Self-Improvement Study Guides - Self-Improvement: The Basis For Community Development
In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
I Bear Witness That There Is No God But Allah And I Bear Witness
That Muhammad Is His Messenger.
I GREET YOU ALL IN THE GREETING WORDS OF PEACE:
AS SALAAM ALAIKUM.
I want to say that I am very happy and honored to have this opportunity to be here in Phoenix, Arizona tonight. And I want to thank all who made this evening possible. To Brother Jabril Muhammad and the Believers in Mosque No. 32, here in Phoenix; to all of the friends and well-wishers; to the Chicano and American Indian Brothers and Sisters who welcomed me here; to the distinguished pastors; to the members of the Black religious community; I am very, grateful --- to the staff of the Plaza Symphony Hall; to the Police Chief and all of those who helped to make this evening a peaceful evening; we thank you from depths of our heart. Thank you, very very much.
I would also like to thank Minister Don and Sister Tynnetta Muhammad and all of those who spoke kindly of me and welcomed me to this beautiful city. I am very honored to come here. I am very honored to choose such a city in which to live and do the work of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Mixed feelings and controversy surrounded the Honorable Elijah Muhammad when he first moved to Phoenix. Likewise, those mixed feelings surround Brother Farrakhan in my coming into this area. These mixed feelings of apprehension and fear and love and hope come because the man and his message is understood by many in the Black community, but misunderstood and purposely misrepresented by those in other communities and this is what creates such controversy around myself -- my person --- and the message that I represent. But, I am so grateful to Almighty God that all of you are here tonight to listen for yourselves; to make a judgement for yourselves. I think that is the most intelligent posture that we should hold.
If, in a court of law, a man is considered innocent until he is proved guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, then I would hope that you would save judgement of Brother Farrakhan until you have heard what I have to say. And, of course, those of you who have heard me on many occasions, you are listening to a man, who like yourselves hopefully is constantly growing, constantly evolving.
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There is a song that they sing in the Christian church, "God Is Not Through With Me Yet". So, you have to be careful how you judge something that is on the move. In fact, the only time that you can judge a thing is when God puts a period to their life and their testament is finished. Then you can adequately judge. But, while the Testator is still writing His Testament, be careful what you say; you might have to retract your words.
I have chose for my subject: "SELF-IMPROVEMENT: THE BASIS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT." Now, there are many, many developers who buy land and develop that land into communities, towns and cities; placing on this land magnificent structures costing hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars.
This activity of land development is going on in Phoenix and in cities around the country, and, indeed, around the Earth. However, to those who spend those hundreds of millions and billions of dollars building structures: unless we build people; unless the human potential of people is developed; then man, in his underdeveloped state, will ultimately destroy the cities that he has built because of revolution and war.
So, the Scripture is right in teaching, 'What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?' What would it profit us to build magnificent structures, beautiful buildings, magnificent bridges, built with magnificent technology and the soul of those human beings are wretched and deprived and underdeveloped and rottening from within? How does one lose one's soul? What is so important about the soul, or the essence of our being, that if we lose it, we lose everything?
There is a verse in this Book, the Qur'an, that says that on the Day of Judgement that if a man owned all of the wealth that is in the Earth, he would ransom it to keep himself from the chastisement of God. Well, what is it about the chastisement of God that is so great and what is it about the wealth that people abundantly seek that is so little, that you would give it all away just to save your life in a time of trouble? This is why I have chosen the subject, "SELF-IMPROVEMENT: THE BASIS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT." Because it is the improvement of each of us as human beings that is lacking in the world, and because instead of human beings improving, they are degenerating. Then there is no hope for the nations, for they are all on a path of self-destruction.
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It is written in the Holy Qur'an, which is the Book of Scripture for the Muslims, that Allah created man to face difficulties. God has brought us all onto the Earth to face one difficulty after another and it is the facing of these difficulties and the overcoming of these difficulties that helps us to improve our character and improve ourselves.
Now, the key word is 'to face' a difficulty. 'To face' a difficulty means to look at it; to assess it; to summon the total strength or our being to oppose it; to overcome it; to have a determined, persevering, courageous spirit to overcome the difficulty. There is no difficulty that man is faced with that man does not have the ability to overcome, if he will summon the strength of his being against that obstacle in the pathway of his progress.
But, how many of us turn our backs on difficulties? Whenever the difficulty comes, we turn away from it; try to find an easy road out of a difficult situation. I am talking to all of us. How many of you, when a difficult situation arises in your life, summon the strength of your being to stand resolutely and firmly in the face of that difficulty to overcome it? Or, do you turn away?
Brothers and Sisters, each time we turn away from the struggle to overcome difficulty, there then is deterioration of character and there is destruction of the Will --- and the Will that is within you is God's gift. It is His Essence that He gives to man and anything that deteriorates your Will destroys your ability to cope with the problems of life. Struggle is ordained.
Struggle is ordained by God. God is not a vicious God. He is a Loving, a Beneficent and Merciful God, but He ordains struggle. Because without struggle, you cannot bring out of yourself that which God has deposited within you. It is something that has to be brought out and it is a struggle overcoming difficulties that manifest your own gifts and your own sublime qualities.
Struggle is ordained, but the Qur'an teaches that 'after difficulty comes ease.' God gives you difficulty then He gives you ease. It is like a blacksmith, if you will, who is shaping a piece of steel. He puts it in the fire then he beats it and he cools it. This is the way God forges men and women of character. He does not forge you into great men and women without the fire, the water and the beating. These are the difficulties of life; we must face them; we must overcome them. All Praise is due to Allah.
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Look at the little bird. See how it pecks its way out of the egg --- the shell. It struggles to come forward. Then, that bird struggles to get its balance and it struggles to fly. But, when it flies, it's gone. God has ordained struggle. Look at the caterpillar, how it struggles to get out of the cocoon and look at human life as it struggles to come forth from the womb.
Coming to birth is painful. It's painful to the mother, but if the baby could tell you what it just came through, the baby would have a story to tell; for ofttimes, when the baby comes forth, its head is pained, there are bruises on the shoulder, because birth is painful. Likewise, you cannot go to new levels of consciousness, new levels of awareness, new levels of power and development without pain; and if you shrink from pain and won't face the pain and face the difficulties, you will never evolve to the people that Almighty God intends for you to be.
This Book, the Holy Qur'an, teaches that man is created complete, yet incomplete. How is man complete, yet incomplete? There are stages of evolutionary development. We start, as the Qur'an teaches (and biologists will bear witness), from a cloudy drop of water called sperm, mixed with ovum. Then we evolve into a clot, then into an embryo, then into a fetus, then we come forward --- complete, yet incomplete. You are today complete, yet incomplete.
