1995
IWDM Study Library
Islam - An Environment to Encourage Intelligence and Learning 
Hilton Hotel Atlanta Georgia

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
As-salaam alaykum, peace be upon you, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah rabbil ‘aalameen, praise be to G’d, the one G’d, the Lord Creator of the heavens and the earth, who sustains all the worlds in His one control in His one hand. We witness that He is one and one alone and we witness that Muhammad to whom the Qur’aan was revealed about 1,415 years ago, is the seal of the prophets, the last prophet---the seal of the prophets, G’d's servant and His messenger.
We salute Him with the proper salute sallAllaahu alaihi was salaam, ma ba’d the prayers and the peace be on Him and what follows of that salute. We pray that G’d grant us forgiveness, mercy, and guidance always and that He reward our efforts with the best that we could hope for or the best that we are striving for.
And that He supports us always in our good works and give us always good leaders, good Imams, good schoolteachers, good people to head our schools, good community people to promote develop business for us and give us good people who embrace other people who are doing good work and support and work with other people who are doing good work. We pray that He bless us to be a fully conscious Muslim community, embracing all the good efforts of all the good people around us, in our families and everywhere. That is our prayer, Amin. 
Islam, more than any other religion, it seeks to advance society, men and society, families and society by advancing for them knowledge. You who are in education and many of you who are not in the field of education, you are aware that nothing accounts for the progress of society more so than does education.
An ignorant society is expected to be a non-productive society, a society that cannot compete with other society. It is expected to be a backward society if it is ignorant. And this is, I think is what we should value as Muslims more than anything else, other than the fact that we recognize and worship G’d-we recognize and worship G’d. Faith in G’d. Next to faith in G’d, is appreciation for knowledge that G’d reveals and for the guidance that G’d reveals, to help man grow in knowledge and support his society upon knowledge, not just upon belief or faith, but upon knowledge.
This is G’d's blessing to us, this is G’d's intention for us, is that we obey Him, live as a people of faith, then appreciate the guidance that He has given us that guide us to establish our life---our individual life, our family life and our society upon knowledge. 
For a little while, I want to talk about the role of the Qur’aan first, the role of the Qur’aan in preparing a learning environment for us, a learning environment that makes possible great progress---great progress.
We believe that the Qur’aan is a book that offers guidance for everything worthwhile in the life of man in society---guidance for it. The Qur’aan if we study its composition---how it has been compiled---we know that it is not compiled in the order that it was revealed in. Prophet Muhammad was dealing with a particular situation; he was in a particular situation. He was in Mecca, he was in what is called Saudi Arabia, which may incorporate a little more than what is Saudi Arabia now, the present boundaries for that government.
He was in Hejaz; he was in this territory, on the peninsula, we call the peninsula of Arabia that is where he was. He had to immediately deal with realities of that situation. He had to address the idol worship; he had to address their tribalism, their clannish ways; he had to address their pride, they were proud people. He had to address their pride---especially in the desert Arabs, the better ones, very proud and stubborn people.
He had to address all of these things; he had to even address their literary pride. They had pride in their ability to write powerful verses, they were poets, some of them and great poets. He had to address all of those things. He had to address their belief in the present world and their disbelief in the hereafter. They believed in the present life, but they did not believe in the hereafter---the Arabs of his day. He had to address all of that. He had to address these particular problems in the makeup of the people that were called Arabs.
The Qur’aan was revealed in a way to get their attention and to get their response, to get them to respond to the guidance of G’d. However, after they had been attracted to Islam, then the Qur’aan was composed as it is today, not in the order that it was revealed. The prophet received revelation for particular circumstances, particular needs, particular problem that had developed. When there was a threat from an enemy, Qur’aan, Allah revealed to him how to deal with it.
The very early verses---if we would listen to those verses---those very early verses were I would say heavily metaphorical, containing a lot of language that just get attention and excites the imagination but does not necessarily direct the listener to address any practical need in his life. For example, we know that the short surahs, at the end of the Qur’aan, most of them are the earliest surahs, the earliest chapters.
Surah is chapters for the benefit of those who do not speak this language, the language of Islam, the common language of Islam. Those early surahs, if you read any of them, they are not directing you to your families, to take care of your family, they are not directing you to address your own personal needs---not necessarily, they are like WaalAAasri Inna alinsana lafee khusrin “Concerning the time, man is lost”, Illa allatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati “except for those who have faith and do good deeds”. 
These verses-- this verse just talk in general---very general---about general principles and general ideas. Then you have a verse like Qul aAAoothu birabbi alfalaq Min sharri ma khalaqa “Say I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn from the harm that is created, from the harm of death that He created”. Wamin sharri ghasiqin itha waqaba Wamin sharri alnnaffathati fee alAAuqadi “from the harm of the one who whispers, the sneaking one who whispers and then draw back from his act, hides from his act, so he will not be associated, so that he is not connected with his act. From the envy of many envies”, this is general talk, it is not directing to us to anything specific other than just conditioning us to be aware of certain things. That there is a problem for man, when he seeks to relate it to the creation that the creation helps him and harms him.
It has helped and also has harmed. Be aware of beings that can influence you through your heart, but these beings are not really identified that clearly, they are just sneaking---the sneaking whisperer. Be aware of the envier, such expressions. Then you have the verses that are loaded with a whole lot of metaphorical language, about the stars and the shaking and the heavens when it is rolled up. And the earth, when it goes into convulsions when it behaves as though it has received the revelation from its Lord and it throws up its impurities, et cetera.
This language that is used is to sensitize the person, to sensitize the person to be responsive to bigger and more important things. The whole world introduced to the Arabs---and they were a people who would appreciate a discourse on the stars---they were Bedouins in the desert and they could see the stars better than we can, in these cities. The stars were like their ceiling, the big ceiling above their head at night, the starry sky. And the space was so open, until they were ready to be told something about this vast spacious open world, outside of us.
