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IWDM Study Library
From Africa to America-An Islamic Perspective

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Peace be on you, as Muslims greet, as-salaamu alaykum. We praise G’d the one and only for us and all people. We witness that he alone is G’d and do worship, that is, worship is owed only to him. And we witness that Muhammad, the last prophet, the messenger of Allah and the mercy to all the world, he is a mortal human being, the messenger of G’d, and not a divine person, or not a G’d himself but a mortal human being that G’d gave us as a model of our human excellence. We witness that he is the messenger of G’d and we pray the prayers, and the peace be on him, amen.
Let me first say that we are very pleased with our visit to this lovely and beautiful historical city of Charleston, South Carolina. We are so pleased with it, until we are already making plans to come back with family members just for a week or two of relaxation and discovery.
I have seen so many of your faces already that I know very well, especially the imams. We want to say to you that we certainly appreciate the strong support that you give the Muslim community of America and our propagation efforts. 
We have a topic that we are very, very much interested in---not only for the Charleston Muslim community, but also for the Charleston African-American community, and, really, for the African-American community all over these United States. A few years ago, it came to me that our people have wanted a day in the calendar year to celebrate our life. We say, our heritage, our ethnicity, but I'd like to say our life, as a people. The excellence of that life originating for us as a racial group on the mother continent we call Africa and extending now into America, and well established and growing in America; and we have to include the Caribbean and some other places.
So we hope that one day we will be a part, not the leaders, but a part of an effort to celebrate the excellence of the African family tree; the excellence of our traditional life, at least one day yearly, one day yearly, a one-day celebration. It was thought that we are interested in doing this as Muslims and that was an era for which I am partly responsible myself, I guess. Because when we put things together it is automatically expected that we are going to lay claim to it as being all ours. This desire is not all ours and many other things that we will be talking about today are not all ours.
I like to greet the African-American audience always as an honorable audience. And if there are any non-blacks or non-African-Americans in the audience, we definitely are greeting you too when we say honorable audience. And I like the term honorable audience because we have been people who've been dishonored; people who've been discredited, dishonored; people who have been really denied our inherent dignity during the ugly years on this continent and in the Southern part, especially in the southern part of the United States---those years of slavery and after.
In fact, it is only recently in the history of our people in America that we have started to believe that America is equally for us---we didn't believe that years ago. We thought that America was for white folks and we thought that America would never accept us as equal citizens. But thank G’d for good American people of all colors, and especially for the efforts of civil rights leaders and Garveyites and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's people for the efforts of all those who protested that very strongly. We are grateful to them who made sacrifices too of life, money and everything to bring about a better day for us in America. We are grateful to all of them for this change that we appreciate so much.
But we have to realize that this has not been the case-- only in recent years, only for our present young generation is this thing new and the past is non-existent. But for us the past does exist. And we believe, like many African-American leaders who are not all Muslims, we believe that if we forget that past, or separate completely from that past and not pass on to our children, this new generation of ours, the knowledge of what happened from Africa to America, we will be making a terrible mistake.
I would like to mention, also, that I find it very pleasing to read in the profile that I was given by the imam that was sent to me, mailed to me, and also with the cooperation of my public relations people, especially brother Marzook Al Ja’amee who is based in Dallas Texas. That information to me was very helpful and I was very pleased to read that most of the blacks---in quotation, "blacks"---most of us here are homeowners, and this is unique for us in the United States. We do not find that-- I do not know of any other place in the United States where that would be so. Also, I am very pleased to know that the African-American people are the black people who came from Africa, brought from Africa, we should say, as slaves; more correctly, we were brought from Africa in ships to be sold as slaves here; and were sold in the markets here as slaves to the whites who needed slave labor. That is great; I think, for us to know that you were used in industry. Many parts, most of the parts of the South were used just as farm labors and domestic servants. But here, I think you are very special for that, although I know a few other places, our people were used in industry. They were used to build constructions. They were used as carpenters, bricklayers and iron workers.
And they tell me, that much of the work that we look at when we go through the city of beautiful Charleston we are looking at the work of African-American people. It is gratifying, very pleasing also to know that of the 31% of the population that you represent, you represent also 30% of the workforce in beautiful Charleston. This is not to say that you're happy here, I know better. You didn't tell me that, I had to read about those things. 
