12/19/1993
IWDM Study Library
Civilization and Education:
An Islamic Perspective
Airport Hilton Hotel St. Louis MO

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Announcer: Imam W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim American spokesman for human salvation. Title, civilization and education from an Islamic perspective. A solution to the social ills was recorded at the Airport Hilton Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, December the 19th 1993.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: As-salamu alaykum.
Congregation: Wa-alaikum salam.
IWDM: That is peace be on you. We always begin with Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. That is with G-d's name. The merciful benefactor, the merciful redeemer. We ask Him for His mercy and for His forgiveness and for guidance. So, that whatever we do will be pleasing that is acceptable in the presence of G-d. We witness that Muhammad; the prophet of Al-Islam is the last prophet for us. And we pray prayers and peace be on him and what follows up that traditional salutation.
I would like to say to you the Muslim Community first of all here in St. Louis that we are very pleased to be your guest today. We appreciate the work and leadership that you have demonstrated here for this occasion under your very respectable Imam. Imam Ansari and the workers that work with him. We were very impressed with the presentation of the Clara Muhammad School, the children that performed last night. We were thrilled to our heart’s core. I told him, well, if we didn't have any more than this, it was well worth it just to witness the performance of the children.
The staff people, assistant principal and all of you. We like to congratulate you and we certainly appreciate what we have seen. It's very encouraging too to see the work that has gone into the reservation of the building where your school will be, Clara Muhammad School will be. Very excellent work that you did with mostly Muslim laborers, workers. And help I understand came also from some non-Muslim, Christians. It's very excellent work you've done. We're very proud of that.
When we lift up our faces and show our faces clean and bright and our vision straight and bright, and our work excellent. It lifts all of us up and it makes good condition for all of us. And whenever we are neglecting that, we are making a bad condition for all of us. I go about these United States and sometimes outside of these United States representing what we believe to be G-d's way for us. I'm happy to say over the last four or five years I've had nothing but encouragement and seeing nothing but progress.
This is a big change that we are witnessing. Big change. And I encourage you to continue and make your future plans even bigger. One thing we were given from The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that I'll always be grateful for, and that is the courage to think out of our circumstances and to think ourselves into bigger and better circumstances and have the faith that we can accomplish big things. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, he drilled that into us, he demonstrated it to us, and if we can just keep that in us, we certainly won't stand still. We won't stand still, we'll make progress. 
There is no contradiction for anything that The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that was good in this religion of Al-Islam. The Quran and the Sunnah are the way of the Prophet, peace be upon him. There's no contradiction. Some of us make the mistake of thinking that, now that we don't believe the old way anymore, we are following the Quran as our authority and the way of the prophet.
That we should just forget everything of the past. That was a big mistake. I haven't forgot anything of the past that was good. I make an effort to keep all the good from the past, because whatever we got of good, it is good in Al-Islam. And we were admired by Muslims from Egypt, Muslims from Baghdad, Iraq. We were admired by Muslims of Pakistan. These were people who visited the Honorable Elijah Muhammad during his lifetime and saw his work.
We were admired by them for having achievements above the standards of the international public of Al-Islam. They said we had achievements and discipline. Achievements and moral discipline. We had achievements and obedience that was above the standards that they themselves witnessed in the international Muslim Community. Now, will we lower the standards of decency, we will lower the standards of that moral discipline, will we lower the standards of our decent appearance of our clean and decent appearance, after being complimented so highly? No, that's not the thing to do.
Keep everything that you had of good. My mother, she didn't join the Nation of Islam without some good life. My mother had a good life as a Christian. She told us this. We knew that. She was a virtuous Christian woman. The reason why Fard, the teacher of my father, took to her, taught her how to cook himself, taught her how to cook Muslim food himself in her kitchen. The reason why he did that, because he took to her.
He saw the virtues of Al-Islam in her, good Christian virtues. Most of those good Christian virtues are also good Muslim virtues. Never leave something good that you have already had achieved. If you've already gained something good, don't put it down. Just appreciate it and gain more, add to it and then we'll be successful. And on that note, I would like to say, and I'm sure this will seal it for us. The prophet Muhammad, prayers and peace be on him. He said to his followers, he said, "Those that have good behavior now are those that had good behavior in the time of ignorance."
That's what our Prophet said. We believe that G-d created us for excellence. We come into it by nature. He sent prophets the guide us so that we will build upon that excellence and come to the destiny that He wants us to come to. That is to have our whole life for G-d. When the whole life is for G-d, then you can have a complete life. Nobody can have a complete life until they are first willing to give their whole life to G-d.
Now when we say G-d, we're not talking about a small thing. We're not talking about any small household god. We're talking about the G-d that created everything you see upstairs and everything you see down here, including us. The G-d that made possible science, technology and human beings to be responsible for it. We're talking about that G-d. We are happy to see with us today distinguish figures, officials’ persons, religious leaders joining us for this occasion.
We hope that you will benefit from being present here. We want you to know that all of us are greatly honored that you are here today with us. That you're here today. I was thrilled to know that we would have a minister also as our honored guests here today. I have been the guests of many ministers in the last three or four years, and also a few rabbis. Our Imams, we are always very thankful for your presence. Some of you have come long distance to be here today. And also, I like to say to our senior members who still have youth in them, most of them. I hardly even meet one of you all that don't have youth in you.
I see here, well, so many I don't know where to start. I hope nobody will be offended, but I see here a sister that was supporting the Nation of Islam, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and my mother and my family, her and her husband who passed away some time ago when I was a little boy, very small boy. Sister Viola Kariem she's sitting right here, looking beautiful and she's got that youth.
The youth is still in her face. Sister Muslimah and all of them, they're looking very wonderful here today. Another sister, I have to name a few, they're sitting right here, right in my eyes here. Sister Antisar she's here, as beautiful, as young as ever. And my cousin, I almost asked for her hand one time. Sister Mariam.
I wouldn't have made a mistake now. I might have hurt somebody's feelings around me but I wouldn't have made a mistake. My cousin Mariam, I guess you may say you going to marry your own cousin? Just following our prophet that's all.

