By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM
RIALTO, Calif. – As part of the E-Team, a special security team comprised of the mighty men of the Nation of Islam known as the Fruit of Islam, Rashad Muhammad lives on the front line as a protector of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
He’s been with Minister Farrakhan for more than 30 years, traveling the world into literal war zones, including to Iraq, Libya, and Russia, and right here in America on the streets of cities including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Brother Rashad’s journey landed him at Muhammad Mosque No. 97, a suburb nestled approximately 54 miles from Los Angeles. He delivered from Minister Farrakhan a prayer for peace to the Muslims and then went straight to work.
›“We may not understand truly what it means to be loved by a man like Minister Farrakhan, but when I think of his love, I think of the love of God,” said Brother Rashad.
Captivated listeners young and elderly hung on his every word during his Saturday Q&A session and Sunday lecture earlier this year. Bro. Rashad’s Sunday message was titled, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
One could hear a pin drop. But then, in an instant, commands and declarations like “Yes sir! Teach! Teach!” and “Allah-U-Akbar! All Praise Is Due To Allah,” at various times during his address. People beamed with joy as Brother Rashad bore strong witness to what Islam has done for him and could do for others, through Minister Farrakhan, under the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
The road isn’t easy but it’s worth it, he said.
“I can’t say that I’ve been faithful for 30 years. I can say that I’ve struggled. I’ve tried. I’ve tripped. I’ve failed. I’ve leaned over to the side. I’ve gotten tired but not weary, but I’ve stayed on the field and continued to push forward, so if I come before you as something that I’m not, then that could be a fraud and a lie,” he said.
The fact that Brother Rashad sees Minister Farrakhan in the volume of the scriptures shined through his use of the Bible and Holy Quran, interactions in his own life, and historic events he shared with the audience. Minister Farrakhan is a perfect example of the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the presentation of what God came to make of us as men and women, said Brother Rashad.
There is nothing that the people desire, want or think, that they cannot fulfill based on the love and the promise of God, but they have to believe it, he continued.
Bro. Rashad’s insight on Minister Farrakhan and the sharing of his experiences with the Muslim leader positively impacted the audience and reflected in the faces of those listening in the humble space dubbed the “little mosque that could.” People didn’t want to leave the meeting afterward, noted Mosque No. 97’s Student Minister Kareem Muhammad.
“You could just see a man with the love of not only the spirit of the Minister but his heart, his mind, his being and just a Nation man, so we are honored to have him as our brother, soldier, friend, big brother,” Student Minister Kareem told The Final Call.
The young Student Minister works hard to inspire the believers under his charge. He welcomes fellow students of Minister Farrakhan’s who are willing to share a word of that truth to help uplift the Believers. Other guest presenters have included Brother Jesse Muhammad, social media expert and of the Farrakhan Twitter Army, Student Minister Abel Muhammad, Latino Representative of the Nation of Islam and Salih Muhammad an educator at Muhammad University of Islam in Oakland.
“As I already have been taught and know, that is not my rostrum, and we have been taught that we don’t get so secure that we run that, because it’s only a post and one day there’ll be someone on the post as there was someone on the post before me,” said Student Minister Kareem.
“To give the Believers the different spirit that Allah put in each one of us, and to give them that different energy, that excitement and that joy, I might not be able to convey it a certain way as another brother or sister who mounts the rostrum, but it all comes from Allah for me,” he added.
So far, Brother Rashad has taken his strong witness bearing crusade to New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Rialto, and Phoenix.
His study of not necessarily the books alone, but actually of the man he’s born to serve, was evident. He delivered a clear, at times humorous, articulate, fierce and fearless, unapologetic testimony about Minister Farrakhan’s light, life, struggle and love for and defense of the Black man and woman, and humanity.
Then when it seemed the energy could get no higher, it burst through the roof when he reiterated to the Muslims and revealed to first-time guests that, like Minister Farrakhan, they, too, could have the mind of God. It was but one of many “drop the mic and walk off the stage” moments, but he kept the good news coming.
Brother Rashad underscored Minister Farrakhan’s and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s humble beginnings. Then he took his audience down a timeline of Allah’s (God’s) elevation of those two divine men in a way that people hearing about them perhaps for the first time could relate. And anyone who must have forgotten were reminded in the methods he used to make them real and show through their lives and journeys that the two have absolutely become one, and that the mind of God is indeed attainable.
“Let this mind be in you, the same that is in Christ Jesus. What mind did Christ Jesus have? He had the mind of God,” Brother Rashad said, as he proceeded to prove mathematically how Minister Farrakhan has that same mind.
“When Farrakhan started, what did he say he had? Nothing! But he said that he had it all. … He had the word,” said Bro. Rashad. “He took that word and he reproduced everything that Elijah had produced. Everything!”
During Sunday’s Q&A session, a tearful guest shared how he overwhelmingly had been feeling like a failure, but Brother Rashad’s testimony washed those feelings away. He accepted the invitation to learn more about the Teachings. Brother Rashad learned in fellowship after the meeting that same man was in fact his very own cousin!
Western Region Emeritus Minister Abdul Wazir Muhammad was among many well-fed by Brother Rashad’s personal portrait of Minister Farrakhan.
“That was a beautiful representation of a man that’s been with the Minister for years, and what he shared with us, nobody else can share that, because they didn’t experience that. But, I thought it was wonderful. I thought it was wonderful,” said Minister Abdul Wazir.
