12/07/1987
IWDM Study Library
Interview: IWDM on The Family Houston TX

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Ibrahim: As-Salaam-Alaikum. May the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you. Dear beloved people, it's good to see you again. Thank you for being with us. I know that you will not be disappointed and I have a very special guest with us today, as a matter of fact, I have two special guests. The first guest is Imam W. Deen Mohammed and he is a Muslim world leader. He travels all over the country teaching the message about Islam to millions of people.
Recently Imam Muhammad was selected to serve on the Supreme Islamic Council of Mosque which is headquartered in Mecca, Arabia. I know that many of you are familiar with the Imam Mohammed now. We are going to discuss some of the problems that are causing great difficulty for many people in America and around the world, especially in family life.
We also have with us Brother Imam Eugene W. Farooq. He is a chaplain with the Texas Department of Corrections. Beloved brothers I'd like to thank you for being on our program and taking off from your busy schedules to be here.
Farooq: It's a pleasure.
W. Deen: A very good opportunity for us to be with you.
Ibrahim: Thank you, Brother. Brother Imam I would like to continue our discussion of the importance of good morals in society especially the family life because we see so many problems concerning the families. We see the breaking up of families, divorces and so forth and so on. It's very important that all the good information that can be given to the people as a whole would perhaps help them to get a grip on their own their life and protect and preserve that family life.
Now, the first question I have for you is concerning so many divorces these days. You read in the newspapers, the magazines and you see it and hear it on television about the breaking up of families and I noticed it causes quite a problem for the children. More so, for the children than anyone else. Parents abusing their children and children abusing their parents and sometime it reaches the point of murder. What I would appreciate if you would do brother Imam is to give us some advice concerning this according to the religion of Al-Islam. The principles.
W. Deen: Yes, but the best advice as always with for religious people, is always the advice that G-d gives. G-d says to us to the believers in al-Islam to save ourselves and our families from the fire.
Ibrahim: That's right.
W. Deen: Yes. We have to understand that the burden that today's life places on the soul and a spirit of the individual is so great that perhaps it's going to take generations before we can handle this burden with ease. When my mother was raising us the burden on the individual was much less and we saw her as a terribly burden woman. She was taking care of us seven children and finally eight which was my youngest brother came was eight of us. Washing clothes, cleaning the house, preparing the meals, giving advice, teaching us as our mother, giving us teachings of a mother and we thought she was tremendously burdened.
When I look at the women of today with the many interests that they have in life and in order to feel that you're getting your fair share you have to accept so many things in your life. My mother didn't have to be bothered with all these many things. Worrying about so many things. Life is just under a much greater burden now than it was when I was a boy. We have to understand that and hope that we can come from religious teachings, from religious light and do the best we can but we never should expect that it's an easy job. We never should except that we're going to make a lot of progress with people, changing their lives all overnight because this is a terrible time that we're living in for traditional values. The pressure of just fast-paced, life a complex life. The city life is just too much for the spirit of the average person.
Ibrahim: Well, are you saying in your statement that maybe the greatest concern right now would be the moral aspect of life? Is that what I'm getting from you?
W. Deen: Well yes but no I'm saying that the greatest need on our part is understanding of the situation. We have to understand the situation today.
Ibrahim: I see. Okay.
W. Deen: Be patient and do the best we can to impart the right kind of teachings and understanding but don't expect big results overnight. Right.
Ibrahim: You're right because patience is something, a virtue we really have to have to deal with these problems.
W. Deen: Yes, I sympathize with individuals today. The person that I used to call sinful, I don't call him sinful today. No, because when you consider the pressures of life on a big city dweller today. I think he's doing a great job if he's keeping one-tenth of the virtues that the man had when the towns were small and easy to live in.
Ibrahim: I see your point. I really do.
[laughter]
Thank you for that. Brother Imam Farooq, you said you had a special question you wanted to ask him?
