to in time register My Will and My Intention, and open up to My Will and My Intention.
In other words, G-d is saying to them, my man is not complete, and that's why He didn't say, "I have made a Khalifa." He said, "I am making a Khalifa. I am not through making my man." It could be put in other words, G-d could have said to them, "Wait until I complete the creation of my man." He hadn't completed the creation of His man, He was still making His man, He's creating His man, He's forming His man, not complete yet, He's making him. This is a very delicate, I would say, point here, very delicate point. It takes a very very sharp-sighted person, and free person, F-R-E-E, very sharp sighted and free person to see this and understand it.
If you're oppressed in any, by your own intellectual or spiritual arrogance, you'll never see the truth, in this matter you'll never see it. Because you'll always see that, "This human being ain't fit in his own state, he's not fit in his own creation, only if G-d put Himself in him, then he's fit. So, divine human beings must rule the world”. So, we know we’ve had a lot of divine rulers, haven’t we? The Emperor of Japan was the divine ruler. I think they learned their lesson, and that's kind of recent in history, that's not medieval, that's modern. We've had a lot of these divine rulers, you know, men.
No, no divine, G-d says of Muhammad, "He is a mortal just like you." No not divine, he's not divine, he's in your nature, your human nature, he's in his human nature, same human nature you have. The only difference is he has been inspired, that's to his credit, it's to his credit. If I'm here and I can hear the teacher and I can understand what the teacher is saying, I understand the teacher's instruction, that's to my credit isn't it? I didn't know what the teacher was instructing me in before he started instructing me, but it's to my credit that I have the capacity to receive his instruction.
So, it’s to the human being's credit that he has the capacity to receive divine inspiration, doesn't mean that he's divine. No, he's still human. He's purely human and only human, but he has the capacity, G-d has created him with a great human capacity. With a great intellectual capacity, with a great spiritual capacity to receive divine inspiration. Even the energy or the urge of G-d can come into him, and then he began to express the urge of G-d. That speaks well of him. It doesn't say he was nothing before. He must have been a great thing before because in order for an instrument to pick up something it has to be tuned for that, it has to be tuned for that.
The first thing in the Dawah, after we understand who is Al-Islam calling? It’s calling the whole world. It is an invitation from G-d, the most High. After that, then we should understand that the major issue for religion is the misconception of the value of the human person. That's what made slavery all doing the ancient times, in the medieval times and still now. There are a lot of our Muslim leaders in the world who don't know that they have a slave master’s attitude. But they have a slave master’s attitude because they are reading this knowledge incorrectly and they are seeing themselves as the Illuminati and we are the creatures of darkness. 
Still working in this same vein. Prophet Abraham, peace and blessings be on prophet. Prophet Abraham on him be the peace, he said when he got the understanding when his mind was turned on and he understood for the first time, what his purpose should be. What did he say? "Inni the-lamtu nafsee”. Surely, I have oppressed my own self. “Inni the-lamtu nafsee”, surely I have wronged, I have oppressed my own self." There he is speaking for Humanity, he's not speaking for just himself as a single person.
Abraham is speaking for Humanity. Abraham is speaking in the history of human denial, human mistreatment, the oppression of humanity, the mistreatment of human, the oppression of the humanity of the people. He's speaking for all of us, and he's saying to all of us that we have wronged our own selves. We have been our own oppressors. Now how was he his own oppressor? He was trying to find G-d, right? He was trying to find G-d, so he would know the truth, so he would understand what this world means. What this big scheme of things what it means.
What it should mean to him, how he should understand it in his own mind, and where should he be in it? What should be his place and role in it? He wanted to know that. He was searching the creation to find where is the G-d. After he decided that none of these created things are G-d, but there is a designer, there is a will, there is a cause behind this or before this that produced all this. He called that one Allah and he said He's the Lord of the Worlds. He is the Lord of all the world. I mean the one who brought all the worlds into existence, stage by stage from nothing to something and then developed it or brought it to completion, finished the product. Stage by step by step, stage by stage that's what Rabb means.
He said the Rabb is the Lord of all the worlds. How did he oppress himself? He oppressed himself not as a person, not as an individual. He oppressed himself as a human being in a certain human state or in a certain human condition. What was that state? What was that human condition? Fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown had caused him and humanity. He's the father of this new to humanity. It's caused him and the humanity to wrong themselves and to oppress themselves. Fear of the unknown, not knowing the real G-d. Looking for the real G-d in things that are not G-d. In places where G-d is not as the G-d. That's what oppressed him.