That's the way. Praise be to Allah. We're happy for your presence and we pray G-d always keep us and guide us, reward us for our good life, for our good deeds. We're going to speak on education and civilization, they go together. Civilization and education in a kind of general way. But I hope I will be also sharing with you something that will be special and not so general. I would like to begin by saying the Quran, our holy book, teaches us to respect the creation of G-d, to respect the rule of G-d in creation.
That is the same G-d that created everything has established His rule in the creation. And wise people can discover the rule of G-d in creation, wise people, they can discover the rule of G-d in creation. And all of the knowledge, education that we have comes out of the natural creation, comes out of what G-d created. You have mathematics, mathematics comes out of creation, you have astronomy, comes out of creation, we have biology, comes out of creation, we have physics, out of creation, we have social science, out of creation. We have political science, out of creation. Everything that we have comes out of creation. So, creation and G-d must be respected, not just G-d, creation and G-d.
Our religion promotes a respect for creation and our religion tells us also that the same G-d that created the thing put the guidance in that thing for that thing. The words from the Quran some of the Arabic speaking brothers and sisters in the audience you will know what I'm saying, those who don't know Arabic you'll not know except that you have to trust me that I'm translating correctly. G-d says, “He is the one who gave everything its created form. “Allathi ohta qullishay’in khalqahu thumma hada”, who gave everything its created form and thereafter gave guidance for it.
Now, there's a Prophet who said to a ruler, an oppressive ruler, he said the oppressive ruler was Pharaoh and Pharaoh was insisting upon everybody following his orders and instruction.
The prophet said to him, he said, peace be on the prophet, this is the prophet Ibrahim, he said to him, "The one who created me will guide me." Scholars in Al-Islam, we know, I say we, and consider myself a scholar, maybe not a big one but I consider myself a scholar. We know that these references tying creation into the science, the “ilm”, science, the knowledge for the guidance of a thing go together. It means that in the creation there is the guidance for that thing. Isn't that what the modern world discovered? Isn't that what has advanced the modern world so far? They study a dog to learn how to treat the ills of a dog. They study everything to learn how to treat the problems for that thing or in that thing.
And also, they study everything to learn how to build new things for themselves. Man made things. We’re talking about education and civilization; don't think I'm leaving it. If we had the time, we could show how the submarine is nothing but a copy of water creature. The principle for lowering it and raising it in the water everything. The amount of pressure it can take, they study the fish that goes down deep, the body and see how it sustains so much pressure, they get that knowledge out of the nature then they reproduce it, they make the thing that they want. The airplane, the jet. The jet is a combination of two, jet is a combination of rocket propel that they learn from explosions. Whenever explosions occurred they found out the explosion kick up a piece away, throw it away. What throws that object out so far? It's the force.
All they need to do is create a similar kind of force and contain it safely and it will jet something forward. The bullet is built upon that principle, they got the knowledge from China. When Mark Apollo went to China, he studied the fireworks of the Chinese people, they already had gun powder, back then in Mark Apollo's time, he studied it and he said, "Well, if it will throw these objects, it will throw a piece of steel." The man coming out of Europe, out of savagery, when he sees things like that, he wants to make a better arrow, he wants to make a better spear. The Chinese were just happy to have fun, good entertainment. Before they knew it, the right man had made it good warfare.
While everybody was sleeping the man out of the cave, he came up with the fun making stuff and used it to subdue everybody. And he subdued everybody. Out of Europe came the man to subdue everybody physically. But thank G-d the savage hasn’t subdued all of us. Some of us have survived the savage and now even the savage is taming himself. Isn't that wonderful? The savage is taming himself, he says, "Hey, we've got to cartel this production of these weapons here."
We don’t mind putting a little humor in this occasionally. Frederick Douglass was a man in our history who I identify as a major beginning in our history of excellence for us. A man who himself was a slave, born in slavery, got an education while he was still a slave because of a good master that encouraged him to study. He educated himself as a slave and grew tall as a statesman to speak to the leadership of America and to the nation. And tell them that they were not representing what they claim to represent. He spoke to them words that if those words were said 2000 years ago, they would have been recorded as the words of a prophet.
He said to the nation and to the leadership of America. He said, “You claim Jesus Christ”, peace be upon the prophet Jesus, I'm saying that, that's what we have to say. He said, “You claim democracy”, I'm making it short. He said, “but your behavior is such that it will shame a nation of savages”. That's what Fredrick Douglass said. He saw the Christian nation at that time that was holding us in the south in bondage as slaves, as their personal property as slaves. He saw that nation having terrible moral conflicts in it. Having terrible moral contradictions in it and because of their being in the society of the American people at that time, people of conscience, people of good morals, people of good virtues who themselves were not at peace with the society of their time.
