1997
IWDM Study Library
Islam and Race Consciousness Fresno, Ca

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
[Silence 00:00:00 - 00:00:35]
Speaker 1: The most honored of you in the sight of G-d is he who is the most righteous of you. And G-d has full knowledge and is well acquainted with all things.
Speaker 2: Al-Islam In Focus.
[background music]
Speaker 1: This program deals with the misunderstandings that exist in this country about the Muslim religion. We hope this program will bring about a better understanding of the religion of Al-Islam. We also hope this program will encourage all people to begin to know each other better, so that we can work together to ensure the survival of our country.
[music]
Speaker 1: I bring to you the Muslim-American spokesman for human salvation Imam W Deen Mohammed. Takbir.
Audience: Allahu Akbar.
Speaker 1: Takbir.
Audience: Allahu Akbar.
Speaker 3: Takbir.
Audience: Allahu Akbar.
Imam W. Deen Mohammed: Praise be to Allah. As salaam alaikum?
Audience: Wa alaikum salaam.
Imam Mohammed: Let his peace be on you. We're thankful to Allah for our presence here. We pray to G-d to guide us always and guide our tongue and our hearts and our spirits and minds. Guide us that we reach the goal we want and that the goal we reach most importantly is the goal that G-d wants for us.
I would like to first just express my appreciation for the work that has been done here to make these two days meeting possible for us and the success that we have enjoyed. We're very much appreciative of that and we admire you for your good works that you have done to make last evening a very wonderful evening. A very important evening, with many people, important people from this area, this city and this area attending the banquet last night.
The [unintelligible 00:02:51] that was selected. All very excellent leaders, very excellent personalities in this town and the pioneers that were selected have brought great joy to our hearts to see them recognized for their contribution to our community and to our efforts, to our cause in this part of the world over all these years that we've been struggling here. I've really enjoyed my stay here. The entertainment was very excellent too.
We were surprised by the performance of the Los Angeles Clara Mohammed School choir and its masterful director. Very, very much enjoyed it. Also, my grandniece, two grandnieces who sang so beautifully. I heard their mother sing. I knew she had a voice, but she was so shy she could hardly raise the volume.
[laughter]
That certainly was beautiful. The whole evening was beautiful, very important, very significant and I believe very productive for our aims as a Muslim community in America. The topic we've taken is a topic that irritates some people and relaxes other people.
[laughter]
Islam and race consciousness. I know somebody thought, what kind of expression is that? It's a contradiction. There's no race consciousness in Islam. I didn't say it was. I said the topic was Islam and race consciousness.
[laughter]
I'm telling you, there's a race problem everywhere. It's the ignorance that is in our minds and history, most of all in our history. The ignorance in our history that we still carry on our backs and the ignorance in our mind. Race consciousness can be good or bad. Race consciousness as we have it in the world is bad, but I believe that race consciousness as we should have it is good. We should be conscious of all of our important realities and being a particular group, identifiable group is something that's important. Something that's important. We shouldn't ignore it. It has importance. In fact, our group is just an extension of our individual identity, to be ignorant of that and not appreciate that the identity indicates that something is wrong.
Let me first give all praise to G-d, Allah Allah subhanahu wa taala, highly glorified is He that is. Prayers and peace be on our Prophet Muhammad, the last prophet. The prophet to who the Quran was revealed and what follows of that salute to the seal of the prophets. G-d Most High in my understanding does invite us to know self in all of our development, in all of our progression, the progressions of self. That is to know self as an individual, to know self as a member of the human family and to be aware of the different images that you'll come into, so that you keep those images in line with or in agreement with the image that G-d created you for. That image that G-d created us for is the human image in its excellence.
G-d says, in the Quran to us that He did not create jinns and jinns are thought to be invisible creatures or creatures that can take on different forms. They're creatures of a dimension that mystifies us. G-d says, that he did not create the jinn world, the jinn people or the jinn group or the human group, the human family for any purpose other than for his worship, for any purpose other than to serve him. We're created to serve G-d.
Now, sometimes the word says, and especially this term that's used in the Quran that was selected from the Arabic language and became a Quranic term with a new meaning. In the Arabic language the word Abd, common slave, slave that the people had. The slave was called the Abd. The Quran took that common term that meant slave, something that's not complimentary, it meant slave and G-d chose the term and made it part of the Quranic text, Quranic composition or Quranic text and it became a term of honor. A complimentary term.
It is the highest honor that can be paid to a human being, in our Islamic understanding, is to call someone the adb of G-d. G-d says, that great honor to Muhammad the Prophet in the passage of the Quran, where G-d is referring to Muhammad being lifted up, or his ascension into the heavens and his travel or his visit across the heavens. And his visiting the far distant mosque in Jerusalem, the mosque of the dome which is a really hot issue for Muslims and the world really. Now, as the world would see and understand.
