07/02/1994
IWDM Study Library
Sisters’ Meeting 
Detroit MI

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Voice-over speaker: WDM publications presents a special public address by Imam W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim-American spokesman for human salvation. Today's lecture by Imam Mohammed was recorded before a special sisters only meeting, July 2nd, 1994 in Detroit, Michigan.
Imam Mohammed: As-salaam alaikum.
Audience: Wa-alaikum salaam.
Imam Mohammed: Peace be on you. Thank you, sister Sahir. We're kind of embarrassed in a way. I was to have gone to a hotel and changed my clothes and everything, but we had one car had a tire to go bad on it. It delayed us, and I couldn't wait for the car. By the time I got here it was late, very late. I didn't have a chance to go to the hotel and change because I wanted to be looking a little more presentable for you today. However, I don't think clothes make for the real importance. I think it's Persian poetry. There's a poet called-- A very famous philosopher poet called Saadi. Saadi would write poetry to shame the behavior of the high-class people or the snobbish high-class people.
Once he was invited to make a speech, to recite some lines of poetry at an occasion for some big shots of the town. When he came, he came dressed as he normally would dress, they are familiar with his poetry or with his philosophy and his poetry, but they weren't familiar with him as a person. They didn't know much about him as a person. When he came, they refused him. They wouldn't even let him come into the affair. They wouldn't let him come in because of his dress. His dress was a common dress, cheap dress. He went back, and he changed his clothing. He did it for-- He was a guy that would do things.
He was a person, excuse me for calling him guy, a kind of person that would do things like that just to see what would be the reaction of the well-to-do people and then he would write about it. He came to the reception for him, he recited his poetry dressed all nice and fancy like they wanted him. He recited his lines of poetry and then he sat down and joined them for dinner. When they all started eating, he would take from his plate and he didn't put it in his mouth. He threw it on his clothes. He just threw his food, he take on his plate and he finished it, he threw it all on the clothes. They asked him what was the meaning of that. He said, "You didn't invite me. You invited my clothes."
[laughter]
Praise be to Allah. We begin with Audhu billahi min al-shaitan ir-rajim Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem. We seek refuge with Allah from the rejected, the cursed Satan, and we always trust in Allah who is the Beneficent, the merciful, the Giver, and the Merciful Redeemer or the Merciful Benefactor and the Merciful Redeemer. We pray the choices blessings on the last prophet, the prophet of the Quran, the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, prayers and peace be on him and what follows of that salutation or that salute to the last prophet. 
It is an honor to be your guest here, to come and address you here. I will have only a few words to say about women as a recognition of the equal rights for equal work and equal rights of women, as I understand in Islam. By the way, tomorrow, I'm invited to Washington DC to meet with one of the high-level people in the Sudanese government, who was also a wonderful religious figure, not Dr. Turabi. Dr. Turabi had no position in government. He's the man with the thoughts and ideas that has influenced, not only Sudan, but now many groups and big groups and populations around the Islamic world, all around the world, sees him as a leader leading the thinking of Muslims today. I'm sure that a lot of you are acquainted with Dr. Turabi.
Dr. Turabi, the Sudanese idealist in Islam, or thinker in Islam he has more than any other person that I know of, come out with a very fresh attitude and fresh spirit. Fresh in a positive way not in a negative way, very fresh look in a way of thinking and attitude, regarding the worth of women and how women should be regarded in Muslim society, Dr. Turabi. I mentioned that because I was told that I really,-- I don't know exactly what's going to occur at this meeting, except for there's a message for me from Dr. Turabi. I'm going to Washington tomorrow, and I'm expecting that the message is good. I hope that it will be something that we all can share, the Muslim community can share.
First, let me say this, that there has been a problem for men with respect to how women are to be perceived by men. I think perhaps going back to the most primitive times of man on earth. It's simply because man has been himself a creature of trial and error and a creature also of cultural evolution, cultural evolution development. We believe as Muslim, that it was to inspired men of G-d that brought the right idea to man and the right perception to man. If we can accept that, then we don't have to rehearse or review history, we can go directly to the Scripture and understand history. Woman in the Quran is mentioned in several focuses.
