mm/dd/yyyy
IWDM Study Library
IWDM in Dayton OH

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Imaam W. Deen Muhammed: As-sal?mu ?alaykum, Peace be unto you. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin. Praise be to Allah, the lord of all the world [Arabic language] we witness that there is but one G-d, the Lord creator and we witness that Muhammad, to whom the Quran was revealed is the last prophet of G-d. Peace and blessings be upon him. [Arabic language] We pray that prayers and the peace be upon the prophet, the last prophet of Almighty G-d, to whom the Quran was revealed. 
We are certainly happy to be here in Dayton Ohio for this occasion. We offer apologies for being so late. Our information was wrong. We were told that from Chicago to Dayton was four hours' drive, we took the word of this person that told us this and we didn't even investigate. We just knew that it was true. We pray that everything has gone well as you hoped, that the matters would work out for you, we hope our delay has not hurt this program in any way.
I do know that many important persons are here from cities around the area and distant places as far as Los Angeles California, with us Imam Abdul Karim Hassan, the imam of Los Angeles mosque, or masjid is here and many others. We hope that you have benefited being here with each other, taking advantage of the time to meet with each other, make some important contacts with each other and some progress for the Muslim community Inshallah. I am aware that other important persons outside of our association who are here. I'm not going to name any of them but I see many of them, some of them I know from the nationalized citizens of the Muslim community and our immigrant Muslims, I don't like to call them immigrant Muslims, and we are very happy to be a part of this.
We thank the masjid and the Imam Al-Amin and also the other imams, imams that have assisted him from the area here, from Dayton Ohio and Springfield Ohio, we appreciate what they have done to make it possible for us to be here today with you, and we appreciate all of those who sponsored this occasion, and made this occasion possible and made our visit and presence here possible.
We trust Allah for the rewards. We ask Allah's blessings, his forgiveness for our sins and our shortcomings, our mistakes, and we ask His blessings and His favor on all our efforts because we know without Allah's favor, nothing can come about of good for us. We trust Allah to pour out his favor is on us always when we are striving as Muslims to do what pleases Allah, Almighty G-d as Muslims. I saw the time out there on the marquee and I know I don't have much time, [chuckle] time is running out. Bear with me and I will begin this discussion or this topic of an indirect approach to family problems for getting a better situation at home, in our family life.
By indirect, I mean exactly what I am saying indirect. I won't go directly to the problems of home life because they are many, and I don't think that this is the best way for us to solve these problems. Not only do I think this to be true for the situation of Muslims but also the situation of non-Muslims. I think that by going directly to the problems we can only do so much, the problems that we have in our homes, the problems of getting cooperation from the family members, the problem of having the life that we would love to have in that home appreciated by all family members and whatever problems we have, even to criminal behavior in some of our youth, whatever problems we have, we can only do so much addressing those problems directly. Those problems are a result of the problem of the society itself. The society itself is at fault and if we try to fight these influences with our small resources as parents and family members we can only do but a little. The big help must come from influences equal to the powerful influences of the society. I know of no influences equal to the powerful influences of the society but the influences of truth as revealed by G-d.
I feel it necessary to talk about some misconceptions because I think these misconceptions have a real bearing, a direct bearing on the behavior of people in their homes. One misconception for Muslims and you will be surprised because why should Muslims have these misconceptions? The Quran is so clear, one of its attributes is clarity. It is a book of clarity. That's one of its names, title names for the book. So why is there all the confusion? Matter itself, the concept of matter is great confusion. We Muslims, I'm going to be going directly to what I have to say and be very brief. We Muslims must understand that matter, to make it clear what I'm talking about when I say matter, all material things, the physical things we see all about us, in the sky, on earth, the earth itself is a physical entity, a physical ball that we live on, globe that we live on and it grows physical things from it.
The material things that we have to have in our lives in order to sustain the physical body, all material things. I'm talking about all material things; our flesh, material; the human flesh, material; all material things belong to one material system. This is Islam. This is its fact also belong to one material system. For us to think that material is evil or there's an evil in material is wrong. Not necessarily. Allah created everything excellent, good, this is Islam. Allah made everything excellent, good, very good that means that the heavenly bodies, the physical upstairs, the physical earth down here, everything good, excellent. There is no evil in the material. My flesh, human flesh, we don't believe in any concept of original sin. This is material. There is no concept of original sin. The sin comes later when you go astray from the path, it's not original. Sin is not original. We go astray from the original way that G-d intend, then we commit sin. Sin comes later so this concept of original sin is condemned in Al-Islam. The material world is good. If we can believe that, that will help us in our homes. Bad attitudes hurt your homes. When you're thinking that the world is bad, that sin-- the flesh is sin, your flesh is not sin. You're misunderstanding is sin. Sin comes in the misunderstanding, not in your flesh. It comes in your misunderstanding. If Adam committed a sin, G-d didn't say Adam was originally a sinner. In Al-Islam, G-d says that he slipped. He didn't do it intentionally. He slipped from the way because he was deceived by the Satan, and Satan deceived him and caused him to slip from the way. He didn't follow the Satan, the devil willingly. He didn't follow the devil knowingly with his eyes open. He followed the devil unintentionally. Unintentionally, he was influenced to go astray. He didn't do it intentionally. Our first father had no original sin in him. He slipped on the way, and getting from the way, he committed sin. He got out of the original, slipped out of it. There, he committed sin, not original sin.