The tendency to find a god and put that god over yourself. Men looked in the world, they were frightened by thunder, by lightning, by wind and different things, by water, by other things, and they made those things their gods. They were frightened by their rulers and they made their rulers their gods. Men made other men their gods. This fear, mortal fear, fear for my our own mortal life, enslaves humanity. Enslaved us, enslaved the humanity, and it was the Prophet Ibrahim that was put in that role as the one who discovered what had caused all the problem.

Abraham is putting himself in the position of the humanity in the history of time, in the history of humanity, and he looks at the thing and he said, "This is a god?" Then he said, "No, it can't be a god. Because of this, because of that." He looks at something else when it appears, "That must be a god. No, it can't be G-d because of this because of that." He finally stayed all night searching the heavens, the sky for the G-d. Then the Sun came up in beautiful and wondrous, and marvelous splendor, beautiful, bright, overpowering sunlight. He said, "This must be the G-d." Abraham said that, "This must be the G-d." Abraham is speaking for man in his search for the truth, in search for the real G-d through the history of time over the long trail of time. All right?
He sees the sun and said, "This must be the G-d." He watches the Sun. Now this man was a 24-hour searcher. He spent the night and then he saw the Sun set. When he saw the sunset he said, "Oh no. That one that had really aroused service. This must be the G-d." He said, "No, my G-d cannot be one that sets." That's when he turned after he had seen the glory of the night and the glory of the day in this world. He said, "Nothing of this world can be G-d." He turned and he said, "The one behind this. The cause that has produced all of this that's the G-d." Praise be to Allah. He said to G-d, "Inni thelamtu nafsee” Surely I have oppressed my own self."
Man looks outside of himself for G-d. If he will only listen to his own soul, if he will only look into his own nature, to his own life, then he will know that all of this outside could not have been produced by me and I can't trust my faculties, I can't trust my eyes, my eyes are too small to see the great reality of G-d. He would know his own excellence, his own greatness, and he would know his own smallness, his own limitations if he'd only study himself. In the search into self, not the outer world but it's the search into self that brings man quickly to know that there is a being of a different nature.
A being of no limited power. A being that cannot be described in physical terms. That is responsible for my being. He would know that. Not only that, if he would turn to himself and examine himself. They ask so many questions of G-d. Why don't they ask some questions of their own creation? This is the answer. You ask questions of your own creation. This is what Allah says in the Quran.
Yes, if we will turn the search light toward our own self into our own soul and look into our own soul, look into our own nature, look into the workings of our own creation, we will not only come into understanding that we are not G-d and that the G-d must be something bigger than us and we are bigger than the world in terms of what the world can do and what we can do. The world does things but the world is bigger than us in its creation and its power. But we are bigger than the world in terms of free mobility, free action on our part.
The world can't act on this part freely only man can do this. Only human being can do this. If we turn and look into ourselves we will see ourselves, we will come to know that we are not G-d and if we are not G-d then I can't trust my own judgment. So, we won't even look at something and say, "Is that G-d?" We will say, "G-d, you are beyond my grasp." And when we say that G-d will speak to us. That's all what G-d wants His human being to say. "I can't find you on my own. I can't reach you on my own. I don't have an arm long enough or sight long enough or a scope big enough to capture you, G-d." And G-d will say, "Here I am." Praise be to Allah.
We wrong ourselves by fearing the unknown and trusting our own logic, our own reasoning to find something bigger than us. Too big for us to manage. That's how we wrong ourselves. We made false gods on the strength of our own knowledge or intelligence. We trusted our own intelligence to find G-d and we made mistake after mistake and oppressed our own self and humanity with the false gods. Abraham is making the repentance to G-d, not for himself only but for the whole humanity. But he puts it in the first person because he is the father, he is the teacher.
He represents the freedom of the intellect. The freedom, the first time the human being's intellect was completely freed. He's speaking for all of the slaves and all the oppressed. He says, "Surely I have wronged or oppressed my own self." I confess my fault and he goes on. You see G-d is the only forgiver of wrong doings. He says, "Forgive me my faults, for none can forgive the faults but you." He goes on with his prayer and we know it is the prayer of Abraham. Wonderful, wonderful story with the human being, the issue of the human being's value in the center, right in the center. That's where the focus should be. The issue of the value of the human being.
Now, isn't this a wonderful creature that even though he goes wrong eventually his search, he trusted his own materials is a sin, he should trust G-d but how can he trust the G-d he didn't know yet? You understand? G-d created him above this, but created him to grow to that point where he can manage that. In his inferiority G-d didn't say, G-d never told Abraham you have sinned, did he? It was Abraham, that saw he had sinned.
