10/10/1999
IWDM Study Library 
The Message in Islam for Man and Community

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Speaker 1:
The following lecture titled "The Message in Islam for Man and Community" was recorded at the Northwest Activity Center in Detroit, Michigan, Sunday, October the 10th, 1999. The lecturer, W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim American Spokesman.
IWDM:
As Salaamu Alaikum. (Wa Alaikum As Salaam). Praise be to Allah. Alhumdullilah. We say "Alhumdullilahi Rabil Alameen" in the language of the Quran, the Arabic language, meaning we give praise and thanks to G-d, the Lord Who Cherishes, takes care of all the worlds, whatever is in the skies and whatever is in earth and in people or in man. We witness that He's One and cares about all of His Creation, especially His human creation and we witness that Muhammad is not a god or an angel but a human being like we are as G-d says to us in the Holy Book and we witness that he is the Servant and Messenger of G-d mentioned in the Torah, the Books that we know as the Books given to the Jews, the Revealed Books and mentioned also in The Injeel that we know as The Gospel...The Gospel, The New Testament or the Books of the Christians.
And we pray to G-d remembering our Prophet Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets, the last of the Prophets. One who represents all the Prophets. He represents the life and the truth, service that all Prophets or Messengers who are called to render in G-d's Name and for G-d's Cause. We witness that he is the Seal of the Prophets and the model human for any who believes in G-d and believes in the Last Day. G-d says of him that, "he is certainly an excellent, physical model, is an excellent model, for anyone". Didn't say for Muslims only, for any who believes in G-d and believes in the Last Day. That is any who believes in G-d and believes that they'll have to be accountable to that G-d, that they and all others, their families gone and their families with them and their families to come, all have to answer for their behavior on this earth to that same G-d. So any who believes that, believes in that G-d and believes in that accountability to that G-d, Muhammad is said to be excellent model human being for them.
And again, G-d says of him, and I'm saying this so that we will know our leader, Muhammad, better, so we'll know him clearly, see him clearly. Allah says again of him that, "he is a mercy to all the worlds". And the root meaning in the expression that translated "the world" is knowledge. The worlds of humankind are knowledge worlds. They have grown on the basis of a logic and that logic has sprouted out and branched off to form a great tree of knowledge.
And He's called... each tree will represent a world in this picture I'm giving you now. And He's called the Lord of all the Worlds, meaning the Lord of all Civilizations, all Nations that based their society upon a logic. They had to use G-d. They had to use His Creation. They had to benefit from His Way, His Design, His Plan in order to begin their own logic so that they would have a logic to support human society. So, He is the Lord of all the Worlds. And Muhammad is called the mercy to all the worlds.
Now, I know you will say what it means, all the Worlds, the Heavenly Bodies, the Universe. Certainly it means that too. But I said the root meaning of the word "Alameen" is 'Alm. 'Alm is the root meaning. And I've shared that with you so that we would understand that G-d is not a G-d Who made physical bodies like the ones we see in the sky and the one we live on called earth and then He sat down and rest. That's not the real understanding that we should have. No, He made those bodies, but He also then began another creation, the creation of the human intellect, the human spirit, the human soul and the human spirit and the human heart. He Began that wonderful creation. And for that wonderful creation or out of that wonderful creation and from that wonderful creation, we have worlds of knowledge, worlds of science, worlds of knowledge, worlds of cultures and G-d is the One that made all that possible for us. And Muhammad is given as the last Prophet as a mercy to all the Worlds.
So, we say "Sallalahu walyhi wasallum", the prayers and the peace be on him, "Walla 'ayli sabi 'ismaeen" And on his descendants and on his companions and all, and on us be peace, ameen. We are not created or existing on this earth for folly, for pleasures of the flesh or pleasures of the mind, but we're existing on this earth for G-d's Purpose, G-d's Cause. He put us here to serve His Purpose, to serve His Cause. And once we know our purpose, we then can discover G-d's Purpose. But until we know our own purpose for being on this creation, we will never know G-d's Purpose.
Muhammad the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him, said, "Anyone who has seen himself has seen his Lord." And that saying has contributed somewhat to thinkers in Islam going to extremes and leaving the real purpose. It has contributed to mystics thinking in the extremes and losing the real purpose. They got confused looking for the wrong thing and thought that that saying was saying that G-d and man can become one. That when man discovers himself, he makes his journey, he purifies his soul, that he can become so pure and so much in accord with G-d's Will that he and G-d become one. He emerges into the light and being of G-d and they become one.