Now I'm going to be very plain with you. Wealth is not evil. Wealth is good. The ignorance of it is evil. If you misuse it, that's evil. You abuse it, that's evil. You use it for the wrong things, that's evil. Wealth is good. Poverty is bad. I know you've heard that said by others. Well, I'm saying it, too. Wealth is good, poverty is bad. Allah does not want us poor. Allah want us to have the means. Allah want us to have plenty. You know the poor in the religion, how great the poor are in the eyes of G-d. Certainly, if you can be poor and still be good, you are so great in my eyes too.
But that's not the condition Allah wants for us. Allah invites us to a good, prosperous life. He wants us to have money. He wants us to have economic dignity. Allah wants that for us. So much on the material concept. Now don't say the earth [unintelligible 00:11:53] again. That's wrong. 
Let me come now to race. Big problem on us makes life a problem at home is the way we see race. Race. Muslims are not racists. Be very direct. I'm not going to waste words. I'm being very direct. Muslims are not racists, cannot be racists. Anyone who harbors racial hatred or racial dislike for another people, he is stepping out of the line of Islam. He is following some other influence, not Muslim influence, not Islam.
Allah identify us all as one people. One people. That he created us from one single soul, Adam, and made from that soul his mate, and pread from those two, all the men and women on this earth. That's what Allah says. Therefore, we are one family and one origin in one human origin. We are one family. Your African brother may be closer to you because of the continent, you all share one continent, but you must accept that your brother on the farthest continent from Africa is also a member of that family. Allah says that you must accept it if you want to be a Muslim. You must accept that.
Allah says he started all people from one single soul and made from it his mate, and spread from the two, many men and women to populate the whole world. Not only that. We must understand that we identify with each other not only flesh-wise, but we have to identify with each other also in terms of the spirit of man, that we share one spirit with all people. One human spirit with all people. We share one human flesh with all people. We share one human disposition that is natural for the human being with all people. We don't all stay in it. We don't all respect it. We don't all stay in it. We fall out of it. The world pulls us out of it.
But originally, we had one human life, one flesh, one spirit, one intellect. One intellect, that's what is meant by one soul. It means that the human personality was the same for everybody. In the beginning, G-d created one human personality for everybody in the beginning. But because of migrating and getting in different circumstances, we take on different personalities, we become different by description. Our religion says that it's because of a location where you are. That's because of the circumstances you're put in that you make these changes.
Still, you have that essential nature and you should have an environment for retaining that essential nature. Islam provides that environment that nourishes that essential nature, that original life, that original soul, that original intellect, that original spirituality, that original morality. Everything was original and it was good and excellent. Islam provides an environment for us so that we can retain that, retain that and grow and benefit and prosper by that. Our religion gives us an environment to enrich that. It becomes richer and greater, and greater, and greater all the time.
That is not (unclear) by race. When G-d says that he made us from one single soul that is Adam, that does not allow for racism. It says also that our dignity is to be traced back to our originality. Your dignity, your real dignity shouldn't be traced back to a land that you come from. That's a mistake on the part of Muslims. You're looking for your dignity in ancient Africa, or you're looking for your dignity in some black ancient civilization, that's wrong for Muslims. We're not to look for our dignity in that. We are to look for our dignity in our original essence. We are noble by creation, by the act of creation. We are noble, esteemed creatures, so says G-d.
He says that he made all the children of Adam honorable, noble, honorable. [foreign language] He made all the children of Adam honorable, noble, with great esteem, with great value. At the same time, we have to accept our simple beginning. See, this is what gives the sober-mindedness to the Muslim, when he can accept that G-d made him a creature of nobility, great honor, et cetera, but also, G-d says, "And he made Adam from dust." Made Adam from dust.
That's counters the ego tendency to go off and trip and become too tall to live in this earth? You see? So it counters that. When we accept, too, that though G-d gave us the creation that makes us honorable, and noble, of great honor, great esteem, he created us from simple dust, from simple dust. So we give praise to G-d. Always respect G-d, honor G-d, praise G-d. Don't let it go to your head. Remember that you were nothing but dust and G-d made you noble. G-d made you honorable. This is the sober way to look at the origin of man, his identity, and not to look at it through the eyes of race-minded people.
Misconceptions, that's what we're talking on now here. Let us come now into the home and look at some of the problems that we have for race consciousness. When I was a young man in the ministry of the honorable Elijah Muhammad, one of his ministers, may G-d forgive him his shortcomings, his sins, and grant him paradise. I used to see our people back then. You don't see it that much now. Thank Allah times are changing. Times have changed. Times are still changing for the better.
