March 11th 2001
Responsibility
Recorded at Prince George Community College, Largo MD
Imam W. Deen Mohammed

This is the national public broadcast of W. Deen Mohammed, Muslim American Society leader. The following lecture titled responsibility, a crucial concern for people pursuing business establishment, was recorded on the campus of Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland Sunday March 11, the year 2001.
I greet you with the greetings of all Muslims on this earth over 1 billion and a quarter now, as salaam alaikum. We praise G-d, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin who is the Lord, the sustainer of all the world and who has made everything that we can see with our physical eyes for own benefit, not for Him. He made it for us. He says whatever is in the skies and whatever is in the earth, that He has made it all to be of service to his khalifa. And that first khalifa was Adam, the prophet. The first of the prophets, Adam. Not really mentioned as a prophet but mentioned as our father, our first father.
He says that he has made everything in the sky and in the earth to yield its benefit to the man he created so that it would be useful and beneficial for all descendants or children of that man. That means us. That's all of us. That's us. When we look at this vast creation of G-d and try to imagine that G-d says to you, "All of this is made for you." If you would know Arabic, Quranic Arabic [Arabic] made whatever you see in the sky and whatever you see in the earth to be of service to you, of benefit and service to you. To yield its benefit and service to you.
And if you recall the story of the creation of Adam, G-d said to the angels, before he told the angels (unclear) that he made all of this for human beings, or for the man, he told the angels, "But I have reason to have my own ruh." translated spirit. "Then you make your submission to him." So G-d even ordered the angels to make submission, yield to the man that he was making. And G-d says to Satan who rejected the man... Only Satan rejected the man. Satan was not called Satan at that time. He was called Iblis, one of the angels that was in the lead for the rest of the angels in heaven.
G-d says to him, "What's the matter with you that you don't accept the human being that I have made with my two hands? Now mine you, "With my two hands." Then G-d says of his two hands, he says that he has everything in the control of his two hands. Yeah, his two hands. Everything is in his two hands, G-d's two hands. Two controls, that's what it means. G-d's two controls. Everything is in the hands of his two controls. He says everything. That's in the Quran. He says everything.
So that means the last world that we see in the skies when we're down here where we are including ourselves, G-d made it with his two hands. And then he says to Satan, "What's the matter with you that you don't yield to the man that I made with my two hands?" So G-d used all his focus, control that he used to make the creation, the world and also human beings. He used both of those to make his man. That man must be very special that the two hands that controls everything were used when he made the human being, man. Which says, again, that he made human beings to benefit from the whole of his creation from everything that he has created.
We live in a time when we see the reality of that capacity, that potential in man in modern civilization, the West given (unclear) by Islam, by Muhammad the prophet, the Quran, and the thinkers who heard the message of the Quran, who heard the Prophet's preaching and became scientists. They gave the West: America, Europe, the West its start. But look what the West has done. The West has focused on the sky, and they have brought useful things from the sky to us.
They' send spaceships to visit different bodies in the heavens, and they bring material from the surface that they visit. They are studying the atmosphere or the environment on those objects in the sky. So they are really doing what G-d invited man to do when he created the first man, Adam. And that is make good use of all that he has created. We know that sun's energy is harnessed now to reduce the cost of heating certain facilities. And with gas prices up like they are, I hope they will study that more, and bring me some of those reflectors. And I'll put them in my house to bring that gas bill down.
So everything is working in accord with what G-d has revealed. And that's what we should realize. People are waiting for a miracle, "Oh, if they can show us a miracle like Moses' people witnessed, maybe we'd believe in G-d. If we could see the Red Sea part..." That's nothing. That's child's play than what's going on today, the parting of the Red Sea. That's nothing. I don't want to see the Red Sea part. I want to see how to make a television, to show a human being in my living room and he's on the other side of the world, and I look at him, and I hear him speak just as though he's right in my own living room. That would be a bigger miracle to me than the parting of the Red Sea.