Their attention was captured, the language of revelation captured their attention long enough to sneak in something that they were conditioned to reject. They were conditioned to reject the hereafter, they did not believe in the hereafter. A lot of us do not know this; we have been a Muslim maybe for 30 years and have never known that the Arabs of that time did not believe in any hereafter. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They were not Christians, they were not Jews, and they did not have the beliefs that we had. They would argue that their G’d’s---they talked about their G’ds and their G’ds were known by them. Their G’ds were all G’ds that were in material things. They perceived that G’ds to be material, part of the material universe, or material world. They thought that there was nothing real beyond what the five senses can experience. The five senses could not experience it, they did not believe in.
These were the Arabs at that time; the Arabs never presented the prophet with a G’d that was the G’d of their fathers or something like that, unless it was an idol G’d, an idol G’d that their fathers made, not that their fathers discovered, but G’ds that their fathers made. They made the idols themselves. And to show you that they did not believe in the real G’d, the Qur’aan addresses their belief that you want Muhammad the prophet, prayers, and peace be on him, to show you, G’d.
You talk about Uzza, Lat---Uzza these G’ds, have you seen them? No they had not seen them. These G’ds that they worshiped…they had not seen them, but they believed in them because those G’ds were explained in material reality. So that is how come they believed them, but they had not seen them. The challenge went to them, “you have not seen these G’ds that you accept”, did not say Muhammad had seen Allah, in a way it says, "Yes, he did see Him." He did see G’d but not like you see physical things.
But he met Him on a far horizon, and the meeting was certain, there was no doubt. It was a seeing but not with the physical eye, but with a seeing that gave more assurance, that was stronger, stronger evidence than the physical evidence that we get from physical visual contact, the physical---the physical it was more certain than that. Instead of, saying, "No, I haven't seen G’d like you talk of, definitely, I haven't seen G’d." G’d did not put it that way. No, I haven't seen G’d like you've mean there, no I haven't seen G’d like that, no I did not say it.
It moved from the position of authority positive, did not say, "I saw Him with my eyes." No, he met Him on the far horizon and what he saw was pure certain evidence. Now have you seen Uzza, Lat Uzza? [laughs] Have you? Are you as sure as I am about your G’d; Allah, Uzza? Are you as sure as I am about those G’ds? He spoke with assurance, he spoke with confidence, he spoke with authority that G’d revealed to him. We met and it was certain, as certain-- there is no doubt about what I saw. Are you that certain?
They were not, their G’ds were just mostly half-knowledge in their minds, something left to them by their fathers and the G’ds that they were worshiping were little idols carved with their own hands, transformed with their own hands, household-G’ds, et cetera. When Muhammad, the prophet, insisted upon them believing in Allah, they said, "What kind of strange teachers is this, strange preacher is this, who takes all the G’ds and makes them one?" That is what they said, takes all of the G’ds and makes them one. That was their reasoning.
They could not think abstractly, they could only think concretely. To understand this G’d that is bigger than the material world, this G’d that is Akbar means bigger, Allahu Akbar, G’d is bigger. So this G’d that is bigger than our little G’ds, this G’d that is one, so to try to understand it with their concrete mind, with their rational and concrete minds they say, "He takes all the G’ds and makes them one." This is incorrect too for Islam, for there is no G’ds in G’d. [Laughs] There is just one G’d and one G’d alone, is the purest monotheism, Islamic idea of G’d.
They were incorrect there, but trying to understand Allah and what was happening with their minds, with their mind being in the situation it was in, they reasoned that he was saying he took all the G’ds and made them one. They came up with maybe the first statement of pantheism, [Laughs] for all the G’ds are made one: Pantheism means everything is G’d, everything that exists taken together is G’d. 
If you want to know G’d, to see G’d; look at everything that exists, all that is taken together, that is G’d. The Qur’aan, the role of the Qur’aan; the Qur’aan addresses ignorance in the mind of men, in order to condition him for education, for learning, to appreciate knowledge and establish his life in the society, upon solid strong knowledge basis.
Even when it comes to G’d, look what G’d says, "If your parents strive with you, to get you to accept something, for which you have no knowledge support, then do not disrespect them, just keep respecting them, treat them well, be kind to them in this life for as long as they are in this life, but do not obey them in the thing that they are inviting you to accept, do not obey them in that. However, keep good company with them, keep respect for them, be kind to them, continue to be a good son or a good daughter to your parents."
This is what G’d says, but he said, "If they invite you to something for which you do not have a knowledge base--" so that means, even our idea of Allah has a knowledge base. Am I making myself clear? That even our idea of Allah, G’d, it has a knowledge base, we do not believe in G’d without any knowledge base to support that belief. The Qur’aan calls us to G’d that is bigger than the material things, but nevertheless, it calls us also to respect for the material things that G’d created. And respect for the logic that support the material thing that G’d has created. To respect knowledge, and that we should study G’d's creation and discover knowledge, information that we can employ, put into use so that we have a better world today and tomorrow.
This is the role of Qur’aan. The role of Qur’aan is to waken man out of ignorance, take him out of superstition. Now mind you, the people who claim that nothing exists but what I can see with my eyes, hear with my ears, touch with my hand or with my blood, taste with my tongue, smell with my nose, it does not mean they are not going to be superstitious. Materialism spooks you up more than anything else if you do not have good sense; you become more superstitious than anybody else.
It is the person who sees the big bear for the first time, his eyes glow in the dark and that he keep having his leg ripped off of something. It is him that would have bad---lot of nightmares, and he might pass his nightmares onto his children. And after a while, the bear becomes a frightening demon in their culture or in their legacy, become a frightening demon and he'll be made so much bigger than he is in reality.
