February 26 1983

Imam’s Class
Atlanta, Georgia

Imam Warithudeen Muhammad


Allah  u Akbar.  Dear beloved   Imams,  As  Salaam Alaikum. Bismillah.  Al-hamdu lillah.     La  illaha   illilah.  Wa ash shadu alla   illaha   illilah wahdahu la  shareeka lahu wa  ash shad a anna Muhammadan abduhu rasuluh.

We're happy for this opportunity to meet with the Imams  in this region and share with you some   of  our under standing-knowledge.- and understanding  in  the religion. I usually include also some Arabic  instruction in the Arabic language..     I don't  know if it will be necessary to do that here cause  I understand that, you have: Imams  in the area.    The Imam who represents the Council  here,   the spokesman for the Council,   is pretty good in the language and I understand that there are  others,  too,   in the area that are pretty good  in the language. So I think you have people  who can teach you and  instruct you  in the language. So maybe we won’t  have  any Arabic as  such. I  usually  include an Arabic  studies or an Arabic lesson  (Illegible).     

You know the Honorable Elijah Mohammad before  I came  into leadership he  used  to require  his Ministers to come  in on a  kind of regular basis,   they had  to come   in to Chicago.    And he would  invite   them and it was  very nice.  He  would  invite them  to  his  home  and  they  would  have  dinner  with him and  at the  table he would be  sharing with them his  thoughts  for  the nation  as   it was  called  in  those  days   and also his  thoughts on  the   scripture. And just opening himself  up   to his ministers to ask questions  or whatever  they had  as  concerns  he  would encourage them to bring  them  out at  that time.  And also he would require them, to give him reports at that time too, you see after my coming  into the  leadership we continued that  for a little.- while, we had ministers they used to come  into Chicago and I would speak to the ministers.

They all gathered  together, I would  speak  (illegible). And I saw it was costing us  financially, to do that, so we discontinued it.  But,  don't  think that  It hasn’t been my de-sire to meet, with you personally. I think It's necessary for the propagators who are first the- Imams, for the propagators and myself to be in touch with each others. So that the language remains consistent.  So you know what moods are  stirring  in me. It's not to only know what  the. man is speaking but also what spirit what mood is  in him at the time, because that indicates something too,  you see, so I regret that we don’t have that kind  of contact anymore.    So what we're doing  is  trying to see  the.- Imams  now at  least once a year and I hope I can see  you more  often than that.  At least   once.- a year in a situation like this. 

Where I address you and then after I address you I’m going to open to your questions.    You can ask me questions, you see. And I don’t  know how much time we got. I wouldn’t want to burden anybody.  But I know some of you,  you don't mind (illegible).   Then there are others who have things, to do, you know we have  to accept  that, you know. Others who have things to do and they're not as excited  over certain things...So it's no need  of us  Imposing on them (illegible). We have to respect all of this. And recognize  that all  of us don't  have this  same excitement you see.  So, those who have that excitement if you require me to spend a more time you let me know and we'll let the
others go.  And We'll spend a little more time together.  So,  we want  to begin with. ..I don't usually take any questions until we finish. But I'm going to take one hand went up before we got into discussion today. I'm- going to accept whatever the comment or question is. Yes 

Question:   (Inaudible)

IMAM WDM:    Yes,  I appreciate your comment very much. And I'm going to have a special mailing address pretty soon. It's going to be announced in the paper,  in the Journal. So,  write me at that address and we can stay in touch. Among  the issues in the religion is the issue of apostasy. One after accepting faith renounces the faith
that he accepted. And becomes an apostate they call it. This is one of the issues.    There are many issues in the religion that we should be discussing because,  simply because Muslims themselves differ. They don’t all take- the-same position. I have met scholars in the religion who felt that one who renounces his religion is not to be killed. And I've, met scholars who feel that one who does that is to be killed.    And they quote sharia, they quote hadith to support themselves—to support their position. 

Now if we would,   if we would  take each of  the important  issues  in the religion—what I'm talking about—issues  that are surrounded with a lot  of confusion,  conflicting  kinds of statements,  you see,  controversial issues. For example.-, the wearing of the veil by the woman.    You'll find people who are established as learned people in this religion and they know the hadith.    They know the shariah.    They are considered to be very learned people  in this religion. And-they will  tell  you that, yeah the women are not to be outside of their homes without  the veil.    And than you have many  others as you know that will say "No that's not necessary".  And they both come from shariah,  right? Shariah.    So, there are many other issues  of equal significance and maybe  even more. But I  just mention a couple. I'll talk about apostasy for a few minutes. Now,  it's important that since we are identifying as a community that we be consistent.    That's what Community means.    You have schools of thought in our religion. You have  followers  of different  Imams;  different scholars. And these people tend to group together and when you go to their group you expect some kind of consistency,  don't you? 

So when people look at us from the outside and they say "Oh, they belong  to that group,   that emerged  out  of or evolved  out  of the   old Nation  of Islam under Elijah Muhammad. And their leader is   Imam Warith D. Muhammad."  So, they expect for us  to be.- consistent. And when they come to your Masjid and find you following some book you got off the shelf and find another Imam following a different book,... they say "That Community  is  in a shambles”. Say  "They don't have  no  organization. They don't  have no leadership." So this  is a bad reflection on us,  isn’t  it?  We should  be consistent. Now what  does  that require? It requires  that we follow our leader. And that we don't use.- material  unless we know our leader approves it.  That's right!  You know. I'm
not  forcing  you to do this.  

But I'm saying what  is required if we expect to have  dignity as a  community. If you want respect  and dignity as a community,   then all  the Imams that identify with this community—and  I have to accept that some of you may have  an opinion of me that doesn't  allow, you to respect me. That might be the case. You know, (illegible). A lot of you, I don’t know you.  You don't know, me, really, but  somebody have already introduced me to you and I don't know how they introduced me to you. So, you might have a low opinion of me, you see. But  if you identify with this community, then you should understand that for the good of this community,  whether you think I'm beneath you by two feet  or small  (illegible)   under your feet,   you see. You should say "That runt is our leader and we have to maintain some kind of consistent image.(illegible) You see. So let  us work for that.     

Can I get  all of your hands on that ?  Praise be to Allah!  That's good  enough for me.    All right. Cause  I would do the same thing   if I was   in your place,  Allah is my Witness. If I thought  I was above  you, if I was  in your place, I would recognize you and support you until I found  justification to come against you. If  I found  justification to come against you,  I would come, against  you. Oh yes I wouldn't  be like  some of you. I'd come  against  you.  If  I don't  like, you,   I'd  come  against you. But  not on no personal  thing. Can't  be  no personal thing. It  has  to be  on the  basis   of what is right for all of us, you see. All right. And  if  I  see that you're  a wrong person for all of  us,   believe me  I’ll come  against  you, I don't  care, who you are can be momma.

The tit can be in my mouth, I'll take the tit out and say "Hey, get away from here! You have to go!" Now this book is written by a Muslim from India.  His name is S.A. Rahman.  At the time he was the Chief Justice of Pakistan. You see.  And I'm just going to read a little bit of what he has to say here on apostasy.  He -says the Our'an, the Holy Qur'an gives verses or have verses on apostasy as he said, relates to apostasy.  And the Qur'an is (illegible)... the wording that is of the Qur'an is in such language that one can stretch the meaning and come to the conclusion that the Our’an is saying that one who renounces his religion should be killed.  And he takes the position that the Qur'an does not allow that.  And he quotes Qur'an from several places, several places in Qur'an, to establish his position.

Let's see if we can get some of these...Yes, here is one quote:  "If then, if they repent of their disbelief and observe prayer and pay the zakat, they are your brethern in faith".,.and again..." and if they break what they have said in the oath of allegiance, as part of their faith or as part of their promise to fulfill covenant", he says, "however Razi"-the person supposed to be an authority-"and Alici give distinct preference(illegible)...for as Razi observes, 'The verse was revealed in respect of those who broke their covenant' And he rejects the alternative reading as not in conformity with the context.  So, what he's saying here is that we have to understand the context in which statements were made.  Some are in a political context and others are in religious context. And that's the way I see and understand Qur'an. That we have to understand injunctions or commandments in their context.  And in the case of political Muhammad Ashraf Publications' address in Pakistan.  I don't see it in here(someone from the audience has the address)... Can you give it to us?  Come and put it on the board for us, please.  

That's just in case you want to buy this book.  You might want to get this book.  But this is a kind of well-known, critical issue for Muslims. Some people are really fanatical about this and they say that if a Muslim denounces his faith, he's supposed to be killed.  We know that there are many statements in the Qur'an that if that was the case, then those statements in the Qur'am would be misleading.  Because Allah, for example, Allah says in Qur'an, of those who leave the faith, that if they afterwards, repent and do good and pay the poor rate--in other words, if they come back and repent and show their true repentance by supporting the Muslim Community and following the tenants of the faith--make their prayers, etc., that you have to accept them; that God will forgive them, right?  That God forgives them.  

That means that we have to accept them and we know that that was the case when Prophet Muhammad came to Mecca, victorious, he was required that they bring out, find, all of those Muslims who had turned back from their faith, right? But when he came to Mecca, victoriously, he didn't ask for anyone to be brought forth who had turned back from his religion.  He gave complete what's called amnesty to everybody, didn't he?  Everybody.  He said "The war's over and let the feuds be over".  The feuding be over and he gave peace-established peace and amnesty for everybody; for all offenders.  Now, if that was the case, how come he didn't draw out those people who had been practicing the religion in terms of...(illegible)... the other side?

So, we follow the Qur'an and follow his example. And the Qur'an says "Whosoever will, let him leave and whosoever does not will, the let him reject." This is the Qur'an. And it also says that there is no compulsion in religion, "La ikraha fid deen. There's no compulsion in religion. And it establishes religion by free choice. It is your free choice to do that. Now, if people are going to be killed for changing^ from their religion...we can't reconcile statements like that, that are all through the Qur'an, with one example they get from the hadith that says kill the one that renounces his religion. Just one example they gave. Kill the one that renounces the religion. Or one statement in the Qur'an that says "Fight them". Doesn't say "Kill them". It says "Fight them". But the word's also used for kill, you see. It can be used for kill, too... And if it means "Kill them", in what context? And as the author has established here, that that statement in the Qur'an is in a political context. 

That, that's for traitors at war, in the war, you know, and all countries do that don't they? Yeah. If you join the enemy, they shoot you. And they won't shoot you just when you're facing them. They'll find you and shoot you.. shoot you after the war is over. So, I thought that we should discuss that just a little bit, so you'll know what our position is on that. Our position is that the Qur'an does not compel anyone to believe in this religion and if anyone becomes Muslim and then later joins and becomes a Christian or something else; or atheist or what, we're not to find that person, chase that person down. That's their business. They want to leave, that's them. But we're to regard them as people who don't have mature minds. That they didn't think a thing over well enough before accepting it, you know. Ah, we're not to trust them...We're not to trust, such persons. Even if they come back, you can't trust them right away. You can't trust them. They have to establish themselves. That's why the Quran says they just can't come back and say they believe. They have to establish a record for really being true to that. 

They have to be seen praying, paying zakat, supporting the community and being sincere and you have to seen the sign of repentance, of sincere repentance in the person for what they have done. In other words, they can pay zakat and do all of those things.  But if you don't see in them a remorse and a burden for having done that, then you know that's still—that's not sincere repentance.  So they have to prove themselves.  Somebody asked me say "If Farrakhan comes back, will you .accept him?" I say "Sure, and not under these conditions, he's never been a Muslim.  If he ever becomes one I'll accept him." Praise be to Allah. All right. So, if he never believed in this, has he been a Muslim? (audience: "No, Sir!") A Muslim is to believe what we believe.  

So, if he's never believed that, if he's been believing in Yacub's history and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's beliefs, he's never been a Muslim; he's just been calling himself a Muslim. He's never known what a Muslim is supposed to be.  I don't condemn him any more than I condemn Christians that don't join us. They don't know us so they don't join us. They believe in what they believe in. They haven't had the opportunity to separate from that fascination and look at something else. We don't condemn them and hate them for that.  I hear Farrakhan opened up a fish processing plant in Gary. That's wonderful.  I would like to send him a telegram congratulating him...bring some jobs 'to Gary...need it bad. Gary needs jobs bad! That's right. "Well, would you do that for him after what he did?" Yeah! Congratulate him. Just like I would a Christian. 

That's all he is, Christian with a Black concept instead of a white concept of God. All right...I don't know why I tickle some of you all so much.  A Jew in jail told me, he said look" he said “you can make money, Mr. Muhammad" Say "If you'll come to St. Louis and see me when I get out...said, I'll hire you. Say I guarantee you you'll make a lot of money.” Say "you'll be better than Dick Gregory." See, I would make little jokes, you know.  And he thought they were really something. So, I don't know why I tickle Nasir Ahmed so much.  A lot of people tickle him, though___Ah...let's see here...where are we going to go now with Quran?...Let's go to Chapter 38, verse 72—38 verse 72 (pause)...ah Chapter 48   verse 27 (pause)...Ah chapter 38, is that Saad? OK.  There was one other reference I'm trying to find here.

...The nature of man that God created or that God wants—the nature- that God wants or intended for man and in the Chapter Ar Rahman, Suratul Rahman in the verse 14, Allah says "He created man from sounding clay like unto pottery.  "Khalaqan insaana min salsaalin kaalfakh khaari.   Wa khalaqal jaana min maarijim min haar. And He created the Jinn from fire free of smoke".  Now, let us look at the word "salsaalin...salsaalin." "Salsaalin" is clay and kaalfkhkhaar...is molded clay or clay that has been formed to particular shape, as pottery.  So its translated "sounding"—into English—"sounding" clay like unto pottery".  And compare this now with the jinn. Says "Wa khalaqal jaan mim maarijim min naar.  And He created the jinn from fire free of smoke."  Now this fire means streaming fire "Maarijim", he translates it "free".  He says "free".  But the word "maarijim" indicates free movement—free movement.  It's not... ...hampered.  

The movement is not hampered or restricted.  The "naari" is coming—the fire is coming freely—freely...flowing without being hampered or without anything checking it, you see.  This is the jinn.  And the man...says "from clay".  Now, what are we to understand from clay?  Clay resembles flesh, doesn't it? Clay resembles flesh. When it's soft, it resembles flesh and you can form it.  So what it's saying is that God has given man a behavioral—a behavioral nature and that behavioral nature responds or yields to influences, right.  So, you can shape it. It can be shaped. It yields or responds to influences and then it also has a nature to hold the shape you give it—like the pottery.  The pottery after you form it in the shape you want and you let it dry out or you heat it, then it holds the shape that you gave it. So, rigid .  So, this is telling us that in this behavioral nature of ours—this sensitive nature of ours—we can be influenced and can be shaped by the influences and then we can become convinced of that particular mind or that particular principle or idea and we become rigid and hard and fixed like the potter's clay, you see.  But what is it referring to?  It's referring to man's behavioral nature.  Now, what opens us up to these kinds of influences? What element in our make-up is opening us up to these kind of influences?  It's the heart isn't it?  It's the heart.  The heart is what opens us up to these kinds of influences.  And we may say our emotional sensitivities, right?  