Now, I'm speaking as a common-sensed man. If I speak as your imam, I'd say something different. One addresses psychology. The parting of the Red Sea addresses psychology. But I'm talking about technology. Science and technology. Science and technology is about the biggest miracle I know of in these modern times. Now, why have I gone to that big extreme to address you for a few minutes here? Because that's where it's (unclear). When you wake up and open your eyes outside, G-d shows you a big world. G-d shows you a big world with the eyes he created for you. You see the sky, and it's unlimited. Science with all these powerful telescopes, it cannot see the end of this world.
So actually the greatest scientist, astronomer, or whatever with the greatest help that science and technology can give him is in the same position that you're in and your little boy and your little girl are in. When you and your little boy and little girl step out of your doors to look at this world that G-d made, you can see what you see and they can see what you see and beyond what you see. But neither the scientist nor you the common person can see the boundaries or the limits of this creation. Some of us want to see G-d, and it ain't possible for us to see the end of what we're looking at.
We can't even see the end of what we can see. And we want to see G-d. Well, I think a few of you out there in the audience right now. And If I get a chance, I sure would try to help to free you like I'm free. Because I know once you're free like I'm free, you're going to make a difference on this earth for good people. Maybe not the bad people but for good people for sure. Yes.
G-d says [Arabic]. That's what he says to us in the Quran. In English, "no sight can catch him". "No sight can catch him". And he says in another place, "Look at my creation and tell me what flaws you see, what mistakes you see in it." Now this ain't talking to the fool. G-d wouldn't invite a fool to examine his works. So a lot of you all, the question is not meant for you. "Yeah, I see a flaw in it." You don't have the brains to know the difference between the flaw and the sign. The wise look at what you call a flaw, and they see that as G-d's sign. It's a sign.
But when they can see the whole picture, when they get the whole picture, perceive the whole picture, no flaw. A perfect creation. You can't improve upon it. It's a perfect creation. To show you how wonderful this creation is G-d says in the next life when we get the new life, we will look at it and we'll say, "This looks like what we saw before. This resembles what we were in before." So G-d is telling you, "My creation is good enough as I created it. You just need to be awakened in a new perception of it." Now, don't tell everybody that now. And then you'll have heaven. Heaven while you live, and a life that will be eternal without sickness, without troubles, without worry. All that will be gone. Would you believe I'm already in there?
I'm not affected by sickness, my troubles G-d has given me a protection inside here. No trouble, no sickness can get inside there. This body could be burnt alive but inside will not be affected. G-d knows that. G-d has made me like that. It took more than 55 years to make me like this, but I'm like that now. Thank G-d. So I'm already in heaven. And I know when this is gone, it won't affect what's in here because it's not affecting it now. Praise be to Allah.
So let us see the big picture first. We don't have time to bring us from day zero to the present time 2001, here in March 10th. We don't have time to do that. So we'll just make a picture. I'm realizing that I'm leaving out many important thing from zero days to now. Okay, the next thing we want to see is the world market today. The world market not too long ago was determined mostly what you could buy in the market, was determined mostly by the industrial nations. Now it's not. You can buy products from the third world in your most attractive or strongest store that you have in Washington, DC, Chicago, LA, wherever, New York City. We can go to the marketplace, and we can buy products from small developing countries and from those countries that are not even yet identified as developing countries. We can buy their products.
I was surprised when I bought an item, a piece of clothing. Item-of-clothing. I got home, and I looked to see where it was made. It was made in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is not a country that you look for things like that. You don't look for a manufactory there. But Saudi Arabia has opened its doors or its borders to business people and working people. And they have come to Saudi Arabia and established their businesses from the surrounding area, those countries close to Saudi Arabia but also far distance away like from Asia and Europe and other places, even America.
And that's what our brothers here in this community have a big quantity of his products in Saudi Arabia that we can buy at the store, the spice. Like a spice (unclear), seasoning. Bangladesh. You can buy a cap from the United States of America in some of our stores here. You're looking to see where it was made, Bangladesh. So we have now what the business world is describing as the global market. This is a new change in business.
I was (unclear) when I visited Red China with US–China People Friendship group. Before I became leader in this community, I visited there. But I was interested to know can we come here too because the Hon. Elijah Muhammad had already turned me on to our obligation to think big and try to work for big results. So I'm there. I've never seen a time in my life when I was not aware of our interest here as a people, not as individuals, not as temples, not as mosques or schools. But as a people. I never forgot that interest. So I'm there. I'm thinking the way I've been conditioned to think. I'm conditioned to think for us and a people.
