June 2000
Graduation Address Atlanta
Imam W. Deen Mohammed

... Atlanta, the beautiful city of Atlanta. For the graduates of W. Deen Mohammed High, year 2000. A very beautiful day and I'd just like to say that each year I enjoy this occasion just a little bit more than I did the year before. It gets better and better all the time. And the wisdom and beauty that came with the words of the graduates today at the graduation ceremony, brother Imam, you have to put it into a book. Yes. And the book should be called "W. Deen Mohammed High graduates, lecture to us on the soul, the human soul".
Prophet Mohammed, prayers and peace be upon him. He was a man of natural human worth and beauty, natural human worth and beauty. And I believe that he's just a sign to us that Jesus Christ and the others that G-d chose to address the world of mankind and lead them closer to G-d were also such persons. Such persons of beautiful and excellent human worth, The prophet Muhammad, he said of his followers who were outstanding for their obedience to G-d. And following the way of the path of Islam, the way of Islam he said of them, the best of you now, were the best in the time of ignorance, in the time of ignorance. That means before the enlightenment, before Islam and enlightenment period that followed darkness that came after darkness. He said the best of you now were the best in the time of jahiliyyah in the time of the ignorant period or ignorant age.
He himself was recognized by them in that time before Islam, before he was mission to be the prophet of Qu'ran, the prophet of Islam. He was recognized by them as being the most excellent among them. They called him the truthful [Arabic] it's the Arabic term. They called him the faithful and trustworthy one, Al-Amin was his title name that they gave him and a common name for him. When they addressed him in the public, they wouldn't call him Muhammad. They would call him Al-Amin most of the time, they would say Al-Amin referring to him. And that was the name he was known by.
So when the prophet Mohammed said that the best of you now speaking to his followers were the best in the time of ignorance, that is the time before Islam came, he himself was perhaps the strongest evidence or proof supporting his words. Because G-d says of him, that he said speaking to us, all people, but at that time he was speaking to immediate company of the prophet followers of the prophet. He said, "He has already lived a lifetime among you." Meaning the time before he received revelation. The history or the tradition gives it that he was 40 years old when he received the first words of revelation from G-d, 40 years old.
So a man of 40 years back then and even now, has lived a lifetime. What is the lifetime to become a maturity the age where you have reached maturity, biological maturity, and you have had experience with the opposite sex, had a family, baby, wife, and children. That's a lifetime. That is a lifetime. When we mature biologically and have a mate, and have children and experience being a father or a mother. That's a lifetime. That is a lifetime. Because that's the aim of life. That's the object of life. The aim of life is to reproduce and when you are able to mate and reproduce and see your children up on their feet, on their feet standing on their own and able to take care of themselves. That's a lifetime. You have lived a lifetime.
Now some of us want to live about 100 lifetimes. That's okay. If you got that kind of imagination, good, congratulations. So G-d says of him him, he had lived a lifetime. He'd live long enough before you, for him to be tested by your world and your world tested him. And he did not succumb to the influences or forces of your world that would take him out of his excellent human mold. He had survived the test of your world." That's what G-d is saying. He did not worship your idol G-ds. He did not live a life of vices. He lived a life of virtues. So he passed the test of that world. He lived in it, had wife, had children and was 40 years old when G-d called him. He had already lived a lifetime and he had not been harmed by an ignorant and sinful world.
Doesn't that make sense that G-d would choose someone like that to be his servant, His messenger to the rest of the world? I never could understand G-d pick a bum or wine head, a whore monger to be his servant, I never understood that. And I never believed that. When G-d picks someone for his servant, He'll pick the best. Especially if that servant is going to be a model for all others, a model human type for all others. And I'm sure that G-d picks some people just to say something to us. Don't be like this sucker here. Those persons are not called prophets or messengers of G-d.
Someone told me, I thank G-d. I think I got a call and I thank G-d. I didn't say it to him, I said to myself, "Yeah, he chose you all right." Go tell us what not to follow. Then the words of the Qu'ran addresses, this particular excellence in human beings. What is this all saying? This is saying that G-d, before revelation created a human being in the best of molds, in the best of molds. Didn't need revelation to come from G-d to make us good. That's what it's saying. Religion is not just to make you good. G-d creates you good. Isn't that the Bible and the Holy Qu'ran says? Both holy books says that G-d created us good.
We don't need a revelation to make us good people. Sweet, loving good people, kind people, good people, no. That's your human nature, that's the best of your human nature. G-d already gave you that. G-d gives us religion to free us mentally and spiritually for a bigger world in every sense. A more productive world, a more knowledgeable world, a more scientific world. A world providing more comforts. This is what G-d brings revelation for. And if you look at the nation's that'll lead the rest of the world in prosperity. You see that those nations are nations who hold scripture sacred, and most of their citizens believe in scripture, or holds the scriptures sacred. That's no accident, that's a revelation in itself.
