05/01/2005
IWDM Study Library
Temptations

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

[background conversation]
Imam Warith Deen Mohammed: We have technical problems and we won't be able to go on the air. We weren't able to get it cleared. Those things happen and we do have persons who know what they're doing here. In fact, my nephew, Brother Darren, Sister Anita and Darrel's son, most of you know him, he's been in the business for a long time. He work, still work with me in the network, TV network, I think. Yes Alex, so he is here and he's still working hard to open up, I told him, "Give up. [laughter] Give it up and we're going to address our audience here, that we just begin with that four o'clock, so we just begin early, that's all. We begin early,"
I don't want the radio to come on, that's the thing. They're not supposed to hear when I say that you're all here and that is serious. [laughs] As we go straight things here that you understand and you've been following me in this for a long time but the public, they're not, you see, so we don't want it to go out to the public.
Let me say that we welcome, our Imam, our Imams, and members of the community, and Dr. Mike [unintelligible 00:02:09] who is also an Imam. Back home to United States, after going abroad, invitation by the Focolare they've been to Rome and they have returned. They just returned yesterday. Was it yesterday?
Speaker 2: Friday.
Imam Warith: Friday?
Speaker 2: Jumu'ah.
Imam Warith: Oh Friday. They returned for Jumu'ah Friday, so we welcome them home. I'm anxious to hear from them and I see Joe Allen and Paula, yes, they're here. Would you like to begin and tell us something before? Come tell us your greetings, please.
[applause]
Imam Warith: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Well, the Imam after having spent a week together, we had to come back because it was such a wonderful week there in Rome. First of all, we want to tell you how much we missed you in Rome and everybody really missed you, in particular way, Natalia, who was there presenting Chiara. She really sends her love to you and to them.
I'm sorry, I'm turning my back but I just like to-- especially, it was such a beautiful gift for us the night when together we were able to call you from Rome. The day after, we were able to convey to Archbishop Fitzgerald, the representative of the Holy Father for Inter-religious Dialogue, the Imams greetings and best wishes, which obviously, he conveys to all of you.
I'm sure that those who traveled with us will have a lot to say but we felt that again was a step ahead in our beautiful relationship. We, the group, we were really proud of being there among-- we were about 200 people. It was a much smaller group this year but it was a beautiful experience of communion of sharing, both from the Christian part and the Muslim part. Imam Shahid, as well as Shareef, they represented you very well, Imam, so you have to be proud of the group that you sent to Rome to represent you, really.
Especially, convey the greetings from Chiara. She was not there, but she sent a message, a greeting from Chiara, particularly to you and the whole community, so thank you and just to tell you we love to be with you. We couldn't stay away.
[applause]
Imam Warith: Thank you. Yes, we do have a beautiful relationship and it began that way and has continued that way and it's going to grow even more beautiful, I do believe. That's our desire to see more happen for our relationship that we grow, as they say, as Focolare people say, as we grow as family. We are one family under G-d and that's what we should be and we have to help each other. We love that relationship.
As Imam-- Sultan Salahuddin was there, I didn't know that when they left but he also was there, he also was in the group that went to Rome. You all look rested, like you didn't travel.
[laughter]
I travel sometimes and takes a lot out of me. Especially, with some parts of the world, you travel and it's hard. It's really hard on you. Not developed as other parts as-- the Vatican, you're very peaceful there and you just feel like resting. They keep you busy but sometime-- when I was on a trip, I wanted to tell them, "Can you let me enjoy this just a little longer?"
[laughter]
"Can I join you in two hours?"
[laughter]
Yes. I remember as a little boy I use to sell Chicago Defender. My mother lets me sell Chicago Defender. Chicago Defender had been around a long time. I didn't know it had been around longer, it had been around. I just thought it started around the time I became a paperboy selling the Chicago Defenders. I remember going through the neighborhoods, howling, "Chicago Defender paper." The people would come out, they hear me howling, they come out to the window up to the door, "Paperboy." I'd go and they'd give me nickel or whatever it was for the paper.
On the weekend, that's what I look forward to, the Friday paper. Friday paper. At Friday paper, now I'm a little boy but I knew what sells. I found out from experience what sells and what sold that paper was a pretty woman on the front cover. Whenever a pretty woman was on the cover, I knew I will make some money.
[laughter]
They buy the paper, especially the men, the men buy the paper with pretty woman on the cover. I remember billboards, I was young but older, in my teens and in fact, much later but I remember billboards when I was a boy. Again, a boy I may be 12, 13 years old and you come out and see billboards all the billboards in the African American neighborhood, a black neighborhood got white women, selling cosmetics, cars, cigarettes, liquor. White women and they're pretty. The business people, they know it sells too. Like I know what sold the Chicago Defender, they knew what sells too, the cosmetics or whatever it is, pretty women.
I have said to myself, "Why are these white folks put all these pretty white women in our faces?" Soon as they come outside see a billboard, pretty white woman and then tell us, "Stay away from their women."
[laughter]
I was like, "What kind of game are they playing? What is this?" They are really some devilish hypocritical people. Yes, the lust that we have in us, sexual lust and the interest in women other than our women, mostly at time of segregation, a sad time of segregation, discrimination, slavery et cetera, is responsible for that and the white man, the white people back then-- White man back then. It wasn’t his woman, it's them doing that. White businessmen, they're responsible for that.
It's not natural. The sexual appetites of black people are not normal and not natural because you've been manipulated, enticed by white businessmen who just want your money and want to make you lustful, so you don't want anything but lust. Though you won't invest a lot in family, you won't invest a lot in the education of your children because you'd be spending a lot on lust. Yes, we should understand that. If you understand it like I do, then you would do a lot to help others get out of that and you'll do a lot to keep yourself away from temptations. Yes.
I didn't know the time would come like it is. I remember living in Philadelphia, it's been a long time ago. You know I lived in Philadelphia a long time ago. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad made G-d give him paradise. He sent me there, he said, "Son, I'm going to send you to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love." He said, "Temple number 12." All the temples had numbers. First one started in Detroit, Michigan. We have followers, a friend of my family and also very strong supporters of our community back then and now. They are present now, they're present here at this particular time. That's where it all started, in Detroit, Michigan, temple number one.
Mr. Fard, the teacher of my father who was a foreigner, he wasn't an American, wasn't American born. He decided to come to Chicago and set up a second temple, and he did. My father and my mother told me she brought me-- I was the baby then. I only have one in our family, immediate family from my mother, that's younger than me. His name is Akbar, Dr. Akbar, teaching up in Upstate New York at Binghamton University, he is a professor of there. He was born later. I was born five or six years later but almost six years later. I'm almost six years older than he is.
