11/15/1987
IWDM Study Library
An Islamic Formula for a Successful Life
Los Angeles CA

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
As-Salaam-Alaikum. That is, peace be unto you. We begin putting our complete trust in Allah, the Lord and Creator, Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds. Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem, with the Name Allah, the Gracious, the Compassionate, and we pray peace and blessings be upon Muhammad, His Servant and His Messenger (SAW); peace and the blessings be on him, and on his descendants, his Companions, the righteous, and Muslims (Believers); we pray peace be on us, and that Allah helps us in our efforts, and make this occasion a success, for Muslims, a success in the eyes of our Lord, whose name is Allah, Most High.

Alhamdulillahi-rabbil-alameen. We praise Allah, Lord of All the Worlds. And we want to read from the chapter of Qur'an, that begins with the title, "Ash-Shams," "The Sun." I believe that the chapter has been read already, in Arabic.
(Darnell Karim reads Sura-tul-Ash-Shams in Arabic).
I will now give the English translation of the original text of the Qur'an, as you know which is in the pure Arabic language. You might can call it classical Arabic, but actually the revelation of Qur'an to Muhammad who himself, peace be upon him, was not literate, but G-d inspired him with revelation, and the language of revelation, and the Arabic tongue and the tongue of the Arabs, set the standard for the language from that time since. 

Now when you study Arabic grammar, in high school, college, elementary school or whatever level you study Arabic grammar on, the yardstick or the rule for measuring the excellence of the grammar, the excellence of the language, the excellence of the expression or composition, will be referred to Qur'an. The Qur'an has really set the standards for the excellence of language, ever since it was revealed and now it’s a little over 1400 years ago. That in itself is the miracle; that Allah revealed to a man who himself was not literate, an orphaned child; Muhammad, the Prophet, the Last Messenger. Revealed to him and the words came out on the tongue of an Arab. But the tongue was the tongue of eloquence, the tongue of fus’ha, the best Arabic, set the standard for the language for that time on. That in itself is a miracle.

And if you understand it, it is a miracle in the answer to the promise of G-d in Scripture: the Torah, the Old Testament, the Injeel, the Gospel. And I'm sure you people who are familiar with the Bible, you understand; though you might reject, you do understand.

I want to read the English translation by Marmaduke Pickthall. There are many translations by scholars who have the ability to make translations from the Arabic language to another language. And the Qur'an hasn't been translated in as many languages as the Bible has, but the number of translations is increasing now, with great speed: there's the Qur'an in French, in Spanish, the major languages now. Just a few years ago, we didn't have it. And G-d willing, the African-American man over here will have a translation soon, in American English. Yes, because American English is not like European English.

So, let me now read these verses, and mind you, no translation equals or has the power of meaning, the power of expression, that is in the original text, the Arabic text — nothing. That revelation, that language is revelation itself. Understand, the Qur'an itself, the very language itself, the way the words are put together, formed and put together in rank, is revelation itself. Not only is the meaning revelation, but the way the sounds come, the way the words are arranged, the way they convey meaning, all of that is revelation itself. So, no language can do justice. That's why every person who becomes a Muslim should feel obligated to learn Arabic, at least enough classical Arabic — not spoken Arabic. Don't learn Egyptian Arabic, but learn classical Arabic well enough so you can at least understand the essentials of the religion, from the reading of the Qur'an, in the original text, in the original language. 

Now that's not asking too much of the Believers; that will educate you. That will educate you where you haven't been educated; it will give you an education in an area that you haven't been educated in. It will even make other languages more understandable to you. You will appreciate other languages more, and it's a shame, you know, on all Americans, I mean the so-called "true Americans," it's a shame on us that we know nothing but English, and most of the people of the world know two, three, four or five languages. It’s a shame on us. So, we follow the pattern; we follow the way of the American white man over here, and we Blacks, we have no interest in learning anything unless the white man is learning it. So, we learn English and maybe say, ''parlez vous Fran'cais," and we're finished.

Let's read now the English translation. The title is "The Sun" in Arabic, 'Ash-Shams.' Revealed at Mecca, this was revealed to Muhammad the Prophet (PBUH), at Mecca. Mecca, as you know is the Sacred City, the venerable city that is held in high regard, the holy precincts are there, the first house built by G-d's Prophets, Abraham and his son, Ismail or Ishmael as it is called in the Bible. Ibrahim and Ismail or Abraham and Ishmael as it is called in Bible or in western language.

And not only that, the whole vicinity there, is sacred, and much of G-d's work and miracles took place right there in that vicinity. And mind you, it is the original or the first house ever built to the worship of G-d, there in that place. So, this chapter was revealed there; some of the other chapters were revealed in Medina; most of the chapters are either revealed in Mecca or in Medina. Now we begin with the first verse that opens like all the other chapters of Qur'an except only one, and that chapter has the same Attributes of G-d given within the framework of the chapter itself. And the Attributes that I am referring to now are the Attributes of beneficence, the Attributes of compassion or mercy. And every time we begin reading the Qur'an, we say G-d, the Gracious, or the Beneficent, G-d, the Merciful, or the Compassionate. And it really baffles me almost, to see anyone being afraid of a Book like that. A Book that reminds you before you read it, that G-d is gracious, He's giving and He is merciful. Now how can I be a Believer, and not be touched and influenced and have my own personality and spirit, shaped by that description of G-d?

In fact, it has been said by the Messenger of G-d, (PBUH), and by the scholars, since the early days of this religion, under the Prophet (PBUH), the muslims are obligated. That as G-d is Merciful, Muslims must be merciful. And that goes for all of the Attributes of G-d, that G-d has created us with, in human limit, where as He has those same Attributes in Divine perfection. But He has shared with His creatures, with His creation, those same Attributes. I repeat, it really baffles me, to see people being afraid of the Qur'an. Now, I know some religions that I’m afraid of, but not this one.

With that open, then comes the first verse: "By the Sun. and his brightness," actually I would translate it, 'by the sun and her brightness'. But maybe 'he' is more correct, but I would say 'by the sun and her brightness,' because the Arabic grammatical indication here is that it is 'her' and not 'his.' "Wa-shamsi-wa-du-ha-hah," or we should say, "and its brightness." Either 'its brightness' or 'her brightness.' That's another thing we should understand that in Arabic grammar, there is no neuter gender; it's either male or female.

I don't know why everything has to be trinitarian in the West. 
"By the Sun and its brightness, and the Moon, when she followeth him. "So, I guess that's why he says 'she followeth him.' I would say, 'when it follows it, or when she followeth her.' Like I say, I could have the weaker position, and he could have the stronger; I'm not here to try to prove anything, not in that area right now.

The next verse: "And the day when it revealeth him." Actually, it's talking about the soul, isn't it? "And the night, when it enshroudeth him." 'Enshroudeth him' means covers him, right? "And the heavens and Him who builds it." Now that's talking about G-d, because we know we didn't build it. "And the heavens and Him who builds it." "And the earth and Him who spreads it out"—G-d. "And the soul and Him who perfected it." Again, man and G-d who perfected the soul of man. Huh? Not every man, but He perfected the soul of some men. He perfected the soul of Prophet Muhammad, and left it as a bright light for us, so that we can mold ourselves in that form, or after that form. "And inspired it with conscience of what is wrong for it, and what is right for it." So, conscience, G-d gave us, as a natural property. The world society makes us conscious, but the first to make us conscious was G-d, and that was the perfect conscience.

I haven't seen a criminal baby yet in the nursery. In fact, we have to wait a few years for it, until we make him, right?

"He is indeed successful who causes it to grow”. Causes what to grow? Qad aflaha man zakkaha. Referring to the soul, but the soul has properties of piety, and intelligence, which we will come to. In fact, it's mentioned here: "fa alhama, fujurahah, wa-taqwaha," and inspired it with conscience of what is right and wrong for it. "He indeed is successful who causes it to grow": 'qad-aflaha-manzakkaaha; he is indeed successful who causes it to grow." Now those who are familiar with previous Scriptures, Scriptures revealed before the Qur'an. You know the importance of growth, if you’re familiar with Scripture, you know the importance of growth. In fact, the condition for being accepted is that you have growth. You may call it fruits, products, talents. However you may describe it, it's the same; the fruit of your qualification to be accepted by G-d, is that you have growth. According to the other Scripture, and here too, if we understand.

"And he is indeed a failure who causes it to be stunted"; stunt the growth, hinder the growth, retards the growth, cause the souls to be degenerate, rather than forward going. That tells us then that 
G-d created man with a purpose, and He created his soul with an aim. The soul has an aim. An inherent aim is in the soul of man, that it must seek and go after its destiny. G-d has given the soul a destiny; G-d has created man with an excellence — that excellence is in his soul, is in him when he is born. Like a seed, it has to find the right situation, the right environment, the right conditions, for its bursting forth, growth and maturity. So, to say man is born in sin and iniquity, to say man is conceived in sin or born in iniquity; to speak of man in those discrediting words is really ignorant. Some people look at the fallacies of man, at the defects of man, at the problems of man, the clumsiness of man, the lack of skills on the part of man, the ignorance of man, they look at all of these shortcomings in man, and they judge him by his errors and not by his purpose. 

