STUDY GUIDE 12
FOUR GREAT IMPEDIMENTS
TO SELF-DEVELOPMENT

READING MATERIAL

Holy Qur'an
Surah 3 "The Family of Amran"
Section 1 "Rule of Interpretation"
Surah 13 "The Thunder"
Section 1 "Truth of Revelation"
Section 2 "Fall & Rise of Nations"
Self-Improvement
Pages 21-27(end)
Message To The Blackman
Who is the Original Man? Page 52
The Making of Devil Page 103

FACT (S)
(THESE ARE BUT A FEW VERSES FROM THE HOLY QUR'AN THAT HELP US UNDERSTAND THAT WE SEE THINGS CORRECTLY WHEN WE TAKE ALLAH'S VIEW AS OUR OWN)
"WE TAKE ALLAH'S COLOUR, AND WHO IS BETTER THAN ALLAH AT COLOURING, AND WE ARE HIS WORSHIPPERS." (2:138)
"SAY: ALLAH GUIDES TO THE TRUTH. IS HE THEN WHO GUIDES TO THE TRUTH MORE WORTHY TO BE FOLLOWED, OR HE WHO FINDS NOT THE WAY UNLESS HE IS GUIDED? WI-FAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? HOW DO YOU JUDGE? AND MOST OF THEM FOLLOW AUGHT BUT CONJECTURE. SURELY CONJECTURE WILL NOT AVAIL AUGHT AGAINST THE TRUTH. TRULY ALLAH IS KNOWER OF WHAT THEY DO."(10:35,36)
"SEEST THOU NOT THAT ALLAH SENDS DOWN WATER FROM THE CLOUDS, THEN WE BRING FORTH THEREWITH FRUITS OF VARIOUS HUES? AND IN THE MOUNTAINS ARE STREAKS, WHITE AND RED, OF VARIOUS HUES AND (OTHERS) INTENSELY BLACK ... AND OF MEN AND BEASTS AND CATTLE THERE VARIOUS COLOURS LIKEWISE. THOSE OF HIS SERVANTS ONLY WHO ARE POSSESSED OF KNOWLEDGE FEAR ALLAH. SURELY ALLAH IS MIGHTY, FORGIVING." (35:27,28)

DISCUSSION

LAW OFTTIMES IS A COVER FOR HYPOCRISY, IT CAN MAKE US APPEAR RIGHT, THOUGH WE MAY BE INTERNALLY EVIL. SUCH WAS THE RELIGIOUS CLASS WHO OPPOSED JESUS. THEY WERE OUTWARDLY RIGHT, BUT INWARDLY HYPOCRITES. JESUS SAID TO THEM, "WOE UNTO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, HYPOCRITES! FOR YE ARE LIKE WHITED SEPULCHERS (TOMBS), WHICH INDEED APPEAR BEAUTIFUL OUTWARD, BUT ARE WITHIN FULL OF DEAD MEN'S BONES, AND OF ALL UNCLEANNESS. EVEN SO YE ALSO OUTWARDLY APPEAR RIGHTEOUS UNTO MEN, BUT WITHIN YE ARE FULL OF HYPOCRISY AND INIQUITY." MATTHEW 23:27,28
JESUS WAS INTERESTED IN PURIFYING MAN FROM THE INSIDE AND THE LAW OF ITSELF CANNOT DO THAT. SOMEONE HAS TO GROW MAN OUT OF THIS CHILDLIKE STAGE. (I USE THE TERM "CHILDLIKE" BECAUSE CHILDREN ACT FOR THEIR PARENTS' SAKE, BUT THE REAL CHILD IS SEEN WHEN THE PARENTS ARE NOT AROUND.) WHAT IS THE FORCE THAT GROWS, EVOLVES, FEEDS, NURTURES, NOURISHES? THE NEW TESTAMENT IS CALLED; THE "TESTAMENT OF LOVE". LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW. MAN GETS A PERIOD OF GRACE AND IN THAT GRACE THERE IS LOVE. IF THAT IS REJECTED, THEN COMES DESTRUCTION.
FOUR (4) GREAT IMPEDIMENTS TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT ARE: RACISM, SEXISM, NATIONALISM AND MATERIALISM.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THESE TERMS AND OTHERS IN THE GLOSSARY ON THE NEXT PAGE BEFORE DISCUSSING THE SUBJECT MATTER CONTAINED IN THIS STUDY GUIDE.