Anyway, I was the baby at that time and my mother told me she brought me in her arms. I was about 11 months she said, to Chicago, became temple number two. They set it up here, they got gained a following here and set it up as temple number two. [clears throat] Getting back to my point, I saw nothing in the public establishment or the businesses in the public establishment, the private sector. I saw nothing to inspire me or to make me have any kind of appreciation for our value in America. There was nothing. Everything was white folks. Everything white folks.
Now that has changed, there's such a big change. That's a big change. You go out now, these big companies, they don't use white folks, they use our women, in our neighborhood. It's our women you see on the billboard, that's a big change. That's healthy for our psyche. It's healthy for our mind, our spirituality, to see ourselves and not others.
In slavery time, I used to preach for Honorable Elijah Muhammad in the nation of Islam as a minister, a young minister, in the early '20s. I used to say, "The white man whether he knew it or not, the way he was dealing with us as his servants or slaves, was creating problems for him down the road." Slaves working in the fields, sweating, tired, can't look handsome, he's not attracted to his woman.
But the missus, the white woman, the missus, he see her coming out of the house, he might have to carry something for her, she all perfumed up and looking all good, hair done, cosmetics, you could imagine what that had happened over a period of hundreds of years, or just 10, years, or just one year? What had happened? You smelling perfume on the other woman and smelling crap on your woman, and vice versa. Yes. I'm telling you it's a wonder we don't want to kill each other.
[laughter]
Some of you do, and you do kill each other too for foolish reasons. For nonsense reasons, you kill each other. But don't blame that on your human nature, that's not your human nature. That's your ruined nature, your nature being ruined by slavery, and discrimination, denial in this country that have left you scarred very deeply. Some of you can't support each other. Husband can't support wife, wife can't support husband. You are enemies almost by nature. Yes. But that's been that your nature was changed by those conditions back there. Yes, you're almost enemies by nature.
Man working hard trying to save the money, you working hard trying to spend it before he get it. Then when he gets angry and loses his good love that he had for you, he loses that good feeling and spirit, you ready to kick him out and put the white man on him. And don't know the white man had been on you and him all the time. The second you psychologically. [clears throat] We have overcome that.
Psychologist, if you go to him with a problem, what is he going to do? You can't tell him, "Don't talk about the past." He say, "Well, that's all I got to work with. I've been trained to work with what happened in the past to know what's happening now." That's what psychologists going to tell you. You don't tell him, "Don't bring that up. Don't talk in the past." He say, "Well lady, miss, or man, mister, I can't help you then." [laughs] How can he help you unless he bring up the past to see how did this problem form and come to what it is now? Same thing we have to do as preachers. Brother preacher out there, do you hear me?
Congregant: Yes, sir.
Imam Warith: Yes. I'm not talking about Christians on here, I'm talking-- Christian preachers here I'm talking to you brother, yes, I am. But I'm talking to all of you all who preach the people. Who sell G-d to people.
[laughter]
It's a shame. Yes, you got to talk about the past. Don't make it a taboo, making it against the law for us to bring up the past. I feel it out there in your audience right now, as soon as I started talking I felt the change in your spirit.
[laughter]
What is he doing now? Where is he coming from now? Doing the same thing we always had to do, if we represent G-d and religion, trying to heal you.
[laughter]
We go to extremes. Some of us want to pretend that nothing happened good. Americans haven't changed. How shameful. You're not giving our people any credit for the price they paid to bring change. You not giving the good white Americans the price they paid to help us enforce change. So you're shameful. That's one extreme we go to.
The other extreme we go to, that when we give up that, we're afraid to look back. Afraid to look back. You're not convinced enough in your acceptance of America to look back. You're afraid if you look back, you're going to reject America, and I don't want to reject America, I'm comfortable now, accept America. So please bloody Imam don't talk about the past.
[laughter]
If you're that weak brother and that fried you, I want to see you crack up.
[laughter]
You shouldn't be with us. No, we want men, fine men with us. You have to be strong enough to look back, and look clearly at everything, and keep going farther with faith in yourself and faith with the good America. Faith in the good America. Yes, then we can make it. We had a nice ceremony out there this morning. Breaking the ground, getting ready to put a building.
[applause]
Yes, yes but hold up. Don't you know it's going to take supporters, loyal supporters to keep the place running, to keep the place operating? It's going to take loyal supporters. You just want to see something happen and then you go back into your own ways, taking all your money to somebody else's neighborhood, spending it and strengthening their tax base, strengthening their town, making their town great, and leaving your town neglected financially? Your paycheck goes out into another people's neighborhood. Now, we can't have that.
Look, for the African American who carries the ghosts of slavery on his back like a drug addict carries a monkey on his back, we can't succeed with just business. You have to have religion, and you have left religion. Religion now is just a fun thing for you. Just go have a shouting time, then come back and repeat the same old life again. Monday through Saturday, and then Sunday, or whenever you go to church or the Jumu'ah. Go get a spiritual charge and get right back to the old funky neglectful life again. We can't have that. The people that's going to make us successful or join us in this success, the effort to have success, they have to be healthy-minded, they have to be strong.
We might not get many but a few can do more than the many can do, if they are nothing but burden and trouble. Yes, so you are nothing but burden and trouble, believe me, I'd like to see your face again whenever you show up next first Sunday. I'd like to see your face again, I love you, but I don't want us to depend on you because you don't offer us anything. You can't give anybody anything. You don't have any strength. You're just around watching and hope somebody will fail to make you look good. "Well, see, I didn't support that because I knew it wasn't going to work." So it makes you look good. "You see, I made the right decision." Not going to happen that way. Not going to happen that way.
You have to be healthy-minded, make your heart strong for the right thing, make your mind strong for the right thing, and you will start experiencing a good feeling in your soul. When that happens, we won't have to be criticizing you, or pushing you, or pointing you out to others so they won't be carrying you on their backs. You won't have to do that because once your mind devotes itself to good things and your heart wants good things, love good things, Allah then, let the angels help you. Yes, you will have angels helping you. You will be strong and we won't have to be following you up, and telling you what you're neglecting, or making you uncomfortable with our criticism of your life.
I already gave you a big help. You didn't do it to yourself. You didn't get it started. The bad time's behind us got it started for you, messed up your life. But if you continue to do it, it's your fault. Once you know what happened, that your life was messed up by circumstances behind us, slavery, rejection in this country, et cetera, then you should take over. You should take over from there and say, "Well, there's no slavery now, there's nothing stopping me now. I'm going to join people who are going after the good life." It doesn't have to be Imam W. Deen Mohammed. Go and join those people who are going after the good life and not just styling and taking your money.