G-d knew he was going to do- that's why G-d told the angels, "Wait, I know you're going to do these things. I know he's human and I know he's going to make all these mistakes." The angel says, "This thing you created, he will cause bloodshed." G-d didn’t say, "No, no. He won't cause no bloodshed." G-d didn't even respond to it. And he did, he went crazy, he oppressed and he killed and he murdered his own brothers and sisters. He shed much blood, he spilled blood all over the world, but finally he came to himself and he confessed his sins to G-d. He pledged himself to serve G-d's will and to liberate humanity, liberate mankind.
Isn't that wonderful? Yes, “Inni thelamtu nafsee” he said, "Surely I have wronged my own self. Surely I have oppressed my own self." The human soul, the human excellence that is your humanity, your true humanity. The human excellence that G-d deposited into the creation of the human being when He made us. He inscribed excellence. He put it into the very nature, into the very growth nature, the growth nature, the nature of the cells to grow. The nature of the abstract body to grow. He put it there, in that very growth nature. He put it in there that nature should want better and better. More excellence. More quality. More intelligence. And he is a growing thing as a plant, G-d says.
He's a growing thing. Growing from stage to stage until he reaches his completion. G-d has put that in him. When he goes to these false things he trusted his own limited mind and intelligence and choose those things as a G-d, he oppresses that. He stops that. He puts a stop on that excellence. We know that the oppressors of man, the oppressors of humanity, they kept the society of man stagnant, stale, dull, stagnant, no growth, no progress, for the human potential for excellence. This is what we're talking about. He oppressed that.
He's speaking for the whole humanity that we have wronged our own selves. G-d says, "Don't blame me, blame yourselves." G-d gave you what you needed inside but you trusted your intelligence and you should have trusted your spirit. You should have trusted your good spirit. And your good spirit would have reconciled you with the best of your intelligence. And you would have benefited from your intelligence. So, G-d didn't create your wrong but G-d created you human and human means prone to make mistakes. So, you going to make a lot of mistakes.
But, eventually you are going to realize that the position you took was wrong. It's doing nothing to get you in more and more trouble. And you're going to come away from that position and do as Abraham did. He started in the dark, didn't he? What that means he started in the dark. He separated himself from his own judgment. He put his own judgment of things aside. And he starts to search with a mind trusting that the truth will come to me if I'm not prejudiced by my own judgment, by my own opinions. He was free out there searching the heavens at night.
And when the day came now he becomes rational. Now he goes to his rational, he puts his rational aside for all the night and after he saw all those things in the night were not G-d then he accepted the rational and when he became rational and looked at the rationales. He said no, not even that is G-d. The only G-d is the one who created all of this. He caused all of this to be. 
Now, I’ve taken too much time. I wasn't lying when I said I could do it in ten minutes.

G-d has blessed me since I first stood as a young man. I don’t know how old I was in Chicago on 5335 Greenwood. My friend urged me to go up and speak. It was a night where they invite you to come up and express yourself to see if you’re qualified to be a minister.

Yes, that was the practice back then. My friend shamed me out of sitting there I was very shy. And I got up there trembling almost. But when I stood up there it looked like I could feel the audience. What it was thinking, what it was feeling. As I spoke I respond to what I feel from the audience so I’ve always had this and I can feel you.

I’m just caught up in this thing. I could have done it in 10 minutes. I could have done it in five minutes. But I feel you, I feel you communicating. We’re talking to each other, we’re having exchange.
When we look at what Allah says of Jihad. Allah says struggle make Jihad. Jihad means struggle. Struggle hard with your souls, your persons and your wealth. Struggle with your possessions, your wealth and your own selves, your own souls. We have very recently in this modern time a perception of wealth as not only material wealth but human wealth. Now we know there has been in religion the great religion that have always had this idea but they’re now just speaking it in this late date in the end of time. The time of the new world dawning. They’re talking about material capital and human capital. You know of these expressions.
Material capital and human capital. G-d wanted us to know that from the very beginning. When Allah tells us in the Quran struggle with your possessions, your wealth, and with your own selves that’s just what He’s saying. He’s saying that you have resources in the material things you have amassed or that you’re going to acquire and you have human resources so struggle with. And one day we’re going to translate the Quran for the American people and we’re going to say and struggle with your material capital and with your human capital.
Yes. G-d is saying to us that we have material resources and human resources. Struggle with the both of them. What is a big problem for the world that wants to advance the good life for man? Its problem is that it wavers between the two. At one time it's concentrating on the human interest, another time on the material interest. Look like they just can’t reconcile the two and carry both along at the same time. And that’s what G-d wants us to do. Carry along both at the same time. Carry the human interest and the material interest together and push them both forward at the same time. The light is on in White Plains.