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GLOSSARY
ATTITUDE Manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a thing or a person; tendency or orientation of the mind; position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action or emotion. The tendency of an individual to act in response to specific social situations resulting from his or her innate biological and psychological characteristics of from the environmental factors which condition his or her existence.
INFERIORITY COMPLEX (Psychiatry). Intense feeling of inferiority, producing a personality characterized either by extreme reticence or, as a result of overcompensation, by extreme aggressiveness. Lack of self esteem; feeling of inadequacy; lack of self-confidence.
SUPERIORITY COMPLEX (Psychiatry). Exaggerated feeling of being better than or above others; not yielding or susceptible; showing a consciousness of being above the average in place, position, excellence, merit, intelligence, station, rank, degree, etc. Often the mark of an overly assertive personality.
PERCEPTION The act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or the mind; cognition; understanding. Immediate or intuitive recognition, as of moral or aesthetic qualities; the result of perceiving as opposed to the act of perceiving; a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present (psychiatry). Comprehension.

INTERPRET To set forth the meaning of; explain; explicate; elucidate. To construe or understand in a particular way; to render according to one's own understanding or sensitivity; to translate. An interpretation is an understanding or conception of another's words or deeds.
FACT That which actually exists; reality; truth; that which has happened. The actual event or circumstance as distinguished from its effect or consequence.
DEVIATE To turn aside, as from a way, course, etc. To depart or swerve, as from a procedure, course of action or acceptable norm. To digress, as from a line of thought or reasoning. To wander from the most direct or desirable approach to a given moral, intellectual or physical end. To go aside from a path.

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EGOCENTRIC Having or regarding the self as the center of all things; having little or no regard for interests, beliefs or attitudes other than one's own; self-centered.
IMPEDIMENT Obstruction; hindrance; obstacle. That which retards in movement or progress by means of obstacles.
NOTE: In Study Guide Number 1 0, we defined "ISM", which is a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic. Below are just a few such terms.
EGOISM (EGOTISM) The habit of valuing everything only in reference to one's own personal interest; self-conceit; regarding one's own welfare as the supreme end of his or her actions. Excessive and objectionable reference to oneself in conversation or in writing; obtrusive emphasis upon one's own importance, often to the extent of monopolizing attention and showing disregard for other's opinions.
RACISM A belief that human races have distinctive characteristics that determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others; a policy of enforcing such asserted right; a system of government and society based upon it.
SEXISM Discrimination against a group of persons because of the fact or character of being male or female.
NATIONALISM Devotion to the interests of one's own nation; policy of asserting the interests of one's own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or the common interests of all nations. A desire for national advancement or independence. An idiom or trait peculiar to a nation.
MATERIALISM The philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies; attention to or emphasis on material objects, needs and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual values.

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CAPITALISM An economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.
COMMUNISM A theory of system or social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state; all economic and social activity controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuated political party.
SOCIALISM A theory or system advocating the vesting of ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole; in Marxist theory, the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.


QUESTIONS
THE STUDENT ENROLLMENT STATES THAT:
The Original Man is the Asiatic Black Man, the Maker, the Owner, the Cream of the Planet Earth, God of the Universe.
The Colored Man is the Caucasian (white man), or Yakub's grafted devil, the Skunk of the Planet Earth.
1 What is a fact?
2) Is the first statement a fact? Why or why not?
3) Is the second statement a fact? Why or why not?
4) Is there a difference between a "fact" and an "actual fact"? If so, what is the difference? Are the above facts 'actual"?
5) What is an interpretation? What is a perception?
6) Is there any danger in treating a fact and our interpretation of a fact as one and the same? If so, what is the danger?
 

