12/22/1997
IWDM Study Library
Imams' Effectiveness in Their Towns and Regions (Lecture 2)

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

As-Salaam Alaikum, wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu. Al-hamdul lil Laahir Rabbil ‘aalameen. Praise and thanks be to, the Lord, G'd Sustainer of the worlds; La shareeka lahu, there’s nothing like unto Him. Wa ash shadu anna Muhammadan rasuuluhu, and we witness that Muhammed is His servant and His messenger. 
This a good time. In fact, it’s a great time to meet together and to have some comments on our faith; and to have some exchange from each; and I just did something that I don’t like to do. I left my wedding band at home in the washroom. They’ll find it, I hope. I just realized that my finger was naked! And it’s a silver wedding band, you know. It’s a silver one. That makes me miss it even more. Praise be to Allah. 
This time, according to our Prophet, the prayers and the peace be on him, is a good time to recite Qur’an and to have discussions; and to have really a ta’aleem, in the morning, after Fajr Prayer. That was his tradition and the tradition of his companions, those noble, excellent men who gave their all to Islam, to Allah and to Muhammed, behind his leadership; and Allah has blessed us to have some men like that all the time. We don’t know it, but there are always men like those men around. Every generation will have some men like those great men that stood with our Prophet. We won’t know them all of the time, but they’re here on earth. Don’t worry about that. Yes, we have them. The times that we experience on the earth under powers that are not G'd-fearing powers, sometimes make the situation so critical for precious people that they have to remain kind of hidden. Because if they didn’t, they’d be ignorant and they’d expose themselves to the enemies that want to get rid of them, quickly. So they hide themselves when it’s necessary and that’s permitted in Islam; under very critical, threatening circumstances it’s permitted to hide yourself from your enemy, until times get better.
This Is the Day of Religion 
Now, I thank Allah that the world is changing. It’s opening up to faith-faith in G'd-not necessarily to Islam, but for us it is G'd That’s behind all of this, opening the way for the true religion. Yes, we know that, but the people, they see it as opening the way for faith; and this is the best time, in my opinion, on this earth since man has been on this earth. This is the best time! The never was a time when so much faith was respected by the establishments of the world, including the governments of the world. I know you say, “Well, a lot of these governments, they look like they don’t respect faith.” Well, they’re forced to respect faith now. They do respect faith and the pressure is growing on them more and more every day, now, to get them to have more respect for people’s religion, for genuine faith, genuine religion. I haven’t read of or heard of a time like this and I do believe that this is what I said yesterday. This is the day of religion. We’re living in the day of religion. The day of religion. Day, means light. The day of religion. And G-d says, “And He made the night and the day to follow each other. And He made the night before the day and then He made the day; and He made the night for our rest. That’s the rest of the body, the rest of the mind, the rest of the spirit; for our rest. And He made the day-which is the light-for our livelihood, for our activity. Well, if this is the day of religion, this means this is the day of really living out your religion, being active, doing the work that your religion wants you to do.
Islam Has Been Established Upon Five 
In that connection, I want to mention to you again about the logic that I was speaking to you on yesterday; the logic that we have to build our lives upon. I mentioned that logic, really, as five and that logic is really the logic upon which our religion is based. Muhammed, the Prophet, salallaahu alaihee was sallam, he said, “Bunial Islaamu ‘ala khamsin”; and a lot of you know that, as well as I do, you know, and I don’t have to translate it for you. “Bunial Islaamu ‘ala khamsin.” It means that Islam has been established upon five. He didn’t say five what. He said, “khamsin, five”. But, then, later, he mentioned the five. They are, “To be a witness that G-d exists and G-d is G-d; to be a witness that there is no G-d, but G-d, that G-d is the only G-d. Allah, that’s what it’s talking about. That’s what Allah means, the only G-d. That’s what it means, the only G-d; to witness G-d. 
He didn’t say, to himself, now. We know that we’re to witness Muhammed, too. That came later. But he said it is to witness that G-d exists and it is to make prayers, to give prayers, to make the prayers, to do the prayers; and to give in charity and to fast, he said. We know the fast is cleared by him, because he said it again, another time, and many times, the fast of Ramadan, which is approaching now. It’s very near to us; very close and our souls, the souls of the believers, can feel the nearness of Ramadan. You don’t have to look at the calendar. Your souls feels the nearness of Ramadan, because you’ve been in the habit, your soul now is in the habit of fasting the month of Ramadan, yearly. So when the time comes, the soul knows it before we know it. The soul feels it before we feel it and we experience it inside, as a feeling that Ramadan is near. After a while, it registers on the mind and the real strong believers, they can’t wait for the first day of Ramadan. They’re anticipating it with hopes of really getting into it and fasting and reading Qur’an daily, and strengthening their lives; because we know-and this is to be taken very much to heart-that the word of G'd is our life! The word of G'd is our Life! Our life is not this body, this flesh and blood, my own intelligence, and my own emotional makeup. The life is not really that. 
I need G'd's word to come into that life, to make it really a life, the life that Allah wants. So our life is human, but what makes it really alive, gives it life, gives it vigor, gives it will power and everything that G'd wants for that life, the life that G'd wants in the body has to come with the word of G'd; and that’s the life. That’s the only life! That is the real life! Until then, we are dead or sleeping. We have to have the word of G'd in us to be alive, really alive as G'd wants us to be alive; the life that Allah intended for us, highly praised and glorified is He.
The Qur'an Is Our Life
So we know the Qur’an is the life and we’re anxious. Our own biological body knows, “That is the real life, not this life I have; not this biological life. But the real life is what comes into me when Wallace is listening to the Qur’an and feeling the Qur’an, and he’s digesting the Qur’an. That is the real life!” Because this body, this physical body, it gets its life from the material world and the material world you know everything that’s there. The elements, the water and all the elements that are in the material world that we have to take into our body, a hundred and eight or so elements that we have to take from the material world into our body, that gives our body the physical form and keeps the physical form for us. If we don’t take that food, we feel life going away, right? The life of the physical body starts to go away. And when it starts to go away, it affects the mind, too, doesn’t it? It affects the spirit. It affects everything, when it starts to go away. You’re losing your life because of no food, no water. You’re losing your life and you feel everything going away, even your mind will start failing you and you can’t think well. After a while, you’re almost like a mentally sick person. You might become delirious and you can’t even use your mind anymore, because the life of your body is going. It’s only a sign of the real life! That’s only a sign of the real life! When you stay away from Islamic food too long, the same thing happens! The same thing happens! And it’s more frightening than being without the material food, because you won’t be the only one lost, but you will lose your loved ones. You’ll lose your family. You’ll lose your children. You’ll lose your friends. You’ll lose your future. You’ll lose everything. 
Yes, so this is the life, the Qur’an. The word of G'd is the life and Jesus was but a sign of that; a sign that in the world the word of G'd is the life and you have to eat of that word, then you will have the life. Praise be to Allah! Highly glorified is He and I thank Allah for blessing us to be brothers in Islam. That’s a great blessing and I was raised to appreciate what you might call fraternity, the fellowship. I was raised that way. When I was a little child, I saw the brotherhood that my father was trying to build and it was a good one. Without light, it was a good one. And I mean that. Without light, without the real light, it was still a good one. We had strong feelings of brotherhood and we lived not just for ourselves, or not just for our idea of what Islam was. But, we lived for each other. It was not only an idea, but it was also a love for brothers, love for your brother, love for your sister, love for the community of Muslims, you know. And Allah has blessed us to have that coming back now. I see it. In fact, to me, it’s better now than it ever has been! We have a few problems but they’re small. For most of us, we have the religion, the faith, the love for the faith has given us back the brotherhood, the sisterhood. Yes, without the love for the faith, we don’t have any brotherhood, you see. So praise be to Allah. Highly glorified is He.
"It's Expedient That I Go Away"
Getting back to the mention of the logic upon which we have to build our lives, not the logic of this world, I mentioned that the logic of this world is materialism and everything else is expedient. I hope you are understanding what I am saying; material support, and everything else is expedient, in this world. But for us, everything else is expedient but the guidance. I mean everything else can be sacrificed. By expedient, we mean that it can be sacrificed. It can go away. It’s in the Bible, the New Testament, “It’s expedient that I go away,” meaning that even his own life was subject to the rule of expedience; that the urgency, you can’t get around it. This is something we have to face. So, we have to do this, in the name of something else. Expedience is always subject to something else or in the name of something else, you see. We say political expedience, “This is necessary. We have to do this political thing. This political thing has to be done in order to save us from something worse that we might have to suffer.” That’s political expedience.
