Coker College Address
Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
It's a pleasure and honor to be here and be received by you at Coker College. And to be a part of the round table discussion dialogue that we had. It's very, very delightful for me, and a great honor. I repeat, for my community as well as for myself. I appreciate this invitation, and I hope that I can present what I have here and not deviate. Someone asked me recently and said, "Do you sometimes plan a presentation or a speech. And once you get there and meet the people, you want to write it all over again? Or throw it away and do something different? I said, "Yes, that happens. Not too often, but it happens." I don't know, but I think I want to scrap some of this tonight.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
This is also black history month, we know. And I want to share with you, this very special audience here, and with these representatives of the great faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and I representing Islam here. I want to share with my Jewish and Christian brothers in the path of G-d, an understanding of just what the Nation of Islam is all about. And I'd want to do that, but I don't feel as comfortable with it as I did at home making my notes. When I was my making my notes.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But first, let me quickly give you a quick picture of what Islam is. According to the prophet of Islam, Muhammad of Arabia, whose name is given Muhammad, Ibn Abdullah. Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, his father. When he was asked what is Islam, he gave a simple and brief answer. He said, "Islam is to witness that there is one G-d. Islam is to pray. Islam is to give in charity, and it is to fast." He didn't say the month of Ramadan, he just said to fast. We Muslims know it's in the month of Ramadan. "And make the visit to the house." We say Hajj, "Make pilgrimage to the house in Mecca, built by prophets Abraham and his son Ismael.", or Ishmael as it is in the Bible. Ibrahim and Ismael, or Abraham and Ishmael. "A house symbolizing the unity of all mankind, our common origin. And a house, which symbolizes the family of man." One family, of man.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
It's the fifth pillar of Islam. And when he said that, he concluded what Islam was. Now if we understand what Shahada is, to witness there is but one G-d. And prayer in Islam, and charity in Islam, fasting in Islam, and pilgrimage, Hajj in Islam, then we have gotten the full picture of Islam. And once he said, giving in the definition of Islam, a picture of Islam, he said the same, but he said it with these words. He said, "Islam is built, or constructed upon five." And then he named those five that I just gave.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So the real religion of Islam is a religion of obedience to one G-d. G-d says to us in the Quran that, "I created neither men or jinn, for any purpose except to serve me. To worship me." To worship me or to serve me. And he says to all of us Muslims that, "This your community is one community. And I am your Lord, therefore worship only me." So this is worship in Islam. And we worship in Islam with our whole life. The Muslim believes that any act done that is not forbidden, is a good act and is worship. So my worship doesn't stop with the service in the mosque, praying, doing the rituals of Hajj or whatever. My worship doesn't stop there.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
All good deeds account for worship in Islam. I've heard the Imams saying, who represents this religion. They were all lecturing to an audience like this, a public audience. I've heard them saying, "If a doctor is a good doctor, his work, his profession, his service is worship of Allah." And it goes for anyone who has a profession. The soldier who fights and believe he's fighting in the cause of justice or for justice, and his heart is human, his fighting on the battlefield is service for G-d. This is the way we believe. That any act that you can be comfortable with, that this act is accepted by G-d, G-d approves of it, then that act is also worship.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The educator is perhaps the best in his service to G-d, if he's the true educator. Muhammad the prophet says that, "The educators will be in ranks in heaven, next to the prophets of G-d." So Islam wants us to be educated, and wants us to be properly educated. And you can't be properly educated if you don't recognize the whole of this great material scheme we call the visible world. If you don't recognize that there must've been a designer for it, there was a G-d that did all this, and then we have to reverence that G-d, and have to be accountable to that G-d, and have to search out scriptures and follow our scriptures, so that we live the life that our creator intended for us to live on this Earth.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, so much for the religion of Islam as a practice. We have to practice our religion, and I believe this is also the Bible. Faith without action, without deeds, gets no credit. You have to have faith and deeds. But quickly, I'd like to give you the articles of faith, according to the teachings of our prophet as revealed in the Quran and our holy book. And according to our prophet's own life as he lived it among us.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
The articles of faith are to believe in G-d, to believe in the angels, to believe in the revelations, the book that come from G-d. And to believe in the messengers of G-d, the prophets and messengers of G-d. All of them without making distinction as to which one is legitimate, or more legitimate than the other. They all are equally legitimate. And to believe in something called the Qadr. It's hard to translate, it's been translated pre-destination, it's been translated pre-measurement. But the Qadr of G-d just means, this is what it says. That it, the Qadr, is G-d's power over his creation, and that whatever harm you get is because of the way that G-d has designed that creation. There is a power, the potential there for harm, and whatever good you get is because of the way G-d has designed the creation. So the power to do the harmful thing, to do the wrong thing and the right thing, is all from G-d.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