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7) If you accept the first statement in the student enrollment as a fact, what is your interpretation of it as it relates to your attitude about yourself? What are your feelings about it?
8) If you accept the second statement in the student enrollment as a fact, what is your interpretation of it as it relates to your attitude towards Caucasian people? What are your feelings about it?
9) What actions on your part flow from your attitude about yourself and others as it relates to these statements? That is, in what way does your attitude determine the manner in which you conduct yourself in your daily life?
10) The statements we are discussing are the answers given by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to questions presented to him by Master Fard Muhammad:
1. Who is the Original Man?
2. Who is the Colored Man?
Why does Master Fard Muhammad introduce these facts, in this time, in this manner, to this people? Is he desirous of producing a racist mind?
11) Have you ever misinterpreted a fact?
12) What were the results of your misinterpretation?
13) How can we best avoid misinterpretation?
14) If we are in fact better (more suitable) in some respects than another, then what is our duty by that which is less than ourselves?


COMMENTARY
Consult the GLOSSARY. A "fact" is truth, reality, what exists. An "interpretation" is our own understanding or conception of another's words or deeds.
There are those who have accused the Honorable Elijah Muhammad of racism and point to the STUDENT ENROLLMENT as evidence of that charge. In doing so, they are projecting their own interpretation onto the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. The words are the words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, but their meaning is affected by the understanding of the person reading, repeating or acting upon them.
As spiritual children, it was inevitable that we would go through a phase of development where we might make mischief with the facts we were given. "And

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when thy Lord said to the angels, I am going to place a ruler in the earth, they said, wilt Thou place in it such as make mischief in it and shed blood?" Holy Qur'an 2:30
The balance we were given by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was in his declaration to us: "You are the righteous and you must treat every man with respect and do justice by all men."
Attitude when they harden, become beliefs. From beliefs, we get laws.
A prevailing attitude among whites says that Black people are inferior, doomed to be servants of theirs. From that attitude, there is a belief system: 'I believe that God created them to serve us...l believe that I am superior." Based upon these beliefs a constitution is developed that embodies them. "I believe they are subhuman. I am codifying my belief into a law that says they are 3/5 of a person, which will forever determine the way in which we deal with them."
Religion sanctifies what we do. We read the scriptures to facilitate and feed our colouring. Once religion is used to justify beliefs and laws, an educational system is developed to facilitate the belief system.
Thus, when a prophet or messenger comes to give the people Allah's colouring (view), he is charged with heresy, because he is not just attacking laws, but the belief system the unjust laws grew out of. Martin Luther King attacked the laws of the government of America; the Honorable Elijah Muhammad attacked the belief system the laws grew out of. In so doing, he was breaking up what was the root of this world.
"NAY, WE HURL THE TRUTH AGAINST FALSEHOOD, SO IT KNOCKS OUT ITS BRAINS, AND LO! IT VANISHES..." HOLY QUR'AN 21:18
By changing laws, we do not affect conditions, because changing a law does not change attitudes or systems of belief. Pharaoh feared that Moses would change the religion, which means he feared the drastic altering of the belief system which his world, was built upon.
This world is based upon a belief in the superiority of white over Black. There can be no new world until the destruction of inferiority in one and superiority in the other.
At the same time that the attitude of white superiority hardened into beliefs that grew into laws, the Caucasian people produced an attitude in Black people toward ourselves. What was that attitude? "We are niggers ... I believe niggers will never be nothin'." Out of this attitude grew a system of belief, and from that a set of actions. It is an unwritten law that Black people disrespect and destroy one another.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad stands between the two attitudes, a written law of white superiority and unwritten law of Black inferiority. He must expose the condition for what it is and then break up the mental attitudes that brought it about.
 

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In the definition of "inferiority complex" we see aggressive behavior is a form of compensation for feelings of inadequacy.
The Self needs feeding. When the physical stomach is unfed it produces discomfort in the person. Likewise, when self-esteem is not fed, it also causes discomfort Hunger, whether physical or emotional, causes the hungry person to engage in extreme forms of behavior, sometimes unlawful, in order to satisfy the need.
The Self comes from Allah (God). How does He feel? In His view, polytheism is the gravest sin. What about the Self of God being fed by nothing? How do we respond ? We develop an overly aggressive, belligerent, hostile attitude, mostly toward members of our own group. Because we lack self-esteem and self-worth, we have developed an unwritten law that says if you get rid of a member of your own group, you have done nothing wrong. You have done something good in getting rid of this object of disapproval.
On the other hand, "the superiority complex" of the Caucasians is a mind set in which the person becomes God. Thus, they want worship, adulation and service. Not only are they the center of their own existence, they want to be the center of everyone's existence. Their attitude of superiority has so hardened, they will do anything to force submission of others to themselves.
The attitudes and beliefs which produces these complexes result in damage to the faculty of perception. Now the mind is colored by attitude and projects that colouring onto reality, making us spiritually blind, deaf and dumb.
"THE VILEST OF BEASTS IN ALLAH'S SIGHT ARE THE DEAF, THE DUMB, WHO UNDERSTAND NOT. " HOLY QUR'AN 8:22
"THEY HAVE HEARTS WHEREWITH THEY UNDERSTAND NOT AND THEY HAVE EYES WHEREWITH THEY SEE NOT, AND THEY HAVE EARS WITH WHEREWITH THEY HEART NOT. THEY ARE AS CATTLE: NAY, THEY ARE MORE ASTRAY." (7:179)
We cannot interpret anything outside of our ability to see it. We create a set of facts that reflects our own perception and is limited by our own perception.

