2001-April-27

Muslim Journal

Responsibility, A Critical Concern For A People Pursuing Business Establishment: Part 3

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(Imam W. Deen Mohammed gave the following address in Washington, D.C., at the CPC Distributors Conference on March 11, 2001.)

Don't think the leader is always bigger than everyone he is talking to. Do you think that Bill Clinton was bigger in intellect than all the people in the United States? He was President of the United States. I recognize that I have my equals in the audience and maybe even my superiors in the audience, but G-d chose me and it is because of circumstances.

It was the circumstances that my mother and father were put in when they met W. D. Fard and the circumstances that I was put in when my father labored to build the Nation of Islam. It was 1933 on October 30 when this baby was born, and he was not born damaged by the White world. He was born in the new world of his parents and taught by his parents and by the leaders of that new world positive things about himself.

I don't know what it is to have an inferiority complex; my world did not give me that. See why G-d chose me. I don't have any inferiority complex. I don't care how big you are or how much you have done. I believe 1 can start working at something and rise up to your heights. And that is what we are determined to do.

Collective Purchasing Conference

Getting back to us now, we have the Collective Purchasing Conference (CPC). I think it is a gift from Allah. I have others with us who think the same now; they have said the same thing to me. I think that concept is a gift from Allah, the Lord of the heavens and earth. It permits us to do business and not be hurt by each other.

It permits us to not have to go to court if one of us gets into trouble. All of us will not have to go to court; only one of us will be in court. And maybe all of us, if he or she is innocent, can help so that person won't go to jail or won't lose too much. It is a beautiful situation, the Collective Purchasing Conference.

I talked to a European American who was on the plane sitting to my right, and he had an interest, I guess, because he felt from my spirit that this guy sitting next to him was not an ordinary Negro. So he asked me, "What's taking you to Washington, D.C.?” So I explained to him what CPC was all about. He said, "Very good."

I said that it is in the hands of G-d fearing people, and he looked at me but didn't say anything. But his eyes said: "This is really serious." He was a very nice man, and when I got off the plane he said, "Have a nice day" If it had been recorded, his words and my words would have been said at the very same instance. I was also saying at the same time, "Have a nice day."

We have a chance again to get Whiting H and G. We are buying it from a big supplier now at a good price. But we know that Whiting H and G exist in many waters, not only in South America. And we intend to get it, as the Hon. Elijah Muhammad was able to get it with us in the days of the Nation of Islam. We are going to get it directly from the fisherman and bring that price way down again like we had it.

Sophisticated Business People

This time we won't make the mistake like we did before in threatening the market and making them organize to come against us to bring the prices down way below cost, to drive us out of the market. We are more sophisticated now as business people and as business thinkers. We are not going to make that mistake. I studied economics before I came to you all to be a leader because I had an opportunity to do so when I had nothing but time.

I had two big volumes on the economics of American society - the government economics and the private sector; micro and macroeconomics. I read both volumes and thought that maybe some of what I was learning would benefit my father and the Nation of Islam when I returned to them. And now I find it paying off big. I am not intimidated by this world; I am not made afraid and weak. I am strong and not afraid.

I know I am not growing younger, but with the spirit I have I will carry this body until it is almost dust! So I am not checking out, until you check in! Praise be to Allah. I have been telling the brothers around me for several years and I am motivated to tell you the same.

Let's Not Be Selfish

Let's not be selfish. We can't make it, if we are selfish. Let's rejoice in the accomplishments of each other, and Allah will love us. It's like a beautiful family, when momma and daddy love each other and respect each other and they pass that on to the children, and all the members of the family love and respect each other. Then when one achieves, all of the family members are happy. There will not be one little brother jealous of his brother or a little sister jealous of her sister; that destroys the family.

Allah wants us to be the best of families, the Ummatul Islami. So let us rejoice in the achievements of each other. And that gives your life a fulfillment that makes everything much better for you. When you stop looking at others' achievements or progress as a threat to you, and you start seeing it as a compliment to all of us and you start cheering it, a new happiness will come into you. It is a beautiful life. The worst of sins in religion is envy and jealousy and lying. We love each other. This world has beat­en us up so bad, until we need to tell each other "I love you with a powerful love." It is a sign that we are coming into the new life that Allah wants us in. It is coming back to us, after losing it.

Body Of The Black Man Restored

We use to love each other in 1940; I was back there then and we loved each other. We loved each other in 1950 and in most of the 1960s. But by the 1970s, no. I had to go to scripture to understand it. I read the Bible and it said: "Destroy this Temple, and I will restore it in three days." I said, yes, this was the Temple and it is destroyed. Now we have to see if we can restore it in three days - three long days, like the Days of The Lord.

Thank G-d, it didn't take that long, and the Temple is restored. Thank Allah, the Temple that G-d created for human beings to live in has been restored. This body of the Black man is restored, and it is not an empty vessel any more.

We have 33 distributors. The distributorship that we have in my area is ComTrust. Because of the trust the people have in me, and my access to your investment funds, we are able to fund these operations. It is not because I am better in business than you, but that I am better situated than you that ComTrust has developed very beautifully.