This is a belief of mystics, and it is a wrong belief. It's not Islamic. Exactly what is meant by that saying is that when you discover your purpose for being in existence, or being on this earth, you'll then know that you didn't create yourself and you know that you didn't have the ability, the power in your capacity to design that plan for your own life. But then you look for the One that did that and that knowledge guides you to G-d.
The Prophet Abraham, called Ibrahim in the Quran. Father Abraham, he had a condition in himself. He had a conviction already that made him firmly believe that he was to serve a Higher, a Superior. Why? Because he had already studied himself. He had already faced his own reality, his own life with its great opportunities, with its great capacity and with his limits also, with his limits, with his limitations. And discovering himself, now he wants to know where is that G-d that did this wonderful thing, made this wonderful creature?
So, he began to look in the Universe for that G-d and he thought the sky had that G-d. He was looking in the night sky and he thought the sky had that G-d. But when he saw a star fall, he said, "This can't be my G-d. My G-d is not one to fall." What made him have that high estimation of G-d? It was his knowledge of his own creation that anyone that created, that made me in this great mold and in this great pattern, in this great picture cannot be inferior, cannot be one that falls. So, he said, "My G-d is not one that falls."
He sat all night searching the Universe, searching the space for G-d and the sun begin to rise. And when the sun begin to rise, he as lovers, romantic people or as just any open-minded, good, healthy thinker, when you see the sunset, if you see it for the first time, it is awe... and oh it will awe you. It is breathtaking. It fills you with awe. So, he said, "This must be The G-d," after he saw it in its splendor and beauty, rising. He said, "This must be The G-d." So, he watched it as it ascend up to the zenith, highest point in the sky at noon. And then he began to watch it all day long as it declined. And finally, it set and darkness came again and he said, Abraham said, according to the Quran, he said, "No, this that I thought was the biggest of them all and The G-d is not The G-d. My G-d is not one to set." Think about that. "My G-d is not one to set."
And then the words come in Quran, "Allahu layhilaha illa Huwa alhul kuyum samatum walanum", "G-d, Allah, The G-d, there is no other god. The Eternal, The Everlasting who exists and never dies" says "Lata hum samatum walanum" , "Time does not affect Him. Time does not produce any change in Him and He does not slumber or sleep. Praise be to Allah. So how did he discover The True G-d in The True Picture? By first knowing himself, knowing his own creation, knowing his own greatness and his own smallness, his own opportunities, his own opportunities for achievements and progress, but also his own limitations. When he knew himself correctly, then he was able to discover his G-d.
And our topic today is what G-d wants for man, what Islam wants for man and Community. What Islam wants for man, his Community is exactly what is happening in this very special time for mankind on this earth. And that is that man discover himself in his true human nature and possibilities for that human nature. How far can he take it, How far can he go, be all he can be, respecting what G-d wants or respecting what G-d has established to be respected, be all you can be. Just like I was coming here and I told the people, I said "everybody's welcome".
Somebody want to wear the curtains that's hanging on the wall, they want to snatch them off and wrap themselves, as long as they're clean, to wrap up and come out to Jumu'ah or come out to this Sunday gathering, welcome. Welcome. The curtains will be fine. As long as they're not to sheer or you have something to protect yourself up under the curtain. Fine, fine. We got room for all as long as all can respect the room.
So, G-d wants for us what is happening in this great time, time I call the "Time of Religion. He wants that man wake up and learn from his mistakes, that he cannot plan society without respecting the human life in the excellence that G-d has created it. He has to respect human life in the excellence that G-d gave it and its inherent excellence. Then he can plan the future of society.
The future of society has been planned in these modern cities like Chicago and other big cities and Detroit and all these other cities around, Los Angeles, New York have been planned by city planners, aided by engineers and scientists of both the material nature and also human nature. They've been aided by them, but something was ignored. Why? Because now we look at many things that has been given to us in our modern city life and we find that this is against the vital life of human beings. Overcrowding, piling poor people up in high structures. Proven to be wrong now.
