07/21/1985
IWDM Study Library
Ta'Alim Chicago IL

By Imam W. Deen Muhammad
Imam: Pray the Dua Al-Fahtiha, The standard prayer of the Muslims which reads, "In the name of G-d, the Gracious, the Compassionate. Praise be to G-d, the Lord of all the worlds. To the end and we say now in Arabic [unintelligible 00:00:23]." [Arabic language].
Congregants: Amin.
[pause 00:00:59]
Imam: First, we would like to give our attention to the concern in Al Islam, it's been said of the scope of Al Islam, the focus or the scope of Al Islam, that it is all-encompassing, total in its scope or in its focus. That is, our religion brings before us the whole life and the total concern. We can see from the teachings of Muhammad the Prophet, peace, and blessings be upon him, how everything was given due respect, due consideration. Care was taken to see that not only helpless human beings receive help, protection, but also animals, even plants.
Prophet Muhammad was a man that took the time and the patience to instruct his followers against abusing or causing unnecessary damage to life whether it be human life, animal life or plant life. This shows the prophet as a complete human being. There are military men who fight the war and they consider all the soldiers to be very dear to them and they would risk the lives of many soldiers just to go and rescue one soldier. There are such men who in defense of their cause never forget the precious life of those who are fighting with them.
But often times such men have no compassion for those outside of their company. They'll be cruel to old women, to civilians, to children. They'll be destructive to property, plant life. Look how the plant life of Vietnam was destroyed just to get at the enemy. Napalm bombs, and flame throwers to burn out the bush so the enemy would have no cover. Some of you perhaps remember the Civil War and how there was a land scorching campaign to destroy the land to keep them from raising any food to get at the enemy.
Prophet Muhammad was not that kind of man, he was a sensitive man. He cared about all of G-d's creatures. He didn't lose the victory because he was caring about the old or caring about the civilians. He said, "Those who have not picked up arms against us, those who are not fighting us, do not bother them." He had not sent his army to get people just because they were on the enemy's side. They had to be having arms, bearing arms having an intent to fight Muhammad and his followers before Muhammad would allow his soldiers, his men to fight those people.
There was care taken to protect the civilians, to protect the old, to protect the youth, the young, the babies, the weak, the feeble minded, the lame people, those cripple people. To protect even animals and plants. That's Muhammad the Prophet, peace, and the blessings be upon him. A man who had the total concern as a responsibility upon his shoulder as the leader for all humanity.
It is reported in the most authentic of the reports, historical reports, Sahih-al-Bukhari Volume Three, page 295. The chapter is called the chapter of Agriculture, bab. The bab of Agriculture. bab is book [unintelligible 00:07:56] and in Arabic, it means a chapter. It has a subtitle [Arabic language]. The chapter on the store of blessings in Agriculture, that is harvesting, planting, and harvesting regarding the eating of or the consuming of that, that is grown or harvested.
A quote from the holy book is given, "[Arabic language]." "Do you see the seeds that you sow? Are you the cause for their growth?" [Arabic language]. Or are we the producers? [Arabic language] If we will to, we could make it as dry dust. Here the words of G-d in Qur'an saying to us that we shouldn't think because we till the ground and sow seeds and get a beautiful harvest, a rich harvest, that we are the cause, that we are the owners of that. No one can create his seed, no one can create him a earth. No one can produce the climate for growing that. Who has caused it? Who has produced it? G-d has.
Therefore, the Muslim landowner should never feel that he is really the owner. He should feel that G-d is the owner and he has a limited time to watch over that or to take good care of it and to make it productive for G-d's pleasure and for the good of the society, beginning with his family and et cetera. Muslims do not see themselves as owners especially of natural properties or natural products, but as the trustee for them.
In fact, if we understand, we're not to see ourselves as owners of anything, not even our own selves, not even the money that we earn. Even that is to be considered a trust from Allah to us. To see how we will conduct our affairs. To give us an opportunity to earn excellence before G-d and before man and most importantly before G-d. The prophet, (the peace and the blessed be on him) It is said the honest, well-known reporter of Hadith in the early days of the ummah, may G-d be pleased with him.
He said, the messenger of Allah said, "Peace and the blessed be on him." [Arabic language]. The prophet said, peace and blessed be on him. "Whenever any Muslim cultivate the land, plant trees or plants on it, or grow vegetation or produce on it, then from what he has done, eats from it the birds or human being or beast or animal." These creatures will not eat from it without the owner, the person who plants, and harvest and develop the land, grow the rich vegetation, and the trees or whatever, without that person getting a reward for that.
The prophet has given a great incentive here to those who sow seeds and make land productive or plant trees. He's given a great incentive to them that they should look upon the birds that come and eat from their land as creatures that they are taking care of by the grace of G-d and G-d is going to give him an additional blessing for him allowing the birds to eat from his crop, other animals to eat from his crop or human beings to eat from his crop.
Now you see the birds, animals and human beings have been all put in the same context. Birds, animals and human beings. If a man who is rich comes by and he eats something from your crop, from your field, he should have a reasonable explanation. "Though I'm wealthy and I'm rich, but I'm several miles from home. I was stranded here and I saw the field here and I came, I was hungry, so I picked something." Would the Muslim say, "Well, that's mine you have to pay me"? No, not if you're a Muslim.
Now he's in a situation, though he's rich but he's away from home and he doesn't have any fruit, you should give him fruit from your crop. But it is mainly a provision for those human beings who are in an animal state. They are desperate for survival like the animals. They have no establishment. They're out of doors. They have no home. They have no wealth. They have nothing. They are the poor, the unestablished, the have-nots.
If a hungry person comes and eat from your tree or eat something out of your garden, you let him have it. You do not say, "Hey, what are you doing? I'm going to shoot you, wait. If you run I'll shoot you." Isn't that what they do over here? Many people have lost their lives for taking a little piece of fruit off of a bush, a tree. "Hey, what are you doing there?" And take the gun and shoot him. "He was on my property he was trespassing. The law protect them many times.