Human life has a pre-determined goal. The pre-determined goal of all human life is not to walk the streets of Phoenix with dope, no hope, no direction, no guidance. The pre-determined --- now listen to this --- I didn't say 'determined', but, 'pre-determined'. Before you came into existence, there was a goal set for your life and that goal for your life is written in the Bible and in the Qur'an: that goal is to make that life meet with its Source; its Creator.
This Qur'an says that many of you deny meeting with God. Some of you think that the only way you meet with God is that you have to die physically, and they say 'I am sending you' or 'You are going to meet your Maker.' No, no, no, no, no, that is the wrong way to understand Scripture, Brothers and Sisters.
Did you think that when you meet with God it's going to be a sit down --- 'How ya' doin', God! Glad to meet ya. Sure nice. I been thinkin' about you. 'Been prayin, now I get a chance to see you, talk to you.' This is not a meeting. To 'meet with' means to 'join' the essence of your being to the Essence of The Originator of all of this life. To 'meet with', to 'join with', that is the pre-determined goal of human life.
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Look at you, male and female. You have a pre-determined nature that makes you gravitate towards one another. You just can't help yourself. If you make yourself other than that, that's what you did. Nature has given you a goal to meet one another. I'll get off of that. But that's all truth. We all have problems and those who have that problem, I hope you will listen carefully; and all other problems. Listen carefully to what Brother Farrakhan says to you tonight from the The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and think about it, and I'll guarantee you that you will come away from here with a different perspective on your life tonight.
Now look. As we move towards union---male and female---or move towards union---people with people---this union brings joy and peace in a measure. When you marry, that doesn't mean you are united, that means your intention to unite has been sanctified in the presence of witnesses. You have intended to come together as one. But, it takes years of struggle to overcome the problems that keep male and female, which are made by God to be together as one, it takes years of struggle to become one. But, when you become one, there is joy and peace in that union.
I heard my Chicano brother say that the Mexicans and Blacks should no longer be divided; the Native Americans, the Mexicans, the Blacks, should no longer be divided. But I will say this: Humanity should no longer be divided. It is joy and peace when people can unite. But Indians and Mexicans and Blacks can never become a united people without a struggle.
We must struggle to overcome the difficulties imposed by our desire to be united. There are always attending difficulties. But how do you deal with it? Do you run away from it, or do you face it with the resolve that our unity is more important than the things that keep us divided with one another?
Now Brothers and Sisters, the greatest goal of all life is to meet with, or to form a perfect union with, Almighty God Allah. When there is a perfect union with God and when we become one with our Creator, then the Attributes of God come right across our own personality and character, so that we become one with the Source of life, so that when you see the person, you are actually looking at God.
Wait, now I don't want to throw you off. I want you to follow this carefully. If you can become one with the Creator, join with Him in a perfect union, which is a great struggle, then His Attributes, His own unique Personality, will impress Itself upon you and His own being will come across your being, so that you die, He lives, in you---through you. When they see you, they see Him, for you are in Him and He is in you. Is that clear? Are you alright?
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This is what is meant in the Scriptures by the 'transfiguration' of Jesus of the Mount. It didn't take place in the valley; it never does. You have to go up in the Mount. Why? Because to climb a mountain tests your will, test you heart, test you endurance, tests all the fibers of your being. So, when you reach the summit---not the summit of a mountain---but the summit of life's struggle when you become one with your Creator. Then you can absolutely have His figure come across you.
This is why Jesus is so important in the New Testament. His life, according to the Qur'an, is a 'perfect example'. We need to understand why the life of Jesus is a 'perfect example'. I will touch that in a minute. We are talking on "SELF-IMPROVEMENT: THE BASIS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT".
Now, all Muslims who are present, we have a ritual in Islam that is called 'Hajj' or 'Pilgrimage', where once in a lifetime every Muslim is to make a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, in Arabia. I have been blessed to make that wonderful pilgrimage. But, when I made that pilgrimage, it was clear to me that the pilgrimage was nothing more than a sign of another journey; the journey of the sperm to its goal, which is to meet in Mecca, but to meet with that which Mecca represents, that which the Ka'bah represents.
When we get to Mecca, we say, 'labaika Allah-umma labaika' 'Here I am O Allah, in Your august Presence.' When you are in the Presence of God, when you have met with God, you have performed the real pilgrimage. And that, each one of us is to perform in our lifetime. Our whole life is a struggle to meet with the Source of our life.
The Qur'an says when you meet with God, you become a soul at rest and it says, 'O soul that is at rest! Well-pleased with thy Lord and thy Lord well-pleased with thee.' When you reach that point in your development where you have improved and developed to the point where you are a soul that is no longer fighting, no longer struggling, but you have reached the goal and soul is at rest; you are well-pleased with God and God is well-pleased with you. That's the goal. But to reach this great goal, there is struggle at every stage. After overcoming one stage, there is ease to build you up for the next stage of struggle. This is the path to God and this is the path to Self-improvement.
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Now, if you look at the prophets, all of them are examples of this struggle. Every prophet that God sent into the world is an example of this struggle to meet with God.
Though the prophets' examples are not what I would call a perfect example; (because) the prophets struggled in the absence of God with Light from God that is considered, in symbolic language, 'moonlight'. Since the moon represents the Sun, in the absence of the Sun it has no light of its own; it borrows light from the Sun and reflects it to the Earth. Likewise, in the absence of God, prophets reflect the Light of God to the people of the Earth. But, they do not see. They are not a witness of God's Divine Presence; they are only a witness that God is interested in the affairs of men. Do you follow what I am saying? If you have a limited light, you can only be a limited example. The prophets of God had limited light; therefore, their example is limited. It is not the apex example of human beings.
This is why in the Christian context, Jesus Christ is the Supreme Example. Why is Jesus the Supreme Example? Jesus is the Supreme Example because he is not a 'prophet', in the classical sense of that name; he is the Master of prophets. He comes, not as 'a' star of God, but 'The Star' of God---for in Jesus is a witness, not that God is Coming, but that God is Present. Listen, listen, listen now.
Jesus becomes the Supreme Example because he is not moonlight, but he is actually sunlight, or, 'The Light of the World'. So, Jesus gives man a glimpse of his potential. Jesus is not here for you to worship him; he is here for you to follow his example, that where he is, you may be. Meaning that what he has become you also can become if you follow that path. Do you follow what I am saying?
Listen, Reverend. You know, Reverend, we waste a lot of time getting the people to worship Jesus, when in reality, we should be getting the people to follow his example. If the group had followed the example of Jesus, you wouldn't just have Jesus, Peter and Paul, but everywhere you look, you would see another Jesus. Because if you follow that example, Jesus is only manifesting what is really in yourself.