I really should close out right now, that's enough to say to you tonight. That's a revelation in itself. That it's not the communist who put down the Bible who put down G-d, they used to have the Bible before they became communist Russia. Not the communist world, not the heathens. But those people who say they believe that G-d revealed through the prophets, and they claim religion of the scripture, religion of the holy books. It is those people, those nations, they have succeeded and went out front, and they are the ones that the rest of the world's indebted to for the time of enlightenment and all the other great advances that we have enjoyed and conveniences because of the period of enlightenment.
The period of enlightenment was first ignited by the time of enlightenment for Muhammad and his followers. It finally reached the intellects of the people of Europe and brought about a change in the way they were thinking, as students of nature and science, as a result, they had what we call, what is in history, called the renaissance. The renaissances a revival of intellectual interests and the world of nature and in your life of mankind. The renaissance, Martin Luther, he was the first thinker to break with the old church. Hierarchy thinking. Free the minds of the Christians so that they would be able to pursue the real destiny that G-d intended for those for whom he sent prophets or gave revelation. After him, the Protestant group of Christians began to work for enlightenment education. And it was in that environment that we began to witness, our history began to witness revival of intellectual interests.
In the world of matter, the world of nature and the society of mankind. This is history. This is fact. Muhammad the prophet, peace be upon him. The message of G-d as he's commonly called the messenger of G-d. He was always a man who was very well balanced, spiritual human, strongly human, but at the same time, a practical man. When G-d called him, he had employment, he was not out of job. He had employment. He was selected by lady Khadijah peace be upon her. To be the manager of her business. She was an Arab woman who was successful in business and she saw Muhammad and knew of him to be very, very honest and trustworthy. And she wanted really to marry him. But first, she asked him would he manage for her, her business.
He did a very good job of managing her business, made trips outside of his city and outside of his area. In fact, outside of the Arab land, into Syria and other places doing trade for her. And he was very successful as a business man for her. This is Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad was given a revelation from G-d that said to all of us, now it's revelation it's holy scripture, it's the book. When you hear the call to Jumah , leave off doing business and rush to the call for Jumah prayer.
[Arabic] means hurry up, hurry up, go in a hurry to the prayer, to the Jumah prayer. And when you have finished the Jumah prayer, return to your avenues of interest profit. Profit money making business, that's exactly what it means. So here is a very balanced religion and putting G-d first and above all other things. And I have one point in mind and that's my mother, Claire Muhammad, and people like her in the following of my father, Elijah Muhammad. So here we have a man, very balanced man, G-d fearing man, obedient to G-d. But at the same time, missioned by G-d to do what his nature must have already called for. And that is to respect the practical side of life, as well as the spiritual side of life. Not that spiritual life is not practical in my opinions. I'm using English language. In my opinion, spiritual life is very practical in my experience spiritual life is very practical. But you know what we mean by that?
It's not making money for you. So we don't see the spiritual devotion as something that makes money for us, unless we are preacher that hustles the scripture. And some of us do that. Imams too. When I say preacher, I'm talking about preacher. Imam, Rabbi, preacher. Yeah. Preachers hustle scripture, we know that. But there are those guys, they're not decent people, period. I'm talking about decent people, but here is a man that G-d chose and he chose him and gave him guidance. And when you look at the guidance, the guidance was already in him before he was chosen, not all of the guidance, but the important parts of the guidance, the most important, the most essential part of the guidance was already in this man that G-d chose, before he chose him.
So Allah says, in the Qu'ran now addressing the same natural beauty and excellence that he created man, or human beings for and in. G-d says of the religion of Islam says, it is the religion of Fitra. Now, I don't want to even translate this word Fitra directly say, oh, give it, oh yes. We know what the translation says, but let me discuss this term a little bit. Fitra comes from the verb form, most Arabic words come from the verb form. Not from the noun form. This comes from the verb action. Most Arabic terms have their origin in action, not in an object. So Fitra. The verb form is fatrah. And both terms are used in this reference, says Islam is the religion of Fitra. That which G-d fatrah the verb form of this word, fatrah inasa, fatrah inasa which G-d fatrah the action noun, not the noun, Fitra is the noun, fatrah, the action. That on which G-d fatrah the action of the word, the people upon...
