10/17/1984
IWDM Study Library
The Importance of Moral Leadership for the 1980s

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Imam Mohammed: Dean Blake, the President Joshua Smith, student body leader for many, many of the students in this university, this college, Elijah Etheridge Mohammad, and those who have assisted him, and all who have been involved in making this visit here possible. We appreciate you very much. I have also to express to you my feeling concerning the content of the staff and the students that I have met, and I'm impressed.
I have looked into the faces and eyes, which are a reflection of the soul of students in different states, and representatives of student bodies in different states, and the staff members. I haven't seen any more sincerity and any more honesty in the people that I've met in the various states, and on the campuses where I have gone. I haven't met more sincerity than I have met here. That's what's going to help all of us and enable all of us to improve our state and change our bad situation is sincerity.
We will differ with each other with Congressman Randall and that I respect a lot very much, admire and admire him for years. We are so far apart when it comes to political content, but I have to stand and join those who applauded him and welcomed him and applauded his speech, because he said so many true and wonderful things. Now, I would like to right away mention a concern that our leader, the leader of about one billion Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him.
I would like to mention a concern that he pointed out, or pointed to after he had been blessed by G-d to establish a community and a strong group of people that would help work and preserve that community in Medina. After being boycotted by his own people, of his own city, his own native city Mecca and exiled or rejected, actually, he migrated but that was in response to persecution. In Medina, he said to his followers, the Muslims, "No more fleeing. From here on it is Taqwa and Jihad".
[applause] 
Audience: Allahu Akbar.
Imam Mohammed: Now I think if we can quote men like Adam Smith, George Washington, and others, I think we can quote the Muhammad the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. What he has said should be respected too and taken for the value that we find in it and accept it. He said Taqwa and Jihad. Taqwa means the purity of the spirit, respect for superior authority, a sense of responsibility to a superior authority, and a moral commitment to do the right the thing, Taqwa.
He said, and Jihad, Jihad means struggle, constant effort in the way of righteousness, excellence, community service under G-d. When I think of the need that is in moral leadership right now, that is in leadership now. I can’t help but agree with the theme that has been chosen, that need is moral. Moral need, moral strength, moral perception. You know, if you are not attracted or motivated morally and attracted to moral obligation, even your moral perception would be lost.
You won't be able to see what is correct morally. Our society is so confused as Elijah Etheridge Mohammad said, "Is so confused and has been so mixed up, troubled by corruption and petty crimes that most of us have a hard time having patience with moral responsibility. Most of us don't have the patience to listen to address a moral responsibility, but that's the very thing that's going to change the state of our lives for the better. It is an interest in moral responsibility.
A desire to know what is right, not right in my limited scope, not right in my race, not right just in America but what is right everywhere. That's what has really liberated man. The strength, the moral strength to accept what is right, to move from his narrow vision, narrow interest into a greater responsibility upon the belief that what he is doing, what he is perceiving, what he is pursuing is morally right. I've read where the present administration is, not to condemn the present administration, I'm not here in the interest of any party, I think you have been told that already. Not to condemn the administration but I read where the administration is trying out the leverage of material might, economic assistance, trying to use that as a leverage to bring about compliance in the international world, the third world, in the whole world. To bring about compliance, to use economic pressure, the offer of assistance, of economic assistance, as a pressure mechanism to pressure other nations into conforming to the wishes of our nation. 
Now, you may say, "Well, if a man is using material pressure to get people to conform to what is right, to get them to reform their bad system, so that it is more acceptable to the freedom-loving world, then that's good". You may say that and I can sympathize with you, but as a Muslim that's bad. The incentive for moral reform, the incentive for moral action should be moral and not material. It should be moral. Our religion tells us, teaches us, that the "reward for good is good".
The reward for good is good. The reward for good shouldn't be money. It should be good. If the money is good then that's okay. [laughs] You see, money is good too when it comes in the right way. Now, I see those countries that are being pressured into complying with our nation's wishes or this administration's wishes, in the same way that I see myself as the leader of this community being offered bribes for the purpose of pressuring me into conforming to the wishes of Muslim nations far across the waters.
