Islam teaches us that Allah (God) is One. And from one essence He
brought humanity into existence, so all things come from one, and
all things must eventually return to one. So, beloved, though my
speech is primarily an economic one, I could not delve into
economics without trying to sort through some understanding of
religion. We can produce peace and cooperation to lift Ghana and
Africa out of the condition that she is in if we understand
religion, for religion is the most divisive of subjects. People
argue and fight over religion, even killing in the name of God.
But if Allah (God) is one, and He is, then we should strive to
understand that Allah is not interested in fractions [or] factions,
for He is One. Allah (God) is not interested in sects or parties,
tribes or races. He is interested in the oneness of humanity, and so
He wants to move us toward that oneness.
If Allah (God) created the heavens and the earth with truth and
wisdom, then how can we reflect our creator and not produce
anything? Without knowledge, there is no difference between us and
the beasts of the field; therefore Allah (God) requires all of us to
become men and women of knowledge. But knowledge doesn�t have
meaning unless we act on it. We can read and recite the Qur�an all
day, and Allah (God) will be pleased that you read and recite it,
but He would be more pleased if you carry it into practice.
Know Allah (God) Through Creation
You worship Him (Allah) by seeing what He has created. If it were
not for His Creation, you would not know that He exists, and how can
anybody know that you exist if you do not build or produce anything?
As long as Ghana is non-productive, Ghana is non-existent. As long
as Africa is non-productive, Africa is non-existent. As long as
Black people in the world do not produce anything, we cannot expect
the White, the Brown, the Red or the Yellow to honor us.
We honor Allah (God) because He created the Sun, the Moon and the
Stars, and all things that we see and those things that we don�t see
or know anything about. If we wish to be honored, then we must get
up from the reading of our books and the recital of our scripture
and put the scripture into action. From Prophet Abraham all the way
to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (PBUH), we have knowledge
increasing, divine knowledge increasing, and therefore you have in
the example of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) an example of what human
beings can evolve to.
But now, what is our condition? If this is the ideal that we can
evolve to, where are we now in this process of evolutionary
development? Beloved, we are far, far down. In fact, the truth of
the matter is that there are very few human beings among the
whole human family of the earth. Human kind has not evolved; it has
degenerated as though no prophet has ever walked among us.
There are Muslims today who have no resemblance to Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) or the Companions; Christians who have no
resemblance to Jesus (Isa); Jews who have no resemblance to Moses (Musa),
and so the whole world is following the path of the wild animals.
Therefore, man must arm himself to fight wars, because so-called
human beings have come out of Europe and other places taking the
land of others, sucking the blood of others, taking the resources of
others, in the name of Allah (God).
In order to get them off of our back, and out of our land, we
have to take up arms and kill another human being in order to become
a free people. The world is not inhabited by human beings, it is
inhabited by beasts in human form.
Four Great Beasts
In the Bible in the Book of Revelation, it closes with four great
beasts, and all of humanity is under the rule of these four great
beasts. America is number one; England, Germany, Russia, all of them
put humanity under their thumb. The religious leaders of Islam are
under political leaders who have no respect for religion, no respect
for Allah (God). The west pays lip service to Jesus while they
really worship Shaitan (Satan).
Isn�t it a human right for us to know? Isn�t it a divine right
for us as human beings to be possessors of knowledge? Yes, it is.
Therefore, any nation or government that wishes its people to become
great must make knowledge available, or give the people access to
knowledge. It is wonderful to see a school. Why? Because you have
many mosques and churches but you have an ignorant, unlearned
people.
Allah (God) introduces Himself to us as the Best Knower. Then, we
must build schools along with our mosques that we may educate our
people into the wisdom of Allah (God) and the wisdom of the world,
for the Qur�an teaches that in everything that Allah (God) created
is a lesson for man.
In the first verse of the Qur�an that Allah revealed to Prophet
Muhammad in the darkness of the cave, He said, "Read in the
Name of thy Lord who creates �creates man from a clot, Read and thy
Lord is most Generous, Who taught by the pen, Taught man what he
knew not." The Bible begins, "Let there be light,"
and the Qur�an begins, "Read." How can we be honored
and respected among the nations of the earth with the stench of
ignorance, savagery and uncouth behavior at our hands? Someone must
teach us. We must be taught again how to be what God intended us to
be. The leaders today must be teachers.
We need leaders who are strong, who are militant. Certainly
we need a strong military, but all leaders must teach, because if we
do not teach the people, then all we are doing is ordering
ignorance, bringing order to savagery, bringing order to uncouth
behavior through fear. But, fear-inspired respect for authority does
not bring about internalization of knowledge that enables one to
grow into a fully developed human being. Knowledge is a test of the
nature and character of its possessor. All of the prophets had
knowledge, but they served the people with what they knew, and
evolved the people. Why are there more Ghanaian doctors, writers,
and scholars in Europe and America than in Ghana? The colonial
master, when he teaches you, never teaches you to serve your people.