Eugene W: Yes sir. I was just thinking of and wanted to comment on what he mentioned about it being so burdensome in the home for the mother. If you reflect back to the life of Prophet Muhammad may peace of Allah be upon him, he relieved that burden in the home by helping out. He would help his wife clean the home and he would darn his own socks I've read this in his history. He would do many other things and he was very patient. He was a very patient man. If we look to this example it would help a lot in the home and those burdensome situations that the wife may run into. You'll find now that the wife she has to do everything. She has to do the cleaning, she has to do the cooking and the way the economy is now in most cases she has to work.
W. Deen: That's not the case for all cultures though. I used to think that it was just the case for everybody but it's not. In traveling around, I've found that different cultures, different ethnic groups they have the same kind of interests in sharing that burden. The male and the female sharing that burden. I've been into Christian homes where the male shared that burden. Really that's not an exclusive thing for Muslims where the male shares that some of the duties of the of the home.
In the old country, in Europe and many of the males they are expected, when the guest comes they expected to prepare the meals. The woman is there as a kind of looking over his shoulder but he's the one that's preparing the meals. He's working in the kitchen and the same thing for people in the Middle East and Asia. The males will be doing much of that work and not only that when the mother is tired up the male also will be helping her by taking care of the children, attending the need of the children the best he can.
In cultures, not only outside of America but outside of the big cities. Right here in America, you can find religious people Christians and others who still follow that way of life in the home. Where the male is expected to come in and give the mother or the female of the household who's responsible for the household give her a hand and not to accept that this is her responsibility and no matter whether the house is coming apart or not the children are screaming you know he just sit there and wait for her to get control of that. That's not the case with most cultures.
Ibrahim: Yes, I can see that.
W. Deen: This is a city problem we have.
Ibrahim: Thank you brother Imam.
W. Deen: That's the way I see it that could be wrong. [laughs]
Ibrahim: That sounds excellent to me. I can see where that attitude would solve a lot of problems and help balance the home life.
W. Deen: I've tried to be that kind of male in my household.
[laughter]
I try too.
Ibrahim: Okay now, I got a subject I want to get to that's going to take a little time so let's get at it.
W. Deen: Yes.
Ibrahim: Polygamy in Al-Islam. Now, Brother Imam polygamy in al-Islam is greatly misunderstood because I can hear that in programs and movies and different things where they mention this pertaining to Muslims.
W. Deen: Yes.
Ibrahim: I find that the concept of polygamy has been greatly distorted.
W. Deen: It has.
Ibrahim: So that people think of it as a perversion and not for what it really is.
W. Deen: Yes.
Ibrahim: I would appreciate it very much if you would speak to us because polygamy needs to be protected against perversion.
W. Deen: Certainly, first of all, we must understand that and for the Judeo-Christian history polygamy was the way of life until the coming of the gospel teachings. Jesus Christ, upon him, be peace, brought in the monogamy. One wife. The church introduced monogamy, one wife. There are denominations of Christianity that don't believe that polygamy is to be shunned or to be looked down upon. There are denominations of Christianity a few of them that practice polygamy.
Ibrahim: Now?
W. Deen: Yes.
Ibrahim: Okay.
W. Deen: Certainly, I'm not going to name any but I'm sure you're aware of some.
Ibrahim: Yes.
W. Deen: Now, first of all, polygamy in our religion was not introduced to satisfy the desire in man-
Ibrahim: I see. Okay.
W. Deen: -for more than one sexual partner. It was introduced as a remedial measure to remedy a situation of many women without husbands and with children. Victims of war, victims of poverty, victims of ignorance, the ignorant abuse of men by men. These women who were the burden of society were helped by the introduction of polygamy in Al-Islam. Under polygamy that restricted the number of wives that a man can have. We can't say it was a movement in favor of polygamy.
Ibrahim: I understand.
W. Deen: It was a movement to restrict polygamy. To place restrictions upon polygamy.
Ibrahim: Right.
W. Deen: Heavy restrictions upon polygamy. First of all, the limit of wives are four. Whereas men before in that part of the world could have any number of wives he wanted as long as they accepted him, you see? Any number of wives and I don't want to point to any particular figures but we know there are figures in biblical history who had just hundreds of wives.
Ibrahim: Yes, I remember reading that.
