02/08/2001
IWDM Study Library 
East Carolina Univ-Classroom Lecture

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Speaker 1:
This is the national public broadcast of W. Deen Mohammed. Muslim American Society leader. The following class lecture was given at the Mendenhall Student center, February the 8th, the year 2001 at East Carolina University.
IWDM:
Thank you. Good morning to you, and As Salaam Alaikum Peace be unto you. We praise G-d. Bismillah Ar Rahman Nir Raheen. That is in the name of G-d, the Gracious Benefactor, the Merciful Redeemer, the Merciful Benefactor, the Merciful Redeemer who is Most Gracious. We worship Him. We worship nothing with Him, and we know that nothing exists as a helper to G-d as said in our scripture, except as a servant. We know Christ Jesus, Peace be upon Christ, he presented himself as a servant of G-d. He says, "I have to be about my father's business," in the Bible I read that. I have to be about my father's business. I think all of us who claim to have faith in G-d and really mean it, I think we want to be about our father's business. That's what Islam is about. Islam is about just having the life on this earth that G-d wants for us.
In this day and time, I'm happy to say I'm very optimistic, I tend to be a person who believes tomorrow's going be better than today. That's how I live, believing that tomorrow's going to be better than today. If it's not, it doesn't change me, I keep on believing tomorrow is going to be better than today. The way the world is shaping up, especially the world of faith communities, I'm a member of several world efforts by international groups of religious people, mostly Christians, but a good number of Muslims and Jews, and some significant number of Jews, all meeting together with Buddhist and many other faiths, and what are we doing? We're looking at this time that we're living in, and we're saying that faith communities have an important role to play in helping political bodies, governments, and other civic groups.
Even the industrialists, and the business people working all together to have a better world. This is a good time for it. I think what has made this time so special is really the progress for transportation, communication, and the media. Television number one, but also the printed media. This progress has brought us to live as the African peak villages say, in this one global village. We can't escape each other anymore. We can't ignore each other anymore. We can't live in our comfortable places on this earth and not see the misery of others, because modern transportation, communication, et cetera, has made it possible for us. In fact, has made it so that we can't avoid knowing what's happening to our neighbors around the world. So, this is a very special time, and I'm thankful to G-d to be living in this time.
In fact, 20 years ago or 25 years ago, someone would've told me I'd live to see a day like this, I would've said, "Oh, I don't think so." I'd say, "I think you're fool hearted." That you're being a little bit too optimistic, but it has happened, and we're living in a beautiful world. It's a pity that we can't reach people who have been hurt very deeply and seriously. They've been scarred very deeply and seriously, like the extremists. We have the extremists in all religions. We have the extremists in Islam that gets attention naturally, gets attention from the media, perhaps more than low-key persons, like myself for most media, for most places. Pardon me. Some areas, like here in North Carolina, and in small towns I've visited in the West, and Texas and other places, the media is different.
They're happy to find people who care about each other. So, we get more attention when we come to your areas. But in the North, it's different. It's changing a little bit because it is warming. Now what they say, there's global warming? Well, there is a global warming going on. So, it's changing a little bit, but still, we don't get the attention, the people who are working hard for humanity and many times we're risking our lives. They don't know it, but many times we're risking our lives. We get hate mail. People can be very ugly to a good man, to a good person.
So, we are risking our lives many times, and we think we're doing a very important work, but we just don't get the recognition in the press that I think we should get. I think we're giving notoriety and glamour to bad guys, and that makes them bolder in their bad deeds, with their bad actions. It makes them bolder when they get that kind of attention from the press. I've said this in private meetings with editors, they permitted me to have private meetings with them and I've told them, I said, "Well, you all have to print the news and I understand the nature of your business. I said, "But I wish it was some way you could also give a little balance to it and put a popular good guy on the first page too, with that bad guy."