Aerosols, cigarette smoke, many other pollutants in the air and in the water threatens the human life now being discovered now, too late. But something has to be done. So, something is being done. New legislation, to make corrections, to punish those who violate the new laws, to give incentives to those who respect the purpose or the object, the destiny that this Nation or these laws want for man, those who will do things beyond what the law requires to make it better, their incentives for them, a new world, a new time. Respecting what G-d wants for the human being in the society, respecting the Heavenly Conditions that G-d wants for human souls on this earth. G-d wants them to be free from all these agonies.
That's why the picture of Paradise is given to us, that G-d Created the human being for the first time and put him in a Paradise. And we are taught to see that Paradise in this picture. It is a place that was pure, the air was pure, the water was pure, the food was beautiful and rich and wholesome. The environment was peaceful and safe until the devil, the satan came in and seduced the mind of the man to come out of the state that G-d had put them in. This is the picture. So, we now have industry, business, industry, religion, government all working together with the artists too, working together to bring about conditions in the environment that G-d would be pleased with. But they're not working for it with G-d in mind. They're working for it with a better treatment of human beings in mind.
What G-d wants, what Islam wants for man and Community, wants that man when he's in charge and in power, that man will seek and strive and struggle to humanize the environment so that the environment stays human. So that it accommodates human souls, human sensitivities, human aspirations, human spirit and does not work against it, the precious, vital human life. And what else does it want on the other hand? That the society respect the human life and grow richer so that the human beings need to grow, need to progress, need to have more opportunity will be accommodated. So, the society should be designed so that it accommodates not only the present life of a human being, but anticipate what we'll be asking for when we are more knowledgeable, when we are freer to create and freer to produce.
Try to anticipate where this human being will be 20 years from now, 500 years from now. Anticipate where he'll be, what will be his appetites, what will be his needs based upon the realities of the time. His situation now, his advancement now and his hopes now. Study that and then anticipate what he'll be wanting 100 years from now or 500 years from now. And then plan the society, plan the civilization, plan the Nation, the environment to accommodate him and assist him in the road to that high place where he's headed.
Yes, this is a great picture that we should all be looking at, especially leaders. Not just leaders in engineering, leaders in business, leaders, developers for the neighborhood. No. Imams, preachers, Imams, teachers in the school and teachers from the pulpit. We should be aware of that because maybe we'll be the greatest hindrance. Maybe we'll be the greatest block in the way of this great work to make the soul and aspiration of the human being, mate with the soul and aspirations of the Nation and that they complement each other and assist each other like left hand and right hand, like left foot and right foot.
If we don't know that, we ourselves will be perhaps the greatest obstacle in the way of that. So, we should understand that and know that when G-d says, "You are the best Community," "Antum khyrumatan ukrija minna." You are the best Community, evolved, raised up, step by step as a child raised by his parents, as a student lifted up by the teachers and the curriculum, raised up for the good of all mankind."Ukreejan annas." Raised up for the good of all mankind.
You know, I was coming on here and I got several things to share with you today. I already shared one. I got two more to share with you. Just the little experience I had just coming from the airport to here. And I said, "You know, G-d says, "Sometimes...sometimes you have to use mercy, not justice, mercy." And says, "Sometime you'll find that kindness to an avowed enemy will affect him in a way to change him into a bossome friend." Kindness. Kindness. Not justice, mercy. And I also have learned by experience that if somebody I really hate, I mean, I never hate without love. I can't recall a time that I hated a thing without love. I always hate with love. There's love there too. There's never just all hate. But I have really hated.
I told the Brothers, I said, "I know a person I hated so much until I had no thought that I could do anything with him or be in their company at all." Only thing that I thought I could do is just turn him over to hell. I didn't see any other place to put him that would be good for the place. But the worst person that I can think of in my own mind, imagine in my own mind... Thank you. I'm reading the sign that says, "Welcome back to Detroit Imam W.D Mohammed." Thank you. (Clapping).
So, from my own experience, I've learned that no matter how ugly, how cruel, how brutal, how demonic a person looked to be in mind, that if they're in human form, in a human body, if they suffer enough, I stop seeing them as my enemy. I start seeing them as a human being and I want to pray for them, I want them to do something to help them. That's human nature. That's human nature. I don't care how much you dislike a person, how wrong they have treated you. Enough suffering can come to that person to make you stop seeing them as that person that hurts you and you'll start seeing them as a person that needs mercy. Isn't that wonderful how G-d made our souls? (Takbeer) Isn't that wonderful that He gave us a heart like that?