They judge him by his shortcomings, and not by his destiny; they judge him by what he does in a bad situation, and not by what he is created for. They judge him by trends that are influencing him because of bad situations in the world, and not by the original trend that G-d set in him, the trend towards excellence. So, if G-d created me with the main urge in me, it's towards excellence. Science bears witness to this; science says that life is evolved; science tells us that the growth of life is evolution. Evolution means graduation from lower to greater, from lower to more; from weak to strong, from simple to complex, from inferior to excellence. That's what evolution tells us. But evolution doesn't say that none of these creatures that have been given to this pattern — that pattern is given to them. And they're going to rise, they're going to go the way of that pattern but it doesn't say that none of them are going to be defected, none of them are going to fall into bad circumstances and won't really be the beautiful picture that they should be. No, you're going to have those exceptions to the rule but the rule is excellence. That man has been created to be motivated toward excellence and that excellence is in him when he is born.
He is created with it just as the seed has the quality of the fruit in it while it is dead, in it while it is yet grown, yet ungrown. It's not grown, it's ungrown while it is yet ungrown, no growth has been manifested at all. That seed has in it the excellence of the fruit, the quality of the fruit. All has been put into the seed, all the seed need is the right situation for it.
And the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, he said, "All people are born Muslim but it is the circumstances that they are put into that makes them otherwise." A Jew, a Christian or whatever. Atheist or whatever. That happens because of the circumstances that you're put in. In fact, science records that a certain man, what is he called? Wild boy or something like that, he was found by one of the social researchers who explore primitive societies to see just how society forms before man has a hand into it. They studied this boy and found that this boy lost contact, was separated from human being, from parent early before he could learn the life and ways of human being but it managed to survive among animals.
It could not speak as a human being, it could not walk as a human being, it did not behave as a human being. It behaved in every respect as an animal. But when that boy was found and brought in touch with human beings, gradually the boy began to take on the behavior and the personality, the spirit of the human being. Which is living fact, testimony, scientific proof of what Prophet Muhammad says that you are born to be one thing but your environment, your circumstances will make you be something else. 
I'm not here to fool you; I tell you from the very start—Al-Islam is my religion, and it's your religion. If you are a human being, a planet, a star, or a fruit tree. I don't care what you are, 
Al-Islam is your religion. And if Jesus was here, peace be upon him, he would say, yes, tell them again. And that goes for Moses and all the rest. "Well where are you coming from, mister?" From the same Book.

"He is indeed successful who causes it to grow." Some translations give the English as this way: "he is successful who spends on it." As I said, the Arabic meanings are so rich, that it is hard to find a translation that will do justice. So, it is good to be aware of more than one translation by excellent scholars. Nothing is wrong with this, because it is right: 'he who causes it to grow will be successful.' Spending on it is what causes it to grow. If you spend on it, you cause it to grow. If you don't spend on your children's education, you will stunt their academic growth. Spending on their education helps them to grow. Now, you give dollars, but dollars are not what's needed for the child, dollars are needed for the rent, the phone, electric bills, the Mercedes — whatever the teacher has to have, right? The buildings, the properties, and all of that, the taxes, whatever, that's what the dollars are needed for. Actually, you are spending on that child's education. 

But what you have to offer is not education, but dollars to pay the educators to educate that child. So, he who spends on it will be successful, that is, he who spends his knowledge in the world for the benefit of those that don't have it. And the first obligation is to yourself; don't be ignorant. You are obligated to see that you get some sense, intelligence, understanding, knowledge and education; you are obligated, your, self, obligates you. And again, G-d and the Prophet says that. Your, self, obligates you.

Well, that's our subject, isn't it? "The Islamic Formula for a Successful Life," and G-d tells us very clearly, very expressively here, that you will not be successful if you don't spend on your own self. Now the trouble with us is that we spend on the weakest identity of ourselves. Man is identified in many ways. We will spend on our mortal self, we will spend on our biological self, "oh, it's going to be cold, I'm going to get me some shoes, and I wanna pay $50 for them" - the poor fellow says, "I'm going to get me a pair man, that costs $75 dollars. I got to get those shoes." And he spends on himself, right? "I got to have that long leather coat, man, I saw one that goes all the way down to your shoes. Man, I got to have that leather coat." He's spending on himself. But that's not the way. That's spending on your more distant self. Man's self goes out, and his self comes in. The more he comes in, the closer he comes to the nucleus of himself. And if you can destroy the nucleus of a thing, you have totally destroyed it.

You can hit a thing and hurt it from the outer extremities, and maybe won't cause it any impairment at all, it will continue to function and operate just as though you didn't even hurt it. But if you can fire or damage the very nucleus of that thing, you have destroyed that thing.

So, we have spent all our time, dressing up, pampering, babying, carrying the more distant self, the outer self, the extremities of our self, and have neglected the sanctuary of man. G-d here is telling us to spend on the sanctuary of man, spend on the most sacred quarters of your life, your inherent essence of excellence and values; spend on it.

"And precious is the intellect of man." Precious is the conscience of man — the conscience that gives him the sense to know right from wrong.

So, we are not reading in English all of the verses. We stopped short of about four or five verses; we are reading verses one through ten, and the tenth verse, I repeat it, which says: "And he is indeed a failure who stunts it," who stunts the growth of his own soul.

Have patience with me — I don't like to rush anyway. They used to call me slow. They still do. I heard someone who knew me from childhood, they told one of the Imams, he recently called to see how I was, or was I coming or whatever. He said, 'well you know how slow he is, don't you?' I don't like that — I don't like procrastinating, I don't like being slow, because you miss the boat sometimes, right? I don't like that, but I tell you, it hasn't been too bad for me, I haven't missed much. And I found a lot of things that I was late for. I didn't want to be there with it anyway.
That's not aimed at you here, this audience. I have all the respect for you. I was very anxious to get out here on time. But the security brother who was supposed to let us know when it was time for us to go. I said, "Let us know when is time to go." Yes, I tell on them. I'll tell of them before everybody. Imam Kariem Hassan told us when we went up in the room, it wasn’t time to go. I said, "Well, how much time we got? How soon we should be going?" He said in about 20 minutes. Because you know when they say that, that doesn't mean anything.
No, I'm not criticizing them now. Sometimes, they get news from back at the scene that it's not quite time, so that 20 minutes may be extended to 30 minutes maybe even for an hour. I'm sitting up there waiting, and waiting, and waiting and waiting. And now it's two o'clock.
I'm feeling uneasy, I'm feeling uneasy. I told my son, Wallace, he was with me for the first time in a blue moon. I told him, I said, "Something now must be gone wrong." He said, "Should I go? " I said, "Yes," I say, "Go and see what has happened. " He went out there, the security brother he came to the door he said, "Oh, you're ready?" He said, "You didn't hear me knock? "
Wallace said, "Yes I heard a knock," I think he said half an hour ago or something like that, 15 minutes or something like that he said. The security brother said, "That was the second knock"
I told him, I said, "Yes we did hear a knock but we thought it was the next door." The knock was so soft it sounded like it was next door. The next door is right like that, no more space than that, that's the next door. And the brothers are over there in that room too. We thought it was a knock next door but we didn't take it for granted, no, no. I told Wallace I said, "Will you go open the door," He say, "Okay" He went to the door to see who knocked. He looked through the little peephole he didn't see anybody. So, obviously the security man taps, tap and stepped away from the peephole. I want you to understand what happened.
He was sincere, very sincere. He said, "Well, you didn't answer so we didn't want to disturb you. We thought maybe you're working on your notes." Because I do be working on my notes. I be working on my notes if it's the last minute, sometime in the car coming over, I still be working on my notes. But I told them earlier today, I said, "Well, I'm now finished I'm ready to go now before we even went up to the room." I said I'm ready to go now, everything is finished. But obviously they thought that maybe I had gotten back into it, and was working on my notes. We were late because of poor judgment on maybe our part and the security man's part, but definitely on the security's man part.
I told him the phone rang, why didn't you phone us? Yes, you can phone, right? If I tap on your door, and was getting no results, I'd get the phone and call you say, "Hey, what's happening there, we're worried." But as I said I know him, he's very sincere and I don't think we had that problem again. Because see, a sincere person they don't want to create any problems. I hope you don't think I'm talking about the FBI, the FOI, The Goon Squad is going to get them. That's days of the caveman, the black caveman. We left those days long time ago.
Not that you left, but that we left. I can't speak for all of you, but I know we left those days. It doesn't mean that we can't halal an animal now. Some men they so squeamish, they can't even halal chicken. We can halal him. We know our rights. Bismillah Allahu Akbar he is halal. In the name of G-d. G-d is greater.
That's all you have to remember right?
So, when you subdue the animal, the animal doesn’t spoil you. See, victory will spoil a man, won’t it?
Yes, victory will spoil a man if he doesn't humble himself to his Creator. He has to humble himself before his Creator, then victory won’t spoil him. Look how victory spoiled the Romans. Look how victory spoiled America; how it used to brag — as an arrogant nation. The British Empire bragged 'the sun never sets on our territory.' As a child I heard the American government representative say on the radio with my own ears, 'we can police the world.' That's what I heard on the news as a child, and I wasn't even in my teens. But when it hit my ears, I have never forgotten it. In fact, it's just that clear in my mind. 'We can police the world.' That was when World War II was being fought.

Now he got you saying, 'we can police this turf, man’. I wouldn't want to be no small policeman like that.

I have read from the Sura or the chapter, "The Sun," to set the stage for this presentation. To say from the very outset, that G-d created man perfect. It doesn't mean that man is an angel; no, our religion makes it very clear that when G-d made man, He didn't create an angel, He created a human being. A creature given limited free will. A creature that because of his own degree of excellence, above other matter or other creatures, he's also put to tests and trials, more so than any other creature. Angels are not tested like that. Animals are not tested like that. Man is tested. And he must earn respect and acceptance before G-d and civilize man by his own efforts. He's going to make mistakes, but the natural urge in him is to grow toward more and more improvement. He's going to commit sin; and be guilty of sin, but sin is not his purpose. Sin is not his destiny, so since sin is not his purpose or destiny, we cannot say he is sinful by nature. 

