1986-August-8

Muslim Journal

We Must Project The True Image Of Al-Islam: Part 1

Imam W. Deen Muhammad

(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the Muslim convention address Imam Muhammad delivered July 20, 1986 at Cobo Hall in Detroit: Insha' Allah. Muslim Journal will print the entire address.)

We must project the true Image of Al Islam

As-Salaam-Alaikum. That is peace be unto you. Al¬hamdulillah. rabbil-alameen. Praise be to Allah, that is God, Lord of All the Worlds, we seek Him for assistance, we turn to Him and ask for His forgiveness and His mercy on us, and we praise Him and pray the choi¬cest blessings upon His servant, the universal Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, to whom the Qur'an was revealed. Peace and the blessings be on him and his descendants and compan¬ions of the Prophet, and upon us be peace.

I thank Allah for this day, for giving us an opportunity to meet here, in Detroit, Michigan, at Cobo Hall. I thank Allah for the efforts of Imam Dawud Alim and for the efforts of the resident Imam Dawud Ahmed and also the efforts of those who backed and supported them.

Those who have come here, from far distances are to be con¬gratulated because it is clear to everybody that we don't have any quick, worldly excitement to offer you; we are not inviting you here to get rich in the ways of the world; we are not inviting you here to have fun, in the ways of the world; this is not the usual kind of gathering or agenda; what we will be talking about today is not the kind of concern or topic that the masses of people come to hear or rally around. So you are to be con¬gratulated. People still believe in an authority above them. People still believe in God. It must be understood that people still seek to know better what Allah wants for them. There are people still interested in re¬ligion; there are people still willing to pay money to travel far to separate from their attachments to gather under the voice or call to faith.
Believe In God, Be Upright

At this point, I want to read a few words from our Holy book. (-Reads in Arabic)
"In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Alif, Lam, Ra. This is a Book sent down to you, 0 Muhammad, that you may bring mankind out of the dark into the light, with the permission of thy Lord, to the path of the One who is Mighty and Dear, and worthy of all praise. For Him belongs whatever is in the heavens, and whatever is in their earth."

I also would like to bring to you, the words of our Prophet, peace and the blessings be upon him, who said, answering a question for one who was seek¬ing to be advised, as to what the Prophet could give him that no one else could give him. The Prophet in his reply to him, said: "Say, I have faith in Allah, and thereafter be upright."

In order that Muslims not be victims of the lies told about us, it is necessary for us to meet in great numbers, in many places where we reside in the United States, to hear if not me, some¬one who is sincere and strong enough to tell the truth about our religion. We have many claiming to be leaders, in this religion but we have very few with the courage to tell the truth about this religion. Too many in the leadership that presents themselves as Muslim leaders are really imposters, working for the enemies of this religion.

-- If we sincerely believe in the Qur'an, our Holy Book, which is a universal book, it's not the book just for us in America, it's the book for all of us throughout the world. It wasn't produced by our efforts here in America, it was a thousand years old when we were brought to America.

Al-Islam Has Enemies

If the sincere and the strong among the Muslims will not assert themselves to represent this religion as it should be rep¬resented, then we have nothing.
We must understand that we are a very small minority reli¬gious group in America. We must understand that we be¬long to a religion that had ene¬mies from the very first day of its pronouncement on this earth.
Our Prophet, peace and the blessings be on him, was a na¬tive son of Mecca, on the penin¬sula now called Saudi Arabia. He was also a son of the most respected tribes of the Arabs called Quraish. But that did not prevent him from having ene¬mies. When he began to preach what Allah had revealed to him, as a last message for all the world, he very soon found strong, very avowed enemies, from among his own relatives. Two of his worst enemies were his uncles, Abu Lahab, and Abu Jahl.

The people he found himself among, had known him to be honest, and honorable. They called him "The Trustworthy One" — El-Amin. However the same people who had called him the trustworthy one, who had deposited their valuables with him as though he was a bank; that same man that they so highly regarded, became the greatest trouble for them, be¬cause they were not willing to say "I have belief in God, and I choose to be upright."