Yes. See what I’m sharing with you, I’m not giving you anything. I’m sharing with you what Allah has given to us is the knowledge, the perception and the knowledge to be successful as world leaders. Yes. Nothing short of that, that’s exactly what you are getting. Now He says struggle with your material possessions and with your own souls, with your human selves. “Anfus” is the plural of “Nafs”. If is say my own self I say “nafsi” my own self. This word “anfus” that G-d said for us to struggle with it means our own souls, it means our own selves, it means our own persons.
It’s talking about what we are essentially in contrast with the external reality, the material reality. We are humans, we are to know our human constitution, our human content. We are to know our human content and then recognize that the human content is a big resource for the betterment of the world. A Great resource. Well, I better not say that much it will really be heavy. Well, I’m going to say it.

You know the great philosophers in religion? They see the world that forms because of man’s interactions with it, working with it, with his intellect, with everything, with his hands, with his tools. They see this great world we call a world of man, you might say the industrial world now the modern world. They see everything that man produces by interacting with the world, ploughing his field that G-d gave him, cultivating the field that G-d gave. They see that really as a growth out of the soul of man. Now this is philosophical. They see it as a growth out of the soul of man, and what they’re saying? Philosophy is promoted, or extended, or grows upon what? Rational thought.
So, though it’s not modern science or exact science, don’t underestimate the philosopher. The philosopher made it possible to the modern scientist. He is the father of the modern scientist. Modern scientist is just the child of the philosopher. The thinker, the philosopher. Allah said in the Quran, "Think, for surely thinking benefits you and thinking on G-d is the best, is the greatest “wa dhikrullahu akbar." That's what G-d says. Here we are with these mics, buildings and all these things that man has made and the philosopher says they’re only the outgrowth of the human soul.
They’re manifestations, they’re expressions of the human soul. Praise be to Allah. Yes, so don’t underestimate the human resources. We look at the material resources and we give credit to the brain that the brain has done this but the brain didn’t do anything until it registered upon the human soul, that you’re created for better than this. You need better than this. It comes from the soul into the conscience and the conscience mind, the rational conscience. The rational mind begins to try to bring about what the soul is asking for, so really the great world of the human progress and material progress is to requisition that the soul gave to the intellect. Isn’t it. That’s all it is.
The soul gave wrote out, “I'm requesting this” and shoved it to the brain, “Okay, deliver.” Every time man forgot where he got the requisition, he brought himself back down. He became stale and stagnant, not making any progress. But every time he remembered that my soul requisitioned this and he listened to his soul again, he picked it up again and started making progress again.
That’s why we have to look into ourselves. We have to search ourselves. In searching ourselves the light comes on.
The mind is illuminated and then we can work out here in this world and not be stopped by the shadows because the light is on within and illuminating without. Praise be to Allah. G-d says, "Struggle, with your possessions and your own souls”. “Amwaalikum”, which is your wealth, your possessions and “Anfusihim” your souls. I think it is in that order yes. G-d says that to us. And then when it comes to the preaching of the religion, what are we preaching? What are we preaching? Why do have a message that we have to give to other people.
I have to give it to the next race or the next community or the next nation and we can’t stop till everybody gets it. What’s so important? Freedom, the liberation of the human person so that the human person can enjoy the human society or the human community that G-d intended for him to enjoy or her to enjoy. It’s a state of life, a state of affairs. It’s a home condition that G-d wants for man in this world, on this earth. G-d had to reveal to man to help man get there. Man had the capacity to receive G-d’s communication, to hear G-d. He had the capacity to hear even G-d.
He received it and he begins moving with it, “wa jaahidu fi sabillila”, and struggle in the path of G-d with your wealth and with your own souls. We know there’s always—Prophet Muhammad told us, prayer and peace be on him. That there’s always two applications for what G-d says. We know it means, struggle with our wealth, our monies and all that and struggle, also be prepared to put our life on the line, and be killed if that’s what G-d wants or if that’s what G-d has designed for us.
We know it means that but that’s the first perception, that’s the surface perception. The deeper perception is that this is a classic issue in the history of nations, that they cannot reconcile the two interests. The human interest and the material interest. So, G-d wants you to struggle in His way with the material interest and the human interest, advance them both, spend—G-d says “anfiqu” spend, right?
Audience: Yes.
IWDM: Spend of what G-d has given you. Not only the material things but spend also of the human resources. Spend also the human capital which is more easier to understand because they have got this in a better language now. Spend also of the human capital. The educated person, the enlightened person who shares his knowledge with another person, he is spending the precious money of the intellect, isn't he?
Audience: Yes sir.