That's what most of your leaders are, they're nothing but show business people taking your money, and you like it because they play to the tune of your sickness that you don't want to give up, like a drug addict doesn’t want to give up his drugs.
True religion is the light and there are always those who want to keep the world in darkness, especially the ignorant people. They want to keep you ignorant and in darkness. They are the people who want the material things more than they want the spiritual side. But religion gives us the light, the great religions they tell us of a beginning that was like heaven. We call them the heavenly religion sometimes. The Abrahamic faith, or the heavenly religions, or heavenly faiths. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. There's some others that we should include too I think, but these are the ones that we have a scriptural tie to. Jews, Christians, and Muslims are scripturally tied together. Scripturally tied together, you hear me?
We believe in the same source for our guidance. The G-d that created everything in the very beginning, who was eternal, never came into existence but have always been in existence and who never dies or pass away. The eternal G-d who created the universe, everything in upstairs and the sky and everything down here. That is the G-d we believe, that is the source of revelation. Revelation comes from him and we believe in the prophets, the messengers, the prophets that he raised for the good of the people. We believe in them. We share this with Jews, Christians, and we are Muslims having the same.
We believe that life for human beings began in heaven or began in a garden. A garden of paradise. Eden, it's called too and a garden of paradise. Now, this picture of the beginning of life is not only back in time, but is now. Every baby born is born in heaven or in a garden of paradise until he wakes up in your funky room, or apartment, or house, or neighborhood and loses all contact with paradise.
But look what revelation is telling us, what G-d revealed to the great messengers, prophets. Look what he's telling us. He is telling us that he wants that we wants that we remain in paradise, and that we not make decisions in our hearts. First in your hearts. That's where decisions go wrong. First in your heart. It goes wrong first in your heart, now you're going to impose that logic, or that reason, or that rationale that you use to support that decision. You're going to impose it upon your mind. When it's comfortable in your mind, then you impose it upon your heart. Say, "Now heart, be at ease. You're not committing any sin." So you can do wrong and not feel pain. You're already comfortable in doing wrong.
This is what happened to our father in the garden. He was seduced by the serpent or by this Iblis or Shaytan, Satan. Satan got his mind, his heart was weak for it. Satan knew that. So Satan says, "Yes, he's like this, he's obeying G-d but really his heart, he would like to give his heart to some of these other things. So let me give him a reasoning that will free his heart." So he gives him a reasoning. I'm not going to go over the reasoning, it's in the Quran, it's in the Bible.
He gives him a reasoning, and he buys that reasoning, and he starts to think different from the way he was thinking before. Before, he was thinking only obedience to the best nature. Obeying the best nature, that's all he was thinking before. But when he was convinced to change the way he thought and given the rationale to support it, then he began to think self-interest. Self-interest, self gain.
The serpent said, "Oh, you'd be able to live forever. You'll be like the G-ds. The angels, the G-ds living forever." He told him, "Oh, this tree is very attractive and you won't eat from it because you think it's wrong." But he worked with his mind, manipulated his mind until he got him to think that it wasn't wrong, it was okay to eat from that tree. The Bible, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as they say in the Bible. But in the Quran, it's the tree of unrighteousness, and the tree of changing the disobedience that changes you, which is the same as the Bible said if you understand it, but it changes you from being conscious of your behavior under authority above you, to being relaxed and free to behave as your own intelligence requires you behave.
Instead of being under the authority of a creator or G-d, you come under your own authority. Says, be careful of him who calls your parents to come out of their original clothing that G-d put them in. And the Quran doesn't leave us guessing, it says the clothing of righteousness.
My focus is paradise, Eden, heaven that's what I'm looking at as I'm speaking to you, that's what I'm addressing. Now, why is this idea given to us? Look, Mr. Farad said, "The Earth is a home of the original man." The home of the original man. He didn't say the land, he didn't say the country. He said, the home of the original man. Now, let's see, can we understand or travel along with Mr. Farad in his thinking. If we can imagine the Earth not having any humans on it, no human on earth and divine authority or the superior authority in existence orders the creation of man, and the first man is formed alive on Earth. Tell me, where is that man's home?
Congregant: Earth.
Imam Warith: That man's home is the Earth. Nobody else but here. He's not sharing it with anybody, that's his home. The whole Earth is his home. Well, the animals were there, yes, but he's above the animals. Human intelligence is above the animals. Human beings end up protecting-- I hope your speakers are okay. Human beings end up protecting the animals, human beings end up using the animals, protecting the animal. Human beings become the responsible life over all other living things. It's his home.
What did he have in his home? Monkeys, apes, birds, everything. Fish, all that was in his home and it's still in your nature. You want a fish bowl in there, some maybe want a monkey cage in a cage. You want the birds to sing to you you, 
[laughter]
[laughs] You walk up the cage of the bird, have him sing to you. Some of you even want the rats and roaches.
[laughter]
So you put food, raw food all over the floor and leave it so you can have rats and roaches. You want a little animal kingdom right in your house.
[laughter]
Nature's still in you, right? [laughs] But G-d wants you to keep it a paradise and he charged the man to be responsible for keeping it a paradise. What is the message? The message is that this, G-d created man to be responsible for his living space. You don't share the whole Earth anymore by yourself, but you've got a room, or you've got an apartment, or you've got a house, or a condominium. You've got something, somewhere you live.
Man, let me tell you, if you want to respect what G-d created you for, respect your living space. Don't blame the wife if the floor is nasty, you mop the floor. Don't blame the wife if the whole place smells like the bathroom. Make the bathroom smell like a rose garden and the whole house smell like a rose garden. You do that. I'm serious, I'm not playing piano for the women, don't think that.
[laughter]
Brothers, as much as your woman is taxed to take care of your children, please follow the ways of the prophets and our prophet is Muhammad. He was seen cleaning up house, sweeping the floors, taking care of the house. He didn't say that was a woman's job. He helped her with that, all right? He helped the wife take care of the house. He was seen shopping for the house. She gave him a grocery list. How many of you all get a grocery list?
[laughter]
Some of your wives work two jobs while you style and pimp.
[laughter]
Show her how domesticated you are. You're so domesticated, you'd do nothing but eat, sleep, and use the toilet, and go to the washroom when she complains. Stop taxing her and start sharing the burden, and you will feel good. Look, your nature needs this, your life needs this. That makes you feel good, brother, you come into a new life. It's like going on a track when you've been neglecting yourself and you go out and start walking on the track. After a while, you feel like jogging, right? You walk on the track, about two weeks, or a week, or three days some is enough and you feel so good, your body say, "Let me run." Yes, your body say, "Let me run." Feeling good.