Are you following what I am saying? 'This is a different message from Farrakhan. I thought Farrakhan was telling us we should hate people.' You don't know where Farrakhan is coming from. You really don't listen. You'll understand me better if you stop trying to pre-judge and do some post-judging. Listen to what I am saying about this man, Jesus.
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He is the perfect example of human potential. Therefore, he should be shown to men, not as some being that is out there in space, that we can never attain. That is the wrong way to preach Jesus. If you make Jesus acceptable, he becomes reachable. But If you put him out there on Cloud 9, saying, 'Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Master, Jesus has control of the forces of nature', and you don't show every human being that he was a born of a woman and came through the vicissitudes of life, just like you. He struggled and overcame and the last test that he had to overcome was death. Not this death that you are thinking about. I'll get to that later on. Not too long from now, don't worry.
But, he overcame death to give us an example of how death is to be overcome. But, once you get past a certain point, you are out there. It is like an astronaut going out in space. I mean, Brother, those first few minutes---they are rough. When they reach the ceiling of gravity, where there is pure fire; they are going through fire; they have the heat shield around them. It's rough Brother. But when they get out in Space they have gotten out of the pull of gravity of this sphere; then there is smooth sailing. But, getting out there--that is the test.
You know, when I was in church we used to sing a song at Easter time--in the Episcopal Church---I don't know how they do it in the Baptist Church. But, it went like this: 'The strife is o'er, the battle done, the victory of life is won. All glory to that risen Son, Allelujah!' Now, I sang that as a Christian, but today I understand it as a Muslim.
Tonight, there are Christians and Muslims praying together, singing together, seated together. Why? Because Farrakhan does not come into the Valley to divide people who believe in God, but to show those who believe in God that, if you truly believe in God and seek to understand what you believe, you find a way to connect things that appear to be diverse and different. Because, if we can connect Indians and Mexicans and Blacks, who appear to be different (and whites), then what can you do to connect Hebrews, Muslims, Christians. It should be easier to connect those who believe in God than those who are culturally and racially different. Tonight, we are going to overcome all of that.
I am sure you will agree with me that there is a great problem with man. I am not talking about color, now. The white man has a problem and is a problem to himself and others. Listen. Wait a minute. 'Now here comes that racism.' No, no, no, you just be quiet.
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The Black man is a problem; he is a problem to himself and he is a problem to others. Listen The Chicano is a problem, but he is a problem to himself. The Indian---Native American---is a problem to himself. All human beings are suffering from a problem and the problem is not somebody else; the problem is yourself.
We have a problem. And tonight, what we want to do, is just analyze what is giving us all of this hell. Will you help me to analyze this thing?
I am a Black man and I love Black people. I sit and cry over the beauty that I see in Black people that perhaps others do not even see. I am willing to give my life tonight, if dying will make life better for you. I would leave here tonight and die for the Black man. I would much rather live for you, but if dying would do it, I would die tonight. I don't want to live seeing you in this condition; I do not care to live and watch my people dying in my face and I do nothing to help them out of this condition,. I cannot take that. But, Brothers and Sisters, listen to me.
If every white person on Earth dies tonight, you would have a problem tomorrow. My Chicano and Native American brothers and sisters, if the white man died tomorrow, you would have a problem the day after. The problem is not the white man. The problem is something within yourself that you are not facing up to. Listen to me. White people, there is something in yourself that you are not facing up to. So, each of us has some facing up to do. But, somebody has to show you your face, so that you can face up to your face and deal with yourself. Forget about your neighbor. I want you, tonight, to deal with you, because you are your worst enemy.
I listened to the television this morning. Reverend was really preaching.. He was preaching about how the devil is seeking to rob you. The devil is seeking to take joy from you. The devil is seeking to keep you from the Kingdom. The devil is going to do this, you can't let the devil do this. I mean, this devil raises a lot of hell, doesn't he? And no one can get a handle on this devil and choke the hell out of him. Tonight is the night I am going to let you put your hands on that devil that is giving you some particular hell, an you can strangle the hell out of him tonight.
The Holy Qur'an and the Bible teach us that God has no need for any of His creatures. He is above need of His creatures. He is independent of His creation, but all creation depends upon Him.
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The Holy Qur'an, again teaches us that man thinks himself to be self-sufficient. He doesn't recognize his incompleteness. Man is created in need and he or she goes about his whole life in pursuit of the fulfillment of needs; we don't even recognize our need of God until trouble afflicts us. The more trouble afflicts us, and there is no one around to help us, then we call on God, making our prayer sincere.
I went into the sweat lodge with our Native American Brothers and Sisters. If you have never had that experience---it is an experience. In there with fire; heat like you have never felt; darkness that resembles the darkness of the womb out of which birth comes.
I was outside of the 'inipi', listening to those who went in in front of me; I listened to how they called on God when they were praying. When that heat got hot, I heard them say 'Oh, Grandfather!' And I mean there was no insincerity in it. You could tell they were reaching for somewhere deep down within. I heard the Muslims, in the 'inipi', saying 'Oh Allah!' I mean, they cried His Name out with such fervor, such sincerity. I said, 'Uh-huh. God has to keep us in total trouble in order to get a sincere prayer from our lips.'
And even those who think they don't believe in God. Just travel on these airplanes and wait until it hits a severe (air) pocket and bumps. You see the Christian grab for his cross. You see the Jewish person get the Star of David or the Talmud; a Muslim gets the Qur'an, or something divine. They don't ask for the navigator, because he cannot see where he is going. They reach outside the plane to somebody that they know, or believe, has power over this wind, over the forces that are tearing this plane apart.
And the Qur'an says: "And lo! (When I get you safely to port), you set up other gods besides Me. Surely man is ungrateful.' Look at how you get on the plane and the man says, 'This is Flight 242, American Airlines. We will be landing in Los Angeles in 3 hours and 40 minutes. We will be flying at speed of 450 knots, at an altitude of 36,000 feet and we are looking for an on time arrival.' He does not say, "God Willing.' He doesn't recognize that there is another Power here. He (thinks he) is the power.
Listen to me carefully. That word, "I", that personal pronoun "I", represents 'independence.' "I" will do this. "I" will say that...Don't worry, just as good as done. I will take care of it.' It's the ninth letter of the alphabet. The number nine (9) represents completion.
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Man is complete, yet he is incomplete, but he does not want to recognize his incompleteness. He is not sufficient, but he wants to think that he is self-sufficient, so his thinking of his self-sufficiency and his completeness damages his perception of reality. So he says, 'I will see you tomorrow. Oh, yes, the money I owe you. I will pay you on the weekend.'
