09/04/2004
IWDM Study Library
Convention Addressing our Youth 
Pts 1-3

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

David K Hasan: As-salamu alaykum brothers and sisters. Takbir.
All: Allahu akbar.
David K Hasan: Brother Imam, I believe is a new day. No question because I've asked two or three time for those individuals who is active to be present with Da’wa. So, apparently, we're going to get a new birth. Now, you have a new birth, before you leave it you hope and pray Allah that you have a new birth. So, we're going to have plenty of people to work by the Imam after you leave here. They want to be here, so they are here. All praises be to Allah. Thank you.
IWDM: We're back.

IWDM: Praise be to Allah. Yes. Again, as-salamu alaikum.
All: Alaykum as salamu.
IWDM: We praise G-d, the Lord sustainer of all the worlds. Who created the universe, everything therein, and created human beings as His special creation. The crown of His creation; human beings, to be his servants for their pleasure and for His pleasure. He says, "Return oh my servant to your Lord. Pleased and pleasing’. It means you're pleased with yourself and you are pleasing to your G-d. The two go together. We have to get out of this mind that, all we have to do is say our prayers and come to the mosque on Friday, read the Quran, doing Ramadan.
No. We have to work. When G-d says, all of you, speaking to people mankind. He said, on my service, Ib???, the plural of abd, my service. When G-d says that, He's saying that your life, should be a life in His plan and your life should be a life of a worker. You think a man would have a slave that doesn't work? He will sell him or give him back or kill him. When the Quran was revealed, it wasn't any new word that was found for servant or slave. The word didn't mean servant, it meant slave. Abd meant slave in the time of the Prophet. We read the history of the Prophet in those early days, where his wife paid to free more than 60 slaves at one time. At one time. She paid out of her personal money to free more than 60 slaves.
Abu Bakr, as you know is well known for paying the ransom, the money to get Bilal from his cruel slave master. The slave masters back then, call those persons that they had in their possession Abd. The Prophet didn't like the word Abd even after they had changed the attitude toward human beings. That is, they changed the attitude from that of thinking it’s, okay to take a person into your employment and have that person depend totally on you for his survival and livelihood. It was okay to call him a slave, Abd.
Once a man said Abd. He called a young man, He said, Abdi." Calling him to come here. The Prophet said, "Don't call him Abd, call him my son. Say my son, not my slave." The teaching of the prophet is, if you're going to have a slave, then feed that slave. This is a well know hadith. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, even let us knew these things. We learned this under the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. If you're going to have a slave, feed. I say these things because you all have one picture of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. But those who have been around a long time and saw him before he was in the news and everything. They know him in a very intimate way, a very close way, personal way that you don't know him. I want all of us to know the whole picture, see the picture for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. It's not fair to him, to see him just as a preacher pronouncing judgment on the world and telling you to separate and do for self, and the black man is the original power.
To see him in that picture and don't see him in the picture that make children love their father, make a wife love her husband. Not just a leader but a father, a husband. Make a brother love his brother. And that's what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was to the brothers that he worked with. He was their brother. He called them brother, and they know he meant it. I'm looking at some of them right now that knew my father personally, and he called them brother. He treated them just like he did his blood brother when they visit his home, and eat at his table.
He loved them and there was warmth between them. Elijah Muhammad, my father and his brothers that worked for him in the office of minister or captain or whatever it was. He could be tough, oh he could be tough. He didn't care if you were a brother, sister, or mother. He didn't care who you were. When you got in the way of what he was trying to accomplish, he didn't see nothing but a problem and he dealt with it. And that’s how he dealt with me his son.
Yes. So much for that. Now, getting back to our interest here. We want to know what Allah is pleased with. I think every soul wants to know that. Whether you think of it in your mind or not. Every human soul what to know what is my Maker pleased with. Because we want to do what pleases our Maker. We don't want to do what is against what our Maker wants for us. That's why we want to go to a religion. That's why we want to be at the services. He's not pleased with us, if we are not doing some kind of work. You have to be productive.
When Allah says to us in the Quran, and I put a little drawing here. It helps me to stay on course. When Allah says to us in the Quran that, "The parable or the likeness of the creation of human beings is the parable for a plant." Now, He didn't say which plant. But in scriptures, understand that the Quran is the scripture coming to further advance scripture that came before it.
The purpose is, the object is, to advance the people that are still present or living that belong to that movement, that scripture started in the human family or in the human race. To continue that and keep it going forward until it reaches its-- you might say destiny, destination, but the scripture talks about completion. Another word for it is fulfillment. Until it reaches its fulfillment.
Now, this is just an introduction here. This is just setting the mood. I like to set the mood for what we're going to do later. I hope what we are going to be doing all day or all our life. When Allah says that the likeness or a parable of our creation, human creation, is that of a plant. We should understand that the most important thing to see in that message is that a plant begins as a very cheap product.
How much it cost to buy one apple seed? But look what's in one apple seed. “Oh yeah, an apple.” No. An apple tree. An apple tree will bear many apples. And we will eat and enjoy the delicious fruit of that tree, apples. But it's not interested in only giving us something to eat. There are other animals that like apples too, and there're insects that like apples. So, it's feeding the little and the big. The little insignificant creatures and the big ones, bearing food for them. One little seed now, don't lose the picture. One little seed from one little apple seed came an apple tree. Never was the apple tree produced by two seeds. You listening children? I’m talking about these children over there about to go to sleep. They think this is not for them. This is what made Elijah Muhammad’s son Wallace D the man he is now, listening to a wisdom. And finding a way to live with it and have it work for me in my life, so I can help more people with their lives.
One little apple seed that we take for granted. Who will keep the apple seed? You just take your thumb and nab it off the table, right? It's on table, wipe it off. From that one little apple seed comes an apple tree. From the apple tree come bushels and bushels, bags and bags of apples that human beings eat but also lower or more inferior, weaker, smaller life to eat from it too eats the same. A bear will eat it.
But the tree didn't just produce an apple with a seed in it for more of the same. It also produced a big tree, an apple tree. The apple tree becomes a home for birds and other living things will come and eat from there, right? Before the apples comes and the blossom open up, a butterfly and a bee will come and they will get substance for their life and livelihood. Look at what that one seed has done.
And men will take the seed and hope that the product of the oak tree or a pine tree. One seed never two seeds producing it. Only one seed. One little thing. One little spec or one little grain. And men will learn how to make use of the body of that tree. Pine tree, oak tree, cedar tree, whatever. They we'll use it to build homes and bridges. Look what came from that one little seed. The materials that build bridges. They don't build bridges out of mostly wood now, they do it out of other thing, but many bridges are built today of the wood that comes from the tree. And the tree came from one little seed.
Now, it is said in the scriptures that came before, if you have so much faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could do wonderful things. You could do great things. African-American race, we have it in our soul, in our common soul, that's the collective soul of the people. You might call it the spirit of black people, but it's also a soul. We have it in our soul to do greater and bigger things because as a people, we haven't produced like the Irish produce, like the Italians produce, like other people produce. So, that's a burden on our soul that we carry as a people.
We have this hunger in our souls that some of you register, and some of you don't. Some of you are so interested in small dog and rat life, monkey and pig life. You're so interested in that, you can't be turned on to human life. You don't feel the burden of your people. Being naked and out of doors as an industrial agent for G-d on this planet earth like Adam. Peace be on him.
If you only have the faith of a mustard seed, a mustard seed can't even stay in its place. If you put it on the ground, it can't stay there after the wind blow a little strong. It's so light the wind will take it away. That's how small it is. In fact, me, I get to put on my glasses to see a mustard seed. Nowadays, my eyes are not strong enough to see a mustard seed right on the table. If it's on the table there I couldn't see it. I have to put on my glasses to find it.
That one little seed produces a bunch of plant like that. Thick plant like that. Some mustard seeds can produce enough mustard greens to fill up a basket. Am I right? Those who know farming and gardening, my mother made me a gardener when I was younger than my son is right now. Put me over the garden. Put me over the hen house too. We raised chickens and eggs right in Chicago on the Southside. The law wasn't against it back then, you could do that. You can't do it now, the law changed.
From one little seed, come all that plant. All of that plant produced. What is that saying? What is Jesus Christ saying in the Gospel to the Christians? What is it saying? It is saying, produce unless your faith produces something, your faith will not be given any value in the day of judgment. It will be counted for zero. You say, "I'm a believer." What are you producing? When G-d said that “He made us like a plant”. He's saying that He made you to come from little and insignificant life starting off with nothing. Nobody's impressed with you, nobody cares to know you. You're a nobody.
But if you will put your life in the right environment, get what Imam W.D. Muhammad and the workers behind me and with me, you will be in a circumstance for your growth and one day you'll be a producer. If you just stay with us, and stay in the mode that we're in. One day you're going to become a producer. Just like that seed needs to be put in the right circumstances. It can't grow if you put it on stone, it can't grow if you put it in a bucket of water, it can only grow if you put it in the circumstances that Allah created it for. Allah created you all to be in the circumstances that the honorable Elijah Muhammad put his son in or helped me get in.
You need to get in these circumstances that I'm in, if you want to live and grow. To be more than a youngster working for McDonald's, or a youngster riding around in a fine car with a few $100 in the bank and he's dead and nobody remember him at all. If you work in this community, you will go down in history. You will never be forgotten. We are going to see to that but if we don't, the world will.
Because the world has its eye on what the honorable Elijah Muhammad did and what he left and what W.D. Mohammed is doing with it now. The world has its eyes on it and even if we don't record it, the world is recording it. What is my point here? You are not in any small thing if you are with W.D. Mohammed, you are not in any small thing, you are in the most important thing that's happening on this earth now. You may say, “Oh, What Bush is doing is more important than what you're doing.” No, it's not. Bush come and go. This will stay. 