You wouldn't be able to do anything good or bad, if G-d hadn't created the world as he has created it. And we are accountable for our conscious acts that are bad, we have to pay for them. So we believe also in facing G-d and the judgment, being accountable for our life as we lived it on this Earth, once we die we believe the book is closed and nothing else can be put in it. Your life is your record, good or bad, that's your record. And G-d says, he rewards good many times over. Many times over. And he rewards bad sins, only with the equal of the sin. But the good act gets many times over a reward, while the bad act or the sin gets only the equal of it.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And G-d wants us to know he's a merciful G-d. And he says his wrath, it comes upon whomsoever he will say it comes upon. And his mercy, he extends to all. All, his mercy. And his mercy extends beyond his wrath. So like the Christians, we believe that G-d is a merciful G-d, and that he's ready to love and to show mercy. And that he's not a G-d that loves to catch us wrong. He wants to catch us right, he loves to catch us right. And I believe this is also true of Judaism. I have participated in the Sabbath with Jews at the synagogue.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And I've had the wonderful experience of joining a family in Israel, Rabbi Cronis and his wife, and his two lovely daughters and the family for dinner there. And to observe Sabbath with them at home. And it was so touching, so touching. I told him that, "I think if my daddy and my son was here, and if he was experiencing this, I think he would become a Jew tonight. But daddy's got a different situation. And he'd come about my conviction. I came about my conviction in a very special way. And I'm so grateful to G-d, I'll be a Muslim until I'm dead and after. But I think I got some Jew in me too I believe.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And really a follower, a true follower in Islam has to accept all the prophets. So we believe in Moses, we follow the teachings of Moses because the teachings of Moses is also in the Quran. And we follow Jesus Christ, peace be upon the prophet, Jesus Christ the Christ prophet. We believe in them, and we have to accept Jesus Christ, and we also follow the teachings of the life of Jesus Christ as given to us in our holy book. So really, we're a follower of all the prophets. We have to be followers of all the prophets, and if we reject any of them, we are not a good Muslims, or we are not true Muslims?
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
We can do it in ignorance and be excused. But if we know we're rejecting them, and G-d says they are his prophets, and what he revealed to them is to be accepted by us, then we're in trouble. Also, we believe in the life after the death, or the resurrection after death. We'll be resurrected. And then we will know our whole life, we'll know what's wrong and right. G-d will show us all of that according to the teachers, and according to the Quran. And we will get the full measure of the good that we have earned, and if we have earned hellfire we will get the full measure of that also.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
But we believe that we get some of that already on this Earth. While we're here, our life has already started. We have earned good, and we're getting a bit of heaven for that, right here while we live on this earth. And those who earn more punishment than blessings, they are getting some of that hell right now, while they're living on this Earth. But the fullness of it, we don't get until the conclusion of this world as we know it, and the great resurrection comes. I'm not giving it in Arabic to save time, I'm just giving the English. And I know there are Arabic speaking people in the audience who would appreciate it if I was speaking some Arabic. But at the same time, I'm not giving it in the Arabic.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now if this is Islam, why did we get the Nation of Islam? The teachings of the honorable Elijah Muhammad as we got them. If this picture, what I just gave you, is Islam? It is Islam, it's Islam that Muslims know everywhere on this Earth. It is the only true Islam, this what I shared with you just now. I am firmly believing that the man whose name is in the Encyclopedia Britannica, he's in the other references too now, reference sources or books now, Fard. His name is pronounced Farad, but spelled F-A-R-D. I do believe firmly that this man had only good intentions, and that he created something and put it on time and knew it wouldn't last. He knew it would have to be done away with one day as we enjoyed more freedom and opportunity, to live as citizens in this country. And the laws favored us, and as it did all other citizens. He knew that what he offered us would not have the reception anymore that it has when he introduced it in the early 30's.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So he gave us something on time. Temple, called the temple. He didn't call it mosque. If he really thought he had Islam, or really want us to really think that that's what he gave us was Islam, why he did not give us the right name for our places of worship? But instead of saying mosque or masjid, he told us our places of worship were to be be called temples. This is what he gave to my father. And he intentionally made errors in his logic, the logic is not without errors. So that when we become better educated, we wouldn't respect what he did as much. And he was hoping that since he left us the holy book of all Muslims, the Quran, that when we got in trouble we would turn to the holy book. Because not only did he say the Qur'an was the only perfect book for us. And I think he had referenced to his books, not to the world scriptures. But he also said that we should study the language that he left with us, and learn how to use that language properly.