G-d patterned the people upon this original nature. He patterned the people upon that. Now, does it mean pattern? Yes, it means pattern. But what does it mean in it's root, in its naked root meaning, what is it? We must say, come to the word that's in the translation now. But I think discussing it this way has helped you to understand it better. Originated. Originated a pattern upon which G-d fashioned mankind or originated mankind upon. Originated human beings or mankind upon. Now. Muhammad obviously was already in this pattern. He was in this pattern and then G-d revealed the religion according to the Quran, upon his heart. So he caused it to descend down upon his heart, speaking of Muhammad the prophet. All right. So here is a man now, that's already in this fitra. As-Salaam-Alaikum my brother. He's a student, and a professor, and he's listening, and he's learning. And he's building knowledge upon knowledge. I know him. It's worth it just for me to talk to you.
Yes. So here is a man now, already in this fitra, the noun form for this excellent human condition that G-d wants in all of us, and created us for it. Created us in it and for it. Muhammad the prophet is in it like Jesus was. Peace be upon them. And then G-d calls the revelation to descend upon his heart. What does that mean? It means that he was not educated in scripture. So G-d couldn't couldn't or wouldn't, converse or communicate to Muhammad mind. That's high knowledge, that scriptural knowledge, he couldn't do it. But his heart was right. So the language was designed to reach his heart and later reach his mind. And that was the education process, and Allah says of Muhammad. He says, "And I will teach you so that you will not forget. Teach you. I will make you more knowledge, give you knowledge." The word [Arabic] is lesson. [Arabic] is lesson. [Arabic] is to teach somebody a lesson. [Arabic] lessons.
[Arabic] You understand the language [Arabic] from [Arabic]. So here's G-d saying, I'm going, - (we got students out here. I have to respect them too, who know the language so they should get the benefit of this more. That's meant for them, but you can get it too I'm giving it to you in English). He says, and they are teachers, so they should speak with authority. I'm giving you the authority to speak this knowledge. You can bring the evidence right to right before the people and you can show them that the evidence is there in the Quran, for what I'm saying. Yes.
So he says to Muhammad, "I'm going to teach you." He was uneducated. That's the tradition. He was the man that was not educated. He was not formerly taught. He had no teachers. He only had the excellent life and practical experiences in the world. Practical experiences in the world. He was not a spiritual man in the sense that we understand spiritual man today. Spiritual man today means following scripture or going to church or something, or some religious place. He was not that kind of man at all. In fact, he was not associated with any religion`, or with any scripture, never associated with any religion, any scripture before G-d called him, this is Muhammad the prophet.
So G-d is not just telling us something. He is showing us something. G-d is telling us that he originated man, in the best form, Adam, his man is a picture of man in his best form that G-d created for him. And the scripture says that Adam fell from that high pedestal that G-d put him on as a creation. He fell from that when he was seduced by the devil, by the Satan. Yes. So G-d is telling us something that he created man like that from the beginning, and then he built upon that original excellence. He built upon that original excellence, a rational man, an intellectual man, a civilizer for all men, a civilizer for all men. And a nation builder. A nation builder, a community builder, Muhammad built the first community of Muslims. In his own lifetime he built it. He was the leader, he built the first community of Muslims. A community that spread from the peninsula of Arabia into Africa, into Persia, it's now called Iran. Into Europe, into Asia, far East, and now in America and almost everywhere. You'll find the followers of this man.
And there are nations ran by Muslims. Many of them in the United nations, we Muslim nations make up a big number of the nations that are represented in the United nations. A big number, 50 or more Muslim nations. So we are not to understand revelation as writings to make us feel good. And to make us be nice people or it's going to make us sweet, loving, nice people. Well, that's a baby understanding in religion. The real understanding in religion is to understand that the G-d who created us the first time is the only one who can unlock our treasures within our hearts and souls and minds. He's the only one that can unlock the treasures and free us to get the great benefit that he created us for in this life, on this physical earth. He's the only one that can do that. The proof of it I repeat, is that we don't find any other nations leading mankind, but those nations who claim scripture. And you know the one out front United States of America, Christian nation.
I've gone too long for a keynote address. I'm going to try to hurry with this. Muhammad, the same man, he said, "The best of you are the ones who are best in your service to humanity." The best of you are the ones who are best in your service to humanity. [Arabic]. The best of you are the ones who are best in your service to humanity, to humanity. The ones who are benefiting. Humanity is benefiting from what you are doing from your life and your works. And then G-d says, He himself has extended everything upon or by knowledge and mercy is translated, mercy.