If we follow the religion as the prophet Muhammad taught it and lived it, we'll be the best people on this earth. G-d says that, "You are the best community brought up for the good of all people." That's what Allah says in our Holy Book. All you have to do to realize that you are the best community is study Qur'an, and study the life of Muhammad, and see what this religion is and you will bear witness that's certainly the Muslim community if it lives what it profess, it will be the best community, a good example, the best crop to all humanity.
That's what G-d intends for us. That's what He made us. It's our neglect. It's our own shortcoming when we don't make it up to that. Well, He said if bring bird or any animal, human being or an animal eat from that then you're sure to get a blessing through that eating of that that you yourself worked for and produced.
This teaches the Muslim to have compassion on birds, on animals. Should the western world be a world that cares for birds an animals. I don't read things in the Christian scripture to inspire that kind of respect and that kind of devotion, that kind of protection for the life of these animals and things, but look who has done that? The west have done it. They have been very cruel on one side now, we can't praise them all the way.
On one side they have been totally inconsiderate and cruel, but on the other side, you have the other movement, the humanist movement. They have taken into responsibility and may even made it law that you don't abuse the animals. Care for the animals. That they should be fed. If anybody has a domestic pet or an animal and you mistreat him and most of the States in this United States or cities, you can be brought to law. You can be prosecuted for mistreating an animal, a pet, dog, bird, any animal if it can be proven that you are cruel to that animal. Where did they get that from, I repeat? They must have got it from our religion because I don't find it as clear in their religion as it is in ours.
I'm inclined to believe that they got it from our religion. What have we been doing? In fact most of the excellence of modern society, I see it coming from the Qur'an and from the life of Muhammad. Most of the excellence, I see it clearly taught as principle and as teachings in the Qur'an and in the life of Muhammad. Most of the excellence they have. The excellent form of democracy they have, I see it best represented in the Qur'an and in the life of Muhammad. The care for the weak, the care for the poor, I see that best reflected in the Qur'an and in the life of Muhammad.
I don't see it in their own documents except in those documents that were made very recently, centuries after the coming of the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad the Prophet, peace be upon him. I repeat, what have the Muslims been doing? I think when the west discovered firearms and the Ummah, the Muslim community went to sleep after it's great strides that it made. Great glory day it had, it went to sleep as the prophet said. He said, "My community would go to sleep." He said the reason for it going to sleep will be the love for riches. The easy life. The easy material life. And he said his Ummah, his community would come back. It will be revived.
And he said it will come back by the same type of people that it was started with. What kind of people it was started with, common masses. The common masses. He said the poor. He said, "It began with the poor and it shall be returned by the poor or with the poor." The Muslim concern should be total. We need people in the community. People representing our community, the Muslim community. Whether we be in China or in America or in Asia or in Africa, no matter where we are, we need people representing our community that are in touch with the truth of Muslim life. That are in touch with the whole concern that has been given to us by G-d through Qur'an and through the prophet, peace be on him.
Then we will have excellence, we will have progress. We will have lasting life, but with these Muslims who only want just to have a name, just take on a new name, "Oh I'm not a Baptist anymore, I'm a Muslim." Some of you are satisfied to be called just Muslim, "I ain't a Baptist anymore, I'm a Shia or a Ahmadi." Not to say that Shia and Ahmadi are the same, they are not. The Ahmadi's are much further from the right than the Shia, but these are only schools of thoughts. Actually Ahmadi is a faction, it's a sect. A separate faction. The Ahmadi, making un-Islamic claims and seeking to establish their small invention over the original idea. That's bad especially when you do it knowingly.
Many ignorant people come into these things and they don't know, but once you know, that's a terrible thing to do. We don't need these narrow views, these narrow ideas. We need the universal view, the universal idea. The total concern. That's what is established in the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. We need people not motivated by sect, by class, by fraternity, by nationalism, by race or any such thing. We need people motivated by innocence, goodness, righteousness, love for all of G-d's creatures, devotion to G-d's pleasure over their own narrow kind of a thing that they may have. That's the kind of people we need.
If you study the Qur'an and study the life of Muhammad the prophet, peace be on him, you'll come to see the great future that G-d has given us when he blessed us to be Muslims. Great future. There's no people on this earth to outstrip us, to go ahead of us, to advance over us if we accept what G-d has given us in the Qur'an and follow the Prophet that he has established in the Qur'an and in this earth. No, there's no people to shame us. No people will be more productive than us. We'll be more productive than any other people. The people that are more productive industrially in terms of technology, than the Muslims are the people who have borrowed the insights from the Qur'an and Muhammad.
Whether you know these things, whether you can trace their doings and trace their maneuvers to see that they have copied Muhammad the Prophet, peace be on him and took from the scripture that he brought or not. You should be able to see that what they teach now had to destroy what they were before it could be established. They had to first destroy the idea, the influence of Christianity over their society before establishing the good human life that they have established. That [unintelligible 00:28:31] and human life that we can identify. Before establishing true democracy, they had to break the rule of the church. Before establishing rights to women, the had to break the rule of the church.
Before establishing freedom for blacks, they had to break the rule of the church because it was the church that said that blacks were cursed and didn't admit them into any of their churches. The black folk, they go and establish a separate church for themselves after slavery. The AME church was he first one, established because no whites would let blacks in. These are nothing but facts. Before they could establish respect for animal rights, they had to break with the church. Where did all these come from then? What inspired all of these? It must have been the Qur'an. That's where it's at. It must have been Muhammad, that's who had it.
They say, "No, we got these from the Greeks, the ancient Greeks." We know about the ancient Greeks. We know about the homosexuals and the few men and the great divisions that they had. The great mix up that they had. Sure there was democracy, there are a democracy everywhere at one time but how long did it last? It wasn't clear. It was piecemeal because they had to take something from this philosopher, he only could give them a little part. Something from that philosopher and they went around taking this and that. When you put it all together, you still don't come up with what they got now without looking to something beyond that.
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Allah, when he blessed a people, that people have the opportunity then to become the model, the example for all of the other people. G-d says that the people who were given the book before, even Adam the prophet or the first man, Abraham and his descendants, the family of Imran, Moses, Jesus and all of them. Judaism, Christianity of those people in the past that he favored them over all the world. He favored them over all the world.