This World Will Sacrifice Everything Else For Its Security 
So, we, in Islam, do not have any, I would say, religious expedience that sacrifices religion. There’s no religious expedience for us that sacrifices religion. Everything else has to be sacrificed, but religion-never! Never! We sacrifice everything else. We will give up our material security to keep our faith, to hold on to our faith, to obey G-d. We will give up everything. But this world won’t give up its material security for anything. It will not give up its material security for anything! It will sacrifice everything else for its material security. This is the world! When I say, “The world”, I’m not talking about the world of faith. I’m talking about the world that is in the hands of people who have great wealth. That’s where the world is. The world is in the hands of the wealth holders, those that have the great wealth. It’s in their hands and they are not all bad people. But, they go by expedience. They go by a particular expedience and they say, “Well, it’s time to sacrifice morality” and they do it. They say, “It’s time to sacrifice morality”, and they will sacrifice morality in the name of that expedience. They will say, “It’s time to sacrifice faith in G-d”, and they will do it. They will sacrifice faith in G-d for that material expedience. 
And during the bad time for the people-they think the world is lost-the real rulers who control the wealth of the world, it’s no bad time for them. They know what they’re doing. But the Church will be worried. The Mosque will be worried. The Synagogue will be worried. The government-even the government will be worried. After all, the government is nothing but the tool of the wealthy, unless the public protects it. If the public doesn’t protect our government, the government is nothing but a tool of the wealthy, you see. 
So we have to understand all of these things and know the logic of this world. I have mentioned to you on several occasions what I see as the logic of this world. It’s a very peculiar system, but yet, a very strong one that has proven that it can have great longevity, life, long life. It’s designed for survival. Many governments come and go, but this government has remained for all of these years. In fact, the only other governments that I know that I know that have remained, like this, have been governments that have been strong dictatorships under a figurehead that they thought was divine, or like G-d. They have ruled for a long time, because people fear G-d. If they think a man is G-d, as long as they work for power on the international scene or in the world, they will survive for a long, long time. 
The only clean government that I know has that kind of longevity is the one we know of in the history of Spain-the Moors. The Moors brought Islam from Africa to Spain and it stayed strong there for 500 years; and actually stayed there for 700 years. That’s a long time, 700 years. But for 500 years it was a very strong Islamic society, not necessarily government, because they had good and bad leaders there. They had good and bad rulers. But Islam had been established so strongly in the intellectual circles and in the people that it lasted there for 500 solid, Islamic years. That’s wonderful! That is a political miracle-almost-and this government is almost doing the same thing now. This government is going into its third century, right; into its third century of survival as a government, as a government intact. So, inshaa Allah, we will be able to build our future here in this system that has proven that it has strength and longevity. 
But, to understand the nature of this system is a must for our leadership. It’s not a must for all of us. It’s a must only for the leadership. The leadership, we preserve the future, with the help and guidance of G-d and His Mercy to us. We’re the ones to preserve the future. We pass the future from ourselves to the next generation. And if we don’t take upon ourselves that responsibility to protect the future of Islam in America-the future of Islam, its vision, its community vision-if we don’t accept that, Brother Imams, as our responsibility to build it, to strengthen it, to make every contribution that we can make to it, to improve it, to get it to go closer to where Allah wants it, following the way of His Prophet, the way of His servant and messenger, Muhammed; if we don’t do that and work hard to see that that goes to another good, faithful person before we die, who will? We have to see that that goes to another, good, faithful, intelligent person, that they feel that same commitment that we feel. 
This is not one man’s job. This job is for all of us. All of us are to look and say, “Where is that person? Is he in my family? Is he among my sons? Is he among my friends?” Search for that person and when you find him, if you know that you’re superior to him in the knowledge, give him your support. If you know that he’s superior to you in knowledge, give him your support. Yes, that’s the way the civilized world preserves itself and G-d is with that. G-d loves that. G-d is with that. Yes, praise be to Allah. 
So, this logic we call the logic of the West is not just in America, but I would say America has it in its purest form. But you have resemblance of it in all the West, especially in Europe. In Europe you have a resemblance of this logic and the logic in America is-though it’s slightly different in Europe-that, this is freedom and freedom is the most precious thing; and the government of America is designed to give and protect the maximum amount of freedom for its citizens. So, this rule that we talking about now is a rule that wants to maximize freedom for all of its citizens. And if it wasn’t for the commitment to G-d, which is there-this government is committed to G-d. Yes, don’t think it’s not. 
We’re talking about separation of church and state. But that’s not all of it. This government is committed to G-d, to be a G-d fearing government, to protect the G-d fearing society. The government is committed to that and more and more now-this is the day of religion-you’re going to see our government in role that may make a lot of its citizens question, “Is that Constitutional? Does the Constitution permit the President to do what he’s doing and say what he’s saying?” They’re going to be questioning it. But the government is on solid ground and so far, there hasn’t been any real disturbance. There have been questions, but no real disturbance, because the government is on solid ground. This government was formed not only to advance, preserve and protect freedom; and don’t get that confused with democracy. Freedom and democracy are two different things, though they are close together. Though this government is committed to do that, this government is also committed to keep faithful to G-d, to be faithful to G-d. 
In the introduction to the Constitution of these United States, which carries the words of the founding fathers, these words are very heavy and they cannot be removed. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator…” This is the basis for this society. So in the basis, the first fundamental truths that this society built itself upon, is the recognition of G-d, the Creator; not G-d the son-no, G-d, the Creator. So that’s why presidents like Thomas Jefferson-my thoughts are flying like atoms-who was the main, the strongest finger writing, setting the frame for the Constitution-The strongest finger, the strongest pen was the pen of Thomas Jefferson, not Benjamin Franklin. 
The convenor of our shuraa, actually our leader, the leader of the organized effort that we have is Imam Plemon. I hope you all know that. And we chose him. We put him there and until we find better, that’s our leader and I’m not saying this because his leadership is in some kind of a bad situation. It’s in a good situation. I’m just saying this to let you know that that’s the way I see it, too, you know. He is the leader and until we find better than him and feel for sure that this person can serve us better, has more qualifications, more resources, or is more devoted, then that’s our leader. And if we get people that look good, we’ll look at them and if they look real good, we might even acknowledge, publicly, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting ready to change leaders. Some of us, every time we give a person a compliment, a strong compliment, “Aw you see, the Imam ain’t satisfied with Imam Plemon!” Why can’t we recognize leadership, wherever it is, and it doesn’t mean we’re questioning the leadership that we’ve got. Unless we make a direct statement against the performance of the leader that makes you know we’re ready to change, then you shouldn’t come to that conclusion. We should be able to criticize Imam Plemon and even make it so hot his shirt catches on fire-if it’s necessary-and rush there with some water or some cap. They’ve got a new thing out that they call cap, now. It’s supposed to put out fire quicker than a fire extinguisher-and put that fire out real quick to save our leader. Yes, that what we have to do, you know. 
Islam wants freedom, too. Islam wants respect for the opinions, the intelligence of all of us. And if we have differences with each other, we should speak up and we should work to get our point over. If you’re convinced that your point is right, correct, work to get it over. This is Islam. This is democracy, Islamic democracy. This is shuraa. The word we have is shuraa and not democracy. But, it’s the same. What democracy means to this society, with maybe slight difference, shuraa means for us. But the whole expression is shuraa baynahum, consulting each other; the best of minds and character consulting each other. And when there’s a matter that the community has to address that may affect the community in serious way, those men of the best mind and the best character should sit down with each other.
The Woman Who Complains
And even the women, you should include the women; not that you should mix the two. We don’t mix the two, but we accept, we admit the concerns of women and the demands of women. It’s in the Qur’an. “Al-Jaadillah, the woman who complains”. Yes, it’s there, representing all women that may have complaints and it was the way of the leadership in the time of our Prophet and after him, under the great leaders, the khalifahs and companions of Prophet Muhammed, may G-d be pleased with them. It was the habit of the men to not only listen to women, but sometimes to hint that, “we need your advice”, or to ask their advice. They would also ask for their advice and they would speak out in the public. You know, in church (it’s not so popular now), in fact it’s very unpopular, now. I don’t think they quote this. They say, “The woman’s voice should not be heard in the public”. In the public, her voice should not be heard. Maybe in the congregation, but in the public she should speak quietly and privately. But this was not the case in the time of our Prophet or after. The women were encouraged to speak up and they did. And we have in the history, on record, women questioning great rulers, the great rulers; questioning them in a public place and getting them to acknowledge the issue or the complaint and to address it. We have on record where the ruler has admitted that he was in error, because a woman brought him to account, you see? 
We Have to Live Consciously
So this is Islam, the shuraa baynahum. This is the way of Islam. So in this America, the only thing that can hurt us now, this community, this association of Muslims that I’m with, is old, bad habits from the past and mostly from the Nation of Islam; those bad habits from the Nation of Islam, so deeply ingrained in some of us that we don’t we’re still marching to the cadence of the old lieutenant, captains and lieutenants. We’re still marching to that cadence. We have to break from those habits, you know, and live consciously. That’s the only way to live. A Muslim’s life is a conscious life. That’s another point. The life is the word of G-d, the real life and that life is a conscious life. We have to live consciously. Live consciously, not by habits. Don’t live by habits. Live consciously. Living consciously improves habit. This is the meaning of greeting to the right, “As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum,” and then greeting to the left, “As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum. As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum wa rahmatullah,” greeting to the right. If you establish the conscious life, in peace, it will take care of the unconscious life. Then we turn to the left. Where is it going to come from? What’s going to improve my habit life? What’s going to improve my unconscious behavior? It’s my conscious behavior. If you want to strengthen the behavior in a person, build their conscious behavior and that will strengthen their unconscious behavior; and after a while the conscious behavior becomes the unconscious behavior. That’s how it works. 