One focus, woman is mentioned as the wife of man or the mate of man that made possible the generation of nations and people on this earth. That's given in Quran, as you all know, and the chapter that's titled, The Woman. The very first verses of that chapter. The female is also focused again as mother, wife, and then as mother. As wife, a woman and man, according to the Quran, shared one and the same life, that they weren't separate. They were in two-in-one life. The Bible gives in metaphor, that is in picture language, the Bible gives the creation of the female after the creation of man and that the creation of the female was from a rib of the man.
I heard, for your benefit as women, to benefit your, -- I would say your dignity, your female dignity. [laughs] I will share with you what this female non-Muslim said. She was a learned woman in Christianity. I don't want to say she was a theologian, but the audience respected her for her knowledge in the Bible. She said that the rib is there, firstly, to tell man that the woman should be always close to his heart. She said, but also, the rib is a flexible bone, and I liked that. I really liked that when she said that. The rib is a flexible bone, and it responds to the breathing. When you breathe in, the ribs expand to give more, if you need more space, the ribs will expand. They will be able to give a little more space.
When you bring them in, and you see, the chest comes in, the ribs come in a little bit. I liked that very much because I got a lot of meaning out of that when she said that. I did have real serious problems with that idea of the creation of man and woman when I was a minister believing in the teacher of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. I was a minister that always questioned things. I questioned things because I want to see things in a better light. I want to feel comfortable With human beings. I want to feel comfortable with the creation of human being. That the human being was a good creation and that G-d created us well and we should be proud of our creation. That's how I was conditioned to think in the teachings or under the teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. I didn't like that. I say how is this? Is this a strange god or a kind of weird god that would create a man and then mutilate him or deform him and take out one of his bone, one of his ribs to make him a mate after discovering that he was lonely, or lonesome.
I didn't like the story at all. Now, I read it with better understanding or with I believe correct understanding, then I can appreciate the poetic beauty and the wisdom that's in the story. Getting back to woman in the scripture or in Quran, firstly as the mate or the wife and then as mother. The mother comes when G-d says and he created you from a male and a female. That's a father and a mother. He created you from a male and a female. This is Quran. We're created from nafsin wahidah from one nafs and we're not to understand sisters, I don't know if all of you understand it correctly or not.
We're now to understand this one nafs as one person like me, one man that does mean that. One nafs is translated by some translators as one nature and some has started to translate it now from one soul, from one nature, of one nature and also from one soul. What we're to understand by that nafsin wahidah the wahidah is feminine. So it couldn't be talking about a man person. The man or the man is not feminine. But nafs the word for soul or a person or self in the Quran is referring to this one that G-d created the woman from a man and woman from, it is feminine. Grammatically speaking is feminine nafsin Wahidah with the feminine at the end. W-A-H-I-D-A-H. Wahidah, one. That one is feminine is not masculine.
Certain things in the description of males and female are masculine, other things are feminine. The R??, the spirit is masculine. We say R?? Huwa is masculine, he, man. But the nafs, the soul, the nafs is feminine. We say heya for the nafs, heya not huwa, not he. This one entity obviously wasn't a man, a biological sex masculine person. No, it was not. It means the soul that holds the original life before any other expression is made before that life is expressed in the conscious mind or in emotions or wherever it's the soul. We believe the soul is the reservoir of all the energies and possibilities for the human life, the soul. All of that comes out of the soul. That's why G-d in the Quran mentions the soul and its needs.
Its needs for taqwa, regardfullness and its needs for enlightenment. That does away with the old idea and religious hierarchy that the woman had no soul like the man or the woman had no intellect. Therefore the woman shouldn't be included in among the scholars or shouldn't be invited to join the scholars. For a long time, that was the position taken in religion that women were not to be regarded as having an enlightened soul.
They were not to be invited to join the scholars, the thinkers, the scholars, but you know that in the time of Muhammad the Prophet prayers and peace be upon him, women were regarded for their ability to learn and also establish their standing or their position or rank in the field of knowledge with scholars. They were known for that. The lady Aisha is quoted by many scholars, the best scholars for her knowledge and understanding of the prophet's teachings and the Quran. We know that's out. That can't be accepted in Quran that women are different from men in terms of their intellectual endowments or mental endowments.
We endow the same mentally, we endow the same spiritually and emotionally and socially and in every other way. The difference come when the roles separate. That's why G-d says he made nafsin wahidah one, one soul, and the soul is a repository or the reservoir of all the possibilities for the human being in terms of its growth and what it can achieve. When these two separate and woman steps into the role of wife and mother and man steps into the role of provider and public leader, then things change. Environment and the career influence the life after that. If a man makes a career working in the field, he becomes established for his superiority in the field.