IWDM: They’re spending of your own selves. This is what we should understand, struggle with the resources of your own self and the world and spend the thing that you accumulate or get from the world, spend out of it for the good life or the good way that G-d wants us to have, the good destiny, for all people spend for that and spend of your own human resources, spend of your intellect, spend of your virtues, spend of your own gems of your own richness. G-d has enriched your life, you are a human being. G-d has put riches into your own human makeup. Spend of those riches in the way of G-d. And G-d says, “When you contend with people, contend with them in the way that is best and most excellent. G-d says, “We’re inviting people to the Islam, to the religion that G-d has preferred.
They’re going to sometimes present their arguments to us and sometimes their arguments are going to be in our way, in the way of our da’wa. We’re going to have to contend with these things. G-d says, “And contend with them in the way that is best." G-d trusts me. You know, for a long time I was slow because I worship G-d, and I’m nothing. I put myself down to zero and I look up at my G-d from nothing. For a long time, I said, “How is G-d a believer? What is G-d to believe in? "Isn’t that wonderful of G-d?
He’s above this really. He’s above human level of life, existence and ability, et cetera. He’s way above that but He lowers Himself down to the plain of human reality to bring us up. And He says to us, “I believe in you.” That’s one of His attributes, the believer. That’s G-d’s attribute. The believer, He is Al-Mu’min and He calls us the “mu’minoon”. plural. Why G-d has to tell us that He’s a believer, why G-d has to tell us that He’s trusting too? Because of those oppressors that didn’t believe in us. They didn’t believe in our great human trust, our great human value, our great human worth. They didn’t believe in us. They didn’t trust us with our human life. They thought we had to be watched, enslaved, locked up, restrained on plantations or whatever. I’m not talking about you or me.
The whole world has been treated like this by oppressors from ancient times till now. They didn’t have faith in the human value. They didn’t have faith in the human worth. They didn’t have faith in the human potential. They didn't have faith in it. G-d comes and says, “I trust you. Of my own being, of the nature of My Own divine reality, I am a trustor. I don’t know if that’s the English word. I am a trusting one. G-d says that to Himself. He tells us He’s Al-Mu’min, the believer, the trusting one, trusting. He trusts us.
The prophet Muhammad, he says, “If any person struggles to please G-d continuously without giving up, consistently, relentlessly, struggling to satisfy G-d, say he reaches a point in his development that G-d trusts him to go on his own. Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace be upon him. He said that G-d after seeing that person that had done that, G-d told him he came back to confess it was wrong that he had done. G-d told him, “Go on, on your own cognizant." That’s what the judge says. That’s what the judge says when he examines you and he knows you did something wrong but he’s going to release you.
He has faith that you didn’t want to do that and you don’t want to repeat it, so he trusts you. He says, “Go on, you’re released on your own cognizant.” That’s the exactly where you get it from G-d. Allah said that through Muhammad the prophet, explaining it to us, His prophet explaining it to us. He said he saw that person is continuously struggling to obey his G-d. What does that also tell us? That the human being will never be free from human nature. He will always make a mistake somewhere along the way. He's going to make another mistake. But he reaches a point where he can be given the responsibility for his own life.
Because G-d has seen that if he makes the mistakes, he's going to look at his mistakes, acknowledge his mistakes, he's going to turn to his Lord and repent for it. Since that has been formed in you as your habit. It has become a habit for you. When you make a mistake, you turn to your G-d. I trust you to your own self. You can be responsible for yourself. Isn't that wonderful? That is what G-d is saying. But the greater message is to the oppressive power structures of the world. That look, G-d, is saying to the oppressive power structures of the world this human being can be trusted. This human being can be responsible for him or herself.
You don't have to set up all these devices, you don't have to set up all these schemes, you don't have to exploit the waters of their motions and their spiritual nature. You don't have to do that. You can leave them on their own, be fair with them, be honest with them, share knowledge with them. Allow their minds to grow. Tell them what G-d has revealed and they will eventually become responsible for themselves.
Audience: Allah Akbar.
Allah Akbar. Then the burden will be off of you. You don't have to work so hard to keep humanity in darkness or keep humanity enslaved, you will be able to use your great intellect to advance the cause of G-d on earth for the state of the world.

Allah Akbar Praise be to Allah. And debate them, contend with them in a way that is most excellent. The prophet said G-d has inscribed excellence in everything He made. Inscribed it, in the very nature, in the very developmental nature. Everything He made He inscribed the rule of excellence, that this thing should grow better to better and better. Its growth is in excellence, that's the growth line of excellence. That's what G-d did. Now free human beings, he can go backward. If we study the non-human world of living things, science tells us that everything grows from lesser to greater.
From simple to more complex. From weaker to stronger, from small capacity to greater capacity. Everything grows that way and they have their limits. They reach the limits of their growth and that's it. The human being is created with that same nature, to grow better, to grow more efficient, to become more efficient, to have a bigger ability. To grow into bigger rooms of capacity and ability. This is how G-d has made us and this is what history shows us. The history of the growth of man and civilization or society. It tells us, it shows us that very clearly. We are to trust the human being in the mode in the excellent design that G-d has created him.
