July 14th 1985
S1 Study Library

Choose Allah: the Better over the Lesser: Part 1
Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Recorded in Camden, NJ


0:00:01 Imam Farid Munir: Allahu Akbar. And again, the Quran supports this and says, " wa atee uu uulee al amree minkum." Obey the leader that is from you. Minkum. Obey the leader that is from you. See, this is a problem for us. You know that. But the Quran is clear. It says, "Obey the leader." Most translators, they say that, "That is amongst you." But literally, it says, "Obey the leader that is from you." Now, you know this is a problem from us, right? But, Inshallah, it's not going be a problem anymore.

0:00:38 S?: Allahu Akbar.

0:00:41 S1: Now, shouldn't this be a great message for all of us? Shouldn't it be a great message for all of us? Shouldn't it be revealing? Believers, we are in a blessed time. We are in a blessed time because every time that has come along has had its problems and it has had its people to correct those problems. Do you think that is any different today, the time that we're in? It has its problems but G-d has sent one amongst us that can correct those problems. Everything that we see happening in the life of those who follow this man that we're talking about today, take a close look at those people as well as take a close look at that man because what you'll see is that the people that followed this man, their life has become revelatory, meaning that our lives are re-enacting a blueprint. Our lives are re-enacting what took place before us. Our life is going all over again. What G-d ordained for the first man to do, when G-d said, "Be," and it became. Praise be to Allah.

0:02:04 S1: And our Lord says in the Quran that He will send a witness, that He will send an imam. Now I bear witness to this fact that Allah has blessed this man to see something that is real, that is consequential for human life. Can you be a witness and you haven't seen something yourself? You know most people claim they are witness but our life says they haven't seen nothing. But when a man is a witness and he bears witness to the fact of what he's seen and he comes back and he tells you what he's seen and your life bears witness. Yeah, he's seen something. Oh, that's a blessed day you are in. That is a blessed day. And I bear witness that our imam has seen something that is consequential for all of us. That is happening right now and it is revelatory, it is revealing.

0:03:05 S1: Again, G-d said to his Prophet that He would raise one up that would renew, that would revive the knowledge, that the Prophet himself came to teach the people. And that this would be one that doesn't come to change, but he will come to revive, that he will come to renew, that he will come to re-establish the importance that the world has taken away. When we talk about renewal, what are we talking about? We're talking about bringing back that which was before. And isn't that a need? Isn't that the cry of the Christians? Isn't that the cry of humanity? We need old ways back because the old ways were better than these so-called new ways. And the old ways, when we really understand, they're not the old ways, they are the new ways. Praise be to Allah.

0:04:03 S1: Again, I bear witness that we are new people because of our revived perspective, our renewed perspective of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. And now, we are people that are learning to love Allah more than we love ourselves. Now, when I speak to you this way, when we speak to the world this way. If anybody has studied the Sunnah of the Prophet, if anybody has studied the traditions of the Prophet, you will see that you hear in this people here, the same cry that the believers had there in Abyssinia. When Abu Jaffer told the king there that, "We are people, that we were eating foul things. We are people that we were doing foul things. We are people, that were far astray from true religion, from the right way. We were far away from respecting each other and our women."

0:04:58 S1: "But one came amongst us and he gave to us what G-d gave to him and it renewed our lives. And now, simply because we say, 'Allah is G-d and Mohammed is his messenger,' these people are prosecuting us, these people are persecuting us." Can't you hear the same cry? Can't you hear the same... When you hear my voice, can't you hear one that has been satisfied, that has came from that way and now, he's only bear witness into the fact that what's going on in his own life? Can't you hear that? It's the same cry. It is the universal cry that when people are oppressed, when people have problems in their lives, then G-d is not a G-d that turns his mind, that turns his heart away from that. G-d is a G-d that sends somebody to help that misery. Allahu.

0:05:47 S1: So, I bear witness that what you see happen is revelatory. And again, it has been said that G-d will raise up a mu'allim. That G-d would raise up mu'allim. A mu'allim is a teacher. That G-d would raise up a teacher for the people. And again, we bear witness that this man here has not only made our cup runneth over, but he was the one that gave us the cup. And then on top of that gave us pure water to put into it. Because believe me we were empty vessels. We had a dirty cup and we had dirty water. But now, praise be to Allah, the cup is clean and the water is clean. So, I bear witness that G-d has sent us a mu'allim. I bare witness to that. Praise be to Allah. This is a blessed day and oh, we're happy. Our leader Imam WD Mohammed, who was in our house today Masjid An Nur.

0:07:01 S1: All of you should realize that the leadership of this man, the direction of this man, it is revelatory. It is a blessed leadership. All the signs point to the fact that this is the greatest man that any of you will ever see. Do you understand that? This is the greatest man that you'll ever see in your life. I can't imagine a greater blessing in this in a man coming while we live. This is the greatest blessing that any of us will ever see in our life. So, his leadership is revelatory.

0:07:36 S1: Now, shouldn't we respect that? Shouldn't we appreciate that? Should we be those who hold back the obedience to G-d, his messenger, and what G-d has blessed us with? No we shouldn't. We should be respectful. We should be appreciative. And we should honor and thank Allah in our prayers, day in and day out, what he has blessed us with. And be proud Muslims. Be proud. Don't let hypocritical Muslims drain, drain your spirit to be proud of what G-d has blessed you with. Don't let them do that. We know what they're saying. Oh, how can you say all of these things about a man? We can say all of these things because we know just that he is a man.

