[0:04] [Music]

[0:21] E. Braswell Bey|Emmanual Braswell Bey: Islam, and welcome to another program about the teachings of our [[Prophet Noble Drew Ali|Prophet Noble Drew Ali]]. This evening we have with us a face that you probably recognize from previous programs. We have the [[D. Bailey El|Brother D. Bailey El]]. Welcome to the show, Brother D. Bailey El.

[0:44] Brother D. Bailey El: It’s an honor to be here.

[0:46] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Always good to have you here. We were thinking about so many different things in terms of the programs we’ve brought to the public in the past concerning Noble Drew Ali. And as you know, if you’ve been watching us or following our programs, you know that we always like to talk about Prophet Noble Drew Ali. We always like to mention him in all of our programs because it is his show. He is the originator and he is the one who is the star of the show. It is his [[Moorish Science Temple of America|Moorish Science Temple of America]]. It is his program. It is everything that we talk about. All the teachings that we have acquired throughout the years come from the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. And to have a television program without highlighting the Prophet Noble Drew Ali is like not having one at all.

[1:49] So this evening we’re going to talk some more about the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. And Brother Bailey El, you know we always have wonderful conversations about him. Give us a little background about yourself in terms of what part of the Prophet’s teachings — I know there are so many intricate parts — but what specific part can you say had a great effect upon you in your life, being born in the Moorish Science Temple of America?

[2:14] Brother D. Bailey El: I think probably the greatest part of the Prophet’s teachings that had the greatest impact on me — I should say the most significant part had the greatest impact on me — was my realization of what [[uplifting fallen humanity]] was really all about.

[2:37] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Which is the purpose, yeah. That’s like the purpose of the movement, right?

[2:42] Brother D. Bailey El: And you can have Moorish American [[Moslem|Moslems]], remember, the Moorish Science Temple of America member of the temple, for years, decades. And I’m going back now, back into the ’50s and ’60s. Okay, I’m going back 50 years ago. And some of those Moors, you could ask them what was this or what was that — some could tell you and some couldn’t. And most of the time, in order to get that really true divine understanding, you had to find it for yourself.

[3:24] But I was just completely uplifted when it really dawned upon me that uplifting fallen humanity was like improving and making ourselves better — improving our social, intellectual, spiritual, and economic condition. And then you could go back to the Prophet’s teachings and see that’s what he’s been telling you all along.

[3:46] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah, he’s been telling us all along.

[3:54] Brother D. Bailey El: For example, I think one good example was in the piece of literature where the Prophet makes a plea to the nation — no, “[[The Voice of the Prophet|The Voice of the Prophet]]” — and he was speaking about people coming and joining the Moorish Science Temple of America. And the people that he really asked, the ones he was really counting on to come and join, were those who knew that their condition could be better.

[4:18] Emmanual Braswell Bey: You’ve been saying it all along, yeah. That uplifting fallen humanity was really making ourselves better.

[4:26] You know, when you think about the Prophet Noble Drew Ali and the fact that when he came upon the scene — and we know it was 1913, that’s when he came — and he said that we had to change our way of thinking, that we had to look for the best that was in others and give the best that was in us. You got to think sometimes, more, that he really endured a lot and a lot of misunderstanding, especially around the time that he came, almost like the turn of the century. In Chicago, later on in 1919, they had the race riots and so forth.

[5:00] But also what I was thinking about was that the politics in Chicago were forming to a point that you had people from our side of the nation who were making these thrusts to gain prominent political positions. Can you name any one of those politicians that we know today that the Prophet Noble Drew Ali had a great influence upon in being elected?

[5:24] Brother D. Bailey El: The one that really stands in my mind as a politician that was there when the Prophet was here in the flesh and made a substantial contribution to the movement was William Dawson. Now, [[William Dawson|William Dawson, I believe he actually joined the movement in 1926–27, could have been ’28.]]

[5:47] And as a matter of fact, at one time he lived next door to my parents. He lived on, like, 3720 Prairie and my parents lived at 3716 Prairie. My mother worked for him one time in one of his political campaigns. But he made a definite impression upon me and the fact that he showed us how important it was for us to cherish, stand in defense of, and protect what our Prophet has given to us. And not to begin to alter it, as we see some people doing, or change it, as we see some people doing or trying to do.

[6:32] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Trying to do, yeah.

[6:34] Brother D. Bailey El: But just to keep it pure. And I think one of the most significant contributions that he made was for us to understand how important it was for us to have that central authority, which was emphasized so greatly by our most recent past Supreme Grand Sheik, Brother P. Davis El — how important that Supreme Grand Body, Central Authority, Board of Directors, Sheik’s Board, and Trustee Board, and the importance of law.

[7:12] [Music]

[7:13] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Dawson signified a lot in the movement when it came to the law aspect. How many people don’t understand and know that Dawson was even a part of the Moorish Science Temple of America? And we’re gonna go back even further to Oscar De Priest. He’s one of our strongest — he was one of the strongest members. And from what we read and collect, Oscar De Priest was also heavily affiliated with the Moorish Science Temple of America. As a matter of fact, we looked at the first convention minutes of 1928, October 15th through the 20th, where the Prophet had Oscar De Priest come forward and stand on the stage, and he says, “Well, I feel with the help of the Moorish Americans, I’ve won the election already.”