W. Deen: Yes, Al-Islam did not come to favor polygamy it came to restrict polygamy, to dignify polygamy and make polygamy work for the moral good of the society. For the moral good of the society by encouraging only men of noble standing, men of financial means, men of strong moral character to have compassion on women with children and no way to survive in the society.
Ibrahim: I can see that.
W. Deen: They were encouraged to marry. Allah says in the holy book, in our book. The Book of Allah, the Quran. Allah says, "And marry women one, two, three, four." The four is the limit but if you feel that you can't be just by the orphans then marry only one. That clearly established that the main purpose of this remedial measure was to care for women who were mothers of children who had no fathers with them and no way to survive with dignity in the society. Yes. That's first of all and then as you know Allah says in the Quran whether it's polygamy or one wife where there it's one, two, three or four are one. Allah says, "And do not marry out of lust." If lust, sexual lust, lust is a motivation, my marriage is not recognized in Quran.
My marriage is not recognized in this religion if lust is the motivation. If there's a man who wants more than one wife to satisfy his sexual desire he is not to be recognized. His marriage he may take on another one for that purpose but if we know that, then his marriage has no respect in our religion.
Ibrahim: I see.
W. Deen: If he takes on another wife because his first wife needs help in the house, she needs someone to share her burden with the husband. Many women have husbands that they can't satisfy. They can't satisfy his needs that they feel obligated to satisfy. He's a businessman they would like to entertain his guests they don't have the business ability to entertain his guests. He's a businessman. I'm not saying that Quran addresses it, Quran doesn't address this. I'm talking about traditional reasons now for having more than one wife.
Ibrahim: I understand.
W. Deen: Go beyond just take care of the orphans. A man has a wife and she's mentally non-functional but he loves her and he still prefer to live with her and she prefers to live with him. He can't think of putting her in a home or putting her in an asylum.
Ibrahim: I see. I can see that.
W. Deen: She's not that crazy and he can manage with her better than the doctor can. He wants to keep his wife. His wife wants to stay with him but she will accept him to have another wife. A functional wife. Muslim men have been known to marry another wife because one wife is non-functional. They have several reasons why man is justified to have more than one wife. Now, if our views some of them were found on this, I tell them to look at America's sexual life. If they don't find more something's wrong.
Ibrahim: Yes, I can understand that. Now, you really had me going there I almost lost my spot here. It seems to me that polygamy and you really hit on it at the last part. It seems to me that polygamy, as is practiced in Al-Islam, could be the solution to many problems here in America, in our society.
W. Deen: Maybe not the first step but it's a step. The first step we need in African-American community is to have social reform. I'm talking about social reform I'm not talking about socialism. I'm talking about we need to return our family life to social values. Social values for the family. We need to appreciate the social role of the mother in the family. We need to appreciate the social role of the father in the family. We need to appreciate the value of children carrying on our tradition, carrying on our values, inheriting our principles, inheriting our future vision for ourselves as family people. Not for the world but we should have a vision for our family.
We should have someplace we want to take our family. An improvement, a road for improving our family. We should we should have a road for improving our family and we should cherish the children and we should want to deposit in them all that we have of value so that our values will live after we are gone. We need to return to the social values family life of the home and the family life. We need to do that first. Then after we do that we need to care for our orphans. We need to care for our women. We need to take away this embarrassment of so many black children looking for homes and other races have to take our babies in.
Ibrahim: You're right.
W. Deen: We need to take care of that and Islam may be a real factor.
Ibrahim: I see your point
[laughter]
It's much better than what I was really thinking. Brother Imam, we don't have a lot of time left. What I would like to do, is talk about the books that you had out because I really know that people would benefit from reading those books and I would like to also talk about the Muslim Journal. The newspaper that we produced and because it's a worldwide newspaper, people should know about it.
W. Deen: We feel very good about it. We have a paper that's improving all the time.
Ibrahim: It is. Believe me, it is.
