1990-March-2

Muslim Journal

Beware Of Psychological Warfare: Part 4

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(Imam W. Deen Mohammed made this presentation at the Annual Conference of the Islamic Committee for Palestine using as example the African American plight. He compared it to the possible outcomes the Palestinian people face. This is the culmination of this lecture given at the McCormick Inn of Chicago on December 23. 1989).

When people come to know that what we have on our minds is the establishment of our own identity, that is going to relax a lot of people. They will relax when they see that we are sincere about this. A lot of people get nervous when one of us move into one of their neighborhoods. They don't know what we have on our minds. Once they know that we have something definite that we are going to follow down the line for generations and generations to come, that we are not going to take on artificiality and will not be imitating anyone and do not want to blend in with others and get into someone else's body, learning that will make them relax. I think the Arab brothers will relax more, when this becomes true and they come to know this.

This will be the real dignity for the African American people. And it is going to come. What can I say now to our Palestinian brothers? I say, look at what has happened to us. Because whether you know it or not, you have been maneuvered also to step into entanglements and become entangled by things that throw you away from your main concern.

The question of race has been an entrapment for the African American leadership. To tie up our energies just in arguing about race and trying to defend our equal essence as human beings serves to entrap many. Much of what has occurred to set patterns of behavior for African Americans has amounted to entrapment.

So that ia to say we have been out maneuvered many times by the people who do not want to see us get our share in America. Likewise, it will be for any struggling people. The Palestinians' concern is our concern also. If you are not careful, in carrying the fight against enemies, you will lose your purpose. You will lose your direction. You will fall into a trap and get all entangled in useless arguments and confrontations. They (the enemies) are constantly working.

If you have an enemy that is a nation like Israel, if you have an enemy that is a nation and has an army that fights you with rockets, do you think that the war is all physical and detectable directly? I know you know better. They are not just fighting you with the army in uniforms, the military. They are fighting you with their psychology and also with their physical weapons. And if they can out maneuver you psychologically, they will kill your aspirations. They can tie up your energies and kill your original aspirations and make you a strange thing to your true self. This will happen, and you will not even know it until it is too late. Then you will see how much you have come out of your own (Muslim) character.

We don't want to come out of our own character. We don't want to be out maneuvered. We don't want to lose our own directions. So dear beloved Palestinian people, my brother and Sister Muslims, study this thing and do not underestimate the psychological war that is being raged against all Muslims by the enemies. Do not underestimate. You must work very carefully to keep yourself in the Qur'an and on the Path of the Qur'an.

You must know too that you have been put in a situation for depriving you of your own religion just as we have. You have not had the full freedom to live and practice your religion while or since being under the colonial powers. You have been hurt internally too. You have been taken away from yourself too. They did not make you slaves, but they made you powerless inferior citizens in your own land. They limited your freedom to live the life you wanted to live in your own land.

Whether you were directly occupied by them or not, the adverse influences were still there to hurt you and to deny you having the freedom to live your religion and to be the person you would be, were there not restraints on you from them. Your life has been limited just as our life has been limited. You have not had your life in your hands, and we have not had our life in our hands. We must get our internal life under our controls.

Now all of a sudden the world has changed and television has brought everyone together. Now these big civilized nations cannot afford to let everybody (the whole world) see what they are capable of doing in the back yards. These big powers have no back yards now. There are no back allies now. The television puts everything on Main street. The enemies of justice cannot afford to do the things they used to do. And they knew this was coming.

These enemies manipulating the great powers had already planned to give independence to these countries. Everything was planned to save their face when forced to. However, they tied you up psychologically and cut you off from your original life to a degree that I do not think most of you are willing to admit.

Some of you have complimented us African Americans and were surprised that we have stronger spirited Muslims here in the black people than you have even in your own country. I don't think that is too serious. I see your love for the religion as being strong. Your love is Muslim just like ours. But something has happened to you too. Many of you have been cut off, misguided and are waking up behind us. The (your) heart is still sincere.

What Muslim can you find that will not have sincere love for Prophet Muhammed? 1 don't care where they are or where they come from, all have sincere love for our Prophet. All have sincere love and respect for the Qur'an. All of us (Muslims) have that.

Some of you Muslims may be drinking liquor and acting like the lost people in the streets of the wasted world. But most will still have love and respect for Qur'an, if confronted. You have love for the Prophet. So what is it that is missing? The senses have been out maneuvered by the enemies of the religion. It is not for me-you know best your state. I want you to work on this.

I was given this topic just yesterday, and it came too late for me to work it out into a planned paper. I understand it is not the fault of your organizers here. Something happened and the needed information did not get to me until yesterday.