Prayer Is Supposed To Be Conscious Devotion
And it’s a mistake in the religious world to think that through the left you have to give life to the right, you know. No, that’s how it comes in the beginning. G-d made us in the beginning, knowing nothing. But, He puts in our bodies, we inherit intelligence, human intelligence and human soul and behavior. We inherit that. So the baby comes here with the life of the left and the baby becomes strong upon the life of the left. Then we educate the baby and then the baby’s life becomes a conscious life, and the baby’s left becomes a left created by the right. So in Islam, we strengthen the right and we know the right will take care of the left. So don’t live by your habits. You may say, “Well, isn’t prayer a habit?” Yes, but it’s supposed to be a conscious habit. It’s supposed to be conscious devotion. Even dhikr is conscious devotion. Everything, every rakah or whatever, every gesture in prayer is conscious devotion. If you’re not conscious of it, then it doesn’t register on your account with G-d. It says, “Those who pray and are unmindful of their prayer”. So if you pray by habit, your prayer does not register with G-d, on your account, you see? 
Yes, so it’s conscious behavior. We say, “an-nia”. Before you make your wudu’, before you make your salat, you have to have “an-nia. An-nia”, means you have to say, “I intend to do this,” and saying it makes it conscious, registers it on your conscious. “I intend to make wudu’. I intend to make as-salat.” You have to do this. You have to make it conscious. “nu’aitu”, is from an-nia. “Nu’aitu salaatu fajri rakatain salaatu fajri bil Laahi Rabbil ‘aalameen.” So this is expressing intentions. That means it doesn’t count unless it’s registered on your conscious. You see it’s building the right to preserve the whole life, to lengthen the whole life. So understand that. That’s very important. And if you do that and practice that, you’ll get rid of all old habits of the past that interfere with your growth as a Muslim, in the real life, you see? So look in the mirror at yourself, sometimes, you know, and say, “Who do I see? Do I see Captain John? Or Brother John in this day and time.
The Power to Bind and Release Satan
Getting back to the logic. So the logic is very peculiar. This is the logic to protect, preserve and increase freedom for the people, to maximize it as much as possible. And it’s also a logic that has a place for Satan. Now, this is where it’s un-islamic. We have no place for Satan. It has a place for Satan. I’m talking about America, now. I’m not talking about any other country but America. But I told you all of the West has a bit of it in some form. How does it protect Satan? I have to go back to the Bible, where it all comes from. The Bible says that the inheritors of Christ Jesus, peace be upon him-this is the Bible, only the Bible-also inherit the power over life and death; the power to even bind Satan and also release him. Why would they need the power to release him? If they bind him, he should stay bound forever. So why would they want to release him? This is the Bible, whether you like it or not. This is the Bible.
“Let It All Hang Out!” 
Now, if this is in the Bible, this must also be in this Christian society. So we see the society going to hell and where was it copied from? Greece, not from Jesus. Jesus didn’t bring that, peace be upon the Prophet Jesus. He did not bring them that, but it was introduced and charged to Jesus. So now, everybody will stand their ground and die, defending the fact that Jesus brought, because it’s in the Bible. And Allah says, “And they write with their own hands and say, ‘this is from Allah’.” You see? So it’s in there now, and they will defend it, that this is Bible, this is from G-d, this is from Jesus. But it’s not so. That’s not true! It’s from ancient Greece. It’s from Heliopolis. Yes, it’s from Heliopolis. That was the rule there. If civilized order got into trouble and the people got impatient with it, and it’s life was threatened, it was going to be overthrown by the public, then they would then shift the plan off of that civilized platform to the uncivilized; and then they would start promoting the uncivilized behavior. And they would promote the uncivilized behavior to get the control over the people again. After the people got into so much trouble, it awakened the alarm, the intelligence of the people that didn’t want to go down into hell with the society. Then the people would come up and start to protesting against it. When they protest strongly enough, then the leaders of this know that now it’s time to shift it back to the pedestal of civilization. You see?
The Commercial Order Acting in the Role of Satan, Himself
So this was not the way, only, of Heliopolis. But, Heliopolis is famous for it. Many nations have survived using that see saw thing, you know. Now it’s the time for morality. Now it’s not. You see? And that’s how they rule the people. They keep the rule. So they preserve the rule like that and it’s in this peculiar order that we call democracy in America. It’s in there and we’ve just seen it. We’ve just seen the society go to its far extremes, allowing unconsciousness behavior, disrespect for sacred matters. Unconsciousness behavior was released to go free and they say, “Let it all hang out!”. And they have their language. It’s in the culture. And the government won’t interfere with it. They all decide when it’s time and the government won’t interfere with it. And who really executes it? The commercial order. The commercial order executes it. So, here is the commercial order acting in the role of Satan, himself. Acting in the role of Satan, himself, to bring on the destruction, the moral destruction of the society and the government will say, “Hands off! Let them do it! It’s time! It’s expedient that he goes away!” The moral life, “It’s expedient that he goes away. For if he does not go away, the comforter will not come unto them.” 
In the Name of Beelzebub
So, they recognize that, they let it go and the Church order, the stupid Church, they do nothing but just look at it and wonder what’s happened; and just scream and holler and moan and carry on. But the real learned ones in the leadership of Christianity, they look at it too, “Leave it alone! Don’t bother it! Don’t mess with it! It has to be! It’s time for it!” And it happens and Satan has his freedom. And then they come in with the logic of Heliopolis and they get the control again, and they say that this is a victory for Christ. “Christ is back! Christ has returned!” Yeah, who’s bringing him back? Who’s sending him away and bringing him back, in the name of Satan. As the Old Testament says, “And they do these things in the name of Beelzebub.” Uh huh. 
The Error of Christendom
Yes, so it’s the same; the same old game. And the only thing that keeps it, saves it, is that people are committed to G-d and their life is for G-d, in the order of the establishment; in the government; in the church leadership. They’re for G-d. But they have, what we know in Islam, gone astray-not intentionally. They have made an error. And this is the error of Christianity. This is the error of Christendom; that they think that this way of governing is the way that G-d wants it and that G-d sent this knowledge. He didn’t. It came from the world. G-d didn’t send that. G-d didn’t intend that.
Islam Has Become the Most Visible Religion 
Islam is growing. Islam is the leader in the world and it’s going to continue to grow and it because Islam is G-d’s choice; not that He rejects Christianity, the Christian public. No! But Islam is His choice. And that’s why it’s put that way in the Qur’an, “This day I have chosen for you.” This is G-d’s choice! He didn’t say, “I’m going to get rid of these other religions. I’m going to get rid of Judaism. I’m going to get rid of Christianity. Yes, He did say that. He said that, “This religion shall become the dominant religion, though the heathens protest it, or hates it, rejects it.” That’s true, it does say that. But the word for predominant means just what has happened already, that Islam shall become the most visible religion; and it’s already that. G-d has blessed Islam to become, now, the most visible religion. They’re saying that Islam has is the most numerous religion on earth. They’re saying that, now. Not Christianity, not any other religion! Islam, now, they acknowledge as having the biggest following of all religions; Islam, not Christianity; And you thought that, didn’t you? 
Our Religion Emphasizes Works
No, they’re saying now Islam, in the world, not in America, but in the international world Islam has become the most populous religion. But it doesn’t just mean in numbers. It means the most visible religion. You see it comes from the word, yadhhar, which means to appear, to be visible. That’s what it means. Dhahara, that’s for the Arabic student. Dhahara, yadhhar, ‘it shall appear’. It shall become the most apparent religion. The most visible religion shall be Islam. Why? Because most of these other religions are religion in faith, but not in practice. The emphasis in our religion is on works, which was the message of the Prophets, including Jesus, peace be on him. Works. If you have no works, there is no account. No works, no account. Faith without work is a dead letter. This is not Islam. This is Christianity. But our religion really is given to us from G-d and we have it preserved for us, pure, in the Qur’an. Our religion really emphasizes that and is ordered, or designed to make that happen. You can’t help but have it. Our prayer is visible. Our hajj is visible. Our charity must be visible. Yes, our charity must be visible. Our charity is not just to be given and kept up in some elite quarters, making some hierarchy rich. No, our charity is supposed to be dispersed into the community, so that the community grows as the charity grows. So our charity also is to be seen; seen in better schools; seen in better masjids; seen in better business life for the community, not for the individual business person. For him, yes, but he is just a step to the real thing; and that is a better business life for the community.