You can see that is the bear up there, in the sky. See those stars up there, form the bear. It is a big bear be aware of him. One day he frightened one of your ancestors almost to death and ever since then, we have been having nightmares in this tribe. We pray to the G’d, the bear, to save us from the bear nightmare.
He is believing what he saw with his eyes, what he sees with his eyes, but he is spooked up because he is not intelligent, he is not rational, he is not intelligent, he has not had the dawning of rational thought yet, in his life. The Qur’aan prepares us, to construct our world upon what is true and correct-what is true and correct and just. The Qur’aan wants us to become universal in our mental makeup---universal in our mental makeup. Local man forms and he sees the world that is nearest to him and he concludes that that is the world.
So he has a fragmented picture of what is the real world. If he is blessed to survive and his society survives and he meets other societies and he grows in knowledge of the world---big world. He will come out of that fragmented idea, of that fragmented picture of what is real and what is the world, to accept what is true in the world, the world of all men or the world of all people, the global world. So he comes to know for the first time, this earth that he lives on and how the true picture looks.
The role of the Qur’aan in our life, I repeat, is to prepare us for universal truths, the universal truths of human society, the universal truth of matter, material world---the universal truth. The universal truth of the laws that regulate life and death, night and day, these are universal laws, these are universal truths. The Qur’aan is designed to take man out of racism into accepting that humanity is one family, all descending from one parent or two parents, a male and a female. The Qur’aan prepares us for universal truths.
A society that respects reality, respects truth, loves it because the more you learn truth, the more you love truth. Truth is a mercy. Truth is a comfort. Truth is a great assistance. The truth of the nature of man's society, the truth of the nature of man society that human society has one nature really, that a European man has no better chances of surviving on this earth than an African man. A Japanese man has no better chances of surviving on this earth than an African man, or any other man.
No man has a better chance of surviving on this earth; because it is not the material circumstances that will eventually decide who survives and who does not. It is the disposition of the person himself that decides who survives and who will not. If you take the wrong disposition in a garden of paradise, it is going to cast you out of that garden. If the circumstances alone would keep the people in good shape, man was put into a garden of paradise, how come he did not stay there---if the circumstances around him decided that?
He did not stay there because his disposition within changed and when his disposition within changed for the worse, he began to suffer even though he was put in a garden of paradise. Being thrown out of the garden does not mean he was being thrown out of this place into that place. The garden was here, you throw him out of here and the garden was not there, you throw him out there, it does not mean that. He was still in the garden but could not get the benefit of the garden. Being thrown out means his senses were thrown out of the garden.
The Qur’aan conditions us to know the real world and to be able to relate to the real world, to appreciate the real world and not be burdened or enslaved by ignorance, fragmented truths. Sometimes a piece of the truth is more dangerous than a whole lie. Yes and see that is what ignorance is. Ignorance is based upon local observation, that has not been tested by universal observation and you have come to a conclusion that is in opposition or in conflict with what is the conclusion based upon what is universal, then you'd have a piece of the truth.
You have a piece of the truth, you have a fragment of the truth, and I repeat that fragment sometimes is more dangerous, more harmful to you, more oppressive than a whole lie. The man that was all superstitious, the primitive man, the perceptual superstitious man that saw everything---all of his perceptions were false; he did not make this world as miserable as the racist, who had a lot of truth, but not the whole truth.
He had a piece of the truth---the racist, the racist West---he had a big piece of the truth, but it was not the whole truth, it was a piece of the truth, and with that piece of the truth, he had made our life more miserable than any man before his time. Slavery and the drug culture and everything, came with that invention of that racist man, yes. This religion prepares us, to live as one people on this earth, and yet be as a big family, appreciating all of the distinctions in that family.
Some big families; five, ten, fifteen children, but one child will have an interest in art, another child will be a great baseball player, another child will be just a good listener, another child will be attracted to one type of girl, another attracted to a different kind of girl, another one likes one kind of entertainment, another one likes a different kind of entertainment, right in the one-family, all black people, all red people, all yellow people, all white people, you have all the colors: black, brown, yellow, red or everybody, white, everybody.
What I mean by that, their taste; some will have the taste of the white man, some will have the taste of the black man, some will have the taste of the red man, some will have the taste of the yellow man, but they are all your children, and you love them equally, and you are so proud of them. You do not see the white man, you do not see the red, and you just see all your black children. And they will be distinguished one from another, they have their individuality and you are proud of them.
Allah wants us to be that way by the whole human race, to see all people and to love them in their distinctions, to appreciate them with their distinctions. We have a spiritual makeup that is not the same as that of other races. We should not want to be another people, we should be happy to be ourselves. G’d have not made a mistake, but G’d want us to be better.
Now, there is something in your spiritual life that shames your intelligence, as you become better educated and better informed, then prune your tree, but do not say, "Hell, I do not want to be this tree anymore, there is one that grows in Pakistan, I want to be that tree." No, let us all be happy with what we are and if we are not happy with something that is in ourselves let us make improvements. Again, it is Islam; it is the Qur’aan that gives us the guidance for making the right improvements.
We are still doing something that we accepted because now the whole life is nothing but dress. Right, whole life is nothing but dress. Nothing, but another dress style. I do not make a big fuss about it, but I still do not like to see black people trying to make their hair---if it is nappy trying to make it straight like white people's hair, or like Indian hair. I do not like that, I never will like that. My father and mother---I came from a house that made me think that the way that hair came is right and it is good, it is nice.