His purpose is his nature. You must define the man's nature according to his purpose, according to the aim in him, the aim in his life, the evolutionary direction in his life. You must define his nature on that basis; not on the things that he may do, while progressing along that line. Because an automobile driver, may stop and get a cup of coffee, but that's not his purpose. You can't put a value on his trip. Saying, “hey, the value of his trip is a cup of coffee”. The man was going to see the President; he was driving to see the President. So that doesn't change the value of his trip because he got a cup of coffee, and you are ignorant to write about his trip and say, "coffee, coffee, coffee," and emphasize coffee, and forget he's going to see the President. 

Praise be to Allah. Believe me, we are doctors of science, and though I don't have a credential, a B.S. or M.A. or Ph.D. If I do good service, to what G-d has revealed, I am a doctor, a doctor of science, not voodoo.

So dear audience, Believers, Muslims, people, because I have called you all Muslims already you know. What we mean by that is that your inherent nature in life is Muslim. And that word simply means that that life is akin in its form and in its purpose, to the whole external reality of matter. It's no different in its form and purpose when it comes to conforming to the order of the universe that G-d Himself made; it is no different. It is all the same. The sun and the stars are Muslims.
The trees are Muslims. The human beings and the animals are Muslims. But the human being is the Muslim proper because he can come into the Muslim life of his own free will. And G-d said after He created the whole thing, He said, " Come now, willing or unwilling." And the angels and all those things that G-d made; they came willingly. But rebellious man, he had a problem.
The purpose for man, man will survive all of the devious acts of the devil. And he will stand up honorable before his Lord. Yes, and we have the bright stars of humanity to testify to that. And many of them no nothing about a prophet, but they stand in excellence. Yes. I’ve read about so-called primitive society. And I was really impressed with the social life and moral life of the Pigmies in Africa. This particular student of this primitive society said, “she found no criminality among the Pigmies. They did not abuse each other, no black on black crime among the Pigmy. In elaborating upon our topic, An Islamic Formula for a Successful Life, we want to follow a procedure. We hope to look at self, self-image. Self-view, how self is seen in the eyes of self. And to understand self-concepts as a need in the human being’s life for a sense of well-being. People who don’t have a healthy self-concept, religion and secular world science tells us that they can’t enjoy a feeling of well-being. And if you can’t enjoy a feeling of well-being, you don’t have a spirit to succeed in hardly anything. So, people who have bad self-view, bad picture of themselves, poor self-image, poor esteem of one’s self. Those people are not expected to perform on the high standards of people who have that. No, it can’t be expected. You know, it beats me how the so-called learned, the scientist, social or behavior scientist, when they are discussing problems of individuals, oh they can really drive the point home to alarm and excite the public, the leaders, the nation that something has to be done about this problem in society. This poor individual is suffering psychological damage, social rejection. Because of social rejection, psychological damage. And they go on and on.
Poor self-image, no self-esteem. We need money to spend so we can treat these ills and they get the money. But when it comes to a whole lot of people, a whole group, the masses, black, white or green or whatever color.
When it comes to these big groups of poor people, they will point out to the fact. But they don't point out to the fact until after one of the poor have already, called attention of the members of his own lot to the problem. They weren't talking about the poor self-esteem of blacks until Garvey, Frederick Douglas before him. Marcus Garvey, Drew Ali and many others, and especially the honorable Elijah Muhammad.
They weren't talking about it until they made the point that the black man has been deprived of a comfortable self-image. That he had been told lies about his own individual human worth. And that, that has to be corrected if the black man is to meet the challenges of modern times and competitive world society. There was a black who told us that. It was members of our own lot that told us that before the social sciences, before the so-called learning of Western sciences came out and began to make issue to get help for the problem. And believe me, no matter how sincere these people are in education, in the social field, no matter how and sincere they are, they can’t do but so much. Their ability to help the masses is greatly limited.
They will spend on individual problem, but they will not spend in satisfying, significant amount on the problem of the masses. And if they start to spend to correct the malfunctions in the masses. And I'm not talking about blacks only now, the masses, the uneducated, the unestablished, the uprooted. That's who I'm talking about. They will not spend and if they spend, there will be right away a counter-movement against the spending. And that movement will be secretly spending to undermine what they are trying to accomplish. I say secretly, you won't even be aware of what's happening.
All of a sudden you got freedom that you didn't have before. All of a sudden you got rights that you didn't have before. All of a sudden, they're promoting liberty on your part that you didn't even have before, you didn't dream of, you're afraid even to think of. Telling you, you can freak off and do whatever you like. That's to take the masses away from the new help that comes to them. Now, I'm not telling most of you anything. You know this, but sometimes we have to be reminded that the masses are an unwanted lot. They're only wanted for servant kind of roles.
And if there's no need for them in servant roles, they are regarded as a burden on society. That's how the masses are regarded. Now, am I saying this to incite you and raise you to make you become dissatisfied or angry with the establishment? No, I'm saying this to get you to see that you must be responsible for yourself, and whatever help come to you, accept it if it comes clean. Whatever help is extended to you and it comes clean from clean hands, accept it, be grateful to 
G-d and grateful to your fellow man, but don't depend on that. For great help comes in season but you have to live throughout the year. Right?
And my religion tells me that, I should direct my attention to a blessed tree whose fruit comes in every season and that ain't the world. That's not the world, the world's fruits are seasonal. You remember the season of President Kennedy and the season of President Johnson, and now you are in the season of President Reagan. You know something about seasons, don't you? And I think the Christians say, "There're those who can read the face of the heavens but can't read the signs of the seasons." They can look at the sky and say, "It's going to rain." They've seen the clouds up there.
They believe most likely those are rain clouds, so they say, "It's going to rain." They see the wind blowing on the clouds, "Well, it's going to be fair weather." But they can't look down here where everything is happening all around them and say, "Hey, it's winter. It's winter in June." It is important to know that scriptural focus on man, on man as an identity, is the answer for identity conflict, identity burden. The scripture focus upon man's identity as universal man, as common man.
Now we know our identity differs depending on the interest we give ourselves to. You even identify a person as a mailman, but that identity of his is not as significant, is nothing like consequential as his identity as a creature who's a member in the material universe, and has a role, a purpose and a destiny in that reality. That definition is much more significant, much more important for human sense of wellbeing, sense of direction, sense of purpose in life, than a simple identification of him as a mailman. But the mailman, that's an identification, isn't it? He's a mailman, he identifies as a mailman.
See, some of us think the identity that the traffic cop want is the important identity. “He's negro, he's black, he weighs 198 pounds”. That's the identity that you live by. You're black, you're burly, are you frail? That's the identity, I'm black and burly, I'm black and frail, I'm black and homosexual, I'm black and gay, I'm black and whatever. I'm not making jokes I'm very serious, but those are silly identities that we live with. I'm black and female, I'm black and male, I'm black and masculine. An ape is masculine, more masculine than you. He’ll take your pants down. That ape is bad, tough, real burly. That's not the identity that you should be proud of.
I'm on my topic, Islamic formula for a successful life. The first step toward being successful is to see yourself, for the moment you see yourself according to the prophet, peace be upon him. You know your G-d. How can man know G-d and not knowing himself? You have to know yourself first and you know yourself by looking at yourself in the cosmic reality. “Oh, what is he talking about?” Cosmic reality. Look, matter is continuous, there's a continuity to matter. Matter has a unity. Matter has a sameness. Matter makes up one family of matter, stars in all the bodies and things that are in the universe. You are a citizen of the universe. You were a citizen of the universe before you became a citizen of Africa or a native son of Africa.
You were a citizen of the universe before you became a citizen of the United States, you're first a citizen of the universe. Your identity begins in the universal reality and that's where you find your essence. That's where you find your nature. G-d says He made man and patterned him on the pattern which He patterned the whole universe. I hope we'll understand it as I go on. Allah says, with the revelation given to Muhammad the prophet speaking to the Jews, in their stubbornness that G-d revealed to them that they should enter the door prostrate, fadkhulul baba sujada, enter the door prostrate.
You can enter the door prostrate. If you are ignorant and have been misguided, you can enter the door prostrate if the right picture is presented to you. What do we mean by prostrate? The Christian says it in a different way. Say you cannot enter unless you come in as little babes. G-d created first for us, the cosmic reality, stars, heavens, earth, all of this combined is one great endless material reality. Now, maybe you can't be as philosophical as I can be. You know, I heard a white man brag one day and he wasn't a high-class white man. He was a common white man. A common white man, but a white man of thought and principle.
And he said in my presence, and I believe he said it really, in my ears. But he wasn't looking at me, but I sensed that he just wanted me to hear what he was saying. See, sometime a man can look at a person and can pretty well guess what kind of mind is in that person. And when you sense that a mind is in that person that may hear something that other minds won't hear and you've been wanting to tell some black man that, the white man would tell that in the ear of that man that he thinks well listen. So, this white man said, "The white man has a great imagination and that has accounted for his success."
That's what he said. “White man has great imagination and that's what has accounted for his success”. You'd be surprised how help comes to people from unexpected places. Now, I agree with that man. Great imagination, imagination that strains itself to comprehend unreachable boundary of this real environment, not imagination to see what it can do unreal. See, the fools have great imagination too, but they stretch their imagination to see what they can do that's unheard of, that's unidentifiable, that has no place in the continuity of reality. They want to do something that's freaks way-out.
So, their fiction is not appreciated by the critics of fiction and they wonder how come, "You see how they do us man? Now, you know, man. You know the black men can write, man. Heavy prose, the black man writes, man. All the great fiction that we write, man. Hey you, when do we get any recognition for our popular books, man? The popular fiction of our writers, man." Your fiction is fictitious.
It has no real reference, it's not a message of the truth in strange apparel. It's just strange through and through. We need to know these things, so we can get our life in our own hands. So, dear beloved people, in talking about self-image, the important to self-image for a healthy sense of wellbeing. The bigger picture is the situation for the smaller picture. If you put the small picture in isolation, you're in trouble. But if you take the small picture and put it in the framework of the big picture, now you've got a relationship. Now, you've got reality connected. Now, you got some way of defining and limiting definition.