Then he was able to be a leader and along with others Quakers and many others brought pressure to bear on America, on the colonies, on America of that time. The United States of that time to eventually or the colonies later became the united states to eventually win the freedom or bring about the emancipation proclamation. Under president Abraham who himself was encouraged and inspired by Fredrick Douglass. He himself, the president, he was serving the public. He was doing what he had to do to preserve the union.
There was a union at that time was in existence. He was doing what he could to preserve the United States or preserve the union. And Fredrick Douglass was really the number one mouthpiece for civilizing the social life of America at that time. Its wisdom was high, its wisdom was advanced, its sciences were great but its social sense and his social ethics were terrible. It was Fredrick Douglass a man who was born a slave who led the movement to guide America out of that terrible time and took almost 60 years for America to really do what it should have done all the time. And that was bring about the same respect for the black citizen that it established for white citizen or any other citizen.
We have that now. We have the same respect for all citizens. Whether it comes from us to each other or not that's a private matter. Government can never enforce us to treat each other like we should treat each other. Government can only clear its name by making its law fair and just for everybody. And our government has done that, the rest is left up to us. Getting back to civilization and education. Our religion promotes the best standards of civilization.
As the prophet reminded us or reminded his following, peace be upon him, that Al-Islam does not come to reject the good nature and the good achievements of a people. But Al-Islam comes to affirm that, to recognize that and point to it. And tell us that that's what G-d wants in us. He created us for that. And then add to it and build on it and advance that so that we eventually have the complete life that G-d wants us to have. Just as the prophet came to remind us of that we also are reminded in the Quran that the standards that G-d wants us to have are the standards that have already been established and are well known. Well known, well-established standards of excellent behavior.
“Wa’mil bilma’roof”! “Wa’mil” means command, instruct, guide. “Bilma’roof”, by what is already known and established as excellent and dependable. “Wanha anil munkar”, keep away from those things that nullify that. Stay away from those things that nullify your good excellent achievements. As Muslims, we're obligated to acknowledge the good life and good standards of everybody whether they're Muslim or not. And to appreciate that, embrace that and see in them a comrade in arms. When we talk about the virtuous life that we need all people of virtue are our comrade in arms.
We need each other to fight those who will nullify the good life, who will nullify the good achievements, who will cancel out, empty out, make void the good virtuous life. We need the virtuous people to help us survive with our virtuous life. We can't make it by ourselves. And this is what keeps civilization. As long as we keep good sense of what is decent and what is not decent, civilization is preserved. But when we lose the good sense of what is decent and what is not decent, civilization is at risk. Civilization presently in America is at risk, violence is taking over the society, self-destruction is becoming a way of life almost for people. And not only the ignorant people but the educated people.
They are too, falling victim to this trend or this tendency in our society. To give ourselves to destruction for quick pleasure. To give ourselves to destructive drugs for quick pleasures. To waste the whole life and even torture our families, our wife, our mothers, our dear relatives, torture them for just quick pleasure. How can this come about if there is still respect for decency? If there is respect for decency it can't come about. What forces are working to bring us to that state of mind where we don't care about decency anymore? The forces of Satan.
Now I know we have an audience here and many of you don't want to hear about G-d. The forces of Satan. No man can lead us to where we are now. You get a PhD in the sciences and find yourself following an 18-year-old or buying drugs from a 17-year-old, destroying your personal life, losing your wife. Your wife is having you in divorce court. Nobody can bring you down like that but Satan. Ordinary human beings can't do that, it takes Satan to do that. To topple the well-informed man, topple the head of the learned man and bring him down to the gutter with those that never received any education or culture, it takes Satan to do that.
Satan makes the thing that G-d forbids look like the thing that you're supposed to have. And that's what some of these drug addicts are telling us. "No, I'm supposed to have this, this is mine, this is my happiness, this is my paradise, don't take my paradise from me." And he's speaking the language of Satan. Satan gave him that language. The language he speaks, the death he takes in the form of drugs. The language he uses to rationalize and justify his doing it all comes from Satan. Now, am I saying something without a foundation of Al-Islam? If I am then I'm disqualified as an Imam. Allah says, “intoxicants and gambling and superstitions are the creation of Satan”.
That's what G-d says to us in our holy book. These are the creation of Satan. Now if all of us would really become serious, get serious about believing in G-d. And we accept that G-d's word is right, what He has revealed. And we accept that G-d says, “intoxicants and gambling and superstition”, where you decide your life tomorrow on a superstition. You know some people that are doing that now and they don't think they're superstitious? We're not are talking about superstition that existed back there under the cave days or the days of the savages. We're talking about superstition that exists right now today. There are some people that won't even get up until they find out what the number says.