To me, I have never seen an ugly hair that is nappy hair; I have seen dirty nappy hair. I have seen dry-dry nappy hair, but I have never seen ugly hair that is nappy hair, never. I was not raised to think that way. Man with a nice head of nappy hair and it is clean, it is oiled, to me it is just attractive as any hair, or just as pretty as any kind of hair you can find anywhere. It has not made me so centric that I cannot look at a man with straight hair, long straight hair like that that you like and also appreciate his beautiful head of hair. I say Oh he has a beautiful head of hair.
We buy fabric, the fabric especially if it is like carpet or something, upholstery; we buy fabric, some of this nap. We do not say, "Where do you get this so ugly nap rug or where do you get this old ugly nap material for your couch. Where do you get this nappy stuff at?" We do not say that. "Oh, it is a beautiful, that is so beautiful," but you put the same naps on a human head, "I am glad I do not have nappy hair like that on her hair."
That is racism-racism, white supremacy. Racism has conditioned us to have false judgment, false opinion, ignorant conclusions. I am looking at a man right now, he is sitting there, and you look perfect there. I cannot imagine you with straight hair, long straight hair. (Laughs) You would not look the same; you would not look---as handsome to me. G’d knew---He knew how to make the hair; He knew how to make our hair. I like Muhammad Ali; he was more than just a champion in the ring, getting into the ring.
I remember seeing him on television and he said, "Ain’t I pretty? Ain’t I pretty? Ain’t I pretty? Ain’t I pretty?" He rubbed his hair, “Ain’t I pretty?” Now, I do not know whether he was practicing self-hypnosis or not, but I know how I felt, I was raised in a house that never gave me the other idea. I never had the other idea, so I was very proud of him and I was sitting there looking out, "Yes, he had pretty hair, yes he had beautiful hair." He did have beautiful hair-beautiful hair, not the hair but beautiful and he kept it comb and clean, nice, always kept it nice.
He did not believe in processing his hair. Now, there was another great fighter Sugar Ray Robinson and believe me, he was a great fighter, in fact, Muhammad Ali got a lot of his skills from Sugar Ray Robinson, but Sugar Ray Robinson kept a process. He kept a process and back then I do not know what they use now, but back then they put lye on their head, a whole lot of grease on the skin, so it does not burn the skin and then they put this lye on the head, potash, what they call this stuff? Until it just limps, they have to stop before it runs like liquid.
You keep that stuff on there; become soup just like the lye. They stop it before it becomes liquid and it is straight and rinse out real good. Now, he can do this here and flop a mop back there. That is how he won a lot of those fights with the white folks. Yes, they both of them sweating and both of them got floppy mops.
White man, look at Ray Robinson and he would do that, Ray Robinson look at him and do that too. His mop would flop back like that too.
[Laughter]
The Qur’aan comes to correct our perception of the world and of man, to correct our perception. When you correct your perception of the world---the external world, the physical world---outside of you and then correct your perception that we have gotten from superstition and from racism of the human family, of the makeup of the human family, the value and worth of the human family.
The place of each member race in the human family, when that is corrected and you do not have any more racism, you do not have any more ideas that one people have been made genetically inferior to another people or mentally inferior to another people or morally inferior to another people. White supremacy tried to say that we were inferior to Whites in every respect except brute force, except pure brute force. That we were inferior to them, mentally inferior, morally inferior, and spiritually inferior, that we were just brute animals. That is what they tried to establish.
Do not forget this, they even put it in their science books that students going to school learn from them, to believe that we were genetically inferior to Whites. And some of them would like to see that come back if they could, they would like to introduce it again and have it accepted in our textbooks, but it will never happened. I know you know it and I know it. It will never happen. As much as I respect the Confederate flag, I will barbecue some white butts with it---myself, before I let that day come again. Yes, I will get me a gang together.
Allah says in Qur’aan, "Ja-al Haq, the truth has come and falsehood vanishes." Ja-al Haq---truth, now, look at this word Al Haq, Ja-al Haq comes the truth”. Al Haq means truth, Al Haq means reality, Al Haq means rights, Al Haq means justice, it is a very rich word, very strong word. When the truth come, justice can come. The truth opens the way for justice. The truth has opened the way for respect of individual rights, people's rights. It opens the way for justice. True recognition of rights, then you have justice.
Al Haq incorporates all of those meanings. Reality, truth, reality, respect for what is right and justice, all including and all included there. And G’d said to us in the Qur’aan, "G’d have not created this world, this world in his complete scheme or total makeup. He has not created this vast world of material things, human beings, and et cetera, for any purpose but justice." Justice, so what is G’d saying to us?
G’d is saying that if man insisted upon denying the truth of his own matter that G’d created and the world of matter that G’d created if he insisted upon denying the reality of that, the truth of that, it will eventually---itself---compel him to reform, compel him to come out of his ignorance. Is that not what we are seeing today? We have preached humanity, Dr. King preached humanity, Gandhi preached humanity, the great prophets---our prophets, they preached the humanity, but we still have white supremacy in the 20th century. Is that right?
All of that preaching of humanity and in the 20th century, we still had White supremacy. What comes after the truth that you cannot resist? You can close your ear to the truth, but when the forces of the dynamics of the natural world start to work against you. You are going to have to come out of your ignorance or be crushed by it. Now, we have lived to see an economic trend in this world that will not allow one nation to command the material resources while other nations give up what they have for the glory and benefit and power of that one nation.
We know there was a time when America, Europe, and America, mainly America has such power, has such command in the world that they could make the field of their resources, the whole world became their field of their resources, not only their field but also their markets. They made the world their field for exploits and their market to sell back what they took from the other people. There was a time when the West had that kind of power and America was the main one with the most power and authority. That day has gone forever.
During that time, white supremacy had a better situation to live; it could live in that sick body because it accommodated it. It gave support to it. Well, "White man has the world." That is what some of you niggas used to say.