Brothers and Sisters, we cannot speak independently of God. We have no control of tomorrow. We must always recognize Allah and remember our need of Him and our complete dependence upon Him, lest we abort our development. The moment you say 'I' and you don't think there is another Power and you don't recognize that there is another Power, you are setting up a state of mind, an attitude, that will abort your own meeting (with God) and start you on a degenerative road.
Listen. The Bible says, when you speak, say 'I will do thus and so, if it be the Will of God.' The Qur'an says, when you speak, say, 'I will do thus and so, Inshallah (if it be the Will of God).' Because between today and tomorrow, there are forces that you know nothing of, that can interfere with all of our plans. So our plans must be contingent upon whether God will permit it, or whether Allah will permit it, or Grandfather will permit it, so we must acknowledge Him, lest we make a serious mistake and abort our own progressive development and improvement in character.
Moses is given to you (the biblical Moses) and me as an example. Here is a man that God chose; a man that God taught; a man that God empowered; a man that led his people out of Egypt into the wilderness. He used a rod that God gave him with Power and Majesty, but he was overcome and said, 'Must I smite the rock and bring forth water?' And God said, 'What is this? What is wrong with you, Moses? What do you mean, must you smite? Have you forgotten Me?' Moses quickly repented. He said, 'Oh, I am sorry.' God said, 'It's too late. For this, Moses, I am going to deny you the Promised Land.'
Now, here is a man who served God faithfully, but spoke independently of God, because power has a way of making you forget. See, you that lust for power, you that have it; you that lust for fame, you that have it; you that lust for money, you that have it; you that have some of these things that most of us strive for; once you have it and people admire you, there is a tendency to forget Who it is that you are dependent upon. When you forget, you lose something. Moses (biblical Moses) lost the Promised Land. What will you lose? See, you lose the Promised Meeting with God, by thinking that you and I can do, on our own.
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If Jesus is the Prime Example, and he said, 'I of myself can do nothing, but whatsoever the Father Wills, that I do.', he is telling you that he is dependent. He is not Sovereign Lord. He is dependent upon a Power bigger than himself. Well, that example should be studied by us, for the Qur'an teaches us that Allah loves not any self-conceited boaster, who goes about the land exultingly. In fact, the Qur'an says the most hateful sound to God is the braying of an ass. Even if he gave the ass a voice, he doesn't like to hear it. When you talk like the jack ass, going about in the land exultingly, self-conceited boaster, saying and thinking that you can do things which you really cannot do, then God intervenes to show you that you are not what you think you are.
Look at how many rockets have fallen out of the sky. With a few successful launches of the new program that came out of NASA, suddenly every rocket they sent up exploded. See, there is another Power and that Power is trying to tell you, 'Look, man, you are not God. You had better wake up and recognize, you are coming out into My Universe, taking a peek at what My technology has built. Why don't you bow down and recognize that there is somebody bigger than you?
Now. This part of the lecture is really the heart of it. This is very difficult and I want you to pay attention.
In this Qur'an, as well as the Bible, Allah says, 'I am going to place a ruler in the Earth.' And the Angels say to Allah, 'What will you place in it except that which will create mischief and cause the shedding of blood?...We celebrate Your Praise and extol Your Holiness.' But, God says to them, 'I know what you know not....I am going to place a ruler in the Earth and that ruler that I place in the Earth is going to create mischief and cause the shedding of blood.' The Angels say, 'You are Holy, why would you do a thing like this?' And God says, 'I know what you know not.' Listen carefully, now.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave us a very clear interpretation of the Qur'anic passage. That interpretation dealt with a ruler who is over the nations of the Earth, who has created mischief and the shedding of blood. But God, Who knows best, said that even though a mischief-maker 'has become the ruler by My permission, nevertheless, at the end of the mischiefmaking and bloodshed there is something that will wipe away the pain of his rule...I know what you know not.'
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Tonight, I would like to advance another interpretation of that scripture. You say, 'Wait a minute, Farrakhan. Who are you to advance an interpretation?' Really, nobody, just a student of a great teacher. But you know, it is wrong for any man to think that any one interpretation of a divine word is the interpretation. How could this be God's Word and you treat it as though it is your word? If The God, Who reveals the Book, gives a Word that is comparable to His own consummate knowledge of things, then how could you dare say that His Word is limited to your meager interpretation or mine? I would like to offer this interpretation to you as another way to look at scripture.
Listen. 'I am going to place a ruler in the Earth.' Not on the Earth, but in the Earth. Where did you come from? Your flesh is from what? The vegetation of the Earth. Your bone is from what? The stone of the Earth. Your blood is from what? The water of the Earth. This lump of flesh and blood and bone has to have a ruler in it. Something that rules it; something that commands it; that dominates it. Is that right?
Now look Who is talking. This is the Lord of Creation talking. 'I am going to place a ruler in the Earth.' And the Angels said, 'My God, what You are going to place is going to create mischief and cause the shedding of blood.' Then He answered, 'I know what you know not.' Now, if God is going to form this body and He knows that you are supreme above the Sun, Moon and Stars, above all the creatures; you are the supreme existence --- Man and Woman. He is going to place in you a ruler. But, the ruler that he puts in you has got to come through stages of development and on its way is going to create mischief and cause the shedding of blood. I want you to follow me, because I want you to see yourself.
'I am going to place a ruler...' In Hebrew,' ruler means 'Elohim' or 'God', 'Divine Essence', 'Will', 'Divine Force.' God shares Himself with Man and Woman. The only reason you can say 'I' is because the true 'I' has shared a part of His 'I am' with you, that you may be. Look, now. He, Allah, God, places in you a Power from Himself. I am going to say this --- it may create a lot of trouble. But you all are ready for trouble. When God gives you some of Himself, that is a Power that you have to learn how to handle. You see people get rich too fast; what happens to them? You have to be spiritually equipped to handle the Power of God. When God shares Himself with you, He gives you a problem to overcome. You have to struggle with the only force that is in you, which is the God Force. There is no other force but God. 'But I thought there is a Devil.' Wait a minute. That is what you become when you abuse the God Force and use it for negative ends.
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Many years ago, people thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe. Then they thought that perhaps the Sun was the center of the Universe. So, we asked the Honorable Elijah Muhammad one day, 'Is the Sun the center of the Universe?' He said, 'The Sun is very near the center.' He didn't say any more. The Sun is not the center. God, Himself is the center of what He creates. He makes everything to revolve. If the Sun were the absolute God, it wouldn't move; it would just make everything else move. But the Sun is also revolving. It is near the center and there is an Unseen Reality that makes the Sun move.