If our emotional sensitivities are opposed to an influence, then we shut out that influence.  If the emotional sensitivities are open to that influence, we let that influence in and that influence can come into us and form our mind or form our thinking and feelings—thinking/feelings can form so that we become hardened in that particular idea. Then we have a conviction, right? Now you know the convict, where they put him.  Yeah, they, used to put him, ah. . . behind stone...yeah.  They used to lock him up and they put stone so he couldn't get out.  They used to stone up the entrance, so he couldn't get out and he would stay there until his time was up and they let him out, you see--feed him through a little hole; a crack or something, if they fed him at all.  So convict originally was locked up behind stone. That's why the Chain Gang, the convicts—they have you busting rocks, right? Busting rocks.  They usually associate conviction with stone and then later behind iron bars.  Now they put you behind iron bars.  But still iron bars fixed into stone, right?  Conviction.

Conviction.  So clay is hardened and becomes like stone; like rock, yeah.  You see.  So, what's it saying about the two natures?  God didn't choose the fire.  He chose the clay, right? The fire..the fire...What happens to fire?  Can it be managed? It resists.  It resists.  Ann...you can kill it.  But handling it, it resists.  You have to lock it up completely. Yes. And here the "fire", that it says the jinn is made up of... This translator gives "free of smoke".  But actually it doesn't say "free of smoke".  It means the fire is blazing or is burning free without  resistance; no, nothing obstructing or hampering it's burning.  So we know that if fire is smoking there is something checking the burning, right?  That's how come it's smoking. There's something checking the burning.  So, that'. why he said "free of smoke".  But if you understand the word "free-moving thing” “unobstructed” it means what? Man's passions.  Man's passions.  Man's passions lead him—if he gives in to his passions' his passions will lead him to follow a particular idea or particular point with no restraints, with no checks on himself at all.  When we decide to believe in something passionately, then we lose that curiosity.  We lose the fear that we're wrong, passions blind us to the circumstances and make us move without regard for the circumstances, you see.  Ah, and we find that we're just going head on.  We're just going blindly toward and objective unchecked. Unchecked.

"...Which one of the favors of your Lord will you deny?"  Now you know the,.. rhyming or the—give the English word for it... the theme—the theme continues and it repeats "Which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?"  And it deals with two, right? It compares two—compares two things all of the time.  So, here there is man and the jinn are compared.  God's chosen man and the jinn that He didn't chose to be His Khalifa.  They're compared and Allah revealed it to Prophet Muhammad and for us—for all of us...that these are two natural characteristics in the behavior of the creature.  One God wants, approves of and the other one He does not. Right? Not in the rulership position. Not to take charge over the matter.  He doesn’t approve of the jinn nature for that purpose.  But He points out to the jinn, that this nature that you have, God created it.
And God has revealed it to His servant. Now, it's established that this is your behavioral nature.  

Reason why you're so arrogant—you won’t accept God.  You turn off everything.  It's because you have this particular behavior in you.  You've given yourself to passions.  Now how many, how many cold... men of material logic—you know they can believe material logic with such conviction that they become cold, insensitive to any other logic. Right?  How many of them will recognize that they are really the victims or the product of a passion? We refer to them as men of cold logic, don't we?  We think they don't have emotional nature, like we have.  But how did he get to that point?  Wasn't he under the flame?  Yeah, they had him in the school.  He came in as a young boy or young man and they had him in there and he got a passionate love for that particular science.  And his passionate love for that particular science burned him in to a hardened man.  

He became kind of shielded or protected against any influence except that one, right? Now, if he remains clay, then he ah, if he remains clay he can be formed or he can be broken, because clay shatters doesn't it.  So he can be formed or he can be broken.  But if he now...if he now—the clay—stop being clay and the clay becomes fire.  Clay becomes the fire.  Then this is the jinn, you see.  This is the jinn.  So, what it means...clay is flesh. O.K? Clay is symbolic of flesh.  God made man of clay.  God made man of flesh.  But clay is to help us understand what He means, flesh.  Impressionable and pliable like clay.  Clay is pliable.  You can form it like you want to form it. Impressionable, that's the same as pliable isn't it?  Impressionable means pliable.  And also able to able to be convinced to the point that it holds its form, like clay—potter's clay, potter's clay.  So that's telling us something about our flesh.  The flesh is what we feel with isn't it?  See we feel with our flesh. You know.  

If someone has  very excitable feelings, what do we say? "Got thin skin," right? "They got a thin skin."  Meaning they can be excited very easily.  And one who's hard to excite, he's got a thick skin, like a corn or a callous...but that corn, that's really excitable.  But you know...meat that hardens on you  is less sensitive, isn't it?  You know, like those, some of those tough  guys.  They condition their hands so it's like a brick, you know.  And they can rub it on hard stuff and won't even feel anything, you know. That's thick skin, right?  Thick skin... that's thickened up, you see.  So ahh...if... if the jinn now f is not this skin at all, that means that he is not giving himself to any checks.  He's not giving himself to any form that checks him.

Do we find such people, that refuse to accept any kind of check on their minds? Yes 1 In intellectual circles there are men that believe that you never supposed to settle for anything. You never believe anything is true.  This is the philosophers ...you never accept anything as true.  You don't accept anything. All you do: is just explore. Experiment. Discover. Explore. Right? But never accept anything as true.  So, they're constantly just discovering, exploring, experimenting and that's their life. So, they won't accept that there's a God.  They won't accept that there's heaven and hell.  They won't accept that man is a moral being.  They won't accept any of these principles or these conditions.  They don't want to accept any conditions. Ann... you find many Jews are given to this.  

There are Jews that brag that "We never accept anything. We're constantly examining. Investigating.  We don't never come to any conclusions.” And I'm sure that some of you have gone to college and perhaps you've had a professor like that.  Who looks at your tendency to come to a conclusion as being a defect or deficiency in your make-up. Right? "Hell, no.  I don't like your paper.  Why you don't like my paper?"  Because, I came to a conclusion.  I established something as a fact.  But if you leave it hanging, you know, that it hasn't been proven; there's still an opportunity, that it's incorrect---then he likes that paper. 'Because you don't believe anything. Now isn't that...you know that..(illegible) O.K., so this is the jinn—so responds, that's the passions, but he doesn't know that's his passions.  That's his passion  for knowledge. His passion for knowledge is carrying him in the flow of the flames—that's passions.  

He just caught in the flow or in the movement or gravity of that, flame. He's caught in it. And he can't settle on anything.  Because the flame can't check itself.  Right? Yeah. So this is what it's saying.  That one creature, God choose him because he allows his heart to come into the picture.  He admits his heart, his sentiments, his sensitivities, his human sensitivities to come into the picture— come into the question.  And in admitting his sensitivities to come into the question, then he accepts checks.  Why?  Because also of that nature is what? Fear.  The flesh has also the principle of fear. The passions don't fear.  The passions are not fear.  The passions are appetites. They're hungers.  They're hungering for something.  Right?  We talk about a passion aren't we talking about a hunger for something? The passions represent a hunger for something.  But this sensitivity in us, this human sensitivity in us, what we call the emotionality—human emotionality—all the sensitivities that are involved there that are given in the scripture as water.  

These are necessary for a human to come to some kind of conclusion as to what he should give himself to, as to what he should conform to.  Without that he can never come to a conclusion as to what he should conform to. Now, you say "oh, can't we divorce ourselves of this, of this water.  Can't we get completely clear of this water and come to some kind of conclusion?"  Well, there are Muslims who will argue this point. Alright. Let us see from Quran.  Says;  "And Joseph was put into a well." Right? And what, does the Quran say the problem for Joseph—How come Joseph didn't come into his senses? Said, - "And they put him in a dry well."  That's, how come he couldn't come to his senses.  He was put in a dry well.  If you look at the English terms "sense" and "sensitivities".  "Well, he doesn't have any sense."  Isn't it the same word?  So, obviously at one time in the history of the English-speaking people they identified sensitivity in man with intelligence in man and they felt that really the seat or the bed—resting bed—of his intelligence is his sensitivities.  And that if he wasn't sensitive, if he had no feelings, he didn't have any sense.  

He couldn't have any sense; no intelligence.  And that's why they required what? The arts, that teach you a sense of beauty; a sense for life; a sense for values.  Right?  They included that as a part, of education.  They insisted that that be a part of education. Cause they thought that that was necessary to help culture or refine the intelligence in man, right? To take that crude thing that' in man we call intellect and refine it.  They felt that that nature was important to cultivate so that the man's intellect could be evolved. Right?  Yeah.  So we have to understand how sensitivity and sense are so close together and if you understand this, then you can understand that this is the idea in Al-Islam.  The idea is that the one who really can learn is the one with the sensitivity. The other one who rebels against instruction, he follows passions. 

He follows his own heat; his own appetite, you see. Understand now that heat is not always sex.  This is not Freud's class.  This is a different class.  You see.  We say "Oh, he's hot on the trail"  Doesn't mean he's got a hard on.  Excuse the language.  He might be pursuing a point of logic. Right?  So, he's hot on the trail.  He's pursuing a point of logic. Now if we get caught up on our own, caught up into our own appetites or into our own ambitions or urge for a particular knowledge, then we're taken out of the human form that God put us in.  So now we can't feel anymore or we can't...we say "He's got a feel for it—for knowledge".  "He's got a feel for music.  He's got a feel for it".  So feeling is first, isn't it?  You have to have a feel for it before you get a sense, before you get a knowledge of it,  Pardon me, a grasp of it.  

You have to feel for it to get a grasp of it. Grasp for it to perceive it.  OK; So in pursuing knowledge or logic something that is out there in the it universe, maybe has. nothing to do with the human being.  If I separate myself from my human sensitivities, that human sensitivity is a requirement in that intelligence.  For me to rightly perceive what's outside of me.  And if I separate from that then I become inhuman in my nature, in my behavioral nature.  I become then jinn and I pursue something on the motive, on the momentum of my passion and it takes me on blindly; takes me on blindly. So this is the difference.  God doesn't want that kind of creature.  Some of us say"0h, how come I can't understand this scripture like the Imam? My mind is just as good as his." Maybe your mind got too much fire and not enough water.  If  you have nothing but an appetite and no sensitivity, you don't have a sensitivity for what is right—what is morally right; what is correct behavior.  

If you don't have a right sensitivity then how can you get the right knowledge.  In our religion without the right sensitivity you can't get the right knowledge. Again, now look.  I'm trying to show you the reasoning in this religion. And if you'll just listen, you'll see that this teaching is the best for you.  It'll make you a Muslim.  Now, What does Allah say, what is the term used for grasping the knowledge in this Quran. Says: "And they will not be able to"... what? "Touch it".  Touch it suggests what?  Feeling I The sense of feeling!  We associate touch with flesh, don't we?  We touch things with our flesh. See? "They will not be able to touch it." That means, why?  Because they're not flesh.  That -those who didn't believe in God; who have no faith, they're not flesh anymore.  

They have become stone or fire.  So, they're dead to it.  Fire...stone has become dead to touch. Right? And fire is just given to its own rage; to its own motivation—blind to the reality and the situation.  So now let us go to another part of the Quran, now.  I mention also...What? Verse 38, right? Let us look at verse 38 now.  Chapter 38, pardon me:  What verse we gave we gave there? (72)—Alright...Now listen to Iblis1 conversation here.  This is Satan, right? Iblis, the one who in his opposition became Satan, Shaitan, means the opposed—in opposition. Let's begin with the verse 72. Says. God says...with 71, pardon me.  "Behold, the Lord said to the angels “I'm about, to create man from clay.. Khaaliqun  basharam min tiin." Now what is basharam? What is bashar? Bashar is translated into English as being mortal man.  Mortal man. That means flesh and blood man.  

What does that suggest? What does mortal man suggest? It suggests a consciousness or an awareness of a life form that has to be protected. Right? When we say a mortal person, we are referring to the possibilities of danger to that person. Right? They can be killed.  That's what we mean. Mortal being.  We're referring to the risks, the dangers that that person has to live with. The risk of being stabbed, shot, wounded, falling...falling, being ran over by a car... The risk of being killed. Right? So this is Basharam. But look...let's look at the word a little closer.  What is Bashar?  Bashar originally meant skin.  It means the skin. Bashar, the skin. What do we feel with? The skin. Right?  So again we come to skin. Bashar, the skin. And while we're talking about it .  Since the thought came to mind, I'll throw this in, too.  How come circumcision was so important in
religion? 

Why is it necessary to get rid of the foreskin? The sensitivity that the world gave you.  Sensitivity that the world gave you before the second breath came.  God said: "And when I breathed into him of My Spirit. "Right? "Then accept him as khalifa". You see. So the skin, the foreskin is the skin representing the consciousness of the world—the worldly conscious.  Foreskin.  "Fore" means before, right? Means before, coming before. Now understand the problem here for us as Muslims.  In the western philosophy or western reasoning...religious philosophy the sensitivity that man is born with is looked upon as inferior.  The nature that we come here with is reasoned to be inferior. And they believe that it's only after the revealed knowledge comes into that body  and that body is born again, is it acceptable.  O.K? This kind of reasoning is rejected by us. 

We believe that the first nature is right. Then after having the first nature and you come into the world and come under the influences of the world that has strayed from that first nature, then you take on another nature;' another attitude; and you have to get rid of that attitude. Right? O.K.  So we...just keep listening and as we going to be able to see our point very clearly.  Alright.  So, this idea, foreskin is not correct unless you understand it; That in Al-Islam it's simply a ritual that's justified on the basis of hygiene, O.K.? Whereas, in some other religion that carry this idea that the first skin or the first sensitivity is the inferior one,  there is a religious ritual that the taking off of the foreskin is removing the first sensitivity and allowing another sensitivity—a deeper sensitivity.  

Cause when you take off the foreskin what happens?  There's another skin right?  You take off the foreskin and you reveal an underlying skin.  And they call that "heart". Right?  Yes! Doesn't it look like a heart?  We're men. We don't have to be funny about this.  We don't have to be shy of sex.  The end of the penis looks like a heart, doesn't it?  The head of the penis—looks like a heart.  See.  So, they see the head of the penis as the heart and taking off the foreskin means taking off the worldly sensitivities coming back to the nature of the heart. You see.  Ah, but we in Al-Islam, we don't have the heart as an example of the skin that man lives in.  We have his skin, the outer skin; Bashar does not mean skin of the heart.  Bashar means outer skin—this skin.  To tell those who have that other idea that no! All of man's flesh is good. God didn't only make his heart good.  He made all of his flesh good.  The outer skin is good, too. And God want him to live in the outer skin. Now the heart...what is it...how does it...let's compare the two skins.  

The heart is a skin within a body of flesh. Right? It's protected by a body isn't it?  The last skin is this bashar.  The last skin is this bashar. Now what does this last skin,  what is it's function? The last skin—the last layers of skin? They restrict the blood to the life form; not allowing it to leave the life form. Is that not right? That's what the outer skin does.  It restricts- the blood keeping it from coming out of the form, the life form.  Whereas  the heart it's function is to pump the blood in the arteries throughout the body.  Right?  But there's another skin that keeps that blood that the heart is pumping from just going all out and losing the life form. Right? See? See the higher symbolism? See the Islamic symbolism as being a higher symbolism? Or a more intelligent symbolism? an idea of flesh higher in it's meaning than the idea of the heart as being very important. No!  The outer skin, this is important.  