See, the black man, he just keeps on going with the definition of black. "Yes, black is beautiful, man." That's some light stuff to say about your identity as a race. Birds are beautiful, that's not a racial classification. “Well, we needed that to combat the negative thing that the white man said”. Well, what did he say? “He said we're ugly, man”. Well, all you can do is just tit for tat. He hit you on the shoulder, you hit him on his shoulder. That's child stuff. He calls you ugly, don't try to prove yourself beautiful. He calls you ugly, try to prove yourself wealthy or try to prove yourself wise. Go for a bigger victory.
He calls you ugly, don't go over that little shallow victory that he's trying to influence you, go for a bigger victory. Say, "You, niggas are sure ugly." Say, "Okay, keep quite brothers. Let's see if we can show him that we are sure wise," because he'll let his daughter married an ugly wise man.
While we are on this facet of the puzzle. You have to understand this, that all white people are not beautiful. Now they know that. When the white man thinks of himself as the ideal race with the ideal beauty and all that, he's aware that some of his people are hideous. He knows that there are some of him people so ugly that if he met them in high noon, he would be afraid. He knows that. But him lifting himself up as the idea picture of human beauty, man's beauty has influenced you to think that he ain't ugly. Sure, white people are beautiful, but white people are also ugly with all their straight hair.
A straight hair orangutan doesn't make him beautiful. But some straight hair blacks think they're okay, they're beautiful just because their hair is straight. So ugly, he looks like he should be apologizing every time he sees somebody, but his hair is straight so he's not even conscious of it. He doesn’t even know he's ugly. And some old brainwashed victim of the white man psychology from the women, she'd be fine. She’ll look, doesn't see anything but he's straight hair. She'll have a baby, and the baby is born bald-headed and ain't nothing there but the orangutan. And she is ashamed to tell people to come over to see my baby because she married a head of hair.
So, in order to be able to work safely with any concept, you've got to see that concept in its reality. And every concept is formed or born in the cosmic concept. It is the cosmic concept that has given birth to every other concept. Every animal, every plant, human being, everybody, every stone, every crystal, forms in the context of the cosmic world. The white man has that understanding. He makes fiction and he picture his hero, as cosmic hero. They don't have the United States citizenship, they got a citizenship in a cosmic galaxy.
Now, you tell me that hero's concern is small as yours? No, your narrow picture of your identity makes you very small. Allah says, "Oh man, think not that your reality is bigger than the external reality." He patterned man's life in his reality on a pattern, the order of the universe. You have universal disciplines in your nature, in your being by nature. You have universal discipline. Yes, it is those universal discipline that account for your well-being. If you lose those universal disciplines, you will lose your sense of well-being. You will lose your well-being.
So, we need the big picture in order to identify the small one, to find the place of the small one, the value of the small one. We need to know the role of matter, cosmic reality, in order to appreciate the role of man. And Allah says that the heavens, the stars, the moon, all of those things glorify 
G-d. All of those things conform to His purpose. All of those things conform to His will. All of those things follow the nature and aim that He gave them. And for that reason, they remain. Their function is preserved for them, while man is constantly losing his function as the excellent creature that G-d created him to be.
Racist view of ourselves did not come to us from common natural man. It came from man who gained the skill, the insight, and the skills to confuse reality and pass on pride to the fools that he himself pretend to buy, but does not buy he only sells it. If you think racist America was able to achieve the greatness that America achieved in the last 100 years, you are yourself ignorant. It was not racist America that achieved that. No. They use racism as an excuse to keep you out of the competition, to keep you fighting them in a battlefield of nonsense. What the heck does that difference make? You white and I'm black. Or "I'm superior because I'm white, white is better than black.
And then, we going to counter, "I'm black and I'm better than you. Your skin burns in the sun, mine doesn't. You get sun rash, I don't." And then he comes back and he talks about you. That black is inferior, it is a mark of inferiority. And the people that sold the white masses and the black masses that idea they are really speaking in a different context, a different framework of language altogether. When they're talking about black man and white man. In their language, white man is an enlightened man. Black man is dormant man. His mind hasn't shine forth. His intellect hasn't been illuminated. So, he is dark in intelligence. The light of intelligence hasn't spark and lit his body, and lit his life, and lit his world for him yet.
That's what they mean when they say you're black. Can't you sense that when white people in their intelligence circles, while on media when they speak in an intelligence circle can't you sense when they say black people, that they're talking about something that you don't know? Can't you sense that they have a meaning that you're not aware of? They're not talking about your black skin. They are talking about your failure to spend on your intellect. Your failure to spend on your growth, your failure to come into enlightenment by straining your imagination.
Your imagination not to find fiction and falsehood, not in that sense, you'll stretch your imagination to find unreachable boundaries of truth. To try to find a framework of truth for you in this external world of reality. The framework of your existence. The framework of your conscious. Man's conscious should go out and expand. Expand your conscious. Expand and expand and expand to find self in creation. To find the place and role of self in creation. To see if you can see a direction for man in creation. If you will stretch your imagination, your sensitivity, your senses, your sensitive nature, your sensitive being will feel what you can't see.
And you will begin to feel a purpose that you can articulate yet. But eventually, if you keep feeling out for it, you will gain the ability to articulate the purpose that you sense for yourself in this external reality.
And that's the activity in the life of cosmic man. So, go on and tell them a black Superman is born. Yes, and not just now. I think Frederick Douglass was a black Superman. We need to turn the race on. We need to turn the masses of African-American people on to this kind of thinking, to this kind of appreciation of image, of self-view, of self-identity. Where we identify ourselves not in white man's history first. We identify ourselves in G-d's handiwork first. And find our worth and our purpose in G-d's handiwork first. And then measure the value that the white man wants to give us, within that great picture of our reality. Yes, that's what we must do.
Stretch your imagination. Don't be afraid to think. What did Du Bois say? He says, "The teachers, the educators of our black children, they will do a service to the extent that they teach their children to think." We don't know what he means now. Most of us don't even know what he means anymore. When he says, "Think," he means catch the imagination. Go where the white man dare lead you. Go where he's afraid to lead you. He's afraid to lead us, not only us, he's afraid to lead the masses to the field of resources. Because if they get into the field of their resources that G-d has created for them, they will be able to compete and demand a share in every quarter of life. Not only that, they will not be restrained or restricted in travel by their American citizenship.
As cosmic man, they will think nothing of going to see what resources that the black community can use in China, what resources that the black man can use in Kenya. They won't be afraid. But now, even though we know that as a citizen we have the right to go and do business on this whole earth, especially in any country that's not at war or not a declared enemy of the American people. We have the right to go there. We have a right to go to Russia because Russia and America are cooperating now. We have the right to go to China because China and America are cooperating now, in sufficient degree to allow American citizens to go there.
And long before it was known to the American public that China was a country that was moving closer to the American people and would allow the American people to form diplomatic relations and good relationship with China. Long before that was even known, there was southerners and northerners down in Canton in the big shopping center, the big center for exports. I know because I was there as a member of a group in the American people-China people friendship group. I went along with that group of American people and I saw in Canton, southerners.
They weren't there, they were in our group. They came there as businessmen. And while China was regarded by us and the United State as a place that we shouldn't visit, as a communist enemy, they were over there getting goods at a price that they couldn't get them elsewhere and bringing them back to the United States and selling them and making their business position stronger in their communities because of their access to the markets of Canton or to the imports of Canton. Do we have the courage to do that? No. It takes Cosmic man to have that kind of courage.
In fact, most of us though we accepted by law as citizens of the United States with the rights of every other citizen in this country, most of us have that chained elephant syndrome. The white men say, "You're free," Said, Look, ain't no chain."
We go out so far and back up and it's hard to go forward. Thank you very much. It's very hard to go forward.
I better pour this on a living thing and see what happens to it first.
No, I trust this man, I sleep in his house, but you didn't bring that water from the faucet, did you? Where you got it, out of that box? You brought that?
Yes.
You poured it?
yes
You, yourself?
Yes, sir.
I'll drink it.
Thank you, excuse me. Oh, I have a hidden security too. You got to be careful. Look, if you say things that make people shake, don't trust the people that shake. Because it's human nature to defend the mortal life and if he's shaken his mortal life is in trouble. No matter how good his heart is, look how they wept after they sent Jesus up. Not that we agree with the story, but I'm coming from Christian report. Look how they wept after they had set the man up. Set the poor righteous man up and then weep. As he went up for the bad treatment, they were weeping.
Peter wept, slept by the doorstep and wept or something like that. And he was the main one that betrayed him. Judas and Peter, right? Peter said, "I don't know him." Now, I'm telling you that's the denomination that I would never join, a Peter denomination. That's if I was out shopping for a religion. I would not join a Peter denomination because he betrayed the man while he was living. What can you say to me to convince me that after he's gone, Peter's going to be better? If he was afraid while Christ was living, peace be upon Christ, nothing can convince me that he's going to be better after Christ is gone.
Now from cosmic man, we look at Earth, the home of the human being. Allah says, “the earth is the place where you are form. The place where you would live, the place where you will die and the place from which you will be raised up again”. So, earth is home, isn't it? Earth is home. We're narrowing now we come from cosmic boundaries, the big picture. Now we see the earth in that big picture. We're getting closer now to the boundaries of human influence. But human influence is favored by cosmic influence. It is cosmic influence that give really muscle, purpose, et cetera to human influence.
But now we're coming into the smaller picture of human influence. The earth, our religion teaches us to identify as a member in the body universe. It teaches us to identify as a member in the body earth. That this is our home, the earth, and that the earth is the place for us realizing our growth. G-d says, "He will be successful, who'll spend on himself or who will cause his own soul to grow in its enlightenment and in its regardfulness or its piety. Piety is regardfulness. Our nation falls when it loses regardfulness. A people will fall when they lose regardfulness.
And now you see as an epidemic in the society of the ignorant, no regard for anything. The manipulators who manipulate the life of the ignorant to save them from the threat of the ignorant. They have influenced you to lose regard for everything. They brought movies out to make joke of G-d. They used to have such respect for religion. They made movies to make joke of the priest, make joke of the nuns. Then they teach, they arm the children with authority over the parents. They have imparted to the children ideas about their rights that have made children lose regard even for their parents. They think the parents are stupid. What influence in society have made our children lose respect for their parents, lose respect for the grown-ups? That's not our doing. 