Now they're many people, tribes, national groups that don't belong to Judaism, or to the history of Judaism and don't belong to this history of Christianity but do you find them with the soul and influence over the lives of the people of earth? Who has gained the soul and influence over the lives of the people? It has been those people that G-d favored with the gospel, with revelation, with the Old Testament, with the gospel, with Torah, Injil Old Testament and Gospel. They rose to power and influence. (unclear) power, (unclear) influence.
It's like saying, "Well, what about the Muslim, they don't have it?" Yes, the Muslims had it. We rose to power too and it was the scientific works done by Muslims who followed Muhammad the prophet that made possible the renaissance or the renaissance to revival of sciences in the West. Western authorities, they admit this themselves. In fact, some of them refer to it with great respect and with appreciation that the Muslims, revived the sciences so that the West could come back to life again.
Yes many of them give Muslims credit for that. If I say, "'Well, how come they don't have it now?" Well, the reason for that is that the Muslims have been negligent. They have seen the Western power as something supernatural and mostly they can't fight the supernatural. They're too weak to get an army together and go to battle with the supernatural. There is something in those Iranians, they don't mind doing battle with the supernatural.
They call America and Russia superpowers and say, "We will fight you." They use superpower, "We'll fight you." Called America the big Satan, "So you come over here you are going to see who is going to get. Come on over here, we waiting on you. We'll fight you." You don't find that often, that people will recognize another people or another nation as being supernatural or super-beings and be yet prepared to fight them, to defend themselves against them and to fight them. You don't find that often.
Most people once an enemy or a foe gets a name for being supernatural, above natural kind of life and power. They get so afraid they forget about it. They just say, "Well, that's something we got to live with. Can't bother that." Because most people are superstitious anyway, aren't they?
Does G-d tell the Muslim to fight the supernatural? If you think Satan is supernatural, then G-d tells us to fight the supernatural. G-d says, "And fight the scheme, the host of Satan." Again he says, "And fight the scheme of Satan, for surely his scheme is weak." Yes, the Muslim is told to fight the supernatural. Is Satan supernatural? [laughs] 
Yes the Muslims became negligent after gaining much and getting recognition from the world as being the leaders, they became negligent, just like most people.
Pompey was an ancient Greek society. They say it was very powerful in science and et cetera. What brought Pompey to its end. They didn't do it that long, they brought it to its end? The love for comforts. In fact the word pompous right now can be traced to Pompey. Pompous; enjoying a lot of luxury, pomp, luxury, comforts, Pompey. That's what brought it down so they began to give their hearts to that enjoyment that they able to acquire because of the blessings of G-d (unclear) and it brought them to neglectful of their own welfare, especially in the global arena and that's something you don't understand as a people.
You don't understand that you have to have total, total concern. You have to have the total concern and nowadays, it's more important for a people to have the total concern than it has ever been in the history of modern man, perhaps man period. Very important for you to have the total concern. If you don't want to do anything but have a good family, you can't have a good family if that's the limit of your concern. You can only have a good family if you have another concern that's bigger than that, but that concern by itself will not keep you with good family, not in these days.
No indeed. Because there are too many other concerns that are competing with your concern, and because man everywhere has become a global man, or international man, everywhere. What I mean by that is he has to encounter what is happening in every other man's world that's in some way important to the global community. You must encounter that. The problems of the man who was distant before you and we never knew he existed. You never knew he existed? You didn't even know his land was there.
The problem with that man now reaches you by television and media and that man's country may influence no matter how small it might be. It might be one-hundredth of the size of the United States but that little small man's country can influence the world situations enough to make conditions that America change or affect your lives at home.
You can't survive with no concerns except as a slave or as something to be used. That's the only way you can survive. As a slave or something to be used. Most of the people in modern society today are looked upon as something to be used. That's how the people of power and wealth look at the average person in the society today. They're something to be used.
If we don't hurry up and make use of him, he's going to hurt our interests so hurry up and devise a plan to make use of these people. "What about those people on the Southside of Chicago, those Negroes over there. Are they being used? Do you have a plan to use them? Hurry up I don't want any of them to be left out of the influence of the plan because if you do they're going to hurt our interests."
"Well, ain't nobody got nothing for me." That's what you think. Your mother didn't want you to be the thing you are now. What made you what you are now. How did you get to where you are now? It wasn't your ancestor's fault that you'd be the type of creatures you are now. How did you become that? Somebody had a plan for you and because you wouldn't stick to your ancestor's good vision of progress and excellence, they had to get you under their influence so you wouldn't be a problem for them.
The Muslims need to see the environment of the unrighteous as a snare, a trap, an entrapment, a scheme to take you from the life G-d intends. Their pleasures are invitations to hell. Their pleasures is drunkenness, dope, wild sex, destructive play, selfish competition, et cetera, et cetera. All are invitations to you to come to hell. Join the devils, come to hell. What is popular in our world, is an invitation to the people to come to hell.
How are you going to survive all that and you don't have no more concern than the animal has? There ain't an animal out there that hasn't been conquered or caged by the man. How do you think you're going to escape? You don't have no more than animal ambitions, no more than animal protection. That's the situation for the averge one of us in these big modern cities. No more ambition than an animal.
The animal wants to have his fun because he wants to play with his buddies. He wants to eat and drink when he gets ready. He wants to sleep in a nice comfortable place. He wants to have sex when he gets ready and he wants the right of assembly. Yes, the animals want that too, but where is his vision? Where is his plan? Where is his idea to protect the life that he so chose? The life that he-- He can't choose. He hasn't been given the faculties or reasoning. But you have if you're human. 
You shall choosing the life that you want and choosing a plan for your life, and sticking by the plan for your life, and (unclear) the plan for your life. If you're not doing that, you've been had. You belong to somebody else. You have no control over yourself. What you will be tomorrow is not in your own hands. It's in somebody else's hands. What you are today is in their hands. They are planning for you all the time and you are just going right along with that blindly.