I would see our women, mothers with their little children and they would be my color sometimes, and sometimes, their family would be as black as any black can be. Nappy hair, sometimes. They would have a doll, typical Caucasian. A little child carrying a doll, typical Caucasian. Hair looking like the white men, white people's hair. Skin, pale. Eyes, blue. Typical Caucasian. That hurt me so bad and you can understand it hurt me like that back then but it still hurts me. I hope you understand that. It still hurts me. But thank Allah we don't see it as much now. People you want a better situation in your home. Let me give you a little story from a Arabic prima book. This little child was in the house, a little girl and the parents were about to go out. The child asked the mother, said, "Mama, will you buy me a doll," she said, "like me?" "Will you buy me a doll like me?" So the mother was so thrilled that the daughter asked. Little babies now, little child, little toddler. She was so thrilled that the little toddler asked for a doll like her, so she promised to get that little girl a doll like her. The mother agreed. When she returned from shopping, she brought the little doll back looking like her daughter.
Now, you know, I play with my children sometimes. I know you say, "What? You still got little children?" Yes, the head is getting bald and the hair is graying but thank Allah, I have a young daughter. She's three years old. No, she's four now, just made four. She asked me to buy her a doll, so I told her yes, and I ran out and found her a doll. I found one, looked pretty much like she does. Thank Allah for changing times. She asked me for Barbie doll and I knew Barbie. Right away, I had problems instantly but I was lucky to find one that just looks like Barbie made out by a company called Flair and had hair like her, dark like her, look like her.
One day we were there and I said, "Where is your doll?" She had another doll and thank Allah, it was also looking like her sister. I said, "Where is your doll?" She says, "It's downstairs." She had another doll at hand. I told her- I say, "You are my doll." I say, "You're a real doll." That goes a long ways. Brothers, tell your children that. When they are playing with their doll, they know, they identify with the doll. They know the doll. They have an attachment to the doll. They love that doll because they feel this instinct in them, natural mother instinct in them to want to be a mother even at the baby age. They had that.
I told her- I say, "You are my doll. I see in you a real doll." It's thrilled her so much. I didn't know it was going to thrill her that much. I thought it was going to be taken well, but not as much as it was then. So, try it, brother. Just try it. It worked so well, I got to find one for the wife now.
[laughter]
Got to find stuff, work with the wife. Don't want to leave her out. So much for matter. I was talking about physical matter. So much for matter. Now, there's much is to be said about what's happening in the home, but don't forget. I said we were addressing the problems indirectly. I don't want to talk too much about the things that we experience inside the home like the doll, the wrong doll. I'm going now to faith.
We see faith in our religion. We have to understand that whatever Allah has invited us to is not something superficial, it's not something shallow. It's something very profound, something very deep and meaningful, whatever Allah invites us to. Allah invites us to faith. The prophet invites us to faith most of all. Allah says in the holy Quran, subhanahu wa ta'ala Highly glorified is He. He says of the prophet in the words of Quran that he is a caller to faith. He is a caller to faith. Now we know he calls to many, many things but says, "We have heard a caller to faith." We have heard a caller calling to faith, and we have responded and have believed. We have accepted faith.
Most important for us to know that Muslims are people of faith. We are believers. I think that most of us, maybe 98% of us are Muslim here. I doubted there are many, but a few non-Muslim here because I'm looking at you and I know you're a Muslim. For those who are not Muslim, I don't think that I'm wasting words or ignoring you. Because if you are a Christian, what I'm saying to the Muslim is important for you too, if you've missed it. It's important for you to know that religious people are first people of faith. G-d has not given us that concept of the body of the religious people, that they are people of faith without it having real meaning in our total life.
Faith in Islamic language also mean trust. The same word that we get faith from, we also get trust from. Not a different word. The same word. I say, "I trust you." I use the same word, faith. For our religion, the faith and trust are the same depending on how you use it in the context, depending on how you use it in a group of words or in a context to say a certain thing. We cannot fare well at home without trust in that house, without trust in that house, without faith in that house. G-d want us to have faith in Him. It's natural for us. G-d has created us. We are His creation. It's natural for His creation to trust Him just as it's natural for a mother's child, infant, to trust her.
That infant comes in the world from his mother, trust in his mother. Right away, it clings to his mother. It learns right away that this is my mother, this is my security. Now I don't think it says, "This is mama." Even in his mind, I don't think he says, "This is mama." He has to learn that language from us, but it knows that mama is his security. Right away, it clings to mama. It knows that I will be fed by mama. I will be protected by mama. I will be clean when I needed by mama. G-d has put it in the child to trust a mama. By nature, trust mama.
But after we get up and then we stop trusting each other. Child stopped trusting mama. Brothers and sisters stop trusting each other. You have to have trust between the members of the house in order to have a healthy family. Trust each other. You have to forgive each other. Forgive each other. Don't be hard on each other. Tolerate each other. Share burdens with each other. When I say tolerate each other, let me give you an example. Some people are more fit for certain things than others.
