“Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth glorifies Allah. His is the kingdom, and His the praise; and He is Possessor of power over all things. He it is Who created you, but one of you is a disbeliever and one of you is a believer. And Allah is Seer of what you do.”–Holy Qur’an, Surah 64, verses 1-2
This visit also coincided with a 16-month earlier State visit arranged for the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and his delegation to this enigmatic island in the Sun. His brief tour at that time began with the country of Belize in Central America, which is next door to Honduras, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. I thank the sisters who traveled with me with the great sacrifice that they made in making it possible for us to visit the island of Bimini once again. This visit marked my 17th anniversary of travels to this island which began from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1997. Many innovative changes are fast taking place on this small island known as the Fishing Game Capital of the world.
The people of the island remain astonishingly simple, and humble in their demeanor, and display the greatest of manners and hospitality to their visitors. In this regard, I wish to thank the Office of Tourism and its head director Mrs. Antoinette Stuard for receiving the Honorable Minister Farrakhan on his first visit to Bimini. The people of Bimini are as yet unspoiled by sport and play, pornography displays through the media, nor do they have movie houses, and are literally untouched by the use of drugs, gambling, and other criminal activity. The Bahamian constitution states very clearly that no Bahamian by law can gain access to or practice any form of gambling.
The island of Bimini is located only 50 miles off the coastline of the United States from Miami, and enjoys the reputation of having hosted many famous people on her seven mile long by two and a half miles wide Island in the sun. Among those who have visited and lived in Bimini is the renowned Black politician, Adam Clayton Powell, literary giant, Ernest Hemingway, and Civil Rights Leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. Most recently in March of 2013, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan paid a visit to Bimini on his last leg of a brief Island Tour with a stopover in Nassau, capitol of the Bahamas. Nassau boasts of a robust tourism there with a sightseeing spectacular on a section called, “Paradise Island,” which has setup an underwater visit to ancient Atlantis as told by the Greek philosopher, Plato.
Many of the local Bahamians pride themselves as being a citizen of this former lost civilization. According to the Atlantean history, a portion of lost Atlantis will be discovered off the coast of the island of Bimini. The other area of this large continent is purported to have sunk off the Straits of Gibraltor at the coast of Spain. This area within the Bahamas is also well known as the Bermuda Triangle with offshoots beginning from the island of Bermuda over to Puerto Rico and including the islands of Bimini and San Andros.
Recent expeditions conducted by National Geographic is searching these waters through the straits of the Bahamas to the island of Cuba where fines of a great temple complex was discovered beneath her water’s coastline reaching out towards the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. What was exceptional about this visit was the response of the people in the community who witnessed the State visit of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in 2013. Many of the people in the town greeted us with the salutation of As-Salaam Alaikum, and have his picture on the walls of their homes, which includes the Department of Tourism.
During the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s visit, he spoke with several pastors and a small community audience at the Church of Good Hope. He answered many of their questions, including the announced statement that he believed the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was the Christ that we all have been looking for.
I wish to acknowledge our dear friends and hosts once again received us with open arms, which included Sister Antoinette Rolle, Brother Ashley B. Saunders, historian and gatekeeper of the secrets of Atlantis and constructor of the Museum bookstore, the Dolphin House. His brothers Ansil and Tommey Saunders are both extraordinary craftsmen and builders of houses and custom handmade boats. Ansil Saunders has the marked distinction of being a long-time companion of Martin Luther King Jr. and has received many awards from ambassadors and visiting dignitaries from England and America for keeping the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. alive.
He accompanied the Honorable Minister Farrakhan into the famous mangrove marshes on one of his hand-built boats where Martin Luther King literally became so enthralled by the natural beauty there that he began the composition and acceptance speech for his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Once again returning to the island in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. initiated his speech for the Sanitary Workers Association that he delivered in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was assassinated within a few days after leaving Bimini. It is interesting to note that the late Congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, had his ashes scattered, by his request, over the Bimini Bay waters. It is historic to note that the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad had a future plan for one of these islands in the Bahamas as a resting place for his Laborers who would come to study and further prepare themselves for our worldwide mission in the Mental Resurrection of our dead nation in America.
His eldest daughter, the late Ethel Sharrieff, owned a house or villa, in Nassau; and it was his desire to visit her if he came to the Bahamas. I close with these words as the Nation is making preparation to travel to Jamaica, the home island of the Honorable Minister Farrakhan’s father that the Bahamas is the portal of entrance and the gateway to the Bahamas and beyond. Thus, it is my hope, my prayer, and my desire, that Allah will bless us with an island in the sun to fulfill the Vision of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that we can find a place that we can call our own!
Thank you, Brother Minister Farrakhan, for showing us the way. Blessed be thy Name and Majesty in the Remembrance of Allah and your Service to His People as we travel the vast extent of the heavens and the earth on our entire planet earth, which we can call our home.
“He created the heavens and the earth with truth, and He shaped you, then made goodly your shapes; and to Him is the resort. He knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and He knows what you hide and what you manifest. And Allah is Knower of what is in the hearts.”—Holy Qur’an, Surah 64, verses 3-4
To be continued.