0:08:25 S1: And it's a blessing to have a man on earth. It's a blessing to have a man on earth. So, how can we say that? We can say it with dignity. We can say it with a sense of pride. Oh, G-d thank you. We love this man. I don't only feel honored to be living. But I feel blessed to be living because of what G-d has blessed us with an Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. And I feel blessed to be a servant of Allah. But also I feel blessed to be an obedient imam. An obedient believer of the total leadership and direction of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. I am proud to say "I want to be obedient to this man." Oh, but brother, we are obedient to nothing but Allah. This is Allah's man so I am obedient to Allah. Allahu Akbar.

0:09:23 S1: And we know that the Quran says "Qaalu samee ana wa ataina." Say, the believers say "We hear and we obey". Praise be to Allah. So, all of you that are under my voice. I bring before you yours and my leader. The moral leader for all of humanity Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. Takbir! 

0:09:45 S?: Allahu akbar.

0:09:45 S1: Takbir! 

0:09:46 S?: Allahu akbar.

0:09:46 S1: Takbir! 

0:09:47 S?: Allahu akbar.

0:09:47 S1: Takbir.

0:09:48 S?: Allahu akbar.

0:09:53 Speaker 2: Dear believers. As-salaam alaikum.

0:09:54 S?: Alaikum as salaam.

0:09:56 IWDM: Al hamdu lillahir Rabbi aalameen. Praise be to Allah. The lord of all the world. We seek him for guidance. We ask him for forgiveness. We pray that he strengthen our hearts and give us the blessing of pure faith of sound faith. And increase us in understanding. We pray his peace and blessings be upon Muhammad. The last of the messengers. On his descendancy, his companions, all the righteous, Ameen.

0:10:34 IWDM: Let me first say I thank Allah for an opportunity and blessing of being here today in Camden, New Jersey, at Masjidun Nur. And I have to say that I've didn't expect to find in Camden, New Jersey, the growth that I see here in the facility and in the people. When I was here, we only had a very few people. And we didn't have such places as this to meet in. So this is really a sign of health and growth. And that's what we need. We wanted to be with you all last night but we missed our plane. We got there but they weren't able to process our tickets and everything in time for us to come. My wife, she wanted to come with me but the weather has been very extremely hot there in Chicago. And the air condition went out. And I don't think I made a real effort to get it back on because of money problems or something, I don't know. But now I got a sick wife, and I'm sorry for it. The heat and other things just got her down but Inshallah, she'll be fine. We hope that next time we get an invitation, we will be able to come, both of us.

[pause]

0:12:32 IWDM: Allah, Most High, says in the Quran,2. "Innamaa al mumeenuuna allazeena edha dhukeera llahu wa jeelat quluubuhum wa edha tuleeyat alaihim ayaatuhu zaadathum innamaa wa alaa rabbihim yatawakkaluuna.3. Allazeena yuqeemuunas salaat wa meemaa razaqnahum yunfeequun ." Indeed, the believers are those when the name of G-d is mentioned, their hearts tremble. And if the revelations are recited for them, they have an increase in faith. And on their Lord, they put their trust. Those who keep up prayers and who spend out of what they have been given or what they have been provided.

0:13:54 IWDM: Again, Allah, Most High, says, in the Quran, " maa yureedu llahu leeyaj'aala alaikuum min harajeen walakeen yureedu leeyutahhirakumwaleeyuteemma niamatahu alaikum la allakum tashkuruun." G-d does not want that you should be put into difficulty, but it is his wish that you be made pure. " And that he may complete his favor on you in order that you will be thankful, thankful.

0:14:46 IWDM: Now, just reading that without reflecting and thinking real seriously and deep into the matters of life, living and getting along with each other, et cetera, we may miss the weight, the gravity of this particular revelation. That G-d wants that we should be purified and G-d wants to complete his favor on us that we may be thankful. There are many people who live, they go around, they go about with a burdened heart, troubled mind, troubled soul, bad spirit, bad attitude and don't have thanks or gratefulness anywhere near them. They can find nothing to be thankful for.

0:16:03 IWDM: People who feel grateful, who feel thankful, they're not miserable like people who don't feel thankful. People who don't feel thankful for anything, they're miserable people. But those who live with a sense of indebtedness that someone has done good by me, that G-d has helped me that I have a friend, people who live with that kind of sense, they're not miserable. They're never miserable. They may be burdened, but never miserable.

0:16:50 IWDM: You know in Camden, New Jersey and in these big cities along the East Coast, it's no different than it is in the Midwest like Chicago. Most of the people are miserable. And even their pleasure or their appearance of being pleased is a fake, it's a phony, it's artificial. It's not real, not real. If you bring them a little ounce of reality, you'll see a demon and a nightmare right away.

[laughter]

0:17:35 IWDM: These are bad times, bad times for the human soul, for the human spirit. We need something to appreciate. We need to find something that we consider to be a gift to us, a blessing to us, a help to us, a mercy to us, a favor to us, a something, that we can be appreciative for and if we can come into the spirit of appreciation, oh it will turn that sad life around. G-d says that he wants to complete his favor on us. He wants to complete his favor on us. "On you," He says, meaning us, the people and that is the believers who follow prophet Muhammad, Peace and blessings be on him. It is his desire, it's his wish to purify you and to complete his favor on you that you may be thankful. Now, the average person will read that or hear that and say, "Oh G-d, he wants us to be thankful after he does that." No. That's going to make you thankful. G-d is saying that he's going to do something that's going to make you feel thankful.

0:19:00 S?: Praise be to Allah.

0:19:01 IWDM: Yes. And that's a condition, that's a necessary condition for the human being in order for him not to be in misery. He has to feel grateful. He has to feel appreciative for something. And once G-d favors us, oh, we come into a new spirit, a new spirit. We feel thankful. That's life, that's life. Crying the blues is death. Singing the praise of G-d is life. Brooding over what happened last night or yesterday or last year or 20 years ago is death. Anticipating a greater tomorrow is life. Do you know the spirit is almost everything? Without the spirit, without the spirit of life in us, there's hardly any hope for anything. We might need to improve our personal life. We might need to get the family in order. We might need to progress the community. We can't do anything if the spirit is not there.