If it wasn't for this flesh/outer skin where would that heart — where would that blood go that that heart's pumping? (Laughter) .   Alright.  So, let's continue.  I hope you can apply this to the world's mind and to the kinds of things that they teach us in these colleges and universities. And if you can apply it in it's broad, universal context then you will really have the idea.  Since we don't have a lot of time we'll just continue to talk on. Let's see... Prophet Muhammad he's called bashar. Bashar.  He is... that's his name.  That's one of his names. Bashar. And it means the mortal person.  But don't forget now.  But it's talking about this outer skin.  Allah says in the. Quran that there... there are seven heavens; strong heavens, right? And in you, a like number, right? And there's another verse that says "and he creates you from clay; then from semen "sperm, which is watery".  

It says "a thick water", right?  And then blood and then a lump of flesh, foetus lump.  And then aithama...five; then clothed the bones with lahma flesh.  Right? Clothed the bones with lahma, flesh. "Thumma khalqan akhar. So, that is six, right? And the Bible says He created the man on the sixth day. Right? Now, if He created the man on the sixth day, if we can compare that with what the Quran says — then the sixth one is what? Lahma.  What is lahma? Flesh.  Then it says "Thumma Khalqan Akhar".  What is the"khaqan akhar"? Social sensitivity.  Environmental sensitivity.  Man lives in a social context.  Man lives in an environmental context. He has to have a sensitivity and
that's the bashar; that's the skin. Right?  That's the skin. Thumma khalqan akhar.  And then another creation"  So what does the church people say? If you want to look...if we can see better by going over there, shouldn't we go over there and look? If I'm focusing upon something sometimes I have to go over there and look.  Sometimes you get a better view if I go over there—I walk over there and look. O.K., so let's go to the church.  

The church says "Did you feel it?"  The preacher be preaching "Have you got the feeling?" Right? And if you get the feeling enough and get the Holy Ghost under the feeling, what they say?  "Born, again".  Right? Born, again. So, the Quran is saying this too.  That you can't be    born again unless you become alive in your senses; in your feelings; in your sensitivities.  Don't think knowledge, the intellectual urge can bring you into knowledge by itself.  No!  It takes  that plus sensitivities.  Many Christians understand that Jesus represents the inner aim and the urge in that inner aim, to reach full expression.  Is that not right?  And Jesus say, what? Of Jesus it is said in the scripture:  "I come not of water, only, but of water and blood".  Now we know this is Christian terminology-Bible terminology.  But let's see can we find the understanding. "Water and Blood".  Now let's look at "Water and Blood".  Water we know, as we said, sensitivities, right? We always said that in our talks.  Sensitivities.  Are you getting tired? (Audience: "No Sir!").  It's okay to stand up and sit back down, you know.  and stand up.  It's okay with me.  You just feel comfortable to do what you want to do to help.  As long as you don't act the monkey or the ape.  Ape is...I fear the ape and the monkey makes me
laugh.  You don't know what to expect from the monkey either, man.

Monkey will do a surprise on you...Ahh...yes.  So, if we...if we look at these symbols, now; water being sensitivities, sensitivity.....Water is sensitivity.  What is...what the seat of the...what is the...the nature or the...what form of man's life is sensitivity?  Emotional form, right? Emotional form.  That's his sensitivity.  But water, water is a lower level sensitivity that is like a emotionality, if you can understand emotionality. There's emotionality and then there's emotions, right?  Emotionality names that particular nature.  Emotions says that that particular nature is active, right? Emotionality and emotions. So we understand the sensitivities as emotionality, now and as water— that's water, emotionality.  We can use other terms, plenty  other terms.  But we're going to use these very simple, common terms to understand.  Very easily.., .bring the understanding very plainly to us, I think.  Okay.  So now, if water is emotionality, then what is blood?  Emotionality in the conscience, right? Emotionality in the conscience.  Talking about conscience.  

What is blood? Blood contains water doesn't it?  Alright.  If we take all the water out of blood, what we got left?  Powder. Powder.  If you dry blood out got a powder, right? You got dust, right? And that dust is what? Material, right? So now let's look at, at the terminology, again.  Water represents what?  Spirituality.  And blood represents what? Material conscience.  Material conscience. So, here are the two—spiritual conscience and material conscience. So, if I'm correct then, let's read what the Bible says again of Jesus.  "I come not of water, only, but also of blood".  I come not of material, of spiritual conscience, only, but also of material conscience.  You see?  Okay. Now (...Illegible,.,) the clay, we mentioned earlier, what color is it?  

Clay is usually red.  We know clay comes in other colors.  But the popular color for clay is red.  And the color for blood is red, too, isn't it?. So, what does it tell us about this material... powder?  It tells us that it's connected with our passions; that it influences the passions.  And spiritual conscience, water, what does it tell us?  It's clear.  It tells us that it's connected with our fears.  The fear...fear in man; with your fears. Haw come we have emotionality? Because of fear.  Right? Fear.  How come we have spirituality? How come we are spiritual? Because of fear.  Lot of people can't understand that.  That fear is the basis of spiritual faith; the basis of spirituality. Fear is the essence of spirituality. Fear is the essence of man's spiritual body.  Fear.  But when passions get involved then the same emotional nature or same emotional body that was under fear (illegible...) it responds also to passions, right?  It's a life that is like the flesh—the bashar.  

It fears because it's mortal; it can be destroyed; it can be killed; it can be hurt.  But the same thing that fears it loves what?  It's form.  It loves life. So it can be made passionate, right?  So, we have many stories in the Bible...I'm trying to get you to see symbolism runs and how to understand  it.  We have many stories in the Bible of rivers being turned to blood; land...water being poured on the land and the land...the water turn to blood on, upon the land, right? So what is this telling us?  That man comes into religion first on the principle of fear.  We come into this world and this world frightens us.  It overwhelms us.  It's so huge...so mysterious until it forms in that emotionality, fear, right?  That's the first thing that forms.  Fear.  

In the Quran we have something to support this.  But in the Bible, for you all who understand Bible, you can go right away'. . .The Bible says "fear" was your first teacher.  This is the Bible. Fear was your first teacher.  You see? So, fear, it’s true! Fear is our first teacher. The child fears danger, right?  So the child depends on the parent, somebody else  that's bigger—better able to deal with things, you see. So, obedience in the child for the parent or to the parent, pardon me, is formed in the nature of that child to fear, pardon me and the fear... fear of that ...that exists in that child.  Because of that child fearing, that child will obey. It trusts stronger beings, stronger people to protect us in this environment that its in, you see. So, fear is the first teacher.  Now, look at water again.  Water has a lower temperature than land. Normally, water, temperature of water is lower than land.  Right?  Yes. and water resists heat, and water get heated up it starts going away.  You don't even have to make it go off.  

Enough heat will soon dry it up.  It evaporates.  It evaporates, right? Water doesn't like heat. Water resists heat. See?  So that's symbolic of the spiritual life of the man that fear...that is...that has as essence, fear and it resists being fired up or wound up. We don't like to become too excited. We...but we rather...we rather rest.  We rather be quiet.  We rather rest.  That's fear in us, right? Fear in us, that's checked.  And then the blood, then, the blood representing passions or symbolic also of what? Hunger, Right? Does fear hunger? What does fear hunger for?... Protection. What else, it hungers for?  Understanding.  Fear hungers for understanding See.  And the things we fear, because we fear .them we, it make our brain want understanding.  

So we can eliminate the fear . So we at least be able to live with those things, right? Yes. So, here is fear...water.  Fear, operating in the intellect to bring the intellect to growth  and development.  But now hunger comes into the intellect and this hunger is not a. hunger for understanding.  It's not water, the hunger for understanding.  Maybe we shouldn’t go that far away...Let's come back to blood.  Blood represents hunger...hunger.  But hunger for what? What is the blood hungry for?  The blood hungers for-nutrients, right?  Don't we have to put nutrients in the blood?  The blood has to be fed with iron, other minerals...nutrients' and these organic parts of our body or makeup they a have really strange nature, strange behavior.  It has been proven that you can put live blood on some things and the blood will actually eat that thing.  Blood! The blood itself will begin to feed on that thing.  So, blood has an appetite, you see.  

Blood in our bodies carry the nutrients, right? Carries the nutrients... it has to live on the nutrients. So, says "put the water (body)_______...says put the water on the dry land. Said it becomes blood. Put the water, pardon me.  Take the water and pour it on the dry land and it becomes blood on the dry land. All this is talking about is give the people's spiritual minds to the material appetites and then, according to the scripture, that the spiritual mind now, when it comes in contact with materials it gets an appetite for materials, and what has a appetite for materials? Blood. So, now my water, the spiritual, becomes blood.  So, instead of spiritual conscience now , what is it? Social conscience. Social conscience.  and social is symbolic of what?  Passions, heat warmth.  He's social.. .means he's warm, right?  He's sociable.  He's warm.  So, the social life refers to the warmth, the heart; the warmth; the appetites for contact with each other, closeness to each other, you see.  

That's the sociable nature; that's the social life. And how come materialism ; how come materialism is involved here? Because it is material concerns that bring the social life together.  How come man forms social groups?  Because of because of the common material needs, is that not right?  Because of the common material need.  If we didn't have those needs, we could form we can group in the water, can't we?  The fish go in groups.  We can group in the water.  We don't have to group in the blood.  We can group in the water, too, you see.  Spiritual superstitions, mysticism...all that attract people, too., to come together for that kind of discussion; that kind of worship, right?  It brings them together, too.  But a stronger force for bringing people together is material concerns.  When the materials concerns come, then they bring the blood to that concern, see?  So, what is that telling us? That man's grouping instinct—they call it gregarious nature, whatever—his grouping instinct is to be understood in the material environment.  

That God has made man to want to group for material needs, for material concerns; and in grouping for material concerns it evolves the social life, the social community.  If you follow this line of reasoning, you can understand the language of Religion as well as the language of the secular world, much better. Alright.  So, ah, Says pour the water out upon the land and it becomes blood on the dry land.  Meaning take the spiritual... take the spiritual conscience or the spiritual mind and give it to material development; and if you give it to material development then you will realize social development.  Yes. Now, this here is a big subject and it has so many connecting subjects or details, you see. We could talk about it for many, many days.  Ah, so we won't do that. I could go to the Holy Quran and tie all of this in, you know; into other...other knowledge and tie all this in.  But we won't do that. So, I think it's clear enough.  And as you read the Quran, if you believe in the steps, the commentary that I'm giving, you will see a .much more meaningful revelation than you been seeing, When you've been reading Quran. Ah, yes.  I gave another reference, too, didn't I? 48:27, is. that correct?   

So, let's now go to 48:27.  And ah, before going to 48:27, let's look again at 38, chapter 38 and Suratal Ar-Rahmaan, right? The narration about Iblis and Man.  Understanding and accepting  what we've said now. Fire representing this hunger... this hunger in man for knowledge, for-material knowledge; knowledge of the world.  And clay meaning skin and look...where did we "go, what was the verse we read ah...Rahmaan and the other one? O.k., 72?  O.k., that's where I'm going to go to now. Seventy... seventy-one, yes...yes.  Ah, here...yes here it is.  Allah says : "Innii khaaliqun bashsram min tiin" .  So here you find basharam which means skin and tiin , together, right? He's going to create basharan, skin. Min tiin.  So, what is tiin? Tiin is flesh.  Tiin represents flesh and basharam represents skin. And the skin covers the flesh, right?  O.k., the skin covers the flesh. So, what God is telling us here is that the fetus is formed in the womb and is made a fetus lump, right? And fetus lump comes and it shows no particular form, right away.  

But it gradually conforms to the form that God intends' for it, right? Ah, and then that fetus lump gets a skin.  We know the fetus lump doesn't have a skin.  It's like liver or something without skin, right? It has a skin, we know. But not this skin.  It's called lump, flesh, you see. Ah, but later it develops and it gets a skin? then it's ready to come out as a full-developed creature, organ or something. O.k., so here we have to understand that tiin represents clay and it means when there's no sensitivity.  You don't have any feel; for what is right; what is wrong..  Do we come here with a feel for what is right or what is wrong? No!  But we come here with fear and under fear the mind is formed, right? Fear, under fear the mind is formed and then we trust the person because of fear and then that person begin—that creature begins to follows that person's guidance that he trusts, right?

Here  is  the  fetus  being   formed.   Now don't think  because  it's out  of  the womb—all  of   these  stages  form outside of  the womb. The water,  outside  of  the womb—fear.     The  blood—the next stage  is  blood  isn't  it?  The  blood, affections. That's   Of .  the social nature. Affection, the blood. And  then what?  No, no, pardon me.  Clay,   first. I missed one. Clay...clay. Fear, Clay fear. What  kind  of  fear? This is the fear  in  the  behavioral nature. Fear in the behavioral nature given as  flesh...flesh. O.k.,   clay.    'How do we know clay is  fear? Why they pick that symbol? Because  clay also usually keeps   the  cool  temperatures, right? Clay is usually cooler. It has a cool, cool temperature. Not a high temperature you  see. Like water. So it's fear, and  then water...water,   what? Says from clay to water. The material  nature  fears. The mortal  nature  fears,   right? Then that creates what? A spiritual sensitivity,   doesn't it? Fear gives  us  a flowing  sensitivity. Water flows. Fear gives us  a flowing  sensitivity t  Flows from there.. .from here, me to the fire. From me to the dog, right? It starts flowing.    But that fear was already in me.    

It was in my nature.    I came here...there was an inborn fear in my mortal nature.    The mortal flesh has a nature of fear.    But as I come into contact with other things, then it becomes a flowing fear—like water, right? And its very sensitive...sensitive.    Then, what?    From clay to water, then what?    Blood, right?    Okay.    Then I learn to trust certain things, that they will  help protect me from my fears, from the things that I'm afraid of.    So, now this is not fear of that type.    The fear now has reversed itself and its an affection, a love.    And what we don't know that fear and love are just a reverse of the same coin.    I love you because you protect me from my fears. I appreciate you because you quiet my fears, see? Now this  is philosophy. Alright.    So,  it requires some thought. Deep thought.    Alright. Okay.

So we begin to get some kind of instructions, right? So that becomes the bones. And then it says , He clothes the bones with flesh. Now we take on a behavioral , pardon me, we take on the habit of conforming to those principles of logic, right? And we do that out of...out of obedience...flesh obeying that, right? Flesh forming to the bones, right? Says He clothed the bones with flesh. "Thumma khalqan akhar". Now, after we have conformed to the customs of society and our mind now, our behavioral sensitivity (flesh) is obeying that willingly, without questioning it. This is how we are raised. We are raised under these customs. They're as natural for us as our flesh on our bones. You understand? Then we begin to question the customs that we were brought up under. 

This is Khalqan akhar. And what is making us question that? Another sensitivity. That's the "bashar", the skin that has formed on the lahmaa. But the Quran doesn't say lahmaa and then bashar. It just says "lahmaa". "Thumma khalqan akhar". So after the flesh, on the bones, then a thin sensitivity. That's your own individual curiosity. Say, " yes, I know I was taught this but this is causing me some bad feelings. You have become very sensitive then. You are sensitive to what you have been conforming to, right? So you begin to question what you have been conforming to. This is "Khalqan akhar". Say "Thumma khalqan akhar". Now you will find that if you follow me you will learn. I know there are many things coming in your mind. Okay...Alright. Says, "thumma khalqan akhar". So that's the "bashar". He made...says He 'created the "bashar", "Min Tiin. He created the "bashar, min tiin". He created the human person, the sensitive, moral man--the man who is sensitive to the moral needs of society. He created him from flesh, from obedience to customs, to laws. That's what he created him from. Now, lets make a connection with the scripture. Jesus is the son, in Al-Islam—he's the son of Mary. And Mary is flesh. Mary is human flesh. She had a father and a mother, she was flesh, right? Okay.