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Our lessons called "actual" facts are so named because they are real; they are that which actually exists. We can create a contrary fact by damaging the individual's perception of what really is. In order to destroy the present reality, we must get to the root reality.
The Black man is the Original Man. Why does Master Fard Muhammad introduce that fact, in this time, this manner, to this people? Is He desirous of producing a racist mind? Or, is He confronting both the Black man and the Caucasian with Truth, that there be balance (justice) in the Earth?
The Caucasian people have taken the fact of their own rule to an extreme position that is detrimental to themselves and humanity, fact that the dark people of the Earth are asleep has enabled them to rule. They have interpreted this fact to mean, "God has made you (dark people) to be our footstool."
For example Rep. Alexander H. Stephens, in an 1861 address at Savannah, Ga., declared that "the cornerstone of the Confederacy rests upon the great truth, that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery is his natural and normal condition."
This selfishness produces race-consciousness to the extreme and it becomes racism. This interpretation of the fact of being in rulership avoids the question, "By Whose permission are you exalted?" Since Allah (God) is the Possessor of power over all things, He is the Giver and when He makes us excel in any way, He lays greater duty, greater responsibility, greater work on us. But it is His Greatness, not our own, that causes us to be exalted, for His Purpose and His Glory.
The Holy Qur'an opens in the first surah (chapter): "Praise belongs to God!" The Believer repeats this over and over until he or she understands that a greater degree of excellence is a trial for the individual and a trial for a nation. We pass the test by not becoming Satan when we are given power.
How do we not become Satan?
The Muslim says, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan." If we see Satan as a force of Self that can damage our perception as a result of some desire or uncontrolled need, then we realize that we must always have God with us in order to perceive properly. We always run the risk of perception being coloured by our own mood, attitude or limited knowledge.
By becoming Satan, we mean adopting an attitude that we are better. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says, that in one thousand (1,000) years, all of the races will disappear. As a Black person, what does this mean to you? What is your interpretation of this statement? Does it mean kill all of the brown, yellow, red, until no one is left but the Black man? If you believe that, then how do you perceive the Holy Qur'an verses which say that Allah produces various hues and colours?
In making this statement, could the Honorable Elijah Muhammad mean that when Truth is present and there is understanding, colour will not be a reality, but all human beings will take the colouring of Allah? Could this mean that colours will no longer clash when we outgrow our focus on colour and focus on that which really makes man superior --- duty to God?
When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that America is to be destroyed by God for her treatment of the Black man and woman is this a racist statement?