[8:01] You recall that?

[8:02] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah, I remember that.

[8:03] Emmanual Braswell Bey: I think the Prophet Noble Drew Ali doesn’t get enough credit where credit is really due, in terms of his influence over not just politicians or people in prominent positions, but people period — everyday people like me and you — and people throughout the ages who have influenced the American society to such a great extent. I mean, this is overwhelming.

[8:25] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah, there were quite a few Moors in the past, when the Prophet was here in the flesh, that had a strong, as you might call it, political footing. And basically they were Republicans. And what they did, and what they saw, was the Prophet making us into a nation. And these were Moors who were intellectual — or I should say had some, a better degree of intellect than the average one — where they could see what the Prophet had given to us, and they could see that this was something that would work.

[9:06] Islam. Another Moor that fell in that category was Aaron Payne Bey.

[9:11] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Oh yeah, Aaron Payne Bey was a powerful Moor. And the Prophet gave him a lot of authority. Didn’t he hold an office?

[9:21] Brother D. Bailey El: One of the most responsible positions he had was Supreme Grand Business Manager on the Supreme Grand Council for the Prophet Noble Drew Ali.

[9:28] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Good point, good point.

[9:30] Brother D. Bailey El: Aaron Payne Bey — he was also the attorney of many prominent people. Yes, yes, yes. Singers and — like Joe Louis, he was his attorney. He was Nat King Cole’s attorney. My mother and father were good friends of his, and my grandparents were good friends of his. And he would spend a lot of days over to our house when I was a young boy.

[10:01] And those old Moors would sit back and they would always talk about the Prophet’s teachings. And that’s what we’re trying to get across to our people today — that what the Prophet was teaching to us in 1913, in 1925, 1928, 1929, it’s the same thing we’re teaching today.

[10:20] Emmanual Braswell Bey: That’s right, because it’s what we need, right?

[10:25] Brother D. Bailey El: The teachings of the Prophet are those things that bring to us all of the things that we came out of slavery lacking — a knowledge of ourselves, a knowledge of our religion, a knowledge of our nationality, our knowledge of the divine creed and principles of our forefathers.

[10:55] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Daniel, I know he’s enjoying this — nationality.

[10:58] Brother D. Bailey El: At that point, all of those things that we needed to tie us, per se, to our past, to take us back beyond slavery, re-establish the tie, so that here we could stand in 1866 as a nation. We weren’t able to do that. Not until the teachings of the Prophet came. It could not and it was not done until Noble Drew Ali came.

[11:28] Emmanual Braswell Bey: That’s right. Islam.

[11:30] Brother D. Bailey El: And of all the people who have come up amongst us and has taught something to us, there’s only been one that ever taught us what we really needed to take our place among the nations of this world.

[11:45] Emmanual Braswell Bey: And what was that, more?

[11:47] Brother D. Bailey El: And that was nationality. Noble Drew Ali taught us nationality.

[11:53] Emmanual Braswell Bey: We love that. We love nationality. I don’t want to name these other organizations and we don’t want to get — I don’t know, but they know it.

[12:08] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah, they know and we know it. Yeah. There is not an organization amongst our people other than the Moorish Science Temple of America that teaches nationality. That’s right. Be it civic, or be it political, or be it religious. And I want to get into the names, but they know that we know, they know who they are.

[12:38] Emmanual Braswell Bey: We know it. In order for us to get that nationality, there’s only one place we can get it, and that’s through Noble Drew Ali’s teachings. That’s through the Moorish Science Temple of America. And it’s his Moorish Science Temple of America. That’s right. We like to make that difference. You know, the Prophet said there’s only one Moorish Science Temple of America and it’s mine. That’s right.

[13:02] Brother D. Bailey El: But what also impressed me along that nationality line, in line with the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, was in “A Divine Warning to the Nation.” Sticking with nationality, he said this, speaking about our people: he said, “No group of people can fail to answer up to the constitutional standard of law by name and principle.” And that’s what we were failing to do.

[13:26] We didn’t know who we were. We had no free national name. We had no nationality. We were calling ourselves Negro, Black, Colored. You know, we were just completely lost, out of order, living in sin.

[13:42] Emmanual Braswell Bey: And chaotic.

[13:43] Brother D. Bailey El: Chaotic, you know. Believing this and believing that, guessing at this and guessing at that. And Noble Drew Ali really brought the guessing game to an end. He just took it and laid it out before us.

[14:06] But because of the things that were done to us when we were enslaved, where we were mentally enslaved — if anybody would ever read the Willie Lynch Letter, it tells it all. Every Asiatic in America should read that Willie Lynch Letter. And once they read it, I think they’ll come and join the Moorish Science Temple of America. All of those people, all of our people who are calling themselves Christians, be they Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, or whatever it is — if they would read the Willie Lynch Letter, they would come, you know, Moorish Science Temple.