I am not talking about you here now; I am thinking of the dead Negros, they are gone. I think some of them hear me in their grave. That is what some of you Negros used to say. Yes. I heard you with my own mouth. Some of you Negros used to say, "This is a White man's world." The White man owns everything. I am glad you Negros are dead.
Here is the Qur’aan, the herald of glad news, a hurl of the good news. The good news that truth is here and falsehood perishes and by his own makeup is doomed to perish. That is what Allah says in Qur’aan, by the very makeup, the very nature of falsehood dooms it to vanish and perish away because the natural reality, the dynamics of the natural world are going to move and move and advance and advance and crowd out ignorance. Crowd out prejudices that have no real basis in reality; crowd them out so there will not be any place for them on earth anymore?
We see now a global economy-a global economy where nations have to be respected. The rights to their resources have to be respected; the rights to the benefits from their resources have to be respected. Nobody can have it all to himself anymore, cannot inflate the White man's worth, so big that he looks like G’d on earth, cannot do it anymore. Now, I am not giving all credit to the Qur’aan, I said there were many before who came with humanity, came preaching humanity.
Tried to get the world to accept that human family is one family and we should all treat each other fairly, justly, appreciate each other and have a world, a fair world where anybody who wants to succeed and excel, can do it. We are hearing call from world bodies like the World Conference of Religion and Peace and the World Parliament of Religions, Muslim World Congress, Rabata, World Muslim League and other Muslim and Christian and Buddhists and Hindu bodies and many others coming together now and what are they asking man to address is the need to have this earth be fair by all of his creatures.
A just society, a global society that is fair and just, that recognizes all the members of the human family as being entitled to a share on this earth, or in this earth, and a future on this earth, and equal basic rights, equal fundamental rights. This is what we are seeing, a call for global ethics, global ethics, where the leaders, the policymakers, the rulers will be obligated by law, that they will legislate by law, to treat their citizens with respect for their human nobility, human dignity that G’d created them for.
This is what we see now and no matter how backwards the society is, or how far it is from coming into the light of its own nobility, or his own worth as a creation of G’d, that the civilized man is obligated to respect him in his rights though he does not yet know his rights. This is the Qur’aan, the Qur’aan has this role to awaken the good senses of man, to awaken him to his intellect, to his rational powers to awaken him to his future as a rational creature on this earth, to his great future as one capable of giving the capacity, the potential to actually study his environment and extract from it, it is utility, take from its utility and make himself a big, great, comfortable world, serving the best condition for man, serving life, serving life on this earth for man.
Now, Muhammad himself, the Prophet, to whom the Qur’aan was revealed, his life addresses these ignorance’s---these prejudices directly. He was a man that glorified G’d---most of us do not know Prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace be on him, sorry we do not know him. Even tradition has not given us to him correctly. They've told a lot of truths, but while giving us the truth, somehow they get us to do act upon something that was not supported by the prophet's life, about his tradition. Let me give you a simple example, the Prophet never said to anybody “Mr. so and so and so”, never. The Prophet never said to anybody “Brother Abu-Bakr”, never. The Muslim world has come to believe that when we address each other we say “Brother Hassan”, “Brother Sharif”, “Brother Muhammad”, right? And we think that this is the best way to greet.
If this is the best way to greet, how come the Prophet did not greet that way? How come Abu Bakr G’d be pleased, and Uthman and Ali and Umar, how come when they did meet they did not say “As-Salaam-Alaykum Brother”, how come they did not say that, “As-Salaam-Alaykum Brother”. The Prophet was so much about them until they had to give him the respect but they called him by his title “Yaa Rasool-ul-Allah”, oh messenger of G’d. But for them speaking to each other, they said, "Umar”, “Umar, so and so and so and so”, “Uthman, so and so and so”, “Ali, so and so and so."
Now, we got the western arrogance, we got the western bourgeois, the western artificiality. “Brother, Alhamdulillahi Brother” You do not even know my name, my name Warith ud Deen, my name is Wallace, W. Deen, that is my name. You want to touch my heart call me Wallace. "Oh but brother is so much better," no it is not, my brother called me Wallace. 
So we can stretch our minds sometimes thinking we can do it better. We cannot do it better. We cannot do it better than Muhammad himself did it, may G’d grant him peace and prayers be upon him always. When I say, "Prayers be upon him, you know what I mean? I mean that because of him our prayers can be answered. He bears the prayers for us because of him, now our prayers can be answered. The complete man, the universal man has been given to us from G’d, and on him rests all the prayers of humanity. Yes, because that is the prayer-- man does not know his prayer until he sees his time. Do you follow me?
Yes, how can you know your prayer before you see your time? Before man saw his time, he prayed for water, because he could not get a clean glass too easily, he had to go for miles to get a clean glass of water. Well, when his time came for him to have access to good water, he stopped praying for water. Well, eventually your time comes to have access to what all people need to have a good life on this earth, and then that is the prayer. That is the prayer, the prayer for that, the prayer for justice, the prayer for the end of racism, the prayer for the end of social injustice, the prayer for the end of oppressors---oppressing one people, oppressing one nation because it has more power, more army, a bigger army or whatever than the other, that is the prayer.
The prayer that man will one day be a to live in peace and not fear his fellow man; not be afraid that his fellow man is going to come and take what he has from him, or enslave him; or rape his women; or take over his society and lead his children to a way of life that he disapproves of. This is the real prayer, that this earth will become an earth for humanity, our earth of fairness, justice. That is the real---that is the real. Governments will become human governments and governments will respect, have sacred regard for human life and human interests and will not oppress man.