I asked the marketplace in Canton, China. Red China at that time. It was Red China, I guess. Mainland China. I asked the them, I said, "If one of us came here," I said, "could we buy produce here like I see this white man from the south doing?" Now, that was many years ago. So US and China were not on friendly terms. But here it is an American white man from the south, I think he was from Georgia, was there purchasing. So no law was preventing him from buying from Red China and taking it back home. So I said, "Could we come here, too?" He said, "Welcome." And the look in his eyes told me, "It was much better to have you here than to have them here. They are not our friends yet."
That's what I read in his eyes , "but have no problem with you. You are our friends." That's what I saw now, "We like you blacks. Not Muslims. We like you blacks." That's what I saw in his eyes. And many soldiers have experienced that overseas where they didn't blame their problems whether it was economic problems or war, military problems, they didn't blame them on the African-American or the ones from us that was over there, though we were over there serving the United States of America. Didn't blame them for it.
Don't think that this is my thinking. Everything I say is not my thinking. I just want to expose a lot of things to you. Any citizen that goes abroad that fights in the United States Army should be blamed like any other citizen that's fighting in the war. We are not to be excused for nothing because you could have got shot over here and said, "I don't want to go." You could have got shot over here. So since you didn't want to get shot over here, then you should stand up for your flag over there. That's my belief. I believe in being a loyal citizen. If I'm a citizen in a dung house, until we can make it a clean house for human beings and not a dung house, I'm going to fight for that dung house until we get the house we want. That's the kind of person I am. Yeah. Okay. Yes. If I commit myself to something, I have to go all the way. I can't betray it.
Now, when you talk about the global market, Red China is in a much better situation now, And US in terms of the relationship, much better situation now for us to do business with Canton if we want to. But we don't have to. We got so many markets that we can go to. And we have some very good friends. Don't think our friends are only Muslims. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad said something, and I don't think Honorable Elijah Muhammad knew anything about what I got in mind right now. Well, I don't know. Maybe he did. I think he was looking at Mr. Fard, his teacher. And his teacher told him, the man that we used to call savior, G-d in person.
He told my father that if he would follow what he gave him that it would put our people that are him, believers, Muslims that follow the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. It would put us in heaven at once. Good homes, friendships, plenty money. Good homes, friendships, in all walks of life. Now, I know that was said to attract us and hold us, but let me tell you something. The man that told us that, he was not interested in money and clothing and physical homes. He was interested in freeing our minds and our souls to be independent in our own thinking and in our souls to go and compete with this world. He just wanted us to be removed of everything that made us doubt our own selves.
Remove the stigma of negro, nigga, black in a negative sense and make it positive so it would work for us and free us to go and compete in this world with all other people. That's what he wanted, and he achieved it. Very, very difficult to understand when you're just looking at one thing he says. But if you look at everything he said, you will see a logic. And the logic is saying, more important is what's in here than what's out here. And if you can make what's in here right and free what's in here, you can compete with anybody out here in this world. I'm convinced that we can compete with anybody out here in this world. And if our hunger to prove ourselves, to prove our own worth stays with us, maybe not in my generation, maybe not in my time, I should say. Maybe not in your generation. The youngest one here, maybe not in your generation.
But any time, 100 years, 200 years from now, if we don't lose this hunger and we remain descent minded and innocent hearted, we are going to become equal to the best and maybe better than the best that exists on this earth. It's in us. It's been put in us. Slavery burned it in, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad's teaching, reinforce the best that we wanted, to reinforce that that in terms of our belief in ourselves that we can achieve for our own selves. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad is something to burn that in more to make a deeper impression and a bolder one, a much bolder one. And it's in us. It's in my blood. It's in many of you. It's not going anywhere.
It's in some of our people that don't call themselves Muslims who have been touched by what the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and our works have done in this United States of America and in some other places too. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad went outside of America with his teachings before he died. And it's not going to leave us. It's going to make us a giant of a people. Your insincere one is just going to torture you. That's all. The more you progress, the more you will be tortured. The flames of paradise for us is going to be the flames of hell for you.