[14:38] Emmanual Braswell Bey: That’s a good point. But the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, when he made the call for our people to come, he didn’t make a distinction, did he? He asked for everyone to come. Anyone could come and learn to become a better citizen.

[14:54] You know, speaking of nationality, you know, once you find out your nationality like the Prophet Noble Drew Ali instructed us, there comes the responsibilities along with that.

[15:02] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah. And one of the responsibilities that he made us aware of is that we could not only go for, but we can attain some kind of economic power.

[15:10] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yes, yes. You know, and in his teachings he stressed economic power. You know, remember he says economic security is what we need. He said it wasn’t being preached enough. It wasn’t being preached enough. Is that in 1928? And the circumstances is intense. We need economic security. Economic power.

[15:36] Brother D. Bailey El: Economic power. Because I like the Prophet when he says, “A beggar people” — yes, remember that — “yeah, cannot obtain the highest that is in them.” Yeah, if they’re always begging.

[15:53] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah, that was in the Moorish Historical Message to America. Yes, yes.

[15:59] Brother D. Bailey El: And the Prophet said it like this: he said, “A beggar people cannot attain the genuine spiritualities of life.”

[16:07] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Always begging. All you’re always going to make it if somebody else makes it, some other nation makes it. If some other nation’s in trouble, then you’re in trouble. You know, and we don’t see life like that — not since we’ve been taught by Noble Drew Ali that we can stand on our own two feet, that we are a nation within a nation.

[16:24] So back in the early, say 1913 to 1928, he was preaching do for self. He was preaching and teaching, “Learn to do for yourself. Have your own business. Raise your own capital. Share it amongst each other.”

[16:39] Brother D. Bailey El: And he also said that when a person fails in business, oftentimes, before he began to teach us these lessons, we sometimes would say, “Well, they were going to fail anyway,” or “Well, look what they’re doing.” He says this is not necessary for Moorish American Moslems.

[16:54] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Some of them, somehow — encourage them, right? Some of our — patronize them, yeah.

[17:02] Brother D. Bailey El: Some of our very businesses that failed, we would stand back and say, “Oh, I told you he wasn’t going to make it.” But the truth of the matter, they would have made it if they had had our support.

[17:11] Emmanual Braswell Bey: That’s right.

[17:17] Brother D. Bailey El: You know, I always give a good example. You can go into a Japanese community, a Chinese community, a Polish community, or an Italian community. And you go in there and open up a business enterprise — say you open up a bakery right next to the Japanese bakery in the Japanese community. And you were selling your product for less than it costs at the Japanese store. The Japanese will still walk past your door, go in the other store, pay more, to support their own.

[18:01] Emmanual Braswell Bey: But is there something wrong with that? Yeah, I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how it’s got to be done. I mean, everyone supports their nationality, you know — their business of nationality, the people of their particular nationality — they support that business. No one should be able to come into our house and our community and outdo us.

[18:30] Well, when we say “us,” according to the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, we have to specifically say Moorish Americans. So in our Moorish American community, that’s right. If we had these business enterprises and they were going, no one should come in and give the support that we could give ourselves. Yeah.

[18:46] Well, the Prophet Noble Drew Ali’s teachings speak about that and they are all encompassing of that. But you know, another thing I wanted to touch on briefly with you while we were talking — because there’s so much about the Prophet Noble Drew Ali — his teachings stressed that men and women could hold the same office.

[19:10] Brother D. Bailey El: That’s right. And in his organization, men and women could attain the highest that is in them. They could perform as anyone else.

[19:20] Emmanual Braswell Bey: There’s nobody — I haven’t seen an organization like that amongst our people that you can have a woman who could be the Grand Sheik or Grand Sheikess or any position any man could hold.

[19:29] Brother D. Bailey El: The Prophet even tells us in the general laws issued during the convention, first convention of October of 1928, that we could not even practice the principle of segregation amongst each other.

[19:45] Now, some Moors don’t get it. They don’t get that. They figure that women should be treated different from men, and men should be treated better than women, or that a man is better than a woman. And that’s not going to work.

[20:02] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Is that part of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali’s teaching?

[20:05] Brother D. Bailey El: That’s the Prophet’s teachings — that the male and the female are equals. That we can’t say in our public meeting, “Sit the women on this side and send them in on that side.” That’s segregation. Or we can’t have a position and say, “Oh, a woman can’t hold the position of Grand Sheik.” Yes, she can. She can hold any position. A female can hold any position in the Moorish Science Temple of America.

[20:35] What we as a people have is not only that which is going to do for us now, but is that which is going to take us into the future. Yes.

[20:44] I was listening the other day to television — how you can always — the Prophet said, “Watch the press.” Of course, at that time he couldn’t say “watch television,” but a lot of times when I watch the press, I watch television. It’s all there, you know — the Tribune, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal — it’s all that — ABC, NBC, CNN — it’s all that.