If a woman manages the domestic affair of the home or the family, she becomes established for her superiority in the domestic area or in the home. That's what happen. Eventually, society was going to place such demands, such heavy responsibility on citizens of the society that there would be a great need for women also to carry public responsibility or possibility for public affairs for public life. That is to say, that the role of women and the role of men or the male role and the female role has been in constant evolution ever since the beginning of creation of human beings have been in constant evolution.
The woman has evolved much slower. I would say, she has had to have a long period of, I would say, gestation or lingering or languishing while the man the demands of the field was so heavy on him that his evolution was speedy. As he progressed and build the world with his own hands, his world became oppressive and so burdensome that it required a woman to have a role outside the home. Then the issue started. Are women to be accepted in these roles, in these public roles? Then the Quran comes and address the problem and says to man, the problem is not in woman the problem is in man, because he's the one who has made the world and has eclipsed his own ability to see on his own vision, with his own works. [laughs]
His own works have clouded or overshadowed, cast a dark shadow upon his own vision, his own view, his own perception, his own seeing has been squashed with or blanketed with the dark shadow of his great industrial and material and scientific et cetera, accomplishments. The religion then comes to show him that he has gone wrong and that he has been foolhardy and he has exaggerated his own role in creation. That's why G-d says in the Quran that he gave responsibility, trust for the management of the creation to the angels and to the mountains and both of them refused that but man rushed up. Said that man is-- Has a tendency to be hasty and foolish. [Arabic language] I can't think of the word right now but the words mean two words. One meaning, [Arabic Language] means hasty and the other one means, I can't think of it. I'm sorry, I didn't write it down. It means foolish. [Arabic language] He has a tendency to be hasty and foolish, foolhardy or foolish. This is what man has done. Man has thought that G-d, the Creator made this world, natural world and sat down, "I'm finished with my work. Now, I make the man, the inheritor of my work." It's man that due the credit for the advances that have been made for science and civilization. That has gone to his head, made him oppress the lesser performers and made him oppress the females. This has happened. He has a tendency to be hasty and foolhardy.
When you look at the myths or look at fiction and myth that man carrying the whole world on his back, Atlas and all that, you see, that's what the Quran is addressing. That type of thinking was in man at that time in long before. Addressing man that thinks that he has been created to carry the world on his back. They also have pictures of man in mythology as the microcosm of the whole universal scheme, that the whole universal scheme is really in him that he is the type or the pattern of the whole world.
That's why Allah revealed to Muhammad, the prophet in the Quran, that no, the world is not patterned upon you but you have been patterned upon the world," says that the pattern for us is the pattern that is in the origin of creation itself, that man forms out of creation and he was not before creation, creation was formed to his pattern. No, creation was first and man was formed to creation.
All these ideas that were causing a man to exaggerate his own powers, his own work, and think of himself even as a god or divine are addressed in the Quran if you understand it. If you have a knowledge of history, of mythology, and myth if you have a knowledge of that and you look at the Quran and have a knowledge of the issues, the persecution of females, the outright abuse of females, the outright killing of females. This has happened. Man had too many females they thought, didn't need any more females, they prided themselves in having men that could go to war, that could plow the fields, that could do the work, that could do those things, there's too many females, then they had a practice of actually having a ritual where they kill, or they bury women alive, this is in the Quran. Says why was the female buried alive in the Quran, given in such beautiful way, if you can read Arabic, there's such a beautiful way. It brings tears to your eyes when you read it.
These issues have been addressed in the Quran, I'm returning. My focus that I'm having now for this address is woman as a wife or mate and a woman as a mother. Now as mate, what is intended to mean? What was intended there that woman is the man's mate? The Bible says, "Mate," and it also says, "Help mate," and it also says, "Meet," M-E-E-T and, "Help meet," M-E-E-T. This is no mistake in the Bible. Some of these people that's trying to make the Bible more acceptable to today's audience or today's readers, they might change that. You might not see help M-E-E-T anymore. Maybe only a few of the wise would retain that spelling. They may change that.