That's a sign that you need to live the life of Adam, your father. That you're supposed to be like, you're supposed to be in his likeness, his image and his likeness before he neglected his life and followed the suggestion of the Satan, the Shaytan.
Earth is the home of the original man, living space. Great societies, Germans and others, they had leaders and inspired leaders who preached to them or guided them in knowledge so that they would appreciate the value of living space. They took it on as a mate, just as man take on a woman, beautiful woman as his mate and they engaged the living space, worked the land, cultivated, grew beautiful things on it. Fell in love with their products, like we fall in love with the children that a beautiful woman produced with us. They fell in love with the products that grew out of the earth, fell in love with her.
How many black men are in love with work? That's what you need if you want to get back in paradise, you're going to have to fall in love with work again. Yes, because your fathers before you, they loved work.
Congregant: FOI.
[laughter]
Imam Warith: I heard you brother.
[laughter]
That's right, he's right. That the same one that designed that order for the nation of Islam, the FOI, and the MGT, and all of that was the one that told us, Earth is the home of the original man. Yes, we can struggle and attempt the big achievement or big task and maybe succeed and making a big showing, but we lose it, we'll keep failing if we don't change how we think and how we behave. We have to change the way we think and behave. Your behavior for success should be more important than your fun time.
Yes, because it's going to give you more pleasure in the long run than any temporary fun time can give you, no. Whatever it is, sexual, riding a horse or a fine vehicle you buy. I don't know what's giving you all the pleasure but whatever it is giving you pleasure. It can't give you the pleasure that community success can give you. When you wake up in the morning knowing that your community is thriving, knowing that you got businesses that are thriving, and knowing that you've got professional people that's growing in number in your community. You're getting more builders, you're getting more bankers, you're getting more doctors, you're getting more lawyers, you're getting more painters, whatever.
Oh, you wake up, nothing can give you happiness. None of those temporary things that you think is happiness can equal the happiness that you get when you wake up and know your house is in order, your neighborhood is in order, your image is pleasant to your soul and pleasant to the intelligent people of planet Earth. We need more than money. We're told by G-d in our book, our sacred book the Quran, never will G-d change what is bothering your people until they change what is in their own souls. Meaning your heart and soul. You have to change your heart.
Have a change of heart first. Stop loving those things that waste your life, and waste your money, and waste your future, and devote yourself to those things that preserve your life, elevates your life, and makes your future brighter. That's what we have to do.
Living space, when you neglect to do what you're supposed to do for your environment, it affects you the way you are affected when you neglect what you're supposed to do for your own body. If you feed your body garbage, your body is going to suffer, it's going to have pain. You don't take care of it, it gets too heavy, it gets to fat, it gets ugly, it makes you ashamed to go out of the house. You don't even want to go outside anymore. You used to have 22 waist, 34 breast, 37 hips and now you look like one big glob.
[laughter]
You don't want to go out. Now you're ashamed to go out of the house. Your behavior shall put you in jail. Right? I mean, literally, your behavior have put you in jail. Somebody just should come in there and halal you.
[laughter]
I didn't say ?aba?a.
[laughter]
Don't you all use me there, say, "Imam, said go on and slaughter her." No, I didn't say ?aba?a, I said halal." [laughs]. We're living in a different time for living space. [laughs] I'm telling you, I'm being serious, we're living in different time for living space. Living space is shared more now than ever before in the history of human lives. Living space has to be shared. It is just a matter of time before the intelligent rulers or leaders that we elect look at this problem seriously and say, "We've gone as far as we can go with this kind of life," and they're going to order a change of life.
They already have done it in a secret way to eliminate the weak, but you are not dying fast enough for them. They got you so you're not in their way anymore. I'm talking about in the business way. You're not in their business traffic, you're not hurting the business traffic anymore. You're helping it in fact, because you’re buying death, you're buying your own demise. They're making money on you paying to kill yourself. Yes, suicide or whatever you want to call it.
They're going to have to bring in the change one day soon. When they bring in the change, it may be a sin punishable by death to do some of the things that you're doing right now. That can happen. And usually when a little man like me speaks a thing that's in nature, the big ones pick it up and long before they execute it. Yes, it's coming the time when small things that you're doing, neglect, your small neglect may be punishable by death.
I can see them digging holes with bulldozers and big trucks carrying hundreds of bodies and dumping them in the hole and the bulldozer pushing the dirt over. Reported in the newspaper, the next day you read the newspaper headline. 500,000 were found guilty of these serious-- they won't call them, small neglects or minor. Serious neglects, violation of the public good. They were injected, they went to sleep peacefully. They have pictures of the bulldozers pushing the big-- just mounds of earth over them and have Imam w.d. Mohammed on Six O'clock news saying, "Allahu Akbar. Good riddance."
[laughter]
Can you believe that? That's a preacher, he had a good name too. He's shouting that, that's all over for them. Well, that's the end of the news for this evening.
[laughter]
No, you can't go on like this. Believe me, life can't keep going like this. There's an end to it and the end is here. Life can't keep going like this. That's why G-d got me and others trying to wake you up before it's too late. Life can't keep going like this. You have to come back to your original nature, that G-d gave you. You have to love your life that G-d gave you as a gift from G-d. You couldn't make it. Love yourself and your life as a gift from G-d, put it in your responsibility and you should be responsible for it.
If you don't eat right, your body suffers. If you don't clean yourself, your body suffers. If you don't exercise this body, your body suffers. If you don't take care of yourself, you suffer. Your body depends on the environment, your body needs living space, to eat in, to sleep in, to move about in. If you don't take care of that living space, you suffer. These two things are taken together, they’re mated like man and woman, husband and wife. They live together and if you don't take care of it, you suffer. When you share it with us, we all suffer.
I go through the neighborhood, people just dropping trash. I remember one time when I was young I heard the police officers make pretty good money, I was thinking for a little while of being a police officer. I'm glad I didn't do that because I would be locked up, I'd be in jail.
[laughter]
Yes. Look here, I'm walking out in the public, this person takes their paper plate that they're eating out of, with the bones, and meat, and whatever they left in it, and they dropped it right in front of me on the public way. I'm telling you, if I was the police, I would have gotten suspended because I would have sure put a whipping on that person.
[laughter]
When you get this in your heart and you see the neglect and what it's causing us the citizens, the neighbors, and everybody, you get that in your heart, you can't pass by stuff.