And it shall remain that way because anybody that deserts what we're doing and has shared our history of pain and suffering of being put down as a people and then they haven't experienced what has happened to make us the new people we are, if you've been around and you saw that, you have nothing coming but hell fire if you don't join us and be sincere and straight. And that's the warning of Prophet Wallace D. Mohammed. That's my prediction. I have no authority in written books. The only authority is from my mouth. That's my prediction. They always said he's a prophet, if you don't understand how to read humor with language.
Okay. Now, let's come closer to home now. Closer to home. We mentioned the global market, and what I said to you is that the global market welcomes all people. It welcomes all people. You're not discriminated against. You're not going to be discriminated against. You're going to meet some individuals that will dislike you because of you or dislike you because of your identity with your people or your religion. That is going to happen forever. People are not going to be angels. They are not going to be perfect. But they're not that many. Why would a couple of people... There are too many others to deal with that have no problem in welcoming you the only thing they see is another human being.
And they are in great numbers. Not those people who are still warp-minded. So don't let that hold you back. The global market is open to all of us. And Honorable Elijah Muhammad wanted us to go outside of the United States and have interest, business interests in other countries. It was Honorable Elijah Muhammad who brought products from South America, Peru, the Whiting H&G and chinaware from China, some leather goods from Pakistan, some coffee from Africa, and many other things, we realized under the leadership of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad.
Now, we have an effort going again that's a national, an international effort really, to improve the material state of our lives. Not doing it selfishly. We want our Christian neighborhoods to benefit from our presence in a Christian neighborhood. We want the town that we live in to benefit from our productive presence in that town. The state, the whole country. We are not selfish. We are for humanity. Allah has freed us for humanity and has ordered us to be of service to all humanity. G-d has ordered us that. Muhammad the prophet stated it in his own words. [Arabic] "The best and most useful of you is the one who is most useful to humanity, to all people."
So we know where we are today, and we know that we are like a baby, like a human germ, a human seed-like germ planted in the body of a woman and developing to one day be out of the small confines of her body and take its place in the world of mankind. The Nation of Islam was like the body of a woman. And a germ was put in there to produce a new black man. And a new black woman, sister. It lives, and it survives on a night hour. It was delivered into the world to take its place among the people of the world, mankind. Yeah, that's what has happened
And we are now determined to do our best in our lifetime to realize our most as G-d-fearing people looking to make not only a spiritual contribution but a material contribution that will live many generations after we're gone, and I hope until the day that this world is brought to the end. I hope that we will not slow down or give up but pass our interests on to our children as it was passed on to me from my mother and father. And you all as plans to live on this earth for as long as this earth lives. Or as scriptures say, for long as the earth survives. That what I hope you will do.
If you have that kind of boldness, if you have that kind of faith in yourself, you're going to catch up. Not with that ketchup sauce. You can't catch up with that. You're going to catch up, yes, and begin to surpass others. It's destined to happen. Why? Because you have been emptied more than any other people on this earth. As Africans from Africa, we were brought here and emptied more than any other people that existed on this earth.
What do I mean emptied? I mean emptied. What we had in our heads, emptied. What we had in our hearts, emptied. What we had in our souls, emptied. In our spirit, emptied. And we were left as empty vessels, the slaves of the white people who owned us. And then something started to happen. The empty vessel said I realize I'm empty, but I don't think this is what G-d wants from me. No matter what the white master says, I don't believe that G-d wants this bad situation for me. The moment he or she starts to think that way, life starts to come into that empty vessel. The life that belongs to the vessel.
And over the period of time, Frederick Douglass, all of those great women too, Harriet Tubman and all, (unclear), Benjamin Mays and many others, Dr. Martin Luther King The Hon. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, (Malcom Shabazz), putting something in that vessel, helping you get something in that vessel. And at the same time, there were people bigger than Malcolm, people bigger than W. Deen Mohammed. That were already feeding on the universe and thinking of what G-d wants for me and that this world is wrong.