It was always limited. Respect stayed in the African American people for parents, for elders, until the influences came from the deceitful culture. The rigged culture, that's rigged to contain the ignorant in their ignorance, and feed their lives to degeneracy rather than to growth and progress. So, that they don't have to be worried about you having any design on the resources from the treasures of the world.
Now, this is the truth. They kill people for saying these things I say. But not nowadays. No, they don't kill you nowadays, not in these days because they think what you are saying will fall on deaf ears. And they feel so secured that their game has been so tight. They've worked their thing out so successfully, so perfectly that you can't do nothing, but get the attention of a very minuet portion of the people. And that small portion will be of no consequences. That's what they count on.
But they are wrong. They are wrong. And we know whenever G-d and HIS plan intend for a thing to come about, the conditions for protecting that thing has already come about. Some of you all shiver and shake at some of the things I say. Some of you are, not all of you. I know many of you feel the way I do; you speak the way I do. You have no problem with what I am doing. In fact, you identify as one in what I am doing.
I know that, and some of you that are here, and you are of my color, you should understand that we have friends and company from other colors. I mean Imam W Deen Mohammed had friends, and helpers, supporters from other colors. Silent partner.
Takbir.
Allahu Akbar. Yes, G-d's work is protected by G-d. And this is G-d's work. A sincere work done to change the pitiful situation of the masses of people is loved by G-d. Every man who stood up to sincerely do something, to salvage a remaining life that is in the masses of people from the evil clutches of the world, G-d is with them, always. So, any of you all who have fear in you understand. No, look, the best insurance is G-d, and I am a living proof. I am, not that I am the only one, but I am here, I might as well show you myself.
I am a living proof that G-d is the best insurance.
I didn't come to tell you that, so I am not going to go into the details of that. All I say is go retrace my track. Study my life from child to now. Go question friends that I live among, my neighbors in the different parts of the city of Chicago that I live among. Ask them about me. Ask them what they know about me, and learn about me from them. Learn about me from my family. Learn about me from my wife and children. Learn about me from those who are with me now. And if you learn all about me and can't see that G-d is the best insurance, you aren't meant to be saved.
Like I said, I am not the only one. There are many examples like that. You can find men and women in the world that if you study their life, study their experiences and their trials and tribulations and how they have stood together. What I mean, intact, together in themselves. They have kept their life intact and how they have survived situations that look like were hopeless, and escaped the misery that most people meet. Yes, escaped it.
That's the blessings of G-d. If you have a good heart, you have good intentions, you don't have no wickedness or no wicked purpose, G-d is with you. Now, you might not appreciate the philosophical views that I appreciate. But I think this philosophical perception, is really is what makes the difference between the living and the dead, the successful and the failures. I think that's what makes me different.
Some of us think that men weren't great and didn't have great societies and didn't have great nations until modern science. The great world began with the philosophers, and the philosophers had great institutions of learning, and they also had industrial establishments. They had trade and commerce. They paved roads, built skyscraper. Lot of us don't know that. “They didn't have any 747, did they?” Not that I know of. A lot of things that have been accomplished with modern science are really astounding. We have to admit.
But, 100 years from now, the things that we pride ourselves with may be of hardly any value at all. Just like the great monuments of ancient Egypt, the great science of the ancient pharaohs, their doctors and learned men passed away. How long do you think the great achievements of modern western man will survive if his sun sets? And it appears from every angle that the sun of the western man's intellect has set already. He's just struggling with a dying life. Yes!
The hope now is in other people, the Asians, it should be in you. You haven't had a chance. Yes, the hope should be in you. Not that the white man is going to go settling down through the last step, or the bottom rail. I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is every sign point to the setting of their sun. That their light is getting dimmer and other lights are competing with their light and from every apparent seems like their life is going to lose place in the life of other people. Already the industry has been eclipsed by Japan, Korea, and a few other small nations.
Yes. In fact, the future for them seem so hopeless, that they have already given up trying to keep the leadership in industry for the American people. Yes, they've already given up. Their strategy now is to benefit from putting their eggs in many baskets. Or investing in the international world and allowing the international world to invest in America. That's the strategy for continued life for the American society, right? That's the strategy. And if you read, if you listen to the news, if you're serious minded, I'm sure you know that.
So, it's a new day of new opportunities. And unless the ignorant people, and when I say ignorant here, I don't mean; some of you all are more much more intelligent than white people that's running big things. But you are cheated, you are cheated. He has a sense of reality and his place in it that you don't have. So, his sense of reality and his place in it is a motivation in his life and you need motivation. And all it takes is a pretty woman, or a little dust in the nose and the poor black achiever is finished.
Because he doesn't have a motivation that stronger as an intoxicant than coke. My motivation is stronger than coke. Coke can't do nothing for me. That stuff is too weak.
With my sense of place in the cosmic reality and sense of place at home on earth, knowledge of my purpose, my aim, my destiny that G-d created me for. Oh, it's so much more valuable, so much more important. Shoot. It places such value on my intellect that to take some dust and put it in my nose. To interfere with the normal functioning of this kingdom, hell no.
Devious nations, competing nations they have always used human weakness to bring down their competitor. Competing nations would go and pretend to be paying homage to their competitor and bring all the pretty whore in the kingdom. And the leaders of the government that they are in competition with they start going to bed with one of them whores and they never wake up. Or either they will sell them on habit, foolishness.
You know the Christian African-American, if you look in the Bible carefully, you can come up with a lot of help for yourself. I read this statement in the Bible and I said, how come more blacks are not giving this as a word of caution to our people? If they're Christian then they should be using the helpful guidance that's in their religion, for their people. It’s better than are you saved. It’s much better than to ask me, "Am I saved?" "Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you love the Lord?" It’s much better for you to say something else than to say that to me.
I don't love my mother, I don't love my father, I don't love my brothers and sisters, I don't love myself, and you come ask me, “do I love Jesus?” I have all the respect for Christ Jesus, but not this poor image of Christ Jesus that the American public has. “Do you love Jesus? Have you been born again? Is Christ your personal savior?” We can help each other much better by saying, my people are destroyed by wine and song. Yes, and that's the truth. Entertainment, foolishness, wine intoxicants, playfulness, songs and dance dominate the life of the black city man. Am I right or wrong?
It’s plain. We don’t have to argue about that. It is plain. Everybody recognizes the truth right away. The black city man's life is dominated by foolishness, entertainment and dissipating pleasures. Pleasures that dissipate his valuable resources. That's what he’s dominated by. How in the world can we compete with learned society, with the new Asians that's coming in? How can we compete with them and they have great traditions? Strong family traditions, strong discipline in their life that dictates their behavior as a group not as an individual only but they got philosophy and discipline that govern their behavior as a group.
There is a limit to how far the Japanese, the Chinese and other nor'easter the nationality as a group. There's a limit to how far they go in indulging themselves in this dissipating pleasure thing. No, they drink that wine very carefully in small doses. But we live for it. We work five days a week, and to spend all our check on it. Now I know you heard this before, but as long as this problem exists for the ignorant masses, we have to work on the problem. We have to address the problem. “My people destroyed by wine and song. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. These are sayings from the Bible.
This is what the preacher should be saying. The preacher ought to come to the pulpit and say, "Amen. My people are destroyed by wine and song. My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge. Amen. Pass the bucket let's go home." But instead, he's going to cater to your weakness. He's going to give you some church wine and church song and play it until you go crazy out of your mind. He ain't satisfied until you lose your senses. And just go limp into your seat, then he thinks he really preached. He did preach.
See, preach is a reach. P-R-E-A-C-H. Preach is a reach with a “P” preceding it. It’s a reach and a blind man he reaches, he reaches his cane. But if he wants to teach, he should just say, "My people are destroyed by wine and song. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. People, G-d, go with you. Amen. Pass the bucket." What is the aim in bringing this concept to you and trying to get you to feel the sense, your identity in the cosmic reality, the freedom for you in the cosmic reality?
Now, see, you don't understand that this idea has practical benefits. G-d has said to man, that HE created the universe, and HE placed man in the garden, and HE charged man to keep the garden, HE made him responsible for that wonderful environment, HE made him a responsible being in that wonderful environment. Don't violate the order of this environment, but compliment it. Don't introduce contrary things, but build upon the wondrous things that G-d has provided. This is what G-d charged the man with, put him in that wondrous environment. And HE told the man that HE had made all of these things for his benefit, for his service. The Bible says, “that HE put all of these things under the man”.
Our scripture saves us from the pitfalls in that kind of idea, by telling us, no, G-d didn't put you over all these things, but G-d made all of these things to yield benefit to you. He has “sackara”, HE has made these things to yield their treasures, their benefits, to you. The fish in the sea, the Bible says, right? The water, and the land, and everything, the air, the things above, this is what the Bible says. And our scripture says the same, but without the pitfall. It even says, that HE has sackara shams, the sun. We read about it. He has made the sun to yield its benefits to you. To yield benefits to you, and now we see it is practical, that's cosmic man.