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America is impeded in her judgment because of extreme consciousness of her whiteness. The America that was envisioned by the "founding fathers" and the one that it is actually becoming are two (2) different things. The vision was of a privileged, white society. There was no vision of an America where justice was rendered to Black people or where every colour of human being would live together with freedom, justice and equality.
The 13th and 14th Amendments sentenced the old America to death and signaled the beginning of a new one. Legally, the death of old America came with the Civil War. But the real death of old America could never come until the system of belief it was based upon was destroyed. That destruction takes place only with the Coming of Master Fard Muhammad.
The Truth of the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is setting America on fire. Fire destroys everything it touches and turns it back into dust. The fire in His Message caused the awakening of Black people and a clear perception of the reality we have lived under. This is bringing a new America to birth.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that Allah (God) was to make us a nation of Gods, as the Sun is to the Solar System. As the Kabah sits in Mecca and the people circumambulate, He will allow us to be the reference point that the nations of the world revolve around, while we revolve around Him.
It is alright to love and be loyal to our own nation. But we must recognize that we are in a world with other nations. If one nation misuses or abuses other nations for its own exaltation, then we have mass self-centeredness and mass vanity.
Throughout the world, we see Black nationalism, white nationalism, Arab nationalism, etc. In striving to assert a national identity and impose it on others, we instill a false sense of patriotism in the people of that nation. This is manifested in the refusal of the Arab world to stand up with Imam Khomeni. Nationalism has been placed above the Universal Truth of Islam.
We are taught, "SELF FIRST, THEN OTHERS." Development of self and devotion to self has its place, but it is not confined to self and no one else.
The struggle is in conquering selfishness. Whether individually or nationally, we must get away from being self-centered and make Allah (God) the Center. When He is the Center of our thinking, then we have room in our thoughts for all of His Creation.
Some of us say, "I am Black and I am better", yet we go to the Caucasian seeking a job.
Have you ever seen one exceedingly gifted, who would not train or practice to develop his gifts, and ultimately one with inferior capability excelled over him?

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In God's eyes, it is he who keeps his duty who is better. So even though the objective fact makes one better in physical form or otherwise, the Bible tells us that Allah (God) is no respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34)
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that Allah (God) did not reveal the Truth to us to make us mockers of one another. The Holy Qur'an sounds the death knell to mockers. It gives us the yardstick by which we are measured: performance of our duty, willingly and correctly.
"For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:48)
"My dear beloved brothers and sisters, your identity is not your color, your identity is not the landmass from which you come or originated. Your identity is the nature in which you are created. Since your nature is to obey the Will of Allah (God), your nature is Islam. You are by nature a Muslim and any name other than that is not a proper name for you. You are a Muslim. "Accept your own and be yourself." of God - Part III)
In the lessons given to us from Master Fard Muhammad, we are taught that the duty of a civilized person is to "teach the uncivilized people who are savage, civilization, righteousness, the knowledge of himself, the science of everything in life, love, peace and happiness." We are also taught that "If a civilized person does not perform his duty, which is teaching civilization to others, they should be punished with a severe punishment."
The Black man is in fact the Original man. We are more suited to the requirements of nature and in that sense we are "better". But it is how we interpret that fact that produces self-worth in a positive way, or racism, which is negative. We negate the consequences or effect of facts in our own lives by what we bring to them.
It is Allah (God) Who made superior and inferior; all things are not created equal, but all things are created equally. Allah (God) loves he who is most careful of his duty.
"And Allah delivers those who keep their duty with their achievement -- evil touches them not, nor do they grieve ... Allah is the Creator of all things and He has charge over everything ... His are the treasures of the heavens and the earth. And those who disbelieve in the messages of Allah, such are the losers." Holy Qur'an 39:61
The Holy Qur'an provides an example of misinterpretation resulting from a damaged perception of reality:
"And We indeed created you, then We fashioned you, then We said to the angels: Make submission to Adam. So they submitted, except Iblis: he was not of those who submitted...He said: What hindered thee that thou didst not submit when I
 

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commanded thee? He said: I am better than he; Thou hast created me of fire, while him Thou didst create of dust." (7:11,12)
Satan is produced by a mind which says, "I am better"; a mind that contains false pride. But fire and dust were both created by Allah. In giving us this dialogue, He is showing us the attitude and expression we must not use. We must not take our excellence to be from ourselves, or Allah may use "dust" to put out our "fire".
Misinterpretation of fact (reality) can produce very negative results.
Racism is produced by misinterpretation. A "race" has a beginning and an ending It is finite. If the Caucasian people hold on to their view of themselves as a "superior race" and all that implies, they are actually assigning an eventual end to their own existence. Anyone interested in eternal life must give up "race". Do not stop being what we are, but give up glorifying it, based upon some contemporary advantage associated with it. People and nations occupy positions of rulership in turns.
The effort of the current government of America is to return to the original intent of the "founding fathers", which is limited to their ability to perceive the future. The legacy of their will, however, is being overshadowed by the establishment of an enlightened, stronger will. But to return to the original intent of the "founding fathers" is to return to a mind that is not fully illuminated.
We can best avoid misinterpretation by taking guidance from the Best Knower:
"And upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating ways And if He please, He would guide you all aright...And He has cast firm mountains in the Earth lest it quake with you, and rivers and roads that you may go aright, and landmarks. And by the stars they find the right way. Is He then Who creates like him who creates not? Do you not then mind? And if you would count Allah's favours you would not be able to number them. Surely Allah is forgiving, merciful. And Allah knows what you conceal and what you do openly. And those whom they call on besides Allah created naught, while they themselves were created. Dead are they, not living. And they know not when they will be raised." Holy Qur'an 16:9, 15-21