So, in Chicago, I am happy to say that our major newspapers, the Sun-Times and the Tribune is giving us good press now. Few years ago, I couldn't say that. Now, I have several things that I would like to bring to your attention and within a short period of time, but I think from experience, I find that when I meet with students and the faculty, members of the faculty, I feel more comfortable with my visit, if more time is given for comments, even discussion and questions after I finish speaking. So, I'm going to try to round this up very quickly. First, the picture of Islam, what is the picture of Islam? Muhammad the Prophet, the one who brought the message of Islam to the world about 1400s and maybe 20 years ago, he gave us the picture of this religion when he was asked, what is Islam? He replied, "Islam is to witness that there is but one G-d, is to make the prayers, is to give in charity, and fast the month of Ramadan, and visit the Sacred House."
That's pilgrimage for us. Once a year, we make pilgrimage, pilgrims in great numbers. By the way, we are planning to take 2,000 pilgrims from our association, MAS, Muslim American Society next year. G-d willing. We're planning that. That'll be the biggest ever, and I think the largest group might have been about 400 or so, so far. So, 2,000 will be really a very special, exciting time for us. We're working hard on it. I think we going to make a thousand, if not 2,000. We really trying hard to get 2,000. I don't see why we shouldn't be able to do it. With the little unity and cooperation from the best people in our community, we'll get it.
Yes. So that's the picture of Islam. In terms of what our faith is, just like Christians, we have faith in works. I read the Bible from cover to cover. That's the way it go, faith and works. Our works began first with the five pillars of Islam, which I gave you, prayer and witnessing G-d, and prayer and fasting, witnessing G-d is an act. In certain times of history, just to witness G-d as one G-d and authority in the life of man in society, you might be arrested. I know some places right now you might be arrested if you say it publicly. You might be arrested and even killed for saying that. So, it was a courageous act to say that. We understand that we actually put our body, our spirit, our whole self into our prayers, the complete self into our prayers, and likewise for fasting, and charity as an act, you have to do something.
Muhammad the prophet said, "The hand that's giving is better than the hand that's doing this, begging." Although, we accept the beggar, he has a right to some money. Especially if he had a justified reason to be begging. We're obligated to share our monies with him, but still we have respect in the religion for the dignity of the human being that G-d created. The human being that G-d created, no matter how bad his circumstances are, he hates to be on the begging end. He hates to be begging. He doesn't like that. That's uncomfortable for him. I have a bad back right now, and I have to have... The doctor told me, don't... I've had it for some years, in fact. The doctor told me, don't lift over two pounds.
It's embarrassing for me. I used to be a muscle man. I used to take pride in my physical strength. Now I have to have this embarrassment, "Brother, will you lift that for me?" And it only weighs about five pounds. It's embarrassing. So, it's embarrassing for the man of dignity or the person of dignity to ask, beg people for some money. G-d says, "Give to them that ask, and those that don't ask." If you see the need, don't make him beg, give to those that ask and those whose pride will not permit them to beg. Now, getting back to the articles of faith, our articles of faith are very similar to the Christians' articles of faith. We believe in G-d, we believe in revelation, G-d's communicating His will and plan to man. Therefore, we believe in angels. We believe in the books, the revealed books. All of them.
We believe in the Injeel that you call gospel. Your gospel, Christian gospel. We believe in the Torah that the Jews have. We believe in all the books, and we're told in our holy book, there are Prophets that are not even mentioned in our holy book. So, if we see in the history of the Saints and Messengers of G-d, that those persons in history, not even named in our holy book, if we see that they have that quality and their basis for recognizing them as messengers or servants of G-d, we quietly in our own souls, we don't preach it, but we quietly accept those persons as Prophets or Messengers of G-d, even though they're not named in our own scripture, that's my position. That's the position of many other Muslims. We believe also in the day of judgment. We believe that we are accountable to the one who made this great world and this great human life, and all these made possible.
All these things that we benefit from. So, we believe that one day we're going to have to be accountable to Him. It's going to be a judgment. I also believe in the hereafter, before the hereafter. I think this wonderful time that we are having on this earth for opportunities, for us to unite as one family of man, as G-d says to us in our scripture, He made your father and made from your father, his mate, his wife, his female companion. Then, he spread from them the many men and women covering the earth. So, we believe like you, and this is the time for... I'm rushing because I want to hurry up with it.