Now, when you look at the plant tree, the seed went in the ground and got a very shallow place, a little shallow place. A little bird come along and dig, a dog can scratch and take it out of its place but if G-d protects it to stay there that tree oak tree, cider tree, pine tree, even an apple tree, or cherry that seed is going to open up to what Allah wants it to do, Huh? When moisture, life, nothing but oxygen and hydrogen. That's what water is. H2O, hydrogen two, oxygen one. That's all it is and it comes together as a liquid, clear transparent liquid, tasteless liquid. Tasteless.
If we would have just come from outer space to Earth, we'd be looking for something valuable down here. We think, “what is this tasteless stuff?” We spit it out. But you stayed down here long enough, you're going to die because you can't live on here too long without it. And if you don't appreciate it, you can't grow anything. And if you don't grow anything, you won't have anything. That's right. If you don't grow anything, you won't have anything. Everything we got was grown. Those clothes you're wearing now were grown. If they're synthetic, they were made from something inside the earth and most likely oil and the oil came from life that the earth produced millions of years ago.
I'm speaking as a student of science right now. That should wake some of you up that are in school or has been in the school. From the oil, petroleum. They get most of the synthetic goods that we use right now. Acetate, whatever you wear, whatever your clothes are made out of that's not naturally produced in from the plant like wool from a sheep or like a cotton from the cotton seeds or cotton plant et cetera.
If it's not those naturally produced products artificially produced by experimentation with oil or some other natural thing, then most likely your fabric came from petroleum oil. It's a byproduct of petroleum oil. That's what It is. It came from living things that died millions of years ago and the fat did not dissolve. It would not go back to earth, so it created more and more in the earth until it forms basins, pools of oil beneath the surface and they drill down and they bring it up from things that died. Huge animals and other things that died and there's so much fat in there. It's called petroleum.
Now continuing, the seed, it's going to be a big tree. It opens up to moisture and for air and everything breathes. Everything living got to have air. Nothing lives before it gets water, it got to get water. Nothing can live before it gets water. And Allah says in the Quran, “and He began everything living from water”. And as it stands up now in science back then they didn't have the kind of science they have now. They had no formula H2O. That was not existing but Allah revealed to Muhammad an educated man in religion and in science. Revealed to him that everything began with water.
If you study the Bible, the Bible says. “There was nothing growing on the earth and G-d caused it to rain and from the ground sprung up living things. So, this seed falls on the earth and it stays in the shallow place. It's in a risky situation isn't it? Now, just imagine the American African American people, we were in slavery, right?
If you're African-American most likely your ancestor your father and mothers go back to slavery. The time when you were not free, they were a property of poor and sometimes poor and ignorant. Poor and ignorant. I mean ignorant in education. Poor and ignorant white folks who own them and use them to work their crop their lands and produce their crops whatever it was. Cotton, whatever, corn whatever it was. So, your ancestors go back there. You go back to that time and when they let us go free, we would like to see them going back.
We had no roots in the earth that produces all of our needs. But if you just will have an appetite to produce to live to establish yourself to spring up as somebody. In the right circumstances your life will take roots. Your life takes roots in this community when you love what Imam W.D. Mohammed is all about. When you love what Imam W.D. Mohammed is all about your life automatically take roots. You ain't got to think about it you ain't got to practice it, it'll happen to your life automatically as soon as love in your heart and soul comes for what Imam W.D. Mohammed is all about.
The rest is just like a natural heartbeat. Yes. You're going to live and you're gone grow and your life take root. Your roots will go deep and deeper deep and deeper. You look at a tree and if it's standing above the ground 30 feet most likely it's got one root, they make all the taproot going down at least 10 feet. Ten feet down into the earth. The more you want to go up the deeper you have to go down. Now, here we are spiritual folks, soul folks we want to go all the way up to heaven but we don't have nothing going down. Thank you very much. That concludes my introduction. I think I've set the mood very well. G-d is with me. Praise be to Allah.