[21:16] We could see how society is actually changing and what our woman, the Asiatic woman, has got to do today. Even if she has children, the city, the county, the state, and the federal government is saying to her, “Go get a job. We’re not going to support you. We’re not going to give you welfare. We’re not going to give you public assistance. You got to have a job.”

[21:52] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah, and society now is taking the woman and putting them out there with the man.

[21:57] Brother D. Bailey El: And some of these people who have these notions about a woman can’t do this, a woman can’t do that — they’re having problems. But in our community, in our temple and our society, we’ve got no problem.

[22:08] We’ve got no problem because what we have is going to outlast every other form of government there is. For one, while there, shortly after the Prophet came, there was this form of governance, the socialist form of government called Communism. It was almost like a religion to some people. And oh, some of our people were so enthused with it. But where is it? Yeah. It could not survive. It could not make it into the 21st century. It was so archaic. It was so unrealistic. You know, it was so ill-fitting to the human being.

[22:54] That when we seek to find that which is going to work for us, it leads us all the way, always back to the teachings of Noble Drew Ali. Islam.

[23:03] Emmanual Braswell Bey: The Prophet Noble Drew Ali, in Acts 6 of our Divine Constitution and Bylaws, talks about family. You notice that?

[23:11] Brother D. Bailey El: A lot, more. Yes. He talks about sons and daughters must obey father and mother, be industrious — and be industrious, always doing something, right? Means be about doing something constructive and positive, in a positive way that’s going to add strength to our society.

[23:25] He was telling us then that our children should not be hanging out on the corner or hanging out in the playground. They should be industrious. That we’ve got to involve them in something, something constructive. We’ve got to involve them in constructive processes.

[23:50] Oftentimes people be thinking that what it is that a person needs to make it in this world is, per se, a college education, a college degree. That’s not what it really is, even though that goes in line with it. But we have to have certain skills, certain abilities. We have to be into the arts, into the sciences, and into economics. You know, and we do that by being industrious. We do that by involving our children at an early stage in those processes — working in a grocery store, managing a little savings account, you know, something that’s going to help them in their life as adults, yes, in a positive sense. Yes.

[24:45] So the Prophet Noble Drew Ali, if you recall in that same Act — Act 7, and it says Act 7 — he says not only should the children be industrious, but they should also take a part in the uplift of fallen humanity, which is our purpose.

[25:01] But my point is this, Most Favorable Son of Heaven, is that when we look at Act 7 and the fact that the Prophet is talking about and teaching us how to perform as children, and how the husband is to perform by supporting his family and his children, and the wife or being the mother — what he’s basically doing in these teachings here is that he’s putting our household back together again. You see that, more?

[25:34] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah. You know what? I was speaking with somebody about a couple of weeks ago, and we were actually talking about, as always, me and this one — the Prophet. And I said, you know, one thing you have to always understand is that not only was he a Prophet to us, he was and still remains our primary teacher. Yes.

[26:07] And when you get down to the bottom line, a teacher is a person that will show or help a person to learn how to make themselves do better, or to show them or help them to learn something positive. Positive. Yes.

[26:25] Brother D. Bailey El: And when we can look at certain things and we can see the Prophet showing us — yes, it’s almost like when you’re talking about Act 7 in the Divine Constitution and Bylaws. He speaks about, well, the father should this, the mother should this, the children should this — it’s like he’s drawing a picture. Yes. It’s like you can just visualize it. He’s showing us what to do. And that’s what we have to be about.

[27:02] You know, I don’t have a serious problem with after school teenage boys playing basketball or teenage girls playing soccer. But we have to understand — that’s playing. That’s a game. That is something that very few people, a very small percentage of people, can use it as their livelihood. You know, all of our children will not be a Michael Jordan. There’ll only be so many.

[27:41] So we can’t have millions and millions of children thinking they’re going to be the next Michael Jordan. We’ve got to give them into those things that will cause them to be what? Industrious. The Prophet didn’t tell us to go practice basketball or learn how to play soccer.

[27:57] Emmanual Braswell Bey: You know, as a matter of fact, I’ve heard you standing in temple many a day, and I heard you say this one — “Playtime is out.”

[28:05] Brother D. Bailey El: “Playtime is out.” Playtime is out. The Moorish Science Temple of America is not playing. We’re not about playing. This is a serious movement.

[28:21] Some people might look and see how few people, in their perception, have accepted the teachings of Noble Drew Ali. And that’s true. If you look at our people as a totality, a very small percentage of the Moors here in North America have accepted the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, in this year of 2001. But I guarantee you, it’s going to be different 25, 30, 40, 50 years from now. Eventually, I would say in another 50, 60, maybe 100 years — well, you know, we look — the majority of our people will be Moorish Science members of the Moorish Science Temple of America. They’ll no longer be Baptist.

[29:05] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Oh yeah. Well, we looked at the statistics and we kind of — remember, I don’t know if you recall this or not — but we looked at the stats. In the year 1928 — 1928, I’m sorry — in Chicago, membership was a minimum of 5,000. That’s in Chicago alone. We’re not counting the other 14 temples throughout the United States of America. Detroit boasted of a membership of over five or six thousand members in the Moorish Science Temple of America.