They won't go out the house until they find out what the number says. Or call the witch doctor, and ask him, “What is the prediction today?” We're living in a technologically advanced civilization more advanced than any other. I think more than any other on this earth, but when it comes to psychology, the human psyche. Personal psychology and social maturity, most of us are as savage and as backward today as we were back there in the days, we call B.C. A Million BC.
Yes. Now, we don't have to have a whole society, not even 50% of it. Not even 20% of it. We don't have to have the whole society to get straight before we can feel comfortable. If we just have that Talented Tenth that Dubois and others spoke of. If we just have that Talented Tenth in the leadership accepting to be responsible for keeping the alert, for the masses, for the public, and calling the alarm. Pulling the alarm when it's necessary to alert the public. That's the kind of leaders we had that enabled us to defeat slavery. That enabled us to defeat Jim Crow, segregation, etc. That's the kind of leaders that we had. That's the kind of leaders America had.
But today, we don't have leaders like that. Things have become so specialized that it destroys the ability for us to appreciate the wholeness of life, and stand over the life to make sure that the wholeness of the life is not lost. Our children don't know what a whole chicken is anymore. They know what a chicken leg is. They know what a chicken breast is, they know what a chicken wing is, but they hardly know what a whole chicken is anymore because the thing is so specialized. And just like that chicken that has become so fragmented and the whole chicken has been kept away from the eyes the many. The whole of life has been done the same way. The whole of the human life has become so fragmented and everybody is emphasizing this little part of it.
The part we emphasis the most and I'm speaking about the press. The press ain’t nothing but a reflection of us. I used to feel that the press was the sanctuary of Satan. I did. The things that I was seeing in the press. I said, "The press is really giving us most of these troubles comes from the press." The press must be the sanctuary of Satan. Then I looked at Hollywood, I said, "Oh, no, now, Hollywood got a piece of that sanctuary."
Then I looked at some of the religious preachers, I said, "The religious leaders got a piece of that sanctuary." So, I finally gave up. I tried to locate the Satan sanctuary on earth and just decided to just deal with the evils as I come up on them, and not worry about where their root is, just strike the head.
Because some of our homes is the sanctuary of Satan.
Yes. Promoting civilized standards and education. Creation and education cannot be divorced. Creation is the womb of knowledge. Creation is the womb of the knowledge, okay? They can't be divorced. Education and civilization can't be divorced. We don't speak of a primitive society that has good morals, has good virtues. There are some primitive societies that were discovered by Margaret Mead, one called the Tasaday people. She said she found no violence among them. There was nothing but just love and no crime among them. Their properties could be trusted to just lay out in the open. Nobody bothered the property. They were like really a Garden of Eden. That Tasaday tribe that she discovered. Would we say that was a civilized tribe? No. Why? Because for civilization you need the combination of both, virtue, the elevation of virtuous life, and the elevation of rational life. That's what makes civilization, the two.
And that's what counts for the wholeness is of a people when their intelligence, the brain and the heart form a marriage, and agree to be one, and not to violate each other, and to work for each other. The brain promotes the excellence of the heart, the heart promotes the excellence of the brain. When you get those two special organs in the human body to come together, and be reconciled for one purpose under G-d. You got a whole society. And isn’t that what G-d wants and no less? G-d says He didn't put in any man two hearts. That means the heart should be for G-d. Civilized standards.
Our religion also promotes personal responsibility. We have focused firstly, our prophet as the model of human excellence. Not only for Muslims but our holy book says, "He is a model of excellence for any who believes in G-d and believes in the last day, the judgment." So, any people who believe in G-d and believe that they're accountable to G-d, that's what it means. To believe in G-d and not believe that you're accountable to G-d is not the belief in Christianity and Judaism or Al-Islam. But to believe in G-d and also believe that you are accountable to that G-d. That's the belief common for Judaism, Christianity, and Al-Islam, and some other religions.
Any who believes in G-d and in the last day will find in Muhammad a model of excellence. That's one man. That's one man. Adam was one man. Our first father Adam was one man. The teaching of Al-Islam tells us, from our prophet’s teachings, prayers and peace beyond him, “No one comes in life, or dies, go out of life, except on the pattern of Adam”. Except on the pattern of Adam. So, when G-d created Adam, He created the pattern for our life, for the human life. You may come into human life and go out as a saint or something or a hermit or something but you didn't die yet.
One day, G-d is going to have to wake you back up and send you back into the human life and let you die.
Life and death must be human life and human death. Isn't what the Muslim prays for?
Congregants: Yes.
IWDM: G-d let me live a human being and let me die not except as a human being. Now, I know how it is. Let me live a Muslim and die not except as a Muslim but that's what it means. A Muslim means the human being that G-d created. That's why the prophet said, "Everyone is born a Muslim and is changed by the circumstances your put into." So, look around you, brothers and sisters at the ones that you're calling Muslim. Check them out. Then go among your good fishing friends and look around. You might find more Muslim than Christians circles than you'll find in Muslim circles sometimes.