Look at a child. What makes a child want to be the center of attention? Have you seen your children? You have been one, probably you still are. How many of us want to be the center of attention? 'Hey, look at me, ha, ha.' Why do you think people go into show business? They want to get attention. And when people shower attention on them, they feel so good. They become a star; they become great. Then they begin to think they are different; they talk different. It takes time for the child to mature, to realize that there are others in this world other than himself. I want you to look, now. Don't look at anybody else; look at yourself, because I am talking to you.
If the child does not get attention, he resorts to destructive means to get it. God is a Lifegiver, but God also Destroys. The same Power is within us; we can give life, but we can also destroy. So, if we don't get attention, we break the party up. 'If the organization won't recognize my tremendous skill and ability, I'll break the organization up.' Look at you. 'If the church won't recognize that I can sing better than anybody in the choir and give me a solo, then the hell with the choir, I'll break it up.' What kind of mind is that? What kind of power is that, that you have misused? See, someone is creating mischief with a created thing. Your voice is a gift of God, but it is the way you use it.
The child must learn to accept its place with others You are the center of nothing. And you are deluding yourself if you think you are. There is always a True Center and you are not it; neither am I.
Again, I am quoting from the Qur'an; the Qur'an says the 'Jinn' was created before Man. Some scholars say that 'Jinn' means a being of fiery nature and temperament. Have you ever watched an infant when you don't give it its desire? The infant will cry so hard. Watch it now; it cries so hard until you see fire come right up in its face; it may be Black, but it turns red with the fire of anger, because 'You didn't give me what I wanted! I am hungry! I want to be changed; not tomorrow, right now! And if you don't change me, I'll raise so much hell, nobody in this house will sleep!' The infant is a creature of emotion.
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If the Jinn comes before the Man, you must come through the fire of emotion before you can become a developed human being. You have to learn to control these forces within your own being that come from God Himself, before you can become a human being.
The child wants gratification now. Allah says you must learn patience. And when you are patient, it shows that you are maturing psychologically. The child is selfish. It wants everything for itself. It must learn respect for others. The child must be tolerant of others. The child must learn to share with others. And so, a child has all of these forces within that have to be controlled; that is why God gives children parents.
It is something to make a baby and not know what to do with it. Most of you, dear mothers, are wonderful, wonderful creatures, but you make babies and you don't know what to do with them. Poor father, he is just out there. He just plants the seed and runs away. He doesn't know what to do with life. You are given to the child, mothers and fathers, parents; we are given to exercise control over these forces within the child. And you must feed your child knowledge, guidance, as you exercise control, that the child may grow into the proper use of the Divine Force. Therefore, when the parent does its job, it turns the child over to institutions that become the stewards of the Life Force.
School is not school---it is the Steward of the Life Force in your and my children. It is the 'other Mother', the other nurturer and fosterer of this child and its development on the road to its meeting with God. Listen, now, schoolteacher. You have never been trained like this.
Church---that is an institution. The pastor is supposed to educate the congregation in the matter of control and guidance of their lives and the young lives of their children. Then, you have Government---that is an institution. These are the stewards of the Life Force of the people. Therefore, you are given the privilege to make laws to govern the people. But what have you done? You have created mischief and cause the shedding of blood, because there is ignorance in the parents; church; there is ignorance in the government. In fact, children rule over us.
Each of us has great potential, but a just and balanced home, governed by wisdom, fosters that potential. However, when another, or one people, to the neglect or detriment of another, we set up the destruction of that home, that school, that society; for you are making devils. 'What did you say?' Yes, I said you are making devils. And, when you make a devil, you ought to be responsible for what you make. You are making your destruction, in your homes, in the schools, in the church, in the society; we are making devils. Now, wait a minute. 'My God, Farrakhan, this is terrible.'
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Look at all of you righteous people in the church. How come there is no peace there? Come on all of you saints; you sanctified ones. Who is raising hell in your church? 'Well, it's the devil.' Yes, the devil in you. You don't want to come to grips with that, do you? I told you, you are going to have to strangle that beast before tonight is over.
Man can be an animal or Man can reflect God. You start in this world, like a fish, swimming in a bag of water. You evolve out of that and you come forth crawling; like other crawling things on the Earth. God never intended for you to be an animal. He wanted you to be a coming out of the animal stage of development into a moral consciousness, where you have a spirit in you that accuses you for what you do, based on that which you know instinctively is right.
I remember once I went to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. There was a young girl; she was about twelve (12) years old and she had committed an act of fornication; she wanted me to go the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and plead her case, because she said her mama never taught her; that she did this thing and she was ashamed, but if her mother had taught her about these things, she probably would not have done it. So, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, 'Brother, don't let that little girl put that stuff over on you.' He said, 'Her mama didn't have to teach her. Ask her where did she do this thing. And, if she went and did it in the dark, which I am sure she did, then that meant she did not want the light to discover her activities.'
Listen, now. Listen to what he said. When you are innocent of something, you do it in the open. But, when you have to find a dark place to do your thing, whatever it is, then this means there is something about this that you know you should not be engaging in. So, he said, 'Go and give that girl time.' Now, when he told me that, he said, 'God created the planets at right angles to the Sun and He created the brain cell of Man to think right. So when you think other than right, you think against the grain of the brain cell; therefore, you damage your brain the power of the mind.'
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There are things that you instinctively know are right; you don't have to be taught that. The nature of you is created that way. There are other things that you have to learn, but most of us know right from wrong. It is an instinctive thing that God puts right within the nature of you. So when there is a moral consciousness, your mind says: 'I shouldn't do that. I am wrong.' Then you are coming awake. And, when you are condemning your own actions, then there is an awakening of moral consciousness. You are coming out of an animal stage into moral stage of development; that is a very good sign. But when you can do evil with impunity and don't feel anything, you are dead morally, dead spiritually and you are an animal in your so-called 'human' existence.
We live in a world that is spiritually and morally undeveloped and man's potential to become human has not been realized. People all over this Earth exist on an animal plane. And that is why, in the Book of Revelations, John the Revelator saw four great beasts as having charge over man. You are controlled by beasts in human form. And you yourself have become a beast in human form.
God gives you, in scriptures, a snake crawling in the garden and some of us have become just like that. We slip up on our brother in a crooked, surreptitious, snakelike manner, whispering deceit. That is a person with human potential, but who has generated into a viper. So Jesus said, 'You generation of vipers.' Look at what he called people. He called them snakes. They weren't actual snakes, but their actions were like a snake because the Divine Force of the Divine Light within them was being used for negative purposes; therefore, they had become an enemy to God and enemy to His Will for themselves, as well as each other. They had become 'Shaitan', 'Satan' or 'Devil'.