"Help meet," meet suggests you're coming to some place together, right? You're arriving to a certain place or to a certain point together. Help meet, means to help you get to your destiny, the meeting place is the destiny. The destiny means the place for your fulfillment where you fulfill the possibilities in you for society or civilization, a great life. That's your destiny. The destiny is the ultimate possibilities in us for realizing the utopian society or the ultimate good for society. That is the destiny. The "help meet" again I say, is when we arrive at that destiny, so the scripture is saying in a very subtle way with hint language or suggestive language, suggest language that suggests rather than plainly talks it is saying that, "Man, you need your woman if you were to fulfill the possibilities in your own life. We know that woman is seen in scripture, in the Quran in particular, as the sanctuary for the social life and growth.
When you read in the Bible of woman names, female names on terrible nations and terrible societies, don't feel too bad. It wasn't because that woman is bad because society is bad. Society is seen as a woman because just as the individual persons, human persons, they grow, and develop, and come from the woman in her private environment. The possibilities for us growing, being birthed again anew in knowledge, social knowledge, social sciences, et cetera, also comes to us because of our existing in a social environment, in a community environment, in a town environment, or city environment, et cetera. It is the public environment that makes possible greater developments, greater growth, the illumination of the mind, and progress for the social life of both man and woman.
That public society or the society outside of the woman, outer environment maybe I should say, it is also seen as a womb and seen as a woman. That's because I repeat that the woman is the preserver of the social sanctuary, the man is the scout that goes out to look in the field, to see what can he bring back to feed the female, not the female just as a fresh body but the female as an environment or as a social entity, the female as a social entity, the social context.
For that reason, we have a lot of mystery regarding man and woman, the origin of man and woman. I don't think anything is more mystified than man, especially the treatment of man through the mystery, Jesus Christ, peace be upon the prophet.
Tape Prompt: End of side one. At this time, please turn the cassette over to continue in side two.
Imam Mohammed: His mother and him. Here is the generation of Earth from a man, the generation of the world, multiplying of people from a man, Adam. Here comes a new man, born no father, just from a woman. For the Christians, they have the generation of man through Jesus Christ and the generation of man through Adam too. They interpret the Bible regarding the story of Adam to say that Jesus is the second Adam. The first father is Adam number one, and Jesus is Adam number two. If we accept that, then accept that not for Muslims, accept that for Christians.
If we accept that and respect that language for Christians, then what it is saying is this that G-d generated the world from a man the first time. From the second time, he generated the world from a woman. I hope I have made some contribution today. Thank you very much, as-salamu alaykum.
Audience: Wa-Alaikum-Salaam.
Imam Mohammed: Now I have heavy pressure on me. I don't have time for nothing but maybe five minutes of questions. If anybody want a question, if you can get them in fast, I'll be here for five minutes. Yes, sister?
Sister: As-salamu alaykum.
Imam Mohammed: Alaykum as-salamu. [background conversation]
Imam Mohammed: Thank you very much.
Sister: [inaudible 00:30:04]
Imam Mohammed: Yes, please return the greetings to him from us.
Sister: My question is as a leader and an educator, and a parent can you share some advice on how we can raise Muslim children in our society?
Imam Mohammed: Yes. I spoke on that today. When I was trying to be a fighter, a boxer. My trainer told me-- He said, "Wallace, I don't want you watching anybody but the best." If we try to keep our children from being exposed to anything but the best, we eliminate most of the problems we have in raising them. When we leave them to be exposed to just anybody's influence, even if you had a good friend, if your good friend is a bad influence on your child then you want to protect your child from that bad influence. You know what the television and most of the answer you already know it.
These television programs if viewing of the television is not controlled, then you're going to have your child subjected to things that is going to destroy all the good that you did before you left home. Whatever good you did impression you left was good maybe all destroyed by time you get back home if the viewing is not supervised and not controlled. Also the records, songs and these dances we want to be modern. You say you want to be modern. The problem for us in society now is so critical that we can't afford to be modern. We can't afford these excuses anymore. We have to be strong and we have to be firm.
I'm proud to hear Christian men who are addressing these problems saying the same thing, saying that with even more firmness than I am expressing right now. This is not something that we are just dealing with. This is something that all intelligent leaders, alert leaders are dealing with. We have to take control of our children life. You are a mother you have to be responsible. A child is a minor you are responsible.