0:20:16 IWDM: And G-d, he favors us. He blesses us with guidance, with the religion that satisfy all our total life needs and he knows that if we accept it, it's going to give us a sense of improvement in our life and a sense of indebtedness and a spirit to say, "Thank you, G-d," and a spirit to smile at each other. See, when you feel grateful for something, you can smile at each other. But that person that isn't thankful and have nothing to give thanks for, they can't even smile at another human being, unless they have a trick up their sleeve.

[laughter]

0:21:00 IWDM: You know, the prophets were blessed to see, not only heaven but also hell. And the fact is most of them saw hell before they saw heaven. They were first taken and they were shown hell. Then, they were shown heaven. [laughter] Well, I believe I've seen hell. I hope I see heaven one day.

[laughter]

0:21:22 IWDM: These poor souls that's walking around here in 1985, I know they in hell? Miserable, miserable and no one can help them. Mother can't help. Daughter can't help. Friend can't help. Nobody can help. Stranger can't help. Nobody can help. That's sad. Yeah, that's very sad. We need a sense of appreciation and if we really give some thought, a serious thought to the blessing of faith, our conversion, our acceptance of Al-Islam. Give some thought to it. What are we accepting? What is Islam, Al-Islam? What is it? We have to go through Quran to find it. The answer's in the Quran. The answer's in Mohammed, the prophet. Peace be upon him. Because all of that makes up our religion, belief in G-d, belief in his messenger, belief in their aid, belief in revelation. So, all of these makes up our religion.

0:22:46 S1: So, we take serious note of what our religion is by first going through the Quran, hearing what Allah says in the Quran, about the religion and about our own life needs. And then, looking at the life of prophet Muhammad and seeing the excellence of that man's life and how he served G-d so perfectly and how he set an example for us so that when we argue and we do each other wrong, we can settle the argument either by going through the Quran or by going through Mohammed or both. The most uneducated person in this religion, once they learn the simple life of Muhammad the prophet, they can settle a whole lot of arguments in their home or wherever they are if they're with Muslims. Say, "Hey brother, would Muhammad do that?" Peace and their blessings be on him. Say, "Oh, let's stop arguing over whether I think or your opinion or my opinion. Is that fitting for prophet Muhammad?" [chuckle]

0:24:00 IWDM: "Do you think you'd ever catch Prophet Muhammad doing that?" And it will be over, the argument is over, if we are believers. 'Cause Allah says whatever he ordered the messengers, he ordered the believers. And Muhammad is an example for you, he's a model for you, right? 

0:24:23 S?: That's right.

0:24:24 IWDM: Yes. So we know that Prophet Muhammad was no superman, or upstairs being, and that he didn't live a life that is unreachable. But his purpose was to live a life that is reachable. A life that we can reach, and a life that we can live ourselves. That was his purpose. That's why he didn't have any Rolls Royce camels.

[laughter]

0:25:05 IWDM: That's why he didn't take a little bit of liquor, wine for his stomach's sake. He lived perfect, he lived perfect in the law of G-d. Perfect in the law of G-d, as an example to us that, "I'm a human being just like you. I'm doing it, you can do it." And G-d has sent the message of Al-Islam for all of us to live. None of us can excuse ourselves from it. None of us can say, "Well, I just can't do that." How come you can't? What do you mean you can't do it? Are you sub-human. It was prescribed for human beings. Now if you can't do it, what's wrong? You're sub-human? You're half ape and half man or what is it, what's the problem? If you're a whole man, you should be able to do it. 'Cause it was prescribed for you. This is the way we should look at our religion. And then never excuse yourself.

0:26:08 S?: Yes sir.

0:26:08 IWDM: Never excuse yourself. Whenever we say, "I can't do it," we excuse ourself. That's making myself the exception. Never say, "I can't do it," say, "I don't have the strength now, I pray Allah gives me the strength." "I'm not doing my duty, I pray Allah bless me one day to do my duty." Always have hope in the future. Always have faith that a better day will come. Never justify a wrong, once you a justify wrong, you weaken the little strength you already have. Yes. But if you will accept that it's wrong, and pray that tomorrow will be a little better than today, you strengthen what you already had. You become stronger for tomorrow. But if you excuse yourself, you make yourself weaker for the next challenge, weaker for the next situation. Yes.

0:27:11 IWDM: So let each of us take out the time to think about our religion, to think about what it offers us. Don't be afraid to compare it with other religions. I'm not afraid to compare it with other religions. I like for the people to tell me, "What is Catholicism? Tell me all about it." Because if it's better than my religion, I'd like to have it. Yes. Don't be afraid. Representatives of religions that are in the path of G-d, who are afraid of people coming in contact with other knowledge and other religions, they're poor representatives of the path of G-d.

0:27:57 S?: That's right.

0:27:58 IWDM: The good representatives in the path of G-d, he invites you to look at everything, shop around. And when you come back, and get this what I offer you here, I told you so.

[laughter]
[laughter]

0:28:19 IWDM: Right? I told you so. Now don't be a fool and waste your time with things that you know are already worthless. 'Cause a fool, when you ask him to make a judgement on something, he'll stay looking at something he knows isn't noble, it can't stand up, it ain't fit for nothing.


0:28:40 IWDM: But he'll keep looking at it, looking for something good in it. We ain't got enough time for that. If it fails to measure up to what G-d wants in you, to what you think G-d wants in you, you be the judge. If it fails to measure up what you think G-d wants in you, then don't waste time with it. As soon as you see it doesn't measure up, put it away because you've got a lot of shopping to do.

