What kind of man The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is Controversy continues to this day over the nature of The Nation of Islam. One can still hear confused talk over which category to place Messenger Elijah Muhammad and his followers. What simple test can be used to decide the type of group we are? What objective principle can be agreed on by honest men to clear up the question of whether we are a “religious” or “protest” group, or a “symptom of the times,” etc.? The kind of group we are must be determined by what kind of man The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is. Black people in America have never had a God-taught man Black people in America have never had a God-taught man to teach them before Messenger Elijah Muhammad. Since white people have fed Black people lies mixed with bits of truth about God, His prophets, etc., Black people do not know how to think of and act by a Messenger of God. Most Black people still don’t think rightly about religion. They often think of religion as one aspect of reality or life rather than as a total way of life. For example, in books we divide the body according to the part to be studied. We use such names as the “nervous system,” the “digestive system,” etc., with reference to the various parts of the same thing. We know the body is a unity and no part exist or functions independent of the other. Likewise, such terms as “economical,” “political,” “religious,” etc., point to this or that aspect of this or that system or way of life. Islam is the Black man’s nature When most people think of God, His prophets, etc., they think of “religion.” So when it is said that Messenger Muhammad comes in the tradition of God’s prophets, the idea of “religion” occurs too many. But, he does not come in the religious tradition that we have known. Nevertheless, he does represent a tradition based on the unchanging principles of that which is introduced to us as a religion. Messenger Muhammad teaches that Islam is the Black man’s nature: It is our natural way of life. It is not a set of principles of belief and action which scholars have invented. But---Islam---is the nature in which the Black man was created. We are a divine movement Messenger Muhammad walks in the path or comes in the tradition of God’s prophets. If this is so, and it is, it follows that we are a divine movement. The Apostle mentioned in these verses is The Honorable Elijah Muhammad From the translation of the Holy Qur’an by Muhammad Ali, we read: O people of the Book, indeed Our Messenger has come to you after a cessation of the messengers. 5:19 In the Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Holy Qur’an we read: O People of the Book! Now hath come to you, Making (things) clear unto you, Our Apostle, after the breaking In (the series of) our Apostles…5:21 The Apostle mentioned in these verses is The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and not Muhammad Ibn Abdullah of 1,400 years ago in Arabia. Black people in America are the “People of the book” referred to in these verses. Muhammad of Arabia is seen by his followers as the last genuine prophet of God. The last genuine prophet God commissioned was Jesus Others believe that the last genuine prophet God commissioned was Jesus. He was sent to the Jews or white race in general. Believers in Jesus and in Muhammad see each man as having come in the line, or the path that Abraham, Moses, and David walked in. Messenger Elijah Muhammad appears at this time---after an interval in the succession of the coming of such men. This interval of time, from Jesus to now, is 2,000 years; or from Muhammad until now, it is 1,400 years. This is full of meaning. Allah always warns before He punishes God sends prophets and messengers whenever a people have gone so far astray from the right way that wrong looks right, and right looks wrong to them. When they sink to this level, divine destruction is their due. But Allah always warns before He punishes. He gives them a chance to repent. Almighty Allah raises messengers to teach people how to… Almighty Allah raises messengers to teach people how to live good lives and become successful, and messengers teach how men can live with others in peace. All people have been given such divine blessing. Those who accepted the prophets were blessed to come out of the dark and into the light. Most men---during the past 6,000 years---loved darkness rather than light. So they were unwilling to change. The messengers of God were opposed. Many were killed. All were mistreated. These men of God were born at different times. They worked among different people. Although their approach to the people, among whom they were raised, differed in some respects, the underlying principles of their approach did not change. In addition, what they taught, in terms of principles, were the same. Allah gave each of them a book. The people the prophets taught made changes in the texts after their deaths. So many changes were made that today it takes God, or one He teaches to