Someone say, "Well, my child may beat me, my child may kill me." Look when you have your child you take a chance on dying. You may die in childbirth. Be brave enough to risk your life if you have to save your child's life. If these children know they got mothers that determined and that brave to save them from a bad future, believe me they'll start respecting you. 
Yes ma'am. Alaikum Salaam, I'm not hearing. A little higher.
Sister: Do you think girls should get married between age 14 and 18?
Imam Mohammed: Yes. Now in the time of our Prophet, prayers and peace be on him, marriages could be contracted very early, in fact before the female even got into what we call puberty, or began to realize the change in her physiology menses and et cetera. Chemistry change in her. They could be contracted-- The marriage could be contracted. Now the criticism from the West is how in the world can a girl that young be responsible? Well we've got girls that's 35 and 45 and 85 are not responsible. The proof of it is the state of marriage. The condition of marriage life in America is proof of it that we got these grown ups are not responsible.
There's no proof that a young girl is not responsible and really the responsibility shouldn't be on her. Responsibility is not on her. Responsibility is on the family. Family responsibility is on the close people to her, to look and see who's the best mate for her and to find a mate for her as early as possible and then contract the marriage and let them know that they are supposed to consummate the marriage when they are of age. Teach them how to live with each other. Start them to be caring about each other early. Yes, planning to live for each other early. That's the best way. That's the traditional way. People had that tradition before Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Mohammad accepted that tradition.
Prophet Mohammad didn't and get rid of good things, he built upon good things. He acknowledged and gave respect and recognition to good things and he was guided by Allah to build upon the good things that the real life that G-d wanted for us was not a life of fiction or myth. That the real life that G-d wanted for us was in our own creation. That was already in our creation. That it was manifesting we just needed G-d's guidance to help us realize it more to the fullest.
This is the teachings of Islam this is the teachings of our Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him. I believe that the family should look for the best members of the family, most conscious members, most decent members of the family. Preferably the mother and father should look and the elder brothers and sisters should look for mates for the young ones and encourage the relationship and let them know that this is the person that will make you a good husband. This is the person to make you a good wife. Believe me that's much safer and will be much more successful than the way we are doing it in society.
I think they actually can consummate the marriage anytime that you think they are mature enough to. My brother married when he was I think 18, his wife was 14 or 15. He's still with his wife. I married when I was 30-something.
[background conversation]
Imam Mohammed: No, I'm sorry. The first marriage was 25. Yes.
Sister: Imam Mohammed.
Imam Mohammed: Yes Ma'am. Yes sister.
Sister: [unintelligible 00:36:24] to Allah and I know that you [unintelligible 00:36:27]
Imam Mohammed: All praises to Allah.
Sister: I'm emotional [unintelligible 00:36:39] and I'm so grateful to be here and may Allah continue bless you to continue.
Imam Mohammed: Praise be to Allah. Thank you.
Sister: [unintelligible 00:36:58]
Imam Mohammed: That's right sister. That's right. Praise be to Allah.
[applause]
That's beautiful and that is wisdom.
Sister: I can't see good, but I'm here.
Imam Mohammed: You see very well. I wish all of us could see a little better. [laughs] Yes I've known sister (unclear) I've known her for a long time. She says she's 90 but don't pay no attention to the calendar sister. The aging is like an automobile. If you get a new automobile they want to know how many miles you got on it. You haven't worn yourself out. You haven't got too many miles on you. Yes. You want to [unintelligible 00:38:05] sister?
Sister: [inaudible 00:38:08] that they should mention her?
Imam Mohammed: No. When it come into puberty I think that's the age that if you haven't done it you should find a mate for them, and let them know they have to abstain until they become responsible enough or until you can help them with the marriage. I believe that we should do it and do it and decide what they do in other races, other ethnic groups and what our people did in the South. Maybe it wasn't the way for all the people of the South but we do know it was popular. That is when they thought that two people, male and female should be married and wanted each other and it was okay for them to be marry, they weren't able to take care of themselves yet so the family or the parent would accept for them to live with them continue to be supported by the family, even though after marriage even though they have children.
The children are taken care of by the family. The grandparent would help take care of the children until they got themselves in a position to accept full responsibility for themselves and their children. Really they never really were left alone. The parents would always help their children and their grandchildren. That's the way it should be. That's natural. That's human. That's the way it should be. We shouldn't encourage them now to lean on us or to burden the grandparents. It should be a willing thing and with respect for the grandparents and respect for their time, their ability, their comfort, et cetera. It should be something that we give and support of our children and their marriage or their desire to marry. We should give them support. Also, it'd be good if even extended family work together, and that's the best when that concern grows from the immediate family to the bigger family. I'm not talking about extended, the society now as the extended family, I'm talking about your large family, your big family, you have mama and father children.