Personal responsibility. I like the little children books that I read, My Introduction into Arabic, under the teacher that my father actually, he solicited for him. He put an ad in the newspaper asking that we have an Arabic teacher. He wanted to hire an Arabic teacher so a man came, several came, but finally one came who could speak Arabic and also speak good English. He could talk to us in English. We had some who were very desirous of helping us but when they came, they couldn't speak English. I remember Brother Abraham, Ibrahim in Arabic. Ibrahim. He came and he was straining, an old man trying to teach us Arabic. He couldn't speak hardly any English at all, so he went to the board, and he wrote, “Joolz, loowz, teen, moze”. That's how he started, and that's where he stopped because he couldn't speak any English.
He taught us, “Joolz, loowz, teen, moze” We would say, “Joolz, loowz, teen, moze”. We will go to the backboard and write, “Joolz, loowz, teen, moze " He couldn't get it any further than that. He stayed with us about three weeks, then he told my father, "You have to have somebody who can speak English."

Joolz- walnuts, loowz- almonds, teen- figs, moze- bananas. I guess, he would say, "That's the way we're going to go out."

Finally, he got Jamil Diab from Jerusalem, Quds. Jamil Diab ordered some children books, all in Arabic and began to teach us. We were in Arabic class, but what touched me was the cleanliness, the emphasis on cleanliness and the emphasis on proper behavior that we were learning in those children books. One book says that, "The clean boy bathes himself from head to foot every day and cuts his fingernails, keeps his fingernails trimmed" and it went on like that. Says, “the active girl”. It didn't say the industrious girl, it didn't say the industrious boy, it said, “the active”. Now, suppose we started using language like that, wouldn't that help us? Say, "The active child does this, the active girl does this, the active boy does this," active. Because all of us are active, you see?
Sometimes, we make a child feel that to be active is something bad. No, we want you to be active, but let that activity be the right activity. It says, "The active boy helps his mother at home. He helps her carry the package or the load. The active boy helps his father. When he sees his father burdened, he comes, and he helps his father with the load. The active boy helps his mother by keeping his clothes neat. The active boy helps his mother by keeping all of his things in their proper places." Now, wouldn't you sisters be happy if you had children that kept all their things in their proper places?
It'll help you keep your things in your proper places, wouldn't it?
The lesson goes on and on like that. The active girl, she comes into the kitchen when she sees her mother in the kitchen. After she has finished her homework and she see her mother cooking, she comes, she says, "Mama, may I help you cook? Let me learn how to prepare the food." These are children books. This brings the child into respect and teaches the child right away to accept responsibility. In Al-Islam, we have this saying of the prophet which goes along with a lot of other teaching from him, but I'm just giving this part of it. The prophet, prayers and peace be on him. He said, "Everyone is a responsible person, with charge over things. Even the child has charge over his things that the parent gives to him."
Now, we know we give the child toys, we give the child money sometimes. But we give him toys, and we give him clothes and other items. But Al-Islam teaches us to teach that child that authority over those things are in your hands. When I give it to you, now you have authority over that. This is not telling him to obey me, this is telling him to obey himself. See, and that's the key. Don't just tell a child to obey you, but tell that child to obey him or herself. All of us got a sense of what's right in us. Tell him to, "Obey yourself." When we are disobeying what's proper, we're disobeying our self. You know yourself is no more than the mind you have. That's yourself. The mind you have is yourself. These youngsters say right now, "Man, you out of your mind."
They don't say that behavior's right. "Man, you out of your mind." Yes, and they're right. I don't know how long they’ve been out of their mind. But if they have been out of their mind for a long time, you have to be shown your mind again.