If someone doesn't like to wash dishes, you've got more than one. If there's two people in the house, okay, you got a big problem. But if you got several, there's brothers and sisters, several, mama, daddy we hope too, and brothers and sisters, okay. One of them or two of them, they don't like to wash dishes, maybe all of them don't like to wash dishes, maybe one of them like to wash dishes. Let that one wash dishes. Nobody doesn't like to mop the floor but there's one that doesn't mind, then they'll mop the floor. Don't insist, brothers and sisters, that a child does everything you want it to do. Some things the child won't want to do. Find out what that child likes to do and give the child what it likes to do.
Maybe it doesn't like to do anything but read. Well, hell, let him read. That will help him in the future, help you too. Now I'm not saying that you don't have to put a little fire under them every now and then. You got to when something has to be done, but I'm saying be a little more lenient. Be a little more tolerant. Be a little more understanding of the nature of people, persons, nature of children and people. Some tend to like a certain thing more than others. Let those who like those things, encourage them to do those things. Believe me, there's something for everybody to do. When he can't find nothing to do, tell him.
Say, "You've got to find something to do, boy. You've got to find something you like. You don't have but one day to do it. Now tomorrow, you have to tell me what you like to do." Insist that all of them do something but don't make all of them iron, don't make all of them wash dishes. Don't make all of them-- our way was to say, "That floor needs to be mopped. Go mop that floor."
We don't think about the organization of the family. See, G-d made a family to be an organization. We don't think about the organization of the family. See, G-d made a family to be an organization. It's an organization. So, you have to organize your labor. You have to organize your people in your family and designate for them certain things to do. Then the family will work better. Treat the family as an organization and organize what you have to do. Organize the members of the family to do what has to be done in the house. Be just like a business corporation. Be just like a business, business concern. Don't assign this duty to one who will not do a good job or doesn't care for it. If there's one that likes it more, let them do that. Now if that boy likes to iron, watch out. Give him something else to do besides ironing because that's how one become too sweet, just ironing, at the ironing board. Trust, G-d has created us and he put a prior condition at us, trust is a prior condition. Everything is supported by faith and trust. No matter how much we learn in this religion, no matter how smart we get in this religion, we have to remain Muslim because of faith, not because of knowledge, or some kind of revelation that we got, no. We're remain Muslim because of faith. The greatest call in this religion, he has remain Muslim because of faith, not because of his knowledge.
It's a prior condition and it must stay with us, faith. The society encourages trust between the members of society. One president of the United States, he went over in Russia when Russia had got this fever for freedom, it wasn't long ago though, this has happened suddenly. I'm talking about President Reagan. He made a visit to Russia. What did he tell the Russians? He said, "Trust your people" he must have had an indication that the people were wanting more freedom. He told Russia to trust, he said, "Trust your people," No I'm not knocking the United States at all, I don't want you to think that, or knocking Reagan, but I said to myself, He said trust his people. I didn't like it. I didn't take it too well.
President Reagan was over there telling Russia to trust its people, and over here they won't trust in me. I'm one of the most trustworthy guys in this country. I didn't like it. Trust your people too Mr. That's what I wanted to say to him. Why don’t you trust your people? You won't find so many of them in jail out and out here tearing down the city and burning up and killing. People want to be trusted. If you don't trust your children, your children won't trust you in your house. If this establishment won't trust their subjects, the subjects won't trust them. The police force they won't trust the citizen, citizens won't trust them.
Trust is very important, but so much for that we can't spend too much time on it. I hope you've understood something of what I've said, but I said, faith or trust is a prior condition that G-d has created in us and we have to promote trust between each other, in the house and in the society. Don't promote distrust. That poisons the society, weaken the society. It makes it self-destructive. It destroys itself. Now let's quickly, I'm going directly. Most of this is indirect, but I'm going directly to something now in the home. We make a big mistake in the home. Another concept for us to know as Muslims is that absolute ownership is only with G-d. None of us have absolute ownership of anything. That’s importanat.
Get out of the habit of saying, "This is mine all the time. Don't touch that, that's mine". Don't be overly possessive, just like claiming everything for yourself. Instead of saying, "This is mine, say this is ours." Sister don't say, "Get out of my refrigerator" say, "Get out of our refrigerator." Don't say, "Don't sit on my couch with those dirty pants." Say, "Don't sit on our couch with those dirty pants." So much for that, let's keep moving. 
Property is personal, and property is shared? Now, when he goes into your jewelries, sister, and looks for one of those shinning earrings and put into his ear, "Say, funny boy, get out of my jewelry".
[laughter]
Getting back to faith now. When we accept G-d and accept his prophets and accept what He has revealed mainly because we believe. It is our nature to believe in our Creator, to trust our Creator. If we have that condition in us, then we can accept what G-d says, "[unintelligible 00:35:35]" we hear and we obey. Muslims have to get out of the habit of hesitating when you know clearly what Allah wants, stop hesitating. Allah said pray at fajr time, if that hits your conscience or you hear the adhan in your house, you don't go think about that. If you think about it, that means you're questioning what G-d orders. Let me see now, should I pray today? If I had talked like that to my mom when I was a boy, she said, "Let's get on to do such, such thing," I hesitate, I say, "Well, should I do that today?" Before I got finished the with sentence, I'll have knock on my head, or a whip on my buttocks.