Before I make a statement to you all on what we want for the workers who are working in the field of Dawah. It begins with the Imams but not only the Imams, the educators in our school system we have to have some of them well educated in the religion or in the study of the religion Al-Islam. So, we can have our schools and our school systems produce great children for us to carry on our work. To see that our work does not die but multiply and get stronger. All right. Also, we have those that are not in education and they're not in really the Masjids or Masaajid.
They are really just part of the public but they don't like that they are not introducing Al-Islam to people. Or they don't like that they hear somebody say something incorrect about Al-Islam and identify their religion as a religion of terrorists. They don't have any way to convince those that person that no, your understanding of my religion is wrong. Some of us have different jobs to do and different interests. I welcome you all because we need every one of you. I've called you to be here today and thank you for coming. I hope you go away pleased with the time you spend with the Imam W.D. Mohammed and his workers. I have young students of mine, they look good and we are forming.
We are forming on paper, the information, teachings, explanations, you might say tafsir, commentary, whatever. We are forming it on paper and from it we're going to design a national, maybe international but national I'm sure, correspondence course for anyone who wants studies of Al-Islam, Quran, Quranic Arabic, and this religion, and want to understand other religions better. If you listen to me, I'll help you understand Christianity better and to appreciate it more. Yes, okay, so we are formulating that into a correspondence course and it's going to be made available.
I just promised someone in the session I had before, I promised the youngster that, his young sister, that by June of the coming year, G-d willing, G-d spare me, we are going to have at least the first courses in this correspondent course available. To anyone, any youngster, any adult, any Imam whoever wants to benefit from it, we will have it available for you Insha'Allah, at least the first step in it by June this coming year, 2005. At this time, I am going to turn it over to my students, I have a number of students, but representing them are my immediate helpers who will assist me with the students and also with the adult program we have.
They are four, I believe that have come to help me today, help me to convey to you what we want you to see of our work. Is it two females and two males? Yes, it's balanced that's wonderful, three females, three females, and one male is that it? It's two males and three females? Five, even better. Yes, “Buni Al-Islamu ala khamsen.” Muhammad said Al-Islam is built upon five essentials. Now, don't get spooked up. Which one of you have chosen to be first with your presentation?
Speaker 2: Kalimah.
IWDM: Kalimah.

Let me tell you how I see Kalimah. I've been seeing Kalimah in our community in connection with something I've been doing, teaching or preaching or something. I've been seeing her for a long time, not for one year, not for two years, for longer. First time, I saw her I didn't see a child, I saw a woman and she's not a woman yet, she's a child in age, she's a child but this child is a great woman and I told her I will not deprive her of a childhood, but I'm not watching where the child is going to go. I'm watching where that grown-up girl is going.

Kalimah: As-salamu Alaykum, my name Kalimah Aziz and we're going to give you a presentation today on the Quranic Arabic studies and Islamic Studies classes for Dawah. Here with me today I have Rashida Aziz. I also have Khadijah Sadiq. We have Rashad Abdul Rahman. And we have Rasul Amin.

History, what a wonderful thing, three years ago Imam chose 12 students between the ages of 11 to 21, to be chosen as his students. For two years each Sunday, he would drill us on Arabic studies, Islamic studies and the relation between of Christianity, Judaism, and Al-Islam. He also opened the class up for anyone who wanted to join. With this the attendance of our class grew rapidly. Due to this growth, we had to move out of the small area of the CPC ComTrust building into a much larger property in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.
We moved to The Mosque Cares building and with that, we opened up an adult classes due to the words of a sister that was interested in learning on Saturdays and Sunday under Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. Before the class is open for the adults, we had a number of students that would learn during the school year and out for the summer courses, but due to the knowledge that they were provided, they were excited to know more, so we opened classes up for the summer also. This summer, June 2004 we opened up the youth classes for the summer and we opened up the adult classes for the summer also.
We have several adults from the Mid-west that were chosen to be in Imam's classes on Saturday and Sunday, and we had five students, former students that were chosen to be Imam's substitute teachers in his absence. From there they started to teach the class and we grew and we grew and we grew, As salamu alaikum.

Rasul Amin: As-salamu Alaykum, my name is Rasul Amin, and I would like to talk for a few minutes about the philosophy of the Imam, and how he teaches us in the Youth Dawah class. I personally myself had taken some Arabic before, but when I started with the Imam's class, I realized that the way the Imam teaches Arabic is a far better way than what I learned before. For instance, I'll give one example, the Arabic alphabet, most of us know the names of the alphabet like alif, ba, ta, tha, but the Imam introduced for me, and for the rest of the students, a way that I had not learned before.
The Imam said that “yes, it's good to know alif, ba, ta, tha, but like in English when we learn A-B-C-D-E-F-G, we don't learn the sounds first of what those letters make, we learn the equivalent of that sound.” For instance, alif, the English equivalent would be "A", ba, the English equivalent would be "B", and that helped, that helps very much with learning how to read Quranic Arabic. Also, this past school year in dealing with the alphabet, we learned not only signs but we learned how to translate those Arabic sounds into English as well. As-salamu Alaykum, thank you.