give us the true understanding of the books. He has taught Messenger Elijah Muhammad this understanding. Prophecies of the coming of a last messenger The Prophets made prophecies of the coming of a last messenger. They saw him rise up from a people that were so ignorant that they were called dead. Genesis contains a prophecy that an enslaved people would serve their enemies for 400 years. Elsewhere in the Bible these same people are called “dry bones” and “lost sheep.” God is seen as giving one man the key to raise the sleeping nation Throughout the Bible, this oppressed people are seen as rising to the position of world rulers. This rise to power is seen as the direct result of God’s power. God is seen as giving one man the key to raise the sleeping nation. God chooses this man to make His people the corner stone of a new world. God would come from the East and make His presence known in the West Jesus said God would come from the East and make His presence known in the West. It is in the West that He would raise the curtain of falsehood and manifest everybody and everything. This has already happened. Master Fard Muhammad is God Master Fard Muhammad is God. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad met Him in 1931, in Detroit Michigan. God made known our identity through His Messenger. He teaches that we are the direct descendants of the Creator of the Universe. We are the Original people. Our nature is our original way of life---Islam. Islam is righteousness and this is what we are---the righteous. Every Black man, woman and child is a natural born Muslim. We are born that. We may later call ourselves something else, but we are still Muslims by nature. We were kidnapped by white people We were kidnapped by white people and they robbed us of the very base of self-respect, self-love and common sense. That base is the knowledge of ourselves. Restoring us to ourselves is part of the Messenger’s work. This takes love. The love in God out of which He visited us, He put in His Messenger for you and me. The Messenger has been taught of Allah’s prophets and messengers The Messenger has been taught of Allah’s prophets and messengers. Events in their mission, and how they relate to him and our times, have been made clear to him. His mission, work and character place him in the company of these illustrious men, the Prophets. But he is not actually a prophet. He is more than a prophet. To say that he comes in their tradition is true, but this is incomplete. But let us not get ahead of ourselves. Certain similarities between Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Noble Drew Ali Granted, there are certain similarities between Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Noble Drew Ali, others, and The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. However, it is inappropriate to attempt to fit him into their category. Some writers lump The Messenger with various Black leaders without regard for the vast differences in the quality and aim of their respective ideas, programs, etc. One factor of leadership which distinguishes “divine messengers” from other prominent leaders Let’s look at one factor of leadership which distinguishes divine messengers from other prominent leaders. Leadership is not only a universal need, but an ever-present reality. Leadership is required everywhere, from the running of the homes and the raising of children, to the operation of a government. Parents, job foremen, school teachers and politicians are among those who occupy positions of leadership. Without there can be no cooperation, no progress, no civilization. Knowledge is essential to one’s ability to lead. The leadership of divine messengers is superior to that of others because their knowledge is superior. The wisdom of the prophets originated in the mind of the Best Knower. Therefore, the prophets were able to guide people better than others. The knowledge of other leaders was not pure as the prophets. The knowledge of others was a mixture of facts, imaginations, partly understood experiences, guesses, and of course false information. Thus, their knowledge was defective. Nor did their mental grasp comprehend all of the ultimate truths. Unlike the mind of Allah, their minds were bound by time and space. The Messenger is on the highest level of wisdom So it is today. This quote is from Some Moral and Religious Teachings of Al Ghazzali, by Syed Nawab Ali: Knowledge differs according to the capacity for it, according to the latent powers in a man. Hence there is a variety of stages amongst Prophets… (and others). Further progress is possible even beyond these stages, for divine knowledge knows no bounds. The highest stage is reached by one to whom all truths and realities are revealed intuitively, who by virtue of his exalted position enjoys direct communion and close relation with the Most Holy. The real nature of this position is known only to him who enjoys it. We verify by faith. The Messenger is on the highest level of wisdom. We who follow Messenger Elijah