Then you have your brother. The brother or sister to that group. You have brothers and sisters who have their separate family. You put all these families together and older ones together and all together you got a big family, what it called a family reunion, right? Everybody come together. Well see if you can have the bigger family, that includes brothers and sisters. Also accept responsibility for the members of that family and share responsibilities for that family.
I think that's the purpose of these family reunions. It is to keep them with a sense of family, of total family or group family collective family. I don't know what kind of term they using now for these families? Multiple families? I don't know what they're using. It's a group family, a collective, a group of the family, family group, the grouping of a family group, but the meaning I think is to keep you conscious of each other, so you know about each other and know how each other is doing, and that's to generate an interest in the whole family, so you don't lose contact with all the members of your family and have an interest in the whole family. That can grow and it should grow. You should be looking for bright minds in your family.
The full family should have to have this interest. Say, look, who's got the most education? Who's progressing, who's going fastest in education. How many professionals do we have, who's, doing the best in the professions and your family should be seen as a chance for you to have more dignity in a competitive society, or competitive world. Your family should be organized to compete for jobs, progress, whatever in a competitive world. Everybody should have that.
It's not being clandish that's being intelligent and it's caring about your own. I wish we all could have that and we do it in this community. It would be excellent. We'd be helping a lot of people, strong families make strong community. They, that's what they say, right? Yes sister, I'm not going to wait on my time. I'm going to take one from this side over here. Yes sister. Alaikum Asalaam.
Sister: I have a question concerning [unintelligible 00:43:11] I can't quote it exactly, but it's speaking about when a person where they teach or they make the lab and they invite a lot of people to [unintelligible 00:43:22] and they do it and assume that's where [unintelligible 00:43:25] safe, that they would be thrown right on fire. l think about that sometimes because a lot of us-- And I've had I've always liked to share with people. You put up with a lot [unintelligible 00:43:38] the brothers they like the Quran, or like to study or teach, some of them don't some just [unintelligible 00:43:44] but there's a problem with that.
Then we have the ignorance from your own sisters [unintelligible 00:43:50] sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't. [unintelligible 00:43:56] when brothers start calling themselves Imam and sisters can't be Imam and all that. So I'm getting a [unintelligible 00:44:01] with that, I just say, "Well, I'm a mother, I'm a wife, I'm a teacher and Allah made the day, I'm a teacher of Imam and I know a lot about the prophet [unintelligible 00:44:10] A lot maybe that on a teacher email.
I came from, my childhood, early childhood, I was raised in Alabama and appreciate the community. I've always known Allah when I didn't know Allah. I knew it was something other than--
Imam Mohammed: I understand.
Speaker: [unintelligible 00:44:31] starting to be a believer, but my thing is I came above it, I like to invite people, I like to tell people about it. [unintelligible 00:44:41] when you keep doing it and I enjoy doing it.
Imam Mohammed: Yes l understand.
Sister: [inaudible 00:44:47] how you know when you're not doing it because I enjoy doing it [unintelligible 00:44:54]
Imam Mohammed: I believe I understand exactly what you're saying. Let me, let me say this. I know of no such problem in the time of the Prophet, I know I'm of no such problem where women were told that they shouldn't teach. They shouldn't be as aggressive or they shouldn't be as visible, no I never heard of anything like that. The kind of the criticism that you get out of kind of concern that's being expressed by brothers to you. I get that too. They say, "brother Imam, you've got to let somebody else do some of this work." I'm not keeping anybody else from doing some of the work however, I want to do more. They say, "You're working too much." I say, "I wish I could work more."
What bothers me I ain't working as much as I want to work, so you just have to let this stuff roll off your back like water off a duck's back. That's what they used to tell me when I was a boy. Just that let all the criticism, negative stuff, that come at you, just let it roll off your back like water rolls off a duck's back and keep going. A lot of times you're dealing with sick individuals, just know that and let's pray to Allah for their healing and keep going.