This is the way of America, too. You just can’t make a whole lot of money and don’t give back to the community anymore. Too much pressure will be on you. They’ll say, “What are you giving back to the community?” Yes, so our charity is to be seen. This is a visible religion. Our shahadah is to be seen. No, you can’t just say, “Oh yes, I’m a convert to Islam.” Well, who heard your shahadah? Who witnessed your shahadah. And after you say it with your mouth, your behavior should say, “Laa ilaaha illallah.” Your behavior should say that. If we ask you to join a program and you tell us, “I’m afraid to be that because I’m committed to this fraternity I belong to.” Then you don’t have that shahada. So your life, your shahada is not witnessed by us. We then say his shahada is dead. 
The Real Goodies
So your shahada everything. Your salat is visible. You can’t make a silent salat where nobody sees what we’re doing. Everybody knows what we’re doing when we pray. Believers and non-believers, they know what we’re doing when we’re praying. If they don’t they’ll sure find out, because its a theater that arouses curiosity and that’s positive. That’s not negative what I’m saying. All right. Believe me, now you may take this as being light. This is heavy stuff that I am giving you. This is no light stuff that I’m giving you. This is heavy stuff I’m giving you! This is the real goodies. This the only goodies. This is the real goodies. Away from there you don’t have the light…No, this is a must, the first thing. This is the foundation. We’re talking about the foundation, having a foundation that holds us up, holds our life up, our future. That’s what it’s talking about, “Bunia al-Islam ala khamsin.”
So, we’re still on the logic. We’re going to finish this. By the time the day breaks, we’ll be ready. When the day gets bright, we’ll be ready to leave. That’s the way the Prophet would do. After Fajr Prayer, he would be with the people until the day got bright. Then, they would leave and go out. It says, “Peace it is, until the rise of dawn!” So in that hour of peace we take advantage of it to strengthen ourselves. Yeah, to reconstitute our life, make it stronger. You know, like tying a knot, again. You know you tied it and it’s tight. I’ve seen people tie a knot, old men, tying a knot, making it very tight. After a while, he looks back at that knot and he goes to it, again, to make sure that knot will hold. So that’s what we’re doing. We’re just making sure that knot’s going to hold, you know. And the rope that G-d gives us, it’s long enough to tie up everything that we will ever experience that needs a knot, that needs tying. So we’re tying, making it tight, making it firm. That’s what G-d says. Make it firm! 
Yes, so we’re talking about these two different logics. May I take this jacket off? It’s getting a little warm. So here we have this peculiar logic. But now this peculiar logic is one logic, only. It’s the logic of expedience. In the ninth hour, that’s the hour of expedience, isn’t it? The ninth hour. In the ninth hour they said, “It’s expedient that we do these things.” And he had said, “It’s expedience that I go away”. This is Gospel, New Testament. And it is said that they hung him in the ninth hour. In the ninth hour they hung him. So in the ninth hour they hung him. That’s critical. In the ninth hour they hung him and in the eleventh hour he died. They said they hung him in the ninth hour and in the eleventh hour he died.
Now, we know there are many interpretations of all of these things, because different schools of thought, or different thinking in the society of the Christians, will have their own particular way of looking at things, you know. So I’m not saying that what I’m saying is the only one. But what I’m saying opens the light. It opens the box and lets the light come in, more than any other thing. 
The Ninth Hour Is Social Consciousness
So it says they hung him in the ninth hour and in the eleventh hour he died. What happened in the tenth hour? He was dying! They hung him in the ninth hour and in the ninth hour he started dying. In the tenth hour he was dying. In the eleventh hour he was dead. Now the ninth hour is social consciousness. Social Consciousness. You don’t have to write this, unless you want to. Believe me, if I were you, something this important, I wouldn’t even trust the pen. The paper can be lost, but this cannot. Yeah, I see a lot of you didn’t pick up a pen. You’re not writing. You know where to preserve it. So, the ninth hour is the social hour. It’s the hour of birth for the social life. And how do they take it? They take it from everything G-d made. They can’t get anything unless they go to what G-d made. So expect a baby to be delivered in the ninth month. In the ninth month that baby is expected to come here. Sometimes, he may come a little ahead of it. But as a general rule, the baby comes after nine months. 
So the ninth hour is for the birth of the person into a social order. The person, the baby is born into a social order we call the family. After nine months of being concealed, it comes free, is born into the social order. So that’s the ninth hour. They apply this language, adopt this language in the language of what they call scripture, or in the language of rule. This is the language of rule. So this is the ninth hour. I’m not releasing any great secrets that will cause a disturbance. Don’t worry about it! And I’m speaking to my associates. I’m not speaking to them. I don’t talk to them this way-not this relaxed. I don’t even talk to others this way and you shouldn’t either. 
We’re talking about the ninth hour. Now, do we have that same nine? Yes! On the ninth day of Hajj. The most important of Hajj is the ninth. You can miss other days, but if you miss that day, Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, he said, the whole Hajj is missed. If you miss the ninth day, a whole Hajj is missed. So here is the world now. We’re talking about the different logics. I’m not off. I’m not off course. I’m on course. And some of you will have comments later this evening or when you go to breakfast, “You see how the Imam drifted away from his subject, brother? But he always manages to get back on it, brother!” No! No! You’re missing something! No! No! I put my sight on it and I know where I’m going and I’m going to keep going that way. 
“I Come Not of Water, Only”
Okay, the ninth hour is in Islam, too. That’s the purpose of giving you all of that other information, to bring you to this point. In Islam, we have our nine. The ninth hour, we have it as the ninth day of Hajj. Now, what are they going to do on the ninth hour? They’re going to sacrifice the social life and when you sacrifice the social life, you sacrifice morality, because they come together. “I come not of water, only, but of water and blood.” 
The Soul Is Both Male and Female 
The two come together. The same thing in Islam, how is it said? “G-d has created you male and female, mates, in two’s.” So this is the two. You’re not one. You’re not social and not spiritual. You’re not spiritual and not social. If you do that, you lose your life. You lose your real identity. The only way you keep a human identity, is you have to remain both water and blood; spirituality and social life. You have to have both. If you’re not, you’re not human. If you have only the spiritual, you’re not human; only the social, you’re not a human. G-d made us spiritual and social. You put the two together and you have a man and you’ve got a woman, because He said He made us both the same, of one nature, or of one soul. And in the soul is both, the dhakir and the unthaa, the male and female. And He caused them to come from the one soul and become parents and populate the world. But the parents cannot keep the world if they remain separate. The male and female have to form a union in order to keep their own life. So are they really one separate from the other? No, in the reality that G-d made for them they are one when they come together and they are halves when they are apart. And we say, “My better half'”. 
XX and XY Chromosomes
This is western language. Do you think this is important, what I’m telling you? I do! You may think it’s conversation, but this is much more than conversation. This is ta’aleem, heavy ta’aleem. Yes, and even western society has that language, “My better half”. Okay, if this is my better half, then what am I saying of myself? I’m saying I’m only a half and whole person is only when I see the male and the female going together. Now we know the man, Adam, is a whole person to himself; but not in his physical life; not in his biological life. But in his soul. In his soul he’s a whole person. And his soul was given in union with the woman and then male and female came out separately, came distinct from each other and there is the male principle and the female principle, existing separate from the other. But, really, the female principle, not like the West, i.e., female is xx chromosome; male xy chromosome. This is symbolism. This is science when the doctor is applying it. This is symbolism when the esoteric is applying it. It’s symbolism. 
So I’m xy and she’s xx. No! I’m xy and she’s xy. All of us are xy. In her is male and female and in me, male and female. But, her physiology is female, therefore her whole self is expressed through a female body and my whole self is expressed through a male body. So G-d creates a soul that contains both, but a body that expresses one. So we have a soul that contains the two and a body that expresses the one. That’s why a homosexual can be convinced he’s a female and you can’t change his mind. He needs to know himself better so he can protect himself better and keep his masculinity. Praise be to Allah.
So, getting back to the point, we are social and spiritual beings; social and spiritual beings, essentially. We’re political beings, too. But what makes us political beings? You see, start with that that is the core of life and the core of life will explain everything else. So what makes us political beings if G-d has made us really social and spiritual beings from the start? It is the need in the social/spiritual. The social/spiritual life will grow and it will become big and the bigger it becomes in numbers, the more we are aware that we need some kind of government; we need to have this governed for the good of all. So what requisitioned government or politics? My social nature. 

Everything Is Requisitioned by Social/Spiritual Life 
Yes, my social nature is what requisitioned government and politics, business and the control of business traffic, etc. Everything else is requisitioned by that. That’s why it is said, “And the before the world was I am.” And we think it means, before the sun, moon and stars were. It doesn’t mean that. It talking about the world of man. “Before the world of man I existed; I am”, meaning that the world of man really was built upon me.” And I’m speaking of me as the common life and that’s the social life and the spiritual life. G-d made the social life and the spiritual life and everything else was requisitioned by that. Is that clear? 