And I heard it say recently by someone say, "You know, Black folks can forgive anybody." Well, they were saying it like, you know, we shouldn't be so forgiving. Well, maybe so. But the bigger beauty of that is that we have been blessed by G-d with such wonderful souls that we can forgive anybody. Let's stay that way. We are special. And those who are like us and other groups, those who are like us in those groups are special people too. That's the best of the human nature, when you can forgive like G-d can forgive.
I want to share one more experience that I had on the way from the airport here and then I'm going to bring this to a close.
We stopped at the restaurant because we got up early, didn't take breakfast or anything. So, we stopped at the restaurant to get a little bite before coming here. I told the Brothers, I said, this is not the point now, this is just a little digressing a bit here, I told the Brothers, I said, "Now, you know, anybody that's a part of my show, you have to know that I'm the boss." (Clapping) And I told Brother Rafa, he's my partner, he knows me. I told him, I said, "I'm not bragging." I said, "I just want things to work out well." So, I told them, I say, "They're expecting us at one o'clock." I said, "We should be there at one o'clock."
See, in time of my father, if the meeting was supposed to open up at 2:00, you couldn't believe that it opened up at 2:30 or 2:15. If he said 2:00, that's the time you open all over the Nation, two o'clock. And what that does, that's wise. What it does, it works to get everybody there, the maximum number, there on time so you can get something done and go about your business. We blame the people for being late. No, first look and see are we late? If we are late, we're the cause of the people being late.
And I don't blame you. I do the same thing; "So the Imam ain't going to be there til 2:30 anyway, I'm not going there at one o'clock and sitting down for an hour and a half waiting on him." Thank you Brother and Sister, you're right. You're not supposed to come here and sit down hour and a half waiting on me. If it starts at 1:00, I'm supposed to be here at 1:00. And if I'm not, I am to blame for you being late. Unless they got something awfully exciting going on here before I come. And if it is and you know about it, you're going to be here. But I shouldn't be looking at that or relying upon something like that or say, "Oh, they got something going on there. I can be later." No, I should discipline myself first and I should make sure that I'm here on time and then everything will work out beautifully.
I'm not talking just to myself. And believe me, I'm burning this into myself while I'm speaking to you. Got to be here on time. But I'm talking to all of you Imams and all of you leaders, if you want to be successful, respect the discipline that Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave us and you'll be very successful. We thank Allah for our presence here today. Now, let me get back to the part. I see I digressed. We were in the restaurant and...(Continues to a different lecture).
We shouldn't be looking at a Temple or Masjid, a Church being on some corner somewhere. We should be looking at a community providing a place for the neighbors to have worship, providing for the families to have a school for their children, providing business so the people in that Community will be shopping with themselves and the money will be circulating among them at least three, four or five times before it goes outside to some other place. This is what we should be looking at. We should be looking at a model Community life.
If we concentrated on nothing but providing halal meats to our Community, to our Muslims in this city, that would be a business venture that would bring enough money into the Community to build a nice mosque in a decent neighborhood, in a decent area. So, we need to just think bigger. One thing the Honorable Elijah Muhammad did for me, and I'm sure he did it for many of you who followed him, he made me have the courage to think as big as a white man. There's no white man on this earth that thinks any bigger than I think. And when I studied the Quran and really learned what G-d has obligated us to do on this earth, I say I think as big as any man, period, white, Black, yellow, I don't care what color he is. My thinking is as free and as big as his. That's what Islam will do for us if we accept it in its full dimensions. We have to accept the whole. We have to accept the whole.
So, let us stop thinking about Islam is not eating pork. Islam is not drinking whiskey or having drugs. Let us stop thinking of Islam as a religion that obligates us to personally behave in a certain way. Let us start thinking of Islam as a religion who obligates us to have Community and obligates that Community to behave in a certain way. Obligates its stores, its businesses, its school, it's Mosque, its transportation services, whatever it is, it obligates everything to behave in a certain way. If we start to think that way, Brother and Sisters, these little individual problems and Temple problems or Mosque problems become light. They become so light we won't feel that burden. That's not the burden.
It's said in Scripture, "Take up my burden. My burden is light." Now, I know what that's talking about in Scripture, not Quran, this is the Bible. I know what it's talking about. And when you look at it and really know what it's talking about, it's talking about take up responsibility for life on this earth. Take up the whole world. That's what it's saying. Take up the whole world. That's your responsibility. Now, how is that light? It's light because that's what G-d obligates man to do, to take on the responsibility of the world. That's what you have to do.