[laughter]

0:29:08 IWDM: You may be too old to come back here and live this great religion, Islam, when you get through. So make it fast, make it quick, don't waste time with things that are obviously useless. And when we look at the religion that we have been in as a people, 80% or 90% of that religion is proven to be worthless. What has it done for us? What has religion has done for the Black people, our African-American people in this country? Nothing. Nothing. Still without guidance? Still without understanding? Still without a context to their life? No established life? Well, I mean, we have no established life. We just wait on to see what's going to happen tomorrow: "I wonder what's going to be in style tomorrow."

0:30:16 S?: That's right.

0:30:25 IWDM: So we shouldn't waste time on things that have failed, that have proven to be nothing but failure. Why waste time with that? Don't look back that way. Keep going forward.

0:30:39 S?: Yes, sir.

0:30:45 IWDM: The people who have embraced this religion, from our race in this country, the majority of them have more life in them. I don't mean more foolishness. Have more human, dignified life in them. When you compare the same lot, same quality of people, same level of education, same amount of exposure to the world, and what's happening. Take people from the other, from other religions: Protestant, Catholic, that are typical of our people, in status. In worldly status and social status. Typical of our people.

0:31:36 IWDM: And examine them, and see if they had the same percentage of alert-minded, forward thinking, sensible people, that we have. They don't have it.

0:31:45 S?: That's right. That's the true.

0:31:48 IWDM: Most of their people are just wasted. They live like animals. They have no sense of community. No sense of community. They work for the dollar, they work for pleasure, they live for the moment. They laugh at things that are sacred. Silly, light-headed, foolish people. That's the majority.

0:32:22 IWDM: But the Muslims are different, even without knowledge. Yes, because most of the Muslims, they don't have knowledge yet. Most of the American Muslims, African-American Muslims, we don't have knowledge yet. But we have a feel. We have a feel of what the religion is. We have some knowledge. But, actually, knowledge, real knowledge, solid knowledge. Most of us don't have it. We have to just go along in our religion. We go along in our religion. And we are waiting for another development.

0:33:03 IWDM: That means we don't have knowledge. And that's the way it is with most people in community life, whether it's our religion, or some other religion. Most people are not grounded in knowledge. They just have faith in it, and they are waiting for things to develop, and they follow what's develops, or they reject what's developed. That's the way it is with most people. But if you look at our record, our performance as a community made up of people from the poorest, and the most educated, that's changing. But that's the case. You'll say, upon examination of this community, that this community is ahead of others in that same lot, or in that same situation. It is ahead. How many African-Americans, how many Bilalians, or whatever we want to call ourself, how many of them have the aspirations that we have? How many of them have the sense of community that we have? How many of them have the dedication, the devotion, the interest in private schools that we have? 

0:34:24 IWDM: How many of them want to share in the responsibility, for not only their lives, but the life of the nation, the life of the world? That's hard to find out there.

0:34:38 S?: Yes, that's right.

0:34:40 IWDM: I talk to the leaders. I meet the leaders. And the leaders, all they can think about is their own needs. The black man needs, and his own needs. Most of the time, his own needs. I know! I talk to them. I'm not going to call any names, but I meet them, and I talk to them. And most of them are worried. The thing that occupies their mind, most of the time, is how they're going to make it. And here, G-d has blessed us to accept, preach, and invite others, the community, to come! While we have nothing. We are not rich. We are not powerful. We have nothing. But we're still saying, let us come in and accept a share in the responsibility for the maintenance of life. Not only for ourselves, but for the whole nation. That's our preaching. That's our message. Identify in the responsibility.

0:35:46 IWDM: White men have been responsible. Black men have not been responsible. White men have been leaders. Black men have been followers. White men have been providers, black men have been beggars. And I believe the answer is that the black man has to come into that mind where even if he don't have anything, he has to accept his right to have something. And if he has a right to have something, if he has a right to have equal to anybody else, then he also has a responsibility equal to everybody else.

0:36:24 IWDM: Yes. So, if we can't talk about what we have, we have nothing. We have nothing. But am I going go over with a dull spirit with my head drooped because I don't have any money? Because I don't have the power to make things happen for me? No! If I'm a human being, I'm going to go with a sense of respect. 'Cause I know though the possessions are not here, the means for acquiring them are here. 'Cause G-d has blessed every creature with equal means. White men haven't been giving an advantage over the black man. Not by G-d. But a black man, yes. The black man gives the white man all kinds of advantages over him. But G-d is just. You think weak, what are you? 

0:37:30 S?: Weak.

0:37:31 IWDM: That's according to Christian philosophy. [laughter]

0:37:50 IWDM: One thing I know for sure, you don't have any excuse for being idle and lazy, and low esteemed anymore. And looking up to everybody else, and waiting for everybody else to take care of your own responsibility to do the thing that you agree to do for yourself. You don't have any excuse anymore. No indeed. Allah says, "The human being cannot have anything without striving for it." And most of us, we think striving means that we don't... We are not going to be able to live. We think striving takes us out of life. I don't have time to take a day off from life to work. And that's our attitude. So, the majority of African-American people, they just wait around, just wait around. 'Cause it's something that they don't have to work for. Something that requires no constant commitment. "Oh, I can't stand to have to do that everyday? Am I going to have to do that all the time?"

0:39:28 S1: But Allah knows you best. You don't know yourself. Allah knows you best. And he knows that work and striving will give you the pleasure that you are trying to get out of doing nothing. Yeah, that pleasure that you're trying to enjoy from a situation of nothing, doing nothing, G-d knows that you are really...

