JABRIL.MUHAMMAD
On January 10, 1996, I asked the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan:
“Brother Minister, on the night of June 4th, right after your Phoenix speech in 1995, you spoke to a little over 40 of us, at your dinner table, about the relationship between the mission of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and your mission, with your mission coming out of his mission. You spoke of your mission and his mission as being mutually compatible and complimentary. Would you please elaborate?”
Here is the ending of his answer.
›Minister Farrakhan: “And so in my conclusion on this subject, in 1972 he stood the Minister up before the followers and said ‘this is one of my greatest preachers in the bounds of North America.’ And then he said, when you see him, look at him. When he speaks, listen to him. Wherever he bids you to go, go. Wherever he bids you to stay from, stay from.’ And then he said how this Brother would ‘get you across on his shoulders. And when he gets you safely across to the other side he will not say, ‘look what I have done.’ He will say, ‘look what God has done,’ for he is a humble man.’
“Well Jesus said, ‘take my yoke upon you.’ But you can’t do it unless you learn of me. Learn my spirit. Learn the nature of me; the inside of me that makes me who and what I am. And if you learn of me, you will learn that I am meek and lowly of heart and you will find rest in your soul.
“So his helper has learned of him and is meek and lowly of heart. Therefore, his soul is at rest, because he knows he is being guided to fulfill the work and mission of his father. So in leaving, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad also said, ‘… his preaching is a bearing of witness of me and so continue to hear my Minister Farrakhan.’
“Well, what did he mean, ‘continue to hear my Minister?’ He meant that his followers should continue to listen to me, for my teaching would bear witness of his being alive; of his continued growth into power; of the great commission that God had given him.
“He also said in his ‘Theology of Time’ lectures, ‘If you continue to listen to me,’ he said, ‘I will have you so smart that you will have the devil around your finger as a little string, and you would not even know that he was present.’
“Well, what did he mean, ‘if you continue to listen to me?’ If you continue to hear my servant, whom I am continuing to guide and grow, then you will grow out of the thought that the enemy is any burden to you, any more than a piece of string on your finger would not be a burden to impede you in doing anything that you desire to do.
“Yakub’s grafted man may be a burden to you if you refuse to allow yourself to grow up into the wisdom of God. And you cannot do that unless you continue to hear his Minister Farrakhan and his witness of his master and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”
Brother Jabril: “Thank you, Minister Farrakhan.”
I’ve re-quoted the above statement of Minister Farrakhan to re-emphasize what he was to do and why–from his own viewpoint.
We must get deeper quicker, into the “why” of Minister Farrakhan, as time is running out for us to master the comprehensive, but not hard to understand, lessons that Allah and the Messiah have set before us through our Beloved Brother, Minister Farrakhan.
A Caucasian Christian pastor once said to his congregation: “The prophets of God were given daunting tasks in order to fulfill the ministries that God had called them to and designed them for.”
Study his words: “Designed them for.”
With fervent prayer; with God-aided study; time and trials, with successes and seeming failures, and more–the prophets were prepared, and served the people among whom they were raised.
To the extent that the people loved and understood their missions, they followed them. To the extent that the people loved and accepted the prophet’s self-concept, they continued to follow them. The acceptance by the people of the prophets included their loving acceptance of the self-concept of the prophets. This point is critical to our salvation NOW.
The prophets were a major part of the message they brought from Allah. The prophet’s message expressed God’s mind, will, plans, and promises for the people. So did the lives of the prophets. Their lives were part of the message that they brought.
Far too few of us have taken the time to get acquainted with the lives of the prophets–the condition of the people among whom they lived and the circumstances under which they did their work, and, most importantly, God’s living presence, to really be thankful for these very real human beings and their bearing on us today.
Broadly speaking, the prophets were signs of the two Messiahs, who would appear in the last days of this world. The deeper and more scientific term is “types” rather than “signs” although the latter will do if we take the little time required to think, read and discuss in a meaningful way, what this word “signs” means as it applies to those people, the prophets.
We shouldn’t be too busy to learn God’s word. After all, we’re all nearing the time when everyone’s final examination before Allah takes place.
It will take a few more articles to cover the above more adequately. Meanwhile, I’ll close this with two points.
Minister Farrakhan, like his teacher, has on occasion publicly presented aspects of his self-concept. But compared to what I know he could say of himself, he has said little! However, he, like his teacher, has said enough of himself to make it easy for all to get to know more of each man. None really has an excuse for misunderstanding either man–not any more. (Moreover, this will help you with your own self-concept.)
The second point is why I said to Minister Farrakhan, at the end of his statement: “Thank you, Minister Farrakhan.”
“Thank you” is the expression of a grateful feeling and is the recognition and acknowledgment of a kindness, favor, gift or the like, expressed by words or otherwise. We offer thanks to another or others, because of, or owing to something he/she/they did for us, or that which has been done for us through him/her/them.
The root of the word (in the older language) of “thanks” is a word that is akin to the idea in another word meaning, “think.” The offer of “thanks” comes from the intellect as well as the emotional aspects of ourselves. Appreciation, (stemming from recognition and understanding) and gratitude are the primary elements in a real “thank you.”
In a real “thank you” no conflict exists between appreciation and gratitude; between the head and the heart.
Without the ability to say, “thank you,” we’re worse than the beasts of the earth. When is the last time you heard of a lion expressing “thanks” when catching a zebra?
More on “thank you” next issue, Allah willing.
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