Khadija Sadiq: As-salamu Alaykum, building upon what Rasul has said about the Imam's teaching methods and his philosophies, the students have been progressing very well due to what his teaching style, how he shows us the practical applications of what the Arabic is and the different things in the Quran and the parallels between the different religions like between Christianity, Judaism, all the Abrahamic faiths. At this point, the students are able to read more fluently due to his instructions, and pronunciation of the Arabic script is approaching immaculate. Also, the students have a basic understanding of the grammatical rules and construction of classic Arabic, they are able to recognize verbs and nouns and are knowledgeable of the rules that accompany prepositions, adjectives, possessive pronouns, and other parts of speech. Improvement is also seen in dictation skills, allowing them to write what they hear. Aside from these improvements, every student has shown an increase in the amount of surahs that they have committed to memory.
The biggest improvement in this area is not so much that the more surahs they have been memorized, but how the students will learn, and what the students know about the content of each of the surahs. The students do not learn the surahs by simply listening to the recitation, even though listening to the Imam's reading, was integral in correct pronunciation, but they also help themselves by reading and rereading the Arabic script, until committed to memory. Using this type of method allows the words to be imprinted in the students' mind, that when they recited in prayer, they don't see the English translation only, but they see the Arabic words flowing through their head. More importantly than knowing the surahs in Arabic is an understanding of the meaning of each surah. The students after going through this course are now more knowledgeable of the Quran, and the different issues it tries to get you to understand.
Since attending the class, the students have not only made improvements in the area of reading Quran and the knowledge of the Arabic language. They are also more aware of Islam and its relation to the world, and other religions. By the Imam drawing parallels between various issues in the Bible and in the Quran, the students are now more cognizant of the connection that the Quran and the Bible share, and the close relationship Islam shares with other Abrahamic faiths. Also, the students have the skills and the confidence to function in a diverse world with many different religions and people because they're aware of the commonality and all that Allah has created and is creating.
The students in the Dawah class overall have been very receptive to the Imam WD Mohammed's teachings, thus equipping them with the tools necessary in carrying on his legacy, and putting them as youth in the position to ensure the healthy development of our community, and to an exemplary Islamic community for all the world to see. Thank you. As salaam Alaikum.

Rashad: As salaam Alaikum.
Crowd: Alaikum salam.
Rashad: In following the progression of my fellow students had, what the Imam teaches, and how he teaches. We want to focus also on the importance of what he teaches and how we apply it, how it applies to us in our day to day lives, and what we carry with it. For me, as long as well as my other students, he serves as a shield and a sword for us out here in the world, against all of the different ideologies that exist, and all influences rather, and not just influences of immorality, but the different ways of thinking and ways of living that are thrown at us, especially us as young people, but adults as well.
In class, I will just go to class where we will either be reading a Surah or sometimes the Imam he would just come in, and he'll start speaking and noticing as he speaks, he will be including the Bible, he'll be including science, history, and these types of things, which are not included on college campuses, or public schools, what have you, so for us. It really influences us to look for the commonalities and the oneness of things, instead of just looking at religion as a set of rules, just what he was saying earlier.

That is the biggest influence for us, it has really turned us on to education itself, and to look at Islam in a bigger picture, and that's what I believe the Imam is trying to get us to do, to look at it as, look at religion as life, everything. We want to also understand what he has taught us also is our importance us as youth in our community in this country, because this country, as we said, does have their way of thinking as secular way that this, are you this, are you that, but what we have right here, we have that soundness that base, that structure, that foundation that I feel a lot of us, especially our peers are lacking, and that's really what I carry with in. I would just like to encourage all my fellow young Muslims to really take advantage of what we have here. I myself, have studied and read, these other types of teachers, these other type guys and what we have right here is the best thing that the Imam is right here to teach us.

Thank you. As salaam Alaikum.
Crowd: Alaikum as salam.
Rashida: As salaam Alaikum.
Crowd: Alaikum salam.
Rashida: Imam really has a lot of commitment to the class, he makes it so that his schedule conflicts as little as possible with the class and he tries to be there every time he says he's going to be. So, a man who puts this type of commitment into something definitely has goals and accomplishments that he wants to see his students reach. Some of the things that he has voiced us that he wants to see us achieve, are whatever field, whatever profession, wherever we decide to go, that we try to be as perfect as we can, that we try to perfect that and that we can connect the things that he teaches in his commentary to help us in our individual fields, and that will really help you to be more productive in what you are individually doing, and what you're individually doing will help the community be more productive as a whole.

Imam also stresses a lot our academic performance, he always tells us how he wants us to be very good students in school, how he, if the homework he gives us, conflicts in time with the homework that we have to do for school, that we should choose our school homework because it would defeat the purpose for us to be scholars in Arabic, and not be able to connect it to anything in the outside world.
Imam also strives for us to understand, to accomplish a better understanding of the Quran, and he always says, not knowledge for knowledge sake. Only get knowledge if you plan on doing something beneficial with it, and one of the most beneficial things you can do is teach it to other people so that it doesn't stop with you. It can continue to grow and go and more and more people can be inspired. The Imam has goals for us and accomplishment for us on our individual level, and he also has goals for us on a communal, global level. I really think for the class he really has aspirations for us and all youth across the world to be leaders in the forefront of progressing the community even further, and he has inspired me to want to learn, and I'm sure that he's inspired you to want to learn, even more as well because of the connections that he makes, and because of the emphasis that he puts on your human potential. Thank you.

IWDM: Praise be to Allah. I sleep well.