But the point is that G-d has created us for intelligent behavior. Our G-d that created us, created us for intelligent behavior, the highest of intelligent behavior. No creature in creation, not even angels have been created for more intelligent behavior than a human being. Because G-d has given us an area of freedom, of free authority, and rational ability, and that allows for us to have an edge on even the angels when it comes to authority. That's why G-d said, He didn't make the angels to keep authority in the earth, He made a human being to have authority. And when He decided that He was going to give authority to the human being over the angels, the angels were disturbed.
But G-d says, nevertheless, when I've inspired him on myself, then you submit to Him. What does that say to us? In our ordinary mind that we get out here in the world, we are not qualified for that high responsibility. But once we know G-d's purpose and G-d's direction for our life, then we are qualified for that high place, therefore that high responsibility. Personal rule and authority are intended for all of us. G-d intends for all of us to have personal rule and authority. We all are to have personal rule in our life, be responsible for our own behavior, and have authority in our life. That authority goes so high. Yes. If Muslims understand their religion and seek to live their religion to its fullest degree, we will be with the best promoters of the best democracy on this earth. I know that. I'm a student of Quran, I'm a student of the life of our prophet, prayers and peace be on him. Salla llahu alayhi wasallam, prayers and peace be on him. And I know, I don't have any questions. I know that our religion has the ingredients in it, has the force, the energy, the elements in it to advance us into the best, the most perfect democracy.
No matter how good we are in recitation of Quran, no matter how much Shariah we establish for ourselves. If we don't have a democracy that respects the right of every individual in the government or in that society to live its life to the fullest and enjoy the goodness and the excellence and the utility of his brain and his nature and his spirit to the fullest, we don't have the society that Allah wants. There's no such thing as Muslims having a great society and don't have a great democracy. No, that's why all the great societies that we have had have passed. They have been destroyed; they have gone. The only one that stands is the one that the prophet establish himself in Medina, that stands.
Those Muslims that still live and still feel strong and still feel hopeful, they feel that way because they still follow the example of our prophet. What he did in his own lifetime, they don't look to these nations no matter how great they were. In Damascus, that was a great civilization after the prophet, also, in Turkey. It was the one that just passed recently, sometimes we forget. Turkish rule is just recent in the life of man, in the history of man.
In fact, it wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that the Turks finally just lost everything. The Turks were ruling in the 18th century, and their rule extended all way up until the 20th century. That was when European, Western powers just took over everything and began to colonize the east and colonized Africa and colonized the world. Yes, that's recent in the history when you consider that Al-Islam ruled and ruled in a very marvelous way, that gave the great religions their freedom. Christianity, Judaism had that freedom under the Moors who came from Northern Africa, went to Spain and established an Islamic civilization there. They had their freedom and there was a great, great reign of Islamic life and authority there for better than four centuries, 400 years. We're not talking about 400 years ago; we're talking about just a couple of hundred years or less ago. The Turks were the rulers, not the white man, the Turks. The Muslim white man.