[laughter]
Yes, she would put something to me right away. Think about that. You going to hesitate now? G-d said, "That's why the word, haya alla salah it means come alive. Haya alla salah, the call to prayer, you know? Yes, and those southern mothers, they’ll make you straighten up, and get to moving like you like it. You’ll start smiling right away. Yes Ma’am.
[laughter]
[unintelligible 00:36:57] Also, it is connected with faith. I make the connection with faith, I believe I'm right, being connected with faith. That is this obedience, this, T-H-I-S. This obedience that G-d wants in us. It is connected with faith. You can't have that kind of obedience unless you have strong faith. You have to have strong faith, the faith has to be strong. [foreign language] same word, we have heard a caller. [foreign language] calling to faith, and we have responded. Again G-d says in the second chapter of Quran, in the form of a prayer, [foreign language] we have heard and we have obeyed, are we hear and we obey.
That means, if you have faith, you are not to hesitate when you know clearly that G-d orders thus, or order this act, or order such and such thing, don't hesitate, because hesitating, let me tell you what hesitating does. Hesitating when you know it's right to do it, hesitating weakens the muscle to act. All right. Hesitate this time, then next time you will be weaker for disobedience. You do it again after a few days, you're even weaker. Over a period of time in your life, you become so weak until you become like most Muslims, they are not obedient Muslim. They're just Muslim by name, they're not obeying anything.
Now, I hope I can rush through this. We need a better appreciation for our women, for women, period. Not to mention for mother, mother more special than just woman, wife is more special than just woman. But we need a better appreciation for just woman period. We must understand brothers as Muslims that woman is highly regarded, highly respected in this religion. She's respected for having the same, she has equal intellect. Equal intellectual potential, equal brains. In this religious, she has equal spirit, equal soul, she has equal mortality, she has everything equal that G-d gave the human being, equal. That doesn't mean it always turn out that way. Why? Because G-d has assigned to us different roles in society. The man because of the different roles he's assigned to, he will become superior to her in certain respects. She becomes superior to him in other respects. But that inequality that we see in the order of society, or in this society does not mean that they are not equal. They are equal, the proof of it is the exception we find in the society. We find women that outdo men brain wise, intellectually. We find women that will outdo the man morally. Women that will outdo the man in any task that she's assigned to. Give her an opportunity she wants to challenge him. Eventually, she will show that she's a match for the man. Sex seems to disappear as a factor there for inequality or anything else or superiority. It disappears. How do I know? I'm a welder and believe me, they let women come into the companies and I was welding for this company at Heliarc I thought I was tough. Doing some Heliarc welding, that woman came in there buddy and she made me ashamed to even let her know that I was welding.
[laughter]
You don't like a woman to come in, - and she was terrific. Terrific. It so happened that she had also, and in her, I guess in her traits, she has some basic skills, some basic talents for mastering the art of the Heliarc process and welding. Because she sure she was doing it. She was mastering it. Believe me, she was mastering it.
Now don't think that I'll go back and see what the imam said, there was no different between males and females. No, I didn't say that. I said that inherently there's no difference, originally, pardon me, there's no difference. Originally there's no difference. In terms of human essence and human quality. Then potential no difference, but the fact that we have different roles in the world and society makes makes the distinction. That makes the distinction. The state for us having superiority in certain respects, but believe me, given the same circumstances over enough time, the woman will prove to be your equal. I hope that it never happened because I don't like the shape of these women that's driving these mail trucks, buttocks are spreading so much it looks like upside-down a sand truck or something, you know.
[00:42:35] [END OF AUDIO]

Imam WD Mohammed: I hope we stay like the Lord made it, femininity for the women and masculinity for the men. I like it that way. You turn me on, sister, when you get feminine. Now, quickly let me come to something now a little more touching, before. Let me give you what is reported in the tradition by the excellent reporter of the Hadith. He reports that the prophet said the prayers and the peace be on him of the woman. Now, this is Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As. He reported that the [unintelligible 00:03:58] [Arabic language]. The world-- dunya means the world. The world is a benefit, gain, profit, gain, benefit, usefulness, whatever. The best of its benefit or it's reward or however you want to translate that, the material benefits, material reward, the best of its reward, the best that we have of all this world, he’s talking about the whole world, what did he say? A virtuous woman, a virtuous woman.
All that we can see as benefits in this world the prophet is saying to us the best, more better than the cars, brother, more better than the business, to have the business, more better than to be rich and powerful, more better than everything of the world, eating that good dinner some of you love to eat too. I guess it's because we've been poor for a long time, some of us, we just loved to eat. The whole thrill is in eating. Better than that dinner, that good meal, whatever you have of the world is the virtuous woman. The virtuous woman.