[pause]

0:40:12 IWDM: Nothing, doing nothing. G-d knows that you are really getting that pleasure in abundance, if you will only accept the discipline of doing something, and doing it regularly. Is this the way Muslims teach? Is this Taleem? I thank G-d, it's the best way I know to do it. The best Taleem I can imagine. Now, you don't speak Arabic, so I'm not going speak Arabic to you, and I don't speak it either. And I'd look like a fool speaking to part that I know how to speak to people that can't even speak that part. So, I'm not going stand here and speak Arabic to people that don't even know what I'm saying. Some of us think Taleem should be Arabic. You don't speak Arabic. [laughter] So how's Taleem going be Arabic. If I was here with you regularly like your Imam, I would take off 15 minutes to give you some lessons in Arabic. And then give you some Arabic. Yes. Like he does. But I came here for an engagement. I didn't come here to start Arabic class. I can't continue it. So, good sense tells me to speak to you in quick and in the language that you understand so we don't waste too many minutes.

0:42:05 IWDM: You know G-d has, with the Quran, G-d shows us everything, everything. Nothing I can say that's correct and proper that doesn't have it's purest source and greatest concentration in Quran, not in what I say not in me. Allah tells us to look at life, to look at the signs. Now I've said this many times but I can't say it enough, not in the graveyard or in the sleeping room or whatever it is. Can't be said enough. Look, the sun, we know the sun is more vital to us, more useful to us, we need that more than we need these little things that's immediate for us. Oh I can take off all my clothes and do without my whole wardrobe. I'll be naked, but I can manage like that for a while. I can do without a lot of things, I can even do without my sweet heart. I'm not going to die, not right away.

[laughter]

0:43:33 IWDM: I have never see anyone die right away when the sweet heart left, it takes them a little while to die if they're going to die. A lot of them don't die, most of them don't die. "Hey nigger, you hurt me, you hurt me I don't want no hurt, just go about your business. Now I'm not going to take all this." A lot of them may tell you that want they. "I didn't take up with you to hurt like this." But most of us we know that if that sun doesn't come up, it's going to be the end of the world. It make the day, the light for the day, it makes the heat, if it goes away, even with it up there present in January, February, it still looks like the end of the world sometimes in some parts of these United States. Right? Yeah. And it's there. It isn't going anywhere it's there, but something happened that it isn't giving us the heat at much. In bad times, hard times. And those with a little general science, a little knowledge of science, they knew how important the sun is for all of our products. Not only food but also your other products. The wood, leather, everything that grows, plant or animal, the energy comes from the sun. The oil, the gas, everything has been saved by the energy that comes from the sun.

0:45:30 IWDM: So if we would look in our immediate environment, this earth where the eyes can go and look for the most important things in our immediate environment, in the natural world, we would say sun, weather, earth. Now who's boss in that world? The sun, the sun is boss in that world, it's the most important. It's doing more in that world than earth, climate is really coming about because of the sun, effect of the sun on the earth either directly or indirectly. So we would have to say the sun. Now look at that boss, let's take an example from that boss. That boss gets up every morning, right? That boss gets up every morning. It doesn't say "I don't feel like it this morning."

[laughter]

0:46:40 IWDM: "Hell, I've been doing this all the time, I need a rest. The moon ain't doing... Lighting up like I am all the time, let the moon take over and let the moon handle this thing by itself for a while, I need a rest." No, it keep getting up every morning. We have to adjust our clocks to it. Because it's on a scientific program, the sun is on a scientific program so man has to occasionally adjust his clock cause the sun ain't going to accommodate him, it stays there as the dominant influence, the dominant influence in our natural environment, the sun. It rises up give us life, and it sets so that we may rest. But it gets back up again and give us light and when light hit the eyes, the eyes respond even though they're closed. The eye responds. In fact if you want to rise up with the light, the faintest, a measure of dawn or light that you can't even see, will be registered by your pupil and wake you up. Yes! 

0:48:16 IWDM: Now if we would be just half as consistent as that sun, that sun is consistent. It rises in the east, sets in the west. But not the same place in the east all the time. One season in some extremes it's one place in the east, winter extreme come it's another place in the east. And in the west, corresponding places in the west. But now it does that every year. It's consistent. It ain't like some of us. Sit in the north this year, this winter, or this summer. And next year, we still be sitting in the north again. And then maybe after three or four years, we're sitting in the south. Then we may sit in the south for three, four, five years and then later on maybe sit in the north for one year or maybe just go back and forth. That ain't consistent. Sun is consistent. Extreme heat comes, it goes north. Extreme cold comes, it goes south. Rises up every morning. Doesn't change it's path. Follow the same path. It has found the best discipline. It has found the best program, a program that works. The sun has found a program that works so it keeps to it. It keeps obedient to that program that works.

0:50:05 IWDM: Now if you don't believe in nothing. If you would just accept advice from the bigger in your own environment. You are not more important than the sun. So why don't you take a lesson from the bigger in your own environment. Take a lesson from the sun. Say I'm going to be like the sun. I'm going to get up consistently. My movements are going to have a consistent pattern. I'm not going change them just upon a notion, impulse. I'm going to stick to what I know that's best. To what has proven to work. I'm going to stick to that. No matter how tired I am I'm not going to be foolish and get tired enough to destroy my world.

