“And mention Moses in the Book. Surely he was one purified, and was a messenger, a prophet. And We called to him from the blessed side of the mountain, and We made him draw nigh in communion. And We gave him out of Our mercy his brother Aaron, a prophet.” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 19, verses 51-53
During the past two weeks, events have transpired in my life that found me moving quickly from Mexico almost immediately upon my return from Los Angeles, California, taking me all the way to the East Coast of Florida where I am presently. I am in the home of my son Rasul and his wife, my daughter-in-
law, Sister Charlene Muhammad. I have reflected on my long years of experiences which took me back to the age of 19 when I was on a very different type of journey in which being with child, as a young wife of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, I was a secret to myself as well as to others.
Time is a sequencing which brings us in touch with our true selves and our mission, goals and objectives in life to accomplish as we try to remember what we have oft times forgotten (though recorded in our subconscious mind) of how we began our journey in the essence of sperm and ovum in our mother’s womb, (the fetus or essence of divine remembrance). Before we came here in this present state, where did we come from? How do we understand the reality of our preexistence? What is it that we have forgotten? Did we not come from Allah in the beginning, and do we not return to Allah in the end? Are we thus immortal, and if so, what makes us immortal? Is there life after death?
According to our Divine Book of Lessons called the Supreme Wisdom, we read in Lesson No. 2, Question and Answer 13: “… All the History of Islam never reveals anything that no man had ever been able to come back from a physical death. But there is a chanc e for mental death because the lost found was once dead mentally and many of them revived from it. But they were not physically dead–only mentally dead.” In sharing a part of the mystery of my life, I will begin with my rebirth in the Nation of Islam as a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the course of my life at the age of 19 when I was found with child, by Divine Decree, and screened myself from family and friends to an Eastern place. In my life experience as a chosen wife of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, I did not know what my destiny would be, but I ultimately traveled as far East as I could go to the State of Florida to the city of Jacksonville, where many of my childhood memories were connected to my family summer trips when school had ended and we visited with other family members and friends.
One such journey brought me to Jacksonville, Florida, where seven years later at the age of 19, I returned to the same place but this time I was alone. From there I traveled further South on a Greyhound Bus and stopped at Fort Myers, Florida at a Seminole trading post searching for information that would take me into one of the Seminole reservations in the Everglades. Within this last week, I was accompanied by a few traveling companions and visited a nearby Seminole development area and tribe called AH-TAH-THI-KI. They are located in the big Cyprus Reserves where we were hosted by some of their Seminole representatives. I could hardly believe that I was taken to this place beyond merely 50 years ago. But here is built a state-of-the-art museum and cultural center which is annexed to the Billy Swamp Safari.
I learned while I was there that the nearby reserve in the Everglades is called Brighton where I was taken 50 years ago through the guidance of a great, great grandson of the famous chief Osceola who is remembered for his warrior spirit and veracity as the chief of the Seminoles who never relinquished their freedom to the United States government by not signing an official peace treaty. For this bravery and stand, they are known today as the “Unconquered Seminoles.” I remembered being their guest on the Brighton Reserve as a lone traveler passing several days and nights in the old wooden church on their property. Here I was again in this place, at the Billy Swamp Safari, being taken to the launching pad of a deep water adventure.
As we boarded the small airboat manned by a Seminole guide, we entered a stretch of the Everglades teaming with live alligators. We even had to sign a release form attendant to any accident or liability that might occur as we pondered over the risks that were involved. It was a true, life adventure being in this type of wilderness environment, which is also home to a variety of venomous snakes, Black bears, panthers and other species of wild life. In following up from our last journey to the island of San Andros, we may remember that we visited with a Black Seminole village on the northwest shore in a vicinity called Red Bays. There we met some of its community leaders who traced the origin and history of their presence in San Andros having escaped persecution from the United States government.
While at the gift shop and bookstore, AH-TAH-THI-KI Museum, we were guided to purchase a book entitled: “The Black Seminoles,” by author Kenneth W. Porter. As we dive into life experiences, we learn about the wonders of our planet and of our universe and our divine creation from the mind and the thought of Almighty God Allah which covers the sphere of eternity. As long as we are mentally awakened and travel with universal consciousness, we are learning more and more about our immortality.
“And mention Ishmael in the Book. Surely he was truthful in promise, and he was a messenger, a prophet. And he enjoined on his people prayer and almsgiving, and was one in whom his Lord was well pleased.” —Holy Quran, Surah 19, verses 54-55