I see trash, I pick it up. I just look and see how far I have to go to a trash basket. That's what I look at when I see trash, then I look around for a trash basket. Sometimes I take this trash home. I just take it and put it in my car, take it home and put it in my trash basket. Not in the house though. [laughs] I sure won't bring your trash into my house.
[laughter]
I go to my trash can outside and I put it in there. I started walking on the tracks here lately, I walk the track, you have this big white piece of paper, they just drop there. I do it intentionally, not just myself, I do it even there's nobody but me out there but I'm happy there are some other people out there on the track with me, I walk over, "I'm out there to track, I'm out here to track, so I tracked to this trash, just track all over to the trash, pick the trash up, track onto the trash basket, put it there." But they've got to follow their routine, they've got to stick to their pattern. Look, tracking is tracking. Track to the trash, pick up the trash and put it in the basket.
Go through the white neighborhood, they ain't got to be rich and be poor. Rich and poor, it doesn't matter. Just follow the garbage collector to the white neighborhood. To the average white neighborhood, not all of them, some of those have become sick like a lot of us. Some lot. You don't see trash, the lid up like this, the lid at a 90 degree angle. The lid can’t come down a little bit. Lid at 90 degree angle, trash all over. How much do you spend to make all that trash?
Look, when they lift your trash, more energy has to be spent by that truck to lift your trash. Your trash costs more to get rid of than the other neighborhood's trash. Okay? The sight of your trash, wears on the heart and nerves of the driver more than the sight of the other neighborhood's trash, so he will be asking for more increase wages, he wants his wages increased. They are looking for space to put your trash and they have to go and pay for space to put your trash, that's more expensive than the little space used by the other neighborhood.
Then you say, "How comes it costs us so much to live in our neighborhood, and how come these prices are so high in our neighborhood, and how come these taxes are so high on the black people?" You need your ass whipped.
[laughter]
I'm talking about your head because that's where your ass is.
[laughter]
He's a nasty mouth Iman. No, I'm not. How do you spell ass? A-S-S, right? Look it up in the dictionary, no nasty meaning, unless you put it there.
[laughter]
It means an animal that's stubborn, big-headed but doesn't use his senses. Big ears but ain't hearing anything. [laughs] They got the skill to do nothing but carry a load, but complain all the time. [laughs]
That you owe your existence and the existence of all things, you owe Him for all of that. Give your heart first to Him and then it will know where to go from there. Your own heart will know where to go from there. If you perceive G-d correctly and you give your heart firstly to G-d, I repeat, your heart will know where to go from there. Is there any support for that in our holy book? Yes, say, "Whoever holds on to there's not but one G-d, though they. Though they be in hell, eventually, they will be delivered from hell." Yes, that's where we're in, the way we live, the way we behave, the way we think, we're in hell.
All we need to do is turn back to the one G-d who's responsible for all the wonderful things that we survive upon and for the guidance that carries life forward in the best way. Turn to him and give your heart firstly to him and nothing else will be able to steal your heart or take your heart. Satan is out to get your heart, always. Satan is out to get your heart. Now in closing, because we want to get time for comments and questions. I don't want to see anybody suffer and I won't be responsible for forcing anybody to do anything but I'm going to ask you all to voluntarily pledge and obey, fulfill your pledge.
That whatever we supply you with, if we can get it to you and you don't have to pay more for what we purchase of your needs, then you pay already in the circumstances you're in. I believe we can bring you better quality and you pay less than you're paying now in the circumstances you're in. But if we can just meet whatever you're paying now in the circumstances you're in, I'm going to ask that you make a pledge, that you will not buy anything from anybody until you see if we have it and buy from us.
[applause]
Allahu Akbar, thank you. I said anything. You want a new car, let us know in two years or in one year or in two months you going to need a new car, let us know. You want a new house, I don't care what it is, you let us know. You going to need a couple of new suits, let us know. Underwear, whatever it is, let us know. Let us tell you first, that we're not in a position to supply you with this now before you go to somebody else.
I guarantee you if you do that, you'll be in paradise pretty soon. I'm not talking about material paradise, I'm talking about your soul will be in paradise because your environment is going to be made beautiful by this guidance that G-d has put in us through those before me and through me. Thank you. Peace, As Salaam Alaikum.
[applause]
Allahu Akbar. I'm going to take comments and questions. You have to come to the mics if they don't have them yet. It will be just a few minutes, I'm going to take the weight off my back and sit here while they get the mics. The mics are ready? Great, mics are ready, anybody have a question or comment, please come quickly to the mics because we have a limit on our time. We're going to give 10 minutes for questions and comments. Please make it short. Quick thinking, fast moving, right down to the modern time.
Congregant: My name is [inaudible 01:04:27] I have to kind of trail a little bit brother Imam, something that has been on my mind a long time now about male, female relationship and how our women are being reduced lower--
Imam Warith: How our women are being?
Congregant: No, women are being reduced lower than the low by society.
Imam Warith: You said, women?
Congregant: Women, women, mothers, women.
Imam Warith: Women, mothers, women, yes ma'am.
Congregant: Women are allowing themselves to be reduced because they really don't know that they are. They don't know how wonderful, how powerful that they are, get the most [inaudible 01:05:07] therefore, they don't know who they are, they reduce themselves to [inaudible 01:05:12] what I'm wondering is what can we do to educate women to understand who they are. To get back to the nature which Allah expected themselves to be in, to be strong, beautiful, powerful and their nurturing mothers and wives, they were intended to be.
Another part is that men have been taught how to oppress women, to misuse women, not home and stuff. That's in the line of business. I wondering by we being created a male and a female. For me using is he, him and his to refer to Allah. Did that have, a subconscious, effect on the men to think they're more superior than women?
Another one is that we talk, we refer to G-d, we say G-d and when the word G-d is used in the prostitution house, drug house, swearing and everything. What I'm wondering is, why is it that we can not use the 99 attributes of Allah? That will have more power in the hearts and the mind of the people individually because you will be using more energy to say the Most High, the one and only the attributes, etc.
Imam Warith: Well, you've certainly messed up my thoughts, I tell you that.
[laughter]
You've got a real serious problem there, somebody has created for you. Let me tell you, before I learned Quranic and Arabic grammar, to see that really the grammar does not say that G-d is living like animal and man is living or plants and things. Living in a different way, existing and living in a different way. Before I came to that understanding, I was a young man again, and a big black -- she's speaking from reality, had a big black brother, they named him Robert, we called him big Robert. Elijah the old big lad, Elijah here still? Where is Elijah? Well, anyway, he knows big Robert. Elijah knows big Robert. Big Robert, somebody else here might know him. Big Robert came in big tall guy, black brother. My father had put me in his restaurant, I was working there. He came in the door and said," Okay, sisters, get ready to serve the G-d."