Trust him, believe in the ability of human beings to share in a democracy. To share in a democracy, to be responsible for the democracy, to have free minds, to question their leaders and make complaints to their leaders and to bear upon their leaders. To pressure their leaders into a better posture, a better attitude towards their subjects, et cetera. This is the true democracy. This is the true democracy, G-d gives us a woman in Qur’an, who brings complaints and the whole chapter is called by that name. “Mujaadila”. It's from the same word, that G-d says “jaadilhum” and contend with them, it's the same word. The woman is called “jaadilah” and the verb that G-d gives us as an instruction to us and imperative “wa jaadilhum bil lati hiya ahsan”.
Argue with them, contend with them, press the issue, that's what it means “jaadilhum”. Press the issue, move forward with the issue, don't lighten up. Carry the issue forward and press.
Until this humanity is free and respected and our leaders are working for the cultivation of the human garden. Isn't that a wonderful garden to be cultivated? Woo buddy, and all of these beautiful things that can grow out of the human garden to make this world so wonderful. The philosopher says, that the soul is a seed, and the world that materializes is only an expression of what was in the soul. We ask G-d for guidance always, Forgive us our Lord for our errors, for our ignorance, have mercy on us and show us the light. Let us benefit from your light always our Lord Amin. As-Salaamu-Alaikum.
Audience: Alaikum salaam.
Audience: Takbir.
Imam Faheem Shuaib: Yes, we've got a question out there. Yes, ma’am.
Audience: Since last year, and this year we have as young Muslims, we would just talking about da’wa we wanted to know where our focus should be as young Muslim and in struggling to get the corporation of other authorities as far as trying to have the opportunity to get your leadership to us and have the opportunity to talk to you as our leaders. Seeing as we're moving into a new transition and what the Muslims who are now under your leadership who were once under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad.
We are now under your leadership, who has not experienced the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. We as young Muslims would like to have that opportunity with you.
Audience: Takbir.
Audience: Allah Akbar.
Audience: Takbir.
Audience: Allah Akbar.
IWDM: Allah Akbar. Let me say this that in this idea Al-Islam. This idea of true freedom and respect for the human person and their ability to manage themselves and be responsible for themselves. We don't want to exaggerate the worth and role of our human leaders. Now, I'm one who tries hard to follow this religion, follow the word of G-d and follow the messenger of G-d Muhammad upon him be peace. G-d, says of Muhammad, He says, "He is not a manager of your affairs." G-d has not sent him to manage your affairs. G-d is the manager of your affairs.
He is the Wakeel, only G-d is the Wakeel. G-d is the one to that we trust with our affairs. You can’t trust your affairs to me, I’m a human like you, I’m limited. If you tie up my resources and my energy and my time, we won’t go anywhere, so if I have to meet the leaders of this city and the leader of this part of country of the youth, my time is stretched out so much we won’t go anywhere. But If I can tell you something in these few minutes and you don’t have to come back to me again, now we can go somewhere.

Two concerns come to my mind. One is, in this new society we believe in respecting a generation gap. The young have to have their mind and their life separate from ours. For Muslims that can’t be. The mind of the young has to grow up to be our mind if our mind is correct. If our mind is not correct then you are more mature than we are, you are more grown than we are. I don’t care if you’re eight years old, I will listen to you. Don’t think because you are young now that means that your mind must be kept in a certain place and our mind is in another place. Both the minds of the youth and the minds of the adults should be in the same place.
Our minds should be on what Allah want our minds to be on. We should trust our youth that some of them will have a better understanding, a better perception and even more ability than some of us who’ve grown. It won’t take me nothing but a second to put a sister who is 14 years old over something that’s grownups 30 and 40 have been responsible for. If I see in her the ability to be responsible for that. We’re not just looking at the age. We are looking at the age yes. And our hearts are tender for you but we are also looking at what G-d almighty has blessed you with.
If G-d has blessed you with these young ones, we can’t treat them as young ones anymore. They should just sit here with us and they should help us with this mission, they should help us with this responsibility. There shouldn’t be a complete separation. You are in the youth, you go to youth. No, your mind might be grown more than that. Your understanding might be older and grown and more mature than that. So, you shouldn’t go with the youth. You are better qualified maybe than 90% of our people sitting up here.

You shouldn’t be with them. Prophet Mohammed sent a youth. Prophet Muhammad sent a youth to Mecca and he was over in Mecca. He was given responsible for Mecca after the conquest of Mecca. A teenager, prophet Muhammad put a teenager in responsibility for Al-Islam in Mecca and then went on to Medina trusting that teenager.