When G-d tells me that He made resources for me as far as I can see, sun, climate, rain, fertile wind, plants, animals, mountains, treasures in the earth and in the sea. Allah says in this book, my G-d, my maker, says in this book, HE made all of that to render, yield benefits, service to me. That makes me cosmic man. My field of resources extends beyond the earth itself. Practical, because right now the industry is trying to utilize more and more sun energy, to get away from the problems of gas and other fuels that pollute the air, pollute the land and the water.
So, a long time ago before man even thought of that, there wasn't strong evidence of the practical benefits in that philosophical concept of man. In fact, we can't even say it's simply philosophical any more, can we? You can't today say it's simply philosophical. Philosophical means, it has wisdom, it has logic, therefore it has benefit. It has reality, it has relationships, it has place in connection with you, therefore it has benefits. That’s a simple way of saying what philosophy says. But we can't limit it no more to a purely philosophical concept. It has practical benefits, proven benefits.
You need to expand your mind, and accept what Allah says about you. Allah is our creator, Allah is our maker, we have to accept what He says about us, and Allah says more about Warith Deen Mohammed, more about Wallace Deen Mohammed, Allah says more about me than western science. Western science identifies me with an animal, with a monkey. Some scientist says, there's an evolution, an unexplained chain in the evolution of man up from ape & monkey. Some science in the viewpoints of western man say that, a freakish thing occurred, that the human being as we know the human being now, is a product of a freakish thing that occurred in nature. So, they say we are a product of a fault in nature.
Now, isn't that kind of thinking the same that we find in the so-called true interpretation or true reading of the Bible? Man's born, conceived in inequity, born in sin, not fit as G-d created him, therefore he has to be born again of the divine, he has to be “G-d man” in order to save man. He cannot just be man, and be a type for man's salvation, he must be “G-d man”, “man G-d” to save man. Oh buddy, I'm telling you, this kind of stuff on the minds of people keeps them servants. And don't look to me, I'm speaking nothing but what G-d has revealed.
So, here we are caught up in the entrapment, entrapped by white men racial argument. African Americans bearing a terrible identity problem, an identity crisis. He can't come up with a comfortable view of himself. “I'm Black”, and he tries to live with that. Tell me, what is the difference in saying, I'm Black, and saying, I'm Negro? What is the difference? I'll tell you the difference. You're saying you're Black and don't know what you're saying, when you say you're Negro, because Negro means black in Spanish, right? Yes, Negro means Black, in Spanish, so when we were calling ourselves Negro, we were calling ourselves Black, but we were calling ourselves Black without a knowledge. And why did we call ourselves Negro? Because the white man conditioned us to not call ourselves African.
White men come over here from Europe, he doesn't say, I'm a white man, he doesn't say I'm a white man. He only says he's a white man when the subject of white and black comes up. A white man doesn't come here and say, I'm a white man, he says, I'm a Caucasian. A Caucasian means that he traces his origins to the area in Europe called the Caucasus Mountain. And many of them whites, just as white as the Caucasians, will not call themselves Caucasian, because they are not from that area. They don't trace their origins from there.
Most of the white will not say Caucasian, they will not say white. When they say who they are, they say, “I'm Spanish, I'm Italian, I'm Greek, I'm Yugoslavian, I'm Albanian”. Yes, that's what they say, I'm German. And when they come over here and identify over here on this land, German American, French American, Italian American, right? We the only ones with an identity that goes no further than the rainbow. Now, isn't that a fact?
Therefore, Jesse can lead all of us, one leader, Jesse. “Jesse is enough for me”. Not to reject Jesse, I don't reject him. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, I don't reject Jesse. I think he's very useful. Perhaps more useful to the media and the white man, than he is to us, but he's useful to us too.
So, now we've narrowed the concept down, coming closer to the real field of human influence. Though our field of human influences are on earth, that's where we will carry out most of our great task. Most of our great tasks and achievements will be made on earth, according to G-d's saying. Even if we go to the moon, where was the feat accomplished? On earth. You have to accomplish the feat on earth to get to the moon. So, we may go out to the boundaries which G-d has invited us to go out to, and mind you, G-d also warns us. HE says, “any who seeks the steal or peak into the boundaries out there. If your intentions are not right, HE has already set up guards out there. Flaming stars or meteors, fire will strike you, will come against you out there.
Now we know that this is to be understood or interpreted, although we know that many intruders have been knocked down by shooting flaming bodies. So, that happens too. In fact, science says that most of these bodies that are seemingly at rest in peace now in the cosmic reality, survived great waves of bombardment from colliding bodies in the heaven. It's another idea that we should come to that will make us stronger, prepare our inner condition for greater task out here in the world, and that is the idea that heaven itself was not perfect and not permanent. It's very clear in both religions that heaven was created by Allah, but an adversary manifested in heaven and caused the fall of heavenly being. See, we need to know that. We have these quick notions and quick ideas about things, that ain't good enough. You got to listen to all that's being said of importance.
Now you want to go to heaven. I don't want to go to heaven if the adversary is there because I know what he did to the elect. And I don't think I'm an elect yet. I hope to qualify one day to be one of the elect but I'm not an elect, so I don't want to go there if he's still there. But according to both religions, he's not there anymore. He was rejected and cast down. In our religion G-d says, "Get down from here with that attitude, this is no place for you." I like that kind of religion. G-d is G-d in our religion. We don’t have no Satan, no adversary putting fear on the heaven. "Hey, what kind of behavior you're doing, this is wrong please get you out of here." Now, that’s G-d. I love G-d. If I'm going to worship G-d, I have to appreciate G-d. I have to respect G-d. I have to feel that G-d doesn't have any competition.
But when I look at the western idea and see how weird things have to be done by the righteous in order to survive the schemes and plots of the devil. It makes me think that the devil is a G-d equal almost to the G-d of Christianity. Yes, they do. They make the “G-d” the devil almost equal to the “G-d” of Christianity. Now don't feel that Christianity is your property. You were property and they gave you their property Christianity. We have to have the courage, the moral courage to speak plainly and honestly to our African American brothers and sisters. And tell you that you will never be dignified in the eyes of the world until you stop identifying as a Christian following the white man's idea of Christianity.
You have to come up with your own insights into the Bible and into Christianity. And you have to save Christianity from white supremacy, then you'll be respected. But until then you will not be respected and the best bet for you is to return to the religion that dignified Africa and have survived over there to be the major religion, the most predominant religion on that land till today. And it will survive and enlighten the intellects of the African as it did once it will survive till it does that again. In fact, there's already a reawakening of the African man, the Islamic African man.
You hear about the great kingdoms of Mali, the great learning center of Timbuktu, the greatness of Ghana in the days of Mansa Musa. That's Muslim. That's Muslim greatness. That's not heathen greatness. That's no black Hebrew greatness. That's Muslim greatness and if it happened once, it's can happen again. Slave, separate from your yoke. Take off your shackles, please. It's only psychological, but there is a framework. There is a framework for keeping you with that faulty psyche. And the framework is white Christianity. That's the main element for your blindness, white Christianity.
“Oh man, white Christianity, Christianity ain't white”. By interpretation maybe not. And I ain't talking about white as light. I'm talking about real white. I'm talking about pigmentation wise, skin color wise, it's white. And not only is it white, it's racist. Not only is it racist, but it is a white supremacy idea that makes all the races closest to the white man, the white man in pigmentation better than those distant from him in pigmentation. And the farther you get from his son of whiteness of pigmentation the closer you get to inferiority of man, the man become more inferior as you go out from him.
This is their idea and it didn't come from science first, although it entered science. Early social sciences of America had that idea in it, that black people are inherently inferior. Social sciences had that idea in it, it’s documented proof. But it didn't come by that way first, it came by the way of scripture first. Misconstrued scripture. They saw the sons of Noah as types for the races and Ham had a son Canaan and we descended from Ham the line of Canaan. We are the Canaanite, the black dog. I'm not making any joke I'm very serious. Why am I very serious? Because this is the thing that has shackled your mind. This is the thing that has dried up your initiative, your initiative to compete with the white man in the world of excellence. This is the thing that hinder you more than any other thing. It’s your world of reality, the context of reality that the white man has put you into.
Where you feel grateful to him for opening up the church to you or for giving you his church. You feel grateful to him for letting you meet, become acquainted with Jesus. And Jesus that he gives you is the false Jesus. He is the temptation. He's the tempter, tempting you to come into the land of do nothing. “Oh, this sounds so harsh”. It's the truth. And if the truth is harsh it must be accepted no matter how harsh it is. Yes, he's the tempter, tempting you to come into the land of do nothing. “Put down your burden. Give up your worries. Just have faith in Jesus. Don't pile your treasures up on Earth. Put it in offering, let it go up into heaven. You pile it up here, the thief may get it”. I'm telling you what they preach to us during slavery and after. “Slave obey your master, don't steal his property”. Now, who's interested in that? That's a southern slave master's interest written into the Scripture.
The Bible doesn't say that Ham was black. It says that Ham was Egypt. But it says he had a son, Canaan, a son, and he was cursed. Didn't say what color he was either. It said he was cursed to be a servant for his brothers.
