1982-November-19

A.M. Journal

Muhammad Speaks

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

QUESTION: What advice would you give Muslims aspiring to political office?

IMAM: A Muslim aspiring to a political office should first of all try to do everything that he possibly can to reflect what his religion really is and what a Muslim life really is. If he doesn't know how to reflect that in such a way that he doesn't announce with every breath that he is a Muslim, then he's going to be a failure.

He really has to see the agreement that exists for him and what he stands for with persons of Christian faith or other people. For example, we believe in Allah, and we believe that Allah is one Lord, the Creator of everything.

Well, when we are relating to our associates in the political field or whatever, we don't have to use the term Allah because that's a foreign term for them. We can say God and we have to understand that though Christians have a trinitarian concept, when it all boils down, they say, "Yes, we believe in one God."

A politician has to be diplomatic enough to know how to represent himself as well as to know how to move and make progress in the political arena. If he has to be diplomatic to move around in the political arena, then he should use that same good diplomatic sense in representing himself to people.

If he wants to be  successful,  he or she shouldn't keep bringing to the mind of their associates, the audience or the people, that they are appealing to their identity — I am a Muslim.

The majority of the people in this country are not Muslims, so we don't want to make them aware so much of our differences.

If we want to progress in this society with them, we have to make them aware of our commonality, of our common grounds, of the common concerns, the common life we share.

Muslims, spiritually speaking, are very close to Christians or Christians are very close to Muslims in the spiritual content or the makeup of our lives. We should understand that, and we should understand that really the goal of a true Christian society or a true democratic, American society is justice, equal opportunity and the richness, the excellence of man's life.

This is what America aspires to; this is what Christianity directs man to, also — to aspire to the goal of reaching the excellence of life and the richness of that excellent life.

So if we understand that — the more we are familiar with common, high principles of the two religions and of the two societies — the more effective we will be as persons aspiring to political office or any other positions in the society.