Now, there is a problem. We also believe in the Qadar. That's very important, I mentioned that. The Qadar of G-d. We believe that G-d in His own will and plan, made it so that everything has a good benefit. But if we approach it wrongly or ignorantly, we get the bad consequences. The Bible say that G-d did this on the first day, this second day, third day, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh day. And He completed it. And G-d said, according to the Bible, He beheld that it was good. So, G-d made everything good, meaning that He didn't intend any bad to come from anything. Fire, drugs, whatever, those things exist, but G-d didn't intend for them to be harmful, all these things that are harmful, we can discover or recognize the good in it. Those things. There's a good service. The drugs, the doctor uses the drugs. The drugs are fine.
The drugs are a great help from G-d, a Mercy from G-d. But if we use it without the knowledge, then we abuse our life and we abuse society. So, G-d made everything good. And we believe as Muhammad said, "Surely, G-d is good, all good, and he accepts nothing but good." Therefore, his goodness obligates the servants, us, all of us are his servants according to our scripture, every human being is created to be a servant of G-d, and G-d speaks to us. Not only all mankind, not only all faithful ones and all, He says, "Oh My servants." Speaking to all of us, every human being. Yes. Well, I will be here too long if I don't just cut off some of these things. Now, quickly, we have... I'm going to leave my glasses. That's here. I'm sorry.
I'm not prepared. That's embarrassing. Especially when you're paying me. Issues. We have many issues. I think all of these issues can be less burdensome on us. In fact, we can make most of them light burdens and resolve them. If we can see Muslims, I'm speaking, if Muslims of the world would understand that the revelation of Qur'an and Muhammad the Prophet who lived revelation so perfectly that his wife, may G-d be pleased with her, Aisha, young wife, the youngest of his wife and the most popular as a scholar, she was a scholar. She said of him, "He is the Qur'an living among us." He is the scripture living among us. So, these issues could be resolved if we could see and understand that Islam came to us by way of the Angel Jibril, Gabriel, and to Muhammad the man to speak it, to communicate it in man's language to us, for the purpose of having us live community life. Uniting people in community life. That separate tribes of Arabia, they were brought together in one community life.
They became one united peninsula of people. Whereas before, for hundreds of years, they were divided. Community life, and not just community life, progressive community life. Islam came so we could have common living, common living par excellence. Common life and common living, and to realize progress with that common life and common living. The Islamic communities that have survived, they haven't survived because of Islamic law, they have survived because of respect for the Holy Scripture, and love for the Holy Book, and love and respect for Muhammad, the man who communicated it to us from G-d. That's what has caused the survival of the community, or the nations is owing to just that. Not to Islamic law. The average citizen in an Islamic country or an Islamic society is no different from the average citizen in a Christian country or a Christian society.
When it comes to how much we know, that masses do not know law. Few know law, the scholars know law. So how is law holding them, it has to hold them by force. If they don't know it, then it's holding them by force. What they know is the humanitarian. Muhammad, the great humanitarian. The last Prophet. They know him and they love him. They have faith in him. They believe that he was a man that was all good, not bad in any way. A perfect model, a human model for all of us to influence us, or for us to emulate and have even better life and better character for our own selves. We believe that we can always look up for him eternally. No matter how much we progress as a human society, we believe human beings can always look up to Muhammad because he was flawless as a human being.
Doesn't mean that he was G-d or divine, no, he said he was not that divine or G-d or angel, he said he was not that. G-d revealed that he's not that, but that he was perfect as a human being. Perfect as a human being don't mean to be sinless. Muhammad the Prophet did do some wrong. He had to be corrected by G-d. G-d says, "Abassa Watawala". In the Qur'an, I'll read. "When you saw the blind man, he was calling on you to help him to introduce the religion to him, and you frowned and turned away from him, going to your meeting with the big shots." Now, Muhammad was going to see the big shots because he felt from the big shots, he could get more help to help the little person. But his reasoning was not correct according to G-d. He shouldn't ignore the little person for the big person, no matter how big the results he's expecting from the big people, for the little people. So, G-d says "Abassa Watawala". "You frown and turned away from the man when he came to you asking for guidance."