[laughter]
That's what he said. Okay, sisters get ready to serve the G-d. I don't know whether -- he might have, could have been an angel that was sent there to wake us up or something, wake them up. I tell you, he didn't wake me up, he just hurt me, aggravated me, he insulted me, offended me. G-d, that's my G-d? I'm ready to give up my G-d if this big, black ugly dude, with his cheap life that he's got, is my G-d, I don't want G-d anymore.
Sister, what I'm saying is, don't worry about people.
[laughter]
(commenting on a noise that the audio speaker made) Now look. Let me tell you something, speaker if you don't know how to speak it better than that, if you want to bear witness, please don't make that sound like your passing gas.
[laughter]
Now that speaker heard me believe me, the speaker heard me. I don't know if it's going to respect what I said or not, but the speaker heard me.
[laughter]
Sister, please do not worry about Allah, how people are going to take Allah. Only the deranged or the wicked will find trouble in the name Allah or G-d. Our own nature, so, black man you think -- no, he's imposing that thought upon himself, he's artificial in his thinking and he knows it. Every time he goes home and goes to the mirror and look at himself, every time he relieves himself in the washroom. Every time he goes to bed asleep, he doesn't know whether he's going to wake up or not, he knows he's not G-d. Don't worry about that. We don't have to worry about people thinking they're G-d. We just have to worry about people knowing the greatness of G-d, so they will respect G-d as G-d should be respected. Don't worry about it. Be a psychoanalyst, be a doctor of the mind.
And help them with your own knowledge and intelligence to see their own ignorance and foolishness. That's what it is, it's ignorance and foolishness. All right, next please.
Congregant: [unintelligible 01:11:00] last minute [unintelligible 01:11:12] [inaudible 01:11:22]
Imam Warith: Go back from the mic, just about an inch.
Congregant: [inaudible 01:11:44] and the book is to describe [unintelligible 01:11:56] the creation, the design of life of the creator[unintelligible 01:12:04]
Imam Warith: I'm not hearing the last words, can someone help me with that? Describing the great--
Congregant: I think I heard him say the desired of the book by three individuals--
Congregant: That I represented in the book [unintelligible 01:12:22] the other ministers [unintelligible 01:12:29] when I first started out, I thought I had problems with spirit, but truth brought me [unintelligible 01:12:35] [inaudible 01:12:39] to create these [unintelligible 01:12:44] and try and go into a positive direction with myself [unintelligible 01:12:46] first rough draft and I come to [unintelligible 01:12:51] [inaudible 01:12:55]
Imam Warith: Okay, I'll be very pleased to receive it and view it and get back to you with my response. You can give it to security. I'll read it and get back to you, if not sooner -- you've got an address or something in there?
Congregant: Yes sir, [unintelligible 01:13:22]
Imam Warith: Which one? Leila?
Congregant: [unintelligible 01:13:25] 
Imam Warith: My brother, Leila, which one? [unintelligible 01:13:34] Yes, okay, so I will go over it, and get acquainted with your material and I will give you a response. Right. And I pray to Allah that you will be successful. Yes, next please. Wa'alaikum salam.
Congregant: Wa'alaikum. A couple of years ago, you told us that you would information forthcoming on the land [unintelligible 01:14:07] for this community, for the believers that have landed property that they wanted to give to this community and you said you would work through out the formalities and legalities on that. Do you have that information for us or Inshalla will it be forthcoming?
Imam Warith: No, I don't, but we have to handle it individually, if someone submits that intention to us, to have us, the Mosque Cares, it would have to be the Mosque Cares, to be responsible for that property, then the Mosque Cares could form a trust and any properties any other believers would have, later that they would want the Mosque cares to be responsible for, we could establish a trust. And the trust would protect the property for the Mosque Cares. That way, the moneys would never be lost, the value would never be lost to individuals. Or other organizations.
It will stay for the Mosque Cares. Sister lost her home recently, and it hurt me, because all she had to do was come to the Mosque Cares. The Mosque Cares would have taken over her notes, so she wouldn't lose her property, but she would have to give the same thing that whatever happened to -- that she lost it to a mortgage company or lost it somewhere. If she had accepted that the Mosque Cares become the owner, she would never have had to move, she could have stayed in that house. And we would have kept the house and kept her in the house.
Yes, ma'm, you're welcome. Thank you for bringing -- yeah?
Congregant: We want to will property to this community, that's my main concern.
Imam Warith: Yes, when we receive this, I'm implying but when we say we have to go to an attorney, a commercial attorney, a business attorney. We have to go to our attorney and make sure that the language is all legal so that it's protected. But I'm just giving you my understanding, speaking from my knowledge. Yes, you could will property to the Mosque cares and the Mosque cares would have to form a trust. Yes, ma'm. All right. I think they call it a perpetual trust. The trust stays all the time and never changes, we die, it stays the same. Next generation, whoever responsible for the Mosque cares, they'll receive the responsibility. It will never go to any individual or to any other organization, it stays for the Mosque cares. Other religious organizations they have this. Many of them, big ones, especially big ones. They have a huge trust and the Muslims who come from abroad, we call them immigrant Muslims over here. Those who come from abroad and establish their life over here, they have trusts to protect their properties. We can actually save each other money, we can save each other misery.
You don't have to be put out of your house. Why?. If you do that consciously, you're committing a big sin. If you consciously let a stranger take your house, rather than trust your own community with your house, you're committing a big sin. And you're keeping us from helping you. But some of us, I tell you that plantation ghost is something. Some of us would rather see a member of the Klu Klux Klan with our property than to see another brother or sister with it.
Yes, next please?
Congregant: Assalamu alaikum.
Imam Warith: Wa'alaikum salam.
Congregant: My question pertains to as we as individuals learn what gifts, directly given to an individual person, that what we are struggling in, is it a sin to become organ donors or -- like I have beautiful eyesight, and good hearing. As an organ donor, [unintelligible 01:18:52] organ donor.
Imam Warith: Hold on. I have to understand the word. Oh, okay, I got it, I'm sorry. Organ donor. Is it a sin to become an organ donor?
Congregant: Yes, I would show you some of the scenes that is the [unintelligible 01:19:09] the body--
Imam Warith: You mean, if you die. If you lost your life. Is it a sin to donate -- right before donating your organ. Well, I see it going back to the earth and going back to grave diggers, possums and rodents or whatever, I don't know. To me, that's worse. But each individual has to make that decision for himself or herself.