0:50:55 IWDM: See the fool, he gets tired enough to destroy his own world. Now that's really foolish. Oh I'm tired. Whenever you say you're tired and you know your life depend on you doing a certain thing and you say I'm tired I'm going to stop doing it, you are saying I'm going to let my world be destroyed. So which is worse for you, to be tired or to be dead? If you got a good system for making money and you say no I'm tired, hell I'm going to rest, I don't care money isn't that important to me, I'm going to rest. Okay so which one is better for you to be tired with money or dead without money? Because when you're tired with money, you still got money life. But when you ain't got no money, you ain't got no life at all. Right? Yes. What I'm saying is for money in this one particular instance here, money if money is the thing you're interested in, then money in that particular interest is your life. Not in your whole life, but just in that particular instance. And once you lose money that life is dead. Huh? 


0:52:18 IWDM: So now you get tired of following a sensible program to keep your money coming in then you going to let the desire to rest give you something more than rest, death. Say well I wanted to take a rest, now I'm money wise dead. That doesn't make sense. And many of us will do the same thing with every other element or every quarter of our life. It might be morals. "I'm tired of being so good." Haven't you heard them say that? "Well, I'm tired of being good all the time." That's the ignorant people. "I'm tired of being good all the time. I want to have some fun." So by the same token, which is better? To be tired or to be dead? 'Cause if you start resting form moral responsibility, soon you going to be morally dead. Rest from material responsibility, soon you'll be materially dead. Why not follow the lesson of the greater.

0:53:33 IWDM: I don't think Allah hung that sun up there and made it to serve us as it serves us, so disciplined and so regular. I don't think G-d made that like that. Just for the sun's sake. I think He did it for our sake. And that's what He says in everything he has put into heavens and in the earth are instructing signs. Signs to instruct you. And how you should approach and how you should regulate your own life. How you should approach your life, how you should look at your life. And how you should regulate your own life. Yes. This is the kinda thinking we need. When you begin to think that way and enjoy it? Once you you start to think that way and enjoy it? You don't need no more, you don't need somebody to come be your mother and father, and carry you by the hand like you a little baby. You don't need to go and pay the shrink $75 to tell you another story to put you to sleep.

0:54:48 IWDM: No. You won't need that anymore. You will be on your own feet, when you begin to think that way and enjoy it. 'Cause once you enjoy it, that mean your life then has been turned on. Your life has come onto the natural world of reality. The life of sense. Good sense, and responsibility. That's all we need. Now where do I find that philosophy? In what we say all the time, Allahu Akbar. We say Allahu Akbar, G-d is greater. It doesn't mean G-d is greatest, we don't have that. A good, better, best and all that.

[laughter]

0:55:41 IWDM: Allah says he created you twain. Not threes. Not in threes. Twain. Male female, good and bad, wise and foolish. That's all. There's no trinitarian. [chuckle] So we say Allahu Akbar. What does that just tell us? Muslims are people who are supposed to be attuned to good sense. We are supposed to be alive mentally. So if your sisters are working, if your brain is there, it's alive, it's working. Then if you know what's more important, then you should automatically leave what's less important, when what's more important is calling on you. Yes. So Allahu Akbar. So whatever is anything more important than Allah? Come on, I'm ready. Because it's the greater, calling me, the lesser must wait. That's the philosophy. That's the philosophy for our life. That whenever the greater is calling you, you leave the lesser, and respond to the greater. Now couldn't we solve all our problems that we have as a people, if we would just follow that one particular philosophy. That one principal. If we would follow that one principal, we could solve all our problems as a people. Cause our problem as a people, is not knowing when to say no to something that's pulling on us.

0:57:29 IWDM: The heat was behind the head, when he going to stop talking? Hey, what's more important? You sweating a little bit now? Or going home with more sense to live better tomorrow? So you have to be able to make these judgements. Say hey, where's the greater, where's the lesser? Which one's calling on me now? The greater's calling on me, okay, lesser wait. Whole race wanna party. Want politicians that go to Washington and make laws that will make partying legal for black people all day every day of the year. Yeah, we say we want better education, we want equal opportunity, we want equal money, equal pay. We want jobs. But actually, what is the motive behind all that asking? Rest, fun, party. Party is rest and fun, isn't it? Yeah, I been to it. They have fun, and then after a while one fall off.

0:58:47 IWDM: So you find people having fun and resting at parties. And then some of them, they ain't got the spirit to really party, they just come there, they like to be there. Now they got to go to party. Like clockwork. Every week, every Wednesday night, or whatever it is, they got to be there, but they sit there for five to six hours. Just sit there. "Hey man, yeah I saw you last week man." He resting. Africa is weak. Africa is weak and irresponsible. I'm talking bout black Africa. Why? Because they got this sickness too that African-American got. Want to party. White man, he really made it hard for us. Realize that certain things don't change. Say hell it's hot, hey baby it's hot, it sure is hot. This happens every season at this time. I can't do anything but fan you. Say "hey, I'm hot too." [chuckle]

1:00:00 IWDM: I hope a priest come in and... But even then he was tripping out, wasn't he? 'Cause one would sustain that he saw a vision or something. Go climb up in a dead tree, and sit up there and wait 'til the breeze changed, and claim he made it happen. So then the tribe start telling him, "give us some air-condition", "medicine man, give us some air-condition" Say, "Well it's coming, I'm going to call on the great spirits, it's coming." And now the white man, he's become the medicine man for us, right? White man, he's the one that give us everything, right? I'm hot, this isn't right. Why should I be hot? But you didn't pay your electric bill. But that ain't right, why should I be hot? I'm not supposed to suffer like this. And after a while they be demonstrating, march, got to march, you got to march going down. It isn't right for us to suffer like this, inhuman. If I was the white man, I'd say, "Look, that's not a human thing that has been brought about. No human being turned that heat up like that." So you go talk to somebody else. I'm not responsible for it being this hot. You niggers can't have no more air conditions, no more color televisions. We come in your house, we taking one fifth of everything you got away from you. Put you on some bare floors, that if you keep clean, you'd be more healthy.