I am not blind to what I am speaking of. Here is a man on drugs. His wife is clean. His evil has affected himself so that he does not want to stop at himself, so he goes to his wife and he says, 'Baby, you ought to try this.' I have seen men smoke reefer and blow the smoke of the reefer into their baby's face. I have seen men feed their children beer or wine. Well, if you will abuse that life with wine, whiskey, beer or drugs, you will abuse it sexually. Animals in human form. Beasts in human form, demanding respect. Who can respect an animal with Divine potential? I can cope with a dog when it lifts its leg by the fire hydrant, but I cannot cope with a human being that acts like an animal. That human being needs to be taught. The animal is instinctively an animal; but you, you can come out of that stage that you are in.
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There is but one life and that is Divine Life. All life comes from water, is that right? Water is H20, is that right? It has three (3) stages, or, it can take three (3) forms, depending upon the condition of the atmosphere. If the temperature falls 32 degrees and below, water changes form and becomes what? Ice. If it is 32 degrees and above, to 212 degrees, it becomes what? Liquid. When it gets above 212 degrees, it becomes what? Steam, or gas. God gives you Divine Life. Ice is the opposite of steam. God is the opposite of Devil. There is but one life. God gives you life. Now, how do you live it? If you live it in a negative way, under the influence of your own life force that you will not struggle to master, then you become a devil in your person. You become an opposer to the Will of God in your person. There is no devil outside of you giving you hell, it is you, the devil of yourself, raising hell with yourself and on the Earth.
Does this negate what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught? No! This bears witness to what he taught. The more you struggle to gain mastery over yourself, the closer you come to God. It is faith in God that stretches you towards Him. It is your faith in Him that makes you move closer to Him to connect with Him. And when you connect with Him, Heaven and Earth meet.
This is why, in the Book (I think it is Genesis), Jacob wrestled with an angel all night long, until his life was preserved. You have to wrestle with the God Force in your own Self, in order to advance. If you do not wrestle and overcome with an intelligent, enlightened, mature mind, you become a devil.
We have reached the point, or place in time, where the childlike, mischievous, bloodshedding nature of man is threatening his own existence. Man's desire to become the center has ruined his own world.
Now, I am going to speak specifically to Caucasian people---without malice, without hatred, just speaking to the facts. You have desired to be the center of the life of all other peoples of the world. You want your culture, your way of looking at God, your way of looking at life, to be what they perceive reality is. And because you desire that like a child, to be the center of everything; white folks, you are not the center; you have got to take your place. Listen to me good! Your desire to be the center has ruined you, ruined your soul and ruined your nation and ruined your world. You are not the center. God has always been (the center), but you won't recognize Him, with your proud, arrogant, haughty, self-conceited, boastful, mischiefmaking, bloodshedding malice.
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It is this childishness that produces racism. 'Well, my color is better than yours. See, I am white.' Or, the reverse, "My color is better than yours, I am Black.' 'Well, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that Black is beautiful.' It is; it should be to you. But, if you take that to the extreme, you will become what you condemn. If Black is so beautiful, and you are so supreme, how can you walk with the Indians? How can you walk with the Chicanos? How can you walk with another human being? If Black is supreme today. I am the Black man.' 'Well, you ain't so Black.' 'Well, I'm Black enough.' Then it starts getting ridiculous. Chinese people saying, 'It's time for the the slanted-eyed people to rule. Only rice-eaters rule today.' Mexicans say, 'No, no, no. It's tortilla time.' These are children. These little children playing childlike games with the Divine Force of Life. You cannot do it. This has messed you up, white folks. And it will mess you up, Black man. We cannot play that kind of game.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught you Blackness, because the Caucasian had made you hate what God had created you to be. He didn't teach us Blackness for us to be another mischiefmaking devil in the name of Blackness.
Sexism: 'I'm a man. I run this thing. Get in the home where you belong, woman. Shut up! You don't speak here. Cook! Sew! And, above all, have babies.' That is a hell of a mischief-making role to put a woman in and make you a 'thing'. And you, with your silly self, you go along with it.
Here is a man who dresses you up like a piece of meat and you don't care to be anything but a piece of meat for a man to look at and measure. 'I'm 36-23-42.' Sex is created thing, that man, in his mischievous, childlike nature, wants to abuse now. Look at you little devils. We are messed up.
'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.' I can see President Reagan now, standing there with his hand over his heart, tears running out of his eyes, as the Statue of Liberty is lit; a big overgrown, child. Mischief-making child! What makes America greater than any other nation? Nationalism is a curse when you put your nation above others. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation, not technology. You are not righteousness, you are a self-inflated, self-conceited, selfish, self-centered, vain, egotistical, proud, arrogant six-day-old child.
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'More gold! More gold! Anybody got gold? Well, I'll take the gold. Alright, you Indians, I marched you all out West, put you on the worst land I could put you on, now I find that you have the last energy resources in America. Indians, I am coming after you one more time. I want the oil; I want the uranium; I want the gas; and I don't care how many human lives, how many babies I kill, because I am a mischief-making, bloodshedding, child. I am a Devil in human form.'
I know that there are 22 million Black people in South Africa, but we whites, we have the right to take this land. We have the right! We built these cities, we built these towns. These niggers didn't do anything! Get in the mines and get the gold! Get in the mines and get the diamonds! That's all you are good for. Your human life, your human potential, means nothing. You are Black!' You are a devil. This is Satan Botha talking, Satan Thatcher talking. They are deliberating over our lives. Satan, Devil, Beast in human forms. 'I thought you stopped calling people devils.' I call you what you are.
I do not say this with hate; I want you to see that you are facing the challenge of your life, because now your white racism is producing a backlash. Now, Black people want to assert their Blackness and they have a better 'rap'. You tried to make us think we are inferior, but when a Black man says, 'I am the Original Man', you cannot deny it. You cannot say that we are making up a lie. How can we be inferior, and we produced you (you didn't produce us)? How could we be inferior and your genes have their origins in our genetic structure? How could we be inferior and we slept in order to allow you to rule? We are waking up, now, you cannot rule us any more.
So the Yellow Man is coming up, asserting his power today. The Brown Man, in Japan is coming up, asserting his power, today. The Black Man, in Africa, the Caribbean, America and the Isles of the Pacific, is coming up today, reaching for his power. But, it is a childlike reaching that is producing bloodshed and more bloodshed. But God said, 'I know what you know not.'
'I know that he is a Mischief-maker, but he can come out of that. I know he is a little devil now, but I am going to make him a God after a while. Yes, he is going to fulfill all of the evil that he can do, until he is dissatisfied with his own rebelliousness. He is going to long for a change and that is when I will come. I will come in the fullness of Time. I will come after the works of Satan. And I will offer Man a chance to redeem himself.' Look at it, Brothers and Sisters. This is your Bible, really, opened up in front of your eyes. When the Bible talks about the resurrection of the dead, it is not talking about people coming up out of cemeteries, it is talking about the Divine Light of God coming up out of you after it has been frozen in the death of a childlike existence.