W. Deen: Yes.
Ibrahim: Now, I'd like to talk about your book. The latest book, That's the African-American Genesis and African American Genesis, and some of the topics that are in it. I would like to know after I name a few of the topics, I would like to know what motivated you to write the book on those particular topics. Now, the first one is, “No Racism in Al-Islam”. You make that plain. That the people who believe in the religion of Al-Islam do not believe in racism, and we do not practice it. The second is, “The Struggle against Oppression”, and I know that you had one topic here that was very enlightening and interesting, and that's called, “The Culture Shock”. The Culture Shock. After I read it I could see how that is a problem, especially with people coming in from other countries and coming right into a society. That's so different from the one they left, and the effect that it has. Perhaps I'll stop at that point and you could just let us know what motivates you.
W. Deen: Well, I'll try to back up through what you've said. First of all, the way that I address cultural shock, you say what motivated me to do these things? Alvin Toffler, he wrote a book, “Cultural Shock: The Future for America”, and then he came back with a second book on the same thing, Cultural Shock. What he pointed to there was that industry, technology, was moving so fast that it was going to produce cultural shock for the people, citizens of America, and the world.
Kamala: I can see that.
W. Deen: Yes. We don't have the time to go into it, but to me it was a very enlightening point that he brought out for us to go into the future with. Our Muslim brothers over in Saudi Arabia and Mecca, in assisting us with Islamic teachings, and providing Islamic training programs for us in Saudi Arabia, in Holy Mecca and Medina. They have found it necessary to tell the students who are coming over for the programs that they are going to experience some cultural shock.
Ibrahim: Yes, I can see that.
Deen W: I use those observations by Alvin Toffler, and also by the heads of the Islamic programs for a newly converse of the African American community, to really say that by the same reasoning we have to understand, then, that the fast pace of life in American presents a heavier burden for the African-American than for other Americans. Or for the people who are farthest away from the steering mechanisms. Those who are farthest away from the steering mechanisms that are taking our society so fast into the future. They're the ones who suffer the burden the most. They're the least prepared for it, and people who were brought over from Africa, we were brought over from Africa, and suddenly put into a Western culture, most will experience some cultural shock at that point. Ever since then, the movement from the south to the north, we must have experienced cultural shock. Then the movement from the small cities into the big cities, we rush too quick from small towns into big towns. We weren't prepared at all for the cultural shock. Much of the malfunction in African-American people, in terms of being able to take control, man the home life, is due to not being prepared for the cultural shock that America, and the change from Africa to America, the change from the south to the north has presented.
Ibrahim: I can see that.
W. Deen: Yes. Now, that's the one point. Backing up still a little more.
Ibrahim: Okay.
W. Deen: At the same time, I'm going to go right to the first. You mentioned the Genesis.
Ibrahim: Yes.
Eugene W: The idea for the Genesis came from this belief. I believe that the biggest burden on the soul, the spirit, of African-American people as a whole is the burden for sunlight, understanding to come to them on their identity. We call ourselves black people now, but we are no more comfortable with our identity, with our own recognition or perception of our identity than we were when we called ourselves Negros.
Ibrahim: I can see that.
W. Deen: In fact, from my experience, especially with the middle class, the professionals, the leaders, from my experience with them, the situation for the mentality, the mind and spirit, of African-American people is worse now during this time we're calling ourselves black people than it was for us when we called ourselves Negros.
Ibrahim: Brother Imam, I don't want to stop you, but we're almost at the end and I want to introduce those other two books.
W. Deen: If I may, because I don't like to leave this hanging.
Ibrahim: Yes. Go right ahead.
W. Deen: When I said Genesis, I mean we need to go back and rethink everything and find a comfortable identity for ourselves. At least understand the identity problem for ourselves, and then some leaders go forward to bring about a genesis. A revival of the spirit for intellectual products to come from African-American people. For understanding to come on the nature of the African-American person, his spirit and where he should be going. All that's needed, that's the genesis that I would like to see come about.
Ibrahim: Okay. Thank you very much, Brother Imam. I'm sorry I had to rush you on that.
Eugene W: It's okay. No.
Ibrahim: Dear beloved people I want to be sure that you see the other book and the newspaper that we produce. I hope you can show it at this time as we close out. Thank you very much for being with us, and we'll see you on our next broadcast. As-Salaam-Alaikum. May the peace of Almighty G-d be upon you. Thank you.
[00:27:45] [END OF AUDIO]