On the Ninth Day We Get Together, As Community Leaders
So what do we do in the ninth hour? Their logic says, in the ninth hour, when it becomes very critical, “We have to sacrifice someone. Who are we going to sacrifice? Sacrifice the innocent. He was created to be sacrificed. So sacrifice the innocent. That’s his role in the preservation of government, to come in and make it strong and then go out, so it can be born again, on his death.” I’m giving it to you as clear as crystal, clearer than that light and G-d has done that, for you, through me. Yes, so that’s the way the world is. On the ninth day what do we do, when we’re threatened? We get together, as community leaders. We get together upon the social order. Don’t you know, “ummah”, that’s what it means, a social order? Ummah means a social order. It’s a fraternity, isn’t it? It’s a brotherhood, isn’t it and it’s an ummah, isn’t it? That’s social order, the Islamic social order. And this is not new language for me. This is the governments of Islam. They recognize it. Islam is a social order, they recognize that. But, it’s a social/spiritual order. It’s not just a social order. And where they go wrong, they take the thing into their own hands and they begin coming from their own intelligence and their own ideas, and they write some kind of constitution for an Islamic state. The constitution for the Islamic state is the Qur’an and the expression of that in the life of Muhammed, the Prophet. That’s the constitution of any Islamic state, if it wants to be Islamic. 
That’s why the government of Saudi Arabia is more Islamic than any other that we know of right now. Their some that are trying to come close, but they’re not close. It’s more Islamic at least in adhering to the constitution for a Muslim state. That’s the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammed’s expression of Qur’an, you see. But the only thing is their rule is unislamic. Pardon me, electing the officials to rule is unislamic. They elect officials to rule from blood lineage. That’s unislamic. It can’t be from family. It’s got to be from anyone who qualifies, the best who qualify in the public, like it is here in this democracy. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. So they have something very unislamic over there and they know it. I’ve said it to them and I’m not the only one saying it. The Muslim world is saying that, you know. But the Muslim world doesn’t make a big issue of it and we shouldn’t either. We don’t want to give our enemy an advantage over us that will hurt us in the future; weaken us. We don’t want to do that, so we don’t come out in the public and start pointing at Saudi Arabia’s order of government. No, don’t do that. We go to them. They are our brothers. We’re supposed to go to Saudi Arabia and talk to them, or go to the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C., and talk to them. This is the way we do that. But we talk to ourselves. Yes, we have to each other. 
If anything is wrong in the Islamic world, we have to discuss it, right here. This is shuraa. The convenor is right there and this is shuraa. Whenever we meet and it’s an opportunity for shuraa, if there’s issues that deserve being addressed, we address those issues. So you’re sitting here now and you say, “Well, we when meet with Brother Imam, meet with the four or five, or seven of whatever number that the shuraa convenes.” Yes, that is a formal convening of the shuraa. But, this is shuraa. Anytime we meet and we discuss serious matters and come up with a judgment or point to a solution for it, that’s shuraa. And whether you’re having an exchange with me now or not, it is shuraa. You’re having a silent exchange. You’re saying, “Yes, well, the Imam has something here! Well, yes, the Imam’s point is well taken.” Or, “The Imam’s point should be discussed further.” Or, “The Imam is wrong.” That’s shuraa, taking place, silently, right? Now, it won’t take effect until you go out and act on what you’re thinking. And the intelligent thing would be, if you don’t feel that this matter was settled, today, this morning, the intelligent thing for you to do is past the request to the convenor of the shuraa and ask him to convene the shuraa and come up with a resolution on this statement that the Imam made, that will show what the position of this association is, regarding the legitimacy of the government of Saudi Arabia. You see that’s big business, brother, and you all are qualified for big business, whether you know it or not.
The Social Life Is the Sacred Life
All right. So the ninth hour, the ninth day of Hajj is the most precious day of the Hajj. So what is G-d telling us through His Prophet, Muhammed? He’s telling us that the sacred life is the social community life. That’s the sacred life. “The blood of your brother is sacred!” That’s what Muhammed said, peace be upon him. “The blood of your brother is inviolable. You can’t violate his blood. It’s sacred. His property is sacred. His honor is sacred. Don’t defame him. Don’t falsely present him to the world, because if you take him out of his true image and falsely present him to others, it’s like eating the flesh of your dead brother.” It’s like eating carrion. Yes, this is the teaching of Islam, in the Qur’an and from the Prophet, peace be upon him. So we have to understand these sacred matters. The blood of the brother is sacred. The social life is the sacred life. But, it’s sacred only when it is conforming to the Will of G-d. When it’s under Islam, under the Qur’an and the guidance of Prophet Muhammed; when we’re obeying Allah and His messenger, that life is sacred. It’s the most precious life. 
“Get You Down From Here”
So, the life of the ummah is essentially a spiritual and social life-blood and water. It is essentially a spiritual and a social life and it’s future is what? Education. The future of that life is education. We educate that life and then that life has a future. That life has a future in a real world that Allah ordered for man. “Sakara lakum maa fil samaawaati wal maa fil ‘ard, that He has made to be of utility for you, whatever is in the sky and whatever is in the earth. And He gives you your supplies, or He supplies your needs from the skies and from the earth-spiritual, material.” And He said to them, “Get down from here into the earth where you will find your livelihood. There you will be gathered and there you will die, and from there you will be raise to life again. This is Qur’an. So, the water was above, wasn’t it? The water came down to the earth. “Get you down from here. I didn’t make you to be a half person. I made you to be a whole person. So get down from this spiritual realm, thinking you are saints and angels. If G-d had made this earth to be populated by angels, He would have sent you an angel as a messenger. So get on down from here and make sajda on the earth that I have spread out like a carpet and made it to be a place of rest for you; a place of rest and comforts. You won’t find rest up there. You’ll be tormented forever. Come on down here to your birthplace, your native place. You were conceived in heaven, formed in the earth. Conceived in heaven; up there; no form; a concept without form. Come on down from that into the earth, where you will find your livelihood, and there you’ll be gathered, a social body. Gathered. The collective body is the social body. There you will be gathered. You will be formed a social unit. There you will die. Without My Word you’re gonna die. But My Word is gonna come to you and raise you back up to life!” Isn’t it wonderful? Praise be to Allah! 
We Don’t Sacrifice the Innocent 
Yes, so on the ninth day we don’t sacrifice the innocent. We bring the strength of our minds and our characters together. The best of our leaders meet and we discuss the problems of the international community of Muslims and decide there what we’re going to do. And the problem is always-when you have trouble-that you are not properly responding to the call of G-d. That’s the only thing that brings problems. It says, “Wal ‘Asr. Innal insaan lafi khusr. Illal ladhina aminu wa amilus salahaat. Wa tawaasau bil haqq. Wa tawaasau bis sabr.” So that’s the answer. We know where to find trouble. Immorality is running rampant. Respect for the sacred is going away. Our order is in crisis. We know where to find the trouble. Do they believe? Aamina bil Laah wa Rasuuli? Do they believe in Allah and His messenger? Is that firm? Are they attracted to doing good deeds? Wa amilus saalihat? Are they cooperating with each other for the advancement of truth? Al-haqq. And are they strengthening each other upon perseverance until they achieve the goal? Are they doing that? Well, if they’re not, this is what we have to strengthen in the society of the Muslims. We aren’t going to sacrifice the innocent. We’re going to draw our swords out if we have to and we’re going to enforce the principals of Islam. 
And even their Gospel tells them that that expedience was just for a time, to get them past the pagan era into the era of faith in G-d. That’s all it was for, because it says when he comes back he’s going to go to war. He isn’t going to come back to be sacrificed. He’s coming back to enforce the way of G-d. It says when he comes back he’s going to be dressed for war, his weapon is going to be drawn and he’s going to slay the wicked until the blood comes up to the horse’s bridle. This is the Gospel. I’m not writing this now. You all don’t read, so I have to tell you where it’s coming from. It says he going to be so much in battle with the wicked until his garments are going to be drenched, bloodstained-the blood of the wicked. Now that’s a pagan scene there. They didn’t have to stretch it that far. Praise be to Allah. Am I clear?
“Islam Is Structured on Five”
So the logic is Islam. Now you say, “How is just these five principles going to constitute our whole logic for building our Islamic society on earth? It does brothers. It does. And G-d says, “Bunia al-Islam wa ala khamsin”, through Muhammed. We know G-d didn’t say that. Muhammed said that. But, whatever Muhammed said, G-d said it, too. “I speak nothing of myself. I say nothing of myself.” That’s for Muhammed, as well. He said nothing of himself. G-d gave him the guidance, or inspired by way of inspiration, divine inspiration. And many of the hadith are judged by the scholars, the learned in Islam from time behind us back, to be inspired hadith. They are almost like Qur’an. It was on the level of wahy, or revelation. And though it was not the Qur’an, on that great level, by Jibreel, it was inspired by G-d, directly from G-d to Muhammed. Some of his saying are called that-inspired hadith. But all of his hadith, if he actually said it (A lot of them weren’t said by him. It’s corrupt hadith, or false hadith), has its support in the Qur’an. It has its likeness in the Qur’an. You can find a resemblance of it in the Qur’an. It has its support there and G-d directed him to say that. 