Look at the number of Muslims we have in this place. In Chicago, we have more Muslims-- A Muslim couldn't even get on this block. They took all the houses off this block. Muslims couldn't even get on this block. We would need blocks to hold, - I mean the Negro Muslims. You would need blocks just to accommodate the assembly of the Negro Muslims that they would all come at one place. "Where are they?" "They're out in the streets somewhere." They only remember to say, "As-salaam alaikum", if they meet somebody on the street and are like, "Hey, As-salaam alaikum brother." “Hey Wallace! As-salaam alaikum brother. Now where is he? Lost. Why? Because he doesn't take pride, he doesn't find dignity in being a Muslim to the extent that he will fight off all influence that tends to take away his Muslim life. Myself and a few others of you, you have great respect. You've cherished this life that is Muslim to the extent that you will fight off anything that comes to take you out of your Muslim form.
Most of us, we can't even get our family to stick with the Muslim life. The world has too much control. The world has too much influence over them. They hear, "Are we going to Jummah?" They can't hear what you're saying. (unclear) they can't hear anything. The world had made them totally deaf to anything but the silly pleasures of the world. The world doesn't teach them how to plan. They have no plan. No plan.
If somebody else gives them something to regulate their life, they're totally without any plan. The man gives them a job and says, "If you don't come here tomorrow, I'm going to fire you." He comes to the job. He gets up, he knows, "I've got to get up tomorrow. What's tomorrow? Monday or Friday? I've got to get up and go to work tomorrow." Not because that's his plan, because that's his desperation. He has to have that in order to feed his wasteful life.
He goes out and he goes to work for somebody that's making him regular in one particular discipline but when he's free from that work discipline, he has no plan. Every day is the same. Get up, look at the day, do the same thing he did yesterday, do that for year in and year by no plan, no progress. That's not Muslim life. Muslim life should be a (unclear) life. Every Muslim whether the learned or uneducated, every Muslim should work for the future. G-d has made the future more important to us than any other thing.
Every Muslim should take the future over the present. Yes, and what is the greatest goal in the future of a Muslim? To meet his Lord knowing that he has pleased Him. To meet his Lord knowing that he has pleased Him. That's the highest goal for the Muslim in the future. But what other thing must a Muslim must do in the future. Prophet Muhammad says, "Live as though you're going to live forever." That means work to provide for your needs, tomorrow, next year, 10 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 generations to come as though you are going to be here forever.
Work to establish something that will serve the good life that you have chosen. Not for right now but for generations and generations to come, for eternity. You can't be that with your limited vision, with your lower concerns. You have to be that with something like the Qur'an, and the (unclear) of the prophets. That's what you need. You need the vision, the life of the Qur'an and the prophet Muhammad. You need that to plan for generations to come for as long as the earth (unclear).
He said again, "Live as though you're going to die tonight, today because you don't know." In other words, be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice at any time it comes. That's the key for success. That's the key for success because if the prophet hadn't put the other condition there, that we should look to tomorrow as well as take care of today, if he hadn't put those two there, there won't be no check, won't be no balance, won't be no check.
The people would work for the life on earth, work for riches and all those things and they would become so attached to those things of this world that they wouldn't have the courage to risk this life and risk riches because sometime, an enemy threatens you, and you have to risk your life. You have to risk your family life. You have to risk your accomplishments, your achievements. You have to take the risk that he will sell your buildings and he will sell your businesses.
You have to be able to risk everything that you've been working for in order to go out and meet a tough foe to defend your life against him. If you're so much attached to those things you will compromise again. Say, "Well, okay. You can come on in. You take over my house. You take over my laborers. You take over my nation. Just let me have a little of this that I have accumulated." Bring me a new way of life, just leave me a little of this that I have accumulated. You become weak to that your dream that you make such terrible compromise.
In fact, we're already made that compromise. It looks like that's what the American Negro have told the White men and every other nationality that come to America. "You all can have everything. You're could have to rule. You can have the control. You'll be the boss, the ownership, you can have it, but please let me have a little fun, a little rest, a little sex.
That's what happens. They keep the wealth. They keep control. They keep the power, the resources. They got everything. They command business. They command trade. They command commerce. They command government, everything. They decide to culturalize everything. Superintendent [unintelligible 00:55:01] on one of [unintelligible 00:55:04].
He said, "We are presently in a drug culture." He describes the present culture of America as a drug culture. I bear witness that he was exact in his observation and in his description. It is a drug culture. That doesn't mean all of you are on physical drugs but the great majority of the American masses are on some kind of drugs. It is not a physical drug, it's a spiritual drug. They are on some kind of drug, all of them. The idea of life you have is a drug.
Yes, the way most of us see life and see how we should live, it's nothing but drug. G-d [unintelligible 00:55:58] said, "This present culture for America is a drug culture." Allah Most High says in His holy book. [Arabic language] “or is it that they envy mankind for what G-d has given them of His favors?” [Arabic language]. “For surely we gave the descendants of Abraham the book”, that is the book of revelations, the wisdom, the light that only G-d can give [Arabic language] and the wisdom for judging and making decisions,” and gave them a mighty kingdom”.
For Allah, it was G-d that gave the people a mighty kingdom, nobody has come to a mighty kingdom without the help of G-d. We know of pirates of the seas, the Huns, the wild hoards but did any of them establish a mighty kingdom without the help of G-d? No. Only either they were inspired by G-d, a prophet came, a messengers came and inspired them or they struggled and they got in touch with-- that was given to another people from G-d and they used it and became mighty.
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Look at Africa, sleeping all of these centuries. How come they can't become mighty? They have natural resources. The African people have great natural resources. This continent is strategically situated. Russia and America wants to get there, because it is so strategically situated and a White man has been eyeing and coveting the wealth there for a long time that's why South Africa's there right now because there's so much gold, so much raw material there and a White man is living in a powerful little kingdom in South Africa. Powerful little kingdom there in South Africa. Very important to America. Very important to Europe. Have you heard how Europe (unclear) South Africa? When they asked you whether they were forced to. Yes, very important to them. That's why, because they have built something powerful there. They have a powerful force there. They have a powerful establishment there. Do you think the white man is doing that just because he loves money? Just because he loves gold? Of course, they have a much bigger vision than just the gold mines of South Africa. He wouldn't be able to maintain, he wouldn't be able to hold his position there.