Mary is flesh and Jesus was of her flesh, right? So here is Jesus' flesh of Mary's flesh. What was Mary's flesh? Mary's flesh was customary obedience. She did not deviate from the customs of her religious society, according to the teachings, right? She didn't question anything. Whatever it was, she did it without question—obeying the customs of her socfety.  That's clay...that's tiin. And then Jesus is bashar. Muhammad is bashar, Jesus is bashar, too. Jesus is bashar. He is the thin skin, now, that becomes sensitive to the customs. He says "what is all of this washing of hands? Why do you get the water out of the well by this method? What are these customs that you've given such importance to? That's the skin—the thin skin. The individual sensitivity to the customs that he has conformed to. Say "yes, I know you gave birth to me, but I got a thinner skin. I'm more sensitive than the lump that conformed". It was baby,"tiin". Oh, buddy! This is alright! See, we preachers, we get more thrills than some of you other folks, so just excuse us. Huh?...We get...yeah, the baby. 

See the... the lump, the flesh is the baby, conforms to what appears to be logic. See, the bones are arranged in a pattern, right? So, they show a pattern. So, if you give a child something that seems consistent, the child accepts it. Its nature is to accept that that seems consistent. But you give the child something inconsistent, you confuse the child, right? The child look at you and...It can be two years old. If he can understand it...get confused and walk away. You'll be wondering how come that child ain't listening to you no more...The nature in that child says "no...no confusion. No confusion, please". You see. So, that's our nature. That's the tiin, to agree to that that is consistent, you see. So, bones come into that nature. That nature is made to agree with that that follows a pattern, a consistent pattern. 

So, the flesh conforms to the bones, right? Says, then "Thumma khalqan akhar". Because the first logic does not have to be correct. Now, if we understand this, what is this telling us? What holds up man's life? His flesh.. His life,.. For, after all we are alive because of the flesh. When there's no more life in the flesh, we say that man is dead. So what holds up that body we call his living flesh?...bones, right? And what is that...what is that structure? That's his. structure, right? So, man comes up believing that his own structure holds up his world. He has to die to himself, right? He has to die to himself and come out of the ideology that says man is the center of the universe and accept the higher concept that man is a form, patterned on the principles of the universe. Allah says "Think not, man that your creation is a bigger creation than the heavens and the earth". Is that not right? That's to tell us, don't believe that old Jain idea. Some of you have perhaps studied the Jains, Jainism. They were an old, ancient people, long before Christianity, who believed that man was the center of creation and that his form was really the whole form of the universe.

They believed that if you could take a picture of the external world, you would see the external world existing in the form of a man. And didn't the Greeks and some other mythologies present the universe like that. That actually man is the microcosm and the external world is the macrocosm. That really its a big man out there giving birth to little men, right? And that the concept of God is man, right? And God made man in His own image and likeness, comes from that faulty concept of theirs that the external world is a man, too, and its the God. The entire creation, the entire reality taken all together is the God and it gives birth to man in its image, the microcosm. This was their idea and this is still the  idea in many of those myths & religions, okay? But this is not the idea in Al-Islam. 

The idea in Al-Islam is that man is a unique creature in the creation and that he has evolved or been formed, just like all other creatures in the creation and the external world is not his, what you call it?...the type that bigger than the type or the original type. I can't think of the name for it. Any way , it doesn't matter, you understand what I'm trying to get at. But it's not that, that he's a microcosm or a small mi nature picture of that, no. That that's a material reality out there and he is on the principles of that material reality. The laws that govern his particular form are established in that outside, external, material reality. That's what it establishes. Not that the external, material reality should conform to his reality. See, this is what those myths say, what Jainism says. If you want to know what should be the rule in the outer world, study man and apply the knowledge that you find in man, in a study of man to the outer world. 

Whereas, we're taught, no, study the outer world. Then apply the knowledge that you find in the outer world to man. Cause it's man's bones holding man up. It's the material world holding man up. For his material—his material structure is nothing but bones of the material world; nothing but material matter that has formed of the material world and has taken that shape. It is the material world that has evolved his skeleton. You see, what we're getting at? Now, don't just look at what I'm saying. Look at what this points to. Alright. So, let's...we saw that in the Quran, basharua, basharan or bashar is connected with tiin. He created basharam min tiin. This higher sensitivity, it is created out of this willing obedience in man; willing obedience...natural inherent...inherent, inherent nature to obey, in man. 

Then he becomes conscious and of that same nature is created a higher skin; a higher sensitivity; an outer skin. And then he becomes bashar or khalqan aknar. Alright? Then God says "in...above you there's seven strong firmaments and in you a like number." So, now we got a higher number that even the ones that we have been discussing up this point. Is that not right? "Above you are seven strong firmaments". And how are we to understand those strong firmaments? We're to understand those strong firmaments in the ascension and travel of Prophet Muhammad, Salallaahu alaihee was sal am., peace and blessing be on him. In that ascension, he saw men in those graduations Adam, Jesus, and his counterpart John were on one level, right? 

In other words, we got two on one level. And on the third level, Joseph. Joseph...next level Idris...the next level, Aaron; the sixth level, Moses; the seventh level, Abraham. Right?  Okay. So, these represents what? The seven strong firmament. So there's sensitivity in man, then there's a conviction that God wants. God wants that sensitivity to conform to a logic, to a truth, where that sensitivity becomes a conviction. Adam was a man of conviction. And every other man that goes up that line to Abraham, including Abraham—men of conviction, right? Strong firmaments...men of conviction. What made possible their convictions? Same nature. Upon seven, He built seven. Right? Upon seven, the nature, He built seven. But how do they come into the higher conviction, the____________ God revealed to them the knowledge of the external world. He connected their reality with the external reality. He showed them the basis of their nature and their sensitivity in the external world. 

Therefore their convictions became solid, strong convictions. Convictions so strong that we see those convictions outside of us. "Above you there are seven, firm heavens, ..right? And what are the heavens depicting? The Universe! They're depicting the Universe. So, man now has gone outside of himself and established himself in the universal order, in the context of universal truth. And that's what established them on firm planes, very firm planes. But they're no more than expressions fulfilling themselves, that were in him—that God created in him. So, it's the. inner potential finding it's place in the external world. Right? So, we're simply talking about the connection, now, between man and man and what is our purpose in this discussion? Our purpose is to prove that idea of...God manifest to be wrong...that idea of man god. 

That idea of man god came into Christianity from the and the Greeks and others that believed that. That's not Jesus' teaching. Jesus never taught nothing like that. You see. So we should understand that as Muslims. That this idea is foreign to true religion. None of the Prophets had that. Foreign to true religion. Those people that had a different spiritual discipline, a different intellectual discipline. They're the ones who came to that kind of understanding. Never was a part of established religion, that idea. What do they call it...ah God...ah...anthropomorphic, I think they call it. 

Anthropomorphic...anthropomorphic. Yes. anthropomorphic. It means god-man or man-god, man-god, right? It means man-god. So, now we can see where this foolishness comes from. It comes from superstitions, where man thought that he was the center of the universe and that his form was really a small copy or a small manifestation of th external world— that actually the external world was actually God and all inclusive and it took the form of a man. And if you look in the Old Testament, this idea is there in very clear language.  It speaks of lower regions as God's feet, higher regions as His bowels, where there's thunder and lightening, as his bowels. This is Old Testament. So, you can follow that kind of logic on to its conclusion; that is, that his head is above the clouds, right? His head is where the stars are. 

Now, if you look at the picture that they you of God in the New Testament, it shows you this completed. Shows Jesus as God. And shows him with the sun as his robe, right? Sunlight as his robe and we know that sunlight is higher than the clouds, right? But it includes the clouds all the way down to the earth, the feet—earth (feet). It includes the clouds all the way down to the earth, you see. Ah, now above the robe is what? The head. Above the sunlight then is what? The stars. The stars of the higher heavens. The stars. So, the New Testament gives us this picture of Jesus with the sun as a robe and a crown of stars on his head, right? Meaning that he is THE God! The macrocosm. Jesus Christ is the macrocosm and God is no more than the external reality. This is pantheism. 

It is akin to pantheism and if you don't think this is what those people believe, in higher Christianity, in the higher circle of Christianity, buddy, then take it from me. This is what they believe. They don't believe in God, like the common people believe in God. They believe that the whole universe, the cosmic reality, is the only forces we have to contend with. And they believe that man is an expression of what is in the total body of that reality. He is the manifestation of the potential or the inherent values in that whole body. That the big god gives birth to his son. That's why they're saying, now, "Oh...if you don't like Jesus in the form that he's in, well, why...it's okay, see Jesus, every man should see Jesus in himself." Isn't that what they're saying? "If you're black, then see Jesus as a black man. That's okay." That's what they're saying. Why? Because they know in their logic man is the microcosm, in the image of the macrocosm--in their logic. And Jesus so happens to be that. 

Now if you want to see that in your own form, that's okay. They say "oh, we don't care, long as you keep our brand of religion, we don't care. It's okay. See it that way if you want to. Still you're going along with our idea." But when we accept that Quranic idea and follow the Imam and tell them "No, we're not to see God in any form". Okay, that's where they break with us, right? Okay. Alright. We have differences, now. But thanks be to Allah, the mind of humanity is growing. Each age brings about new developments, you see. So we find a lot of support from among even Christians, for this movement to remove all images that attempt to portray the Divine, right? Praise be to Allah. And I hope this is an indication that there's a lot of support. But you don't find this support coming from the real top people, do you? No, indeed! Why, because they're the ones that know what we're talking about, now, and they see that to accept what we're saying would be a conflict; would be in conflict with what they believe, you see. 

But many of the Christians who have not been allowed to come into these seminaries, that one minister used to call cemeteries. Because they haven't been allowed to into them, they are exposed to human influence and when they see our logic, they say that humane—that's sensible. I support that. Catholic, Protestant , doesn't matter. They support it. Praise be to Allah. Ah, yes we know we're taking a long time, but don't worry. Alright, so, you follow the conclusion, here, in the Quran. The trend here, the progression. You see that Satan, Iblis. I'm talking about chapter 33, now. You see that Iblis challenges God, doesn't he? He challenges God. and the language that he uses shows that he was really thinking of himself as a faithful servant of God. Listen to the language. He doesn't that his position is in opposition to God. He thinks that his position
is really in defense of God. He thinks that he is the ideal servant. Allah says, "O iblis, what prevents thee from prostrating thyself to one whom I have created with My hands?" He says... I '11 continue to read— I'll finish it... says "art though haughty?" Means arrogant, proud. "Or art thou one of the high and mighty ones?" Means have you considered yourself too knowledgeable. "Have you gotten that kind of pride?" See, there's two different kinds of pride. 

There's emotional pride and then there's intellectual arrogance, right? There's two different kinds of arrogance. So, God asks which one? Have you let your emotions carry you away? Or is it that intellectual pride? And Iblis replied. He says, "I am better than he. Thou created me from fire and him thou created from clay." Min tiin. Allah says, " Then get thee out from here, for thou art rejected and accursed." And God says, "And my curse shall be on thee till the day of Judgment." Ilia yaumid deen. Iblis, then says "O, my Lord!" Look, how he speaks! He says "Rabbi". My Lord! That tells you that he recognizes Allah as his superior, as his Lord. He says "O, my Lord, give me then respite till the day the dead are raised." And the reply comes... no, he continues, pardon me. Let's continue. "Respite, then. .." Oh, no, God says, pardon me. "Respite then is granted thee". So, He gave him that what he asks. Right? Respite till the day that the dead are raised. 

Then Iblis says "Then by thy power”..'.'Qaala, fabi ' izzatika "He didn't say by my, Iblis didn't say by my power. Iblis said, "Qaala, fabi 'izzatika, then by your power—means God's power. "I will put them all in the wrong". He didn't say by my power, he said by God's power. So, here Iblis is recognizing God as his Lord and he's also recognizing the power that he uses as being God's power; that he has no power himself. He has to use God's power. Right? Okay. Let's continue, now. He says, "Except thy servants among them, sincere and purified by thy grace." Allah says "then it is just and fitting, and I say what is just and fitting." It says "Qaala faal haqqu". He says "Therefore, the truth. Waal haqqa aquul...and the truth, I say". This is what God says. So, now, you have to understand the language of the Qur'an. This is no easy job, believe me. So, don't rush to conclusions. What is the meaning of this? 

You have to see it in other connections to understand it. Some translators or commentaries, they have been deceived by this expression, to go and misinterpret another reference, another reference to this same situation, where God says “Alaiya. . .hadhaa siraatun alaiya mustaqeem. This is the way(alaiya) on me mustaqeem (to keep straight)". They translate that "this is a way that leads straight to Me". That's not true, that's not the right translation. It means this is a way that obligates Me to keep it straight. That's the correct translation. But how do they come about, that translation" this is a way that leads straight to Me"? Allah over and over in the Qur'an, He says to believe in God; to do good; to pay the poor rate— that means to share your wealth to help society— that is the straight way.

And He says, in other places, to have taqwa, to do good; to practice ihsaan, that is the straight way(siraatum mustaqeem). So, it's clear in the Qur'an, by so many references in the Qur'an, that the straight way with God is honesty, uprightness, sincerity, no deceit. Now, how can they translate that passage in the Qur'an to mean that God okayed Satan's deceits? No! Allah never okayed Satan's deceit. He condemned Satan for his deceits. But He says" This is a way that obligates Me to keep it straight." And here He says "Qaala faal tfaqq." He said, you said it. Didn't say "Qaalal tfaqq". If He wanted to say"you spoke the truth, Satan". It should be"Qaalal tfaqq". Qaalal tfaqq, you spoke the truth. But He says "Qaala, you said." or he said. Pardon me. It says "he says "...Qaala. Who says? Who says? Satan just go through talking, didn't he? He said "I will put them all in the wrong, except thy servants among them sincere and purified”. Then the next verse says "Qaala, he said". Who said? Then it says "Faal Haqq and therefore, the truth, the reality." Right? "The truth... Qaala faal haqq." Okay, who said? This can be"God said". 

So, they translate it here, in the 84th verse, "Allah said". See? "Qaala, Allah said". He says "Faal haqq. Qaala and Allah says "Faal haqq, therefore the truth, then the truth" or "therefore the truth and consequently the truth. Wal  haqa and I say only the truth." This is God, right? So, what is it telling us? This is very deep. It's telling us that Satan was speaking, right? Was Satan really speaking? No! It was God revealing Satan’s secrets. So, therefore, it says "Qaala, he said". Who said? God said! What did He say. He said just that that went before, revealing Satan's secrets. . ."Faal haqqa, and it is the truth". But this protects the righteous and it keeps the wicked form getting the insight, you see. He says "Qaala, faal haqq; He said and therefore it's the truth. Wal haqqa aquulu and it is only the truth that I speak". 