A hewer of wood, to cut wood and a toter of water, to tote water to it. So, that's menial labor, right? That's cheap, low unskilled, any ignorant son of a gun can do that. Now according to their Bible, they say that a whole people were cursed to be reduced to that level. Where they are servant of their brothers, to cut wood for their brothers and tote water for their brothers. And then the southern racist church came up and say that that was us. The black man. That is in their religion.
And the Mormons just forgave us a little while ago, a few years ago. The Mormons say, “the blacks have suffered enough, so we will let them into our church”. This is reality. But you can't break your allegiance. Well, suffer the consequences because time is running out. Time is running out. You cowards are going to face your day. Yes, soon. Time is running out. It’s a shame on you, black people. You know that the white man has captured your resources, has tied up your potential, have enslaved your very potential. Your spirit and your will, all captured in the white man false idea of reality that he gives you, that exalt him and puts you down.
You buy it, and when somebody tries to break the grip of that slavery on your mind you resist it and try to shut your mind and tune them out. And think of everything to justify you being loyal to that false reality that the white man gave you to keep you a slave. So, you should suffer. The most despicable race on this planet earth today is the black man. There are no people not even the American Indian that look up to you.
“Why don’t you say us, aren't you included?” Hell no, I'm not included. I'm a liberated man. I'm not included. Any American Indian that hear me speak he respects me. And I mean respects me highly. But the lot of our people they do not respect you. No people want to take your place. Ain't no people on this earth not even the pigmies of Africa want to take your place. Why? Because you are an artificial creation of the white man.
Created for work when they need you and limbo. Work and limbo. “Well, we don't need them now, limbo. You know what limbo is? It's spinning backward. Limbo, limbo, limbo. We are not going to finish this today, the next occasion we will completed. I'm going to try to conclude this. I'm trying to wrap it up at this point. I hope you've understood the philosophical value, if not the practical value of seeing your identity first, in the cosmic unbounded reality.
I heard a scholar once say at a university addressing concepts, addressing man's social concept from a religious perspective. He said, "You must understand that Adam was formed, made in heaven." That he was made in heaven. Ok, on that note, let's see if can we conclude this talk on cosmic identity. We mentioned that from the cosmic identity, or cosmic place of man, he gets the discipline for his life, for his survival.
Those disciplines in his life that account for his form, the preservation of his form and the progress of his form, we call it purpose, are cosmic founded disciplines. Now let's see can we make it a little bit more understandable. Man gets his sense of perfect order from his perception of the cosmic order. There is no picture of perfect order stronger than the picture we get from the picture of the cosmic order.
Allah, speaks to that in the holy book and in the Bible, where HE says, “how these bodies have been created and they follow set courses”. The courses are set so wondrously that man can direct his ship at sea by respecting the course of those things in the heavens. So, man has benefited from the perfect working and order and courses of the heavenly body, he has benefitted in the field of-- What do they call it? Navigation, thank you. In the field of navigation.
And not only that, not only on the sea but on land. If man without any map, without any postmark down here for the directions, if he can see on a clear night the heavenly bodies, he can get his direction. He finds the North and if he finds the north, he finds south, if he finds the north and south, he can find east and west. That's if you face south, then you know to your right is west. To your left is east. If you're facing North, you know to your left is West, to your right is East.
So, if you find any one of those four directions, you can find the other three. And the heavens will give you one of those directions. And not only the North Star, but the other stars in heaven could give you those directions. They told us the North Star, but there are other stars to give you direction. Long after the sun has set, the light of the sun for a long time is still making its presence felt on the sky.
You know where the sun sets is West. Not only that they're Northern lights that come up in the night. Northern Lights. On a clear night, if you can find the Northern lights in heaven, they have a definite design. You will know that's North. Not only about the northern star, there's the clear sky, there are many signs that can help us find direction from the heavens.
But greater than that the heaven is the most impressive sign of the obedience that G-d wants from HIS creatures. The sun gets up in the morning, it sets at night. It does that day after day after day and never complains. It has definite movement. It graces the East; it graces the West. On the rising horizon of its rising and also on the horizon of its setting, right?
Over the year, it will make a bow to the north. A bow to the south. And Allah says, “And HE is the Lord of the two Easts and a two Wests. He is the lord of the two Easts and two Wests”. And the Christians say, the sun, it crosses its own path. Over the year, it will come like that, and then it will go like that and make a big X or a cross in heaven in one year. Yes, and they say, “that the cross is their version of the Passover, right?
You don't know that? It's true whether you know it or not. It’s Judaic-Christianity. The Jews have the Passover. We have the crucifixion of Jesus, the cross. And by him, you pass over. By Him crucified you pass over. Or by the cross, you pass over. And the Kul Klux Klan, they set the cross on fire in anger, they're angry with you and they let you know they demonstrate their anger by setting the cross on fire. To tell you, "Nigga, you don't know the meaning of this cross.
It's a burning cross. It's fire. We're the masters of it. You're the blind sheep. Now we know how to strike terror in you, we're going to burn it”. “Oh, they burned their own cross. They know if they burn the cross, they know what they will do to you. They have no fear of G-d”. They have fear of G-d and they have knowledge of the cross, so they set it on fire to terrorize you, but to speak a message of wisdom to each other.
When Jesus was lifted up, he was lifted up toward the sun. Now we know that really scientifically, as you go up, the higher altitude you raise up to, the colder it gets. But that's not the picture that the crucifixion of Jesus gives us according to their report. Now we know this is a misinterpretation of Jesus's trials and tribulations. We Muslims don't buy it. The Quran condemns it.
But I'm just giving you what they have given because that's what has influencing your thinking and your behavior and your everything. The Bible, it doesn't give us the picture that he was raised up to altitudes of coolness. It appears that he was very hot. That raising him up made him hotter, “for he thirsts. He thirsts”. And some preachers say they wouldn’t even give him a drop of water for his parched lips”.
So, they have the idea that he was very hot up there. And we know the sign of the Passover was a cross of blood on the door of those that were to be saved. That's for the White man. That's for the man that seeks racial dominance, this is for the natural man, Black, White or any color. This book is for the common man of all colors that will raise him from commonness to excellence. This is the book.
Getting back to the concept, yes, of the cosmic man identity. Another great thing we see as Muslims is that Allah has definitely revealed religion for us and presented religion for us in a form that brings us into harmony with the cosmic reality. We find that Islamic model of life resembles the cosmic order. Cosmic order has a nucleus and all of its smaller parts have nucleus.
Yes, the nucleus for our solar system is sun, that's why it's called sun system. Solar system or sun system. It's at center and everything else is orientated according to that relationship with that center. All the families of planets including earth, and the moon following too, though it is directly attached to the earth in its orbital gravitation. This is the cosmic world. So, the Muslim has, as a picture of its community life, a circle. The center or nucleus of that circle is the holy house in Mecca, the Kaaba.
We all orientate ourselves for the Kaaba. In doing so, we form a circle for the whole international Muslim community of earth. If you have the ability to comprehend the picture, which you do. But maybe your interest won’t allow you to. But if you were in a situation to do that, you could easily see the circle of Muslims focusing on one central point and making sajda in obedience to G-d. But not in obedience to G-d by directing themselves to G-d because G-d is everywhere.
Yes, G-d is everywhere. You can’t look and G-d is there. Yes, He's there. He's there, there, there, there He's everywhere. He is here, He’s everywhere. Do you think created matter occupies space that G-d can't occupy? Do you think when He created the world, He created something to shut Him out of space? If He is in a specific space then He created a world that limited His space. Right? Now, would G-d the all-knowing the creator, creates something that would limit His mobility, limit His space? “Oh, He can't be everywhere”. How come He can't? You're everywhere you shouldn't be.
In your behavior and in your thinking. Now, G-d is perfect in author of all of this. How come He can't be everywhere? That's the limit of your intellect. The limit of your narrow intellect limits your faith. Cosmic man is intelligent man. When G-d first created man, He created an intelligence, not an emotional body, He created an intelligence. Really faith is preceded by intelligence. That's why the scholars in Al-Islam, they know what G-d says, it is the learned that best follows guidance.
Yes, they are the best to follow the guidance. It doesn't mean that the sincerity of the ignorant is not equal to the sincerity of the learned. You could be sincere, but walking in the wrong direction. It doesn’t mean that you're not as sincere as a learned, but it is the learned are best situated to follow the path of G-d, the guidance of G-d. G-d created intelligence first. He created the human being with intelligence first, that's cosmic man. Cosmic man is man in his essence of intellect, sense perception, sense of order, et cetera.
So, we have a beautiful model of the universal order in the daily disciplines of Muslim community life. Muslim community and their community life. Prayer is the most essential duty, the most dominant activity in the life of a Muslim is his prayer. Now we know the first principle or the first pillar of our religion is shahada. Shahadatain, to confess the oneness of G-d and also to confess the office of HIS human messenger. Not G-d-man, human man messenger.
We know that that's the first, but that's a declaration. That's a declaration that influences even our prayer. We pray because of that belief in that. That pillar is what makes us go through this orientation of prayer, five daily prayer. Now, cosmic man inherited from cosmic order, five senses, intelligence. Intelligence. We have five daily prayer corresponding with the five senses of man.
To tell us that man, all of the scriptures if I have read them correctly, in one way or another, tell man, that there is a sacredness to his life. That there is a sanctuary of the human life that he should watch, guard, being watched for to protect it against influences that may take it out of the holy and sacred form that G-d intended to be in and to be kept in. The Bible says, “watch”. Watch, take a watch.