He wouldn't be able to keep the gold mines there. He wouldn't be able to impress the Europeans and Americans enough to give him some support, just keep himself there in South Africa if he has the narrow vision that the average Negro has on this earth. Why hate the white man for what he's doing and you are dead, dumb deaf, dumb, blind out of the human race completely. You're not even in the human being race. All you're crying for is animal provisions. You only want animal provisions. We used to have men and women who were crying for human vision. Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass before them.
Men who were crying for a vision to see the whole world, the whole human need the total world concern. Men who were crying for that, men who were crying for a way to improve their intellect. Not only the fallen black man but the intellect of all fallen people. We had such leaders from the African American people in time gone by. But where is that burning concern in the African American people today for that kind of life, for that kind of future, for that kind of concern, where is it? We don't hear it. Doesn't come from Reverend Jackson, doesn't come from any of the black leaders, it's not coming from the black colleges. Where is it? Non-existent.
All you want is animal provisions. So G-d let the white man hold you down. Let the white man use you up, let him suck you dead and die. Yes, because you deserve it. You don't want nothing. All you want is to eat and poop, and play like little puppies and cats, or rats. That's the average one of us, and it's a fact. Those of you claiming to have something. You organize, you have city groups, you have fraternal groups, what are you doing? You doing nothing but jacking off, excuse my language. You're masturbating, that's all you're doing. You have no vision. You're not dedicated to anything. You're a hired thug, that's all you are. A police to watch other blacks that might have something real on their minds.
And into some great thing. You're into doo doo. I want you to know what you're into. You're into nothing but doo doo. Your life and what you pride yourself in is nothing but dung. Stink on the earth. If you have something why aren't you producing something? White man just keeps getting advantage over us, keeps getting advantage over more and more of our dignity, more and more of our lives. More and more of our own wealth that we have accumulated as a people just keep going away from us. We're getting poorer and poorer as a people. More dependent as a people and then there's jokes on us on television. There was a joke on us last night on television.
I wasn't watching it, I just came through the house and heard it. Walking through the living room and they had it on, I just heard the joke. Say the blacks are becoming more and more inflammable. If it wasn't inflammable it was combustible one or the other. They're just a pool of alcohol, waiting for somebody to throw a match in, evaporate all of you. It's pitiful. Sit around and watch each other. Let's watch see what he's going to do. Do you belong to this world or not? Are you reporting for a distant world up there in the sky somewhere? We're not going to understand your behavior.
You're just watching us because you don't belong to our world. You're reporting what we are doing to a distant world somewhere. If you belong to our world then what the heck are you doing just sitting around here and watching us? Why don't you join something? Join somebody in something worthwhile, something constructive than sitting out here and watching us. With what G-d gives, you can establish a mighty kingdom [Arabic], (unclear) He has a mighty government. What happened after they received that great guidance from G-d, that He revealed to the prophets? [foreign language] There are those who were faithful to it and there were those who averted their attention from it.
They left it, after G-d had made them a mighty establishment in the land. That's what has happened to people going by and G-d says that He has the power, that all the power and glory is in His hand. He is the owner of the kingdom or the realm. He revives it as He pleases, and He calls it to come into the hands of whomsoever He wills. He takes it from whomsoever He wills. This is the teaching of the Quran. Now, a people who have been in this country here for about 500 years like me and you. For about 400 years or 500 years, we've been crying for respect from those that have in America. We've been crying for an opportunity to have with them that have in America.
After 400 or 500 years, our situation is as pitiful today as it was when they pronounced the Emancipation Proclamation. Almost the same as it was, or worse now than it was when they pronounced the Emancipation Proclamation, that, "You are free." What's the difference? Back then it was masters that held us and was responsible for us. We had masters that held us in check. Now its dope, it's wine, liquor, play, crazy music, crazy dance, gambling, (unclear), sex, dissipation, and the commitment to work for that low level of life.
That's what holding us now, so if we really look at our situation in history if the truth will be wrote by us in history, if someone would write the truth, that a slave and doings of chattle slavery will have a more dignified page in history than the so-called free black or free negro today. What held him was another powerful man, who had the majority of the country on his side. Had the courts and the jails and the police and army and everything on his side. That man is in a situation that he couldn't be responsible for. It'd be even suicidal for him to fight it.
Some of them did like Nate Turner and a few others. They committed suicide. They fought it and were killed. We can look at those people back in that situation and our sympathies go to them. But look at the black masses today and in the American situation that they are in, our sympathizes can't go to them. Sympathizes can't go to you. You don't even help each other. You see another one of your kind is struggling to get a little bit of what the white man has always had and you will look at him struggling and just watch him die right next door to you, and go miles across the country, across the city to purchase a thing that he's trying to sell right next door to you.
Because you're not motivated by any principle. You're motivated by pleasure for yourself, selfish pleasure or by his. I think sometimes it's not just the money. I think we just like the feel of walking into a man's store that got everything. I've heard them say, "He ain't got nothing on his shelf. He's got to stock his shelves." What are you looking for, a can of cleanser? How come you don't go buy it? He's got a can of cleanser on his shelf. But because he doesn't have a $1 million worth of merchandise there to impress you like the rich man has across town, you walk past his little store with your foolish thinking head not knowing that to support him would be to support your own self.
Because if you support such a little man from your own community eventually they will become big a man. If you stop giving your dollar to those who already have and start giving your support to the have-nots of your own lot, pretty soon your own lot will be a have-lot and not a have-not lot. But we can't suffer. Unestablished people have had to go to war, have had to start a revolution, physical violent revolution, in order to establish themselves. Before the revolution they had comforts, they just didn't have no dignity. Before the revolution they could eat, they could drink, they could play, they could have fun. Many of them were living pretty good before the revolution. They were just like you.
But because somebody among them alive of self with principle over pleasure, decided to give his life and bring other people into that fight for principle over pleasure, because of them revolution started. When the revolution start what did they have to do? They had to give away the comforts that they were enjoying before the revolution. Most popular revolutions are the recent revolutions of the communist people. They had to outlaw dope. Outlawed prostitution, outlawed gambling, outlawed wild parties. They had to outlaw the same things that the really strict religious community outlaws.