G-d didn't want this for me. It's an evil thing that has put this into the world. They were thinking that way and pouring the life in, the life that belong to the vessel was coming in and coming in. And most of those when they saw a leader representing them ignored them. Whether that leader was Frederick Douglass or whether that leader was Booker T. Washington, or Marcus Garvey or the Hon. Elijah Muhammad or Dr. Martin Luther King, those who were actually bigger sometimes than their leaders join those leaders. And they look up to those leaders because those leaders were bigger in terms of their voice. Their voice was bigger. Their voice could reach more people. Their voice could reach more people.
So many times people bigger than their leaders were looking up to their leaders and applauding their leaders, "He's representing me. He's representing me." We've got some people right here right now in this audience that's bigger than you imams who think you're so big. Yes, they have more sense. And they have more vision. And they have more faith. Yes. But don't think a leader's always bigger than everybody he's talking to.
Bill Clinton, do you think he was bigger in intellect and bigger than all the people in United States? He was president of the United States. Praise be to Allah. So I recognize that I have my equals in the audience, and maybe I might have my superiors in the audience. But G-d chose me. Yes. And it's because of circumstances, circumstances that my mother and father were put in when they met W.D. Fard, and the circumstances that I was put in when my father labored to build the Nation of Islam, I was put in that circumstance in 1933 October 30th. This baby was born.
And he was not born damaged by the white world. He was born in a new world of his parents and taught by his parents and by the leaders of that new world positive things about himself. I don't know what it is to have inferiority complex. My world didn't give me that. Isn't that wonderful? See why G-d chose me? I don't have any inferiority complex. I don't care how big you are or how tall you stand. I believe I'll start working at it, and I'll rise up to your height. And that's what we are going to do. We're determined to do that.
Getting back closer to us now, we have CPC, Collective Purchasing Conference. I think it's a gift from Allah. I have others with us who think the same now. We have said the same thing to you. I think it's a gift from Allah, the Almighty G-d, the G-d of the heavens and the earth. I think it's a gift from him. That concept, it permits us to do business and not be hurt by each other. It permits us to not have to go to court. If one of us gets in trouble, all of us won't go to court. Only that one will go to court and maybe all of us if he's innocent or she's innocent maybe all of us can help him so he won't go to jail, or wont lose too much.
So it's a different beautiful situation, Collective Purchasing Conference. And, I shared it with a white man, European American that was on a plane with me sitting to my right. He just had an interest guess because he felt that the guy next to him was not an ordinary negro or an ordinary black man. He could just feel that on my spirit, on my soul. He could feel that, I think. So he asked me, "What's taking you to Washington, DC?" I told him. And after a I told him, a couple minutes I explained to him what CPC is all about. He says, "That's very good." So I said, "It's in the hands of G-d-fearing people." He looked at me. He didn't say anything.
But the look in his eyes said something. His eyes said, "Oh, this is really serious. Here is a black businessman saying the business is in the hands of G-d-fearing people. That's serious." Very nice man. When I was getting ready to get off the plane, he says, "Have a nice day." And G-d is my witness if it could have been recorded, the recorder would have recorded his words and my words appearing at the same time and the same in the same instance. He said, "Have a nice day." And I was saying at the same time, "Have a nice day." Praise be to Allah. Yes.
Now, we have a chance again to get Whiting H&G. We're buying Whiting H&G from a supplier, a big supplier. We get it at a good price. But we know that whiting exists in many waters. Not only in South America, but it exists in other places too. And we intend to get it as the Hon. Elijah Muhammad would get it with us in the days of the Nation of Islam. We're going to get it directly from the fisherman. Directly from the fisherman to bring that price way down again like we had. But this time we won't make the mistakes that we did before threatening the market and making them organized to come against us and bring the prices down way below cost to drive us out in the market.
We are sophisticated more now. We are more sophisticated as business people, as business thinkers. So we're not going to make that mistake. I don't believe in it. I studied economics before I came to you all to be a leader, I studied it because I had an opportunity to in jail and nothing but time and two big volumes on the economics of American society, government economics and private sector, micro and macro economics. So I studied the volumes. I read both the volumes before leaving prison. I said, "I should take advantage of this time so that maybe some of this that I'm learning will benefit my father's Nation of Islam when I returned to them." That's what I did, and now I understand all this.