Now who would understand that but someone that God guides? That it's actually saying that what was reported there, above, is God speaking. But He's revealing to you what Satan has in his heart. Satan has this in his nature, in his intentions. He doesn't tell anybody that. You think God.. Satan was telling God that? God is revealing Satan to us. Say, "Yes, he acknowledges me, I'm his Rabb. His own nature acknowledges me, that I am his Rabb. And he knows the power that he uses, he didn't create it. He's using my power. And he has an intention to use all kinds of deceits to prove my plan wrong and to disgrace the man that I say I have made dignified." Okay, alright. Says that "I will certainly fill hell." Says "Waal haqqa aquul". And then there's a rest point there, if you care to rest there. 

Then it says " And I certainly fill hell with you and those that follow you , everyone, altogether. Minhum ajma'een, all together". Alright. What brings Satan to that? He was created of fire. Right? He's formed of -the fire. And what makes it possible for the human to be deceived by Satan? He was formed of flesh, bashar. But the same flesh that accounts for his downfall has also the nature... it has the nature there to redeem him again. It is by flesh that he falls and by flesh that he is redeemed. The same obedience in him brings him back to the right behavior, to right posture again. Right? Through his flesh he is deceived and through his flesh he is redeemed. This is Christianity, too, isn't it? Adam failed what? Flesh. And he's redeemed what? Flesh. Flesh and blood of Jesus. Right? The flesh and blood of Jesus. He's redeemed. Alright. Now, if we follow the same narration of the living thing, you see. So, there's no smoke. If you understand...now smoke in the Bible. Says "let there rise up a savor". 

They used to slaughter the animal in the Old Testament, on the altar and then after they slaughtered it, cleaned it, dressed it, got it ready, they would roast it. Right? And then when they roasted it, smoke went up from it. Right? And the Bible calls that a good savor going up to the Lord... Right? In the nostrils of the Lord. The smoke of it was supposed to be the impurities burning out of it. Right? Purifying it. Impurities burning out of it. Cause when you cook meat the meat becomes pure. Right? Burns the germs...burns off the germs. It makes it pure for consumption. So, they saw the smoke as the impurities going out of it. And if you look in the Qur'an you see another connection with the smoke. It says " and there shall rise up three columns of smoke". This is in the Judgement. Right? In the Judgement. When the Judgement comes on the world, there shall go up from them three columns of smoke, the impurities, symbolic again of the impurities going out of them.

Jinn free of smoke. Now, what is that other...40___48:27 was it? Huh? Alright,
48:27. Let us go now to 48:27. We're about to conclude this...Now, look at forty, ah... no, pardon me. I went too far'. ..48:27 I want... I went too far. It's ah...uh huh, now...Yes, 48:27. Now, look here. It says "Truly did Allah fulfill the vision, for His Apostle . Ye shall enter the sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with mind secure, heads shaved, hair cut short and without fear; for He knew what ye knew not and He granted besides this a speedy victory." Alright. Now, let us see... if you study the fire as a symbol in religion and myth, you'll find that hair has been a symbol for fire. Hair on the head. Hair is a symbol for water and also a symbol for fire, in myth and in religion. And we know that in the womb the flesh forms; Right? And hair forms after delivery from the womb. Babies come with some hair, we know. 

They come with some hair. But the hair growth is mainly a growth after delivery from the womb and most whites, Caucasians, their babies come here bald-headed and they get hair afterwards. Right? Blacks, Africans, we come here with some hair, even from the womb. But the hair grows even more after the womb. So, really the flesh process is in the womb. The hair process is after the womb. We get the hair on the head. After a while it begins -to show on the other parts... maturity on the face for the man and the body parts. Right? For the man and on the woman, with maturity, she shows hair just on the lower part of the body. Right? Hardly ever up here — just for the man. Just on that lower part down there. Alright. So, hair is a growth that comes after delivery from the womb. Now, men have grabbed hair as a symbol for something, too. 

So, we want to understand what is it a symbol of? What does it mean? And please understand that these symbols have taken on different meanings over the periods of history. Just like I just mentioned, hair means water. It also means fire. So, they take on different meanings. But they all are related. Their meanings are related. Alright. So, here, let's see... how far we want to go back here... If you read the verses before the verse that we're going to discuss here briefly. It is discussing tendencies on the part, tendencies on the part of believers to behave irrationally; to make sudden moves without giving enough thought to their behavior, to move impulsively, so to speak. You see. And it is in connection with allegiance with the Prophet and also in connection with commands defending themselves from the enemies, the disbelievers, etc. And the verses show how the Muslims were sustained or were kept from wild irrational conduct, that there was a condition in them of taqwa. . .obedience, piety, etc., that held them back and checked them. Here it mentioned as  self restraint. 

The believer. .. pardon me... Allah sent down His tranquility to His apostle and to the believers and made them stick close to the command of self restraint... of self restraint. Alright. So this is talking about the discipline that they exhibited when the Meccans refused to let them make the Hajj. Right? Refuse to let them make Umra, with the Prophet. There was a great number of them who wanted to visit the Holy precincts with the Prophet. And the Meccans refused to allow them to do so. And the Prophet he restrained himself, he was very calm and the believers followed him in his calmness, in his restraint. So, that's what its referring to. Now, look how it comes to hair. Says "truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Apostle. Ye shall enter the sacred mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved , hair cut short. So, what is the meaning of this? How is this hair now, associated with this ability to restrain.? How is it connected? We know animals are hairy. 

Their clothing is hair and man over the period of his development or evolution have lost most of this hair from his body. Right? Yes. So, then hair is symbolic then of the animal instincts. You see? It's symbolic of the animal instincts. Is this bad? It's only bad if it has been influenced . If it has given to impulse, rather than to sense. Its not bad. It's good. When Aaron failed his particular post that he was put on by Moses, when Moses came down and found that things had gone wrong, what did Aaron say? "Don't seize ... Please brother, don't seize me by my hair." Isn't that right? And according to Quran ______________ That really these instinctive impulses in man are not bad. The hair is not bad. But when they come under the rational mind, these same impulses that are good in the natural body, when they come under the influence of the worldly mind, they respond. 

They respond. So, this symbolic of what? The jinn. The jinn. Hair...fire. So this instinct in us to just follow the innate impulse or the innate, inherent impulse, or inherent drives...willingness in us to follow those inherent drives will eventually get us into trouble. The fire is originally good. The hair is originally good.; But eventually it will bring us into trouble. When we take on free will, freedom of thought, creating our own world of reality, then we bring that that was in us that was good under a new influence. And under the new influence it tries to obey. Right? And in trying to obey the new influence it gives itself to wrong guidance. Then it becomes a wild fire; a dangerous fire; a rebellious fire; "a rejected devil". You see? Well...God created him of fire. That wasn't bad. It was only when he begin to think on his own as an independent, free-thinking being, he begin to think on his own and he began to trust his own impulse. He began to trust his own impulse. 

He didn't respond to fear, the recognition of God. He began to trust his own impulses. And that's when he went wrong. Then the fire becomes a bad thing. And hair is the same thing. Have you watched animals? Animals, when they're threatened by another animal, you see their hair rise. It's symbolic of his deep-seated intelligence; deep-seated intelligence. When he's threatened enough, it goes to the very deep-seated intelligence and it checks him—tells him to be very cautious: "you don't know what this is, do you? This is something new. This is a new situation. So, be very cautious. Your mind can't handle this. Don't follow your mind." Yeah.  I've seen animals, you know. They run in to something that they haven't run into, again; hair stands up on their back and they look at that thing and they're trying to figure out, what it is... "This is something new". So, that's...that's the deep-seated intelligence, the deep-seated intelligence; way back there in his history. Gone way back there to senses that are not even on earth, anymore. That's telling him: "This is something new, now. You rely on fear. Don't you trust your appetite. 

I know you want to grab that. But you trust me, fear. And the hair stands up on his back and he very cautiously begins to ease up on it. And if he can't get any indication that "it's something that he can manage, he turns and walks on away from that. Right? Well, that's that khalifa, coming up in him. Yes, that's the khalifa coming up in him. Now, we know there ain't not calipha in no animal. Khalifa is in man. But in the animal, it's his deep-seated knowledge; very deep-seated knowledge, that comes up in him and raises the hair, you see...Raises his hair. Okay. So, then hair represents the deep-seated sensitivities; deep sensitivities. See, skin is on top, then you develop hair. Right? And hair is deep in there. Right? Now, in the evolution, scale of evolution, the worm is thought of as the older creature. 

You see. And the worm ain't hair. He doesn't have hair. Some worms have hair, but we think of the worm as being without hair. Right? Just skin, you see. Alright. So, the baby, the child comes without hair; later gets the hair. So what is it telling us? That this fear in us also came after life; after life was already here. But in time, it becomes deeply embedded in the flesh. You see. And when the situation presents itself, then it manifests . This deep-seated intelligence in us, manifests; behavior instinct in us, it manifests. And it questions, our behavior questions our moves, movements, our tendencies to act: "Oh, no, slow down. This is something new. This is something that you don't know anything about." Say "Hold up! Don't rush in to this one." You see? Alright. So, if we can understand this. Now, we said that those seven graduations were graduations outside of the womb. Right? As well as inside of the womb. Now we've come to hair. 

Here's another one. Outside of the womb, but also inside of the womb. So-, hair... this instinct, too, has developed in the environment. It has developed in the environment. And it is also a quality or a potential, inherent in the man; in his flesh. So he develops the hair, instinctive intelligence. Ah, in spiritual circles, this will be the intuitive, intuitive intelligence. Right? Intuitive intelligence. And you can look at these words ...instinctive...intuitive..."in". Flesh is on, out. Hair is in flesh. Right? And flesh it separates itself from blood. It's not blood. Its not flesh...we...flesh is under the blood...blood is under the flesh. But hair, it goes/ into the flesh. It grows out of the flesh. Right? And its roots touches blood. Is that not right? The hair root touches blood and if you don't bring blood up to the hair, up to the surface, well enough for the roots of the hair to feed on blood, you lose hair; or the hair becomes deficient, deficient. Deficient in its life or nutrition. Yeah. So, here, hair and blood. I want you to understand this very carefully in the language. Hair and blood. So here its hair. Now its connected with blood. Right? Hair is now connected with blood. Now, can't you see fire? Fire. We mentioned fire. Blood, fire. 

Blood is symbolic of passions. Passions a term for it is fire. So, you see hair represents fire. But hair also represents water. How is hair water? There's another heat that brings on water. The heat of sorrow. The heat of repentance makes us cry. It makes us cry. So, we find Magdalene, Mary Magdalene in the New Testament, she's crying and she's wiping the feet of Jesus with her tears. Is that right? For what? To make the connection with tears and hair. This is a deep-seated feeling. It's a deep-seated feeling in us. Sympathy, repentance. Repentance is deep. When we do wrong, we're not conscious. Right? So someone has to go deeper into the conscious to make us see the depths of our acts. When we see the depths of our act, then repentance manifests. Right? So repentance, then, by that logic, or by that reasoning, repentance is a deeper feeling or a deeper-seated sensitivity than ordinary conscience. Right. Okay. So, the deeper-seated repentance they associate it, they try to bring it to the conscience of the readers or the men of scripture, the student of scripture, by connecting it with tears. 

Tears are water, but tears are warm water. Right? Tears are warm water. And salt is symbolic of what? Repenting; repentance...salt, bad feelings; hurt, salt. You see? Etc.', .other meanings too. So, the hair is associated with this. Now, how come we go to the sacred precincts and cut our hair? Because this world even can make your deep-seated sensitivity conform to wrong guidance. God made the skin natural. Yes, this is nature, this is natural. The first skin was obedient. The hair, God gave it to us as a keener sense. The hair is a keener sense. It can detect what the flesh doesn't detect. What was Samson's strength? Was not his skin. It was his seven locks of hair. Right? Seven locks of hair; not his skin, but seven locks of hair. Alright. So, we know that hair is a even a deeper sense, a deeper awareness of things in our environment. Intuitive sense; instinctive sense or in man, intuitive sense. But even that intuitive sense can go wrong. So those Christians that believe that your intuitive sense is the spirit of God, the Qur'an is saying you're wrong. That's human sense, still. It's creation, still and it, too, can go wrong. Yes. You see, that's what it's saying. 

Now, ah, there's much to say on this, but I know you...I don't want to bear... press on you with no more than I have to. Now, it says...yes..."Truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Apostle. You shall enter the sacred mosque if Allah wills, with minds secure." When is the mind secure? When the senses are corrected. If man thinks that he should just respond to his own impulses... "I got a mind of my own. I don't need anybody telling me what to do." When he has that attitude, he's going to be in trouble and going to stay in trouble. And for the others who think that their spiritual training can bring them in touch with some deep levels of water, bring up some intuitive sense that can really carry them to reality and truth, they're blinding themselves, too. You see? No, that's not true! That can go wrong, too. You see? But when man check his senses for fear of God. When he brings his own impulses, his instincts, his impulses, his intuitive urge, his intuitive perception; when he brings all of that in obedience to God, that's when he finds peace. 

That's when he finds peace. Follow the word of God. Don't trust your own creation and your own impulses and urges above God's guidance. That's all it's saying. Man is to sacrifice his blood. Now, you know it would be a horrible ritual if we had to puncture ourselves   and demonstrate that. How do you do it? By sacrificing the cow; by sacrificing   the camel; by sacrificing the goat; by sacrificing the sheep. Because all of   these are descriptive of certain urges that are in our blood. Right? Yes. So, when   we sacrifice those when we go to Mecca, go to make Hajj, it's symbolic of us sacrificing our own blood. We don't make no savage ritual, cutting our own flesh. We cut the animal's neck, the goat in us. We cut the goat in us and pour out the   goat blood in us. Right? We say, "I sacrifice the goat blood in us". What is the sacrificing of the goat blood? His hair, too. He's a hairy animal, too. Right? Sacrificing of his blood. 

The sacrificing of that material urge in us. See, man is motivated materially. The goat is used because he consumes everything. He even eat, he even tries to eat tin. If he had sharp enough teeth, he would swallow tin. He eats rags, sticks, everything. He eats everything. But he'll eat nice food as long as he ain't too hungry. But the hungrier he gets, the more he'll eat anything. Right? And the camel, he's a creature like that too. He doesn't go to the extreme that the goat have and he doesn't have the ill temper that the goat has. But the camel, too, will eat the bark off of the trees. He'll eat almost anything, if he gets hungry enough. You see? Then there are other animals, like the cow, they don't go to that extreme and like the sheep, very nice animal. He doesn't go to that extreme. So, they represent urges in us, hungers in us that fit us to certain types, behavioral types and man is to sacrifice that. Now, the sheep is a nice thing isn't it? Why do we have to pour his blood out of us? His blood is the blood of fear. That's what his blood is. The sheep's blood is the blood of fear. Sheep like to stay bunched up, with other sheep. 

In a bunch, he feels more secure against other animals. You see? And the sheep also goes up on high ground.- On high ground, he can get a better view of the things he fears. He can see them coming for a long way. And the goat has that too, though.. He goes up on high ground. Right? Goat goes up on high ground, too.; very sure-footed creature. But another thing about the sheep. The sheep, when he is attacked, he just yields. He Just yields. He gives his life up without a fight. Right? Yes, he gives his life up without a fight. The butcher just cuts his...no fight. So, they use the sheep to name this particular behavior in society. Where do you find this behavior in society. Among the spiritualists who believe in love. They're so romantic. They're so sentimental. Their religion is a religion of all love. You're not supposed to become violent at any time. If they strike you on this side, turn the other cheek. If the enemy say walk ten miles, walk a hundred, etc. Right? This is the sheep in the Bible. 

