1983-November-4

A.M. Journal

Imam W. Deen Muhammad Reports On Muslim-American Facilities And Functions

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

(Editor's note: On Oct. Id. 1983 Imam W. Deen Muhammad made the following
announcement. “I call it a public announcement." he said, "but actually the public I am addressing is the Muslim public. " The following week he made a recording of his announcement available to the American Muslim Journal for publication ) Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem

This announcement takes up the concerns for our Muslim facilities and functions, the temporarily non-operating ones and also those that are in operation.

Elijahville —At present the Elijahville Community Collective Farming Concept is in its study phase. I appointed Imam Abdul Haq of Bronx. N.Y. to carry out my concern for this study phase. He was to help us bring the idea before the community and to help us find persons with strong desire, education and experience or professional training for our needs.

Implementation of land purchases, and bestowal through token or symbolic SI purchases to qualifying Muslim members, pioneers or senior citizens of the Muslim Americans, will start early in the spring of 1984. Insha-Aliah, and with Allah's blessings, because without His blessings we won't succeed.

The attractive features of our Terrell County farm in Georgia are first its great size, 4,600 acres, maybe more and its beautiful land contour.

We're looking into our acreage because it is suspected that maybe we have more acres than that. I have seen that land and many of you have seen it so you can understand what I'm saying.

Secondly—it's pecan orchard.
Thirdly—it's mineral values, which have not yet been documented for our leader and our members. By our leader, you know, I mean Imam W. Deen Muhammad.

Fourthly —it's, housing and modern dairy farm facility. Some small production has occurred there during my lime in office. At our request the farm was leased out to a preacher to meet mortgage expense and taxes. At present. Imam Pasha is overseeing economic efforts there.

Sedalia:-" A careless involvement by Matthew Bilal HamiduNah in the effort to open the American Muslim Mission Teacher College that on the 40-plus acre site, being purchased by our members, set this effort back.

At my request a member's certificate-of-ownership plan was published in our American Muslim Mission Journal. (See page 24.) This appeal is being made for members financially situated to buy $2,000 certificates-of-ownership shares to purchase the property that is in Sedalia.

This money would go to remove the debt and its painfully heavy interest. The interest accrues at such a rate that our current payment hardly reduces the principle that is now a little under S400.000.

Knowledgeable persons in economics regard land buying and real estate as wise investments, given certain exceptions. In our best judgment, this property in Sedalia. N.C. offers this community excellent possibilities for development of our education plan.

This plan calls for a fairly centrally located national boarding school and teacher training facility with emphasis on Islamic studies for Imams as well as for those in teaching positions at the Clara Muhammad Schools throughout the country.

As soon as the financial burden is solved this plan will be reactivated.

AMM Library:—The precious donation and contribution to the American Muslim Mission of a library building from the Saudi Islamic Government, which includes excellent books on various religious subjects, is a project for our Muslim culture needs and education, required more attention to it from myself arid persons of genuine Islamic interest.

We have Islamic text production plans by which more Islamic books will be produced utilizing the donated library volumes in the research requirements of our plan.

As an attractive portion of this plan, a call is being made for films of Muslims while civically, academically, and culturally engaged in their own Muslim homeland, including museum displays, educational facilities and functions and Muslim youngsters at recreational play.

We hope to acquire scenes and activities on films for our library — scenes that would generally be considered as having artistic and cultural appeal for a library, especially an Islamic library. Also wanted are brief histories of the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates — called the Persian Gulf States —Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Syria and perhaps others.

With this authentic source material, we ourselves could make or give narration for video recordings.

This plan is to begin early this coming summer. Insha-Allah.

Temples: —It has come to our attention that an alarming number of worship places attended by members of the American Muslim Mission are improperly and un-Islamically listed in the form of deeds of ownership and registers, not as "mosque" or "masjid" but as "temple" Temple number so-and-so.

The genuine Muslim members are strongly advised to request of your local Imam, legal verification that your place of worship and its real estate is not listed with a government office or department or any register or even any book — such as telephone book -as Temple of Islam or Temple number so and so.

That completes our announcement and we pray Allah strengthens our faith, guides us, makes our hearts strong for righteousness sake and keeps us together as a people and a community seeking His pleasure, most of all: and makes us worthy of being called Muslim followers of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.