I'm not intimidated by this world. I want you to know that, and for you don't know what intimidated means, it means I'm not made afraid and weak. afraid and weak. I'm strong and not afraid. Okay. All right. Not growing young. I'll be 68 in October. October 30th, I'll be 68 years old. And I know I'm not growing younger, but the spirit that I have, I'll carry this body until it's dust almost. So I'm not checking out until you check in. Praise be to Allah.
I'm getting ready to close up. But for several years I've been telling the brothers around me, I'm sure they've told you about the setup, the concept, Collective Purchasing Conference and how we want the distributors to work. I believe they have already told you this, but since I'm now looking at this picture, I'm motivated to tell you let's not be selfish. We can't make it if we are selfish. We won't make it. Let's rejoice in the accomplishments of each other, and Allah will love it. Like a beautiful family where Momma and Daddy love each other and respect each other, and they have passed it on to the children.
And the members of the family all love each other and respect each other, and if one achieves, all the family members are happy. Not some little brother jealous of his brother or some little sister jealous of her sister or her brother. That destroys the family. So Allah wants us to be the best of families. [Arabic]. He wants us to be the best [Arabic], the best of families.
So let us rejoice in the achievements of each other, and don't you know that that gives you a life of fulfillment. That makes everything much better for you. It just makes the whole life better for you when you start looking at others' achievement, or others' progress as a threat to you, but you start seeing it as a complement to us, all of us. And you start cheering and cheering.
A new happiness has come in to you. A new happiness you realize it's a much better and beautiful life. And one of the worst of sins is envy and [inaudible] in religion. One of the worst of sins. And lying, telling a lie is one of the worst sins in religion. Now I lie a lot but only for humor, joking. Some of my lies are so beautiful the way I compose them, it tempts me to tell my friends a lie. But a half truth is a lie, but don't take it seriously though. That was not true. But many times I wish I could have told it just like I fabricated it. We love each other, don't we? Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
Sometimes two lovers male and female, (unclear) something inside of them. Both of them have a problem. One may be too shy and the other too bold. And they are never going to tell each other they love each other until they catch hell on top of hell seven layers of it, and then they look at each other and say, "I don't think I told you, but I love you." This world has beat us up are so bad, "I love you. Please, I love you. Forgive me for not saying a long time ago. I love you. And I love you darling with a powerful love."
But now G-d has brought us to where we want to tell each other we love each other. And that's the time that we are coming into this new life that Allah wants us in. Yes, coming back to us after losing it. We used to love each other in 1940. I was back there. We loved each other in 1950. We loved each other. For most of the '60s we loved each other. But by the '70s, Lord, hallelujah. I had to go to scripture to understand. The Bible says, "Destroy this house, destroy this temple, and I'll restore it in three days. I say yeah, this is the temple. It's destroyed, and we can see it getting restored in three days. Three long days, like the days of the Lord.
The temple is restored. Thank Allah. The temple is restored. The temple that G-d created for human beings to live in. This body of the black man is restored and is not an empty vessel anymore. We have 33 distributors in my clothing because of the trust that people have in me and my access to your funds, your investment funds. We're able to (unclear) these operations. So it's not because I'm better than you or better in business than you but better situated than you. Comtrust in Georgia is very beautiful and very fascinating. In fact, we're already looking at the Detroit area where we have some powerful investors and also some good resourceful people in business. We're looking at the possibility (unclear) this facility (unclear) its capacity. We're going to put another one up just like it, and it won't be overseen by us but the people in Detroit directly. They will be responsible for it, and I have faith in them. They are going to make it a (unclear) of success. It'll be another big success.
Now, this Comtrust that I'm speaking to you all about right now, it's just in development, - in the beginning stage of its development. It can do wonders but only with your business people firstly and your imam, your school. For your purchasing, you should ask us for a price list to see if you can save and get the same quality or better of that you will get locally by ordering from us. Now, I know you've heard that we can't ship across state lines. Somebody started preaching that in the community. Maybe not here, but I know it has been broadcast in other places, if not here, that we cannot ship across state lines. So that will stop you from ordering from us.