This is the sheep in the scripture. The one that believes in passive, passive life. Don't resist. Don't be violent. Go along in the world accept- to be killed, if you have to. Don't fight back. Live on love. The sheep is hot. He can wear wool in 90 degree weather. So, he has conditioned himself for a lot of heat. Right? Don't you find people like that? They have conditioned themselves to take a lot of emotionalism. Oh, they can stand emotionalism that will drive us crazy. We get dizzy at the head. Say "ah, hell, man I can't take-all of this. God doggit, you suckers are too sentimental. You drive me crazy." It becomes repulsive to us. Right? But in that heat, they're happy. "Hey, man! He ain't human, man. Ignore that dude, man. He ain't human, man...Come on back, brother,
one day, when you're right. Come on back into our love. When you get your mind right, brother, come on back into our love." They're talking about "love, love... love, love, love. 

Another dude setting there, realizing what's happening in the world and how they're the victims of all kinds of wrongdoing says "What in the hell is this? These niggers crazy? Love, love, love..." So, he can't stand the sheep environment, you see. But they can stand all that heat. Got all that love on them and the temperature has gone up to 90 and they're still comfortable. So, yeah, some of us are given to extremes of passions and they can be innocent passions. But when carried to the extreme, then they ah deny us the protection that God has given us by nature and we become the victims, the sheep in the world. Right? So, it says 11 With minds secure, heads shaved..." So, what is this "shaved"? This is the... they say the "heads shaved" means cutting off, not the beard, pardon me, means the hair. .Right? On the head, this part of the head. But it says insecure. . .yes. With the heads shaved, on the head, with the hair cut. Says "heads shaved", yes, "heads shaved". And it says "Wa muqassireena. . .wa muqassireena. Muqassireena means short. Now, some people think it means taking a razor and cutting the hair all the way off, like the monks do. 

But if you see what the language say here, its not cutting, the hair all the way off. It says "With heads cut. "Muhalliqeena” means the haircut. Halaqa means to cut
hair off. With the hair cut off of their heads.,.ru'uusakum of your heads. "Wa muqassireena" and made short. So that means that hair is still there. Right? It didn't say cut the hair all the way off. So, those who go to Mecca with hair cut all the way off like the monks, like the Chinese monks; .or the Asian monks, they're not following, they don't understand it. It's not right. So, what does that tell us? Don't cut it all off. But your tendency to follow these instinctive urges has gotten extreme, have taken you into extremes. So, make them short. It means come from those extremes. So, you go to Mecca.& It's only required once in life, isn't it? It didn't say, when you go back home, keep your hair that way. Once you do it, the senses are corrected. Then you can to back home and let your hair grow the full length. Why? Because, then the growth is right. You have to take off the bad growth and bring it down close to the nature. Cut it on down to the nature. 

Don't cut the nature off. Just bring it down close to the nature and then you can come back in the world and let it grow to full length. Ah, its good! Praise be to Allah! Alright, so I thought You all would like this. Yeah, I was wondering what would I teach this area now from the Quran and I said "oh, boy, let us look for Iblis and Man and his tendency to give himself to wild passions and superstition on the basis that his urges are divine, in origin." We don't believe in man/God, from God, eternal God, from God, to God. That's what Catholicism teaches. We don't believe that we have a divine origin. We have a material origin. We have a universal origin. We don't have no divine origin. Please, understand this. This is hard for us of the western world.

Cause the western world has influence us to believe that and we think that's such a great idea—that I descended from God. Why, nothing descends from God. If God got something descending, it's not God. That that, that descends needs help. So, how can that is divine, descend? No, that, that is divine doesn't descend. That idea is not Islamic and that's what we have to understand. Get away from that idea—that we trace our origin back to divine. No! We trace our origin back to the material creation. And God has evolved the higher life that...he put the potential there for man's growth and development. He put it in the material creation, for man's growth and development. And believe me, this is a long discussion. If we would discuss this, it would be hours of discussion. Your moral tendencies; your social tendencies; all of these are already implicit in material matter and its behavior. Certainly, all of these. 

Your spiritual tendencies, all of these are already implicit. That means that the principles are already in inanimate matter, material matter. And you, you come up a living being and you have these spiritual tendencies, you have these social tendencies; these moral tendencies and you think that you're a special creature. You look at the world, the world doesn't have that—that's where you got yours from. "Ah, Brother Imam, you're saying Allah didn't give us this from Himself?" Yes, from His Will, that's in the material universe and you're a product of the material universe that bears His design, that obeys His Will. But directly from Him? No! Nothing directly from Him. Ain't nothing came to you directly from the being of God. Nothing! Everything that comes to you it comes to you indirectly. God's matter, obeying God's Will you, from God's matter. "Oh, well what about the "ruuhu"? What about the ruuha? The ruuh is a spirit. 

The ruuh is a spirit. And wind is symbolic of that spirit. Air, ruuh, means to go like the air. Ruuh, air, runny air. Ruuh. So, why is air used? It means a tendency to behave in a certain way. A tendency in the behavior of man's spiritual behavior to follow certain trends. Alright, now, Allah's Will, if you obey it, if you conform to it, if you worship Him, fear Him, then that obedience in you brings your spiritual tendencies to conform to one, one obedience. Where the world will take you to many different types of obedience. Right? It brings you to conform to one obedience. It sets you to one trend. It sets your spiritual make-up to one trend. And in setting your spirit to one trend, we say that you have something of the ruuh of God. Doesn't mean that this ruuh of God is part of God's being. Don't believe that. There are men, learned men in this religion, Indians, Asians and others, who will tell you I'm wrong. Now, you have to make your choice, whether you're going to believe me or them. And if you believe me, then you be as stubborn before them as they will be before us. ' That's right. Now, I'm telling you the Qur'an does not tell us that the ruuh is God, is Himself. No!

The ruuh is also an effect of Allah's Will. The ruuh of Allah is an effect of His Will. How do we know that? "And there descends therein the ruuhu...The Angels and the ruuhu, by His command." That's not Him, he's commanding the ruuh. He says "by His command, obeying every errand." Isn't that the Qur'an? Then is says "And He gives you something of His ruuh." And we think that's something of his own being, "yes, the ruuh is the God present in me. That's God. My ruuh is God!" That's where we go wrong. No! your ruuh is not God. Your ruuh is your ruuh. And you're conforming to the will of God. And in conforming to will of God, you are following His ruuh. He's distinguishing His trend from the worldly trend. And Jesus said " Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." Meaning what? 

Those that follow their own minds follow the world and come under Satan Right? Giving themselves to the adverse spirits of the world. But those who follow the fear of God, then their spirits conform to the fear God. So, the trend in me, the spiritual trend in me, is now greater than that that is in the world. Because I fear God, obey His will. So, my spirit now conforms to the will of God. So it says "greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." And they take that to mean that the spirit that is in Jesus is the spirit of God; or is God. You see... That's not correct. It means that his obedience, he has become obedient. And how does man reason this? He reasons this from a study of the universe. What creates spirit? Behavior...behavior trends. Behavioral trends create spiritual trends. 

If I get in the habit of eating five times a day, then that will be my behavioral trend, won't it? And pretty soon, to eat that five times a day will be my spirit, won't it? Whether I need it or not, my spirit will drive me to go and' eat that five times a day. But that spirit wasn't created, first was it? Behavioral pattern was set up first. Then a spirit. Alright. So, that's what we understand. Where did the spirit come? The spirit came into Mary. Right? Mary represented a behavioral trend. Mary had conformed to certain behavior and she had followed it very obediently, over a long period of time. It had become her nature. So, the holy ghost overshadowed her. So, then the holy spirit manifests. Right? And it says we think that that's the spirit of God. 

The Qur'an doesn't say that was God. No! The holy spirit is not Allah. No, indeed Allah is Allah and the ruuh is separate from Allah. The ruuh is the creation of Allah and the matter is the creation of All ah. And the ruuh is the creation of Allah. But the matter, conforming to Allah's will creates a tendency, a disposition a willingness, an on-going obedience, a spirit and that manifests out of the behavior of that matter conforming to the will of God. And they say "Oh, that's God". No, that's not God. That's a trend that God wants in him, so He calls that "My trend, My spirit, My Will." Alright? So, let's understand that. If we can get this into our mind, you can accept what I'm telling and preach that to other people, we can get this superstition out of our people. We can
become communist. Superstitions...religious superstitions, etc. 

So, dear beloved Muslims, it's really a blessing to be a Muslim, especially in this day and time; to see the word of God as it should be seen. And I thank you for your time and patience and inshaa Allah, you will go back and study now the scriptures and understand it better. And see how passions and hair are associated. Delilah cut Samson's hair, didn't she? How come? He gave himself to passions. The hair is associated with his passions. He fell in love with her and ah she was able to cut his hair. His passions went to the extreme. Fire the passions up to the extreme and then you can control them. Right? Yeah, carry the people to extreme passions and then: you can control them. Now, ah iron... you know iron, metal, it's symbolic too of your passions; You know iron, you heat it up and it becomes liquid and then you can form it to any mold you want. Right? And you let it cool. Right? And it's fixed. It can't do anything, it's fixed. So, what is iron symbolic of? They call iron, iron. 

What is it a play on? I'm getting ready, I'm going to leave you in just a few minutes. No! I know you're tired. This is my nature. This is my nature. I'm not going to impose on you. Yes, they say iron, but look, they got the connection with the word... If I say something that's farfetched, there's a way...we can say it's ridiculous. But another way of saying that it's out of the ordinary or to say it's strange is to say that it's ironic. Right? Ironic! And irony in literature means that that doesn't gel with what should be. Right? So, how come when iron was discovered they said" Okay, we discovered iron, now , what symbol will we give iron?" Said "Isn't it ironic that these people believe the lie that we tell them about the reality of God? Yes it is ironic! Yeah, that's iron. We going to build our new world on iron.-The people who believe these far-fetched stories." And you see...it's no joke! Believe me, if you take what I'm saying lightly, you'll make a terrible mistake. You going to miss the boat. I mean the boat to the real heaven. Yes. So, they have brought the world to believe in these superstitions that the primitive man left as he became more enlightened. 

Then they were able to put these same superstitions... Understand this...The idea that God had a son and he came down to earth in a flesh body, to die for the sins of the world, on the cross and all of that...believe me that the same primitive stuff they told primitive man, the savage, running around with a stick and a club, hiding behind bushes and things. That's the same thing he thought. And the same thing that he left, when he became more enlightened. Then they put it in a higher language, they dress it up with false logic that appeals to the higher intellectual sensitivities of man and see that you buy it, a powerful book and he buys it. But he's buying the same old primitive concept and the wise who sold him on this doctrine, Says "Isn't it ironic, that intellectual, men with college degrees will buy our stories." Says "Yes, George, it's ironic! Okay, well let's call this new metal iron. Cause you know it's already stubborn, George, it's fixed. You have to burn it and heat it up real hot, let the passions make it real hot until it pours and then we mold it to our own fitting, our own desires and let it cool, George. And then oh, we can mold people up to stories , many stories, ten stories, twenty stories, a hundred stories, George!" Yes?

Question: You know in the Qur'an where it says that Allah is closer to us than our jugular vein. . .?

Yes, can give me a chance to go and come back... ?You may have a lot of questions... (Imam Muhammad leaves for a few minutes and then returns...)

...Honorable Elijah Muhammad. If you want to ask questions on anything in the talk today. If you think there's some connection, with what we've been discussing here today or anything of that nature. Teachings that we go before, which were symbolic in a great part and the Bible and Quran. Those are the areas that we'd like to stay in. You see. Qur'an, Bible... Nation of Islam, old Nation of Islam's teachings. If you stay in those areas, it would be better. But if you want to go out of those areas, if you feel it's very important to do that, okay... The Brother was here earlier, I don't know if he's still here, he had a question. He raised hid hand. I think he had to leave... Was that you?... No, it wasn't you. Who was that? Raise your hand. It was you? Oh, okay.

Question: (About the jugular vein...)?                                                                                                  

Imam WDM: Yes sir. Yes sir. It says " Allah is closer than his jugular vein and Allah is with you wherever you are." That's true! Yes. But he's not a part of you. Yeah. ..Your spirit is not him. That's true, Allah is with you wherever you are. Allah is everywhere, that's true. But He's not your spirit. Yes, yes sir. Yes, Brother Imam.

Question: I have a question I want to ask you, because I promised the Believers in the Masjid, if I saw you today I would ask you this question for them. I'm going to name-change and that last name, which is a slave name may already be a good name... in our religion. The word is Hammett. That's the last name, already. And I told. them (rest of comment unclear-Ed.)

Imam WDM: Hamm...? Hammett. .-. Hammett. It's best if he can get a dictionary. It's best to look it up. They have dictionaries, name dictionaries. It's best to look it up. It's possible the name might have a bad meaning, but if it has a good meaning he should keep it. Uh huh... I don't see anything. ..I don't think it has a bad name. Look like it should have a good meaning; It look like it should have a good meaning. I would think it would have a good meaning. Yes sir, Brother Imam.

Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. Farrakhan was in Athens a couple of weeks ago and he came to the university and we went over there and saw and you know a brother who is in our community (the rest of the question is unclear)

Imam WDM: On the basis of what you've told me, just now, you behaved, in my
opinion, the best possible. I don't think you could have done it any better...
Yes, sir. Yes sir...Yes, sir, Brother Imam.

Question: (Question unclear-Ed.)

Imam WDM: I see. Well, perhaps you'll________it later...

Question: (Unclear...something about hair in the Quran)

Imam WDM: Hair?...of Aaron?...The cutting of the hair in the Hajj?...The cutting of
the hair in the Hajj, when you go to Hajj, the cutting of the hair?

Question: Is there a connection between Sufism and hair?

Imam WDM: Yes,,sir. Yes, sir. Ah, it is believed that the word Sufi comes from
the word suuf. And suuf means hair of the sheep, wool hair, wool of the sheep, sheep. Sheep's hair, sheep's wool, suuf. It is said that those people used to wear garments of wool and they got that name from wearing garments or coats of wool. But Sufi’s are many branches, you know, in time things change. You got many branches of Sufism and they don't all agree. Sufi's are all mixed up, they're not all agreeing. They believe different things. Some Sufi’s are very, very good Muslims and some Sufi’s are away from the religion. Their ideas are unIslamic . Yes, yes. Let's take somebody else. Yes, sir, Brother Imam.

Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. In listening to your comments about the hair and you were commenting on the 27th ayat and and 44... You mentioned that hair is symbolic of the animal instincts and the instinctive impulse in the human being. But you also...

Imam WDM: The intuitive, also, what they call in the human being, the intuitive instinct intuitive impulse...

Question: But you indicated that it is not bad, but when it comes up under influences, freewill and freedom of thought and when you said that, my mind went back to the Nation of Islam and the change in administration and how ah ...also you say that taqwa held the Believers from irrational behavior. And I thought about the breakdown in the community, when we changed leadership. And I thought about the fear that held us in check to a great degree and when we misinterpreted the understanding that you were bringing to us—a lot of the irrational behavior occurred and people just started doing anything. I've been looking for a connection like that and when you said it, it just clicked in my mind.

