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IWDM Study Library
Eid Al Fitr Oakland CA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
IWDM:
The American masses, not just the Bilalians. It will make the American masses dignified. Indeed, as long as American masses feel that their freedom is a freedom that runs out when they leave the neighborhood, there will never be much. It will just be cattle subjects. But if they wake up to this American truth and this Islamic obligation that they have the right to be interested in all the affairs of human beings on this whole earth, and we have an obligation to support the just causes of people all over this earth. The learned Maulana Maududi and others of the learned scholars, they have told us, the Muslims, how we are obligated in the international world. That Prophet Muhammad didn't come to us with an ideology that is limited. He came to us with a world ideology that has the power to reform the whole world.
We have goods for all the people of the world and this religion, it makes our concerns come to life. It makes our concerns come to life, blossom in full, where we are not asked if we are really Muslims. Indeed in touch with this knowledge, to ignore the injustices that are happening around the globe. Now isn't our first obligation to those things that are nearest to us? The Muslim, he must give charity, but isn't his first obligation to at least give his family a living that they can survive with? Yes, we are obligated to build business, build schools, to contribute to hospitals, to do all these things, but aren't the first obligations right at home with those little ones that are looking to us for the next mouthful of food? This is Al Islam. And then the obligation extends out to embrace the whole humanity.
But first, in the international world, our obligation is to Muslim because we are Muslims. Can a Muslim step over a Muslim to help a Christian? Or step on a Muslim to help a Jew? Heaven forbid; we can't do that. The Muslim must be sensitive to the needs of the Muslim and attend first matters first. If Muslims are oppressed in Palestine, if Muslims are kicked out of their homes in Palestine, say, oh, the Imam want a gift from Palestine. Look, they know they can't give me one cent. They can give the deen something. They can give propagation something in America. They can't give me one cent. Allah has blessed me to not want a penny for myself, and I don't ask them for any money. To tell the truth it is an insult that they would offer me money to do the thing that I'm obligated to do. I'm obligated. Your money doesn't obligate me. The Qur'an obligates me to speak for the rights of all human beings. And these are Muslim Palestinians.
So don't us be silly like the average American. Have a mind that can be changed by the media manipulation. On the Palestinian side this week and next week on the Jews or Israeli's side. That's what the media manipulation does. It makes the American people sympathetic, towards the Palestinians and anytime they want, they can turn that sympathy off and turn that sympathy in favor of the Israelis. We are not subject to that kind of manipulation. We follow the Qur'an. So, our sympathy should be with the Palestinian people. Why? Because justice is with the Palestinian people. The right is with the Palestinian people. They came in, in desperation and picked up scripture as old as mold, older than that. Older than cobwebs in the Egyptian tombs.
They picked up that, dust it off, and we don't even know from God. They say it's from God. That's our land. We don't even know whether they still have a right to that land or not. They done married and intermarried and left the religion and left the country so many hundreds of years ago. Now they come back and say, look, you all are not us. God didn't say you all were supposed to live here. Say, what you mean? Where is your proof? That this piece of scroll we found in the tombs with dust on it, half torn apart, rotten out. It says that this is ours. Is this international justice? Is this respecting the international law that a people come up with a little paper and say they have a right to move people out of their homes, move women, children, old people out of their homes, take their homes and live in them and keep the people out in the desert laying on the sand, some of them without tents until they can get a tent? No, this is a great evil and we can go on talking about this. It's nothing but evil and injustice in it.
I'm not saying that the Palestinians should not also have a rational attitude or should not also respect decency and respect reality. Certainly, they should and they have a willingness to do that. But first, the opposite side has to show some kind of human sense, some kind of rational sense on their part. And so far the Israelis have not shown any kind of human sense, any kind of rational sense in their negotiations, in their efforts to relieve the Middle East crisis. So, we can't be with them. If I was a Christian, I couldn't be with them, not with my moral thinking. If I was a Jew with my moral thinking, I couldn't be with the Israelis, but I'm a Muslim. That makes me stronger against that. Look, go out and tell the CIA, the FBI and all of them that if I was over there, I would have a machine gun. If I couldn't shoot it, I would learn how to shoot it. I would have any weapons that I could use to remove those crazy, heartless people away from my home.
Could any of us accept that our people come from abroad and come in and move us out of our homes, our babies, out of our home, and tell us to stand outside of the border where there's no home, no food?. Stand in the desert. Let some of your people rescue you. This is ours. Our scripture says it. We would all die and the Palestinians, they will all die before they give up their right. And I love and respect those people because they're willing to die for their rights. And let me tell you something here today, I hate to prolong me like this. Let me tell you something here today. You American blacks, you Bilalians,
you risk your life for a dollar. You go out and rob somebody, risk your life for a dollar. You go rob a store, risk your life for a dollar. You rob old women, rob old men, rob young people, rob, business people risking your life for a dollar. You sell narcotics, risking your life for a dollar. You die horrible deaths in your criminal activities, but you don't have the courage to stand up with me and demand your right as a citizen of America. What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? You have the courage to risk your life to take a woman's purse that have $50 or $5 or 50 cents in it. You have the courage to risk your life working for the Greeks or the Italians or somebody else peddling dope and if you betray them, they will beat you and kill you miserably. But you don't have the courage to stand up for your own dignity under my leadership. You don't have the courage to support an economic program that will bring economic justice and dignity and rights to us. You don't have the courage to support me. You fear the white man might not like you giving that kind of support, but you are a soldier.