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So if he wanted us to study the language he left with us, to know how to use it properly, he was saying that the way that you're using it now, that I'm giving it to you, the way you're using it is improper. You have to study it, to use it properly. He said many things, many things. I'm going to try to now just go over some things. Most important to know about this man is that he just wanted to help. He wanted to help. He wanted to do something to help African, poor, uneducated, culturally deprived African-Americans get into a better life for themselves. That was his main desire. And he says in many places, he says what is his main desire. That you be educated, that you appreciate education, that you study and educate yourself. He left these writings with my father, and with the early members of the community that's called the Nation of Islam.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And what I'm going to share with you tonight is that, I'm sure that he didn't think he was Jesus Christ. He wasn't trying to be Jesus Christ, but he thought that he could impress my father and other African-Americans who came from Christian life and Christian Church, he could impress them more and get their attention more and get their obedience more, if he presented himself as such, as Christ. So my father used to teach in the early years of his leadership, in the 40's which I'm aware of, I'm aware of from 40 on. And they tell me in the 30's, and in the fifties up until about 58 or 59, he used to teach that this man was the promised Messiah of the Christians, and the promised Mahdi or guide of the Muslims. This is what he taught.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now, since I have studied this man in his own writings, and studied my father's works, which to me were design and ordered for my father by this man, his teacher who was not an African-American. He was not a white man of America or Europe, he was Asian from the far east, from that part of India that's now called Pakistan. We are convinced of that, we know he was from that area.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And so this man did not want to be a Jesus Christ or anything like that, I think he was a very humble man, a very modest man. And wanted nothing for himself as glory, or rewards, but just wanted to change the life of culturally deprived African-Americans, uneducated African-Americans. And so he studied the environment around at that time, he started what was happening to us. What was influencing us, what was affecting our lives, et cetera.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And at that time, there was a number of leaders that had come with something different. Not the church, not Christianity. One was Noble Drew Ali, who started the Moorish Science Temple, he was the first that I know of to tell African-Americans or blacks in America that they had an Islamic heritage. And they should go back to the Islamic heritage. He dressed us in the Moroccan fez's, the African-Americans, not me I was a baby understand. I follow my father, not him. But he dressed his followers, African-Americans in the Moroccan fez's, and told them that they were the original Asiatics. Now why did he use Asiatics? He said Asiatic, he didn't say Africans he said Asiatics.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And Fard came behind him and borrowed what he said. And fraud tells us, and many of you brothers sitting right here in my. I know at least half of you here, you know that Fard didn't call us Africans. He called us Asiatic. He says, "You are the Asiatic black man." The Asiatic black man. We learned, we're not from Asia, we are from Africa. We know that. So why did he call us that? He said, he explained, he said in his myth that he made for us. And mind you, all people had a myth, that I know of. The Indians, the tribe, all the American the natives of this land, they have myths. But we didn't have a myth. We only had reality, and it was too hard to live with. So Mr. Fard say, "They need myth to help them out." So he gave us a great myth of our origin, a myth of our beginning.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So he said, "Originally the Earth was just called Asia. The whole earth was called Asia. So you all should call yourself the Asiatics." And that's what he told us, and that's what we accepted. But the Hon. Elijah Mohammad, as he got more exposure in the papers and et cetera, he started getting away from that language. Because it would hold him up too much, explaining all these things. So he said, "Get away from that. Put those lessons aside, bury them. Put them away" So he told us to hide all that, and he put Malcolm out in front. And Malcolm was not bothered with the old lessons, and the myth for us created by Mr Fard.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now I want to make it clear that this man, that in my opinion, from my knowledge that I have, he did not want any importance for himself. He did not want to be Jesus Christ. He knew he was not Jesus Christ, peace be upon Jesus Christ, he knew that. He was trying to put together something that would free us from everything that was holding us. Free us from one language environment by which we were contained, and create another language environment to contain us. Long enough to change us and make us feel free of any domination by white America, or by the white world, or by any religion. Christianity or any religion.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
His experiment was a success because I am here. If it wasn't a success, I wouldn't be here. His experiment was a success, it worked. He wanted us to be spiritually free. Oh, many of us are mentally free, rationally free, but we are not spiritually free. We know in our souls that we don't have yet what our souls are asking of us. But he wanted us to be spiritually free, so then he felt if he could just take us from everything else that was dominating our minds, that we would eventually search with our own minds, and our own hearts, and our own spirit, we will search for our way.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And he said question. He didn't tell us not to question what he left with us. He said, "Question it, ask questions, learn all about yourself." You know the lessons, you who had to memorize them. You have to memorize all these things. So he said ask a questions. And his faithful student, my father Elijah Muhammad, he would often tell us while we were sitting with him. And his ministers from around the country would be present there at his house. He would say, "Brothers, you have to look deep and not just take it on the surface, but look deep into it".