The communist revolution had to outlaw the same. They had to indoctrinate their people, indoctrination can be a good term it can be a bad term, they had to indoctrinate their people to live for the beauty, for the principles that they had agreed to support. Be willing to sacrifice all else that hinders a common conflict with that principle or with that life that they all pledged to support. What did they do? They started fighting and fighting and fighting, [unintelligible 01:14:51] not enjoying, not having the fun, not playing on the weekend, not swimming in the pool, not swimming on the beach.
Fighting, suffering and finally they kicked the bloodsuckers off of them. They beat all of the cruel masters away from them and got their independence. That's how it's done. Here you are waiting, black man. Representing 100 million, 200 million or more on earth [unintelligible 01:15:30] what do I mean, in America you represent all. All over the world representing maybe a billion, no establishment. All of them are in a welfare situation. That's right, the Africans of America. As a race you are dependent people, dependent upon the haves. I'm not talking about the few rich that you've got. They ain't nothing.
Don't you know in Bible slavery when the Hebrews were enslaved, don't you know they had rich slaves? Nathan was rich, Nathan was a slave in the times of the Hebrews. He wore the fine garments of the wealthy class of the Egyptians. He rode around on the fine animals that they rode around on. He'd sit on a couch like they sat on. He had a home like they had, Nathan. But he was just one. And there were a few others that were used like you people nowadays. To keep the rest of us in a certain mentality, in a certain spirit. It was the same then but the lot of the people were dependent and had no dignity as a people.
They couldn't stomach it anymore. They got to the point where they couldn't stomach it. So they said we want to live for principle rather than pleasure. Accept hardship, struggle, accept to do without until we get our dignity back or until we get the dignity that man innately has or G-d given. Yes, that was their decision. They fought and they got those things. You all can be treated just like an animal. You bring a dog in, you can tie that dog up, you can restrict him, the dog will (unclear) dog travel about 400-500 miles a day. He will roam all over the city, in a course of a day.
But you can bring a dog in your house and feed him and give him all he wants for his low level pleasures and that dog will be happy just staying in five square feet of space. Look like the average black person is just like that. I'm not talking about the physical, don't think about the physical space only. Spiritual space, moral space, intellectual space, cultural space, political space. You also can be nailed down. To nail your space down to one little corner big enough for a greyhound dog to fit in. Not run in, just to fit in. You'll be satisfied with that little space for that greyhound dog to fit in, just about eight feet of space.
You'll be satisfied with it and he'll be happy and he'll be ready to fight the Imam go down and try to create some disturbance some excitement in the people against the Imam because he's trying to get me out of this little eight feet space here. If he don't know I'm happy having this eight feet space. See while he gave me biscuits and everything in this space and give me water when nobody thirsty. I don't want to get out of this space. 
Pitiful people. Time is out for a black movement, time is out for a negro movement, time is in for a human movement. You all should stop inviting people just from black. Invite people from the Spanish community, invite them from the Irish community. Invite them from the Puerto Rican community, invite them from all the communities. Invite people from all communities. Don't look for no black persons to invite to this religion. Go out and invite all people to this religion. Because I really believe that your time is out. I believe that your day of opportunity is over. We have failed the day of opportunity as a people.
The day of opportunity was ours to have, we just slept and played and now it's gone. You don't have enough material worth or anything to build a strong community with blacks. We only got a few of our people who are fit to do anything like building an established community life, very few. Don't go out there calling your own people, go out there and call anybody. Call anybody and I guarantee you'll get more results. In fact, I know how to get our people in here. It's easy. But I can't be wrong, I can't be a crook, I can't be deceitful, I can't be a false person. I know exactly how to get all our people in here. Just announce tomorrow that no blacks are allowed in here.
[laughter]
Just keep you out for about one generation and the next generation will break down the door once we say, "They don't segregate you anymore," you'll break down the door to get in. Isn't that what the Mormons did? The Mormons kept the blacks out until just a few years, in fact a couple of years ago. They didn't allow no blacks in their religion, in their church.
Now they have opened it up to blacks and they say that blacks are just storming their doors joining the Mormon faith. We know how to get the African-Americans, we know how to get the blacks. Just tell them they can't come in. They will go to Washington and get an army to let them in.
All those people that were favored with the guidance of the revelation that would establish them and make them a strong community, some of them stood by it and others betrayed it and became themselves an obstruction. They took their attention from it and became themselves an obstruction, a hindrance. What does G-d say? [foreign language] "Hellfire is enough for them." Don't worry about them. They invited hellfire and that's a fitting punishment, a fitting end for those people, so don't worry about them. G-d is telling us that if we do the same that will be our conclusion. Hellfire will be our conclusion. I bear witness that the African-American people on the whole is in hellfire.
They are beyond approach. You cannot approach them with any sense or any goodness. Majority are in hellfire. Lastly, G-d says in the Holy Book that the people only differ regarding the revelation of G-d after they began to covet, or after covetousness set in among them. Think about that and you'll understand the situation of the world today. We have people who say they receive scriptures. They are of many big groups but I'm only talking about the people who are called the people of the book, Jews and Christians, and the last favored community of G-d, the Muslim. The Jewish community, though it's a united community when it comes to the world, it's a divided community.
They're only united when it comes to outsiders. But don't think the Jew is united. The Jew is not united as a people. They are divided as a people. The Christian community, a divided community, petty pockets of hostility between them, laugh at each other, make mockery of each other, pride themselves in not being on the level of another Christian sect or group. Divided community, ugly community. The Muslim, a divided community. Divided too along petty lines of differences. The differences that divide them are petty. What is the problem?
The problem that can all be summed up right here where G-d says, "And they were not differing as to what G-d revealed until covetousness set in among them. Covetousness set in among them where they used the wisdom, the insight, the perception, the mighty vision, they used it to get an advantage over another group, over another people, though being in the same religion." Though they be in the same religion but they used their insight, used their light to get an advantage over another people so they can posses something that the other people have, that is no more than their human resources. Say, "Well, they're not fit to have their human resources.