[29:36] So if we look at the numbers and play with them — you see, this is year 2001 — you’ve got generations of Moorish American Moslems descended from those same numbers, who may not even carry their “El” or “Bey,” but have knowledge of the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. Generations of that.

[29:59] And eventually the numbers will continually grow because it is, as you said, the right thing to do. It is a law-abiding thing to do. And it is the moral thing to do for our people. Because as a people who didn’t have knowledge of themselves, knowledge of their nationality, knowledge of their divine creed — and we’re going to talk about divine creed, because to me that’s one of the most intimate portraits of Prophet Noble Drew Ali’s teachings —

[30:23] Didn’t have a knowledge of family structure, economic structure, the political process in this government of the United States of America, or even the spiritual enhancement that the Prophet Noble Drew Ali provided us. His teachings are so far-reaching, now and into the future, that I can see the same picture that you just painted, brother. You know, the portrait in terms of the numbers spreading and growing — it’s gonna grow.

[30:54] But let’s talk about that divine creed, which is the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. You know, I said this Friday morning — we don’t say that enough.

[31:02] Brother D. Bailey El: No, we don’t.

[31:04] Emmanual Braswell Bey: We don’t say “Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice” enough. And I said, you know, I said it every day. When I write a letter, from now on, instead of saying “Sincerely yours,” I’m just going to say “Yours in Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice.” Yeah. Let’s talk about that more.

[31:20] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah, let me tell you. The Prophet, when he came to us, we were like — if we think about it as Moorish scientists — we were like an unprincipled people. You know, our conduct and behavior was such that if you think about it, you can see why the Prophet said — I believe it was in the Divine Origin of the Nation — he said, “I’ve traveled in the South and I’ve seen the conditions.”

[32:06] We’re talking about the 1920s. He’s talking about Jim Crowism. And he said the problem is not the European — but it’s our people, the way they were acting, that no group of civilized people wanted anything to do with us.

[32:22] Emmanual Braswell Bey: They were not living the life. Is that what he said?

[32:25] Brother D. Bailey El: That’s right. We were not living the life. And what life was he talking about, more? And the life that he was talking about was related to the fact that we had to have the divine creed and principles of our forefathers as the basis, as the foundation, yes, for our life.

[32:47] Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice — that the Father God gave to that original man, whom we are descendants of. A method of living. A set of principles to conduct himself by.

[33:13] When it comes to the divine creed, we look at it like this — we know it to be nothing more, just plain and simply, a set of fundamental principles that do what? Control our conduct. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Love — control our conduct. The divine creed — what it has given to us is something that will control our conduct. Yes, yes.

[33:41] It will place us in a position where, like in “A Divine Warning to the Nation,” the Prophet says when we go back to that state of mind of our forefathers — divine and natural principles — we become what? Law-abiding.

[33:56] Emmanual Braswell Bey: That’s right. A law-abiding people. And you hear it all the time. Nothing new. We look at the penal institutions and we see that in the penal institutions, 75 to 80 percent of the people incarcerated in North America are Moors. But we only constitute maybe at the most 15 percent of the population. And we say, “Oh, there’s something wrong, there’s something wrong.” So then we point to the European and say it’s him.

[34:27] Brother D. Bailey El: No, it’s not him. If man must find his devil, the Prophet told us where to look. People who have been telling our people that the European is the devil — they’re lying, knowingly. He’s no devil. If we’re going to find our devil, we must look within.

[34:51] So that’s who it is. If we as a people practice Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year — if we did it as a people here in North America, we probably may constitute maybe five percent of the people in this country who are incarcerated.

[35:14] Emmanual Braswell Bey: But Love, Truth, Peace — that’s right — Freedom and Justice. That’s how important it is to us. That’s like a universal principle, isn’t it, more?

[35:22] Brother D. Bailey El: Oh, those are universal principles. Jesus taught love, didn’t he? Islam is a universal religion. Yes, it is. Allah is the Father of the universe and He must be the Father of Love. Yeah. He must be the Father of Truth. Yeah. Of Peace. Of Freedom. And Justice.

[35:46] I would venture to say that the first organization that sets up a religious organization on the moon is going to be the Moorish Science Temple of America.

[35:54] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Well, and the Love, Truth — oh my — Venus, absolutely. That’s how strong we’re going to be in the future. I understand that. We’re going to be seeing it, Islam. Right now we’re just a few. We admit that. But more, don’t you think that Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice is the key to everything?

[36:10] Brother D. Bailey El: It’s the foundation. If you practice those principles, it’s the foundation. I mean, what could you go — anything is unobtainable through Love? Yeah, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice.

[36:17] Emmanual Braswell Bey: You know, I’ve been — when did you say that this morning? Sometime this morning when you got up?

[36:24] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah. Is that a good feeling? I said it this morning when I woke up — Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice. That’s what I’m gonna walk out into the world with today.