Let me tell you something some you guys got grey like me. When you stop thinking about age and start thinking about the real maturity, the real growth inside. Man, you stay young for a long time.
We recognize the reality that children are not experienced as grownups. That their experience is limited therefore their wisdom is limited, maybe they haven’t come into wisdom but there is the exception, sometimes there is a youth that is much advanced beyond her or his years. When we see that, we recognize that, we ought to bring them into our group.
They’re not supposed to be children anymore. They’re not children. They’re grown up and mature and they are thinking in their mind. They’re not children anymore. We need their resources. We need their help. Bring them among us and let them help. That’s why the Quran is taught to your little children to memorize ‘Hafith”. The girls at a young age and the boys. Seven years old many of the young children can recite the whole Quran, but we want more than that.
We want people who are qualified to help us with the burden of carrying our life forward. I would ask you adults, leaders in the community to be alert, to recognize youth who are exceptional and have something to offer our leadership and don’t wait for them to become 21 or 18. Let them help as soon as they have the qualifications. Let them help. Then we'll go much faster and much better. Now, that’s one side. The other side is this sister, you said, "How could we help this Da’wa?" You youth who are interested in the propagation of Al-Islam get as much education as you can.
At least get a good college education if you can and carry your attention to the college campuses, college and University campuses. That’s where the great help is for the future of our community. Make friends with them, have conversations with them. Win them over to Al-Islam, pray to G-d to help you to win them over to Al-Islam. The more of those educated youth we have from colleges and universities the faster we’re going to go forward with this community. Thank you very much. I hope I've helped.
Audience: Takbir.
Audience: Allah akbar.
Audience: Okay, Alhumdulillah. The Imam has agreed to allow for questions. No statement dialogues, diatribes. Questions. Very quickly, please. Alaikum salaam.
Audience: As-Salaamu Alaikum. A question for the Imam, we are starting a new school in Newark. It’s called the Newark Islamic Academy. It’s started by five business brothers. We would like you to come back, because we are going to offer righteous competition to the Atlanta Clara Mohammed school and W D Mohammed high school. We invite you brother Imam to come back and Dr. Zakiyyah Muhammad will be the principal. And we are going to offer what you just said. Righteous competition. We want to get our youth on these colleges.
Imam Faheem Shuaib: The question is?

Imam Faheem Shuaib: The Imam says when you unite your effort to establish your schools in this area he will come back. Question, please.
Audience: What could we do as a community to increase our love of each other and enhance our accountability to serve behind and for the leadership of W.D. Mohammed? Time and time we may miss the mark being in a world this is myself-
IWDM: Yes, thank you. I understood the question, it is very clear. I understood it. I have been struggling and really straining to see this community of the people come to the right state of mind and have the right attitude towards each other, respect for each other and to appreciate each other and to love each other. This is what we have to do, this is Al-Islam. Al-Islam requires this of us. In the Jumua Khutbah I mentioned this, the requirement of love- -that's required, it's a must.
Prophet Muhammad said we won't have this love until we have faith. Pardon me, Pardon me. You won't have faith until you have this love. It's just the reverse. We won't have faith until we have this love. This love has to come first, then we can trust each other. Faith in Al-Islam is trust. Means trusting each other, trusting G-d. Trusting G-d's word, trusting each other. That's faith- trust as faith. If we understand faith and belief as trust, then we got the best meaning for those expressions.
Trust, belief changes. Trust is the permanent meaning. Trust is the meaning that stays there always. There has to be trust in belief. There has to be trust in faith. Don't think that faith and belief is more stronger meaning or stronger message to you than trust. Trust is the strong message, trust. We must trust each other. We trust G-d, we trust what He has revealed, we trust His prophet, we must trust each other. The prophet said, we won't trust each other until we love each other. Doesn't that make sense? How can I trust you when I don't care about you?
How are we going to get this love? How are we going to get this love? We're going to get this love because this world is a degenerate world in terms of human elevation or human evolution. It's still a degenerate world. Only a few people, a minority in the world are really in a good condition when it comes to the human qualities. Human qualities of love for another human being, et cetera. How are we going to get it? We have to have a rational plan to get it back. We can't just expect for it to happen on its own. It's not going to happen on its own.