You are not poor because you have no money; you are poor because you
don�t have the knowledge and how to put that knowledge to work to
make riches for yourself.
So the colonialists have undermined all of Africa by bringing
your sons and daughters to Europe and America and teaching them that
more knowledge brings a better car, a better home, and a fat bank
account. But that is not why Allah (God) revealed knowledge. Allah
(God) reveals knowledge to evolve us from sperm so that we can be
perfect reflections of His divine character. So when a person seeks
knowledge, it is not to be a slave master, or an oppressor, but to
be a better servant of the totality of the human family, starting
first with our people and ourselves.
Islam: Nature of Man
I say to my Arab Muslim brothers and sisters, meaning no
disrespect, but Islam did not begin in Arabia. Islam begins with
Allah, Himself. Islam is not 1,400 years old; Islam is as old as
Allah, Himself. Even though I grew up in the west as a Christian, I
am not a convert to Islam, for the Qur�an teaches me that Islam is
the nature of Allah (God), and it is the nature in which He created
man. If it is God�s nature and it is my nature then I have accepted
to be what my Creator created me to be. So do not make me in the
image of an Arab. Do not make me in the image of a Britisher; do not
make me in the image of a White American. I am an African, so let me
be myself.
Your nature is to submit to Allah (God). Islam does not come from
a book. Islam comes from the nature in which you are created, so the
book comes from within yourself. But, when you have lost the path,
then, Allah (God) sends a prophet with the guidance and a book to
guide you back to your nature that you have violated.
The colonial powers wanted to put you and me in a position that
even when they were gone they would still be in power. They have
gone from Ghana since 1957 but today they still have power in Ghana.
Where is their power? Their power is in the residue of their
thinking in the minds of Ghanaian people, in the minds of Nigerians,
and all African people, in the minds of the people that she has
colonized all over the world. As long as any residue of their
thinking remains, they can rule you from London by remote control. I
am your brother from the West, I love you as I love myself, and I
want to see Africa free.
Ghana Must Feed Herself
If the Christians bought land and began farming, and the Muslims
bought land and started farming, soon the slogan "Ghana must eat
what we grow and grow what we eat" would be a reality. When you can
feed yourself, you are independent. When you clothe and shelter
yourself, you are independent.
With the knowledge of technology, you begin to go into the Earth
and mine her treasures to put them into the service of Ghana. Look
at the gold and diamonds that are here. Who will mine the gold and
the diamonds? You must do it.
Since gold is the standard of value and you have more of it than
practically anybody else, you should be richer, stronger, but you
are waiting for a mystery god to come down out of the sky and do for
you what you must get up now and do for yourself.
Allah (God) will never change the condition of a people until
they change it themselves.
We, your Black brothers and sisters in America, are working
feverishly to unite our people, gain more economic and political
leverage so that we may change the policy of the United States of
America, and the direction of America.
Moses grew up in Pharaoh�s house, and Joseph grew up in Pharaoh�s
house; Joseph became a master in the land where he was sold as a
slave. We were brought away from home over 400 years ago, and were
in a strange land among strange people, but, beloved, I am a sign to
you that the resurrection of the dead is now taking place. Not the
dead in the cemeteries, but those who are dead of knowledge, wisdom,
understanding and power are rising up inside America.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, a Black man from Georgia who we
believe Allah (God) gave us out of our crying, yearning and longing
to be delivered, had a method of reaching us with Islam that is
unique, unparalleled.
I am not taught from Mecca. I never went to Al Azhar University.
I never went to any university in the Islamic world, but I am coming
back to the world of Allah (God) and Islam with a message in my
mouth that did not come from the east.
Well, who raised us up in the west? Who is inspiring us now with
a faith that is so unshakeable.
Prodigal Son Returns
We are your brothers, we are your friends, and we come home for
the first time in 400 years to extend our hands to our fathers and
our elder brothers hoping that you will receive us even though we
are filled with the stench of a stranger. I hope that you can hear
and feel the spirit of Africa coming out of your brother from the
west and know that the God is raising up the destroyed in the west.
Going on a westerly course, the slave ships sailed to the land of
our captivity, where we were striped of our names, our language, our
culture, our God, our religion, and reared to think we were nothing.
For 310 long years under whip and the lash, we would not be able to
learn, for it was against the law for us to know anything but what
the slave master taught us.
They beat us. They castrated us. They took hot pokers and put
them up into the private parts of our women. They slashed open the
stomachs of our pregnant women and stomped the baby with their
heels. They strung us up on limbs of trees and they burned us alive
in America. And after 300 years, we were educated and made
Christians, not because they wanted to bring us closer to Jesus, but
to make better tools of service for them.
The son that was dead is alive and has come home to wake us up
and make us alive again. God Almighty is with you in Ghana; He is
with you Black people. Rise up and make Ghana and Africa and the
world what Allah (God) intended it to be.
As-Salaam-Alaikum.