I hope that you have patience with me, I don't intend to give a long talk; a brief talk. But have patience with me as I take my time and deliver this brief address. We, Muslims, believe that our "first father”---and I put "first father" in quotations and you'll understand why---was created for obedience to G’d. G’d who made everything, all humans, all men, and all women. In conjunction with that, as Muslims we believe our "first father" was created to think production, to think establishment, to think progress and to think security.
We praise G’d and we say Alhamdulillah, we praise G’d for revelation, for revealing to the prophets his plan, his purpose, and his direction for all human beings. And we accept that the father for us, African-Americans or blacks, is the father for all people. Education for us is sacred. Education begins in the created body of knowledge by the meaning here for body of knowledge is the world as G’d created it. We believe that the sun, moon and stars, and everything outside and in space, including the Earth and all that's within the Earth was created by one and the same G’d the creator who's one and one alone.
And we believe that in the act of creation, in carrying out or effecting the act of creation itself, G’d produced for us the biggest, the best, and the truest body of knowledge. A full view of the concept of knowledge should have in focus basic true-to-nature-real-world definitions. It should show us the processes of nature and should bring us to see the utility for us, for the human beings, for the human community in that great body of knowledge. Allah, most high G’d, says that “he has made useful to you and has made whatever is in the skies and in the Earth to yield to you, to yield to you, to give its service to you”, G’d says that.
Whatever he has made in the skies and in the Earth, he has made it to yield to you, to every human being, to yield to us; only if we use our good nature and our good senses can we get that benefit. He has made everything to yield its utility up for our benefit. We look at the world we call the modern world, the western world and we see how the western world has utilized the knowledge that G’d created. How the western world has utilized the knowledge that G’d created and has advanced industry, science, technology, and improved upon the state of human being on this Earth. We see that.
We should see that not as the gift of white man---Muslims, we should see that not as the gift of the white man, we should see that not as the gift of scientists and industry; we should see that as the gift of G’d. That is the gift of G’d. I don't think we can appreciate our life as an ethnic or racial group in the way that we should appreciate our life until we first understand the reality we call the natural reality, or the created world that G’d made, with us in it included in it. 
G’d want us to see ourselves as individuals and also as community. And G’d wants the utility that he created that we call the universe, the great body of knowledge from which everything else comes, that benefits man and our human life---except revelation that G’d sent directly from himself through the angels, to men.
G’d want us to see that utility coming to us for our community. The community of the African-Americans, or even more importantly, for the community of the people, the whole United States, the nation, and even more importantly, for the community we call the international community. When we look at this word community, we see---we may come by two words: “come” “unity”, C-O-M-E, come unity---community come unity. Well, that is what I'd like to say to my African-American brothers and sisters come unity. Come unite, come unite for the establishment of the human individual in society.
This is the aim, purpose for real democracy; it is to establish the individual person, the individual human being in the society. That, I believe, is the greatest gift or the greatest use or benefit we find in our religion of Islam when we study the Qur’aan, our holy sacred book. When we study it and study the life of Mohammed the prophet, the greatest use, benefit that I see coming to us is the knowledge of how to grow into a truly just society. A truly fair and just society where the individual will be focused, and his right to have establishment in the society is focused. To me, that is the best benefit that our religion offers.
The concept of knowledge or, I repeat, the body of knowledge offers the definition of life. More than that, our life purpose and our “social responsibility”---this for Muslims is a very important word. Our prophet Mohammed the prayers, and peace be on him, he said that to marry is half the religion, to marry is half the religion. I believe the scholars in Islam will agree with me that to marry means to accept your “social responsibility” as half of your religion.
I would like now to address something very unique for us as African-Americans. I'm speaking of those African-Americans who were inspired, called first, C-A-L-L-E-D, called by the Honorable Elijah Mohammed and inspired by his word or his teaching. That group, we have something, I think, that is very unique. Not that other African-Americans don't have it, they do. I'm talking about the desire for self discovery, the desire for self discovery. The desire for self discovery was ignited by W. Fard, also called W. Fard Muhammad; the same man is called WD Fard. I don't know if all Muslims that share this experience with us or identify in this history with us---those of the so called Nation of Islam today. And I say, "So-called", because we only have one true nation of Islam, and that is the one that has one billion members. It is an international nation of Islam.