[pause]
What I am saying is, myself, I personally would like to see a deserving person get any of my organs, they can have my toes, they can have my eyelashes. Anything that they can use they can have it. When I die, I won't have any need for it anymore.
[laughter]
And it's going back to Earth, anyway. It will be decomposed and Allah says when you die, first He says, " they say that how is we going to have a resurrection when we have become bones?" Allah says, "Though you have become bones or something harder in your imagination to be resurrected, you shall be resurrected." So if a whale swallowed up Jonah, if G-d wanted him to be resurrected he'd be resurrected. That's right. The Earth swallow you up, animals swallow you up, fire consumes your body, no matter what G-d has power over all of his creation he can raise you up from whatever place or condition you are in.
So don't fear that G-d can't resurrect you. Some of us think, "If I don't keep my body intact, I may not have a resurrection. I may be raised up with just part of a body." No, the whole body will be resurrected. The G-d that made it first says in the holy book, "Can't you see that the G-d who did it the first time can do it again?" Yes, next please. Wa'alaikum salam
Congregant: [foreign language]
Imam Warith:Wa'alaikum salam
Congregant: [inaudible 01:21:51] halal meat would be open or [inaudible 01:21:59], issue with that-
Imam Warith: What will be open?
Congregant: The CPC Halal meat?
Imam Warith: Halal meat business?
Congregant: Yes.
Imam Warith: Yes, we haven't given up on that. Soon as we get the deli, we hope to supply the deli. It's too expensive for us. We didn't get enough support across the state for us to have the USDA agent on duty all the time, or couple of them on duty. It's too costly to try to do what we are trying to do but, if we just delivering were not going to live across state land or if they come in and get it on their own, that's okay too.
But we can't deliver across state, we're concentrating on just the Chicago suburban area Southwest suburb right now. And Inshallah if we find opportunities in the city of Chicago we'll do that. We're just going to build one structure right now and if we can supply that structure from the facility that we have now, our processing plant, and get it thriving so it pays off and bring in profit.
We going to be looking at other opportunities to rent, not to build. To rent storefronts, or whatever, and we are going to multiply these outlets and Inshallah eventually we have many outlets for our products. We will have it in this area. We have a brother, his name is Akbar Salaam, he's of Newark New Jersey. He's been in the processing business, has his own business for now going on 30 years. He has very fine products. We'll be carrying some of his products too in our deli. Have them available to distribute too, some of his product.
We also have met with the Palestinian brother here in Chicago, and another one in Detroit. They are producing fine products, very fine halal meat products. We are looking at them too. We are going to carry a variety. We are not going to start-up the plant processing until we know it will pay it off and bring enough money in. Even after we start it up we still won't carry if the products of these fine Muslims, who are producing fine halal products. So yes, we will be open for, - sometime before, by the convention, September we should be operating.
Congregant: Allahu Akbar
Imam Warith: Wa'alaikum salam.
Congregant: [inaudible 01:24:56] did you get -- the author who signed the book for you? This book is signed for you.
Imam Warith: What's the name of him?
Congregant: “My Sin of My Sin”
Imam Warith: Yes, I have the book and it's excellent.
Congregant: The author he is-
Imam Warith: I'm enjoying it, I haven't read it all but I'm enjoying it. Tell him I'm enjoying it.
Congregant: He autographed this for you.
Imam Warith: He autographed that one for me?
Congregant: Yes sir.
Imam Warith: Thank you. I'd like to have it, yes sir. I have one but now I share the other one with somebody and I'll keep that one in my library. Thank you, brother.
Congregant: [inaudible 01:25:41].
Imam Warith: Yes. It's very intelligently written. It's good reading and it's education.
Congregant: I have a chance to meet the brother [inaudible 01:25:53].
Imam Warith: Yes. Tell him I'm enjoying it and congratulations on his success there. Yes, sir.
Congregant: Thank you.
Imam Warith: Inshallah maybe the Mosque cares -- we might order something from you, soon.
Congregant: Okay, well I'm doing a book report and our topic is [inaudible 01:26:10].
Imam Warith: All right. Good.
Congregant: I was supposed to give her-- send it in-
Imam Warith: For the journal?
Congregant: -for the journal.
Imam Warith: Wonderful.
Congregant: She got a book too.
Imam Warith: That's wonderful. All right. That's good. I like it.
[laughter]
Congregant: Brother Sal so much like you, he--
Imam Warith: It's one of my special books, in my library. [laughs]
Imam Warith: Wa'alaikum salam. Yes, next please.
Congregant: [foreign language].
Imam Warith: Wa'alaikum salam.
Congregant: I want to say to you that I had a vision and dream that I talked to some people about coming here today. I thought today would be very special day anyway, with the groundbreaking. But I want you to know that I've noticed earlier when Imam Pasha was speaking about how wonderful today is, this morning. [inaudible 01:27:00] spirit wasn't [inaudible 01:27:02] it was a wonderful event, brother.
Some people would do, but I don't want to to do that for what you just said now, I want to make a special note that that no one else recognized it. I want you to recognize it. I want you brother to [inaudible 01:27:16] leader, Daniel. I recognized what you just gave us today as a solution. I want to say to you, "I don't have the money, I want to come shake your hand only I did that already-"
Imam Warith: I know.
Congregant: -when you said that we will do this, I am with you on that project. When you say we want people to come to the CPC first, I have the skills confidently to say, "I'm backing you 1000% here."
Imam Warith: Thank you very much. Thank you.
[applause]
Imam Warith: That means a lot. That's our brother Daniel Mujahid. He is a very resourceful person. Established his business for a long time. We respect what he says. Thank you very much. Okay. Yes, Dan.
Dan: Brother Imam, this is from sister Terra in Baltimore, she's 84. She can't make it here and this is a picture, that she wanted you to have that she have in her collection, of your father and mother. Lastly, I want to say that I'm very proud, honored and thankful that she's thinking of my mind, my spirit, and I stand right here cleaned up in a suit. That I got from this CPC.
[applause]
Imam Warith: All right. Thank you. Yes. I have to say this touched my heart. We received a lot of complaints that people are not hearing or we can’t answer their request for the current -- you want to get that current balances, CPC and etc. It hurts me that we can't do this and couldn't have done it a long time ago. I want you to know if you are here that haven't complained, we have sent out more than half of the statements. There were 900 I believe or more. Yes, 900 and maybe 45 statements, investors. We have sent out more than half. We have sent out about 500.