That tells us that we should value a believing sister who wants to be decent over everything else that we have in the world. The worldly things. I'm talking about the sister as a worldly thing now. We're talking about enjoying her as a companion, as my sexual companion. I'm talking about intimacy, we're talking about a wife, we're talking about the woman, right? Isn't that a fact of nature? See, whatever this religion says, nature will support it too. Reality of nature will support it.
Now don't tell me, but if you're a real natural normal person man, your best enjoyment is not eating that meal, not driving that car, not going to an entertainment, seeing a nice movie or seeing a nice show or hearing a nice stand-up band or whatever or smoking that joint that you do sinfully and all. If you will tell the truth, your best enjoyment is being comfortable with that sister. It'll cut out all that stuff if that sister is ready and everything is straight.
Audience: [laughs]
Imam Mohammed: The prophet didn't say something wrong, our nature testifies to it. Peace and blessings be upon the prophet. Also, prophet says, the prayers and peace be on him, paradise lies at the feet of the mother. Paradise lies at the feet of the mother. Here, the prophet has made paradise something that we can get through the mother, through the mother. He says paradise lies at her feet. If he said paradise lies at the route, the 65 or there, won't we start looking for it? He said paradise lies at the foot of the mother, so we should go look at her, go look at her, go to her. Support that mother, respect her, love her, value her, invest in her because paradise lies at her feet.
It's not me. This is the religion. Don't charge to me with saying-- Everybody wants to accuse me of bid?ah. "He's just an innovation. The Imam is guilty of all this bringing in innovation into religion. He gets that from his father." No, that's no bid?ah, that's the bit. Put it in your mouth and you'll be guided right. 
Now, so much for the woman, for the respect that is due a woman, but we are just touching upon it. There's an excellent book out, too, and I'm going to mention this book. It's by Dr. Ahmed Sakr who I've known since 1967, I believe. That's a long time. It's called Matrimonial-- Okay. Matrimonial-- I can't finish it, but Dr. Ahmed Sakr. You'll get the rest of it. Maybe it'll come to me later on in the talk. I won't try to remember it now.
Let me come to something that may be a little more touching to you, and that is this new influence that we are having in the African American family of people, especially in America, called Afrocentricity. Afrocentricity. I may surprise you. I am not against Afrocentricity if it is honest and straight. I wasn't against it. I'm not against black studies in our schools, on our campuses, but I'm not comfortable with it because I know it hasn't been honest and straight.
Likewise for this belief that is being spread now under the influence of the name Afrocentricity. I'm not pleased with it at all. Why? It says that we should make Africa the center, right? That's what it says. We should make Africa the center and all of us of the African family should look to Africa as the center, but it ignores Islam that has become the center and has been the center for the continent of Africa for many centuries. For many centuries. Our religion has been the center for that continent, but they want to ignore that and go to idolatry, anything but true religion. They don't even respect real Christianity on the continent. They want to go to idolatry, so that tells me that someone wants to sell me an Afrocentric belief. That is a cheat. It's cheating me out of my rich past and identity with the continent of Africa.
Africa, before Al-Islam, we know it had ancient civilizations, but why should I ignore traces, small remnants of an ancient civilization when I have nearer to me in time great evidence of mighty people, mighty civilization influenced by Islamic civilization? They will mention Songhay. They will mention Askia the Great. They will mention these figures, but they mention them passing over, passing by, playing down the importance of Islam in their life and you have to search to find the connection with Al-Islam. When you should have to search to find the connection with the ancient bones, with the ancient superstitions, with the ancient idolatries. You should have to search to find that because Al-Islam came and overshadowed that and pushed idolatry and primitive behavior out of the continent of Africa almost totally. Also, Christianity has had a great role on that continent.
If they want to bring us to an Afrocentricity, they should respect the fact that religion revealed by G-d has done more for that continent than any so-called idolatry or primitive ideas about religion. Established religion. Christianity and Al-Islam, particularly Al-Islam, has done more for the civilizing of that continent, for the enrichment of the intellect and the human nature and soul of that continent than anything else. This is the fact of history. So why cheat me? If you want me to make Africa my center, center of my life, center of my focus for my reality, then don't cheat me. Don't have me looking at bones and superstitions and faked-up cosmetic ideas when there's real truth of the excellence and the civilization of these people that I can go right to in history and touch it.
What does that tell me? If you study who are involved in spreading this belief called Afrocentricity or whatever, this connection with that idea, you will find that the enemies of Islam are among them. The enemies of our religion are among them. I want to say to you that this affects the family, too. This is going to spread. Pretty soon, your family members are going to be influenced by this wave of Afrocentricity. Your boys are going to be influenced. Already some of our children are influenced by it.
The prophets of that idea, the false prophets, the cheaters, the false cheating prophets of that idea, they're getting on the television. They own the media. They're reaching our homes and they are fascinating us. Why? Because our souls have a great void. We have a great need to connect with our ancient man, our ancient people, with ancient history. America has kept all that from us and now gives it to us in a very deceitful way by letting the enemies of Islam tell us about our past when our past has been mostly Islam and it should be the Muslims telling us about that past and not the enemies of Islam.