And the Quran says, “those who guard that, that is to be guarded. Those who watch over their own souls et cetera. So, both scriptures tell us that, right? If you watch over the inherent worth of the human life pictured in a simple house that all of us direct ourselves to. If you understand that that house is a symbol of what is most vital to man as an individual being and more importantly as a society, or a social community.
If you understand it, house readily bring to our mind the first unit of social life. House. Home. There's a home, nobody lives in it. It's not for people to live in. That's not what it's for. It’s there as a sign that the first house G-d created for you is yourself. Yourself. There yourself forms. Remember that boy I mentioned earlier, I forgot his name, I called him the wild boy?
The Wild Boy of Aveyron. He is aware of it, he just told us. That's the boy I'm talking about. I mentioned that boy earlier, how, because he was not opportune, didn't have the opportunity to be associated with human models, he modeled himself after animals that he was associated with or around. Allah has given us a sign of house. A house suggests not individuals but it suggests community life.
It tells us that man as an individual is formed by the situation of community. Man cannot form as an individual without a situation community. It has been proven scientifically. So, how are you going to preserve yourself as an individual? Keep before you community life. Community life. This world when resources become scarce, when civilization becomes a burden on the planner, the policymakers, the city designers et cetera. When it becomes a great burden because of overcrowding and not enough resources to get around everybody, what happens? They began to alienate man from his own reality.
They set influences in the culture to alienate you from your own reality. G-d has prepared us for this and gave us the Ka’ba, a simple house as a symbol. And as long as we have this prayer orientation and understand that symbol as a symbol of man's unity and as a symbol of man's first identity, man is firstly a social being after he's a cosmic being. On earth, he's a social being.
He's a cosmic being, then G-d forms him, brings him to his fulfillment to his purpose in reality on earth and this home situation. HE brings him by way of social life. The first unit of that social progression is home life. That's where our personalities form, that's where we are formed. A situation is needed, a condition is needed if we are to be formed in the body and identity that G-d wants us in on this earth.
A situation is needed. We must have a social situation. And the most unestablished people socially, is the African-American man. The appreciation for his social purpose is neglected at home and in the public. Other people have more social solidarity in the home and in the public, therefore, they are more equipped to challenge and compete and defeat us. Our money is not enough.
They can make all of us rich with money today, tomorrow and believe me, the White man will still be over us. Until we come into an orientation that G-d intended for ourselves as social beings, as cosmic creatures. We have to come into that kind of orientation. Look, the sun rises and sets. It tilts its head to the north and to the south. It makes bows or sajda.
Allah says, "The sun and the moon make sajda." “Yesjudan” They make sajda. Then HE says, "Man, make sajda to your Lord. Direct yourself for this house and make sajda to your Lord." Though you'll be scattered, though you'll be dispersed, you won't carry the burdens, the heavy burdens of diaspora.
He says, "Wherever you are if you will just remember this house and turn you all towards this house." He said, "Wherever you'll be scattered Allah will bring you together." Our unity, no matter how distant we are from each other our unity is secured. Our solidarity is already preserved in that prayer orientation toward that house.
This is the enlightenment that we need on self. That's the enlightenment on self. And when you see yourself, you'll know your Lord. Because you know good and well you didn't create this cosmic order and you can't master it. You know good and well it birthed you and you're going to return to it. You are just here for a moment and gone. You know that. So, if you will face that reality, if you will face the truth of your small place in this great cosmic world and then appreciate the role that G-d has given you in it, you become G-d-fearing, you will know your Lord.
That's what makes me appreciate G-d so much. G-d, you made me a speck of dust in this cosmic world. I'm helpless. I'm born without my knowledge and I die without knowledge. I come and I go in a fleeting moment. In a fleeting moment, I'm here and gone, G-d. But look at what you have sensitized me with in this short fleeting moment. Oh, you made me feel so wonderful. You've given me a place so big.
You've made the place of my nativity so big. You made the place of my death so big until I'm honored to live and die in the boundaries that you've set for me. Yes, I live with dignity, I die with dignity. And that's Allah says in the Holy Quran, "No, my prophet was never this despicable creature that they picture. He was honored at birth and honored the day he died."
Yes, honored at birth and honored when he died. There's no shame in dying. A funeral scene as big as the cosmic reality. I love life and having freedom in but hell death won't make we weep. For all I know, my gene may survive in a particle of dust and Wallace may spring up one day. Because G-d has given me hope. And the more I learn about the nature of this continuous order, a cycle of growth and death. The more I learn about it the more I'm believing that a billion years will pass like that and a change will come in the combination of dynamic factors of the universe and this man may live again.
He may live again to see his Lord even better. Yes, the Lord that has given the common man that hope must have a way to fulfill it. The Lord that gave that man that hope must have a way to satisfy it. So, don't become so scientific-minded, so secular in your thinking that you lose the promised faith and the promise of G-d. Yes, I live to have more opportunity to prove myself in the field of testing. That's this life and this world so I could qualify for greater promotion in the world beyond or in the time beyond. Because actually the space will be the same space.
For Allah says that in His paradise is the space is equal to the space of the heaven and earth. He says that when they behold it, they'll say, "This looks like what we saw before."
Now, if you want a singing and dancing religion, I can understand you walking away from here and not declaring yourself secretly or publicly to be a Muslim, if you're not one. But if you're not looking for a song and dance religion, you're really looking for real religion, I cannot understand you walking out here. I don't care if you're a priest, a preacher, I don't care if you're the Pope. If the Pope was in here, I'd say, "Pope, what's wrong with you?" After hearing this you're not going to declare yourself to be a Muslim. You must like graveyard drama. You're entertained by graveyard drama.
I’d have to find something over there that's holding him. And you know, mystery and spookism has a strong attachment when you don't have knowledge. Now, I'm not going to say, “that man think the pope is dumb”. I know he's extremely wise. I know that. They would not even accept him to be in that position. The Bishop, the Cardinals, they wouldn't accept him to be in that position until they even had proof that he was extremely wise. I know that.
But if he would turn down this religion after its presented like this I would say, "Well, you must have a secret. You must have a secret commitment and this thing you keep doing is an act that you're carrying out of necessity for your situation. I hope the fear come off of you, pope. That's what I'd say to him. It must be an act because with your intelligence, I know you cannot walk out here and not be changed.
See- and this problem in self-view and self-identity, we're going to discuss at a later time, another time. The reason why men of great knowledge, of great intellect, can continue to serve falsehood, and that's serving falsehood. Once you learn truth and you don't change before the world's eye, you are serving falsehood. Yes, now you may be serving falsehood and truth at the same time, but that's double-mindedness, right?
Yes, that's double-minded, deceit. That's weakness, cowardice. We're going to talk about how man in searching for the answer, the end reality for himself, become blinded by his own subject. If his interest, leave the big picture and gravitate toward the small picture, which is himself.
You know the Gnostics of Christianity, they misinterpreted Jesus Christ and his mission on this earth. Peace be on the Prophet, Jesus Christ. They misinterpreted his mission and they held the world in ignorance for hundreds of years before their people were enlightened by the insight of Quranic revelation, and then looked again to see if they had misread, misinterpreted or gone astray from the direction of the gospel.
And they discovered they had and there was Martin Luther born. The mind of Martin Luther was born and women began to be respected. Women began to be accepted in society; women began to be given the rights of education. The slave had to be liberated. Why it took them centuries, a thousand years or better, for them to rightly apply Christianity. Why it took them all the time?
How come they had to wait for the liberation movement to be established on the peninsula of Arabia and to conquer darkness there, beat back Jahiliyya, the hedonism there, and establish a civilization par excellence there before they come into understanding of the real direction and a real application of Christianity for themselves, why? They missed the mark.
Their ignorant, pious, Gnostic leaders missed the mark. They thought that Christianity was an exercise to train man's divinity, his muscles of divinity to bring him into G-d-consciousness. That's what they were all about. They thought that few men with the divine spark was chosen to be the caretaker, the masters of the world, and to keep the ignorant in check.
Those who without that spark, keep them in check, hold him. It was slavery. It was slavery, they had slavery for the masses, common man was a slave under that Christian rule. And only those with divine spark, those that they considered to have divine spark illumined intellect, illumined by the Gnostic idea and the Gnostic ideology. Their perception of the Bible, revelation of Jesus' life, the Gnostic concept.
If you didn't have that, then you were common animal man, and you were to be treated as such and not included in the circle of society, but used as beasts of burden. That was their idea. And the women didn't have the soul, the spark, so they weren't to be included either. They would just be used for procreation, but not to be given the dignity of the human being.
It was just recently that they got the right to vote in the United States. Now they associate us in our misery with women, right? The plight of the woman and the plight of the Black man, slave and female slave, that's what they mean. Our former female slaves and our Black African slaves. I hope I have been of some good to you today, from you?
So, G-d willing, as we say, inshallah, at the next meeting, we will begin with man gravitating toward the narrow circle and blinded by his own illusion of himself and his importance. Where that brings the man down, but the worship of the one Lord brings him up, As salam Alaikum.