Some of you, your mail, have come back to us because we have changed address. So you have to let us know when you've changed address and if you mail to the CPC post office 2979,167th, we will get your mail and I believe, within a week or two weeks at the most everybody will get to have their statements. Everybody should have their statements. So we are making progress and thank Allah we got volunteers not charging us a thing. And volunteers are taking care of their business.
They want to pay all our money to all the investors money to left us in a mess. That's a shame. So you have first get the person that's real. The sincere person. That's I guess, that's the best indication the one that says, well, I'll do it for nothing. I just want to help our community. I want to help the business I believe in it. That's the best person to get and we should reward them once we get money. We should reward such persons.
Yes, one other thing I want to say, Oh yes, this brother wrote a letter to us showing how kind G-d is. You know you getting letters that hurt your heart. This bother writes a letter and he says, dear Imam Mohammed, I invest in CPC because I have faith in you. He says, if you can do it, you can have my money automatically taken from my account at the rate of so much a month. And we just got it. Just got this less than a week-- about a week ago, about a week ago we got that from a brother. And I guess I needed that. [laughs]. Yes, because we've been taken to a better view, Better Business Bureau. Yes, but the people are patience and even one that got the Better Business Bureau on us, intentions are good, intentions are very good. And I respect that because it's not good. We should be able to care for our business in the proper way and the right way. And we're going to do that. We'll never be satisfied not doing that. I just want you to know that.
But we do not have cash. We cannot withdraw cash. Our cash is going into investment. To build the things that we need to make this plan a success. It won't be successful without financing it. And this is not a saving. I keep repeating this to you all, it's not a savings. It's an investment. And when you invest, you are the owners, owners are not just investors having shares, I mean not just having shares without ownership. You have ownership and if you all take the money out you are throwing away your own business. I have faith in it. I'm going to put more in there. But it can't pay me until it can pay all of us. And I'm sorry that our finances we just cash reserves. We don't have them anymore. We don’t have cash reserves. So we can't withdraw cash. Like you can't even withdraw interest anymore. In fact, sometimes ago we had to cut out the interest. But we don't meet- we meet but how many are there? And we fail to- we the office, the company failed to notify the investors of decisions we make at the meetings. And we can't have that anymore. And when you make an investment like if you send us $50 or I think the lowest is maybe $100 or whatever you send to invest if you don't get an acknowledgment of your investment within reasonable time, please, get in touch with me, raise hell to see me or else to see me whatever you have to do. Okay, get a police officer to come to my house if you have to. I'm serious.
You're supposed to get an acknowledgment of your state. I have told them when the deposit your money in the bank, they are supposed to give you a deposit slip. Mail you a deposit slip. Raphael is here. If he's still here he will tell you. We started this off and I had no helper, but him. And when we turned it over to the professionals, didn't we have over a million dollars in my account? Two million plus. We didn't take salaries. We made money for the company.
Now we have taken that money and invested it in property, since we took over  we bought property on 167 Second Street. No not that one. Which one did we buy? From 159th, 159th Street. The one where we just left this morning. So I'm not saying all that money went out to employees that didn't produce for us. The labor market for the whole United States, white and black is shot. Hard to find workers with a commitment like we had. When were coming up we work for somebody. That’s a commitment. We respect the job. We feel bad if we sit down on the job or don't earn our salary. You don't have that anymore. They come just to get a check. That's all. And if they are working in the business like a business office, I have looked at their faces. When they have income, money coming in it shows no excitement. When they write a check giving somebody else our money, -  oh they feel good. Feel good giving somebody else our money and feel nothing when money comes in to us. So if I see that again I'm just going to say, "Hey, you're fired."
[laughter]
That's right, no explanation. I just give this kind of look. I say you're receiving money and you're ain't happy? You are happy writing checks out? Get out of here right away.
[laughter]
Yes, oh yes. I'm going to see that somebody be around them and help me read the faces to get them out of there soon as we see it.
[laughter]
Yes, we got to do it. Yes, you've got to do it and people not like what they used to be. They are not fit for the job market. Yes and have education too. Have education, have office skills. But no spirit, no real sense for what business is, and should be and their respect for they don't have it.
Anyway, you all just let know now, when money come, I got people they volunteered but they're good. They are going sent you your deposit slips. And Raphael will tell you that when we'll receive money back then we treated every individual separately. We did not put your deposit on for some other deposit. Everybody’s deposit went in separately. And they have all in office and the records. Inshallah, we are going to get this straight. We get it right. Yes, next piece.
Congregant: [inaudible 01:38:05]
Imam Warith: Did you call me Hakki?
Congregant: Yes.
Imam Warith: Did you call me Hakki? Yes you have permission to say call me Hakki but you don't have permission to say-- how are you doing Hakki? Wait. We ain’t that close. You ain't my homie.
[laughter]
Imam Warith: Okay my brother go on.
[laughter]
Congregant: [inaudible 01:38:40]
Imam Warith: When you coming. Okay. Yes, yes liven in that place up for us.
[laughter]
Congregant: I know we all have that is why I want to say that [inaudible 01:39:05]
Imam Warith: 19?
Congregant: 1937.
Imam Warith: 1930?
Congregant: 1930.
Imam Warith: He says 1930. Okay, tell me what is special for you.
[laughter]
Congregant: [inaudible 01:39:25] and this you [inaudible 01:40:00]
Imam Warith: Yes, I understand that.
Congregant: [inaudible 01:40:00]
Imam Warith: All right.
Congregant: -and then [unintelligible 01:40:03]. [unintelligible 01:40:05] with food. A lot of investments really [unintelligible 01:40:10].
Imam Warith: I enjoy you're coming too. If you stay away too long I'm going to ask about you and I may send somebody at you.
[laughter]
Imam Warith: I like to have that guy as a running buddy. He's all right.
[laughter]
Imam Warith: Okay. All right. Next, please.
[pause]
Imam Warith: Please speak up a little bit.
Congregant: I have a question with [unintelligible 01:40:49] another movement generally to speak. If they have a system [unintelligible 01:40:56], would you [unintelligible 01:40:58]?
Imam Warith: Yes. There is a movement. It's a movement, it's a protest movement. They're protesting women not being permitted to lead the Jumah prayers. They sent me an invitation to come to that Jumah led by a woman. And my reply was that I could not support it because it is against the tradition of our prophet, prayers and peace be upon you.
Congregant: Good afternoon. It appears that the effects of slavery are affecting generations differently.
Imam Warith: Yes. That's right.
 [01:41:55] [END OF AUDIO]