G-d Almighty refers to Muhammad not by his name. He says, “My adb.” Now, don't forget what I said at the beginning of this reference or this talk around adb, the term adb. That adb literally meant, popularly meant a common slave. The slave of any slave master, of any slave owner, was called adb. G-d said, “I took my adb.” It says, G-d is speaking of Himself as the third person. The first person, G-d, speaking in His third person Himself in the third person said, “He took His servant up.” His servant, adb. That's Muhammad.
Now, why am I spending this time on the term adb. And how the term adb has been treated by revelation, by the Quran or by G-d, to dignify that term and to make that a complimentary term? Why am I spending time on that? Because racism in this part of the world is directly tied to slavery. The enslavement of a race, a people, a group that was charged with, the charge of being inferior human creation, or not quite human creation. This was back in the ugly days of the argument from white rule in defense of what they were doing and that is bringing Africans to this part of the world, to enslave them with no intentions to have them as anything else but brute beasts to work for them.
The argument was that, there was not quite a human soul in us. This is all documented by history and we should look at this. It's very important for this address today. That we didn't have quite the human makeup that other people had, that we were somewhere between the monkey and the man. This is not a laughing matter. We can laugh at another time but this is very serious. That we were somewhere between the monkey and the man, that we were not truly persons. The treatment that was given to us publicly was to reinforce that belief.
It began with selling us on auction blocks, like you sell an animal to a farmer or to a person who raises animals or wants to raise animals. Same treatment was given. Our qualities and our merits or whatever qualification for serving the needs of the buyer was pointed to and no human qualifications were pointed to. Just animal qualifications were pointed to.
They said, "Look at his strength. Parade him around on the block." Said, "Look at his physical strength. Isn't this a strong buck?" They would say, tell the man open his mouth of teeth, "Look at his teeth. You're going to have to spend a whole lot of money on this buck, his teeth are good." You see. They said look at his teeth, they show his teeth to the buyers. If they had really had a good specimen there, a good one there, a good subject there, sometimes he couldn't talk to his conditions would be still bad. So, they couldn't get much money for him, but if they had one in good shape they would make much good money for, they would show the potential buyer also that he has good animal obedience in him. Good animal obedience in him.
They would tell him, "Run across there," and he would run. Tell him, "Run back," he'd run back. Just like you would do a horse or something. That he was supposed to show that he's ready, he's good, he's in good condition. He'd run back. Then they wanted to show that he was appreciative. If also had that in him, they wanted to show the buyer that he's an obedient animal and it will be an animal that would appreciate his master's kindness. He would run back and would pat him on the back and play with him. This is a smile you see. That's how he sold him. Just like you would a dog. A good dog. A good horse or whatever.
That treatment reinforced the charge that this creature is not a human. This creature is an animal. Some would wonder how a human being would take that kind of treatment. Many of them didn't. Many of them resisted their masters when they found out that they were going to be treated that way. They resisted and they were killed. Many were killed, but some survived and I don't think it was because all the survivors were cowards. I think some survived because they were shrewd and they knew that that couldn't go on forever. They wanted to outlive the life of that evil so that their children would have a better time and a better world to live in and they did. Thank G-d we're here because of them.
Audience: Allahu akbar.
Imam Mohammed: I know people don't like to hear about this. Why is there so much fear to hear this? If I was a member of the Jewish race and the Jewish people and if I would tell about the mistreatment of the Jews that was about 1000 times longer than this. We talking about hundreds of years they're talking about thousands of years. We're talking about hundreds of years that this happened and the Jews would be talking about what happened thousands of years. 2,000 years maybe even more, but their people will listen to the Jews and they will sympathize with the Jews even now. Though that's way, way back there.
But why we can't listen to what happened to black people, African-American people just a little better than two or three generations, 100 years or so ago? I'll tell you why. Because the society is still guilty. The society hasn't yet repented fully, so it's very afraid that if these free blacks keep hearing that they may be a danger to our society. They may explode on us without even their control. [laughs]
Well, a civilized humane society would be willing to take that risk and deal with that explosion when they see it happening. Prove to the people that that's not necessary. We're not such people that you have to explode on us. [laughs] I think that this society has grown in terms of their human conscience and their willingness to face what has happened to us and correct it. I think this society has grown enough to deal with explosions if they occur. I know we have grown enough to not explode and destroy ourselves.