So, G-d corrected him. So that tells me that Muhammad did have human... the same, he was fallible, not infallible as a human person. Also, he was great at satisfying wives, but he also wasn't perfect there either. If he was perfect, then G-d wouldn't say to the people, "If you wives continue to vex him, maybe he'll be given permission to have a whole new set of wives. You'll be gone." That makes me a little more comfortable because I haven't been too successful with women either. I wish I had been. I see some things I could have done better in my past. So, the survival of Islamic society does not depend on law as much as it depends on common sense, respect for our Holy Book, our Prophet, the word of G-d, and each other. Common sense, respect. At that point, I want to say this- Islam came to promote common sense, good common sense.
Having that history of this new great society that we have here in this new part of the world, we have the history of the role of common sense and shaping our future that we now have realized a great democratic society. I believe it was Thomas Paine who promoted common sense, if I recall, and my thoughts are ripping through my head like bullets now, but if I recall, Thomas Paine was the one who introduced common sense, and called the citizens to respect common sense and question these outrages. Muslims, common sense is sacred in Islam. If we would just use more good human common sense, we would have a much better Islamic world. We would have more Muslim unity and everything. We have many issues that I can't cover. I want to give time for comments and questions and discussion, whatever.
So, it was a long time in the history according to the best of writers on the history of Islamic society, how it has evolved. It was at least two centuries, a long time before Islamic nations start to recognize that their government itself should be supported by some theory, some logic. The rulers were respected and the people just respected the organization of their society, and that's how they lived. The unity and solidarity depended on how well the national figure, the king or whatever related to them. Related to their citizens or their public. Nations, governments have come and gone. They rise and fall, but Islam and society has remained intact.
In my conclusion, when we think of Islamic numbers of our citizens and their numbers, we can't always think of a government in the Islamic nation, because in sometimes under non-Muslim government, sometimes even under hostile or oppressive, unfriendly Muslim government, Muslims make great progress. One case in point is India. India gives Pakistan and Kashmir lot of trouble, but the population of Muslims in India has continued to grow. India has a population of Muslims bigger than most Muslim states or nations. Very huge. I would like to address really the issues of women, how women are viewed in Islam, respect for women, how culture has influenced our respect for women, more so than our Prophet or the Holy Book.
For that reason, there's not enough respect for women in most places where I've gone in Muslim lands, for the woman. I almost got put in jail once, I saw a man mistreating a woman that was with him, I don't know whether... thought it was the wife. Could have been his daughter or his friend, I don't know. But the way he was treating her, I wanted to stop it right there in the public. I do speak out sometimes. Take chances. I do need security with me. Thank you. I hope that I have given you some light, put some light on Islam. What it is, how we should see it, and Muslims, how we should see ourselves and how we should live.
Speaker 1
IWDM:
I don't know about everybody else, but I am lit up. ... said always, I'm sorry. Okay. At this time we got a lot of time for questions and discussions and comments. Does anybody have a question? Don't be afraid, it always take one person to break the ice. If not, we're going to let him continue to speak.
IWDM:
Well, I'll get back to ....
Speaker 3:
Sure. It's fine.
IWDM:
Maybe that's what's necessary. Maybe I do need to address some of these issues, and then there would be some desire in... and the students at least to discuss it further or to ask some questions. We have scholars, and most of our scholars, the scholars are those who supposed to know what G-d says, the really know what G-d said. In Islam, scholars are highly respected. In fact, the prophet itself said of the scholars, he said, "They were in the paradise in heaven after this world, they will be in ranks next to Prophets." As for the benefit that we get in those who devote themselves to correct knowledge and sharing that correct knowledge to better the society, we have a saying from the prophet addressing their value. He said, peace be on him, that, "The ink of the scholar is more precious than the blood of the martyr." Mind you now, the martyr has great respect, high place in Islam, they call the Shaheed. Meaning he witnessed what G-d wants, and he witnessed who the prophet is, and he will put his life on the line and share his blood and lose his life if necessary to uphold that. That's a Shaheed. He's ready to give his life to uphold that. But Muhammad said of that Shaheed, of his blood, that his blood is not as precious as the ink of the scholar. So, what did that tell us? That Islam is to promote progress by peaceful means. By peaceful means. Only turn to physical violence when you're forced to, in defense of your own life, or in defense of the society, the peaceful and healthy order of the society. Only when we are forced to pick up arms, we pick up arms. The best arm, and the one that G-d intended for us to use, the weapon that the Prophet said G-d intends for us to use is the pen and ink of the scholar. So, Islam has as its herald or as its forerunner to bring in civilization and progress, education.