Because I know this life is getting from me and going into good hands. It is going to be carried all the way, and it will be here for as long as the earth abides. I'm sure of that. Allah is creating a people. In the beginning of the creation of anything, is not too pretty, but it gets pretty and prettier as the good work is done. 
Yes. Yes. I said to myself when I was a young minister for the honorable Elijah Muhammad, I said to myself, "We are new people." I said, "We came from slavery. We don't know how to go back to Africa, we can't speak the language of Africa. We don't know their culture. If we live it, we'll be adapting something. We've been cut off from any natural growth connection with it. I said to myself as a young minister for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad I think I was in my early 30s, maybe 28 or 29, I think, probably about 28 or 29. I said to myself, "We have to understand that we are new people." I began making a point when I was preaching as a minister in Philadelphia, in Chicago.
I made a point to say, "We are a new people. Our beginning is on this continent. Slaves cut off from their life that they had when they were in Africa and denied any opportunity or chance to connect back again with that life. For so long that now it's hopeless to try to connect back. So, we have to start with zero, day one, and our African leaders, or black leaders, they came up from slavery and began to breathe the breath of life into their people. Yes. They began to breathe the breath of life and to their people. Frederick Douglass, Carter G. Wilson, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and women. Sojourner Truth but also Ida B. Wells, and many other women, men and women.
Later time in our history, the great theologian that haven't reached the public but he reached many studious, alert mind in Africa-America. His name is Thurman, great African-American Christian theologian. C. Eric Lincoln. You know about him and his writings on the church and he wrote on the following of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and the black Muslims and introduced us as to the public of America. Yes, he did. We were not known nearly as widely as we became known after Dr. C. Eric Lincoln produced that book, and many others, many others. Noble Drew Ali and many others. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad for sure. He gave us a new start with a new mind.
Yes. I think until Imam W.D Mohammed picked up everything and made sense out of it. I think we were just at seed laying on the ground and waiting for the water and the sunshine and everything to come in the right balance, getting the right proportions.

My address Sunday will include this interest that I'm addressing at this point. We cannot separate ourselves from the Christian leaders that got us as far as we have gotten before, we latched on or connected with the Quran and Muhammad's life and got the light on it. We can't separate that part of our life. So, our history as Muslims, began in slavery too. We were slaves and freedom came and help came from G-d to men like Frederick Douglass, and others, to the abolitionists that he gave so much great help to. He helped the abolitionist movement achieve what it was trying to achieve. That’s Frederick Douglass. He touched the heart of the western world leaders, not just president Lincoln.
He touched the hearts of the western world leaders. The rulers of Great Britain, he touched their hearts. Eventually, they invited him to those countries abroad. And he was a statesman for the United States of America. 
The story of Fredrick Douglas, as property, he had to sell him to get some money and the master he sold him, to had no interest in him except as a slave. Frederick Douglass had to give him a Joe Lewis right hook, left hook and a right cross. Down he went in the road and Frederick Douglass escaped and made it up to the north. That was the end of slavery for Frederick Douglass. Ain't that good to remember that?
One of your great leaders, he can be called a father of freedom movement. One of our great leaders, he knocked down his master. Left them in the road and ran up north where there wasn't a law to keep blacks in slavery. He freed himself, didn't he? Thank you, Frederick Douglass.

It's very important for our future life and growth that we do not separate ourselves from our people. Don't do that. You're a Muslim, you separate yourself from your Christian brothers. You see yourself as an adversary. See them as your adversary, no. They are our brothers and sisters and more than once, they are brothers and sisters in humanity. They are our brothers and sisters in our life as people descended from African parents. They are our brothers and sisters as people oppressed in these United States. Don't you know suffering bring you together as one family?
We have a common history of suffering with those Christian and that common History of suffering have made use one brother, one family, on people in suffering. And suffering has determined what our spirit wants. They want the same thing we want. They want to establish their soul in dignity.
They want to establish their life in honor. They want to become productive and not have to look at themselves and our history and be downhearted, but be uplift when we look at the new picture. African, descendants now trying to build a new society in America in their name, New Africa.

Yes. As soon as Reverend Jackson heard it, he endorsed it and he sent word out among the leaders that he associated with. He says, "We accept that New Africa. We support that.” Praise be to Allah. Now they waiting to see what we're going to do with it and they are ready to join the effort. But they want to see the effort. They don't want us just to talk about it. They want to see it and we're going to keep building it, building on it and building on it and tell this on 6 O'clock news. And people are coming from Europe, from Japan, from Africa, from all around the world coming here asking the immigrations or the passport agent. When they go through the passport check. I came here to see that area called New Africa.

With Masjids and minarets and with schools bigger than the masjids. 
And with industry bigger than the school. Yes. Little things create big things. Oh yes. And we know the spirit of a true believer is a big thing but it comes in a little picture. Little picture but if it feeds education and if it feeds production, industry whoa look at the big things it can produce. That's how it happened before that's the way of life for mankind, that's how it's going to happen with us. It's going to happen. It's happening and is going to continue until it reaches its fulfillment. An establish people in honor representing great life, great works and great production. That's what I know is happening and we're going to see it grow and grow year by year, generation after generation. Don't just look to now in our lifetime.
No, there's a little story we'd learned in school from Professor Jamil Diab in one of our Arab lessons’ assignment. Brother Darnell is here and perhaps another student or two maybe hear from that class that I belonged to at that time under Professor Jamil Diab who's still living. He's in Tempe Arizona and I promised my son I will take him to see him soon. I hope it'll be very soon.
He's in good shape now he's an old man. He's older than I am that's for sure but he's in good shape. So, anyway I'll come back to the age because I want to leave a word with you on the age. That lesson said, “we plant now, they will harvest later what we plant.” The answer was given to a youngster who asked the old man. The old man was planting a Palm tree, fig tree.
The youngster said to the old man, "Old man, why are you planting this tree, you will never live to eat from it?" and that's the answer the old man gave the youngster. He first said, "They planted, so we could eat. We are planting, so they can eat." Meaning those that will come after. Yes, isn't that a beautiful picture of how we should live?
Congregation: Yes.
IWDM: We are not doing this for our generation only, for the day. We are doing this for the generations to come. And we're doing it so that it stands forever. For as long as Allah permit life be on this earth, we are doing it for it to stand forever. We have to get out of this old season thing. This old style of today thing. Taking your religion to be a style or a fashion. And you're just joining it for a season.
For as long as you're happy thinking about it, having fun. I remember a song, "Laguna Laguna lying in the sun and having fun," what is Laguna? "Crazy. Crazy person crazy person lying in the sun and having fun." Life is not lying in the sun and having fun, life is growing up and producing. So, we're not doing this for a season, it's not a fad for us. No, this is forever. “This isn't sometime this is always.”