Muhammad can verify his position by the knowledge of demonstrable truths. This is superior to faith. What kind of man is Messenger Muhammad? He is the man we would have chosen to lead us; to get us out of the hell white people put us in, if we knew better. But we were not able to so choose. We could not get out of hell by our own power. Allah foreknew all of this and out of His love and wisdom He has produced Messenger Elijah Muhammad. The Messenger represents our innermost yearnings, borne out of centuries of the worst oppression any people ever experienced. Consider what Sister Anne Ali wrote in Muhammad Speaks newspaper, November 7, 1969: Rising in the morning after a couple of hours sleep, he is at his desk when the secretaries and laborers report in. He is there already working on the problems of the 30 million Black People. The phone rings---and it continues at the rate of from 30 calls a day. Perhaps it is a business executive requesting an appointment with Messenger Muhammad, the secretary’s voice answers, “One moment sir, perhaps tomorrow we can schedule your appointment with Mr. Muhammad, but I am not sure as we are already over-taxed with appointments.” The doorbell rings, perhaps it is a banker, or lawyer, or Laborer, or perhaps it is a follower with some personal problem---big or small, in the Messenger’s tremendously busy schedule, he has solve them all. The appointments continue throughout the day, at the rate of approximately ten cleared by noon. By now it is mid-day and the secretaries look at the Messenger, so busy, so thoroughly involved in putting us on top overnight, and we all marvel and say, what manner a man is Muhammad; surely one from God. All praise due to Allah for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Through all of Messenger Muhammad busy schedule, he never forgets his prayers. And he will excuse himself to say his prayers. And, we do likewise, praying that Almighty Allah (God) blesses us to please the Messenger in our work; knowing that if we please His Last and Greatest Messenger, we do please Him. The mailman has now delivered the mail, at the rate of 800 pieces a week. All of which Messenger Muhammad looks into daily and give answers to as many as he possibly can before the next appointment or call interrupts him. By this time, Messenger Muhammad has signed several salary contracts; ordered several hundred head of cattle to be fattened for the market; instructed 10 varieties of pies to be baked by our bakeries; advertised for several sales at YOUR SUPERMARKET and special dinners at SALAAM RESTAURANT; made both spiritual and business National broadcast; dictates both spiritual and business articles; answered all mail possible; cleared ten business appointments; answered at least thirty business calls, ranging from truck drivers and editors, to cattle raisers and architects. Besides this he has dispatched work to his more than fifteen secretaries, not to mention guiding and instructing countless Laborers. You could not imagine any man doing all that Messenger Muhammad is doing unless God was with him. And, I bear witness that he is definitely a man from God. This happens every day; Sunday or Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Messenger Muhammad is putting us on top overnight. And, he has said, “You are on top. So stay up there. If I see you come slipping down, I will push you back up, and kick the ladder away so that you stay up there.” Surely we should all follow Muhammad. You would think by now, Messenger Muhammad’s work day is over, but there he stands, just as eager, quick moving, sharp and ever-quick thinking as when we greeted him this morning at the beginning of our day’s work. Messenger Muhammad is needed an excellent example for us, and continuously teaches us that “Nothing is more important than the labor of Islam.” And he has, through his shrewd business leadership, lead the Muslims into million dollar enterprises. All of which are first-class, ultra-modern places, providing hundreds of jobs for our people. We have only to qualify for any number of jobs the Messenger has provided for us in bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants, farms, cattle raising, printing press, and clothing factories; and soon, department stores, shoe stores, banks, and hospitals. Every Black man, woman and child should help Messenger Muhammad acquire these things. He only asks that you help us to help you to help yourself. And, he often says, “You can do whatever you want if you just put your heart in it, Allah will show you that there is a God in you.” What manner of man is Muhammad? We all know. Let us not forget. All praises due to Allah for you Messenger Muhammad. “O Allah, bestow upon Muhammad the means, the greatness, and high dignity, and elevate him in the most exalted places which Thou has promised him. Very Thou never breakest Thy promise.” ~Brother Minister Jabril Muhammad
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 04:32:05 +0000
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