As I mentioned last night in my address, the first words of revelation to our Prophet Muhammad that begins the revelation we call the Holy Book, the Qur'an was read. G-d said to him, "Read." That's what we need to do right in this world today. We want to make a more human society for us all, we have to raise the level of literacy for us all, even for progressive America and Chicago, Illinois. Illinois has as one of its main objectives is to raise the literacy for the citizens of Illinois. I went on a long walk a few years ago, I haven't joined them lately to demonstrate Illinois commitment to raise the level of literacy for Illinois. Now, wait a minute, I see a hand now. Somebody's ready to... See you talk about the issue; you're going to get somebody who want to ask a question. But let me say something on the role of women, or the respect for women in our religion.
In the time of Muhammad, the Prophet, and after his time, in the time of what they call the Rightly guided rulers or Caliphs, women were not seen as they're seen today in the public. A woman could question the ruler, speak out against him, and get the same respect that a man would get. Women were encouraged to do business and to have very powerful roles in society. We're living in modern time now, and we have occasionally, a woman coming to the position of leader. Top leader, President, King, Queen, ruler of the society. Like as it was in Pakistan for a while, there was a woman who was the ruler of Pakistan, and occasionally we have that. But she's a figurehead, in terms of... Pardon me. Not a figurehead. That's not the word I want. She's a symbol when it comes to how she's going to affect men, the citizens, the males. How they think about men, how they look at a woman.
They look at her as a daughter of a man who was powerful. And now she has come in on his cred. That's how they looked at the daughter of Bhutto in Pakistan. They didn't say, oh, they didn't register the respect for the female and the inherent equal value of female, no, they didn't register that. They didn't say, look, this female has risen to the Presidency of our nation. They didn't look at it that way. Pity they didn't. Allah says of male and females, that He made us from a single soul. The same that the Bible says, if you understand the Bible. I'm a student of the Bible for a long time, for many years. He made one single soul and that soul was called Adam. Then He made from that single soul it's mate. The wife, the female.
So, what we have from G-d is the picture of a single thing called Nafs. A single soul. We have in that single soul, male and female. What is G-d saying to us? That really, human beings are human. Human in terms of their spirituality, in terms of their intellect, in terms of their human use, the potential for them to be useful to society. But physiology is different. Their physiology is different. In time, physiology will also have influence on personality, character, et cetera. So, these differences were not original. So, when we look at the woman, we should see another human being, not a female. Firstly, you should see another human being. You shouldn't see a female, then a human being.
You should see it as G-d revealed it. You should see a human being and then a female. You should see a human being that has all the human qualities and excellence that you have. Because you were once originally in one soul and G-d caused it to separate and become male and female. This is Islam. So, if we can accept that, then we have no problem accepting the equality of the sexes. Now I know women are superior, if you go get physical, man, they're superior- Sexually. And you know that brother. They're superior sexually, and superior in many other ways. In fact, women are the guardians of family as humane society. More so than men. We just respond to what we know the wife wants. What mother would like me to be. Good mother, what she would like me to be.
But they're the ones who taught us first and gave us our best sensitivities, nourished those best sensitivities in us. And they're the ones to alert the President first that this nation is not going correctly, and something has to change here. Look what Bush wife did. I'm talking about the first President before then, not the son. Look what she did. She produced another President. That woman is terrific. Got a husband and a son. Wow! She's terrific. Well, so much, now questions.