Sister: Allah has blessed me to deal with the people and I do have [unintelligible 00:46:24] like l said l enjoy doing my part, and I want to make sure that-- I want to make sure [unintelligible 00:46:33]
Imam Mohammed: I know, what you're saying. There's no way for you to know that it's only for Allah's sake. Just keep praying that it's only for Allah's sake and keep doing your good works.
Sister: Alright then.
Imam Mohammed: And don't judge ourselves, Allah judges us. Just avoid wrong and do right and let Allah judge us. Yes ma'am. One more. This is the last one.
Sister: [inaudible 00:47:04].
Imam Mohammed: Yes. I'm aware, I'm familiar with it.
Sister: [inaudible 00:47:18].
Imam Mohammed: Correction right? I didn't get--
Sister: [inaudible 00:47:32].
Imam Mohammed: Correcting your wife. Now what did l--
Sister: [inaudible 00:47:38].
Imam Mohammed: Yes.
Sister: [inaudible 00:47:42].
Imam Mohammed: Now say if you see a wrong, correct at first with your hand. If you are not able to muster up that amount of courage, then with your tongue and if you still can't manage that amount of courage, then says with your heart, it means be strong in your heart against that wrong, even though you're not even speaking out against it. I don't think that has much to do with the, with the beating of a wife. I don't think there is a comparison there or anything. Because the instructions, beat your wife a little [Arabic language] that means a little bit. See Islam has been called by some scholars, the religion of logic, merciful logic.
It's a logic that doesn't just come right in and just knock a thing down, or just say this is wrong hit it, throw it out right away. It's a logic that respects your attachment to it, respects the time that you have been in this state of frame of mind, the standards of the society, et cetera. Back then in those days, men were giving women into their charge like children, and if they wanted to discipline the women that society supported that, women had no authority to just do what they wanted to do, except as children have authority to do what they want to do. Not that the man treated his wife like a child all the time, no, but he felt he had the right to use whatever power he had in his possession to check her or to bring her to conform. That was the state of the society. Understand that that was a savage society almost, not quite savage-- It's savaged society. It's called Jahiliyyah, ignorant society. It means uncivilized. That's exactly what it means. We're talking about an uncivilized society. Now, here comes civilization behind savagery.
The wisdom in Islam is not to abruptly change things, but to put the influences out, and the wisdom and the logic too. Put the influences out to bring the logic to be realized in time, gradually, not suddenly so you don't lose many people that can be converted, and help to build a society, get it started. When you're starting from savagery, you need to have patience with the ignorance of the people to some extent. That's why certain things are not abolished all at once, even drinking alcohol wasn't abolished all at once in the Quran, abolished gradually.
Now, you might say, "What is the indication that this privilege that men thought they had to be physical with women it is to be abolished?" The indication is it says [Arabic language] If every man obeys that, they cannot struck his wife except but a little. It means a little [Arabic language] lightly. If every man obeys that, the women can have their way. If we tell you don't hit your children, but lightly, don't hit them hard, your children can have their way. It'd be a lot of men striking women and someone saying, "Babe, do that again, you haven't touched me in a long time. Oh honey I like it, that's nice, so I'm going to make you angry me again. Slap me on this other cheek."
[laughter]
Really it's saying, "Don't be physical with women." That's what it's saying but only the wise. The savage won't get that. The wise men will get that. Those who have socially matured, human matured men in intellect, they will get that and they will know that our G-d doesn't want them to be physical with their women. This is the wisdom of the Quran [Arabic language] It doesn't really refer to women, it refer to women only in the sense that is addressing the brutality of men, but in the great scheme and theme of revelation, it's addressing something else.
[Arabic language] It means men, if you want to manage society, then strike the emotional senses of the society, but don't be severe, strike their emotional senses lightly. That's exactly what it means. That's the wisdom for the wise.
Daraba comes from rowing the boat. When the pedals of the rowboat, when you bring them up and you put them back down on the water, that's [Arabic language] That expression come from [Arabic language] rowing the boat. Striking the water there, meaning the sensitivities of the people. Strike their sensitivities to bring them to conform, but don't be extreme in that. Do it lightly. That's the meaning. Great wisdom is given through your women. Men, women, these roles are used as avenue through which great wisdom can be given to the wise. We're not to take these literal stories too seriously. Thank you, as-salamu alaykum.
Audience: Walaikum Salam.
[00:54:00] [END OF AUDIO]