So the Prophet, peace be upon him, “Bunia al-Islam wa ala khamsin, Islam is structured on five.” If he said that then the basis for Islam is five, right? The basis for Islam is five; khamsa, five. And we know those five. There’s no need to keep repeating those. We know those five. Now, if Allah guided Muhammed, the Prophet to tell us that the basis for Islam if five, should our community be established upon any other basis than that? That wouldn’t be logic. That wouldn’t be sound logic, that the Prophet is going to tell us that our religion is supported by five essentials and we’re going to say an islamic community is supported by something different. It must be supported too by five essentials: shahada, salat, zakat, saumi Ramadan, or siyyama Ramadan, and Hajj. How do we apply this, now, to the community? That’s the work! That’s the work! After I finish, the Imam suggested that now we should go to work. You suggested it. He’s right. Now, you go to work. Let the bright minds, the good minds, come together and see now, how do we build this community so that this community says to everybody that looks at it, “Laa ilaaha illalaah.”
This Is a Social Community 
How do we build this community that when people look at this community, they see a prayerful community; a community in prayer, worshipping their Lord, the Creator of everything. Right. How do we build this community so that when witnesses looks at this community, they will see that we use our wealth as G-d has ordered us to use it? As G-d has ordered us to use it; that this wealth is not staying in a circle. Allah says, “Don’t let your wealth stay in a circle, keep going around in a circle of a few, so that it’s not dispensed throughout the community so that the whole community benefits from the wealth.” So we know that. 
This is a social community, requiring that the social life of the community be supported by the wealth. And it is a community based upon work or effort, not just mouth or lip service. So we want to increase the number of our working people to the biggest number possible. We want to see that our people have work. Do you see how this religion is to be applied so that it becomes practical? Yes, so don’t leave it to the employment office, the Arkansas Employment Office, to employ your people who are out of jobs. The government is to come only when the people throw up their hands and say, “We’ve done all that we can. We need help from you now.” When the government comes in that help from everybody. That’s help from the United States, all the taxpayers and everything. No, we don’t want to do that, throw up our hands, when there’s still room for us to work, we haven’t done all of the work that’s there’s room for. Let us do all the work that’s there’s room for before we throw up our hands and say, “Government come and help us with our poor.” We’re Muslims first, not Americans. Do you hear that? We’re Muslims first, not Americans first and any Christian that knows his Christianity, he’s a Christian first, not an American first. So we do all we can as Muslims first and then if we need America to help us, we ask America to help us; because we are citizens of America, secondly. Allahu Akbar! 
So this is how you should study what I said yesterday. You should study what I said yesterday like this. Don’t be spooked up. Do you think I’m spooked up? You get spooked up! “Oh, he was heavy! Oh, boy, I’m going home with a headache. I need Excedrin!” No, you’re spooked up. You’ve got the headache. I don’t have a headache. G-d knows, I haven’t had a headache in 50 years. Do you think I’m joking? Maybe that’s an exaggeration, now. Let me think here…The Lord is my witness, I haven’t had a headache in 30 years. I don’t have headaches. I don’t aspirins. Has anybody ever seen me buy aspirins? Have I ever asked anybody for an aspirin? Nobody on this earth knows of me asking for an aspirin, at least in the last 30 years. But, I believe in the last 40 years, but I know in the last 30 years. Allahu Akbar! That’s wonderful! That shows you that if you give this head to G-d, you won’t need an Excedrin! That’s the truth. That’s fact. Yes, that’s fact. I’m giving you pure facts and that’s a fact. 
Now, dear brothers, you all should go and for teams. Your better minds and all of you are obligated to form teams to work with the shuraa, work with the leadership. You should form teams and let it come down from the shuraa, the leadership, and let the work be spread out all over the community; throughout these United States. What are we working on? We’re working on applying the five principles of Islam, to get the benefit G-d intends for us, for our community life on this earth. That’s the answer and that’s Islam. That’s Islam! 
Now, when I’m out speaking to the public, the American public, I am imparting to them something of the purity of the essence of Islam, as much as I think they can take. So what are we doing? We’re fighting the germs that fight against the Muslim life, that’s in the public life. So, we’re putting the healing medicine into the public life so that the public will be healed of those germs that threaten our life, to accommodate more expression of our life in this world. This is a masterful job that G-d has given me! A masterful job! To open up this world so it accommodates our growth and at the same time, we’re extending the mercy of G-d to them, because they need a healing. And if they got good medicine, they’d recognize good medicine. So those that don’t need what we’re passing to them, they applaud it. “Oh, we like this man, they’ve got. We like this leader that they’ve got. He’s a good man!” Praise be to Allah! So Muhammed is not only a mercy to the Muslims, he’s a mercy to all the worlds. So that’s how I live. I live as his follower so that my life be not only a mercy to my family and my community, but be a mercy to the worlds. And that’s how each of us should live. So, go into training and get yourself ready. 
So much for that. I think it’s clear now what I meant when I said, we’re leaving the elevation of one logic that supports a world, across an abyss; because the distance between what we have as a logic and they have as a logic, is the distance that spans an abyss. Because if you come suddenly, without a platform, or without a support to take from one to the other, you’re going to be lost in the abyss. You’re going to drop down and your fall is going to be like eternity. Yes, so come from this world’s logic to the logic that Allah wants for us by way of guidance. And that’s what I offer. I offer you guidance out of this world’s logic into the logic of Islam. So we thank you and I’m going to conclude at this point and ask G-d to forgive us our errors, our sins, show us mercy, always, and guide us. For without guidance, from You, we have no guidance. Ameen. 
We’re going to open up now for discussion…
Question: Brother Imam, there’s a great deal of talk about this nation being formed as a Christian nation, from certain faith groups…Could you give us some insight on the foundation on which this nation is formed?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Let me make sure I understood the question, now. 
Question: There’s a lot of talk in our city council about this nation being formed as a Christian nation, upon Christian principles…
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: I agree with that, that the concept of this society, I will say, how this society is to live and be governed, is founded upon the Christian idea. But, the Christian idea is an idea that’s common civilized societies all over the world. So, we’re talking about trinitarianism. It was not founded upon trinitarianism, the trinitarian doctrine. It was founded upon the belief in G-d, the Father, as the Creator, not as the Father of a man, or of a prophet, or messenger, or Jesus Christ, peace be upon him. It was not founded upon the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of G-d. It was not founded upon that-not at all! And the founding fathers very wisely and very delicately avoided that language, so that wouldn’t be a problem for the future of this country. Yes. So admit to them, yes, it was founded upon Christian principles and Christian ideas; but those Christian principles and Christian ideas that we have in common, as people of the Book, as people of the scripture, that came from G-d to His prophets and messengers. 
That’s what we should tell them and that we also identify with the religious support that is in the language of the designing of the framework for this society, or government. We identify with that language. We have no differences with it at all. It’s perfectly Islamic! And if anybody can tell me, now, on this floor, that’s it’s not, please tell me because I want to be right. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” G-d says, “Khalaqa fasawwa, He created and then He established equality. Khalaqa fasawwa, He created and then He established equality. He created, THEN, He established equality.” So the equality came, had to come after creation. There was no equality before creation. So the creation provided for the equality. So all men are created equal. It’s the same language, “Khalaqa fasawwa.” 
And the Prophet, when he was questioned by the disbeliever who was ruling, the powerful disbeliever, he said, “Alladhee khalaqanee saiyadeeni, the One Who created me shall guide me.” What is he saying? He’s saying that, “My guidance is given to me in the constitution of my life! And that’s what nobody understands but the high, blessed people among the scholars, that G-d is saying that. He’s saying more than He created you…yes, that’s on the first level; that’s on the baby level of understanding-that the same G-d that created is an Authority to guide. But there’s a logic there! It’s not only giving a statement. It’s giving a logic! And the logic is that, when G-d created you, He constituted you so that have, inherently, the logic for your guidance, the logic for your life! So, nobody could pull that out of us, because nobody put it in us but the Creator! So nobody could pull it out of us but the Creator and when He pulled it out of us, what did He show us? The Qur’an. The Qur’an He gave to Muhammed! “Now here’s the guidance for you life that I really created you to have. This is your inheritance! This is not something imposed upon your life!” Listen, please!!! This is not something imposed by G-d upon your life! This is your birthright. This is your inheritance! The same G-d That created you, now brings the light out of your body, so you can see the light that you were created to live by. It’s the Qur’an! The Word of G-d is also you!!! But you can’t see the Word of G-d unless G-d reveals out of you His Word! Now, what I say, if it’s correct, it stands up everywhere. Now you test it and if you have problems, take it to somebody higher than you and have them test it. If you still have problems with that person, tell him to take it to somebody higher than him and you’ll get high enough and you’ll be satisfied. I guarantee it! Personally guarantee! And I’m speaking not on the authority of Imam W. D. Mohammed…Yes I am speaking on the authority of Imam W.D. Mohammed, because Imam W. D. Mohammed is that guy I follow. Yes, I’m sorry. I am speaking on the authority of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. 