Speaker 4:
I'll be honest to say that I really don't know a lot about the Islamic faith, so I know you talked about some of the similarities between the Islamic faith and Christian faith, I'd like to know the differences, and I'd actually like to know as well, your actual, I guess purpose of being the leader in the Islamic faith. If you could kindly fill me in.
IWDM:
Yes, I did speak of the similarity, not of the differences. Well, there are some really serious differences. But those differences, as we often say in our dialogue with Christian leaders, those differences are not nowhere as important for our good relationship with Christians as the similarities. Many times, we don't understand the difference. We take the difference to be more serious than it is. We have learned leaders in our religion. Imam, teachers, educators who know correctly and many who don't know correctly. It seems that those who don't know correctly are the ones who are more vocal. They're the ones who are telling the public what's right, and what is true in Islam and what is not true in Islam.
The first part of difference is addressed in our Holy Book. It says, let us come to common terms that we worship only G-d, and raise not from among ourselves, lords, other than G-d. Now that is addressed to Christians and others who say, yes, there's one G-d, but another is a G-d with that G-d. A divine Lord, a G-d with that G-d. This is the most touchy area, and most serious difference that we have with Christians. My understanding as a student of the scripture, with the help of G-d, and G-d's inspiration in my life, in my work, I have come to believe that Muhammad the Prophet was sensitized by revelation and knowledge and understanding to not to see Christians as worshipers of more than one G-d, but to see Christians as you see yourselves, as worshipers of one G-d and one G-d only. But the mystic language, I think that's the word I want, mystic language.
The mystic language of the idea of G-d in Christianity is so difficult for the average person that the religion addresses it the Qur'an, pardon me. G-d's revealed word has to address it, but also recognize the Christians as being close to us. In fact, say, you will find the people closest to you will be those who call themselves Nazarenes. Nasara, which means Nazarenes. That's the early name for the Christians. That the Middle East is more acquainted with then expression Christian, Nazarene. The Bible mentioned Nazareth and the Nazarenes.
Yes. So, I will conclude by saying this, there are other small differences, but no difference that I find a reason to discuss or acknowledge at this particular time than that one, the Trinity. We do not believe in the Trinity. We believe in one G-d, and we believe that the Trinity has a very mysterious language that only the wisest and most fortunate in the leadership of Christianity understand. We don't believe the common Christian understand that at all. I remember times when you live in poor man or a rich man, I guess, but I don't know how, I never been in there, I didn't visit their home. We were poor and the only homes we went in were poor homes. Poor homes of the people in Chicago. You go in the home of the Christian; you'll see Christ Jesus on the cross practically every Christian house when I was a boy.
Hardly go in a Christian house and didn't see Jesus Christ on a picture, portrait or something, on a cross, a wooden cross or something on the wall. Most of those pictures of Jesus was blonde hair, not the Semitic looking person. A blonde hair, white man. That was the picture. But in time, the blonde hair figure went away. A dark hair figure came to be the figure that people had in their homes and places. I remember a time when you walk back in any church, first thing you look at is a big cross of Jesus. A man who was purported to be Jesus, a man crucified on the cross. For them it was Jesus. You don't find that now glaring in your face like it used to. It's kind of going away. Why? Because the Christian public of America, just like the world public is becoming better educated.
The better we are educated, the less emphasis or importance we put on the physical that reaches our eye. What is Jesus really? Was he a man weighing 150 pounds of flesh? Could that flesh show you Jesus? No. His flesh couldn't show you him. His actions show you him, and what he believed in showed you him. What G-d put in him; the word of G-d showed you him. So, you get, that's abstract. You can't really see Jesus, and you can't really see each other. You don't know each other by, and then you may find a person look exactly like that person that you think you know physically. You might walk up to them and say, "Hey, man?" Sorry, you got the wrong person. They look so much like that person. So really, we are made in the image of G-d, means we are made invisible. The true self of a human being is like the true self of G-d, it's invisible.