1:01:56 IWDM: Take 50% to 75% percent of all your possessions away, so you can live better. Yeah, that would be mercy. Yes, that would be mercy. Talk about we come from Africa. Come from the South, and get up here in the North and try to pay for air condition, it ain't got nothing. How can we afford air conditioning? You have no, no money, you can't afford air condition. Hey, he got air condition, that ain't right. Where's my air condition? If he got enough money to afford it, make more sense for him than it makes for somebody that can't afford it. How long the white man been had air condition? They didn't always have no air condition. But now that the white man got air condition, air condition is like an artery, or a vital organ. Can't live without no air condition; I'm not going down there, no air condition. I go down there when they get some air condition. Getting weaker and weaker, while time is demanding more and more strength for the individual to survive in this kind of world, and we just keep getting weaker and weaker. I don't drink water no more. Hey, what you giving me? This is nasty, take this nasty water back.

1:04:00 IWDM: Give me something that you have to pay for. Right? Yeah! Now we can solve all these problems with that one philosophy. When the greater is calling, leave the lesson. Now our greatest need is not to have air condition, not to have a soda pop instead of water, that's not our greatest need, not to have a color television, that's not our greatest need. Our greatest need is to have a sense of dignity and respect as a people and we don't have it. 'Cause all the world is looking at us, as the failures of the planet earth. That here is a people that can't manage for themselves. So I'm managing for myself. I pay my own rent, I pay my own bills, I send my children to school. For what, for what? To go and work for the white man, or some Asian? You should have a greater purpose than that. Even those that have relative success, you're still failures. You're failures because whatever you produce has to depend upon the outside for its livelihood. We have to become true Muslims, true Muslims following the Sunnah of the Prophet.

1:06:01 IWDM: Don't tell me you following the Sunnah of the prophet and you letting everybody else take care of you. Because Prophet Muhammad condemns that. And all of you are not saints, better looking for people just doing everything for you and you're not doing anything for anybody else. The was a saintly man who was doing all of his spiritual devotions, fasting extra, praying extra prayers and everything, saintly man. And people were so impressed with his saintliness, they brought him to Mohammed the prophet, peace be upon the prophet. And they said, "Oh messenger of G-d, here is the man. He spends his time in prayer and in fasting, he is most devoted. And we thought you should know about him." The prophet said, "Who takes care of his livelihood?" They said, "We do." He said, "Then you're better than he is."

[laughter]

1:07:14 IWDM: Now, what you think now of somebody that ain't got no saintly quality? Low-base, gutter, and do nothing. But want somebody to take care of them. They ain't got no job, they're not going to look for one. Then somebody better take care of me. I was on a radio program last week in Gary, Indiana, and I said something on that program that will make a lot of our own people kill me just on impulse. I'm glad I didn't see them around. They weren't in there. And I had time to get out before they could come. But see, it only take a flash of a second, just a flash, like a flash of light time for us to come to the right mind too. Be careful brother imam when you say these things before these people. But if you just have a little time, like sometime I say, I duck. I say.

[laughter]

1:08:28 IWDM: All you have to make a joke out of it. Say yeah, yeah. [laughter] Give him time to have that flash of light. To bring them back to their good senses. 'Cause on an instant, they'll either have shot you or somethin', threw an ice pick at you or something. [chuckle] The mayor was talking about hard times and how you Muslims make it. I said, "Look." I said, "It's always a good time in America. There's never a bad time in America for economic opportunity." Jobs are always available in America. If you know what to do and have the desire and energy to do it. And that's the truth. We all, "ain't need no jobs," if it's left up to most of our people, they will keep up that song for the next 10 years, as long as conditions didn't improve, job opportunity didn't improve, they will keep singing that and singing that until full employment.

1:09:39 IWDM: Ain't no jobs. Well, if there are'nt any jobs, what are all these Asians doing working in America? What are all these Cubans, Haitians, Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese, what are all these people, Arabs, What are all these people doing, working in America, since you declared there are no jobs? Yeah, you declared there ain't no jobs and we got to have jobs. Since you declared that, look at all these people who came in and working their butts off. They're working right around you too some of them. So you see how your own leaders can be responsible for your own neglect? Got you like you belong to a union. "Yeah, okay, let's sit down on them, so they meet our demands." That's what it seems. "Okay, let's sit down on 'em until they meet our demands." And most of us, we've done that. We have sat down, and we don't think we supposed to look for a job, there ain't no jobs. Or it's a job that pays a little less than we expected. You say, "I won't accept that job, I'll make more sell a smoke."

1:11:34 IWDM: And some they ain't selling smoke, they just smoking. Ain't no jobs. As Muslims, we have to stay away from that kinda thinking, that kinda mind, that kind of spirit, that kind of attitude. We have to fight it in ourselves and help pull our brothers and sisters away from falling in to that kind of groove, because what's important for Muslim people is community. A Muslim is obligated to live with a sense of community and responsibility in that community. You are responsible for that. And we are not to just live for opportunity in the community, we are to live for the advancement of the whole community. And that's what made the white man great, when he can see democracy for the white man, and then accept that responsibility not just to get opportunity in that democracy but for preserving the democracy and for advancing that democracy. That's what made him great.

1:12:42 IWDM: And when you begin to think bigger, I don't care how small you are. When you begin to think bigger, you're going to become bigger. But as long as you think small, you're going to stay small. And there's an old saying, it ain't mine. It stands even today and it will stand tomorrow. You will be no bigger than your mind. And not only that, the quality of your life depends on the quality of your mind. If you think cheap, you're going to be cheap. If you think funky, you're going to be funky.