Praise be to Allah. I'm sure that the Turks looked at the psychology of the Western world, Europe and said, "Well, in order for us to continue in our civilization, we're going to have to make a compromise." The Turks westernized Turkey, the country Turkey. They westernized Turkey and the country of Turkey is westernized even now. It's westernized. You go over there they look like Europeans; they dress like Europeans. In many ways, they act like Europeans, but there's some strong Muslims and I don't think they've given up on Al-Islam and on the Quran and the Prophet.
No indeed, they haven't given up on that, but they have taken on the culture of Western civilization. Islamic culture is hard to see there and they're almost 100% Muslim still. You know that speaks for the power of Al-Islam. Al-Islam appeals to all levels of society. Al-Islam appeals to the man that wants to do nothing but say, "Baby, I'm going to work I'll see you when I get back. Have the food ready and the bed and the covers pulled back."
For the man that wants no more than that Al-Islam appeals to him because it tells him that he is a Khalifa in his own house. That he's responsible for calling the adhaan, to awaken the people to 
Al-Islam five times a day in his house and that if he leaves and can't do that he's supposed to leave the responsibility with the oldest son or if there is no son then the mother or whoever she designate supposed to do that. You see. He feels important, he's a Khalifa. Khalifa means ruler. That's what Khalifa means ruler.
Democracy, even American democracy is afraid to tell the common man he's a ruler. Isn't that what Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was all about? Telling the common person, the individual that he is an authority. Isn't that what the preamble or the introduction to our Constitution is all about? When it says that, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."
All men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain rights that you can't take away, inalienable rights and among these, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." My oh my. I can say the blessing over that table at any time. That's what it's all about. Personal accountability, but that's not enough. Tell the individual he also has personal authority. He has personal responsibility.
He's responsible for a rule in his life and for the rule in his household if he's the man or the husband. But brother, be careful now because this is civilization too. How can you have civilization and a savage husband in the house? What is a savage husband? A savage husband is the one that the wife says, "I would like to have my bedroom painted pink." "No, no, no, I don't like pink. I'm going to put purple in there." That's a savage husband.
He's not socially mature enough to be the husband yet.
Well, I better not get too deep in this.
I'm going to have to call a special meeting and we going to get deep in this. We still need some MGT and FOI. We'll get it.
MGT was the unit for females under the honorable Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam, the MGT. That's where the sisters and the girls got their special training where they wouldn't be embarrassed with the brothers, mixed with the brothers. The brothers had their special unit too where they can get special training and wouldn't have to be embarrassed knowing that the sisters were there hearing what's going on. It was called the FOI, Fruit of Islam. We don't need all of that back anymore. We don't need the show off-ish part of that, but we need the good sense part of that.
Now, personal accountability. We don't want to confuse this emphasis on individual dignity with this permissiveness that we find in free societies today. Where the individual thinks he is the authority, he's the boss and no matter what detrimental thing he wants to do he can do it because he is his own boss. I've heard them tell me, in fact, my own son influenced by his peers tell me, "Well, it's my life I can do what I want with it." I have to try to reason with him and that's hard to do because too much is working against me.
It's hard for us to hold the attention of our child when just one person is trying to talk to them other than us. Now here we got the TV talking to him, we got the records talking to him, we got Hollywood talking to him, we got the streets talking to him. It's impossible almost for us to talk to him but anyway I know you say, "Well, one way to get his attention is you wrap them over the head with a 2x4."

I'm just not cut out to do it that way. Anyway, I tried patiently reasoning with him. I told him I said, "Look if your life is only your life-" I said, "Well, do you acknowledge that your life affects my life?" He wouldn't answer me. I said, "And your life affects your mother's life. Your life affects every family member that loves you." I said, "Your life affects even your friends that care about you." I said, "So how is your life your own business only?" I said, "Your life is your own life but your life is not your own business only. Your life is my business too."
Now, the business of life should be in the hands of the whole people. That's why we need civilization. Civilization established the standards, the guidelines for us so that we all come under what is approved by the many, not by the one. But what we find that is best for the many is extracted or revealed out of the one. Out of the one human being that G-d created we find the guidance, the science, the knowledge, the standards for the whole society. And if the society can all agree in one. That's what it is. We must agree in one.
When we all agree in one, we have the life for the whole for all of us. And G-d gave us the one as the pattern. So, that brings us to community. Muslims are people with a high sense of community. Yes, we cannot be Muslims living our life and not caring about how our life is affecting our community. You can't live a Muslim life on earth by yourself that's why both scriptures say, "And He made for him a help-mate."
Yes, our scriptures and the scriptures of the West say that, “G-d created Adam but that was not it. And He had to make for him a mate. So, that he will work out a life for more than himself. And in working out a life for more than himself, he comes closer to the destiny that G-d wants him to reach. The first thing that accounted for man making progress was his woman. I don't know how Adam was when G-d created him but I know once he reached puberty he was in trouble.