They're not fit to be trusted with their human resources, so let us deceive them. Let us exploit them and let us manipulate them into a situation where their human resources become ours and enrich us." What has given them the insight? What has given them the power of vision to devise such a scheme and use it over the head of the weaker person? The light that G-d revealed, they have it in the Greek Mythology. They said a certain one stole the heavenly light and then he was able to do great things on earth because he had the heavenly light. So don't think that man can't wrongly come into the possession of the heavenly light.
G-d says, "Of those who inherit the book, of those who were given the scripture, they were some who stood by it and others who betrayed it." So don't think they can't get it. They get it. But once they get it and start to abuse it, then G-d give them to the influences of their bad works. Eventually that nation, that whole society will be taken over by that bad, by that corruption, and their life will become instead of a state of peace, a state of hell. Life for the average American is a state of hell. They live in constant hell except when they are on a dope trip, and even that's hell.
[unintelligible 01:29:20] chances here in America talking to blacks. Same chances you have going to the graveyard trying to get those dead people to get up out of there and do something. That's right. Chances are the same. I know by experience. I've been talking to the graveyard for 10 years. 
[audio cut] -work against each other- -by what fame, what image am I going to get out of this? They come in, trying to see how they can work against each other. Come in with the idea to undermine each other, or to use each other or how can I manipulate her or him or how can I use her or him or how can I get over her or him? Pitiful. We've got a history for selling ourselves into slavery, and I think it's time we could sell our own race back into slavery again. I think the future will be better for us if we just sold our whole race back into slavery again. It would. We have a better chance as slaves.
So why don't we go there to Arabia tell rich Arabia to buy us? [chuckles] [unintelligible 01:31:51] in need of a slave master again. So you rich folks purchase us. I was at a store. A young girl, she's about 15 maybe. I believe she recognized who I was. She wanted to say something to irritate me, and she did, but not that much. She paid for it. She saw, I think it was the Ebony Magazine, where it said some Black mother has sold her child to a rich Arab. She called her friend. She said to her friend, I forget the name, she called her friend, she said, "Look," she said, "A woman sold her child to an A-rab."
Why did she say it like that? If she had said, "A mother sold her child to an A-rab," I wouldn't have said a thing. But she said, "Some woman sold her child to an A-rab." Selling the child didn't bother her, it was selling the child to an Arab that bothered her. I told her, I said, "The child is in better situation now because any mother that would sell her child to anybody shouldn't have a child." She's like that just some of you niggas out there didn't like just when I told you just now. Because you have the same mentality that she is, that's how come you don't do nothing here, you just come here and look at me. Same mentality she has. I said another thing, "It's not A-rab, it's A-rab."
She left out with her face all distorted. The demon had taken over. I had come into her conscience. See, the demon was already there ruling in her body but when I said those things to her, it just brought the demon right into her conscience. She went out with her face all distorted and looking ugly. She wished she could have killed me, I guess. Yes, if we sold the whole race to the Arabs we'd be in better shape. At least it would get us out of this environment, maybe learn how to be good Muslims. Bilal's situation was improved. Bilal was sold into slavery and he heard the religion while he was a slave and came out of the religion, but he became a noble man in the history of men. Yes.
Next Sunday, inshallah, if I'm here, I plan to be here, we're going to talk on the figure in the Qur'an, Joseph, Youssef, and how he represents the type that can be any people. We have had experiences that fit very of much to that type. I fear the day is over for us and the only thing we can do now is join in an effort with other people, not in a black effort, join in an effort with other people, just to be of good life. Forget about the black independent movement.
I think black and white should be separated but not for that reason. To be separated because you need to have your own babies here at your own homes, take care of your own as the Hon. Elijah Muhammad said and establish some dignity for being loyal to yourself and your own family. In fact I think all people would be better off if they preferred their own race or their own ethnic group to others. That's no more than natural, but you shouldn't prefer them on any purely skin color basis. You should prefer your own race for sex. You should prefer your own race to have marriage and children. Yes.
In fact it is reported that the Prophet said, peace be on him, "Marry from your own locality." Don't go out looking for strangers and different people to marry. Marry from your own locality. Sometime, the person in your locality if they lived with you all the time, they may become so well-known and so close to you as a person there is really no difference between your ethnic group and them. A Spanish or an Irish or somebody could have lived in your neighborhood, you grew up with them as children, you know them, you're real close to them, then you marry one of them and they like you, you like them and the marriage will most likely be successful. If you stay right there.
[laughter]
Really it's living together is what has given us the identity we have, right? Yes, because there are other Blacks who have not been living with their own people. They come around us, we feel strange around them as we do around non-Blacks. They are not us in identity. They're just us in color. Just like that poor brother that, I loved him, my heart went out to him, from New Orleans who spoke after me at Jumu'ah.
He was us, he was Black, he was from New Orleans, he came here like we did, I guess, like most of us did to the United States, but he had come into another environment, he had taken on the personality of other people. We just couldn't relate to him ethnically. I know I felt that he was just like a Pakistani but only I felt sorry for him. Now he was a Pakistani who had no Pakistani background.
[laughter]
It makes you feel sorry for him. Let's broaden our vision until it's the total vision that G-d wants us to have and then accepting that vision, everything that G-d has asked us to accept and all the responsibility that G-d has charged us with accept it. Though we were not able to do but an atom weight of the responsibility that's in that total vision, accept the whole responsibility. See, that's a psychology that we need to have. We say, "I don't have nothing, so I can't help that." No, join it. If it's good, if it's what's good for you and your people, join it. Give your support to it and say, "I am going to work for that." Though what you do is no more than a drop in the bucket, it's something. Just by you being in the spirit of it, will help the spirit of all of the people that's working for it. Some tell me, "This is too much for me. I didn't know it was going to be this difficult. I have to learn that Arabic language."
Oh I believe I could get it if I just could learn that Arabic language." What are you doing with the English? Don't excuse yourself for anything that G-d has asked you to do, and work with what you got. Pray G-d you get more, but work with what you got. You don't have to speak Arabic to make progress as a Muslim. You don't have to read Arabic to make progress as a Muslim. Live a Muslim life. Support that that you know you should support. Invite people that you know will make good members of the Muslim community. Invite them to be Muslims. Some of you all are afraid to invite somebody that you know will make a good member of the community.