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In my conclusion: Adam fell and Adam's fall is only a picture of man's fall from his Divine position with God. Adam was no shallow creature. Adam was a man who had power over angels. He was born to take God's place in the rulership over this domain; born with that potential. But he disobeyed; he transgressed and he fell. 'Fall' does not mean he fell out of the heaven onto the Earth. 'Fall means when you fall from your spiritual power, your moral make-up. You become and animal in human form. That is a fall, Brothers and Sisters. And I suggest to you, with deep respect, that Humanity has fallen and become cheap, base animals in human form.
You could not do the things that you do, if you were not an animal in human form. You don't steal from another human being. You don't beat up an old man or hit an old woman in the head. This is not white people doing this; this is you, Black man, doing this to yourself. You don't take a young girl and throw her down in an alley and rape her. She is not offering herself to you; that is the act of an animal, a sick, depraved mind. You are a sick people and you need a doctor. This 'Black and proud' stuff is not where it's at anymore, Brothers. You are sick and you need a doctor., You need to come up out of that condition because you have become an enemy to yourself.
The Old Testament is a testament of Law. Moses brought a law. You don't give laws to a righteous people. Look at his law: 'Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not kill.' What kind of people is this?
God gave Moses a law for this world. As long as that law existed, the wickedness of man was kept under the wrap of a righteous law. But, when Nimrod broke the civilization of Moses, he broke the law. Once there was no law, wickedness rushed out of the people's souls, because they were wicked and the law made them look right.
Jesus came into the world and the people said 'He doesn't come preaching the law.' They were so dark in their minds, they killed him. Now, we are 6,000 years from Adam. We are at the end of the law. God doesn't come to control you with law. Law is only a cover for your wickedness, it does not make you better. Listen!
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I just came from Mecca, in Arabia. If you fornicate, they will cut your head off. If you steal, they will chop your hand off. They don't have a lot of stealing and there is not a lot of fornication and adultery. That doesn't mean that people don't want to do it, though. It is just that the price is too high. So, they think about it all night long. And when they get on that plane going to London and Paris, they take off those holy garments and put on their jeans. The sheiks are in the disco; they fornicate, commit adultery, do anything that they are big enough to do. Then, when they return to Saudi Arabia, they are 'holier-than-thou'.
You see, law is a cover for hypocrisy. It makes you look right when you are wrong. It is hell on the inside. This is why Jesus said that he that lusts after a woman in his heart has already committed the act; Jesus was not interested in you looking good on the outside, he was interested in purifying man from the inside and the law will never do that. Some one has to grow a man out of this childlike stage. And what is the Force that grows, evolves, feeds, nurtures, nourishes?
The New Testament is called the testament of Love. And so, Love replaces Law. Man gets a period of Grace and in that Grace there is Love. If that is rejected, then comes Destruction.
Now, what I am saying to you, when I speak to the Jews, is not hatred. I am concerned that you do not end up being destroyed by God. I am saying to you, that what you have done to the Palestinians is wrong. You don't like me. What did I do? I say, 'You're wrong.' I didn't do anything against you. I am like your mother. A good Jewish mother will spank you when you are wrong. A good Jewish mother does not care whether you desire a thing; if it is wrong, she will speak against it. You may dislike her for a while, but you will get over it. But Brother Farrakhan is Black. I don't look like your Jewish mother, but I am better than she is by you, because you are wrong, and I must tell you that! Whether you like me or not is irrelevant and immaterial. But, if you will come back from your wicked ways and grow up, you can return to God. You cannot force yourself on Him as the chosen people! God chooses whom He pleases and He doesn't choose you today! That is all that I am saying. Unless you choose Him! If you choose Him and will submit and return and repent, then alright, come on in! But don't attack Farrakhan! 'Death to Farrakhan!' Death to me? For what?!
You don't want me in the Valley. What is so precious in the Valley that you don't want me here? You are, according to what I heard on the news, ranked Number 5 in the country in dope. You should want me all over the Valley.
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You think that man is physical, so you feed him physical things and you think that he is satisfied. You cheapen women. You give them a fur coat: 'Here, baby. Wear this fur coat, darling. Here is a diamond ring, put it on, sweetheart. Bless your heart. Honey, what else do you want?' And you walk away and tell your friends, 'I know that she loves me.' Then you find her in bed with someone else and you wonder why. It wasn't the diamond ring; it wasn't' the fur coat. You have misjudged reality.
When you get away from God, you misperceive. You think she is a thing, so you give her things. But her essence is the Essence of God. She cannot be satisfied with 'things'. You have to give her what her soul is born and created to feed on, and it cannot feed on 'things'; it feeds on the spiritual essence in a man that is made by the nature of "God to complement what is in her nature. Listen, Black man, and listen, all men!
You are not a thing and she is not a thing; therefore, material things cannot satisfy us. When I look at the mountain, it is a 'thing'. But it is a thing of magnificence, because I see beautiful trees; look at the insects; look at the life here. This is magnificent. So what does it do? It feeds something in you that makes you want to go behind the veil of the mountain, the veil of the valley, the veil of the flower, to see the reality behind the veil; and the Reality is God.
And so, Beloved, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen; for she has become a habitation of devils; a hole of every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird. 'Babylon' is talking about America, specifically, but the condition of the whole world generally. It is a habitation of devils and a cage for every hateful bird and a hole for every foul spirit.
Go out in the street. There are people drunk, filled with drugs; they hate you because you are Black, you hate them because they are white, or Mexican or Indian. I listen to the cheap remarks that one passes against another. It is wrong to degrade another human being who is already degraded. You can't call him a nigger and degrade him; you can't call a Mexican a 'spic' and degrade him; he is already degraded. He is a devil. He has degraded himself; he has become an animal. You can't call a white man a 'honky' and degrade him; he is already degraded. He is a devil. He deprived you of what God wanted you to have; therefore, in depriving you, he deprived himself. He is an enemy to God and he is an enemy to himself. You have become an enemy to God and an enemy to yourself. No one is holding you back; it is you. You are in your own way.
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'A habitation of devils.' I did not come to Phoenix to add to these problems, but to use the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to help solve these problems. And so, until we can face ourselves, until we struggle for self-improvement, self-development, then we cannot see the good in ourselves; therefore, we will not see the good in others. And it is only when you can see the good in yourself, see the good in one another, that you can start building a true community.