Islam is a world message. Islam is a world mission, a world message. Its object is to establish something in the world for the whole world. So, Islam is a human model, a model of how people are to live in Community and it's a model that G-d has given us to invite all the people of the world to look at this model and see if you can find a better model than this. And if you can't, accept this model. So, we are offering a model, a human Community model to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to South America, North America, to the whole world. We are offering this to Russians, to Chinese, to Japanese, to Spanish.
Now, if Allah offers us to have a human model of how people could live together with each other in Community and to offer it to the whole world. How can we think small knowing that G-d has put us in that situation? Now, we know each individual can't do that. Most of us can only go back home and maybe boil some eggs and boil a egg or eat some peanut butter and spread it on some bread or toast or something like that, you know. Most of us now, especially we Brothers, you know, we are not able to do very much. We know that. But as a group accepting this obligation, we can find the best among us, the most qualified, resourceful among us and put them in the lead and all of us can work with them like ants do.
I've watched ants. They work together and work in the ground. And you don't see any as dropping out. I've never seen ants sitting by the rock wayside like say, "I can't do this. To hell. Let them do that." All the ants are doing the same thing, all the ants are working, you know. None of them say, "Well, I can't do something." All of them can do something. They can carry a crumb of bread or something. All of them can do something. Maybe they can't throw dirt on the whole, but they can carry something down. So, all of them busy.
And if we would just be there, all of us devote ourselves to the cause. And the cause is not for Brother Imam so and so or Imam W.D Mohammed, the cause is for Islam. And the cause is not just for Islam as a religion, the cause is for Islam as a Community design for all people. So, this is what we have to measure up to. And I think G-d put slavery in our life. I think G-d put the Nation of Islam in our life. G-d has done all this to us to make us have big muscles, strong determination, I'm talking about muscles of the willpower now, to make us have big muscles, strong determination in order to have enough determination and willpower to build the Umma in America. If the Umma is built in America, the whole world will see the Umma.
America is in the focus of the whole world. More than any other Nation, America's in focus for the whole world. So, if this is done in America by African Americans, by African Americans... Now, we're not rejecting anybody, everybody can work with us, we want to work with everybody. But if it's done by African Americans it'll get more attention than if it's done by Chinese or somebody else. Because African Americans too are very, very, very, very insignificant in the life of America, in the life of America. And we've had a life as a people who were denied their future, denied social establishment, not to mention any other establishment, denied social establishment.
And then the laws changed with a lot of sacrifice by us and others with us, our friends. And now we have this freedom to have our life. If we can take advantage of this freedom now and answer the call of G-d to establish a model Community life of people, how people should live together on this earth under G-d, this will reach more people than Mecca can ever reach making Hajj. Two million people making Hajj every year. If 10 million people make Hajj every year, they could never get the world's attention like we could get the world's attention if we would be successful in establishing Community life, model Community life.
The whole world will look at us. The whole world will begin to study our history. The learned people, the wise, the saints, they would begin to study us and they will say, "Here's a Sign from G-d." It'll be such a powerful Sign from G-d that more people will be coming into Islam because of us than ever could come into Islam because of Mecca. This is what I know in my heart and soul and in my mind. I know this. So, I'm devoted a hundred percent, a thousand percent, whatever percent is the complete percent. I'm devoted to that extent to achieve the establishment of this model Muslim Community life in America, in America and in all the cities of America. It shouldn't just be in the one particular area like we used to have Central Point, Chicago #2. And we invested everything there, mostly everything there. No, we want to invest equally. We want to invest wherever the opportunities are to realize the success of that investment.
If it's here in Charleston, if this is the place that tells us we'll be more successful here than we'll be in Chicago or New York City or Los Angeles, then this is where we want to put most of our investments, most of our money right here in this city. The opportunity is there and the opportunity tells us this is the place that should receive number one attention, first attention. That's where we want to invest. And we want to do it all over. After first place, second place. Second place, third place. And put it all over this model Community life. I don't need a whole lot of territory, just a few blocks so that Muslims will walk out of their home in a Muslim environment.
And we can have Christians living next door. We want Christians living next door because we want to show them that we are good neighbors and that we love them too. So, it's not going to be just a hundred percent Muslim no, but Muslims, we want Muslims to concentrate there so that the majority of the neighbors there will be Muslims and so that the effort of the people will be for Islamic Community life, Islamic Community life.