They're cheating us. Even while they're pretending to be sincere and straight, they're cheating us out of the truth of our past. Cheating us out of it, the richness of our past. They're cheating us. I repeat, the false prophets are going about preaching that idea, and they're reaching our homes. They're reaching your children. More and more they're going to be reaching us. Muslims, we have to be aware of that. You have to remember, sisters and brothers, to tell your children that "Don't you be taken by this." The best past we have as people of Africa is Islamic. The greatest page of glory, the greatest page for our achievement is Islamic and nothing else but Islamic.
We appreciate Christians what they have done on the continent of good, but what they have done has been nothing. It has left nothing when we compare the influence of this religion, Al-Islam, on the life of that people we call the African people. They have done nothing. That doesn't mean that we're in the best shape. The Muslim of the world are not in the best shape. Why? Because, as our G-d says, he rotates the rule. He rotates the rule. That means that though we are his people, though Muslims are his people, we are G-d's people, that means that we are not always going to be rulers on this earth. G-d rotates the rule to try people, to test, see how his people behave.
How would we know how other people will treat us when they never get the chance to be in the superior position? How would we know how we would treat other people if G-d never gave us the chance to be in the superior position? There's a lot of wisdom in this, that G-d rotates the rule as he pleases. G-d rotated the rule and the Christian West got into power and they colonized Africa and they dominated most of the Muslim world, practically all of it. They left their influences there. They strained the life of the Muslim. They tried to alter the life of the Muslim so the Muslim will never find his true Islamic life.
They dominated those places for centuries. So don’t wonder why Muslims are not great, we have just come out from oppression. We've been oppressed by the West, whether in Africa or in the Middle East or in India. Wherever we have been, we've been oppressed by the West. So don't blame us for the state we're in now, blame yourself for not trying to find the truth, for not searching your Quran and searching the history of our prophet, the peace and the blessing be on him, to learn the truth straight from the sources, straight from the genuine sources. Let us blame our self. Don't blame the state of the Muslim in the world.
We need a climate for healthy homes, for healthy Muslim homes. I hope I'm contributing something to bringing that about. My last note for this talk is on this. You'll be hearing now freedom. Big word. Democracy. Democracy is catching on as wildfire in Europe, right? All over Europe. Russia now, Glasnost, openness. Democracy, we expect that it's going to sweeping the world. Democracy is sweeping the world. You as Muslim, you must understand that the West was oppressing itself. The West, Christian West, was oppressing itself, denying women respect that they are do by nature and from G-d, refusing to give them opportunity to be educated.
Some Christian sects were saying that the women did not have a soul, only the male has soul. Women have no soul. Christians were doing this. They were oppressing not only us but they oppressed even their own. They enslaved their own people. Their workers was treated like a slave market. Workers were treated like a slave market. You should study some of your scholars. Not all of you. All of us can't do this, but some of you scholars, if you haven't done it, you should make it your business to study the history of the progress of labor. The progress of labor in the history of the West.
Labor used to be treated like beasts. Not only us. Don't think that they brought Africans over here from Africa and that began the mistreatment of human beings. No, they treated themselves-- You should read some of the treatment of the English toward the Irish that they dominated. The English over the Irish. You should read how they treated the Irish, how they disrespect the Irish male because they thought the English were superior, a superior breed to their Irish brother of the same color. You should know these things.
But we're hearing all this talk about freedom now, about democracy. As Muslims, we have to stay separate from this thing. We don't want the democracy that the West is all excited about, we want a better democracy than that. Well, what is a bet--? Where is a better democracy than that? It's in Quran. It's in the life of Muhammad the prophet, the prayers and the peace be upon him. While we're excited about this thing, let us go to the Quran and let us get the knowledge and the insight from the Quran to come up with the right idea for freedom and democracy, because it was the Quran and the life of the prophet that lit the torch of freedom for the West and brought them to accept civilization and democracy. What they have is their brand of it, not conforming exactly to what Allah wants in the Quran. They are not conforming to that.
In connection with that, I want to say this in my conclusion. Be aware of the hypocrisy, too. I love this country. I love this freedom. I love all of it, but be aware of the hypocrisy, too, in the West. What hypocrisy am I talking about? The West, especially America-- America is the model for this special kind of freedom. You won't find the same hardly anywhere in the western world. America is the place for this, what they call quote, “experimental freedom”. Experimental democracy. This is an experimental democracy and experimental freedom.
All right. What does that say? That says this. That America has a very unique and strange form of freedom and democracy. On the one side is beautiful and great and very attractive. On the other side is frightening because this idea of freedom that we have in America allows freedom to everything. There is freedom to the person who wants to indulge in an experience of immorality. Perversion. If he wants to explore the possibilities for perverted sex, he has the freedom to explore the possibilities for perverted sex and come up with something so strange and so way out to make all of us feel like jumping off as somebody said, "Stop the world let me jump off." [laughs] All of us say, "Stop the world and let us step off." That's the kind of freedom we have here.