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Section 1: The Rule of Interpretation
 

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

1. I, Allah, am the best Knower,

2. Allah, (there is) no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting, by Whom all subsist.

3. He has revealed to thee the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel

4. Aforetime, a guidance for the people, and He sent the Discrimination. Those who disbelieve in the messages of Allah – for them is a severe chastisement. And Allah is Mighty, the Lord of retribution.

5. Surely nothing in the earth or in the heaven is hidden from Allah.

6. He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.

7. He it is Who has revealed the Book to thee; some of its verses are decisive – they are the basis of the Book – and others are allegorical. Then those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead, and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. And none knows its interpretation save Allah, and those firmly rooted in knowledge. They say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord. And none mind except men of understanding.

8. Our Lord, make not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us and grant us mercy from Thee; surely Thou art the most liberal Giver.

9. Our Lord, surely Thou art the Gatherer of men on a day about which there is no doubt. Surely Allah will not fail in (His) promise.

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SECTION 1: Truth of Revelation

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

1 I, Allah, am the Best Knower, the Seer. These are verses of the Book. And that which is revealed to thee from thy Lord is the Truth, but most people believe not.

2 Allah is He Who raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see, and He is established on the Throne of Power, and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you). Each one runs to an appointed term. He regulates the affair, making clear the messages that you may be certain of the meeting with your Lord.

3 And He it is Who spread the earth, and made in it firm mountains and rivers. And of all fruits He has made in it pairs, two (of every kind). He makes the night cover the day. Surely there are signs in this for people who reflect.

4 And in the earth are tracts side by side, and gardens of vines, and corn, and palm-trees growing from one root and distinct roots —they are watered with one water; and We make some of them to excel others in fruit. Surely there are signs in this for a people who understand.

5 And if thou wonderest, then wondrous is their saying: When we are dust, shall we then be raised in a new creation? These are they who disbelieve in their Lord, and these have chains on their necks, and they are the companions of the Fire; in it they will abide.

6 And they ask thee to hasten on the evil before the good, and indeed there have been exemplary punishments a before them. And surely thy Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind notwithstanding their iniquity. And surely thy Lord is Severe in requiting.

7 And those who disbelieve say: Why has not a sign been sent down to him from his Lord? Thou art only a warner and for every people a guide.

SECTION 2:Fall and Rise of Nations

8 Allah knows what every female bears, and that of which the wombs fall short of completion and that which they grow. And everything with Him has a measure.

9 The Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Great, the Most High.

10 Alike (to Him) among you is he who conceals (the) word and he who speaks openly, and he who hides himself by night and (who) goes forth by day.

11 For him are (angels) guarding the consequences (of his deeds), before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah’s command. Surely Allah changes not the condition of a people, until they change their own condition. And when Allah intends evil to a people, there is no averting it, and besides Him they have no protector.

12 He it is Who shows you the lightning causing fear and hope and (Who) brings up the heavy cloud.

13 And the thunder celebrates His praise, and the angels too for awe of Him. And He sends the thunderbolts and smites with them whom He pleases, yet they dispute concerning Allah, and He is Mighty in prowess.

14 To Him is due the true prayer. And those to whom they pray besides Him give them no answer, but (they’re)like one who stretches forth his two hands towards water that it may reach his mouth, but it will not reach it. And the prayer of the disbelievers is only wasted.

15 And whoever is in the heavens and the earth makes obeisance to Allah only, willingly and unwillingly, and their shadows, too, at morn and eve.