Trouble To Disbelievers

If I have a problem with peo¬ple today, it is because I follow the tradition of that great man, Muhammad, the Universal Prophet.
And there will be people to¬day that won't like me, because I say, believe first in God and thereafter be upright. But that doesn't bother me — it doesn't bother me at all. In fact it makes me happy to know that God has blessed me to be a trou¬ble in the midst of disbelievers. It is a blessing to be trouble in the midst of disbelievers. They should be troubled.

We have to be aware that we are a small minority in Amer¬ica, the majority of the people belong to another religion, and that the same foes, the same enemies of Islam, the same ene¬mies of the Prophet, and here today and are as determined to¬day as they were then to deny this religion a life and a pre¬sence on this earth. We have to be as committed to this mission, as strong in our position and as willing to sacrifice our time, our money, and even our life if we must, for this religion, if we are truly Muslims.

I thank Allah that the situation is not as difficult for us to¬day as it was for our Prophet and his companions.
We live in a time and among a people who claim to be civilized, democratic, and liberal; they even claim to accept our reli¬gion as a legitimate religion that should not be persecuted but should be welcomed in the homeland of man. A religion that President Madison and other presidents of the United States have given words of rec¬ognition for; former President, Jimmy Carter publicly paid tri¬bute to Al-Islam. But you must understand that even though this country is committed to respect the great established reli¬gions, the situation for us as re¬ligious people, as Muslims, is no different than the situation for the American Indian, or for any other minorities in this country, who have their rights protected in law, but their rights taken away from them by un-Godly, not only in private, but in gov¬ernment quarters. They are working hard to deny this reli¬gion its life and presence and future on this earth.

Value Muslim Community

If I had a wife, that men were jealous of, or jealous of me because of her, a wife that other men wanted, it would make me appreciate her even more, as long as she wasn't being affected.

If I had a wife, that people were attacking or working secretly to discredit, and I knew myself that she was a fine wife, a good wife, a treasure to be valued, it would make me all the much more committed to that wife. It would make me stronger in my love for her, and stronger in my determination to stick by her.
I think I have such a wife in Shirley.

Likewise I truly believe that this religious community life is of value to us, and there are de¬vilish people working quietly and secretly all the time to hurt and discredit the Muslim com¬munity; to weaken our admira¬tion for the Muslim community, to make us fear to put our faith in the future of the Muslim com¬munity. They are working hard day and night. Our crowd would be much smaller here today, if they weren't here. You are here, but they are also here. They have to be here, because they always want to be the closest ones to what's going on, so they can be in the best position to hurt what we are all about. But I thank Allah that this kind of situation is not as bad for us as it was for our Prophet Muham¬mad, peace and the blessings be upon him and his companions, may God be pleased with them.

We are in a situation now in America, where it is against the law to do those things that the heathens did against Muhammad. It is against the law; they cannot openly come out against Al-Islam in America today as the enemies came out against Al-Islam in the day of our Prophet, peace and the bles¬sings be on him. They can't do it, because it's against the laws in this country. But that doesn't mean that they are not as de¬cided and not as bent upon doing it. They are just as de¬cided and bent upon hurting this religion as those enemies were back then but the time and the law are against them, so they have to meet in secret, be¬hind closed doors. They say, "We are not going to give that religion a chance; make sure you've got somebody to watch every true believer and let us know when any is getting se¬rious about his religion, so we can plan against them."

Efforts To Contain Us

I recall the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, being supported by many that• he called devils. Some of them were in government offices, but they admired the Honorable Elijah Muham¬mad, they wished him well. But I also recall that there were those who were quiet, they neither came out for or against him, they were very quiet. They used their power and influence to limit the effect of his works, to make sure that his positive good words, would always be in a situation where they could end it any time they chose.