1980-April-4

Bilalian News

Let's Lift Our Heads Up: Part 4

Imam Warith Deen Muhammad

With the Name Allah, the Gracious, the Compassionate. As-Salaam-Alaikum
On Feb. 24, 1980, Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, leader of the World Community of Al-Islam in the West, delivered a stirring ad­dress on the subject of the African-American “Identity Crisis" in a nationwide, live radio broadcast Speaking from Masjid Elijah Muhammad in Chicago, where more than 6,000 Muslims gathered for the address, Imam Muhammad urged African-Americans (Bilalians) to "lift our heads up" and put faith in God.

Following the Imam's hour-long broadcast directed to the general public, the members of the WCIW conducted an extended meeting on Community matters via telephonic con­nections with scores of masjid communities around the country.
According to the WCIW Council of Imams, this February meeting ends a near 50-year tradition of the Community in conducting a special February observance or convention during the last week in the month.

Following is an abbreviated text of Imam Muhammad’s historic address. Continued from the last three weeks:

If we want to make some progress in satisfying this identity hunger in us, then we should look to what has come out of the lost - found Nation of Islam in America.
I'm talking to you on the outside now. You on the outside who take pride in being in­telligent, who take pride in being schooled, who take pride in your degrees, who take pride in your worldly experiences; you on the outside who belong to the African-American people, we call Bilalians. I'm asking you to do yourself a favor, do yourself a big favor and study the development of the lost-found Nation of Islam in America as it has now grown from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to myself.

Study that, and I am sure that if you study it with the total mind and the rational senses of a civilized, intelligent scholar you will rush here to me and put your hand in mine and never separatefrom my leadership again.
What we have in this 50 years experience is scientific proof that the Quran is the superior book, the superior knowledge, Muhammad is the universal Prophet and Warith Deen Muhammad is the leader for today.

Now I have said that wehave scientific proof — I can back that up. I didn't say we have Bible proof. I didn't say we have scriptural proof, I said we have scientific proof!
We've get a few more minutes on the air and I hope we take good advantage of it:
Dear beloved people, the Quran tells us miseducation is the main contributor to oppression and inequality — miseducation, the wrong information. We know as students, dear people, that progress improves with more correct information. The more correct information you have at your disposal the better the chances for progress.

There are those rare occasions when physical might, when brute force is depriving the people of their freedom. Those periods don't last long in history because the humanity is one, and the moral judgment of humanity soon comes upon the brute: it's only a matter of time that the full moral force of the judgment of humanity comes down, bears down on the head of the brute.

How long did Hitler last? His rule was just for a spell because he was a spellbinder who spellbound people. He wasn't dealing with the facts of humanity. He was dealing with prejudices, he was dealing with misinformation, he was propagating untruths and it just took a matter of time for him to stir up the wrath of humanity against him — his day was short-lived.

Now look. Brothers and Sisters, think about the evil, inhuman forces that have dominated us. You think it has boon a long time. It has, and again, it hasn't been that long.
The Irish were 700 years under British domination. They had no dignity, they had no independence; they were treated as inferior.

We have only been under American or Western Caucasian domination for a little over 300 years. If we consider all the people who came under this domination since the voyage to this part of the world by the Caucasian peo­ple from Europe, it can't amount to more than 500 years; the Irish were 700 years under it.