So, in Islam, we can't picture Muhammad. It's forbidden. Muhammad stopped it because G-d showed him that it had made serious problems for the world. As a boy, I had a serious problem. I believed my father, and I believed him on my own strength, on my own reasoning, on my own rationale, on my own intellect. By my own intellect, I came to believe him, even as a boy. I said to myself, it was the white man in the South and the North too, the North ain't innocent, who put us down and caused many of our ignorant people, blacks, to be ashamed of their own color, shamed of their own African heritage, shame to identify with Africa. I remember the time you would make a black man fight if you call him black. Hey, black man? Hey, black fellow come here. And call him African, he say, "I ain't no African."
Because we were influenced to look down upon Africa, a land of savages, and we owed everything to the white man and his civilization. Then you tell me a white man is G-d, that this is G-d, worship Jesus. I had a serious problem with it. Many others have certain problem with it. This is not to attack Christianity. This is a friend trying to reach you. And Muhammad was a friend trying to reach the world, and G-d gave that friend great help. He said, "Let us come to common terms. That we worship none but one G-d. And raise not up from among ourselves, lords other than the G-d." Another place in the Qur'an... I see another hand. So, I'm going to make this real quick, so I can hear your question or your reply.
In the Qur'an, Allah addressed also idols. It helps us understand why civilized society would have those idols. Because to me, it's savage. It's really savage, until I come to understand it. Just make something to say, this is a G-d. How's it G-d? Abraham in the Qur'an as you know, his father had idols, and his father was a ruler, and he didn't like it. Abraham was young. Abraham was a boy. This is the Islamic, Qur'anic story of Abraham. The rest of the story is very much the same as is in the Bible. Maybe this is in the Bible, I can't remember coming across this. Anyway, he went and he broke one of the idol gods. He crushed it, destroyed it, and left it there destroyed. The next day, they discovered it that he had... that there was, and they knew his thinking, so they came to him. Abraham, did you do this? He said, "Yes." No, I'm sorry. Abraham, did you do this? I'm sorry. I'm messing up the story. He said, "Ask the bigger one."
Yeah. You say these are gods. The god said, no, if I did it. So, he told them to ask the bigger one. So, they had the statue, little god statue, the big god statue. So, he said, "Ask the bigger one." And that was an insult. They took it as an insult and they expelled him. They banished him. He had to leave the country and he started out on his great mission as a Prophet of G-d. G-d called him, and then he became a second father of mankind and the Prophet of G-d. So, what does G-d say about the idols? This is the point right here now, G-d says, and you say that we know these idols cannot speak, but they are our means for reaching the G-d. And isn't that the same thing you say of men figures that we say are G-d? We know they're born like we were born. They crawled around on their hands and knees. If they didn't have Pampers on, or Huggies, they made little drippings as they crawled around like birds.
We know their beginning and they grew up, to be men, they learned, and they got good life and became the great figures that we now call a G-d. Call him a G-d. But we know how they grew up. So physical side, we know can't be G-d, and they died, all of them died of physical death. They die. So really, if you look at it, we're not seeing the physical thing as a G-d. If we question our own thinking and attitude toward that particular thing we call G-d. Now, in my conclusion, I believe both the Bible and the Holy Qur'an says the same thing. But one is clouded, one is shrouded in great mystery, and the other is intended to remove the clouds and make it plain. That's the difference. That's my understanding. Yeah. Now, I saw another hand. I'm sorry to talk so long, but that's a very serious thing that was brought up there. Yes.
Yes, I can't hear you. My hearing is not the best.
Speaker 5:
I'll try to speak up. You said in the Qur'an, that your belief is that, you just reached at One G-d.
IWDM:
Yeah.
Speaker 5:
You reached at One G-d. I believe that too. I believe I am open minded, I guess. I believe in all religions they try to reach G-d or reaching G-d, so whether they are Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, as long as their belief is reaching that, trying to reach that perfection and trying to reach G-d, that they're actually doing that and G-d is answering them, and they are people called saved, or people call it when we go to heaven, I believe as long as they love and they try to reach that G-d with love, that they are in fact going to go to heaven or in fact have, I guess, that they get the point, I guess. What is the Muslim view on that? Are all other religions that try to reach that one G-d, even though they're not exactly as one, Muslim, do you all believe they're going on the right track also?