[background conversation]

1:13:20 IWDM: Don't be afraid to think, think! Thinking frighten the hell out of most Americans nowadays. They don't want to think, that's why they buy so much dope, so many drugs, take so many pill, listen to so much loud music. 'Cause it drowns out thought process, drowns out the thoughts. They don't want to think. While as Muslims your life depends upon you thinking. Yes. Allah tells us to think, and surely the greatest thoughts, is the thinking on G-d. Think on G-d. If you believe in G-d, then all of your misery and all of your trying time, think on G-d, if you believe in G-d, G-d will improve your state. Yes. The mere action or activity of thought on G-d, will be a healing and a strength in your life to bring you up and bring you out. This is required of us as Muslim.

1:14:31 S1: When we sit down here at the prayer or before our prayer we say "Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah." Some of you think that's a song or something. Some may think that it's a spooky ritual, that maybe one of these time you going to say Subhan Allah, and just take right on up to the sky. Leave your problems forever. I don't know, some of us as crazy, we spooky. Subhan Allah means glorified be G-d. Glorified be G-d. Cause once you start, once your start expecting glory for yourself, it ain't got no money, your right away in hell.

1:15:21 IWDM: But even with money, hell's going to be coming, isn't going todelay, it won't take long either. Once you start expecting glory for yourself, and when you want somebody to compliment you all the time, then you want glory for yourself. Yes. Sometime at home you can't talk to your family cause they want you to compliment them. You just can't talk common sense. You can't deal with this common problems of the house, or make comments on the reality that's there. And there's a reality that's that there, the house, in 1985. You can't make a no comment on the reality in the house, you got to compliment them. Say "Hey that's a beautiful dress." Oh they can hear that, and they'll listen to that. "Hey your complexion really looks better," they hear all of that. You know "You really got a nice phone voice, you got a nice voice, a nice tone." Hear all of that. You ought to put the phone in it's place when you get through talking on it, can't hear that.

[laughter]

1:16:29 IWDM: And you ought to not try to talk to people off the front window, the cord ain't long enough to go downstairs out the front window. We're going to have a man come out and put the cord in again.

[laughter]

1:16:40 IWDM: Don't do that. You can't talk that to them, they don't hear that, they don't want to hear that. When you start talking like that the TV goes up as high as it go. Or a radio or a record, whatever it is, it goes high as it go. Say "Hey if you keep it up at that volume, you will weaken the foundation, this is not a new house."

[laughter]

1:17:00 IWDM: They don't hear that. Say "Hey don't pile all the stuff up in the refrigerator like that, it's hot and the door doesn't jam good. You going to ruin the motor, the motor is going to wear out, we're going to need a new refrigerator and you're going to have to buy it 'cause I ain't got no money. Where are you going to get it from?" They can't hear that, they didn't hear. Tomorrow, next week you say "Remember I told you not to close that door," "You ain't never told me not to close that damn door."

[laughter]

1:17:21 IWDM: "You just a lie, you just a lie, you know you ain't told me that. When? When? Did you hear it, when?"

[laughter]

1:17:28 IWDM: "Hey Mary, come here Mary, did you hear this nigger tell me to... "

[laughter]

1:17:39 IWDM: And if you're the only one in the house with sense, you become crazy, you get crazy. 'Cause you trying to figure out, how come nobody... Am I dreaming these days? You ain't got a witness in the house. No, no, [chuckle] no you didn't say it, no you didn't say it.

[laughter]

1:18:03 IWDM: Pitiful. And all we need to do is be sensible. Accept to be sensible. Now how is that going to put us in any bad situation with each other? A situation that will favor us over each other, something like that. No, that's a equal. Won't that not put us on equal footing? Put us in a situation where we all are equal? Yes, we can agree. Let's use good sense. It's all we needed, just to use good sense. Practice good sense and with good sense you should be able to place importance where it belongs. And then follow the good sense to its natural, logical conclusion. And always give preference to the greater over the lesser when both demands your consideration or your judgment, or your support. That's why in this religion if I'm before the court of justice or just in a situation here and I have to be a witness, person may be my friend, may be my close relative, but I have to stick to truth and what is right. I can't forsake truth and right behavior to satisfy them, not as a Muslim. Say be just even though it be against, a rich or a poor, or a near relative. No matter who it's against at any cost, be just. Because if we start practicing this thing on this level sooner or later some of these who practice this on this level are going to move up to the presidency and put the whole nation... The morals of the whole nation will be at risk.

1:20:08 IWDM: And that's what happens. The society becomes so corrupt that eventually you have those corrupt types getting up into those key positions. And the more corrupt the general public is, the more chance that you will have a greater number of those corrupt people in the top positions of the government. And then we suffer down here, the wrong that we allow to brood and grow, fester and really it ain't nothing but our son. That's the product of our own life, up there abusing the nation or abusing the public.

1:20:40 IWDM: So see that G-d has given us the best and those who will accept it, accept it and try hard to discipline themselves and live it first of all for Allah's sake, for Allah's pleasure. But also for the good of yourself and each other and the community. Those people will become leading influence, leading people on this Earth, in time. Allah says, "And it is inevitable that the righteous, the believers shall win through." No, it's scientific. If they hold to that disciplined life, if they live that excellence, they will eventually be in the forefront and rise above the situations of weakness and inferiority. G-d says, "That's inevitable." In other words, it has to happen. If you stick to the real life, it has to happen. And the failure is because we don't stick to the real life.

1:21:49 IWDM: We are failing because we don't stick to the real life of excellence. So let us make a decision now and every time to choose Allah, the greater over the lesser and to choose His religion, the better religion as our religion. And with these words I say, I thank you for your patience in this heat and I thank G-d. As-Salaam-Alaikum.
