1979-August-31

Bilalian News

Plan for Human Dignity

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

With the Name Allah (In The Name Of God), The Gracious, The Compassionate

As-Salaam-Alaikum

(Editor's note: Following are excerpts from Imam Wallace Deen Muhammad's address delivered at the New York City Educational Banquet, April 13. 1979.)

All praise is due to Almighty God, the guardian evolver and sustainer of all the worlds. The blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah to us all.

O Allah, guide us. forgive us our faults, and grant us the blessings of faith. 1 bear witness there is no deity except Allah, and I bear witness Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger. Peace be upon him. his descendants, his companions, the righteous servants, all of them, and upon us in America and throughout the world:

Let us keep on in the direction that we've been going — looking for our own place in this world. We've been trying to find a place in this world, for ourselves. With our own vision, we've been trying to depend upon self for the future. Keep doing that. Don't put your faith in the outside world or outside people. Put your faith in yourself and work hard to please Allah.

Work hard to be a Muslim as Allah created the Muslim in Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad was a Muslim. Allah created the ideal Muslim leader in Prophet Muhammad. The Quran tells us of that. The Hadith tells us of the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Let us be ideal Muslims, give ourselves completely to the guidance of God and accept Prophet Muhammad as the Universal Messenger. Follow the example that he sets. Did he give himself to the influence of society. No! He gave himself to the guidance of God.

The hints and suggestions in the Quran for continuous change will bring us into the perfect society, if we follow those hints. I challenge anyone to say that AM slam is a dark age religion or a primitive religion. That Al-Islam can't satisfy modern man. Al-Islam is the only thing that can satisfy modern man.

Al-Islam gives the woman her dignity without robbing the man of his nature. This society tries to dignify women and robs us of our nature — creates a bunch of homosexuals. that are really better off than the so-called normal people.

Let me explain what I mean. The average American today defends the right of the homosexual to be a homosexual. So he is a homosexual too. He doesn't practice it, but if he says it's okay, he's homosexual too. He's already accepted it, so all he needs is a little good times and he is convinced. "Yes. I am homosexual."

Now, I realize I go way out in left field and say some farfetched things, but I believe what I am saying paints the picture as it. is. This is a crazy freak world! Nobody in this society is a sound healthy human being.

You can hardly find a person that's a sound healthy human being unless you find somebody that's still serious about religion. I mean living a good life — a good Christian, a good Jew or a good Muslim — somebody still serious about religion. The people that have been given to this world's mind are finished. They are either too soft or too hard ~ artificial.

Let us come back home. Let us come back to faith in the Almighty Creator. Let us come back to respecting the human being, respecting what God made him, not what this freaky environment has made him.

Let us come back to loving family life, respecting mother, respecting father, cherishing our aged people, reverencing them whether they have an ounce of knowledge or not.

There was a time when an old man didn't have to have a lot of knowledge. He could be unlearned, a dumbell, but we respected him. We have to come back to that. Let us come back to the precious life that served as the basis for growth, then we can grow as a society, as a community and we can make progress steadily.

Why should we make a little progress and fall back all the time? Our political future depends on a gamble; we're nothing but gamblers. For a few months it looks like we are going to make progress then suddenly some change comes in political circumstances and we lose everything we've gained.

Why should we continue to give ourselves to political circumstances, economic circumstances? Let us come up with a plan.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was a leader who believed in a plan. He said let us have a program, let us have a plan.

That man called us to the right thing. Now that we have the Quran, we have our religion: we have light that shows us how to live as Muslims. Let us do some planning in our lives. Let us plan today to have one good school. Plan five years later to have five good schools. Let us plan the future — 10. 20 years ahead and let us never give up pursuing our goals.

Let the political parties change. Let the Democrats go out and the Republicans come in. but let us never change from our plan. Let us keep to our course, keep to our plan, and that's how we will become a strong people.

But as long as we let ourselves be influenced by the winds of circumstances, giving ourselves to these political parties and not charting our course independently, we will never be anything but inferior in this country.

Dignity   starts   within   and   it   embraces dignity from without. You must first have some knowledge of what you are, what God made you and what you should be. and then you grow with that knowledge to embrace other things that complement your dignity.

I wish I could talk on because I have a lot to say. There is a lot wrong in this world and I'd like to talk about it but believe me, we'll have another time to meet. I know God hasn't let this great light come to blossom here in the World Community of Al-Islam for it to be cut out all of a sudden. No — we're going to shine for a long, long time and I'll be around to see you again. As-Salaam-Alaikum.

Allah is the perfect being. Allah is all righteous, truthful - - no imperfections in Allah. Allah is Supreme and Perfect without any imperfections.

O Allah. Make us of those who purify themselves and of those who repent, and guide us in your path. Amen.

Peace be to you
Your brother in service to Allah.
Wallace Deen Muhammad