IWDM:
Yes. A Muslim should seek to know his religion and the best source for him to go to is the Holy Book first, number one. But also, to the true history of the prophet, the man that came to for all of us, for the world. He needs to know that. Once we know that, then we are to obey Qur'anic guidance and the life of Muhammad the Prophet, we are to respect that. That should be the rule in our life for everything. For our relationship with our G-d, for how we pray to him and everything. For how we think on G-d and everything. That should be the rule. But also, it is said to us in Holy Qur'an, that any, answering you more directly now, that any who has faith in G-d and the last day, meaning they believe they have to be accountable to that G-d, and they have their reward with their Lord, with G-d, and they should not fear and they should not grieve. Meaning they should be happy. They should not be worried. That says any, that mean Christian, Jew, Sabian, anybody.
Yes. And when there is not a situation for me to recall scripture or what Muhammad is or what he would do to make my decision as to whether this act or whether this thing would be good or wrong or bad or right or wrong, then what does G-d say and Muhammad said to us, accept what stays in your mind as the answer, and don't follow what comes in and out of the mind, don't follow something that wavers in your mind, but follow that that stays steady in your mind. So, we are ultimately to trust our own selves too, with our decisions. I hope I answered. Thank you. Okay. You could work me more because if I get what you promised me, I stay here for five hours if you want me to. I hope you invite me back. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3:
He asked no one, well, two people responded. I mean, does anybody else have a burning desire to ask anything? This is the man that's educating and we came to receive the education. Just like you're in class... You get what you paid for now.
IWDM:
[inaudible 00:52:29].
Speaker 3:
Yeah. There you go.
IWDM:
[inaudible 00:52:31].
Speaker 3:
Yes, sir. Naim Akbar. You know who that is? Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry.
Speaker 4:
Sure, you can. We do have another question. Miss?
Speaker 4:
Yeah. I asked a two-part question. You never addressed the second part, which is what your actual, I guess, purpose as the leader of the Islamic faith, what's the difference between you and any other man? Like could you kind of fill me in there, because I really don't know what your purpose is.
IWDM:
Did you understand what she said?
Speaker 3:
Well, she said, like you being the leader of all the Muslims.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. What is your purpose? I mean to-
IWDM:
My purpose?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Yes, sir. As a preacher would be in the, to bring the Muslim community....
IWDM:
Yeah. My purpose is to serve the will of G-d. That means to obey the commandments in our Holy Book, follow the guidance in our Holy Book, and to obey Muhammad's demonstration of how we should live this religion. Follow the Qur'an, our holy book. That's my purpose. Now, in addition to that, in my immediate circumstances, a member of this, mostly African American group we call the Muslim American Society, my purpose is to show the best picture of this religion to them and to the American people, to our public, our neighbors, our Christian neighbors. In hope that we can live together and work together as one united citizenry for the best future for all of us. So, my desire is two, to be the Muslim I'm supposed to be, and to be the American citizen I'm supposed to be. I think I have support for that, both from my understanding and appreciation of this nation, the knowledge and spirit and values that make it what it is, and also for my Muslim life.
Speaker 3:
Thank you.
IWDM:
Does that answer your question?
Speaker 4:
Okay. So how is your position ....
IWDM:
How is?
Speaker 4:
... as leader-
IWDM:
Yes.
Speaker 4:
Or whatever, but there's a difference between you and say Naim Akbar. There's difference between you and him.
IWDM:
It is? I thought we were just like each other. I thought we were twins, man. We are.
Speaker 5:
But she wanted to know what's the difference between you and other Islamic leaders?
IWDM:
That's what you wanted to know? Yeah. The difference is my mother was Clara Muhammad and my father was Elijah Muhammad. That's the difference.
Speaker 1:
Be sure to join us next time for the world broadcast of Imam W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim American spokesman. For more on the ministry of Imam Mohammed, call 1708-7986-750. All right. Post Office Box 1061 Calumet City, Illinois, 60409. For Muslim journals, see local distributor. Thanks for listening.