Now, I'm a Muslim. I'm a Muslim. I don't feel that any Muslim should use pressure tactics on me. I don't feel it's necessary. I think I pray as much as the average one does. I think my allegiance to this religion, my allegiance to the Prophet is as good as the average one. I mean, in the leadership of Muslims. So, I don't see why they would use a bribe, an offer of material help or economic help to pressure me into conforming to their wishes, but they do. They do. They have and they continue to do that.
Not all of them, some of them. And I recall the verses moral. Moral. The need for moral leadership in the '80s. I recall the verses of our holy book that says, "The devil Satan threatens you with poverty". He threatens you with poverty. Now, if we have a nation and its leadership is using the offer of economic assistance to nations to get them to conform, reform that system or reform their society, so that they will conform to what we would like to see them be, then I see that as a threat of poverty.
That is saying to an organization who says "No", to that offer. All right then suffer in your poverty. "Okay, no assistance. Suffer in your poverty". Then I said to myself, "Well, I can understand why Imam Khomeini called America the big Satan". He's over there and he's upset and he's hurt. He has been hurt because of our support, America's support for the Shah who had no respect for their religious sensitivities, for their cultural sensitivity, for their life and their aspirations, for the will of that nation.
He's hurt. He's hurt. So, every time he sees behavior in America that resembles the behavior of Satan in the Quran, I guess he says, "Hey, that's the Satan. That's the Satan". I can't blame them; although, I disagree. America is not the Satan, but America is just as vulnerable as any other desperate nation when it comes to the influences of Satan. It is just as vulnerable as any other desperate nation. In fact, when any people that get desperate, when you become desperate, you're vulnerable.
Economic strain in this country, changing global order, changing global interests, shifting of attention from old, old principles and all commitments to new ones. The shift away from national patriotism to a concern for all the people of the world is the force that's forcing man and forcing nations to behave more morally. To behave more morally. Now, I would like to come here and satisfy everybody. I like to come here and make friends and be loved by everybody. Look at here, those political leaders that come in here and sell their party to you are selling you a bill of shit.
[applause]
Excuse the language. Forgive me for that word. I would like to say boo-boo. I don't know why I said it that way. I regret that. Now, we have to recognize real, real circumstances. If I look at something I say, that's not real though it's in my circumstances, I say that's not real. I'm not going to respect that. I don't have to respect it because it's not real. But if it's a real, it's real, it's a real issue. If it's a real issue, if it's something that I have to deal with, there’s no reason for me to run around and try to escape that.
Run all out the back door and out the side window. I have to face it, sooner or later so let's face it. Let's face it. Here is the fact. The fact is that America was turned into one circus. One big circus, one big playground by irresponsible leadership of the past. I'm agreeing with what Muhammad said. Elijah Etheridge Muhammad said; he's correct. "The countries in the state is in is in a bad state to sit in, not because America's bad. Not because politics is bad but because we have allowed bad people to come into responsibility and control of our lives".
It's not going to change if we are going to follow people who dangle money. Anybody that says he's going to give you, or go to work if we get in the office, we're going to see that you have 10,000 more jobs in this local area; they're dangling money. They are dangling money. 10,000 more jobs for who? The niggas don't want to work. You'll give them the job and then sit down on the job. We have been destroyed morally by irresponsible leadership of the past. We need a moral reform movement so we can get in shape for work.
[applause]
There are forces that work for our own good, but we have ventured off the traditional course that the good people trod. We have been distracted by all the foolishness, the quick pleasure, et cetera, et cetera. We can't see that there's a wonderful thing working in spite of the bad economic conditions and all these other things. To be truthful with you, there are no bad economic conditions in America. There's a situation of too much greed in America. The people who are out of work have more money than most of the people in the third world have who are working 16 hours a day, and are wasting more than can be justified by any moral standards. The people who don't have jobs. How do I know? Because the burden on the Sanitation Department in Chicago is felt more in the community of the poor than in the community of the so called "well-to-do" people.