I know my friends, I'm looking at some. I know they have heard that song also. "This is isn't just this some madness,"
"Or passing glow along with candid"

"This is always" I skipped one, you know why I skipped it too. 
I'm going to—
I want to know what you got on your mind that you want me to be aware of. I'm going to try to do my best to accommodate you if you need me for something. After the Imams, then I want to hear from those in education. Everybody is not to throw their hands up and start. All the Imams first, then those in education, and lastly, those in dawah and not just those in dawah doing the footwork, doing the actual work like brother Norman and his great effort that he has going all over the United States helping the masjids.

Brother Norman, thank you. But also, any male, female working on your own, not my students. You've heard from my students already, not my students or any other student. Because if any students are here and you want to know how you can plug into what we are doing, like you plug into the electric systems and have your computer on and work and print out the thing out or to use this common printer to print your work out of. If you want to know how to plug in to the class that I have, then please write. The mosque, we have a fax number.
Before we leave, one of the students will have a fax number for you. An address, telephone number, fax number. I think we got email. Yes, email, too. You get all that from one of them before we conclude it this afternoon. First, our Imams then those in education, then those who want to just get help for presenting Al-Islam serving the cause by presenting the true picture of Muslims and Al-Islam. Or responding to questions or statements that you think you should respond to, whether this come from somebody sitting by on the hill or on the bus or in a taxi or walking down the street whatever.
If you have an interest in serving Al-Islam for our present and for our future, I have a strong interest in you. All right. Thank you. What I need now is someone-- Who is a moderator here? I have to pick somebody. You got it, girl.

Kalimah, will you take over from here and I will respond. You watch the hands now.
Kalimah: Yes, sir. My brother here.

IWDM: Please, I need you to go to the mic. I know it takes a little time but we need everybody to walk to the mic. If you were here 100 years ago, you would not have the hope of living probably pass about 60 years old. Go back much further, you probably wouldn't have the hope of living past 45 years old. Average person might have been dying about 45 or 50 years old they gone. In spite of all the pollution, industrial pollutants and everything, in the water, in air, and all that, man's life have been greatly improved by science and by government that have enforced regulation and have supported medicine, health care, et cetera, and have punished food growers and food sellers for not keeping up to standards.
So, you eat though you're getting pollutants. You eat healthier foods now, than you used to eat, the food is cleaner and healthier. The animals are healthier. The animals are free of germs, diseases, et cetera. The department for agriculture will have an agent inspecting every animal, making sure of animals are not diseased. If they find a disease, they eliminate that animal. Animal can't go to the market. What accounts for us being able to live longer more than anything else is the burden on our life is much lighter than it used to be. Families used to worry about, “how am I going to make it on this cold, rainy day or this cold, wet day?”
“I got to go to work and it's going to take me two hours to get to work, two hours to come back home. I'm going to be exposed to bad weather. I may catch a cold. I may get sick and won't be able to go back to work again. I may get pneumonia and be dead.” They had to worry about things like that. They have to worry about poorly heated homes. Getting sick because a home just not heated right. If you're a landlord and you don't provide right heat or temperature for your residence or those that are renting from you, they can have you locked up. Everything has changed. Society is much more responsible for the care of human beings than it was many years ago.
In spite of I say, of all the pollutants and all the other problems we have in this life. You know what's killing people now more than anything else? Insane lifestyles, bad living habits. Just acting crazy, destroying ourselves with a lot of stuff we call it fun that's nothing but self-destruction that's what's taking people waiting here now. The drug life. The life of silly fun playing games taking us away, a spirit to do dangerous things. Sometimes we don't even know where the spirit coming from. Got a new car that makes 160, got 160 on the speedometer. We want to do that through the neighborhood.

Here come the tow truck picking up dead bodies and wrecked expensive vehicles. Life is all over. The car is gone, too. We just become evil Knievel spirited, high risks taking people. That's what is killing us. I want to tell you this. I am 71 years old, October the 30th of this year.
More important to me looking good. I feel like I can knock out boxers that used to give me a little trouble when I was 19 and 20 years old. Oh, buddy they’ll wish the bell would ring quick.

Speaker 2: You on the wrong mic.
Because G-d knows-- I don't care if I'm on the wrong mic. I'm talking loud, man. The mic, you got one back there.
The security doesn’t like to see me put this macho image of myself.
I'm not macho. I'm a weak man, but in some respects, I'm Superman.
I know it and I can prove it to you. So, anyway, at 71 years old, I have more physical endurance and energy than I ever had at any other time in my life at any time in my life. I've never had the physical power and endurance that I have now. Never. I have problems. I have physical problem. I have arthritis in my low back. I have a back problem. High blood pressure. I had it, it’s gone.
Gone. Bronchitis I had it, gone. My father, he died and one of the things he died with was bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis gone, no breathing problem. I breathe like a new baby. “Oh, brother Imam how old are you now? You getting up there?” Yes, you're right I'm getting up there buddy you all see me, I'm way up there.
I've loved boxing all my life and my brothers, one of them might be here now two of them, they can tell you, I loved boxing ever since I was about 12 or 13 years old, ever since I heard of Joe Lewis, I started loving boxing. That's my brother talking, blood brother right there. Loved boxing and I used to punch the big bag. We used to call them sandbags back then sandbag, heavy bag, sandbag I used to punch the big bag and I would be just hoping to hear the bell so I can rest. I have never been able to give that bag all I got and not be wanting that bell that hurry up and rung, about two minutes I'm struggling from that point on.
Okay, now I started off punching the bag two minutes rounds, four rounds, all right. Don't you all try anything new, when you bleed this age, you're over 50, don't you jump in there anything, don't even shovel the snow. No, don't shovel the snow without taking a rest every now and then. Choo-choo with shovel and then rest. Repeat and then rest.

Because I want you to live, if you don't want yourself to live, I want you to live, yes. When you're getting these things, you have to gradually go into them. So, I actually started off two rounds, I'm sorry, I start off two rounds at a time. I did two rounds, two-minute rounds, two minutes round, two rounds. I moved up to three, four I moved up to eight, I moved to 10, I moved to 12, I moved to 15. Now if I had the time, I could fight 50 rounds, you think I'm joking?
I just don't have the time to show you, but I'll let you watch me sometime when I work out and you watch me go 15 rounds with no stop. I don't know I don't want to hear any bell until the 15 rounds is over. I'm giving the bag punches that will hurt you and they're coming fast, they're coming like this.