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So when he put me out of his organization for differing with his idea of G-d, I told him, "It's because of you, daddy." I said, "You told me to look deep. You told me to question. And I'm going on what you and mama taught me. You taught me to be honest, you taught me to be truthful. You taught me not to lie. You taught me to follow right, never follow wrong. And you told me to look deep. Not take what I see on the surface, but look deep into it." So he put me out, but I think he wanted to hug me before he put me out. He didn't, he couldn't because it had to be a punishment.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And I was put out more than once. The other time he caught me, same thing. Said, "It's reported that you're saying our savior is not the savior? You have a different idea about G-d? He said, "You know what we have to do." I said, "Yes, sir." Had to put me out again. So when he put me out this time, he was asking, "Why? How come you can't accept this man, who made your father all over again? See your father was nothing, a bum. I was ashamed to come home. It was during the depression and I didn't have anything to give you your mother, my wife. I was nothing but a bum son. Drinking on the streets, staying off ashamed to come home until late at night when I thought everybody was asleep." He said, "How come you can't except this man who changed my life, and made it possible for you to have the nice things that you have." I said, "Daddy, I understand that he's your savior." I said, "But I would rather believe you are my savior."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
Now I was working on my daddy. I knew he was going to put me out. And it worked, it worked. Finally when he knew his health was failing him, he knew he wasn't going to be with us much longer. He brought me back in, and he introduced me to the staff of his powerful leaders. The captains of the F.O.I. And all of them. And he said, "My son is free, and he's free to go anywhere in this nation and represent me." He said, "And son, teach what you teach." He called what I teach gospel, what I was teaching. It was not gospel, but he said, "Teach that gospel." He said that to the top leaders. So when he passed, the top leaders supported me and introduced me to the national convention membership there in Chicago. 26th of February was it? 26th of February, yes. And since then, I've been the official leader of the great following of a great man, an obedient man to his mysterious teacher, the honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
I wanted to give you some kind of a, some picture. Now let me quickly go over some things that you're familiar in scripture. And the Christian scripture. Mind you also, he told my father not to teach from the Quran. He said, "Wait, you have a son, you have sons. And one day, teach your sons, help your sons to learn Arabic. They will learn, the young will learn Arabic and they will learn it fast. This is too difficult for you. Then, have them teach you."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
And I remember something was very embarrassing from my brother and I. Who I'm probably very proud of him, he's D.r Akbar, He teaches in upper state New York, Binghamton university. African studies and Islamic studies. And Akbar and I, we were coming home one day from school, and my father said, "Come here sons. You boys come here." So we went to him. He said, "You've been studying Arabic." We said yes. "Can you read any?" We said, "Yes, we are learning to read daddy."
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So he brought us the Quran wrapped in a beautiful green velvet. And we remembered it, because he used to have it hanging on the if he wasn't at home. But for years with him out of the house, my mother just stayed with us raising us. He was working in the field and running from people he thought they were after him to kill him. And I believe they were. But he kept the Quran in a nice green velvet with a strap on it, velvet strap, hanging high right at the ceiling, right at the border. A little border, a little molding border going around, about a quarter inch I guess. [inaudible 00:28:25] about an inch, inch and a half border. And there was a tack in it, nailed in it, black. And the Qur'an was hanging there, high.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
So we reverenced it always, but we didn't read it. We thought it was taboo to even take it down. We didn't touch it to tell you the truth. So his teacher taught him to teach from the Bible. So here he is now, he wants to know from us, this Quran. And all in Arabic, no English, all Arabic. So he gave it to my youngest brother first. And Akbar, he looked at it and he looked at me and he handed it to me as my father wanted him to hand it to me, and I looked at it. And when I looked at it and I looked at his eyes, I saw in Akbar's eyes, he saw my eyes what we were thinking. "Oh, we have to tell daddy that this is just Arabic, nothing special. Same Qur'an that he has in English." So that's what we had to tell him. Said, "Daddy, no it's just the Quran." He said, "It is?" So he accepted it. But we saw disappointment on his face, and it looked like he had a lot of heavy questions on his mind that he couldn't ask us.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed:
One picture of Mr Fard was given to the community. There's other pictures of him, but he didn't want us to have those pictures. One picture shows him holding the holy book Quran in his hand like this. And there's a side view of him, the side view of him holding the book. The camera shot down on a book like that. And we see his head...