Also, we have to understand that though our religion promotes freedom, insists upon freedom, [Arabic language] no compulsory in religion, no forcing people to be Muslims, no forcing people to pray. Though our religion insists upon that, we must understand, too, that our religion respects what is due respect. Now, it respects the privacy of the home. It respects the privacy of a society. Do you think the prophet would send his disciples or his followers to Rome to convert the Pope? He didn't do it. He never sent his disciples to go to Rome to convert the pope. What does that tell us? That he accepted what G-d says, that G-d sent prophets to all of these people and that if He had wanted you all to be one community, He would have made you one community. He accepted that is the will of G-d that some people be Christian, some people be Jews, some people be something else, and as long as they are sincere in their religion, the prophet didn't disturb them.
You must understand that right next door to Arabia, you can stand on Arabian soil and throw a stone into Africa, into Ethiopia. That's just how close they are at certain points. Ethiopia only separated by what? That little water strip. Little water strip separates. You can almost throw a stone over there and hit it. Ethiopia was so close that his followers during persecution they went to Ethiopia to seek political protection or asylum. That country is still Christian. The prophet's army was mighty enough to go and dominate Ethiopia. He didn't do it.
There are Coptic Christians still in Egypt. They were there. They have traditionally been there. They were there before the prophet. They were there during the prophet and they are still there. Not only in these places, I'm just naming you a few places. Coptic Christians still there. Why didn't he force those people to become Muslim? Because he respected those people. They were sincere in their religion and Christianity is a recognized religion. Though we don't recognize the deviations in Christianity, we recognize the purity of origin. The purity of origin for Christianity and for Judaism. The beauty of origin.
The prophet wasn't about going in there, stamping out or dominating those people and stopping them from practicing their religion. Instead of doing that, he did something that makes him stand out above all conquerors. What did he do? He established, he mandated in Medina that freedom of religion will be granted to the Jews and they will be able to practice their religion just as they had done before the rule of Muslims came. That's what he mandated. I can go on talking about that, but that's too much. I'm getting to my point. I want to get to my point now, and that's the hypocrisy that I've mentioned.
Where is the hypocrisy in the West? They are asking now, here I have right before me, the Pope. This is not new. This is something that may be a month old or more than that. Pope urges a convert drive even where Muslims banned it. Now, this might sound good, you know, to us that are sentimental about freedom, sentimentally involved with the concept of freedom, with democracy and the beauty of it and everything. We might be over-romantic, overly romantic, and we might be "Oh, yes if we [unintelligible 00:26:42] would they allow us to propagate in America, in a Christian country, yes, they should be allowed to propagate in our Muslim countries."
This is a special kind of democracy. This is an experimental democracy. Certainly, they can afford to let Muslims come in here and preach Al-Islam freely. Certainly, they can afford that because the devil is free, too, here in America, he has the same freedom. The devil has equal freedom with us, so certainly they can do that. This country is not established to preserve any particular idea, any particular religion, any particular moral persuasion, it is established to give freedom to everybody to compete with each other in a wilderness called civilization. I remember some of you don't like this language, but it's the fact, it's the truth.
You have to cut out your civilization in the wilderness and you have to battle Satan and battle the influences of the wilds to preserve and keep your life in this experimental democracy. Why should we invite that in Mecca? For anybody that has such an idea as a Muslim, he's crazy. "Oh, yes, they be should be allowed since we allowed to come here in America to preach our religion, they should be allowed to have churches in Mecca." No, they should not. They should not. Why they should not? Only nobody but Muslims are there. Nobody but Muslims there. You invite everybody here. Atheists are here and you invite them here. We don't invite atheists to Mecca. We don't invite disbelievers to Mecca, so what do you want to go there and preach to believers for?
Have the respect that the prophet had. He didn't go to Rome and preach to the Pope. He didn't go to the Vatican and preach to the Vatican. He realized that that was a solid place. No idolaters, all solid religious people under religious authority, qualified religious authority. They were entitled to have their own freedom of religion, to have their own choice of religion. He left them alone. Now there is a solid Muslim nation over there. Solid Muslim nation, Saudi Arabia. What do you look like asking the pope of Rome, what do you look like asking now that they open up Saudi Arabia, open up Mecca for them to go and preach over there? I'm telling you he needs to go back to bed and wake up again.
I hope to visit him one day. I have great respect for him. I hope that he gives me an audience one day. Yes. I've asked a long time ago, and I asked again recently for an audience with the Pope in Rome because I think I can help him understand Muslim sensitivities if nothing else. So, let us be aware of these things and don't be caught off-guard. This wave of freedom is strong. Yes, it's strong. The West is thinking now that America is a model for democracy for the whole world. Even for Muslims. No nation, no people will be a model for us. Allah says you are the best people raised up, evolved for the good of all mankind. We pray Allah's guidance always, His forgiveness. Amin.
[00:30:30] [END OF AUDIO]