This is the real prayer, and that time became---came upon us, that time came close to us in the time of Muhammad the prophet and Allah prepared Muhammad the prophet to bear that message. The message of universal truth, liberation, true liberation for the families of man on this earth, and justice came with him and then put this all the prophets prayed for what a mankind prayed for, it rested upon the Prophet Muhammad to complete it.
They preached humanity, but there was a logic needed, there were sciences that were needed to make that understandable and to advance business and economics, politics and government. The world of politics and finances, it did not advance until the coming of the Qur’aan and Muhammad. Are you aware of that? That is a fact, did not advance until the coming of the Qur’aan and Mohammed, then we began to see progress for government, perception of government, progress for the perception of even democracy. We do not like to use a term because the westerners are using, but perception of a fair society where everybody will be represented and each individual's rights will be protected.
That was Islam that brought that, that was the Qur’aan that ushered that in at, and it was Muhammad that led that society. And after Muhammad in time, came what we have as western democracy, industry, and science, technology, and all these benefits we have. So it seems that the world was given a disposition of mind from revelation that enables it to benefit rationally and eventually, from industry and technology et cetera. And that the material progress went ahead, and I think Dr. King said this, went ahead of the human constitution. That man had developed more of the material environment, more than he had developed or cultivated the human constitution, the human make up. And the material progress being so much ahead of the human progress was punishing the human progress, punishing what little human progress there was---this is what happened. Eventually, as we said earlier, the dynamics, the global dynamics especially in the focus of economics and what can happen economically on this earth. These dynamics, this dynamism, and these dynamics has brought about conditions that now will not allow white supremacy, will not allow black supremacy, will not allow racism except as your private privilege. Yes, you can have it as your private privilege. You can preach it in your house; if you have a church of your own, you can preach it in your church. If you have the opportunity to get somebody that want to look at you and want to enjoy looking at you, a freak of the old world on television, you can get on television and you will be thinking that they really have given you some credit. They are not doing anything but looking at a specimen, outdated, antiquated, old specimen that has no life anymore in our world. "Is not this creature from the past interesting?
[Laughter]
So, he is so interesting they watch, “Look, he believes this stuff, he believes in it," and then at the end of the program, "[claps] we hope to have you back on the program," to look at, to observe, the freak of the past. "We'll like to look at you again, will you come back on our show?"
This is a new day. Now, if we would, as Muslims, if we will study the Qur’aan as we are supposed to, familiarize yourself with the Qur’aan. The Qur’aan is supposed to be read by all of us. We are supposed to have 100% literacy. We are not supposed to have any illiteracy in our society. The first word of revelation to our prophet was, "Read." Should that not have some importance to you? We are Muslims; the first word Allah spoke to our Prophet was, read. All of us should love that so much that look, the first thing G’d said to our Prophet Muhammad was read. How can you not want to read? Read “Iqra biismi rabbika allathee khalaqa” Read in the name of your Lord who created.
It did not say, "Read in the name of Allah." No, it came in a way to teach you who is G’d. It did not say G’d first. Read in the name-- Said G’d, but not by that name Allah, not by the name that is G’d in Arabic. Read in the name of your Lord. The word Rabb means, the one that raised you up. The one that raised you up, who created-- Now raised you up means responsible for you developing, from a small helpless dependable thing to what you are now, proud of yourself, a man or a woman. The one who raised you up off your knees; off of your fours---all fours---that is what they used to call them when I was a boy "Get up off your all fours." Raised you up off your all fours, stood you up like a ma; created that nature in you. You are talking about a powerful spirit, the natural urge to evolve, to rise up from an infant or toddler to a grown-up that is a powerful urge. That is a powerful will that is a powerful spirit.
You see the little baby, he crawl around and he is not satisfied that mommy thinks he is ready to try. He pulls up on something and hold it, and then he tried letting it go. He grabs it again scared. Scared to toss his leg and after a while, he raised up one day and if you did not watch it, man, it is just like seeing a new star come to life---come to birth in the heavens, a nebula, born in the universe.
He tried and he got that and he'll be nervous a little bit. He is nervous look like every bit of strength in his whole being is concentrated just on that one effort, “I am going to stand”. Then he look at you, "Look at me, look what I did, a miracle, I am standing." Yes, well, we have managed to get that flesh to stand up, but the next thing we have to get to stand up is our character and our intellect. Believe me, we were blessed by G’d to feel that we have stood up straight in our path and in our intellect, believe me we experience that great miracle again, we will be so happy.
And we look at our babies, "I wonder if they know. I wonder if they feel like we do. What do they know what's making me feel so happy? I am standing up in my moral strength. I am standing up in my rational strength. I am standing up in the human character and to the human intellect that G’d created for me, I am standing now. I am not nervous, I am not afraid I am going to fall, and then walk, make progress with it. Praise be to Allah. This is what the Qur’aan and Muhammad prepares us for. Muhammed the Prophet, prayers, and peace be on him, he in his farewell speech---a farewell speech tells you something, in the name itself, “farewell speech”.
If a man is about to leave, he is going to tell you things of importance, and he is not going to hit upon the things that are less important. He is going to hit upon those things that are of the greatest importance, for your continued life. If he is a good man, a good father or a good leader, he wants to see that you are situated to continue in your good life and make more progress in the future that is what he wants. The prophet obviously thought that if we had to continue the good life of Islam, Muslim life, and make progress in the future, we had to address the treatment of our women. We had to address the treatment of the black man, is that not what did in the farewell speech?
We have to address respect for human life, is that not right? The blood of your brother you have to address respect for human life. Now, you look at our world today, 1995 what are our big problems? How come we have drug culture? How come we have the abuse of these drugs? Because there is not respect for human life that G’d created us to have. We do not have that respect. How come we still have, women that are complaining they do not have their rights? We are enslaving them? We make progress in one area, we tell a woman that, well, you do not have to get your husband's permission to buy a car, he has no more rights than you to come down here and get a driver's license.