Question: I’ve been wanting to ask this question for the longest. Many times we read in the Qur’an where Allah, subhana wata ‘Alaa, protects the Qur’an…
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Yes, angels protect it. Yes…
Question: Thank you. You mentioned Hadith al-Qudsi. Can we say the authentic have been protected? 
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: I would say so. Yes. Not as well as he Qur’an, but yes, the authentic hadith are protected and they will be protected. Thank you.
Question: Brother Imam, I was looking at yesterday’s paper here in Chicago and the headlines stated that right here in cook county that there are over 333, 000 hard core substance abusers. My question is, as an ummat and as an association, Islamic association. When we have those that are attracted to Islam and they come to Islam and they come to us to enter into shuraa with us, seeking aid and assistance for that particular problem. Should we allow them to enter shuraa with us and assist them? Or should we leave those persons alone to resolve those problems, independently, within themselves? 
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: I think I have the question. But one expression I didn’t get so clearly. You say, should we involve in…
Question: shuraa…
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: No, we can listen to them and respect their knowledge and opinions and even admit some of their, I would say, input or advice. But that wouldn’t, in my opinion, be called a ashuraa. Consultation, as a general term, is not necessarily shuraa. Once we put the term “shuraa” to it then we identify with it, which says that we’re saying that this is conducted in an Islamic way and what’s happening here is approved by Islam and will come out in an Islamic product. So, we can’t say these discussions with others outside of Islam is shuraa. No, we shouldn’t say that. That’s not shuraa. And let me say this. We should be aware of drugs, substance abuse, as a serious, serious matter, threatening the good life of this society. And we should have some plans to counter the increase in drug traffic and problems that we have because of substance abuse. 
Best Way to Counter Substance Abuse Is To Build the Islamic Life
But sometimes, to me, our best effort won’t be our efforts that involve us with ex-drug users, or with persons that are devoted only, or principally to addressing drug problems, the drug issue, drug abuse issues. Our best work will come from us building the Islamic community life. That’s the best way to counter the threat from drug abuse, from substance abuse, is to build the Islamic life. Our model will keep out that poison. It will be free of that poison. And our model will be healing agent in the environment of America. That’s the best war against drugs we can possibly come up with, or possibly wage. All right.
Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. Brother Imam and Imams, on the question the brother asked about what the country is based on, as far a Christianity? I would like to let him know that there’s a book out, “Sworn on the Altar of G-d”, and it’s a religious biography of Thomas Jefferson. I think all the imams should get it and read it. In this book, he taught against the trinitarian doctrine. He called it abbra kadabbra. He said there is no way that you can get three into one and one into three. In reading the book one would think you wrote the book…
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: No, I didn’t write it, because I would have said you can get three into one. But you’ll come out with fractions!
Question: …It is a biography of Thomas Jefferson. 
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Yes, I would like to acknowledge at this time that the information that I received was not just from Imam Plemon. It was also from Imam Idris and it was very helpful information that he shared with me. 
Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. Last night, when we were in shuraa, I asked the question about using the Muslim American Society. In our city, we have some believers in our association who took the name Muslim American Society of Baltimore. So, I want to know how can we approach that as a whole community, because I think there’s going to be a conflict in the future. They couldn’t answer the question, last night. They said they were going to take it back. But since we have you here, maybe you can answer it.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Well, my understanding is that we agreed to be identified as the Muslim American Society. That’s how we are identified, mainly for the purpose of helping others refer to us by name, because they were having, they were making us aware of the problem that we need to give them a name that they can refer to all of us by. What we want more than a name, that identifies us all a one association, is Islamic freedom so that we all can grow and not have to come under restrictions from any particular area, local, or any particular leader in our community; but be free to grow as Muslims. I don’t want any of you to think you have to grow in the confines that I make for you. If you can grow beyond those confines, do it. But grow good. Grow in a good way and grow in accordance with the guidance of G-d, in the Qur’an and the life of Muhammed. So if you can go beyond the boundaries that you think I have set, go beyond those boundaries. So, my interest is in giving us complete freedom to grow as Muslims. That’s why I don’t like too much organization for the whole of us, for all of us. An organization should be concentrated locally, not centrally. Do you see what I’m saying? An organization should be concentrated locally, not centrally. So, this name permits us to, when anybody asks…”Well, there are many Muslims. There are Shi’ites. There are Sunnis. There are Arabs. There are Indians. There are all of these groups. What is the name of your group?” Tell them, “We’re the Muslim American Society.” 
But that doesn’t mean we’ll hang a sign up all over the neighborhood, saying, “Muslim American Society”. That’s not what that’s for. So I think if you go that way, you’re causing a problem, because the name I not more important than our essence and our life and our work of building the community. So we don’t want MAS on everything. No. We want that language for communication with non-Muslims more than we want it for communication with ourselves. We don’t need it for ourselves. Is that clear Brother Imam?
Question: Yes, I think you busted it right in the top of the head!
IWDM: Thank you Brother Imam. Thank you for the question.
Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. There are those, in this association, who think that it is more appropriate for them to identify themselves as American Muslims and not Muslim Americans. Now, I know the language is very important and I know the Imam gave us that language. So, if he could address that, I would appreciate it.
IWDM: Yes, thank you. I believe I heard the question. Well, Allah has created us-if our intentions are good, if we have the purity of intentions-so that our soul will register something that’s not approved by G-d, or something that is not as good as G-d would like for it to be in us, you see. So, in years behind me, I’ve used the expression, American Muslims. But when I would use it, something inside was kind of disturbed. It didn’t quite please me inside. Why? Because we’re describing the Muslim life with the American life. We’re putting the American life as a description of our Muslim life, when our Muslim life should be defining and describing our American life. So the expression for me is Muslim American over American Muslim. Now, the brother may have something further to say, or there may be a follow-up question. I don’t know. So before leaving the brother who asked the question, I want to know if there’s a follow-up question, or if there is a comment that he would like to make.
Question: Thank you. The logic that they tried to give to me in this regard is that they said, because of what you just said, that we are Muslims first and they were going by grammar. They were saying it’s more grammatically correct to say American Muslims as opposed to Muslim Americans, because they were Muslims. But I said, “You know…”
IWDM: Well, I took college grammar. I passed it and I know that really when it comes to grammar, it’s comes from organizations. They decide in these organizations what’s proper and what’s improper and they all don’t agree! So there is disagreement as to is proper and improper. On the highest level, there’s disagreement! And for most of us, the modifier says what the label is. The modifier. So what kind of Muslim is this? He’s an American Muslim. What kind of American is this? It’s a Muslim American. I don’t have to discuss that further! We don’t want to be Americanized against our Islamic content. We want Muslim to govern our American content. Muslim should govern the American content, not the other way around.
Question: As-Salaam Alaikum, Brother Imam. Praise be to Allah for your excellent work. My question is in regard to what you mentioned about females. Is it appropriate to have females as a part of the shuraa board? Is that Islamic? 
IWDM: It’s appropriate, in fact it’s an obligation to recognize the voice of females in the shuraa. But, to have the two bodies as one is not acceptable, I don’t think. So sisters should have, also, their shuraa and their shuraa should be in support of the shuraa, the brothers’ shuraa, the shuraa of the Muslim men. And their shuraa should be formed to give assistance in the form of well-meaning, positive criticism, too, as well as support for it. The sisters should be seen as a governing unit to themselves, under the Qur’an, Muhammed, the Prophet and the shuraa of the learned people of good character. That’s the way it should be seen. And their contribution to the shuraa should be respected as though it came from a man. We shouldn’t look at it in terms of gender. We should respect what they have to offer as though it came from a brother; a man. 
Question: Audhu bil Laahi min nash shaitanir rajeem. Bismillaahir Rahmanir Raheem. Can Detroit say something, Brother?
Imam Plemon el-Amin: Detroit can, brother, but you’re not going to be the one, right now! 
IWDM: Thank you. Don’t become impatient! The Prophet Muhammed, he was asked by a young man, who said, “Give me some advice that will serve me for all of my life, since you’re the Messenger of G-d.” And Muhammed, the Prophet, the Messenger of G-d, peace be upon him, he said, “Don’t be controlled by anger!”
Question: Thank you, Brother Imam. Brother Imam, as we teach people this Deen from the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet, and from your great wisdom, the issue comes up as to how do we present you to these people. How do we explain your role. I can’t tell these people you’re an ordinary man! Can you kind of help us? Do we tell them you’re Christ? What do we tell these people? They see how much we love you. They see how we talk when your name is mentioned! We love you so much! How do we explain you?
IWDM: Yes, I know what you’re saying and believe me I have had that problem myself! Yes, and I have to say that the way I solved it for my comfort is that my uniqueness or my distinction is really owing to my very special circumstances that I have in my life. And the best way to present me is as a product of you. “He’s a product of our life, our history, our trials and tribulations. Our life of suffering, and our life of human excellence has produced a son among us, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, and I’d like for you to get to know our leader.”