But this mercy is a caring, this mercy is seen in the attribute of love that's in a mother for her children, the attribute of love that's in a mother for her children. She loves her children, she cares for her children, she has patience with them. She suffers to have patience with them. Not that G-d suffers, but you understand what I'm saying, I'm giving you a picture. She suffers to have patience with them. She bears them on her own strength. She let them tax her own strength until she can get them to manage without taxing her or someone else. And she does it because she loves them. She cleans the baby that's dirty because she loves that baby, she wants that baby to be comfortable. And all the other things she does for that baby is for the same reason, she loves that baby and she wants the baby to be comfortable. And she's looking to the future. She wants the baby to have a future. She wants the baby to have a good future.
That's G-d. That's G-d's attribute of mercy, that's his mercy. That's his attribute of mercy. So his mercy is filled with love, pure love, perfect love, caring and patience. Patience for the sake of the thing that he is nourishing, and helping along, and rescuing. He has extended everything from knowledge and mercy, knowledge and mercy [Arabic] that from knowledge and mercy. Now look at the picture of Muhammad the prophet again. And when you look at the picture of Muhammad the prophet, before he got a revelation and after revelation, he was a man of mercy. Typical of that mother, I just described. He also was a man practical knowledge, wisdom, and look how G-d has made practical knowledge. Knowledge, that contributes something to support help services. Makes service possible, knowledge. G-d makes it so important in the Quran and the prophet said to us, "Don't go after knowledge that has no use, you can't put it to any use." Why he said that, and who was he speaking to? You think he was speaking to common guys on the street corner? No, he was speaking to intellectuals.
Intellectuals. Intellectuals tend to entertain themselves at the table of knowledge and they will entertain themselves at the table of knowledge night after night, for year after year and offer society absolutely nothing, and produce absolutely nothing but discussions at the table of knowledge. The prophet was speaking to them but it's good for all of us that we don't go after knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but go after knowledge so that you and others may benefit from it. I thank you. May G-d forgive us, our ignorance, our shortcomings, and I'm speaking of my own ignorance and my own shortcomings. Forgive us our errors. Forgive us our sins. Have mercy on us and guide us always and me. Congratulations to you all ameen.

I greet you As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin. The praise is for G-d, the Lord keeper of the heavens and the earth of all the worlds. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah [Arabic]. A witness that there is no G-d, nothing to be worshiped except G-d, Allah. And there is no partner with him as a G-d helping him. [Arabic] and I witnessed that Muhammad to whom the Qu'ran was revealed. Born in Arabia mecca is his servant and his messenger. We salute him with a traditional salute [Arabic]. The peace, prayers and the peace be upon him and on his family, his descendants and on his companions, be peace. And on us. Peace ameen. Allah. Most glorified subhanahu wa ta'ala, highly glorified is He, He Says in his book the Qu'ran, "and fight them until there's no more persecution. And religion is wholly for G-d".
What is the meaning of this? And fight them until there is no more persecution. Prophet Muhammad, the peace and blessings be upon him. He didn't have it easy establishing Islam for the world. He was persecuted in his own land by his own people. In the city of his birth, he was denied the freedom, to declare and practice the religion that Allah had revealed through him for all times, for all mankind. He wasn't a stranger. They knew him very well. He wasn't a disliked person, they liked him very much.
He was like their son. He lost his father before he could see him. He lost his mother before he was out of childhood. He was a young child. He was an orphan, and they knew him. For his kindness, for his goodness, for his truthfulness. And they called him as-Sadiq, the truthful one. And they called him al-Amin, the trustworthy one. And when they saw that what he was bringing to them that required them to changed their way of life, how they saw things, and how they did things, and most of all, who they had to answer to as an authority, then they wanted to persecute him, get him out from among them, or have him killed.
So Muhammad the prophet had to fight for the freedom of religion. For the freedom of religion long before the west started talking about the freedom of religion. 1000 years or more before the west, the new world started talking about the freedom of religion. Muhammad was the fighter fighting for the freedom of religion. He didn't want to fight, he was a peacemaker, he was a lover of peace. He was a kind man. He didn't like to kill people. He wanted to give people life, not kill them. He wanted them to feel good, not to have pain or hurt. G-d had to order him to fight. G-d told him to fight. So now permission is given to you to fight. He didn't fight until G-d told him. And he was fighting people who were fighting him and had been persecuting him and his innocence followers for about 11 years.
Caused the death of his wife, the only wife he had at that time. The lady Khadijah, may G-d be peace with her. She died during the boycott when they cut off the lines of supplies to Muhammad and his followers so they would have little or no food. And they suffered and got weak. No resistance, didn't have enough food in them to keep their bodies up strong. So the wife of the prophet, the Lady Khadija she passed during that hardship. But he went on, he continued taking losses, suffering persecution, [pain and misery inflicted upon him and his following. Until G-d gave him permission...