She will see that you know she drives the car and believe me she will fight in your face with her exhaust, man. She likes this, she likes it. She looks at you, "You want to race?
I have gotten to the age now that I give her no contest. I sit right there and wait another couple of seconds then I will let her get ahead, go on sister, go on sister.
We used to like those toys too---your turn. Yes, just having a little fun that is not serious. Now, she has a lot of rights but still, she feels that she is not respected, how come? We have seen this addressed by so many people because she is still treated as a sex object by man, especially commercial man. The commercial world treats her as a sex object. It does not respect her. They want to sell us shoe laces, a car, a farm land no matter what they want to sell us; they put her on there and have her leg up like this. (Raises his leg)
Or have her half naked standing by what they are selling us like we are going to get her with it. So they are not only disrespecting her---treating her as a sex object; they are also treating us as a sex object. That is what they are doing, they are disrespecting both of us because they are saying man, he is going to buy this quicker, if he sees something yummy yummy with it. (Laughs)
They have laws against false advertising, do they not? One time some of our brothers are going to walk into the place with a shot gun and say “hey, where is my woman that is supposed to come with this car. Do not look like the picture I saw”.
The prophet prepared us to have the good life and keep it for the days ahead that were going to be terrible. Would not it have been wonderful if Muslims become stronger on the principle of tauheed that the world, the created world is one world under one universal law? And that the worlds of families and race and nations and tribes are all one human family; and that there is no superiority of any color over the other. If they had exercised that, if they had practiced it in their lives, if they had kept the respect they had been invited to, the respect for women and had enabled women to progress education wise and business-wise. And that they had equal or as much share in the material world and in the run of the world as they would command, based upon their qualifications to pursue opportunities and prove themselves, would that not have been a wonderful thing for the Islamic world? They were given everything, so that they could do that but they lost it; they lost it. You find much more respect for human life, even though some laws what we call very severe, we might even call them cruel laws in the Muslim society, especially Saudi Arabia, by our sensitivities we might say those are cruel laws, to cut out the hand of a thief, to cut off the head of a prostitute. We might call those very cruel laws and I can understand it.
But when it comes to human sensitivities, respecting human beings they are much more sensitive than we are. A big change will have to come on them for the worse, before they accept that dope has a role and place in their society that it has in ours---drugs. But in a way we are situated better than even Saudi Arabia, because we believe in something that takes us out of this. I am talking about the best idea of the American people. The best idea of the American people forces those who embrace that idea to be opposed to drugs and drug culture, drug lives, drugs society, we are opposed to that, and because of us being opposed to it, it has not really taken over our society completely.
We are fighting it, Christian, Muslim, and many other Americans fighting. Not only that, mistreatment of another people, our women. We have an idea that will take us out of that and we are conscious of it, but the Muslim world obviously for the most part they are not conscious of the great idea for making the world like G’d wants it, and the world like the human nature wants it.
They are not be aware of it---they must not be aware of it. I think that there was an awakening taking place in the Islamic world. I think most of the Muslim world is beginning to wake up to the world that Allah created us for on this earth; that he wants us to promote and see it become a reality. I think more of them are waking up to it, but still too many are ignorant of it. It is savage to in public or even at home to push your wife like that for nothing because she displease you.
Get over there, go sit down, leave me alone. Go in the bedroom and close the door. You do not talk to your wife like that, to a grown woman, you are not even supposed to talk your children like in that way, or treat them like that. You carry some three or four bags, "Hey stupid, pick up the bags." He is talking to his wife, "Hey stupid pick up those bags.” “Shut him up, cannot you do something to stop him from crying." We have men talking to women like they are not their wives. Treating their wives like that. I knew a man and he was very good-- he is an African- American man---I was talking about foreigners then---this is an African American man.
I knew an African-American man oh he was a business wiz. Everything he got in, he was just so successful. He was in computers he was a big success. He got into stocks he is a big success. I praised, that he knew I was one of his strongest admirers. He lived across the street from me diagonally. One day he told me he wanted me to come to his house. I went to his house, his wife was his slave, and that man does not know how he fell in my eyes and how he hurt my heart. Here is a man I have always been admiring. He called her like she was his dog.
Let me explain to you what I mean. His dog that he had great pride in. He called her by her name, he said, “Come here I want you to meet Mr. Mohammed.” She came I spoke to her. He said okay, “you go back”. That is the way you do a dog, is not it? Hey come here. Come here Fox.
It is my dog man, this dog is a fun dog here. Fox I raised it from a little pup. Okay “Fox, get away.
Go away Fox”. Well that is the way you do it, right? Come out here meet Mr. Muhammad. She came, an intelligent woman, educated woman. She was not a fool, she is an educated woman and a working woman, she had a job too. After she met me, he said, "Okay, all right you go back." Just like that and she went back just like that. Went back there wherever she was I did not see her again down there. That was not a Muslim, that was a Christian man. Now, I do not think you are running into that often, not even Muslims these sisters are taking that. They will take something and…yes you put him in the hospital you will be on the six o’clock news.
That was a Christian man, he broke my heart. Now, believe me there are men treating their women like that mostly in third world countries. How can those countries come out of their slumber, come out of their material neglect and develop their countries so that they are comfortable for their citizens or at least tolerable for their citizen. How can they do that and they do not have respect for their mothers and for their sisters and for their wives---they cannot do it. See that is why Islam gives us the information we need to create for ourselves an environment that serves us and our life support, do you not know that is what your religion is?