In the community of the poor there are about four and five big garbage cans for every home, for the community of the poor. And they find a way to fill up every can every week. Now see, I can’t come here with this brother love and skin pigmentation allegiance and all of that with this problem burdening in my mind. I say, "What the hell is wrong with Americans? What are they doing? Trying to see how much money they can throw away?"
You go and see the poor people eat, you say, "Are these people poor?" They take a few bites out of a chicken leg and throw it down. You say, “Hey, what's going on here? We're poor.” And then you'll see people that are called bag ladies. You have them here too? Bag ladies. They're going around digging in the garbage, and they’re just as fat. Bag ladies, just as fat digging down in to the garbage looking for something, I don't know. It ain't nothing but a fad. That bag lady ain’t hungry.
That bag lady ain't hungry. That bag lady doesn't have to go out there and dig into those garbage cans. That's a fad. She has found a role for herself. She gets attention because we say, "What is she doing?" It's a new thing for her. She used to sit up at home and just suck on barbecue pork bones, and get her hands and face and body all greasy eating barbecue. Then she said, "Oh I'm lonely in this house". And she found out that doing something unusual, or something out of the ordinary, she can get attention. So, she calls herself the bag lady.
You know they didn't used to carry no bags until they called them bag ladies. They used to just go, "I saw them empty hands". Then they sit down in there and pick up stuff, maybe had a purse, but now they carry a bag. They want to know this is the bag lady, you see. Desperation, desperation can drive you crazy. We have so many desperations, so many different kinds of desperation. Until if someone try to treat each one of us in our separate situation, they'll go crazy within a couple of weeks.
There's one idea that can bring change, improvement, strength and progress to us, these poor citizens of this country. That idea is community loyalty. Community loyalty. That's the idea that has made people strong and put people upon the face of this earth and given them prominence and supremacy. It has been community loyalty. The need now is not to stop at our borders with the hypocritical patriotism, moral patriotism and stop at our borders but go beyond our borders to the global community, and identify in the whole situation or the whole circumstance a man.
That's what G-d has been marching the spirit of the human being towards, accepting responsibility for the whole community. Accepting to share in the responsibility for the whole community. We have nations now who've been preaching for a long time, but now there are forced to accept the share in the responsibility for the international community.
Refugees, people who are persecuted in one country, mistreated in one country. Denied their rights, denied equality in that country. Other countries who claim to be democratic, claim to be human, lovers of humanity, they have to respond to the needs of those refugees. So, we find that refugees from east, refugees from west, refugees from the third world, refugees from all over, Afghanistan, everywhere. They are pouring into the nations that will accept them. It's not only our nation, Japan is one of the greatest leaders and they support for refugees, Japan.
Not only Japan, many other nations, in fact weak nations economically speaking in economic terms, when we compare them and their situation to what we are to ours, as a super power and a great risk nation then they're poor. But they too are opening their doors; they are receiving refugees. Nations are demonstrating, they are concerned for the community of man. We need that same principle to grow in America where you on your block will sense the responsibility for a person in a worse situation on your block.
Not only on your block, out of your neighborhood. Not only out of our neighborhood, in another city, in another state. We have to sense the responsibility to each other, that we all live together. And G-d is forcing men by the increase in population, by the advance in technology, by television, Telstar, all these great communication mechanisms that we have. G-d is forcing men to live together, to see each other, to speak to each other daily. Don't you know now we can speak to each other all across the ocean daily?
Man is in communication for the first time in history perhaps. He's in daily communication with his fellowman all around the globe. G-d is forcing men to accept his responsibility to the total human community and we have to practice that principle that the United Nations, and the freedom loving nations of the world, the humanitarian nations of the world are exercising in serving the needs of the refugees. Helping the refugees, extending a hand to them, accepting them into their quarters and to their nation, giving them a home.
We have to practice that same thing here in America, and we have to get rid of the sensitivity as a race. The, "Hey, is he black?" You know I’ve had people ask me, "Is Mohammed black?" And I wanted to tell them I am not a racist. I want to tell them, "Look, if my thought, if my perception was as short as yours, I would hope that he wasn't black". Because just being black doesn't mean a thing, but a long way to go. Don't think I'm talking about everybody, some of us are far advanced.