I hope that before I leave this earth I hope to have one of those model places and I hope we have several really so that I can go to a town, spend the night with my Brother or my relative or my Brother, spend a night with him and hear the Athan call and wake me up at Fajr time and go out of the house to the Mosque and do my prayers there and come back in and retire and go to sleep and wake up later and go buy what I need from the Brother down the street. Go and buy me a garment and take it home, buy me some shoes or whatever I need and take it home from the Brother or make a tour of the factory, see the factories that's working there. Get on transportation, call up a cab, call up Brother Ibrahim's cab service, get me a cab to the airport.
See, it's not satisfying my ego. It's not satisfying a need in my soul. That's the life core of my body is man. The life core of my body is masculine, it's man and I can't feel happy here in that core knowing that another man is providing my wife with all her needs and my children with all their needs, my family with all their needs and I'm nothing but just somebody punching a clock or having a temporary existence of productivity and I'm going to die and become nothing but dust and there'll be no building standing in my name. No, I want to die and know that there're going to be structures standing in my name and there're going to be services serving a town or small neighborhood in our name. My name is your name. Your name is my name. That's what I mean by that, and it's going to be Muslim and Allah will protect it.
If we work to establish the Islamic Community model, the model of Community life, G-d will be with us every step of the way and G-d will protect it. Don't worry about it. G-d will protect it. And we're welcome. There's nothing against us anymore. When I was a little boy, people didn't like the Prophet Muhammad and they said his name like they hated him. "Oh, that's the Muhammadan." Yeah.
But that has changed now, that's not the world anymore around us. They used to just think that the Muslims are antichrist, against Christ Jesus. Peace be upon him. That has all changed. Now, Allah has opened this land up, this new world up to Islam and the establishment would rather see us be Muslims than to see us be what many of us are now. Yes, they would love to see the intelligent ones in the establishment of the United States of America and anywhere I believe, but here in America, that's where we are. They would love to see us establish our Muslim life.
They'd much rather see us do that than to see us remain in the state that so many of us are in right now because we are a burden on ourselves. We're a burden on each other. We're a burden on our neighborhood. We're a burden on law enforcement. We are just a burden right now because we're not productive and we're not about anything really constructive or that promise great production. Your tape has gone off. If you don't mind, I'll keep talking to though. Okay, all right.
Yes. So let us keep that in mind. And if we are going to have Islamic Community life, how is this Community life is going to help our relationship or help bring us together for good causes with Christians and Jews? When people know that you have a definite goal in mind, they can trust you. But when you don't have any purpose, you don't have any direction for your life, who can trust you? They don't know what's going to happen to you down the road. They don't know whether you'll remain loyal to them 10 years from now. But if they know you got a permanent model of your life you want to establish, they know you're establishing that not just for your life presently, you're establishing that for your life way down the road, generations to come, they can trust you.
They say this is the way it's going be generations to come. These people are establishing a life pattern that they want to pass on to their children, their grandchildren, their grandchildren to come forever, as long as the earth survives. So, they know where you're going. They can tell each other, say "We can trust these people", say "We know where they're going". And don't think they don't know where they're going.
America in 1999, almost 2000 as far as Christianity is concerned, it's the America of 1899...1899. It's still essentially the same America in terms of what the church want, what the religion want, what the people want for their lives. Industry and new opportunities for having a better material existence has come and that makes for the physical changes. But as far as the way they raised their families and everything and what they hope for in life, nothing has essentially changed because they're Christians now and they were Christians then.
If we established that we are Muslim and we mean it, then they know they can predict what we'll be a hundred years from now, 500 years from now. They say we can live with today, we can live with them always because they're committed to this. They're going to be loyal to that. Then we can be loyal to each other. What I'm saying is that if you will concentrate on being what Allah wants you to be and establish your Community life, you then will be more attractive to Christians and Jews. They will be able to trust you. They will see you as stable, constant people. So, they will be able to trust their children to you.
One man told me, he said, "Mr. Mohammed," he said, "hearing from you what Muslim is," said, "I would be happy to have you as my neighbor." And he meant that. He meant that. Now, this is a wealthy man. He was a wealthy man. He was a man of means and wealth and he said that. And I didn't say it to him because I didn't know how he could take it because I'm not a man of wealth. But when he said that, I wanted to say it to him, inside I said it, I said, "And I'll be happy to have you as my neighbor."