When it happens on its own, too many of us will be lost. Too many of us will be destroyed. We be dead, gone out of the human family. We have to get it back by doing what the prophet did in the time of darkness, Jahiliyyah. What accounted for the prophet's success peace be upon him. He gathered to himself very excellent people, special people. Special in terms of their human qualities and their willingness to sacrifice…

IWDM: -he’s on a role and I know we need the best to serve this community. I don't want you to be without the knowledge that this boy of mine, that I believe has a real place in future of this community. You should bring him to me. If you bring him to me, I will direct him to other places to go. I will even come and see them myself and have him- occasionally, I'll come to your area and meet your bright children and sit down with your bright children and talk to them. Leave something with them that they will treasure. We have to work on this. We have to have a plan. You who are already grown up, you should feel an obligation on you no matter how much your heart goes out to a worthless time-wasting, energy-wasting curse.

You have to have the intelligence to say, "My heart is bleeding for that person but that person needs too much of my time." This person over here feels like I do. This person over here has the life and respect that I love. Get with that person. When you come into the masjid, I don’t care if 500 come in. Don't you just mix with 500. You find that brother that's like you and sit by him in the Jumu'ah. Pray together, stand by each other, pray together, walk out together. Associate with people of like-mind and like-nature. Associate with people of like-mind and like-nature. That will give the community a model, a visible model to look at. You are not condemning them, you're not pushing them away. Your heart is bleeding for them, that are poor and ignorant and don't want to get rich.
You're not rejecting them, you're just not wasting your time on them. You're not letting them tie up your time and your energy and your resources. Associate with the best people. The best people associate with the best people. When the community see that, when we see that, when others see that, now they got a model to look at. They have better people to look at. But you, one person tied up with a lot of no good, no count people, we don't have any visible presence of the excellent people.
Let the excellent people come together. Come to the masjid together. If you don't come together, when you come here, find each other. "As Salaamu Alaikum sister so and so.
As Salaamu Alaikum brother so and so. How are you?" Sit with each other. That'll do it. You practice love. When they see you doing like I did brother-- this is my brother. Embraced him, genuine. Don't do that for show. My heart tells me to do that, and I'd do it. Embrace him. The more they see that, the more they will follow. The great majority are not leaders. They are not capable of doing nothing but wait until change is imposed upon them. The few have to lead the many. The few have to set the example for the many. The few have to lift the many up. Not by going to get him, he's too heavy brother." But by showing him how to live and letting your influence lift him up. Thank you.
Audience: Allah akbar.
Facilitator: Very quickly please, Alaikum salaam.
Audience: Is there a Shura with members of the community that has expertise if we come together and get results?
Facilitator: That meeting is at 10 o'clock. What time? Okay, nine o'clock.

Imam Faheem Shuaib: Imam Mohammed will be informed by the National Convener of the Shura as to exactly what's going to take place tomorrow morning and then he'll make a decision there as to whether he'll be present and what his role will be in that. He's going to be informed by Imam Plemon El-Amin and upon that referral, then it'll be communicated to you of the Imam's presence or what role he'll play in that. How many more questions? Right here. 
Audience: I enjoyed the business workshop and I like to volunteer. I think I have the right background do the workshop next year.
Imam Faheem: We're only answering questions. We appreciate it. We're looking for more resources.
Audience: I’m asking the Imam if I can do the workshop next year.
Imam Faheem: You're asking the Imam if you can do a workshop next year?
Audience: Business workshop.
Imam Faheem: The Imam has appointed a group of people to be responsible for the conventions. You've referred it to the right people. The right people did hear you, and then inshallah will get back to you. There's a brother way in the back. Yes?
Audience: How can we get more muslims involve to adopt children?

Imam Faheem: The response to your question, Imam Mohammed says that those events are going on as you recommended. He also recommends that Muslims should be encouraged to themselves seek to intercede in those in those cases to try to gain the custody but they should do it with respect that's both for the family and within the law and respect for the law. This is his encouragement to us in that area.

Imam Faheem: All right. Let's take the last question from a sister in the back right here.
IWDM: Now, it's kind of strange that she asked a question that was on my mind about a week ago and I made a discussion of it. No, not a week. It hadn't been a week, maybe three, four days ago. Yes, so sister is asking about the bridge that's mentioned in the Quran, but also in other scriptures to. The bridge where souls will be crossing over, persons will be crossing over and on one side will be deliverance at the one end, and behind them will be where they're coming from and there will also be a separation hell fire, the fire. Some will make it across and between them and the others will be the hell fire.
Some will be trying to have communication between them. On the other extreme who are going to the Hellfire, they'll be trying to communicate with those who are saved. They're going on to salvation. The ones who are saved they will be looking back at some of those they recognize who are not making it, not going with them and they will be wanting to go. But they'll be cut off of communication. Those who are saved won't be able to communicate with those who lost and the lost ones won't be able to reach the ears of those of who are saved. The realities will be so close that they will see each other but they can’t communicate. That’s right now. Thank you.