Every now and then, that’s my son over there he'll tell you, listen. Now that's the real hurting I put on you there. Not out of breath, not tired, 15 rounds, ready to go 15 more. What has done this to this man I don't know, it's a mystery to me. All I know is I take coral calcium.

That's the truth. That's why I say and I mean it, that's why I say if I had the money anybody that doesn't have the money to pay for it, I'll give it to you. I just don't have enough money to give to everybody, I give it to a lot of people, I give it to friends, I give it to the relatives, I give it to visitors coming on my house. They tell me and it look like they in bad health. I say, "Have you heard of this?" I just give it to them, and I sell it. It helps my income, I sell it too and we have a lot of fine products so please take care of yourself, and if you can please you want to keep your health and want to live. Take coral calcium. It's really a big help, this is no hype, no salesmanship, no.
I'm coming strictly from my interest and another fellow human being, a brother, a sister that I love, please take coral calcium. All right so much for that, now we want to continue, we got off on age, don't be thinking about dying, "Ohh, I’m 60 years old now," that isn't the way you're supposed to say it, you're supposed to say, "Hey girl I'm 60, I made 60 last week."

We're all good with this new spirit we got, with this new vision we got, and with the New Africa in our sights, who want to check out? Nobody wants to check out, we're ready to live for 150 years or more. Yes, now here's another thing I want to leave with you about age that will help you. Do you know I read a paper, read in the paper, this had to be 40 years ago, about 40 years I think, 35, 40, I think. I read in the paper on the front page, the longest living man they said that this particular man lived in the mountains and he died at the age of 147 years old.
They said there's another man that he was acquainted with, he used to walk with him down the mountains with every day he said he'd go down the mountain and go do what he had to do, and go up the mountain, come back home, who was already over 150 years old. I guess he lost his buddy, it wasn't like about two or three days, again on front page, it said oldest man dies 159 years old and both of them are from high mountains, Himalayan mountains area.
Now you know the air is pure, the higher you go, the pure the air is, but I don't think it was just the air, I think it was the exercise that they got, having to go up and down that mountain, exercise. You ain't going to stay around here if you don't get an exercise program for yourself, get an exercise program for yourself and exercise a little bit every day, even if you're on the road like I go to different cities, I go out of the country in the hotel room either before I go to bed, I do a little light exercise. When I get up in the morning before I take a shower, before I take a bath, I do another exercise, I go through my exercise routine.
Do that, exercise and eat wisely, don't eat to die. As Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, "Eat to live," and believe me it's worth you suffering a little bit. I suffer a little bit when I go to restaurant and I'm looking at the guy over there, he got a big old chocolate shake or a strawberry shake and I can see pieces of strawberry hanging in there. It hurts, but I care more about living to see our work progress. See us do this together, I ain't going to check out, I look at that strawberry and then psyche myself. I say, "I've tasted that before and if I taste it again it's going to taste just like it did before.
I just go home to eat my salad and my low carb veggie and I'm happy.

Okay, continue.
Kalimah: the next question please.
Questioner: Brother Imam you mentioned the fall of our father Adam came only when ate of a certain forbidden fruit and caused the generations to separate moral life from rational life or see them separately. In most readings instead of saying the forbidden fruit they say apple.
IWDM: They say?
Questioner: Apple. They say the forbidden fruit was the apple or something --
IWDM: Apple?
Questioner: Yes sir. Can you help me to understand that?
IWDM: Yes, it was an apple.
Yes, and that apple grew until it became New York City.
New York City. It was an apple.
I've answered your question directly.
Questioner: The fruit and the apple are the same thing?
IWDM: Well it was of the fruit of the forbidden tree?
It wasn't just a fruit it was a fruit of a forbidden tree you weren't supposed to approach the life of man sexuality that way.
Questioner: Thank you sir.
IWDM: You're welcome.
Speaker 3: As-salamu alaykum Imam
IWDM: Alaykum as salaam. Try to keep down so I can hear the questions and everything we all have to hear.
Speaker 3: I know you've been talking about the similitude between the plant and the human being especially in terms of work. I was wondering I hope this question is appropriate I was wondering what can we do in terms of providing the type of support that you need in terms of men being more productive. In particular the CPC and the professionalism, finance whatever we can do because I sense that we need to become more focused on that particular business endeavor I just want to ask that question.
IWDM: Yes, there's a lot of answers I can give you but I have to give you what I think is the best answer and the most important answer. That is that we cannot do very much with this responsibility we have if we just leave it with me and wait to see what I'm going to do with it. You have to see where you fit in, where's your place in this vision and you have to begin to organize, join, attract other people be a part of an effort to bring similar minds together. If you are in education then you want similar minds. If you are in business you want similar minds, get similar minds together and not similar minds with some dead folk don't bring any corpse into the effort.