Some of us are for more advanced we don't even identify anymore with blacks. I'm talking about the majority. [laughs] The majority of us common black folks, common African-American, the majority of us. Our insight and our perception are so small. If we were able to really see and understand, we wouldn't want to follow somebody because they're black, we want to follow somebody because they're right. We follow somebody because they are informed, properly informed.
[applause]
Follow them because they are committed. Follow them because they have the moral tenacity, the moral strength to do what is right even when it means a threat to their own person. And if that person is white, I'm ready to follow that person. If that person is yellow, I'm ready to follow that person. Believe me as long as we have this negative approach to solutions in our lives, anytime you allow emotionalism to direct your approach to a problem, you're in trouble. That's a negative approach. I heard the candidate for the vice presidency, Ferraro. Ferrero, Pharaoh, Ferrero, Ferrero. No, no, no. Not Pharaoh. I heard her say on the news that she doesn't approach problems from an emotional situation. She approached problems analytically. I said, "I wonder how many good law Democrat blacks are listening to that wise woman". I was praying that they heard her and I would wake up and find that we had a new African America.
Believe me, once we stand upon that principle that you don't approach problems from an emotional situation, but you approach them with your intellect, with the tools of reasoning, with your rational faculties, with an intent and a purpose to find the objective truth, approach them analytically and be willing to cut off your damn rotten leg, if the fact-finding says, that's the problem. Yes, that's what we have to do.
The day we get more political preachers and preacher politicians to come into that kind of approach to the problems of African-Americans, we're going to have a better America because the burden of America is the black man. Hispanics are in a bad situation, but Hispanics have more social, social conscience. They have more family conscience. They have more social commitment. They have more family commitment. They can demonstrate moral support for their families, and for their community than we can. We have nothing but spiritual unity that we can't even define.
[applause]
We had to have a birth of new sensitivities in the African-American man. We have been tricked and programmed and conditioned to be emotionally sensitive, racially sensitive, Washington directed, White House directed, assistance directed. We have been programmed the condition to be that way. We should stop and just say, "Hell. We've been struggling and reaching and fumbling and stumbling for three centuries in this country. Something is wrong." We are still the last. We are still the most down. We're still the economically worse off. Something must be wrong. Hell, let's reject everything that's been coming our way and let's start from day zero.
[applause]
And solve the problem not as [laughs] one who's under spell of the church or a mosque. I don't care if you're under spell of the mosque. If you're in the spell you're in trouble. Start from day zero and say, "Hey, let's get rid of this spookism. Let's get rid of all these superstitions. Let's get rid of this tribal way of shortening our course by throwing bones and see how they fall. Let's start being scientific minded calculators".
[applause]
Let's come up with some logical strategy that has proven can be proven to be workable, and let's separate ourselves from this "emotionally scarred man of the past". Don't you know all of us are carrying the burden of a second human being on our backs? That's the one who can't forget the past. That's the one who's still looking for the great African nation. The great African nation is looking for you. You've been in the land of opportunity for a long time. You should have something to offer starving, drought ridden Africa. 
But instead, we’re look into Africa, still looking to Africa. Look here. It is right here. It's not in Africa, and we’ve paid the price. We have been loyal to whatever party that would accept us. We’ve have been loyal. We have been loyal to this country. We’ve fought for it, we have died for us just like every other citizen. In fact, we have paid more than any race or any ethnic group in this country.
We have paid more in terms of investing. Why? Because we haven't got returns equal to their returns. So, this country owes us a great deal. Don't go outside of it. Don't let them jive you, this country ain't poor. This country is rich. All we need to the return to moral sense and economic sense. And you can't have economic sense without moral responsibility, to yourself, to your family, to your community, to the world. That's the answer. Let's start with Taqwa and then accept struggle, Jihad. As-Salaam-Alaikum.
[applause]
Speaker 1: Allahu Akbar.
[applause]
Speaker 1: Taqdeer.
[00:36:20] [END OF AUDIO]