Imam WDM: Praise be to Allah. And that's true, Cause you know, the verse mentions
the cutting of the hair, the going to Mecca, for the Hajj and the cutting of the hair. It mentions it in connection with that taqwa. You see? So, actually they didn't have their hair cut before they went to Hajj, but they had taqwa. You see? So, going to Hajj and cutting the hair was just symbolic of what they really had. They didn't give themselves to the influence of their own urges. They followed the Prophet, who himself was under taqwa. They followed the Prophet and didn't give themselves to their own urges so they had that control. It's like, you know hair, when it's long, especially on white folks or non-blacks, it's very unruly, isn't it? It's long, tangles all up and everything. You see. But if it's short, it doesn't get all tangled does it? Right. See? 

So, Actually it was saying that even before they got the hair cut, they were protected by taqwa, their hair was in good order. But to make the, to bring the understanding out, it says and you may make the Hajj with hair cut, cropped short. You see? That's to connect it with taqwa. That with taqwa, your urges, the inner urges, are governed in the right way. But without taqwa, you subject to follow your own impulses. And you're right. When I came into office, they took direction for individuals to become more responsible for themselves and not to depend on laws executed over them, they took that to be open door to permissive living, to do anything. But that shows you what was among us. They were that way already. It just brought what was there. And I say right now, the people who went bad were already bad. Cause I know, I know in my own family, we had people already, in my family, in my family, that were doing wrong things. So, when my father died, they went where they were all the time. Some of the sisters, they wouldn't dress properly, ah they were loose and when I came into the leadership, then they got bold with it. 

They just got bold with it. Many of them were streaking and doing these things, you know. Farrakhan, he's always pointing the finger at us, but his family is one of the worst families, when it comes to obeying the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's teachings. His own. family is one of the worst examples in the Nation of Islam. His own family! And everybody that knows his family, knows this. That's right. They were the worst family. His daughters, his sons, pitiful. I'm not saying that to condemn him, really maybe that's responsible for him really trying to something, you know. He look at his own family and says well, I got to do something. But look at my family. I ain't got no wild children. I don't have to go back to that. Yes, let's take somebody on this side. Anybody on this side? Yes, brother with the...

Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. This is not pertaining to the questions you wanted brought forth. But I wanted to ask about this Islamic correspondence course. Cause in our area...well, what I've look at is okay, but we got some books in from the Islamic Teaching Center...

Imam WDM: Are those from the Islamic Teaching Center? (Yes, sir.)...Those should
be okay. Most of the books I've seen from the Islamic, in fact I haven't seen any books from the Islamic Teaching Center that weren't okay.

Question: We told the Brother that's in charge of that, John Salih, that we
were going to do this in conjunction with the American Muslim Mission. We're offering this correspondence course in conjunction. So, I just wanted to ask that question.

Imam WDM: Yes, I see no problem. Most of their literature is very good. You
know, you know what we represent. So, if you don't see anything wrong with it, just use your own judgement. Yes, sir...Yes sir?..

Question: I wanted to know, Brother Imam, in reference to your talk(the rest of the question is unclear.)

Imam WDM: The Jains? No, sir. But I've read some books on mythology, where
the Jain's religion was discussed, you know. And ah the Jains they're the ones that see God in that concept that I was talking about and they see man as evolving out of the universe, you know. And emerging back with the gods, back into the macro-god-cosm, emerging back into the macrocosm. And realizing its full self in the macrocosm, in the big cosm, you see. That's their idea and if you look at their idea, if you study their idea, you'll see a lot of Fard's teachings in there: 8,400, Yacub being born 8,400...He just grabbed figures from here and there, you know. He had an idea of what he wanted to accomplish just grabbed stuff from here and there and he thought the more complicated it was, the more mystifying it was, the more glue power it would have. And that was right, it glued us right to it, you know. Yes, let's take somebody else, now. Yes, sir Brother, Imam.

Question: Brother, Imam, one of the Suras that you were talking from today reminds
me of a question that I wanted to ask about. A lot of ths Suras in the Quran start off with alif, lam mim ...read commentaries on it, but they just didn't satisfy me.

Imam WDM: Yes, most of the commentary that I have read has been, in my opinion, helpful and good, yes sir. Ah, many writers they don't attempt to explain those mystic symbols. They just give the mystic symbols without any explanation, you know. But I do believe they have real significance, very, very, they're very important in understanding deeper meaning in the Quran, uh huh...and the connection is right here in the Quran, itself. To understand the Quran, you need the Quran. Yes, sir...Yes, sir, Brother Imam in the rear.

Question: Listening to your comment, I was wondering (rest is unclear) 

Imam WDM: Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I believe so. It's not man's human will, it's his, well human will can include every thing in man. But it's more his ah... it's not -he human influences as much as the material influences on man. It's the material influences on man that makes man fear, makes him superstitious, etc, you see. He fears what he doesn't know. And that's responsible, more than anything else, for his misconceptions. But some misconceptions are the doings of Satan, the wicked one and Man would never come into these far, way out ideas of his own reality, if Satan hadn't suggested that to Man. Man would never think of himself as God, without Satan suggesting that. It ain't in man to think himself to be God. That's hot in Man. Anybody who thinks that they're fooling themselves. A little test could bring the truth out of you. Yes, let's get some more hands. We, need more hands, we're not... Yes, yes Brother Imam...

Question: ...commentary on the fire(the rest is unclear-ed.)

Imam WDM: Yes, alright, very good question. I appreciate that question. That's a very good question. The Bible has falsehood in it, because the surface language takes you off base. So, in it's surface language it has falsehood in it. But actually in it's deeper meaning, if you can see the essence, if you can see the essence of the scripture, then you won't see the falsehood. The essence is pure, but the expressions have gone off base in their attempt to try to explain or to try to present the essence of the book, they have taken it off base, you see. And they have used it to really convey political messages,-to explain the developments or the rise and fall of civilization, you see. And in trying to put all these messages in the Bible, they have gone off from the pure vein of scripture, you see. But in doing that the wise men have also tried to always have a hidden interpretation that will connect it back with that true vein, you see. So, in this sense, the book is Holy, you see. In this sense the book is Holy. Because even in their going off base and addressing things that are not really of that true essence they're symbolically revealing something at the same time, of that true essence. So, you got two languages going in the Bible, maybe three or four. You got two languages going in the Bible. And one language is impure and the other language is pure in its,... real interpretation. Yes sir... Yes, sir, Brother Imam...

Question: (Question unclear)

Imam WDM: Yes, sir, we have to...you have to consider our community as being a new school of thought in Al-Islam. Yes, sir. Ah, and I consider these translations and commentaries as being really inferior to what we can produce. Yes sir. Uh, huh. And insha Allah, we're going to prove it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir, Brother Imam.
Question:(Question unclear)

Imam WDM: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Alright, let's take the moral nature. Let's take one principle or aspect of that moral nature. We consider a man or a woman that likes to keep themselves physically clean as being moral person; Right? Being a morally clean person. If they keep themselves physically dirty, we don't think they have good morals, do we? The creatures that seem to be more concerned about keeping their bodies clean are not human beings, they're animals. Is that not right? Animals busy themselves with keeping their bodies clean than human beings do. And where do animals come from? Material world, right? That's right. And the material world, doesn't it have a way of cleaning itself? Yes, the air, it has a way of cleaning itself. The rain works to clean the air, sunshine works to clean the air. So, actually this principle of cleanliness goes back to the. material universe. And we can take every one of them back, believe me, if we had the time. Love, hate, jealousy, everything. Yes...Yes, can we get another hand over there? Ah yes, sir, the Brother with glasses on, Brother Imam with the glasses on... Yes sir.

Question: (As Imams, in our desire to take the message out to the outer community what should be our approach, in terms of our involvement in the total community...                                                                                          

Imam WDM: Yes, sir, I think I understand...

Question: You, know, sometimes I have a strong urge to see the message gotten out and I sure that there are quite a few Imams here who want to see the message gotten...but sometimes there's a problem in terms of approaching the outer community, you know.- Could you give us some comments on that?

Imam WDM: Yes, I could. I think there's so much that I would like to see us introduce to the outer community, when we're introducing ourselves. I think we should first...picture in our own minds what our major concerns are What we want, you know. What do we want? We should picture in our minds, what we want as a Muslim community and then list those things down, very simple plain language, list those things that we want. And when we go to the outer community, tell them that we belong to the American Muslim, community of Muslims and we these are the things that we want. And if list all of those major things that we want, you're going to interest people in the outer community. But I think what's important for us to realize is that we ourselves, our community, that have had experience and are having experience and see a future of new experiences, that we interpret as revelation. 

See we have a very revelatory history and experience and really it's God's movement among. And I think we should tell people in. the outer community that we have living, right here on earth, right in your own country, right around you, you have a living God-movement, a revelatory experience. So, we would like to just tell you about our past and our history and the kinds of things that have developed and what we are today and where we see ourselves going. I think nothing could impress people more than that. I think that's a very impressive story and people should want to be a part of that. That's my feeling. And don't expect people to get excited, you know, just because you're excited. No, but have faith in what you believe in. Have faith in it and if you want to see other people with it, go to them and introduce it to them, you see. And you'll find that more people will love you and respect you than will be otherwise. Yes, sir. Yes, sir, Brother Imam with the green shirt. Yes, sir...

Question: (question is unclear)

Imam WDM: A ruh, yes sir. Does he have a ruh? Yes sir...Yes sir. In the way I explain ruuh, the jinn has a ruuh, you see. As explain ruuh as a tendency, a spirit or a tendency that results from a behavioral pattern that has been going on for some time, you see. So, the jinn has given himself to self-glorification and the tendency has created a spirit in him. The spirit of arrogance, etc,, yes sir. Alright, can we get another one? You all way back there, I think you're going to have to come closer, cause . we won't be able to hear you. Brother Imam can you come closer in order •' to ask your question.
Question: Brother Imam what I wanted to know is there a reason why in society... is there a main purpose, other than the material gain...

Imam WDM: Very excellent, very excellent question. Yes, sir. The reason why they
play death up as being so dreadful, so terrible, is because that's the primitive fear. That's the fear that produces superstitions. And if they keep that kind of fear strong in the society, it breeds superstition and it keeps people from coming to reality. If you're hung up on death, fear of death, you can't come into life. Yes, you have any...yes, yes sir, Brother Imam with the grey suit...

Question: "Brother Imam, I notice in the Holy Quran, in Sura Baqara, it has alif, lam mim and he translates that "I Allah am the Best Knower". Now I notice in Yusuf Ali and Maulana Muhammad Ali, they don't have it in there. Could you explain on that?

Imam WDM: Yes and one other translator says that it means "I'm Allah, the Knower of the beginning, the middle and the latter". Yes sir. Excuse me. What we believe these mystic letters mean and what we say they mean will have to be judged by the benefit that we derive from our interpretation, our explanation in sense of it helping us to understand the Qur'an better and agreeing with the Quran, you see. Being consistent with the Qur'an
Ah, I understand, since two of you have asked that, I'm going to tell you what I understand the letters to mean, alif, lam,mim. I understand alif, lam, mim to mean this Man first is formed socially in the family environment and he's the product of family sentiments, emotional sentiments and support in the family, in the household. And that, that sensitivity in us, God wants that. That's the first thing He wants to be in us. A love and a appreciation for family life, for each other, you see. And then lam, that's when he comes into the world and he finds the world is not compatible with what he is taught in his home. Then he comes to the lam. Lam is the...lam, laa... means no! Lam means did not! It's a strong negative! So, it means then he begins to reject and question the world, that is not compatible with the alif of the home life. And then mim means Muhammad, he reconciled it all...

Imams:   Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
.
Imam WDM: Yes Sir Brother Imam...

Question: (about Mary, Jesus in the Quran, where it says no man has touched me also something about the jinn and the fire and the fire not touching the oil...)

Imam WDM: Uh huh. Alright...Alright. In the first reference that you gave it' says , no man touched Mary; no bashar, no mortal man, no mortal being touched her. Excuse me. The understanding that we're to get, and I'm speaking in the line of reasoning that we have already, that we're getting, already, today. okay? So, to understand that it means sensitivities...sensitivities. We said when skin is live, not hard, then it can feel, right? But when it becomes very hard, you can't feel it. You can cut it and you won't feel nothing right? You can cut it and you won't feel anything. Now, skin, bashar is skin, that has feelings. It's not that hard skin. It's skin that has feelings. It's thin skin, with feelings. 

That's what bashar is. Now, that did not touch her, it meant that she, she was an obedient woman to God, obedient to God. And her obedience was not out of this sensitivity. She didn't have a sentimental obedience. Her obedience was not a sentimental obedience. Mary's obedience was a habit. She obeyed out of habit. She had been obeying for so long until it was habit. Habit can become so strong as an influence that it locks you into something. And your sensitivity doesn't have to become involved at all. So, "No bahsar touched her". Meant that she was obeying out of habit. She was so devoted, so submissive to the will of God and she had formed that habit over so long a period of time that it was automatic for her. She didn’t have to be sensitive or think. And that kind of obedience is the kind of obedience that gives birth to the "bahsar". Jesus was bashar, but no "bahsar touched her ". Yes. So, he was the man or the male child that was born in her, right? Yes, but no male,   male, bashar impregnated her with that. 

She was a woman that obeyed out of habit. But because she obeyed out of habit, then in some mysterious way—it ain't mysterious. But you know the language is poetic, very descriptive, symbolically descriptive. It's like in a mysterious way, all of a sudden the "holy ghost" appears. Right? And it wasn't the bahsar, it was the holy ghost, the holy spirit. It wasn't the bashar, it was the holy spirit appeared. Right? And then the spirit and Mary together, brought on the birth, of Jesus. Right? Impregnates him, if we can understand it that way and the growth in the womb and the birth of Jesus. So, her obedience earned her the spirit, the holy spirit, you see. And the holy spirit represents, here, an intuitive urge—it is an intuitive urge, but all intuitive urges are not right. But here is an intuitive urge that came into a perfect, obedient body, Mary. An intuitive urge that forms of a perfectly obedient body. So, that intuitive urge was real lathe Will of God, you see? It was really the Will of God. And by the intuitive urge in her, in that body now, being really the Will of God, it brought the consciousness to become a prophet or bashar. Is that clear? Yeah... Yes sir, Brother Imam...            
                                                                                               
Question: Brother Imam in the verses...that you were talking about, today, ...it begins that, Allah says that "I'm going to make a man." And eventually, in Quran, this man that was made was rejected by Iblis and the Quran says that Iblis was one of the jinn. But it begins with God saying to the angels "I'm going to make a man." I read what some other persons said about this, about angels having complete obedient nature. It's not in their nature to disobey God. Then Iblis disobeyed. So, I would like to get some clarification on this. I know that the Quran describes Iblis as being jinn, but...God says to angels that "I'm going to make a man". I'm trying to reconcile that.

Imam WDM: Alright...alright. So, okay, we find Iblis and the angels and it seems that Iblis is not an angel, but he's in the realm of the angels, alright, and now what we have to understand is this. That this is talking about the progressive, the progressive awareness in creation. You see? Now its coming from its seems, angels to man, right? He addresses angels, first, then man. Right? Man coming. So, it seems like it started with angels and then comes to man Right? And we know prophets say that angels brought them the gospel, the message. Right. So, it is giving to us a picture of the progressive movement of awareness in creation and at first this awareness is in an angelic state, where the intellect is not acting independently. And the intellect is just responding to the laws of the universe. So it's "angel". You see? And then when God says He's going to make something higher than that intellect, then out of that body of angels manifests now, the free will and that's Iblis. Iblis manifests, the free will. 