Question: Can you address the need for greater hospitality in the masjid, that the masjids are not used as a theater for battle?
IWDM: Thank you very much. You know, Islam is struggle. Islam is the right of opinion. Islam is competition. But Islam is not bitter rivalry. Bitter rivalry is against Islam and anytime we see bitter rivalry developing, in the masjid or anywhere-especially in the masjid-we should say, “Allahu Akbar! This cannot happen here! You brothers have to come to peace, speak to each other with respect for each other, not in anger. This is no place for you all to be competing for power here or for recognition.” That’s the duty of all members in the body, to set the alarm when you see that developing and ask that it be stopped, immediately, and say, “If it’s not stopped, we’re going overcome you, or you’re going to overcome us!” Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to stand up for serious matters!
Question: Brother Imam, with your recent visit to Malaysia, last year, and with the current economic problems that they're facing over there, is there any way that our community can gain economic profits with Malaysia, while at the same time building a better relationship with the country?
IWDM: Yes. That's a very excellent question-timely. Yes, I have thought about that since I heard of the problems that not only Malaysia, but the Asian economies, national economies of Asia…a lot of them have been having some serious problems. But it may not be as serious as it looks on the surface. They will be able to regroup and come up with different strategies. They're not lost. Malaysia is going to be strong. Indonesia is going to be strong. The Asian countries will still be strong, economically. I don't see it as really threat to their establishment, to the economic establishment of these countries. But, it's a time of trouble, serious trouble for them. This is the game. This is the chess game of international power brokers, who are always trying to get more power for themselves to the loss or disadvantage of others; and they see themselves in blocs. One is the western bloc. Here is the Asian block and here is the Muslim bloc; and they will single the Islamic nations out, too. They will be in a special bloc. I'm using the term, "bloc", just for want of a word to distinguish one environment, or one influence, one circle of influence or interest. They can be called circles, but I'm just saying blocs. I choose to say blocs.
So the Islamic is looked at separately from the Asian bloc, because you have people who want to see Islam contained or defeated in high places. So, you'll them looking at the Islamic bloc. "How can we defeat the economic growth of the Islamic world? How can we defeat them? How can we stop them? How can we block them? How can we trip them? How can we get them off course? How can we make this effort of theirs, this big effort fail?" You see? So they're doing this. They're working hard. It's a pity that we don't work hard like that to advance our cause with clean hands; not with dirty hands; with clean hands…This is a good time, I think, for us to restate our interest in having a powerful, practical friendship with the Malaysian government and its people. This is a good time to do that and this young man is qualified to be our ambassador, to carry the message to the Malaysian government that our community met. The leaders met on this day, in Harvey, Illinois, in the Chicago area, and the body of men, through our leader, sent the message to the Malaysian government that we want them to know that we're still very strongly interested in having a real joint venture with them; to strengthen our institutions of learning; to help us develop them and strengthen them for the future; and also to build a Muslim community economy, with their input and with some joint ventures with them. Could you take this message for us? Thank you very much!
Question: Brother Imam, I've been invited to the local synagogue to speak at the rabbi's breakfast on Jewish/Muslim relations and I just want to know from your perspective what would be the best way to address that, considering that…One thing I know, the Rabbi is learned. He's a scholar in his right and also considering that there are places in the Qur'an where the Jews are not cast in the best light…
IWDM: That's right…Well, in the Qur'an, the Jews are cast in the best light! (laughter)
Question: I might not want to cast that light!
IWDM: All right. So, you're inviting me to express to you what I feel may be the way to address that? All right. Thank you. The way I always address it is like this. I do this, but I do it subtly, very subtly, most of the time. But if you feel the audience is not too stiff to do this, do this. Tell them the most critical people of the Jews are the Jews. Say that, "The Qur'an is not nearly as harsh in criticizing the Jews as the Jews have been over the life of your history. What's important for us in our relationship with Jews…" Now, you're talking to them. You form it afterwards. You put it together. I'm speaking as though I'm there…
Question:…I hope you are, sir!
IWDM: "…What's important for our relations with Jews, for our improved relations with Jews, or for forming a relationship with Jews that we hope will develop into a productive relationship for both of us, is that G-d tells us of you, that among you is a group, committed to faith in G-d and the promotion of justice and fair dealings among men of the world. And that's the strong invitation to us from G-d, in our holy book, to have some meaningful ties with you. Because G-d asks us to say, 'Let there be out of you a group, believing in G-d and promoting justice and fair dealings in the world'. Say, G-d has called you and us to do the same. On the world scene, there's a place for common grounds, unity and cooperation, to promote this-peace and justice for all people of the world." Thank you…The Imam is the convenor of our shuraa and he has a clean and a dirty position. I mean dirty in a nice way. I mean that it won't always be comfortable, or it won't always look pretty to us what he has to do now. Do your job, my brother!
Imam Plemon: All right, we're going to take two more questions.
IWDM: All right. That's fine!
Question: Thank you, brother Imam. Brother Imam, I'd like to say that I commend you on the articles in the Muslim Journal's questions and answers that have recently taking place. That has been excellent. My son, who is fifteen years old, he takes that to school. He looks for that in the paper and he shares it at the dinner table and sometimes at breakfast in the morning and that's a big spot.
IWDM: Well, praise be to Allah! That makes us feel very good to hear that from you and that's the way we feel about it. But it's not my idea. I'm just answering a request that was made. Brother Imam Omar Shaheed of Columbia, South Carolina, he brought it to me and he had already met with a few others and asked for their participation. So it's mainly a work being done by the Imam from Columbia, South Carolina, with two or three other brothers that are working with him. I imagine there could be more now since then. He might have more working with him. But I know Imam Pasha of Atlanta is a key person working with Brother Imam Omar Shaheed and I agree. They're doing a beautiful job and Allah is blessing me to work with them and I hope we'll work it out to all of your satisfaction.
Imam Plemon: All right, the last question from the home state here, Chicago. We have Brother Rabbani.
Question: Brother Imam, would you advise us on responding to questions on Minister Louis Farrakhan?
IWDM: This is good. These are very important matters. You see, these are the matters that we should address when we're together like this, so that the whole community will be consistent and respond in the same way to these problems or issues. In my opinion, the best way to deal with, or treat-I'll say treat-the popularity of Minister Farrakhan-and that's what it is. It's his popularity that is always being addressed. It's nothing else. It's his popularity. The best way to treat his popularity is to keep it out of our language, unless we're forced to admit it into our language. And if we're forced to address him, let us do it as briefly as possible. Don't spend anymore than a half minute or a few seconds on it, and that's it; and then forget about it, because our enemies want to burden our efforts; and want to dilute our works. So if we take up Farrakhan as an issue, that ties up our energies, takes from our efforts, dilutes our works, and also interferes with our spirit. He's not fresh air in the room of our spirit. So be aware that there might be innocent people bringing up Farrakhan and it might be guilty persons bringing up Farrakhan. So let us be aware of that. Let's not come to a conclusion that this person is an enemy that's bringing up Farrakhan while we're trying to have a meeting or something. But, let us not dismiss the possibility that this person might be an enemy. Okay. You said two? You want to give three? So, go on and give three.
Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. This is a burning question I've had and I resolved that I wasn't going to raise it. But one of your previous answers about peace in the masjid influenced me to raise this question; not a question, but to point out an issue. There are those who associate with us, some of whom are imams, who subtly and sometimes openly disagree with your tafsir and your direction. That bothers me. The old soldier and old spirit does not let me tolerate that. I know that your direction is more peaceful and more conciliatory, but it just bothers me to know that there are people who are subtly and sometimes very openly working really against you and us. There have been some masajid that they actually have taken over. We all know what our immediate impulse is to do, but you have said to me things, directly, and you have said things to us generally that would say we can't do that. So, what can we do?
IWDM: All right. I can only tell you what my concerns are and then you have to be responsible for your own self and your actions. Islam permits people to have their own opinions, to differ with us. Prophet Muhammed was challenged by a man who was so much convinced that he was shrewd that he thought he could even deceive the Prophet, himself. He underestimated the seriousness of the Prophet and the purity of the Prophet and he wrote him a letter, saying, "From Musallimah, the messenger of G-d, to Muhammed the Messenger of G-d." And, "Let us share this. Let us work together. Let us share this. You take your part. I take my part." I'm just giving you my words now, but that's what his message was. 
Did the Prophet say to his companions, "Go and kill this man! There's only one Messenger of G-d?" He let his pen do the job. He didn't even bother the companions with it. He wrote him back and it said, "From Muhammed, the Messenger of G-d, to Musallimah, the liar!" 
So with that, I want to say, you all should be very firm in condemning these people! But, don't act violently against them and if they can take a following, they're only taking their liars; followers of the liars. 
Thank you very much and I'd like to stop right here, while there's still good spirit, high spirit-I can feel it. The spirit is good and high-and while there's still a lot of questions. And I'm sure that's going to bring us together again soon, inshaa Allah. As-Salaam Alaikum. 