[36:33] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Every time we say — we say our lives — the Father, yeah, of Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice, name I pray — at least three, four, or five times. And this is the intricate part of Noble Drew Ali’s teaching. That’s what we’ve got to get in our heads. Yeah. We got to forget about the hatred. We got to forget about revenge. We can’t have no malice in our heart. We got to actually show our people — and we’ve got to show the European too — but most of all, our story about not only are we about forgiving, but we also have the capacity to forget any injustice that’s ever been done to us.

[37:13] Brother D. Bailey El: Well, I think that according to Noble Drew Ali’s teachings, more, it pays more to focus in on what he’s telling us than anything else — yeah, of the past or the present — but just what he’s telling us. Because you recall, in the Holy Koran — can you hold that up for the audience, more? This is the Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America.

[37:36] And you notice on the beginning of the pages, he’s addressing three entities about his teachings. He says, “Dear readers, do not falsely use these lessons. They’re for good, peace, and happiness, and for all those that love Jesus.” Love Jesus. And we love Jesus.

[37:52] Emmanual Braswell Bey: We love Jesus. A lot of people have that misconception about us. They look — as soon as they see a fez on our head, as soon as we say that we’re Muslim, they completely disassociate us from Jesus.

[38:07] Not knowing that in this Holy Koran, we have the 18 years of the life — listen, tell me now, you didn’t find this nowhere else — we have the 18 years of the life of Jesus that’s missing from where?

[38:21] Brother D. Bailey El: From the Holy Bible.

[38:24] Emmanual Braswell Bey: The teachings of Jesus that they didn’t put in the Bible — they’re here.

[38:32] You know, every time we say it — it’s got it all, we got it all. But you know, I like to zero in on the physical part of Jesus. Because when — for some reason, when we say Jesus, most of our people’s mind go to this image of a European with long blonde hair and blue eyes. So we don’t go to that kind of image, do we?

[38:48] Brother D. Bailey El: No, no, no. We don’t go to that kind of image. We don’t go to the model that Michelangelo used to paint a portrait of what they call Jesus during that era of time.

[39:04] Jesus, to us, if we would look at him as a physical entity — yeah, he was looking like you and I. I’m gonna say it different, but it’s important though. And we can explain why it’s important for us to know. Because I was listening to a talk radio show not too long ago, and they was asking people, “What is it — is it important to know the image of Jesus?” Did you hear that, more? Their perception of Jesus — is it important how he looked?

[39:28] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Of course it is.

[39:30] Brother D. Bailey El: You know, the Prophet told us here — I shouldn’t say the Prophet told — what Jesus told us. Jesus is speaking here. And Jesus said this to us. He said, “I am but your brother man.” You know what he says — “Come and show you the way.” Come and show you the way. You should not worship man. Yeah. You should not worship me. Worship Allah.

[39:59] If my perception of Jesus and his word to me is that he’s my brother man, then he looks like me. He doesn’t have the blonde hair or blue eyes the way I see him. Because Jesus said to me, “I’m your brother man.” I know what my brother looks like.

[40:25] You know, you can go forth in this world and you know your brother when you see him. You know, you don’t have no problem with that. You can get into certain areas and it’s just a lot of other people, as you might say, all around. And then you see somebody — they just stand out. And oftentimes the reason they stand out, they look like you, and you say, “Oh, I’m not the only one here.” That’s my brother. And that’s what Jesus said — “I’m your brother man.” And we love him.

[40:58] Emmanual Braswell Bey: But why is that so important? Boy, and the Prophet talked about that. Yeah. You know, let me just say this before you answer — I know that’s important because if we didn’t have an image of Prophet Noble Drew Ali, 150 years from now somebody may paint a different portrait of him and say, “This is Prophet Noble Drew Ali.” The Prophet knew what he was saying.

[41:14] Brother D. Bailey El: I believe it was on page three. Page three, here they call it the Holy Koran.

[41:22] Emmanual Braswell Bey: He said that this was for those who love Jesus. Love Jesus.

[41:30] Brother D. Bailey El: A lot of our people have got to get out of this thing about this other religion called Christianity. Right. And they got to learn and understand that what it’s about is loving Jesus.

[41:47] If you love Jesus — if you have the true love of Jesus — you are destined to become a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America. Because the Prophet’s teachings of Jesus is so streamlined, and it gives such great information about Jesus. For instance, when he was 16 years old, how he went to India and how he traveled and studied there — it set you on fire.

[42:11] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Set you on fire. I especially like to speak on a teaching from Noble Drew Ali, when he gave us all these teachings about the life of Jesus. Yes.

[42:27] Brother D. Bailey El: And I look at so many of our people — and the Prophet saw them too — they were just bound down to carnal life. Yes. You know, all involved in drugs and alcohol and crime and criminal acts and laziness too.

[42:44] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Trifling. Trifling. Oh, we’ve got some trifling people. I’ve seen some trifling Moors. I mean trifling. But we hope the best for everyone.

