2000-March-17

Muslim Journal

Imam W. Deen Mohammed's Saviours' Day Remarks on the Day of Jumuah

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(The following is a transcript of Imam W. Deen Mohammed's comments offered after Jumuah prayer, Feb. 25, 2000, at the McCormick Place, in Chicago, III., in conjunction with the Nation of Islam’s Saviours' Day Weekend, Transcription is by Imam Mikal Saahir of Indianapolis, Indiana)

Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, the Lord Creator of everything, Who has no partner in the rule, in the heavens and the earth. And nothing comes to Him except as a servant.

We witness that He is One, and that Muhammed, born in Mecca, in the sacred city of Mecca, the 6th and 7th Century great model for all human beings of human excellence, of correct worship of G-d. A model of how human beings should accept their responsibility under G-d to their own souls, to their families, to their neighbors and to the whole community of mankind on this earth.

We know that he is the most excellent model given to us by Almighty G-d. We look to his model to correct our behavior and to direct our steps. We thank Allah for him. He lives, he lives, the Messenger of G-d lives. We are his followers. His following is growing everyday, every hour, every minute.

If the world is going in the right direction, Muhammed is its leader. If the world is doing great things, Muhammed is its leader. If the world is helping the hearts and brains of human beings, Muhammed is its leader.

If the world is civilizing society, Muhammed is its leader. If the world is increasing morality, good morals and ethics, Muhammed is its leader. If the world is making advances toward economic justice, social justice, Muhammed is its leader. If you know Muhammed as I do, you will know that Muhammed is the human leader for all humanity.

So we thank Allah for him, and we salute him with the traditional salute: Sallalahu alaihi wa Sallam, wa ala aal-ihi wa sahbihi, ajma-een ama ba'aad.

Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters, it's not difficult for Min. Louis Farrakhan and Wallace D. Mohammed to embrace each other. That's easy for us. When I first met him in the early 50s, I liked him on first sight, and I became his friend and his brother. And I haven't stopped being his friend and his brother.

Maybe he hasn't understood the way that I've been his friend and his brother at certain times, but I've always been his friend and his brother.

For me this is too big a cause for our personal problems and differences.

We are to support each other in all good things, When the brother Muslim stands upon the Qur'an, the last of the revealed Books and the complete Book for all times and all societies, and when he stands upon faith in Muhammed as G-d's Last Prophet and Messenger to all the worlds, Mercy to all the worlds, we are to support him in that.

As I said, it's easy for me to embrace Min, Farrakhan, Our families are together. We are really one family. And our friendship has not died, and it will not die.

The little small problem that we've had along the way, struggling to present ourselves as G-d willed that we present ourselves, is not bigger than the Word of G-d, the Qur'an, and not bigger than Muhammed, the model for all human beings, for all people of faith. It's very small.

So we see, we think, what have we done to bring about this togetherness? What have we done to bring about this closeness that we have, this unity? What have we done to free our hearts so we can hug each other and kiss each other? And I did kiss my brother. What have we done to bring that about?

Nothing but try and find a way in the path of Islam, and Allah did the rest. Allah did the rest.

I want to say that Min. Farrakhan is a great leader. I have watched him over the years since the passing away of my father and our former leader, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, I've watched, and I've done a little mathematics or some calculations. And I come up with progress for the Nation of Islam under the leadership of Min. Farrakhan.

Whatever has troubled us in the past, I think we can bury it now and never look back at that grave.

You know, I was reading the Bible once, and I was reading it really so I could better understand Christian neighbors and respect them as I should respect them, while trying to invite them to Islam. So I wanted to be prepared to speak to my Christian neighbors with understanding of what they believed in.

So I read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelations twice. Once, I just read it freely and the second time I studied it very carefully.

I came across something that came to my mind as I was sitting there thinking over Min. Farrakhan and our newly revived friendship and unity. I was thinking of it, and I said to myself, "I think I'm going to tell Min, Farrakhan..." This is for Min. Farrakhan.

In the Bible, Min. Farrakhan, I read that a holy man wanted to give sight to a blind man. This holy man took mud and put it on the blind man's eyes. I was very young at that time. Min. Farrakhan. That was over 25 years ago. I was very young. I said to myself, "Isn't that a cruel way to help a blind man? He already has enough in his way of sight, and then the man put mud on his eyes."

Well, we have had a lot of mud on our eyes, but the eye is now washed and cleaned. And the mud didn't hurt us, it helped us see.