He said, “Oh, I need some help”. And when he found his rest place. She had been also geared up by G-d, you know. She said, “but where is my house I have to live in?
And where are we going to get our food?” Now Adam is going to move closer to the destiny, right? He goes and he looks at the creation, he probably tried the stone first. “That's too heavy”. He got him some leaves and some small sticks and stuff. I imagine he put in the stuff together a house. He put that for her, threw some skins over to something to keep out the rain, animal skins over to keep out the rain.
She looked at it and she got up under there and tried it, it was cozy. And she said, “thank you, sweetie.
Now you can rest in my bed”. In this modern society we got a youngster had every opportunity to get education, everybody encouraging him but his peers pulling him in another direction. He wants a wife and don't even have a Teepee nothing. Mothers tell your daughters don't accept that boy until he gets something for her. Let him produce something first.

This is how we get civilization back to this advanced technological society. We get civilization back when we civilize our social life.
Bring back those principles. Those virtues and principles that accounted for a strong social family. Yes, we have strong families, maybe even most of us don't have strong social families. The social life is gone. Weak or destroyed. What makes the family is the social life. That's what makes the family. We have to have good strong social life. Social life means having a sense of bond with each other and also have a sense of indebtedness to that bond and also having respect for those in charge, those with most sense and those who've invested more in that family.
Now if the mother has invested more in that family, respect the mother's authority. If the father has invested more in that family, respect the father's authority. If they agree to share that authority, respect them both, and until they conflict with each other, respect them both equally. But once they start hollering at each other and calling each other “black nigger” then you find out who's at fault and go with the better one.

And we're going to civilize this society. Starting right with self and home. A sense of community. None of us can live our lives without that sense of community.
If we expect to be doctors where are we going to establish that practice? You have to establish that practice in the society. If you want to be a businessman, accountant or whatever, you're going to have to work with people. Whatever you want as profession, whatever you want to bring you an in income, you're going to have to go out of your narrow individualism and accept to be a part of a club, a part of a business team, a part of a working team. You're going to have to accept a collective body to live in, to work in, to work out your future in there. We are community people by nature just as we are individual by nature.
G-d made us individual, gave us individual life that we should always keep, and try to keep a distinguished personal life. Don't try to copy other people, imitate other people. The worst thing I can see is an Imam that will do everything I do exactly as I do it. That makes me feel so bad I say, "What's wrong with his brain?" If I see him imitating all my gestures and everything, I look at him, I see me then something is wrong. When I look at him, I ought to see him not me.

I know some of us think racism is what keeps us from having a good life in America. Believe me, racism kept us from having a good life in America before equal opportunity.
Now that we have laws protecting equal opportunity or guaranteeing equal opportunities, we don't have a serious race problem. I don't mind white people hating me and calling me black. In fact, they can call me black nigga if they want, as long as I have equal opportunity. I guarantee you that I ain't going to call them no red crackers or pale face. I ain't going to do that. I'm not going to resort to that cheap level. No. I'll continue to have my respect for them they can call me black nigga if they want. They can wake up in the morning and say good morning black nigga. That's all right with me. I don't have to return the greetings to them, do I?
You all are waiting to progress. You're waiting on the white world to love you before you decide that you can progress here. They can reverse the thing all the way back to slavery days as long as I have equal opportunity. I'm not waiting on them to love me. I'm not even waiting on my family to love me.

Say, "how are you and your brother getting along?" I don't know. I have to think over that. I'm too busy trying to get along with my business to worry about how my brother and I are getting along. Let him do the best he can for his Muslim life. I do the best I can for my Muslim life. If we aren't getting along now, we'll meet somewhere down the road and get along.
I'm not going to worry about it now. Someone told me, "you know what one of your brothers said about you, brother Imam?" I said no. He said it's easier for them to make peace in the Middle East than for you and him to get together”. I said, "well tell him he should know."

On my closing note, what I want to say is that we have to do really one thing, and that is keep the wholeness of the human life before us. When the gospel of the Christians says of Jesus Christ that He healed people, and after healing them, he said, “go on, go away, you're free now. You're on your own. You're whole”. W-H-O-L-E. You are whole, you're complete.
I see that as a sign of what we've been saying here today. That if you have problems, if you have ills, if you have stress and burdens, it's because you're not living the wholeness of the human life. Ain't no way to live the wholeness of the human life being a slave to American commercialism. Thank you very much and may G-d guide us always. As-Salaam-Alaikum.

Announcer: For more on the ministry of Imam W Deen Mohammed Muslim American spokesman for human salvation, call or write WDM publication. Call 1708-8627733 or write WDM publication Post Office Box 1944 Calumet city, Illinois 60409 for our Muslim Journals see local distributor.