[42:59] Brother D. Bailey El: But Jesus said it like this — and these teachings of Jesus came to us from Noble Drew Ali. What Jesus said: “How many times am I bound down to carnal life? Have I the strength to overcome and give my life a willing sacrifice for men?”

[43:24] And that’s what Noble Drew Ali’s teachings will do for us. That’s right. It will enable us to overcome all of these ties we have to carnal life.

[43:39] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Oh, I know some carnal people, and I love them. You know, and that’s really true. We actually have people that we love who are living the life of lower self. They are — they can’t — or they constitute to us a tie to carnal life. Which could be a mother who is not a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America, could be a father, a brother or sister who is not a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America. Okay. It could be someone who is doing all else. Okay.

[44:12] Some good friend from college, high school, or somebody you grew up in the old neighborhood with. And this person — oh, he’s been your best friend for years — but he’s into lower self. He’s doing something wrong, something that’s going to harm — could be alcohol, could be drugs, could be this, could be that. And you’re tied to him because that’s one of your best friends. “How many times are we bound to carnal life?” But we’ve got to overcome that.

[44:41] Is the teachings of Noble Drew Ali against alcohol, drugs, crime?

[44:49] Brother D. Bailey El: The Prophet said it like this in his teachings — he brought to us a situation where we could choose to live the life of higher self or a life of lower self.

[44:58] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah. I know the question — I just want you to talk about it. But the answer to the question, I know. But all of those things that are harmful to us, we got to break away from that.

[45:14] Brother D. Bailey El: That’s right. You got to leave it alone. That’s right.

[45:21] And some things that we are tied to that we know are not good for us — we can see our people changing. Are you feeling better? I used to eat meat seven days a week. I admit, I’m not a complete vegetarian. I like fish. I like poultry. And every now and then I eat a little red meat.

[45:53] But we’ve gotten away from pork. Our people have gotten away from what they call the chitlins and the hog maws and the skins.

[46:00] Emmanual Braswell Bey: But that’s not a requirement from the Prophet Noble Drew Ali.

[46:03] Brother D. Bailey El: No, it’s just good common sense. It’s good common sense. But it is not a requirement from him. No.

[46:09] I think more so a requirement from Prophet Noble Drew Ali is that we strive for good moral character. To be a good one. Not to be involved in crime or anything that’s harmful to ourselves. Because you know, on that same page there in our Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America, he says to the mothers — he says, “Dear mothers, teach these lessons to your little ones, even while they’re in your womb. Teach these lessons to your little ones so that they can learn how to love instead of hate.”

[46:51] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Because hate destroys. Oh, hate is baggage that you can carry that will weigh you down. When you hate someone, and they may not even know you’re hating them — but that’s the baggage that you’re carrying. Yeah. The Prophet wants us to let go of unnecessary baggage. Because that unnecessary baggage stops you from becoming the best that is in you. It stops you or prevents you from attaining a higher understanding in the genuine spiritualities of life.

[47:28] The Prophet Noble Drew Ali’s teachings — and this is just how I see it — you know, to us, is to correct us in many ways. And that we were wrong so much, to the degree that we could move in any neighborhood. And when they know that a Moorish American family is moving into this particular neighborhood of nationality, they’re happy.

[47:53] Because they know that we have a high moral character. You won’t find them moving away — “Oh, there’s someone moving next door, let’s move.” If they know that it’s a Moorish American family, and they know that we have absorbed, or are in the process of absorbing, the teachings of our Prophet Noble Drew Ali, they’re happy that we’re there.

[48:09] Because we bring law. We bring understanding. We bring a high fiber of moral character. You know, we bring a total asset to city, county, state, and federal government by being just law-abiding citizens. You understand? Yeah.

[48:25] Brother D. Bailey El: These teachings will change us. And let me say it like this — what Noble Drew Ali is teaching to us is a process called salvation. If we can think of it in terms like that. And he speaks about that salvation in his teachings as being a ladder that reaches from the heart of man to the heart of Allah.

[48:52] And as we climb that ladder, our minds become so enlightened as to self, that we can actually look back and see what we used to be. We can see it.

[49:08] We are in a position today where — this is what we’re strongly emphasizing to our people — that the Moors have a glorious past.

[49:25] The teachings of Noble Drew Ali will ensure us a glorious present and future. It’ll make things occur like this — like, we can be on our job, and our Moorish character, the way that we talk, the way that we act, the way we relate to other people, cause people to say, “You know, you’re different, aren’t you?” In a comfortable way. Yeah. They say, “You’re not like the rest of them.”

[49:48] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Well, you have nationality. Yeah.

[49:52] Brother D. Bailey El: You’re absorbing the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, so you can’t be like the rest of them. This makes you different. Of course, from a Negro. Of course. When you are a true follower of Noble Drew Ali, it makes you different from that person who is running around calling himself a Black man. It will make you different from this person who is running around calling himself an African-American.

[50:28] The teachings of Noble Drew Ali do not have any place in them that will justify us calling ourselves Negroes, Black people, or even African-Americans. They’re all untrue. And especially the Negro and the Black thing — there’s nothing — it’s like, as he called it, a mark that alludes to slavery. That’s what he said it was.