Yes, you'd be happy to accept each other when you know that you're committed to something that's safe and helpful to society. And it's not just temporary, it's permanent. Islam wants us to look to the future and Islam says the future is the best. Always, the future is the best. It's termed the latter or the latter, "Al Akhrah, Al Akhrah." The Akhrah means the future. "Alan" means now, the present. This temporary life, the present. "Al Akhrah" means the future and it means that that life that is not temporary. It will remain as it is now even in the future, it stays.
So, Allah has given us a model life. And if we devote ourselves to that life, we are devoting ourselves to a life that is not a fad. It's not something that's coming in and going out like a nationalistic idea. Some nationalistic idea comes in and it's hot for two decades, about 20 years and then begin to lose its attraction or its appeal, its beauty or its influence on people and its gone, its dead. It's gone like Communism, came in, lived for 70 years. Now it's not attractive anymore to the Russians. It's gone. They're looking for something else.
No, Islam is not that. Christianity is not that. Judaism is not that. Buddhism is not that. What you get from G-d or what is inspired, and it’s based upon the higher reality, not upon transit things, but it's based upon permanent things as Allah says, "What is with Us stays. What is with you shall perish. It shall go away. But what is with Us stays." That means what Allah has revealed through His angels and Muhammad, the Prophet, His Servant, that stays. What Allah has given us as a design, as a model for human life, it stays. But what is it with us is a fad, is an ideology, as in Communism or something like that or capitalist. These things, they come and go. They come and go.
So, this permanent life is the life, the real life, as I spoke to you at Jumu'ah, the real life is this life that you don't see with your physical eyes, that you can't completely understand even with your thinking. Your thinking can't see it all. Nobody knows the end of this world. Do you? Do you think anybody knows the end of this world? We can map Chicago. We can map the whole earth. But do you think any man can map the universe? You think any man can map the skies and show you where the borders end and tell you what's at the end of that border or what's stop next? No man on earth can do that. So, G-d has created man with all this intelligence and all the great brains, with all this great technology and everything, but man can't even tell you the end of this world we're looking at. He can't tell you what the last border is. He can't tell you what's at the end of these bodies we're looking at. He can't tell us the end of space.
Shouldn't that tell you something? With all this powerful technology no human being can tell us what the map looks like, the universal map. They can tell you what a galaxy look like and they tell you what so many galaxies together look like. But ask them, "What's on the other side of that?" They don't know. What's at the end of this design? Does this design continue forever? They can't tell you. What's at the end of it? They can't tell you.
So, here's man with all his power, with all his knowledge, he can't even tell you what's the full picture of his room that he' living in because after all, creation is just a room that we are living in. The room is so big. The room is so beyond our perception and our intelligence to grasp it or to perceive what's at the end of it. G-d has put us in a womb like the baby in the mother, G-d has put us in a universal room, a room of the universe and we can't even see the last wall. We can't see the last door. None of us can. Doesn't that make you feel like humbling yourself? Don't you feel like making Sajdah now? I do. In fact, I'm going to do it. (Allahu Akbar).
That's what you need to do, Brother. You need to think about how small you are in this big creation and put your head to the floor for the real G-d that made all this, and then do the work. Work hard. Do the work. I think that that G-d has such interest in us. They entrust us with our life and our future, with our freedom and our responsibility. He gave us all that. He entrusted us with all that. And then they say, "Well, I know you're going to make a mess. Some of you're going to make a big mess, but I'm still going to trust all of you with your life, with your future, with your responsibility." Then He tells us what He want us to do, build a model society, a model of how people are supposed to live together in the Community. And I'm with you.
Then He tells us with what He had given us based upon the Quran and the life of Muhammad, the guidance in Muhammad tells you, you are the best Community evolved for all people. Isn't that wonderful? "Antum khyrun ummatan tukrijal annas" "You are the best of Communities brought out or evolved for the human beings all over the world." "Annas" means all human beings.
This is wonderful. So, let's not think of dialogue anymore as the big matter for us in our relationship with Christians and Jews. The dialogue is okay and we're going to have to have dialogue with them. That's good. But the biggest way to impress the Christians and Jews and to show them that we're all together, let's build the model Community life so that they'll see what we got in our heart and what we should have in our hearts and minds as a future for ourselves. Let them see it and that will convince them more than anything, that will convince them more than us telling them that we believe in One G-d and we're all the Children of Abraham, et cetera.
