MM/DD/1997
IWDM Study Library
1997 ASM Convention

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Robert Schuller:
And a personal pleasure for me to introduce to you now one of the great spiritual leaders of the world and America, Imam WD Mohammed.
Imam WD Mohammed:
Thank you. Praise be to Allah. It's wonderful day. Praise be to Allah. We praise G-d. The G-d of us all. The One Lord created who made everything and cares about all of His creatures, about all human beings. We witness that G-d is One and we witness that Muhammad to whom the Qur'an was revealed is the seal of the Prophets, the last of the Prophets, G-d's servant and His Messenger. And we also witness as our Prophet required it when persons were converting to Islam 1400 and more years and some years ago, we also witness and believed that Jesus Christ is G-d's servant and His Messenger. And we also believe of his mother, that his mother was a pure woman and she conceived without a human mortal male, that G-d created her son out of her. A pure woman. A woman who's raised according to Islam, a woman who's raised up above all the women of the world. An address on the State of Muslims for this Islamic Convention in Secaucus New Jersey would have to include a very serious interest in the spiritual state of all people. And that is why we are very comfortable sharing this platform with a very powerful and popular personality. A servant of G-d, a Christian, Dr. Robert Schuller. And again, the same explains why we are so at home with our very honorable guests, the representatives and members of the Focolare movement. What is Islam? The Prophet was asked that question. And his reply was, Islam is to believe in G-d, to believe in G-d, to witness that there is one G-d. And he said, Islam is to pray to that G-d. And he said, Islam is to give in charity. And he said, Islam is to fast the month of Ramadan, the month in which the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad 14 centuries and some years ago. And he said that Islam is to visit the house. The house is a house built by Prophet Abraham, Upon the Prophets be peace. And his son, who's also a Prophet called Ishmael in the Bible and Ishmael in Arabic language. Ibrahim, the Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ishmael built that house. It was a house built for the worship of G-d, the One G-d, a house built for all people. Allah says in our Holy book, that it is a house Buni Al Linas, built for all people. Buni Al Linas. And that house was not built for blacks, or for whites, or for reds, or for browns. The house was built for humanity, for all people. The house wasn't built for Muslims as such. The house was built for all people. It is a sign, it is a house that serves the human life of all people.

G-d says, any person, any human being, Li nas, the people at large will find in that house great benefits. And it is a place of security and peace. Security and peace. This is our religion. Our religion doesn't say that all of this started for particular people. It started for all people.

For all people. And G-d says of the Qur'an, that it is not the guidance for one people. It is Hudan Linas. It is guidance for all the people. And I'm only using these Arabic terms for those who speak Arabic and know Arabic in the audience. And we do have some, and usually those who speak Arabic and know Arabic in my audience are those that are quick to misinterpret what I say. So that's why I use some Arabic also. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. I think it's a language barrier or something. For all people. Here we turn towards in a direction in prayer, seeing in our view mentally or when we visit the area physically, a simple little one cubicle building that used to house many idols, many G-ds of the pagans that they made an idol and formed out of clay, wood, or whatever, stone. But now it is clear and empty. As Abraham cleared the house of false G-ds, our Prophet Muhammad cleared that house of all the false G-ds that the pagan Arabs had put into that house. So now there is nothing on the inside. It's empty. It is an empty house. It's empty on the inside. Only the air is in there.

It's empty on the inside. And there's a small cubicle place, a small cubicle that's we call the home. It's translated the house, but actually ask any Arabic speaking person, what does bait mean and he will say home. Al Bait, the home. And home in English touches us a little deeper than house. Anyone can have a house, but you have to make a home. You have to work hard at it too. For all people it says. And then G-d says in the Qur'an I repeat-This is guidance for all people. Our Holy book is guidance for all people. And the last chapter of our Holy Book reads, is a prayer really for protection, for G-d's protection from the evil one, the Satan and his evil subjects that obey him. Says Say, I see refuge, a place of safety with the Lord of all people, with the Lord of all people-Rabbi Nas. With the Lord of all people. So here is our Holy book beginning with these words. This is guidance for sure. It is guidance for sure, for any who will respect G-d, who reverence G-d. For any who reverence G-d. And it goes on to say, to give other characteristics of this particular type of person. And I find those characteristics in good Christians

And in good Jews too. And in the text of the Qur'an, more than once in the second chapter, Qur'an, this is guidance. And more than once, this is guidance us for all people. Huda Li Nas. I gave it all for those who speak Arabic or who read the Qur'an in Arabic. So how can we have a state of the Muslim address without including in that address a very serious interest in the spiritual state and the spiritual condition of all people? Muslim Christian relations began as I see it, with Prophet Muhammad and his time of trial and suffering. 14 centuries and almost 20 years ago. That time saw Muslims receiving political asylum. Political asylum, a place of refuge, a place of safety from the Christian head of the country we know today to be Ethiopia. Ethiopia. Muhammad the Prophet, Upon him be the Prayers and the Peace, sent a small group of followers as an envoy to seek refuge and protection from the murderous hands of the pagan Arabs of Mecca. When Allah missioned Muhammad the Prophet to be His servant and His Messenger, a mercy to all the worlds, there were no people calling themselves Muslims on this earth.