16 Say: Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Say: Do you then take besides Him, guardians who control no benefit or harm even for themselves? Say: Are the blind and the seeing alike? Or, are darkness and light equal? Or, have they set up with Allah associates who have created creation like His, so that what is created became confused to them? Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Supreme.

17 He sends down water from the clouds, then watercourses flow according to their measure, and the torrent bears along the swelling foam. And from that which they melt in the fire for the sake of making ornaments or apparatus a arises a scum like it. Thus does Allah compare truth and falsehood. Then as for the scum, it passes away as a worthless thing; and as for that which does good to men, it tarries in the earth. Thus does Allah set forth parables.

18 For those who respond to their Lord is good. And as for those who respond not to Him, even if they had all that is in the earth and the like thereof with it, they would certainly offer it for a ransom. As for those, theirs is an evil reckoning and their abode is hell; and evil is the resting-place.

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Self Improvement: The Basis of Community Development - Page 21 

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 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!

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WHO IS THE ORIGINAL MAN?

     The above question is now answered from the mouth of Allah to us, the so-called Negroes, for the first time since our straying away from our own nation.

     This secret of who is God and who is the devil has been a mystery to the average one of mankind, to be revealed in all of its clearness to one who was so ignorant that he know not even himself - born blind, deaf and dumb in the wilderness of North  America.

     All praise is due to the Great Mahdi, who was to come and has come, the sole master of the worlds. I ask myself at times, What can I do to repay Allah (the Great Mahdi, Fard Muhammad) for His coming, wisdom, knowledge and understanding?

     Most of us having been born in the southern part of this wilderness of sin, where the member of white race (man of sin) has always manifested himself to us (the so-called Negroes), should have known that he was really the evil one by the way he treated us. Yet, we were made so dumb that we still could not recognize him.

     The truth of him is now being told and taught throughout the world, to his anger and sorrow. He is losing no time trying to hinder the truth of the above question, who is the original man?

     He is setting watchers and listeners around me and my followers to see if he can find some other charge to put against us to satisfy his anger of the truth that we preach from the mouth of Allah, who is with us in person.

     The original man, Allah has declared, is none other than the black man. The black man is the first and the last, maker and owner of the universe. From him came all brown, yellow, red and white people. By using a special method of birth control law the black man was able to produce the white race.

     The true nature of the Black and white mankind should be enough to awaken the so-call Negroes and put them on their feet and on the road to self-independence. Yet, they are so afraid of the slave-masters that they even love them to their destruction and wish that the bearer of truth would not tell the truth even if he knows it.

     The time has arrived when it must be told the world over. There are millions who do not know who is the original man. Why should this question be put before the world today? Because it is the time of judgment between the black and white and the knowledge of the rightful owners of the earth.

     Allah is now pointing out to the nations of earth their rightful places, and this judgment will bring an end to war over it. Now it is so easy to recognize the original man, the real owner of the earth, by the history of the two (black and white). We have an unending past history of the black nation and a limited one of the white race.

     We find that history teaches that the earth was populated by the black nation ever since it was created, but the history of the white race does not take us beyond 6,000 years.

     Everywhere the white race has gone on our planet, they have either found the original man or a sign that he had been there previously. Allah is proving to the world of black men that the white race actually does not own any part of our planet.

     The Bible and the Holy Qur'an bears witness to the above, if you are able to understand it. The Holy Qur'an, the beauty of Scriptures, repeatedly challenges the white race to point out the part of the heavens and the earth that they created.

     It further teaches that they are not even their own creators. We created white man from a small life germ, the soft pronoun "we" used nearly throughout the Holy Qur'an makes the knowledge of the original man much clearer and more intelligent of how the white race's creation took place.

     In the Bible, referring to their creation, we have US (Gen. 1:26) creating, or rather making the race; the US and WE used show beyond a shadow of a doubt that they came from another people.

     A knowledge of the white race removes once and for all times the mistakes that would be made in dealing with them. My followers and I can and are getting along with them in a more understandable way than ever because we know them.

     You cannot blame one for the way he or she was born, for they had nothing to do with that. Can we say to them why don’t you do the righteousness when nature did not give righteousness to them? Or say to them, why are you such a wicked devil? Who is responsible, the made or the maker? Yet we are not excused for following and practicing his evil or accepting him for a righteous guide just because he is not his maker.

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