The moral, spiritual, racial et cetera, teachings in your religion is supposed to feel the world outside of you and go with you as though you are in a space bubble. Seal you against the deadly influences of the crazy world without. You are supposed to be in your Muslim mind; you are supposed to have Muslim knowledge from the Qur’aan and from the life of the prophet and you are supposed to be protected by that life environment. That is a life-sustaining environment for you. The drug culture world will-- That pause penetrate your bubble, you'll be dead, yes? There are so many influences out there that are ready to poison you and destroy you and kill you. Check your progress and defeat your purposes and throw you down on your face.
There are influences out there waiting to do that. Some of you cannot get up off your face. Turn to the Qur’aan, read it daily, do not just read it during the Ramadan, read the Qur’aan daily. You are new in it, you cannot hear it on the radio, you cannot hear it on TV, in Saudi Arabia you can hear it on TV, and you can watch it here on TV. I have been there, I know. Some other Muslim countries, you can hear the Qur’aan read on television. We are not fortunate to have programs like that, so you have to read it yourself. We cannot wait on that you to come to the Jumu'ah once every other month and hear a little bit of Qur’aan, your life is being wasted in the meantime.
You are dying; you are shriveling up as a Muslim because you are not in touch with your life? The Qur’aan is our life. Muhammad the Prophet is the model for our life. We had to live the Qur’aan as He lived it. Not as we choose to live it. Without guidance, we have to live the Qur’aan as Muhammad lived it.
Should we go to war with the world, if it is necessary? Yes sir, if it is necessary. Did he go to war with people, with the Sabians? He did not. He did not war with the Sabians and there were other people he did not war with. Yes, if it is necessary we should be prepared to go to war with people. Believe me if you are right, you should not fear to go to war with anybody. I am not afraid to go to war with anybody. But, I am not going to war with anybody else on stupid notion. No, I am going to know what I am going to know that now I said G’d obligates me to go to war. Believe me I am not going to go out there by myself. G’d say war all of you together.
I will try to have as many with me as I possibly can.
And I am going to consider the forces that we have to come up against. Very carefully and maybe I thought fighting them by running. Yes, sometimes running is a weapon on your enemy. Yes, I just start running and let them chase me for about 20 years maybe.
As Muslim teachers and educators, Imams, we are obligated to equip ourselves with the knowledge and the guidance that G’d has given us, which guides us in this world and guides us also for the hereafter or to the hereafter. We should equip ourselves with the knowledge and use it to make a better environment for ourselves.
An environment that will enable us to have more security and a better future as Muslims, as human beings. Start with your immediate environment, your home and at the same time give you a good support, your well meaning sincere support to your congregation that you belong to, your masjid that you belong to.
Do not be satisfied with your masjid that burden in your heart that is not right. You come to the masjid that burden your heart and you will not say anything, you just keep coming, you are afraid maybe somebody will not like you or maybe what you say might not be accepted.
We say on my life and my death is all for Allah. Surely I have turned myself to thee Allah, Lord of the worlds, I associate none with you. We say that---it is a prayer is not it? Surely my life and my death is all for Allah. Yes, we say that. I do not associate any with you; guide me to the best of morals.
So what is this life you are ready to give G’d? Is the life that stands upon moral grounds, guide me to the best of best of morals. Surely none can guide to the best of morals but You and save me from the wicked, from the evil morals, but none can save from that except You.
If you sit there with a burden on your conscience and you see the same situation is staying week after week and that is your mouth, but you do not have the courage. The Prophet also said, prayers and peace be upon him, "We have the obligation to correct wrongs. To stop wrong doing and that when you see it." We have an obligation to do that. And he said, "If you cannot stop it with your hands, with your physical act, if it requires a physical act then at least speak out against it with your tongue." Check it with your tongue, be against it with your speech.
If you cannot find the strength to do that, at least condemn it in your heart. Condemn it in your heart; do not give it any support. Do not accept it in your heart. And he says, "That is the weakest form of Jihad." Right? To just say, "Well, I know it is wrong in my heart, I see it, I cannot do anything about it, but I know it is wrong in my heart." He said that is the weakest form of Jihad, not that He is not given those persons credit. I said that to say to the sister or the brother that is guilty of keep coming to the masjid every week and seeing a wrong there that burdens their heart and they will not speak out against and they will not do anything about it.
I am saying that to say to you that just by the fact that you do not like it, that is something that gets you some credit with G’d, but we cannot have protection for our communities and the progress we want if all our people will not be like you. We have to have some people that will speak out against wrong and some that will be prepared to even use their fists or their arm or their physical forces to correct wrongs in our community. This is what we are going to need. Now, I am sure you can exercise that muscle at home. Go home and get---I like the keynote speaker, make that home a Muslim, he said, "Make your business a Muslim."
You remember the keynote speaker Ahmed, he was-- [chuckles] Brother Ahmed Mohammed I think. Yes, Ahmed Mohammed from-- It was in Newark but he is from Texas?
No, Kansas City pardon me. From Kansas City, Ahmed Mohammed from Kansas City. He said, "Make your business a Muslim." I think what he meant is make it halal, but make it respect Muslim obligation, treat it as an individual to make it respect Muslim obligation.
There is an obligation on Muslim to pray, to give zakat, he said, "Put all those obligations on your business." It was a wonderful talk he gave us in Newark. I have to and I will bring this to a conclusion, I did not intend-- It was not my intention to talk to you this long today. I am going to bring my talk to a conclusion. I think I did cover the main two parts I wanted to cover and that was that the Qur’aan prepares us and guides to have an environment for a good life and a good future and Muhammad has demonstrated, he is the model for us demonstrating how the Qur’aan is to be lived and applied or practiced in our life. He has prepared us for life---a good life on this earth and he has prepared us for a good future. If we had stuck with what prophet Muhammad left us with as essential, as most important, we would not be backwards anywhere in the world, but we would be the most advanced society in the world today. Thank you very much, as-salaam-alaykum.