[51:03] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Yeah. And for you to call yourself Black, for you to call yourself a Negro — it’s nothing more than a display of ignorance, you know, that you don’t know. And an insult to your forefathers. Oh man, if our forefathers heard some of our people calling themselves those names — yeah, they would be upset. Yeah, they would be angry.

[51:29] Brother D. Bailey El: It would be a dishonor. It’s a sin. It’s a sin. Certain things, according to the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, are a sin for us to do. It’s a sin for us to fail to proclaim our nationality. It’s a sin for us to fail to practice the religion of our forefathers. According to the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, it’s a sin for us to fail to practice the divine and natural principles of our forefathers. According to the teachings of Noble Drew Ali, it’s a sin for us to call ourselves Negro, Colored, Black, or African-American. In this day and age, it’s a sin.

[52:09] And we refuse to do it. And why? Because we know better. We — you know, it’s like the Prophet said, people will be reaping and sowing in such a scanty way, not knowing they can do aught else. And that’s what it boils down to. Yeah.

[52:25] Emmanual Braswell Bey: I don’t condemn our people for calling themselves Black and, you know, Negro and Colored, African-American. They don’t know any better. But once you know — you don’t know — once you know better, then you have to do better. Because you know, you’re not going to do that. Yeah. You have to, because you’re responsible for what you know. If you don’t, woe unto you, born to you.

[52:50] Brother D. Bailey El: Yeah. The person who really knows the truth and knows these teachings and don’t do it is in trouble. They’re in more trouble than a person who has completely and utterly refused to accept the teachings of Noble Drew Ali. That person has a better chance of getting some type of blessing or provision, you know, from the Father God, than a Moor who knows this and refuses to do it.

[53:15] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Absolutely. Very well said, Sheik. Very well said. You know, brother, I just want to get back to when we were talking about Jesus and how his physical — his physical part, look — why it was so important to us. And I think that it’s important to us because it gives us a sense of pride. Yeah. It gives us a sense of divine connection to the Father God, Allah Almighty.

[53:40] We have — more, you know our nationality, taken away. Our religion, taken away. You know, even our respect for self and respect for ourselves during the process of slavery, during the time of slavery, taken away. No respect for human life, taken away. Now we’ve got to connect.

[54:08] Brother D. Bailey El: Well, you know, the story of Jesus is so powerful around the world because it’s like the greatest story that has ever been told, in a three-part drama-type play, you know — the birth, the suffering, the death. You know, and in any language, in any nationality, everyone wants to know more.

[54:32] Well, if we know that this person looked like us, walked like us, talked like us — I mean, was of an appearance like us — it gives us some kind of connection to this divine person who did a tremendous amount of good work to the world. You know, he said, “Peace on Earth, goodwill to all men.”

[54:49] Emmanual Braswell Bey: Some of many things that’s in our Holy Koran that the Prophet Noble Drew Ali teaches us. And I just want to say this, brother, in regards to Prophet Noble Drew Ali’s teachings as well — he says also on that same page, “Dear fathers” — oh yes — “Dear fathers, with these lessons you can set your house in order.”

[55:19] To me, that’s a whole lot for our people, and our houses were in such disarray. It was out of order. We had no control. But with the rules and principles and guidelines that the Prophet Noble Drew Ali has given us, we can say, “This is the law of the house. This is the way the house is going to be.” And there’s order.

[55:36] You know how much it means to wake up in the morning in your house and say good morning? You know how many households — how many households take each other for granted? Get up in the morning, don’t say anything. You know, it means a lot to say good morning, or like we say, “Islam.” “Islam.” Good morning. Or when we depart — “Peace.” It means a lot. It brings fiber and good vibrations in the home.

[56:01] And not only that, it tells the father that he has a certain responsibility to put his house in order. But now he has something to do it with — he has the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. Holy instructions for thy children — what the child is supposed to be doing. Man and wife. Obedience. Yeah. The rich and the poor. There’s so much information that we have that we can give our children.

[56:34] We only have a little time to go, brother. I just want to make a few closing comments.

[56:40] Brother D. Bailey El: Sure. If effectively, if I could have your permission to do that. I’m gonna listen intently and not interrupt you while you make your closing comments.

[56:50] Emmanual Braswell Bey: We hope that you have enjoyed this program on the teachings of the Prophet Noble Drew Ali. Brother Bailey El here has a wealth of knowledge, and as you can see, he’s shared a tremendous amount of that with us. We hope that you have gained a lot from this program, and we encourage you to visit us at the Moorish Science Temple of America. Please do.

[57:07] And for our Moorish American brothers and sisters who are out there as well, spreading the learning and the truth of the great Prophet Noble Drew Ali in America, we commend you and we encourage you to continually do that. Because enough is not said about the Prophet Noble Drew Ali or his teachings that he has given us to make us better people, thereby making the world a better world.

[57:31] Thank you very much, and peace.

[57:36] [Music]