You will start building better homes when you understand, parent, that you have a duty. You can hardly fulfill your duty, because you have to work. Who is watching your children? You are working, man; she is working. What are the babies doing? What of those children? Who is guiding them? Who is helping them and nurturing them; fostering them? The street!
Send them to school, and what do they find there? A racist school! A white-centered school! I cannot send my babies to school and you are going to extol your race over all other people as though we are just 'also rans' on the Planet! How is that good for your babies' minds? We ought to either change the schools or take our children out of them, because the more your children get a racists, sexist, materialist education, their ability to run the race of life will fail them. Their teachers have failed in the race of life, the government has failed in the the race of life; therefore, they are unfit for the stewardship of the Life Force in human beings.
Beloved, economic development must become a reality and we cannot look to the government to do it for us.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt started welfare and welfare was alright, but when you keep a medicine going beyond the time it begins to kill the patient. Welfare has grown to mean 'farewell' to productive living. No human being can be self-gratified waiting for a check to come on the first of the month. This is degrading to the human spirit. It robs us of the ability to struggle to attain our own potential. We are only self-gratified when we earn our own way. So we must develop to the point where we can say 'Farewell' to welfare.
With 206 billion dollars coming to Black people every year, there is no reason why we cannot say 'farewell' to welfare. But we don't produce any of the things we consume. So we sit around and laugh and make mockery of the Arabs, the Jews, the Chinese, the Koreans and others who are in our neighborhood, serving our needs; but we refuse to serve our own needs. Therefore, they take the money out of our community into their communities. They live in Paradise Valley while you live in South Phoenix, in a terrible condition. We have got to turn this around.
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We have decided that we are going to produce some products that we spend money for every day. We have got to get some of that money back into our own hands to build institutions that serve our people's needs. Indian, Mexican, Chicano, Black---we must serve our own community.
I was on the Indian reservation and they said to me, 'Brother Farrakhan, why don't you come and set up businesses on the reservations?' I said, 'No.' And they said, 'Why not?' I said, 'If I did that, I would be no better than any other exploiter. I said, 'What we will do is come and help you set up your own businesses; then you make the money from your people because that is what we will be doing for our people.' We cannot condemn exploitation and then become exploiters.
You know, you must wash and clean if you are going to come out of this condition. Bad smelling and bad acting people, nasty and dirty, is not going to make it. You must clean up. Jesus said, 'Wash and be clean.'
So, we have come out with a new product called 'Clean N Fresh'. Brand-spanking new. 'Herbal Essence Shampoo.' Clean your hair; keep it clean. Don't have you hair in the condition where lice like you, stay with you, cling to you, because you are unclean. And when you put the shampoo on, you must get the conditioner. You must keep your hair in good condition. This is a 'one-two punch'. And it will knock out the dandruff and all that bad conditioning of your hair and make it soft and easy to manage. It is as good product, Brother and Sister. And we are coming into the Valley with a line of products. We want to offer you a chance to sell these products and earn a living and make some money to better your condition. Self-improvement must also men economic advancement.
Here is a wonderful roll-on deodorant; a beautiful shower and bath liquid soap; a beautiful hand and body lotion. Here is a conditioner and hair dress. Brothers and Sisters, this is the first of a line of products.
Within the next few months, we are coming out with a 'Power Plus' line of detergents for household use. Our brothers and sisters who are out of a job; we want to create a job for you. We will teach you how to sell and you go. And the commissions you make on selling these products will begin to add to your own life. This is only the beginning. It is a humble beginning. It is not what we want, but we must start someplace. When we start, can you imagine the money coming from this?
We want to help the school system in Phoenix, but we also want to build a school system that is a model for the school system that we desire to help. We must build our own hospitals. The Mexicans, the Indians, the Blacks; we must have our own hospitals. We cannot let others experiment on us. We must care for ourselves, then God will bless the child that has his own.
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And so, dear beloved Brothers and Sisters, I conclude by saying to each of you---you and I---we must come out of an animal or carnal existence. We must become moral and act upon that which is morally right. Community development is not building buildings. Community development is building people and linking people with people.
'The strife is o'er and the battle done. The victory of life is won. All glory to that risen Son, Allelujah!' What strife is o'er? The struggle to meet with God. That struggle is o'er, the ascendant child of the Creator. Now, we can say, 'Praise be to God! We have come from being animals and little demons and we have become godly and godlike.'
The challenge to Chicano people is not to look for the enemy elsewhere. Conquer the enemy within. When you conquer the enemy within, no enemy outside of you is more powerful, or is able to weaken you.
Native Americans, it is not the white man that made you fall. It is you who fell from Grandfather. And, in your fall, according to Indian tradition, the man---the two-legged man---is weaker than the four-legged, creeping things. Not because by nature you are made that way, but because in your fall you are less than that. So, take on the wings of the eagle. Do not look to the eagle to carry your prayers to God alone, look at the eagle as symbol of where you can fly if you mount up on the wings of knowledge and power and conquer the weakness of yourself that cause you to fall in the beginning.
White people. You must struggle against this self-centered thing. You must struggle---please listen---against this thing that makes you feel that 'white' must always be on top and it is somehow degrading if someone of another race ascends to a position of glory. This is wrong. If you refuse to struggle, your whole world will come down as it is coming down around you and it will never rise again. While there is time, why not admit your fault? Repent of it. Struggle against the weakness of your self, because you do not have an excuse; God has raised a prophet in every nation, and you Caucasians, have had prophets. So, you have had examples of moral conduct of what you could become if you would struggle. If you do not struggle, then God will end your world.
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Black man and Black woman, there is nobody to blame. Yes, the white people brought us into slavery. Very good. But, who ordained it? See, if you want to blame somebody, why not blame God? You don't have the heart, do you? Because God is good, isn't He? He wouldn't let white folks do this to you---but He did. What did they do it to us for? You have to struggle to prove there is character in you, Black man. And that is why the last will be the first. And that is why the stone that the builders rejected is going to be the headstone of the corner. 'It is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our sight.' You have no excuse, Black people Nobody to blame; look within and conquer the enemy of self that makes you an opposer of your own journey toward God. And you put that internal enemy to flight. There is no external enemy that could handle you.
The challenge now is yours and mine. I hope that you and I will be able to say like Jesus, 'the strife is o'er...'. The battle is done, man. The victory of life is won; I got it. I made it. Not number one in football, not number one in singing, dancing and clowning, not number one in this and that, but the victory of life, meaning that the Divine Life that God gave you, you finally have connected to the Source of it.
And now you have become one with God, so there is no more struggle, no more strife, the battle is over, the victory is won and you have become a risen child of that Creator that has ascended to the heights. Then we can say, Allelujah, for Praise belongs to God!
Thank you all for listening and may God bless you as I greet you in peace, As-Salaam Alaikum!