And two questions, can we ship across state lines? No, it's against the law for Comtrust to ship across state lines. But you can hire any transportation company you want to take your products from us and bring it to you. We have Brother Al-Amin who worked for the Nation of Islam he was driving trucks back then. We supported him in business. He had stayed in business. He's a very good brother. Very good community brother.
He ships for much less that UPS, Fedx or any of them, and he's much better. And he's a brother. He's a real brother. So if he knows a struggling brother or a struggling area, and it's in his route, he may charge you a little, or nothing to bring your product from us to you whether you are in New York, Florida, wherever you are. He may charge you a little or nothing. But we are brothers towards him, too. And if you got the money, if you pay UPS why not pay him. He will have to do the same job for you but charge you less. So don't try to get over on another brother or another sister, don't have that spirit if you don't have the desire in your heart. Allah wont help us if you're like that.
And believe me, I'm counting firstly on Allah's help. Because it's Allah's help that has brought us to this point. And it will be Allah's help that will carry us to the end of this vision that we have, and we are going to make it insha Allah. We're not attending solely on Muslim markets. But I want you to make sacrifices. Nothing big comes to any people without sacrifices. G-d says you will have what you strive for. That's what G-d says. You will have what you strive for. Your striving will produce, manifest. It will show itself. It will prove itself. It will make you manifest. You will see it. That's what G-d says.
So we are not going to have anything big without us making big sacrifices. I know it's convenient for you to continue your habit of shopping for deli meats and products from where you shop and get them. Getting your meat cuts, whatever from where you're shopping. We hope to have rice, dry staple food brought in from Bangladesh and other places and from America. We will shop and buy as a wise buyer, and we will have all those products in storage. We got storage space right now. We got plenty space to grow where we are, where we located in Markham Illinois.
Plenty room to grow. We have land right now. We can actually put up another facility just like the one we had, the same size right on the land we have right now. We have space for that. So we have room to grow. So let's go for the maximum. And let's discipline ourselves like we're at war with vicious adversaries, like we're at war with a vicious enemy. And let me tell you, nothing is more vicious than a picky, brand new negro.
And some of them are working against us right now. Right now, they are working to see how they can counter the effect of what I'm doing. Right now, we have one or two. They won't let us meet without being here. They are (unclear) right here, right now straining their brain to see how they are going to nullify or make neutral or non-existent, the effects that I'm making right now on you. Just a community in which we would share it and what we want with you. What you and I want what we want. That's the way it is.
Okay. We know we got that opposition, so let us show them that we are warriors. We are warriors. We're going to wage a mighty jihad. And jihad means just what it says, struggle. So the temptation is there to buy this. The temptation was there for me to buy some cabbage I was in the market, and I started to buy the cabbage, and I said, wait a minute we have cabbage at Comtrust. So I left it. I'm a soldier. I was made a soldier by the Fruit of Islam. First, as my father's boy. Then I was made a soldier by the Fruit of Islam.
I was a junior student that drilled and became so good, they let me lead the drill. I was a drill master. Yes, calling cadence. Did very well. Then I joined the senior fruit, our senior fruit. My first number was 58. 58. Not 48, 58.I was off the plantation when I joined. 58, that was my number. Never forget it. And the brother that gave it to me said something [inaudible]. I can't wait to get my number. He said, "58."
Brother John Hassan, he never called me Wallace like the rest of them did. He would look at me in my eye, "W.D." I was a young man. I couldn't understand it, I just thought he liked calling me W.D. But now that I'm a grown man and have been thinking, I look back on that, he was one of Allah's angels that Allah had placed to remind me that you are somebody special l and that name W. D. is not [inaudible]. Oh yeah. Okay, so I'm asking you to trust me like I trust you. And I trust you with our future. I won't be around. I will die. I trust you with our future, the future of my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren coming. I'm trusting you all with my future. My life and my future.
And as long as I live, I will be working for your life and your future for your children to come. That's my religious assignment. G-d didn't make me the man I am just to preach religion. G-d made me the man I am to be a Moses for a new people. And we are going to see the promised land. I guarantee it. Peace, asalaam aleikum.