He manifests. But when he first manifests, he's not a man, he a jinn. Because the intellect has been under the habit or in the habit of responding to influences. So, now he's not man, he's jinn. You see. Because he still responding to influences. Then when God reveals His Will then the man, khalifa is created, right? But in the mean time man has to experience life and suffer his own shortcomings, right? Adam. But that's the man He wants and He's going to make him the khalifa, because he's in the what? The moral body. He's in the sensitive body, the moral body, you see. But the other one, he's in the pragmatic body, if we can use this kind of term. See angels mean those who follow laws with no involvement of self. They isolate self and they follow laws obediently, you see. They have no. will of their own, that's the angel, okay? Alright, now free will is different, you see? So, Iblis he's not like that once his role is threatened. How come he changed? Because he was the leader of the angels. 

See, he was the leader of the angels, but he was leading the angels because he knew more than the angels knew. You see? That's how come he was leader of the angels. But up until that point he was satisfied to lead the angels without disobeying the order of the angels. He didn’t disobey the order of the angels, up to that point. But when God mentioned that He was going to create another creature, different; not of light, not of fire, of flesh. When He said He was going to create a creature of flesh, Iblis thought that "Oh, this is inferior to what you've made me. I'm pragmatic. I follow the indications in the universe, in the laws of nature, in the laws of nature. I'm very pragmatic. How can this sensitive creature be smarter than me ? A moral creature, a sensitive creature, sentimental being, you're going to make. How can he be better than me, I'm a scientist! I follow the laws, a
hundred per cent." And that's how come the angels___________


So, I think you understand, right? Okay, alright. Then, he becomes arrogant "Now, unlearned man is going to challenge me. His rule is not going to be pragmatic His rule is going to be moral. So, he's challenging me." Makes him arrogant. So actually, he's not speaking to God. God is revealing to us what's in him. Alright. So, he gets arrogant, you see.  He says... "I'm not, I won't stand for this. No creature can trust his heart, and
trust his sensitivities___________________________________________. So
then he sets out to defeat the man, knowing that the man has already been ...cause God spoke to Adam, didn't He? And he told Adam "Tell them their names." You see? So, what God is telling us is that He has inspired the moral man .to have a curiosity and his curiosity really is below the angels. Whereas Iblis, he just had a position of being stationed over the angels, rig He was the leader of the angels, according to religious teachings, you see. 

So, but the other man, he had a curiosity. The moral man, he wanted to know things. He had a curiosity. He didn't want to know Iblis. He wanted to know the angels...The angels obey God. So, he wanted to know the angels. So, if we understand the language, God says "We taught him the names." But what you have to understand is God is saying that He created him with that curiosity. That's how He taught it to him. He put that in his being and he inherits that by nature, that curiosity. And so he taught him the names you see. So, man has that curiosity, naturally, to want to know. And the first thing he wants to know is not the devil. He don't want to' know the devil! He wants to know "What forces keeps this universe so orderly for God?" Right? Yes. So he, Iblis, once he knows that this kind of curiosity is in/man he becomes hateful. But he fears that that kind of curiosity is going to make man a competitor, right? Man is going to compete with him now for rule. Man going to come from the moral, moral principles and he's going to challenge the rule of an order that just insists upon just blind obedience, you see. So, this frightens Iblis. 

Before Iblis was an angel, but God wouldn't tolerate that. ...and Iblis with his free will..."What is your free will doing Iblis? Your free will is doing nothing but keeping blind obedience. I want man to grow." So, He rejected Iblis, for man, right? And He admits that "My man is not ready, yet." He says "but when I have breathed into him of My spirit, then you accept him as khalifa" right? Meaning that once, if he keeps that nature then that nature is going to earn him the spirit of truth, which will bring him in to the revelation. Right? Into the revelation. So that nature is going to earn Kim the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth is going to naturally come into that body, And if you've understood what I've been talking about today, you can see it very plainly. See, that kind of nature is going to eventually earn him the spirit of truth. 

When the spirit of truth come into his body, then that truth is going to take him into the gates, into the door of revelation. God is going to reveal to him0 Then when God reveals to him, he's going to we want to call it. But he's a natural being. Now, the intuitive urge • comes to man in different ways. The intuitive urge manifests in man depending on his concern. If the man's concern is spiritual, spiritual, then the angel should appear in all white. If the urge is social, the angel should appear red. If the urge is material, for material sciences, then the angel should appear in black and white, distinctly separated from each other. Black stands for matter, white stands for the science of the matter, the light of the matter. You have another...?(NO sir...) Yes, so actually the angel that taught Prophet Muhammad was universal, the messenger, the messenger of universal science...

Question: So in the ah Night of Power, ah I remember one time you were speaking of black as meaning reflection. You said in one of you lectures that when we go back into blackness...

Imam WDM: Yes sir...yes sir, there’s consciousness and reflection. That's right.
Reflection, one of the meanings of black is reflection...it means thought. Thought, you know. You're conscious of something, then you think on it. When you think on it, what you do? You close your eyes to what you were seeing, to think on it. Right? Yes, just like, if I'm looking at this mike, something I don't understand about it. And I start thinking on it / what happens? There's a tendency in me, if I can't get the thought I want, to close my eyes, to shut out the mike. Right? Really to cut the mike out of the , the drop the mike out, in order to think clearly, right. Why? Because the  dhahil?______________  of this it's deception. Dhahil means the apparent is the deception. The real is the hidden. So, if we want to understand something better, God has given us this nature, to shut to close the eyes to it. When we want to think, you close your eyes like this, right? You want to see with the inner eye, right? The inner eye is looking for details that didn't manifest themselves on the surface, right? So, that's what I mean by reflection. Not reflection as such. But reflection means to think on something. To go back. To think back, you see? So we have light reflections and we have thought reflections. Thought reflection means to think back on something. A light reflection would be like the moon, right? It reflects the sun light. Uh huh. Yes.

Question: So then, so then when it was said that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
could not read and that after the revelation came, he could read, it was meaning that he could, was that meaning that he could now read the signs that Allah had put in everything that He created and that he could be taught through that fashion and not just through reading something that another man had written on a page?

Imam WDM: Uh huh. It means that he could read the signs of God. The signs of God. Before, he couldn't read the signs of God. But God sent the angel to him and the angel pressed upon him three times and made it possible for him to read the signs of God. And that's the process of revelation, right? The signs of God. I hope it's clear?

Question: Brother, Imam, when you were talking about the worm that had no hair about the evolvement of the human when he has lost most of his hair? You were also talking about the seven developments, from the ....all the way up to another creature...? My question is about evolution. Most that you find on evolution relates to this ayat in the Qur'an about the different stages. I've always thought it to be behavior, you know, coming about. Like monkey behavior; like monkey type behavior. Am I on the right track in that, in talking about evolution?

Imam WDM: Yes, sir. But it should be human behavior. Actually there are stages of human behavior and they're all excellent. They're not degrading. They're excellent. They're grades of excellence, from the very first ...all of them grades of excellence. And they're the sensitivities or behavioral disposition or the tendencies that Allah wants in us. And when we grow out of them we just grow to a higher expression of them. So there's seven in you and seven outside of you. You come to a higher expression of them or to a more meaning concept of that very same thing that Allah has created in us you see. It's not evolution in a bad sense. It's evolution in the best concept that we can conceive it; in the best picture we can conceive. That's the evolution of man. And really it starts with his the law that God puts in matter. You know clay is not life, it's dead world, right? It comes from the inanimate world. Clay is from the inanimate world. And actually man wears dead skin. He has living flesh, but he wears dead skin. All of this skin on the surface is dead. The outer body of the man is dead. So, it is a connection with inanimate, dead. It's dead' But nevertheless, through the dead we sense, don't we? It's through this dead that we sense and the dead is very thin. The thicker the dead gets, the less you can sense. Pretty soon, it can't sense. But just a thin dead, little death is o.k. So, we just want to die just a little bit to the world. We don't want to die all the way. Yes sir, Brother Imam.

Question: (Unclear)

Imam WDM: I didn't get that...I couldn’t hear you...

Question Imam WDM Yes sir... Yes sir. I agree with you 100%. Yes sir.. I think when we have fashion shows, the women should give their show to a women's audience. And the men should have their show before a men's audience. Yes sir. Yes sir. You're congratulated for helping us with this community. And we need plenty help. Yes, sir, Brother Imam... 

Question: As-Salaam Alaikum. (Unclear).

Imam WDM: Yes. sir. It depends on yourself and the kind of sister 'that you want for a wife. From what you told me I sense that you wouldn't want a sister that you look down on— that you would have to look down at, right? You wouldn't want a sister too much beneath you. Right. So my advice to you would be what the Qur'an says "Restrain yourself.” Have faith in Allah and wait till you get a wife and get the means to support her. Yes sir, Brother Imam... 

Question: Something about the people in the masjid supporting the programs of the masjid and some are saying that there is no compulsion in religion. Is it "compulsion if an Imam requests or requires believers to do something. ..

Imam WDM: No sir' No sir, it's not. No, sir. I can prove it's not... they don't understand the word. The word doesn't mean that at all... Muslims have duties to support their community and if they don't then they should be exposed. Especially when they're able to do so. Yes. Yes sir Brother Imam. . . Unclear)

Question: (Unclear) Something about the number of times that you do dhikr... Yes, sir. I do it ten times because I know most of us are pressed, you know, for time, you know and it is important that we preach a lot and because we're a community that's being introduced to the religion. You see. So really the preference now is on preaching, ta'aleem, lecturing, you see. And dhikrs take a long time. I figure to cut it down to ten, Allah says He gives you how many times?. . .seven, ten and up to seven hundred times, the reward. So, if we do dhikrs ten times and Allah gives us seven, that's seventy dhikrs. That's almost a hundred, right? Now if He gives us ten, that will be ...ten reward will be a hundred, right? And it will give us 700 and we'll have more than enough dhikrs, you know. But there is a significance, there is a significance. If you notice 33, 33, 34 is a hundred, right. It makes a hundred. Do you understand? Now, ten means conscious , conscious and one hundred means behavior. So, if you do ten you'll stay conscious. If you do a hundred, it'll be planted into your behavior. Heh, heh,hehl Yes, sir Imam Nasir Ahmed. 

Question: (Something about what should be the governmental structure in the masjid

Imam WDM: Yes sir. Yes sir. I have asked that there be a very simple office in the masjid and that all we are looking to in the masjid is one person, that's the Imam. Now if he needs help, that's his business. But we're not looking at any other administrator other than the Imam. If he needs any other help, he can get that help. That's his business. Actually, he doesn't need a treasurer. He can take it just like the preachers, many of the preachers. They collect the offering and take it. We trust the Imam, we have to trust him. If we got him we have to trust him, to take the money and put it in an account and use it for the best, put it to the best use, for the masjid. But if he wants a treasurer or secretary, then that's good, you know. We have to trust the Imam. The priest, the catholic priest he goes around and he collects the money, doesn't he? He doesn't send a secretary. He goes around and collects the money. We ain't ready for...all that stuff. We have to wait until we get more, get something to justify ...all of that. Yes sir, Brother Imam Right here...

Question: (Wants the Imam to explain further, what an apostate is...) 

Imam WDM: No. You could be an apostate just by stepping back from a position you took. If you took a position, if you came before the Muslims and said "I want to be a Muslim". And then later you say "No, I changed my mind. I don't want to be a Muslim". That's an apostate. Yes sir, because you're false to your position and w can't trust you. Uh huh. But, I agree, there are degrees, there are degrees...there are degrees of apostate. Now, those who learn more, the more you know about the religion...and in turn still go back, that increases the sin or the wickedness of that person. A person who comes in who doesn't know much about the religion at all, but he's impressed by the Muslims and he says "Yes, I want to take the shahadda. I want to be a Muslim." And then later on he says "Ah, I changed my mind. I don't want to be a Muslim." He's an apostate. Because what is the requirements for becoming a Muslim? It's not knowledge. It's faith. It's faith. And if he's so fickle-minded and he just make statements and then go off them like that, You can't trust a person like that. Yeah. Yes, Brother Imam with the  green, yes the blue...

Imam WDM: By the Imam? Yes. you know. The Imam is accountable to the membership of the masjid. He's only their servant. That's all he is. He's their representative. His conduct is watched by them and -anytime a majority of them don't approve of his conduct, then can bring him to conform, unless he can prove himself to be right on the basis of Qur'an and sunnah of Prophet Muhammad and I include I my own leadership, if he's in this community.

Question: (Something about due process in the masjid...)

Imam WDM: You mean to carry it in the court or to have a hearing before the believers? A hearing or a court like? Yes, alright. Yes, he is required. Yes, it is required. If anyone is believed to be guilty of a wrongdoing or a crime, in the community they're entitled to defend themselves or to be heard, defend themselves before the community. And if evidence is that conclusive, then why shouldn't he be brought before the community?

Response: (Unclear)

Imam WDM: Yes, that's the decision for that community and for what you've told me, it wasn't proper. On the strength of what you've told me, that was improper conduct on the part of the Imam. Uh huh...Just a moment, I want to get hands that I've been overlooking;;;

Question: (Unclear)

Imam WDM: Yes, Let me make sure I understand what you're asking. First question is
why is iyaaka used rather than anta which means you and the second is where the Quran says this is the revelation of Musaa, Moses and Abraham? Now what is the question there?....that's right. Yeah, Ah suhoof is a book too, but it tells us what form of book. Kitab really means a compilation, compiling, compilation, a compilation of materials, instructions, etc., you see. Ana they have existed in different forms and the form of kitab means sheets upon sheets, you see. Sheets upon sheets and following a theme. That's kitab. Kitab has a theme. There should be a central theme running through a whole kitab and it should be sheets upon sheets. Sheets added to sheets. Suhoof is like scrolls. Suhoof is a sheet, but it suggests that it is like scrolls. Yeah. And iyaaka means directing ourselves toward you. Anta just says you. Iyaaka means giving our attention to you. Yes. Alright. I think we have to call it a night, a day pardon me. One more. Brother, in the rear and then we're going to conclude it... No, no, the Brother behind you, yes sir.

Question: (Unclear)

Imam WDM: Is it human or, I didn't get...to slip? Yes sir. Yes sir. It's human nature to slip, yes sir. It's human nature to obey and it's human nature to make mistakes, sometimes. You're not perfect. Yes sir. And that fault comes in the conscience. And in our religion, you can't divorce heart and sentiments from conscience, it's impossible. So, because of that particular element in the rationale of the man or in the intellect of the man, he's subject also to make mistakes. But it's a mistake, according to the Qur'an, because if he follows the natural impulse of that particular nature, he will want to do good and want to be correct. So, if he goes wrong, it's charge as a mistake. And only when he willfully goes wrong, is it charged as a sin. Allahu Akbar. Ok, thank you very much. Brother Imams, I hope we've benefited some, today. May Allah go with us and guide us and keep us in the right path. Make us good Muslim followers of Prophet Muhammad and unite us together as a community and make us good supporters of our Leader. As-Salaam Alaikum!' 