To be the Children of Abraham mean that you're supposed to want to establish Community life. The hope of Abraham was hope for Community life under G-d. There'll be a model of Community life under G-d. That was the hope of Abraham and the hope of Abraham is that we will fully make use of all the good properties that G-d has created us with and especially our moral nature and our rational minds, to make full use of that and to cultivate the world, to make the world a better place, to make it accommodate human life and human aspirations, good hopes of people.
To be after the heart of Abraham is to cherish moral life, the highest moral life and also to cherish a rational life, to put our rational mind to work so that we have more good accommodation in an environment, in an outside environment for the good nature and the good spirit and the good aspirations that's in the pure soul of the human person.
So, this should be the real focus for us and don't think that anybody is left out of this. Even a mental retard will be with us ants, they'll be carrying a piece of bread or something, there's something for everybody. It doesn't take a whole lot to get this started. It only take a few determined people and I'm one of them and we have some more with me. So, we're not telling you we need a start, we got to start already. We need to finish. Thank you very much. Peace. As Salaamu Alaikum. (Wa Alaikum As Salaam). Takbeer...Allahu Akbar. Takbeer...Allahu Akbar.
Speaker 1:
This is one of the coats, right?
IWDM:
From Damascus.
Speaker 1:
Damascus, Syria. This is one of the coats that was on display and a whole lot of other clothes and as we heard the message we have left this propagation state. Now it's the model city state now and we have engineers among us. We need to start getting to work to find areas that we can build that model Community. We hear and we obey. We heard the message. It just more than just speaking in being in the midst and saying "La illha ilaaha Muhammedur Rasooallah." And that we are the seed of Abraham.
Speaker 1:
Now we have to work to build the model city, the model Community. And we're in a nice area to do that. We have a nice political climate here to do that. So we need to start getting together and those who have the expertise and engineering all these other works for different areas. We need to start mapping that on out and start working on that so we could be one of those model Communities.
Speaker 1:
So we're not going to impress on Imam Mohammed too much today because we had a nice day yesterday to the Visitor Center. We socialized and those who weren't there, you know, you missed a nice treat. We pray that the next time that we could be more...have the time. We know a whole lot of Brothers and Sister's children graduated yesterday and they just couldn't make it for that purpose. And education is a very serious thing to a Muslim and graduation is a very serious thing and a nice excellent thing among us. And we understand that they couldn't make it because of that. We've been talking about the great artists that we have seen in our Community and we want to have a festival day where all the artists come out and show their expertise and their wear, a nice festival day, nice clothes and everything on. And we want that to be right here in Charleston... Charleston, South Carolina. And we need to start working on that immediately.
Speaker 1:
Me and Imam, the Convener is working with that. So we are asking the Community to get with us and Charleston is an excellent place for that. And we don't want to do it in a time of Spoleto with all this other thing people committed. We want to pick our time to do it in, maybe April or something like that. But we're going to get with you and we're going to ask your support for that.
Speaker 1:
Now again, we have support that the city have agreed and this hope is that it's on the record, to bring you Imam Mohammed down here twice a year, twice a year. I mean, I think that's a wonderful thing and we need to get behind it, you know. And we need to get behind this effort here for this art program that we have. Those people who are specialized in that, you need to see me and we're going to formulate a committee and we need to start working on that immediately, immediately.
Speaker 1:
And this phase of it and you hear and you obey. After you done reach one stage you have to go to another. You have to put the emphasis on something else now. So, we need to start working in that manner. So, with that, we greet you in the greetings of all the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad, As Salaamu Alaikum. (Wa Alaikum As Salaam).
Speaker 1:
We'll close with Al-Faatiha. Bismillahir Ramanir Raheem. Al-Hamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. ArRahmanir Raheem. Maliki Yaumid-deen. Iyyaka Na'abudu Wa Iyyaka Nasta'een. Ihdinaas Siraatal Mustaqeem. Siraatal Latheena An'Amta Alaihim. Ghairil Maghduubi Alahim Walad-Daaaleen. Ameen. And one thing, we see the Imam from Monks Corner, Imam Faheem is here. So As Salaamu Alaikum. We didn't see you at first, As Salaamu Alaikum. Oh yes, Brother Imam [...]