You go out and look for somebody that you know ain't going to be nothing but a failure and a burden, and you invite them to come here. I guess it's because you don't want nobody to show you up here. 
Well, it's late. I've talked longer than I have planned to talk. Inshallah, we will see you again next Sunday, this coming Jumah, Friday prayer, and next Sunday for Taalim. Also, I want to just stress the importance of us going to Cleveland for the National Political Awareness Convention on August 16th and 17th, Friday and Saturday, I believe. I know I am to address the convention there on a Saturday. It is very important that you be there for both days, because those workshops where you'll be able to sit in with people who have perhaps your main interests as their concern. You'll be able to sit with them, and inshallah, we hope, make progress for yourself and for your community, for the Muslim, for the society. They will have business workshops, political workshops, culture workshops, different workshops. Those who want to find a way to make contribution and you're not situated now to make one, maybe you should consider going to Cleveland, and being there for all of the workshops that they have planned. We thank Allah for blessing us, again, to come together as Muslims seeking His pleasure, and that is the excellent life for the Muslim.
Last night we had a group of entertainers here from New York. The attendance was small. It wasn't that big. It should have been at least twice the number that were out here. We did not have the time to spread the word. It was Friday before I knew anything of them being here for the program last night. It was on Jumah. I announced at Jumah that they would be here, and that the program would be at seven o'clock. We gave the donation that we were asking and we gave it. All the senior citizens we invited them to come with no donation request from them at all. I was told that some of them insisted and they donated anyway.
We made agreement to pay this group $1,000 to come here and perform, which was really no pay at all. It was just something to enable them to come here. It wasn't pay. It was a group of about 10 or 12, and we got the Jabber Muhammad Islamic Foundation to accommodate them. They stayed there. They had rooms there. They didn't have to pay hotel room, but they had to eat. They paid for their own food, and we promised them $1,000. All we collected yesterday was $530, so we gave them that. We have to send them a check for the balance. I am not appealing to you for any collection now for that.
Inshallah, we'll be able to pay them from that money that we have in the account that comes in from donors here in Chicago and in many places. Although that account now is weak because the donations are not coming in as they were coming in before, but Allah is the best knower. I don't feel bad about the situation at all. We do have $470 or whatever to make up that balance which is $470, I believe. We’ll send that to them. What I’m mentioning that to you for, is to ask you why you don't come out to Islamic community entertainment.
You have to make an effort to support the building of your community life. Having our own cultural programs, our own entertainment, that's an important part of building our own community life, so don't take it so lightly. Next time you hear that we are sponsoring any kind of entertainment here at this facility, whether you come here and enjoy or not, you should come. If you go to other places for entertainment, or you sit at home and watch television and listen to radio music and stuff, if you do that then you should come down here. I don't think the prices were bad.
We asked a donation of $5 per adult, and I'm sure that the average one of you spend $5 without even knowing it, for something that you forget. You don't even remember what you spent it for. $5 for adults, $3 for all children, except those you hold in your arms. Senior citizens with no charge at all, no donation asked. If your family had 5 in it, you could come in with $17. Or any member above five, you could come in for $17. We appreciate those that did come, and because you came it was a success. I feel it was a success. Those who were here last night if you enjoyed it, you think it was good, something we should invite back again, raise your hand.
[applause]
Very good, thank you very much. When we send them the money, we'll tell them that we hope to have them back here again. Next time we’re going to have time, I told them that they send in their information in, because we would like to put something in the Muslim journal. We wanted to put something on the radio. There are neighborhood papers that will take something like that, if we would go to them with it in time. We could have given them some advertisement, and I believe we would have got a good crowd in here. Next time, inshallah, we will get a good crowd. There's another group called the Hamim Group.
You who like jazz and like trio kind of music, listening to music and good jazz, they have a sweet jazz beat, not tripping with the reefers and stuff. Not breaking the atoms like Coltrane, but it's something pleasant, very pleasant music. We're going to try to get them here very soon too. I hope we can get them here within the next three weeks. When we get the groups here, you hear about it, pull yourself away from what's holding you and come here and support. This is very important to our community, that we support these that I call cultural programs.
We like enjoyment and everything, but our purpose is to bring artistic contribution from us, to be reconciled with Islamic principle. In Islamic spirit. That's our object. You are not going to get it at once but if we have these and encourage this pretty soon we'll get it. It will come gradually, it's going to come gradually. We have a few artists right now that are very close to reconciling their own artistic spirit with the spirit of Al-Islam. When we learn more of the history we can include more lyrics that will bring Islamic life to the audience as well while we are performing.
That's what we have to do. Somebody would sing about some really crazy idea out of space there and won't sing about the things that are right at home? That's crazy. That is crazy. You'd be surprised what a cultural movement can do for establishing a people, dignity as a people. It can do wonders, but we can't have it without somebody's support. You have to come and support it. Will you support us next time?
Audience: Yes.
Speaker: Thank you very much. Inshallah, we will be here for the next performance. I wasn't here myself. I stayed at home. You know why I stayed at home? I didn't want no crazy women fighting over me.
[laughter]
Excuse me for saying that. I don't think they would fight over me, I think they would fight against me. I say it the way I want it, peace. But not really why I say it, because I feel that lot of times the entertainment people, you feel more relaxed if your watchman is not around. Such is life, but I hope we're going to change it. Dear beloved people, we hope to see you at Jumah Friday and at Sunday's Taalim, Sunday's meeting, and don't forget August 16th and 17th, Cleveland. You should follow up. Carpool. Cleveland is not that far, it's just a good drive. About four or five hours.
I think it's about four or five hours, that's all. Five hours or six hours at most. Really a nice drive, that's a nice relaxing drive. Form a carpool and space yourselves out good on the roads so we don't have accidents. Everybody just go there, what's wrong with that? What are we going to be doing here if the main thing is happening in Cleveland? We're just close, we're that close to Cleveland. We shouldn't be doing anything here. We should be there in Cleveland. It takes sacrifice, and extra effort on your part to gain real big victories. You're not going to gain any big thing by taking it easy. No. Strive hard and success is sure to come. That's what G-d says. Thank you. Let's make dua, Al Fahtiha.
[01:53:32] [END OF AUDIO]