I don't know if you agree with the expression satirical; satire, you know, is a word we find in literature. The one who produces satire is actually covering up his work; he is hiding his works, he hides it under satire. We find that some of the greatest criticism, some of the most appreciated criticism of oppressors and oppressive life, dictators and oppressive life that they create for us, bad life they create for their subjects some of the best criticism has been put into that language we call satire. I'm convinced after studying Fard for all of these years, that he put his work in that form of literature we call satire.
But the people he call to his voice were not on a level of education to understand that kind of work; the work of a satirist. So he could not really introduce himself as he should have been introduced, or he could not introduce himself correctly at that time. We know this of him, that he himself said, he was not introducing himself correctly at that time when he was among the African-American people, teaching them and making the Honorable Elijah Muhammad his minister, or his supreme minister, or his spokesperson. He was not introducing himself correctly according to his own words.
And he put it in this language, he said to the followers back then, he said, "You see me now in the clothes of the white man," he said, "one day you'll see me in my royal robes, royal robes." We were informed by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad that what he meant was, that he wore the clothing of the West and that he came in disguise as a white man to fool the white society; to fool this white society. We thought that it just meant his complexion, his skin color. That he had the skin color that would deceive this white society and make them believe that he was a white man.
I have come to understand that he was talking about his work, his literary works. He put his literary works together, in a way that would make the white learned people in education or in literature think that he came as they would come. When the truth of the matter is that he put into his teachings the germ or the suggestion for bringing us into true Islam. But it was a big risk and that's why he said, "Oops, I missed that time." …Thank you, thank you (he is given some water as he clears his throat). I hope you're hearing me clearly out there. They have got a lot of receivers here.
With his satire on the evils of the white race, and the nature of the black, the original man, he ignited in us a strong desire to discover ourselves or a desire for self discovery. Except for Fard’s own contribution to our work or desire of self discovery, I think that being made slaves here in this country was the second most powerful influence for self discovery in us.
To take a people from their past, and then raise them as babies, and deny them any connection with their past as a people free or as a people before slavery, has the power, the influence or the effect of igniting in the thinking ones of that people a desire to get back to the original point of origin and discover self again. I must repeat that Fard made a contribution to that when he gave his teachings of the origin of man and identified the ones who brought or put us in bondage as an inherently wicked or people wicked, wrong by nature, and identified us as innocent people, a G’dly people; or by identifying us as the original man. And if I can point to what I appreciate and still appreciate most in the Nation of Islam works or in Fard's works, I must point to that, that what it did was ignite in us a desire to think and discover ourselves.
That desire is still burning in us; still burning in me the desire to think and discover myself, to know myself better. We received a lot of help, but the way it was given to us makes it difficult for people that are not informed on a high level of education. We were told that our original self is “a righteous Muslim”.
And we were told that “the black man is the first man or the original man”. I would like to say to you today that the only truth in that statement is the truth that every man can appreciate, no matter what color his skin may appear to be, black literally, white literally, brown, red, yellow, no matter what color his skin is literally, the truth in that statement is a truth that all men can appreciate. Because what it is talking about is not the physical color, when it says original man, it is talking about the original consciousness of man.
The problem for us is not in our pigmentation; the problem for us in our consciousness. If we have weak conscience or corrupt conscience, and this is a kind of a contradiction because the term conscience usually suggests something good. But we know that we have many people in society---and it always has been---who are conscious, but they are bad as hell. Then what we are talking about when we say “original conscious”, we are talking about man's first state of mind where he is a baby, a baby in his mental makeup, and he is not distrustful, he is trustful.
He does not have knowledge; the world has not given him any knowledge yet. He has no light in his brain to go by, he does not even a have flash light of learning. So he is a black child in that sense, he is a black baby in that sense, he is “original”---I hope you understand. But G’d intended for us to have more than just that blackness or that faith in our future, in our intelligence, in our future, our mother and those we have to depend--.
[00:30:28] [END OF AUDIO]