Make sure everybody is alive, enthusiastic and ready to do something. Get with people like that that's how we're going to realize growth and realize this soon not too late. That's the answer I give you.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much brother Imam.
IWDM: You're most welcome.
Kalimah: As-salamu alaykum
IWDM: Alaykum as-salaam
Kalimah: Can we get three teachers to come up?
IWDM: Excuse me I had to take care of a little business over there. We have another event set up and that's the Graceland Fashion Show which is very important for us as business and I'm to address the audience that will be over there on business what we are doing, where we are, what difficulties we've had, how we plan to overcome those difficulties et cetera. It's going to be a very brief statement from me about 10 to 15 minutes, I think.
After that we're going to have the Fashion Show Graceland Fashion Show. Sister Bina who used to be in charge of the Graceland Fashion Show we've asked her to come back and she graciously responded to our request so she's over there now she's in charge of Graceland Fashion Show. We have a fashion show I'm sure we're all going to enjoy very much. I had to send somebody over there because we were supposed to be over there two hours ago almost so they're patiently waiting over there. Inshallah we finish up here a few minutes before 5:00 and then we go straight over there to the Graceland Fashion Show program. Yes.
Speaker 4: As-salamu alaykum
IWDM: Alaykum as-salaam
Speaker 4: I'm an educator in the public schools for the past 37 years and I take my hat off to you.
IWDM: Thank you. I take mine off too to you.
Speaker 4: Educating youth is not easy.
IWDM: I know that, we know that we parents with children we know that.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
IWDM: Yes, we really feel for the teachers.
Speaker 4: But I did get inspired from hearing your students and I do know how and what I have to do to inspire my students more.
IWDM: Praise be to Allah.
Speaker 4: My second comment. I'm bringing greetings from the Southeast Regional Coordinator Imam, brother Faheem Rasul from the Atlanta area, Masjid Al-Mu’minun who could not be here. And I am honored to say that I am his assistant on the Dawah team. I want you to know that the Atlanta region and specifically the members from our Masjid Al-Mu’minun has many sisters who are working. And I'd like everybody to know that you quoted to me in May of this year that we are doing an important work. And I see that important work and the sisters from the Atlanta area also see that important work and you have our 100% support.
IWDM: Thank you so much and we thank Allah for people like you sister. Thank Allah for you. Please give my greetings to the Imam and the heads of the school who work with you give them my greetings and love.
Speaker 4: I work in public school.
IWDM: Public school but also give Masjid Mu’minun my greetings too. Yes, and Allah bless you and your place. Allah, "All work in your places because I am working in my place." G-d says He works in His place as G-d.” He wants all of us to work in our places. He doesn't want all of us to be Imams and all of us to be musicians. He wants us to be in all the established structures of society that are necessary for life and progress. You are doing a great work in the public-school sister, Allah be with you always.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I found my place on the Dawah team.
IWDM: Praise be to Allah. Thank you.
Kalimah: As-salamu alaykum
IWDM: Alaykum as-salaam
Kalimah: May the next person please step up in line
Shahadah: As-salamu alaykum
IWDM: Alaykum as-salaam
Shahadah: My name is sister Shahada. I'm too from Atlanta originally, I'm from Washington DC. I'm an educator and not only in business management but health and nutrition. An educator and business management for over 30 years. And health and nutrition for about 15 years. I want to applaud you Imam coming out with Salaam Nutrition. I was really, really shocked. I actually thought when I came into Islam about 12 years ago that there was something that was lacking. When I see that I said, "This is awesome. He has a step, he has the ear." but I want to say this about your product, Imam. I may have sickle cell trait, and sickle cell trait, I found out it's a hereditary disease from Africa, 99% of African cell, even this trait more than the disease itself. Therefore, I suffered from lack of oxygen a lot, but since I've been taking Coral Calcium I had not suffered from lack of oxygen.

IWDM: Wonderful. Allahu Akbar.
Shahadah: I will say this to you all too, I will dedicate my service to make sure I spread Salaam nutrition. Inshallah.
IWDM: Thank you. Sister, please make sure that you write us. I'll give you some contact number for you, because when we put our heads together, we would like to call you, and that you know what we're thinking and what we're planning. We like to make you a consultant for us.

Speaker 6: As salam Alaykum, brother Imam.
IWDM: Alaykum As-Salam.
Speaker 6: I'm always standing for you with great respect and admiration, and I respectfully thank you from today, telling us that we no longer need to address in true sense the word “reparation”. For you gave us today, the solution to the sole quest that we thought we need to seek from the government. You gave us the answer to reparation today, and I thank you.
IWDM: Thank you, sister.
Speaker 6: To our young people, this is the day of Jubilee. We can jump, and we can do the holy ghost dance, because we see in front of us, a brand-new Africa.
IWDM: Thank you so much. Yes, sister.

Speaker 6: I need to say this because I feel it deep in my soul. These young people, they demonstrated to u. I'm a grandmother, I've been with this wonderful, distinguished community since 19, and I'm 52 now.
IWDM: Wonderful! Wonderful!
Speaker 6: I also take Coral Calcium. I am part ownership of Salaam Nutrition, and I challenge everyone in here, who say that they love this great man. It’s no longer words, it's now action.
IWDM: Thank you.
Speaker 6: They showed and demonstrated the ability to comprehend with great precision. I understand it what you have been trying to teach old people like us, for all the 30 something years. And these young people within two years. Within two years, they had mastered, and I'm going to say it, because I've earned the right to adopt a spirit of mother Clara Muhammad. I'm going to use this spirit today to say, "There is no excuse for those of you who want the visibility of being Imam. These babies sat under our leadership for two years, and they can go, and teach the planet. What is your excuse?"

Brother Imam, I stand beside you. My grandchildren whom Allah has blessed me with two. I live for the future of those children that Allah has blessed me with. I see through your eyes because you see through our prophets’ eyes who saw it through Allah's eyes and through your vision is 2020. If these people who call themselves African Americans, can't see and hear what you are saying. Then the Du’a that you made some months ago, or a year ago in Washington asking Allah to rain down on us a punishment, then I say, "I agree."
Because, I don't know about you, but when I heard about Imam made that du'a and say, "To Allah, that if we don't pick up what he's doing, he has Allah, to put punishment and wrath on us." How could you sit there acting like he didn't say that? You don't know whatever he asks for, Allah will reward him? I'm saying now so Allah will know, I stand witness that I hear what the Imam said and with all my being Allah. I ask that you have mercy on me, give me my courage so that I can take my life back.

IWDM: Allahu Akbar. Amin.
We will never be satisfied in our soul until we establish our life, in a way that pleases us, and pleases our maker, our creator G-d all mighty. Yes, that's going on, and it's going to go on, until it's done. Yes. Time is running out for us in this schedule. I'm going to ask the dawah people, if you can hold your questions, your comments, if you have them, and wait for another situation. Maybe, we'll have another situation today, I don't know. Maybe, we have another room we can come to, maybe this room we can come back to after the fashion show, I don't know. They're telling me that we only have about 35 minutes, about 30 minutes now left for the fashion show that somebody else is scheduled to come in to that room where they are, and they are set up.
It'll be too much for them to try to set up again, like in over here, they bring everything over here. We're going to conclude now, and go to the fashion show. Insha’Allah, we will try to continue this program we have here, if situation permits.
Kalimah: Excuse me.
IWDM: Yes mam. Who is that?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
IWDM: I hear your voice out there, not here. Okay, continue. Finish, finish what you were going to say.
Karim: I was going to tell them to have a seat.
IWDM: Go on.
Karim: Excuse me. Can everyone remain seated until Imam makes it outside of the room so he could get on to do his presentation.
IWDM: I'll be right out really quick.