Remember that. I don't care what Minister Farrakhan tell you. Remember that. There were no people calling themselves Muslims on this earth. They didn't know that name. That began with the preaching of our Prophet Muhammad, that people started to call themselves Muslims. Now we have to take that name seriously because as Muslims, we are told that every human being is Muslim. The word means wanting peace and wanting to be at peace. And we know that you can't have that peace until you find your peace with your G-d, with your Maker, with your Lord, with your Creator. So that's what the word is all about. But the one who accepts the peace with his G-d, he automatically then is in a condition to work for peace with his fellow man.

So why we firstly seek a peace with G-d, automatically, we accept that a Muslim is one who wants peace with other human beings. He wants peace with the order of creation that G-d made. He doesn't want to be an enemy of G-d's works, handiworks it's called in the Bible I think. He doesn't want to be an enemy of G-d's handiworks. He wants to be the friend. He wants to be at peace with G-d's handiworks, the whole creation, everything in the heavens and everything on earth. This is a Muslim. This is what Muslim means. Now, if Muslim is the identity that is inherent or in everybody, us and everybody, then we can understand why G-d doesn't address us all the time Muslim, Muslim, Muslim. But He address us all the time. Believers, believers, believers. How many times have you read the Qur'an, any part of it where G-d says "Oh Muslims." Very, very rare. But G-d says, "Oh believers." Allah with the message of the Qur'an, He wants us to know that he has believers in heaven who were Christians, who were Jews and who were others. Their in heaven. And He showed it to our Prophet. He showed our Prophet the heavens. And our Prophet said he saw Christians and Jews in heaven.

The Peace and the blessing be on him. Praise be to Allah. So, he sent the group of followers to get help from Christians. This is the beginning of our knowledge of how Muslims should have good, friendly, brotherly ties with Christians. Here is the persecuted following, very small. The Prophet only had a very small number of believers with him at that time. Seeking, Iin fact, they were sent by him. He sent them to Ethiopia, called at that time the land of the Habashi. He sent them to Ethiopia to get protection from the pagans. Pagan Arabs or Arab pagans. I don't know how to put that. I think I should say pagan Arabs. I want to soften it because they're still Arabs and some of them want to be pagan. I'll soften it. Pagan Arabs.

Yes. And what happened? Let us continue. They were seeking protection from the murderous, hands of the pagan Arabs of Mecca, the native city, native town where our Prophet was born.

They shared with the Christian Head of the State the Qur'anic readings on the person of Christ Jesus, Upon him be peace. And on the person of the Virgin mother Mary, Upon her be peace. What they read from the Qur'an convinced this Christian Head of State of their innocence, where upon he granted them political asylum, a safe place out of the reach of their pagan enemies. I choose to build upon this earliest record as a first lesson for Muslims in dialogue and in peace building with Christians. We must build upon that first lesson. We must not go to the Christians telling them what we have in difference, what we have as our differences. We must go to them as that envoy went to them, stressing what we have in common, what we have that's the same. Islam 2000 is the title of a book authored by Murad Hoffman. Murad is a Muslim name, Murad Hoffman, and published by Humana Publications in Belleville, Bellville Maryland. I'm sure many of you as all of our leaders, I'm sure you know about Humana Publications in Maryland. A big facility there that's doing a great job of printing, making possible the publication of many good books on Islam and on the image of Muslims, to correct the false idea that we have in the air about Muslims as terrorists and as bad people.

Chapter six of his book is titled, How to Avoid Catastrophe and Serve Islam. Now I quote this book from that chapter: We should be appreciative of any effort and serve Islam. We should be appreciative of any effort to stem the new tide of national or cultural chauvinism. National, or cultural chauvinism. Now here is an author that represents many others, Imams scholars, lecturers in Islam, writers in Islam, who believe that the great problem for us as Muslims when it comes to really knowing our own identity correctly, is the confusion that comes into our religion. From our habits, from our tradition, cultural traditions, from our nationalism, et cetera. And the same is the problem for our relationship with non-Muslims. They see not so much of our religion all the time. They see our customs that are really in conflict with our religion. They see our racial dress, they see our cultural dress, they see our nationalism, and they take that to be Islam because we think now it's Islam. We have gotten off track, we have lost ourselves. We think that's Islam too. So, we show them something that we have fabricated, that we have put over ourselves like a shroud covering the real person beneath the shroud. And we show that to the world and we say that's Islam and it's not.

This author goes on to say the Pope and high clergy of the Protestant Churches now make a point of addressing the Muslim community every year at the end of Ramadan with frequent messages. And the Muslims frequently reciprocate with invitations to the Christians to visit Muslim Mosque. This is a new day. In Washington, DC recently during the month of Ramadan, the First Lady, Ms. Hillary Clinton, visited with our Muslims during the time of Ramadan.



