Dr. A. Alim Muhammad (Dr. Alim): The status of the Commission for the Restructuring and Reorganizing of the Nation of Islam, I would say at this point and time, is the status of a mustard seed that has high hopes of growing into a tree�so what that means is that the Commission right now has more potential than actuality. But the potential is so great and so beneficial that it is worthwhile that all of us do what we can to help this little seed germinate and grow into that tree that is mentioned in the Bible parable that represents the kingdom of God.

Dr. Alim: We need to understand that the Commission in one sense must serve as a bridge from the past, the 71-, going on 72-year, past history of the Nation of Islam, to an unlimited future beginning in this new century, the 21st Century. For that bridge to truly exist and function as a bridge, then the process of atonement must be employed. Atonement is how we escape the gravity of the past, the mistakes, and the errors of the past, the pain, the hurt, the suffering of the past, and enter into a new reality in the future.

The process of atonement was introduced as all the world will recall on October 16, 1995 at the Million Man March. That means that the concept of atonement within the Nation of Islam is about six-and-half-years-old. At six-and-a-half-years-old, that concept has reached a point of consciousness and determination, that it can will itself into being something more than it has been in the past.

Dr. Alim: The methodology that must be utilized, and is being utilized by the Commission, is what we simply call "dialogue."

Dialogue represents the honest communication among two or more people and in this dialogue, we invite the presence of God. For the scripture says, "Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am also in the midst." So, if the Commission�s goal is a restructuring and reorganizing of the Nation of Islam, this cannot be done absent the presence of God.

To this process of divine dialogue, we invite all who are willing, all who love the Nation of Islam, all whose lives have been enriched by the teachings of Master Fard Muhammad and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and the example in our midst today, of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, we ask all to join in a process of dialogue, which is each one speaking honestly from his or her own perspective, speaking from the heart, speaking true words whether they seem to be on the positive side or whether they seem to be on the negative side. It is the inner working of the positive and the negative that leads to progress, that leads to successful resolution of problems.

Dr. Alim: That is a very pertinent question: How do you begin a national dialogue among a very large group of people? We have to understand that we live at a very exciting time where the technology provides the answer. And so, the Commission will be able to host this kind of national dialogue via the Internet. The time and space, geographical location, in other words, will have no bearing on who can participate at the extent of that participation. We have a Web site, www.atonementcommission.org. We have received since Feb. 26, more than 15,000 hits, which is an expression, I think of the very great interest that there is in the Nation in the work of the Commission.

When an individual logs on to that web site, they will have the opportunity to view the site to review the presentation that was given at Mosque Maryam in slide form on Feb. 26. If they wish, they can fill in an information box where they�ll be asked to supply their name and email address and a few other items, especially what their interest might be in terms of working with the Commission�this is in the process of being put on the Web site as we speak.

There will be a registration form to be filled out, and then they (participants) will be asked to sign an agreement to, in other words, work according to certain guidelines, and for the best interest of the Nation of Islam through the Commission. Once they�ve registered properly and have signed the agreement, they will be invited to read what we are calling "the workbook." The workbook is a series of chapters that deal with different aspects of perhaps what needs to be done, and it also contains numerous questions that each person will be asked to respond to. This will all be done on the Internet.

Then each individual will have the opportunity to join one or more task force groups that have already been set up within the Commission. Task forces that will look in areas such as education, health, housing, community development, mosque affairs, issues of justice, issues that involve the youth.

Once that occurs, then again online, each individual will be invited to participate in a series of chat rooms, chat discussions hosted via the Internet, perhaps conference phone calls or other forms of correspondence, with others who are also working in that area. What�s the purpose of all of this dialogue, all of this online involvement? It is to work using the methodology of dialogue, the eight steps of atonement that have now been supplemented with a ninth step. Out of that process of dialogue will emerge over the coming months, as we approach October 16, 2002, what might be termed an atonement document.

The atonement document will be the sum total of all the task force plans, projects, proposals that will emerge from the dialogue that is taking place within each task force.

You would have an atonement document, or a national plan of atonement for the Nation of Islam, that should be ready for presentation on or around October 16, 2002.

That atonement document or national plan of action will actually layout the work that all of us must be involved in for the next three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 or 20 years.

Dr. Alim: Yes, sir. Let me say a little more about the task force areas, because those task force areas don�t just emerge out of thin air. They emerge as a response to legitimate human needs. As the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan put it so well at the political conference that was held after the Million Man March in St. Louis, he said at that time, that every human need is a human right.

Each task force is built around the satisfaction or the fulfillment of a particular human need. Therefore, the agenda or the plan, that emerges from the dialogue in that area of human need becomes an action plan that satisfies a particular human need.

Complexity is not something to be feared. Complexity is something that is natural. If we look around us, the universe, although it is one, it is very complex. Although the world is one, it is very complex. Human beings can be summed up very simply as merely being a human being, yet beneath the skin, there�s complexity. We must organize the Nation of Islam around the complexity of human need, but this complexity need not be equated with confusion.

Dr. Alim: Yes. I can just simply answer the question between now and October 16, there will be a number of different activities that will be up close and personal with many people in many different locations. I would, however, not like to be premature and characterize what all of those activities might be. But certainly the Nation of Islam exists on many different levels so there will be the active involvement on all of those different levels from the national laboring level, regional level, the local study group levels, so that literally every single person who belongs to the Nation of Islam, or who claims that the Nation of Islam belongs to them, will be involved in a positive and progressive way.

Dr. Alim: The spirit of the Commission in this work of change is absolutely the spirit of God. God himself declared out of his mouth that he would make all things new. So Master Fard Muhammad came to the shores of North America to make things new, to bring about a change. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave a teaching that in its very nature, is revolutionary. It brings about a change.

Min. Farrakhan, as he amplifies the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, is a change agent. Change is part and parcel of what the Nation of Islam has always been about, but it�s just that change must take place in stages as the Holy Qur�an describes the development of sperm and egg into different stages of growth and development. So, too, is the growth and development of a nation.

We should not be fearful of change. We wonder whether the change is good or if it�s bad. But yet, if we understand that it is the will and power of God that is behind the change, then we know that he is promising a result of an end that is better and greater than that which we have had in the past. � If we think about it, every nation that we know of on the face of the earth is in need of atonement. Which nation shall be the first to atone before God and man? That first nation, I believe is the Nation of Islam and that is the greatest blessing that could be received by any nation to be permitted the first step into the new world.