We may explode but they'll be small explosions that we can deal with, that we can ourselves survive. You're not going to have any big explosion that we can't survive. [laughs] I'm sure of that. In fact, I don't think there'll be an explosion at all if we be intelligent. To be intelligent is to deal with reality. Don't run from reality. Here now, we are in Islam, African-Americans. I would like to say much to the non-Muslim African-Americans but that's not the focus for this talk, the non-Muslim as much as it is the Muslim, African-American.
We as African-Americans because the topic is Islam and race consciousness. We as African-Americans, we should study this term slave and become wise, at least a few of us, become wise in this, - the knowledge of the strategy, the knowledge of the psychology, the knowledge of the strategy used by G-d, to take the force out of the slave master and out of racism and bring dignity and honor to every man, every man. We should study it very closely.
Now, if G-d called me His slave and G-d says not only of Muhammad, Muhammad is His chosen, model slave. He's the chosen model slave for all people on this earth, but all of us according to the word of G-d in our holy book. Sisters and us, women and men, all of us are the slaves of Allah. G-d addresses us in the Quran. Now mind you, this is just a few years even while masters were still saying to their property, human property, "Slave, come here. Slave, do that." G-d was saying, “Muhammad is my slave.” G-d was saying, “All of you are my slaves.”
G-d came as a thief in the night, in the body of revelation, in the body of revelation. G-d came as a thief in the night and stole back what was stolen from G-d.
[applause]
When the master woke up to what had happened, it was too late. Bilal, was yet a slave but he was refusing the identity that the slave master had imposed upon him. He had taken on another identity. Said no, I'm not his slave, I'm Allah's slave. I'm G-d's slave. I'm not the despicable creature he thinks I am. I am a creature born with honor. Because G-d said it.
Now, G-d says, of Muhammad in the revelation that he sent it down upon Muhammad's heart. He sent it down upon Muhammad's heart. Now, in terms of brain power, I'm not going to argue with the advocates of racism in the bell curve.
[laughter]
Because I agree that we all are not equal in terms of brain power. It depends upon our history and our present circumstances. Who’s going to be over the other in terms of brain power. One race could have been favored by history and circumstances over a long period of time and I might quietly agree that they are mentally superior at this particular time, but give me time with my people and I think I can deal with it. Islam and race consciousness. Don't forget the talk.
Now, G-d says he descended, sent it down. The word, a heavy word, a mighty word upon his heart. What is that to tell us? That is to tell us that G-d doesn't depend on educated people for his work. Muhammad the Prophet was not an educated man, but no matter what you do to the human being, if he's a decent person, he holds on to the heart that G-d created him with. Muhammad still had the heart that G-d gave him when he was born from his mother's womb, still had that innocent human heart. G-d deposited the revelation into his heart.
Sent it down, (Arabic), upon his heart. What does that tell us? The expression (Arabic) upon his heart, what does that tell us? That his heart was of such soundness, and goodness, and purity and innocence that the responsibility for carrying the word of G-d was in his heart. His heart was such a wonderful heart that that heart could be responsible for carrying the word of G-d. He carried the word of G-d upon his heart not upon his intellect. If G-d had revealed it upon a mountain, the mountain would have crumbled down as loose sand. But He revealed it upon his heart, the right heart.
Now, here's our equality there. The human heart that G-d created all of us with, I've never heard the bell curve people say that our hearts are different. In fact, they will admit that we have innocent animal hearts, some of them. Some of this hard racist will say, "Well, the Negroes, the blacks, they have real innocence. They have real innocence. They're good little beasts."
[laughter]
They will acknowledge that our hearts may be a little better than theirs, but our brain is inferior. G-d takes the heart as the criteria and not the brain. [laughs] When you study history, the brain has been really in the forefront of progress like education and everything that makes for real progress in civilization, but the brain has been conditioned by the condition of the heart. So, the brain actually has to be initiated by the right heart before he can go out and do his work.
So, if the heart of the people was for justice, if the heart of the people was for freedom then that brain that rose up and recognized that that is the heart and characteristics of the society, it made progress and great progress for that society. But if the heart was hard and the brain was superior, the progress fizzled out like it did with Hitler and Germany under Hitler.
Now, we still need to have the strength to stand up to the racist charges against our personal and group value, our worth in society. We need to still stand up against it. Why? Because we have not yet ourselves accomplished what our own souls, our own hearts want for us. We're far behind. We're a long way away from the goal that our own hearts and our own souls want for us.
Our own souls want that not too many of us be dependent on others for the simple basic needs in the life of people. Decent housing, businesses to supply the neighborhood, the neighbors, et cetera. These are things that other ethnic groups manage.
[00:28:58] [END OF AUDIO]