You will risk your life, you will shed your blood, but for empty frivolous things. You will shed your blood and lose your life and suffer horrible tortures for empty, foolish things that does nothing but further corrupt and further reduce the dignity and worth of the community. You ought to think about that. When I see the Palestinians standing up for his rights, when I see any people, the people of Afghanistan standing up for their rights, facing the bullets for justice sake, for the dignity of their people, for their normal principles as Muslims, then I think about you over here carrying the gun too, losing your lives too for things that reduce the dignity of the community.
And I say, I wish I was in Afghanistan with a gun. I want to be with those soldiers. I wish I was somewhere with soldiers, with men that fight for dignity. Dear beloved Muslims, if we don't wake up to the great crime that we are doing, shaming ourselves as human beings, especially in this religion by conducting ourselves in a way that cheapens life, instead of standing up as men. When will the Caucasian respect us? Don't you know they're playing with us now? Don't you know President Reagan and his administration are playing with us now. Don't you know President Carter and his administration played with us then? Pacified us with welfare, promises that we don't have nothing to do but wait for check. Contributing to the femininity of the male and the masculinity of our wives, giving our wife the role of provider. She'd get the check and then she'd feed the children and then she'd let us sneak in the back door and eat a little bit.
The socialist program, it disrespects our dignity in this country. Their social program disrespects our dignity and the trick that the Republicans are playing disrespects our dignity, telling us that there is opportunity. You have to suffer first. There's opportunity here, but you must suffer first. That man must make his living with his own hands and muscles. But telling us, giving us no guidelines, giving us no direction, not telling how this is possible. What effort have they made so far. We are going to give him a chance. He's just in there for a little while. But what effort have they made so far to give us some kind of practical guidance for achieving this opportunity that they say exists for all Americans to make a profitable life? We don't see it. They're not giving us any kind of guidance, no kind of direction. They're just saying this is America, a free society, and the blacks now have to start thinking differently. They have to start thinking now that they have an opportunity to become economically active or economically involved.
We should address those barriers that stand in the way of that kind of initiative. We are humiliated. We are humbled by the realities that are existing out there in the business world. We know how ominous the challenge is. We know that it is very hard for us to go out there and make some headway because of the realities, the barriers that are in the way. We know that this society is troubled, wicked. They'll take advantage of the weak man. You can't get started. Now, we are willing to fight this. I've been fighting it all my life. I'll never give it up. I'll never give up. And I'm now trying to fight it with you, trying to fight, with you, a combination with you in cooperation with you. I'm trying to fight it, but I see you are so intimidated.
You don't have the courage to take the initiative. And I wish the President would address the problems, the economic problems that are in our way because we are Bilalians, that is because we are black, we are not white and because we are a small little people. He should address these things. If they can give us preferential treatment in the benefits, the use of tax that are collected are some other benefits, preferential treatment, how come he can't give us preferential treatment, respecting our disability as small people and as black people? How come he can't say, look, Americans, I want these people to get into business. I want them to get their fair share of the American economy.
But in order for them to get that fair share, our attitudes toward them have to change. You businessmen, I don't want to catch you dealing in any double way with the people, slighting the African-American. You businessmen, I don't want you to threaten these people. They are a burden on us because of their non-profitable lives and we want to solve that problem. So if any of you all threaten them when they get into these big things, you're going to have to answer to the government. That would give us encouragement. Then we would get out there and we begin to negotiate and begin to bargain. We'd come together, we'd pool our money. We'd say, look, we don't have to face too much opposition, the way is not going to be so hard. But the Republican administration hasn't addressed this problem, which tells me that they're playing with us too. The Democrats and the Republican is a seesaw for us. You go up and you go down, you see, and you saw. It is here and it's gone. Isn't that the truth? So, understand, our future is in following the Qur'an, following Prophet Muhammed and coming together under one leadership among ourselves and being willing to shed blood, being willing to die for our American rights and our Muslim dignity.
Praise to Allah, Most High! Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La illaha illallah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Wa ilahil Hamd. Oh Allah, we seek your guidance. We ask mercy and forgiveness from you only. And we pray that You preserve us, our Muslim life, preserve our faith, keep our hearts sound, keep us in the straight way, keep our senses rational. Oh Allah. bless us to be brave, to be brave for Your sake, let us be among the people that You have asked, that You have called for that fear not the criticisms of this world, but seek Your pleasure. Ameen. Praise be to Allah. Let us have a joyful Eid. The Eid means a recurring happiness. It comes every time on time. So let us celebrate today, have a good feast, treat each other with the kindness of our hearts, being charitable and loving, practice good Muslim courtesies that used to be American courtesies too. Maybe those tender kindnesses and sympathies will come back to the American people too. But I think we have a role to perform in this respect, to practice kindness and courtesy, tenderness between each other so that the American people will see in us, at least, a human example. Many of them love that. Many of them are with us. Don't think that we are alone in America. Many of the Americans are with us who are non-Muslims. They are with us. They are quiet, and maybe one day they will be the silent majority who will help us get on top, Insha’Allah Asalaamu Alaikum.
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