[Editor’s note: The following edited article is the message delivered by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on “The Ummah Reflects” podcast, livestreamed via the Podbean app on Friday, April 21, 2023, which marked the last day of the Holy Month of Ramadan observance for Muslims in the United States.]
In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
As-Salaam Alaikum! Thank you, my dear Brother Akbar Muhammad; Eid Mubarak to you, and Eid Mubarak to all who are listening. And to those who have another day to go on Ramadan, oh, Ramadan Mubarak to you as well!
I am so grateful to Almighty God Allah for granting us this opportunity to speak on this podcast as a guest of Sister Nisa and those with her. And I want to say I have not missed a morning; every morning I listen carefully to every speaker, and there is not a speaker that I heard that I did not learn something from.
›So, I thank Sister Dr. Nisa Islam Muhammad, and all of those with her; and I am so glad you spoke more this 30 days than ever before, and every “Fast Fact” that you gave us, I was right there learning from my sister. So, thank you for such a wonderful, wonderful 30 days.
To all of the Believers who tried and desired to complete The Fast, and did not make it, thank Allah for however many days He allowed you to fast, because you were blessed: Even if you missed, you can make it up at another time. But thank you all for fasting. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for making this an extraordinary beneficial Ramadan to us all.
I am not able to fast as I used to fast because of my health condition, so today and tomorrow, we are feeding 2,000 people with a meal. And I want to thank Sister Carmella Muhammad for allowing us to use her Foodies and How To Eat To Live restaurants to bring 2,000 meals to people that, I pray, will find it a delicious, delectable treat. And I say to all of us, to the Believers in the Nation of Islam: Thank you for helping me with your charity that allows me to be charitable to many.
And I thank you so very much, because the enemy would have loved to cut off my blessings—but he just can’t reach heaven. So, go to hell where you belong. Because the Believers have shown us their love, their commitment, through their charitable contributions that allows me to be charitable, and I thank all of you.
Perspectives from a Hajji: ‘Love,’ ‘Unity,’ ‘Hurling Truth at Falsehood,’ ‘Sacrifice’
I have a few things that I wanted to say to you. Forty days from now, or a little more, we will be in the season of Hajj, and Muslims from all over the world will be traveling to Mecca to make the Greater Pilgrimage. My wife Khadijah and I were blessed in 1986 to make our pilgrimage to Mecca; so she is “hajjah,” and I am “haji,” because we completed the Pilgrimage.
A few points about the Pilgrimage that make it one of the most beautiful and special acts of a Believer… We were in the city of Mina, on our way to Arafat, and then to Muzdalifah, and I saw two older men holding each other’s hand as they were going to be in Arafat, where it is exceedingly hot.
But I felt that those two men came to Mecca to make this journey, and to die while they were making that journey so that they would go immediately to Jannah, or to “Paradise.” What love in the brotherhood that I saw, holding each other’s hand! Not as people who are engaged in immoral behavior, but holding each other’s hand as a sign of their unity, their love, their brotherhood, and their faith.
When I was on that journey, when we got to the place called Muzdalifah, there is a white stone there that represents “Shaitan”; and at that place we had to pick up, I believe it was seven stones, and cast those stones at this statue that represented “Shaitan.” There were so many people, that you could see a hand just going, throwing these stones, and saying “Allahu Akbar!” Something came into me as I threw my stones and said “Allah Akbar!”:
My voice seemed to be louder than the thousands of people that were throwing stones at Shaitan, and I thought to myself, “When the time comes and Satan is known, we must hurl the stones of truth.” As Allah says in The Qur’an, “Had We wished to take a pastime from before Ourselves, We would have done it. But nay! We cast truth at falsehood till we knock out its brains. … .” (Surah 21:17-18)
From there, as we went on, we had to sacrifice a life, and they wanted me to slaughter an [animal]. I chose a camel—but I didn’t have the mind to kill this magnificent creature of Allah, so they killed that camel for me that represented my family, and the sacrifice; and they gave away the meal to the indigent, to the poor. But it meant more to me than just killing a camel. It meant that unless we are willing to lay down our lives for The Cause of Allah and Islam. … We can say that we believe, say we submit, but faith has not yet entered into our hearts.
The War of Armageddon has begun, and Almighty Allah Who intervened in our affairs in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad has declared holy war. In this war that is upon us, all of us are going to be called upon to know the truth and to use that truth to subdue Satan. And the lies of a being That Allah has commanded us not to follow in “the footsteps” of Satan:
So, he is not a spook or a spirit, he’s got feet, and he has made a path on this Earth for the last 6,000 years; that we are commanded by Allah not to follow Satan. But many of us have joined the Synagogue of Satan unwittingly, and some knowingly.
But this is a short time left; the chastisement of Allah, you will see it coming down all over the Earth. And war is being prepared. The Bible teaches (Book of Joel 3:9-10): “Wake up, you mighty men of war… Take your pruninghooks and turn it into a sword.” Take “the instruments of cultivation” and turn it into that which will allow you to fight in the Name of Allah.
‘Take precautions’: Search, keep always on the alert to protect houses of worship
During this blessed Ramadan, we heard of the Israeli Defense Force, and police, attacking the believers at the third holiest mosque in Islam, “Al-Aqsa” in Jerusalem. I saw them beating men and women, children, with their guns, and with their sticks. And I heard an elderly man say, “Ya Allah!” (“Oh, Allah!”). He took the beating …
But I want to say to Muslims: None of us can escape death. You can flee to the highest mountain or go into the depths of the sea, but you cannot flee from death! Allah says in The Qur’an that all of us must taste of death (Surah 21:35). And so we, as believers in Allah all over the Earth: Make up your mind! Our prayer, our sacrifice, our life and our death is all for Allah, The Lord of the worlds!
When you’re making preparation for battle, you settle your differences. As a Believing Community, we should not hold differences with each other and allow hatred to build up in our hearts for one another! But this has been done not only by individuals who believe, but by nations of Muslims arming themselves to fight and kill one another.
And so, in this War to decide who will live on the Earth—a holy Earth, that has been filled with blood and the carcasses of many who have died in wars: Allah wants to cleanse the Earth; Allah wants to purify the Earth, so that those who live after the power of Satan is destroyed will be in what is called “The Hereafter.” Here, on this Earth, when Satan’s power to deceive has been broken.
So beloved Muslims, we have to protect the houses of worship! Don’t act as though you are not in a hostile environment when you know that someone may come and create a nuisance on your post. In Patterson, New Jersey, the imam was making salat, and an enemy was in the mosque; and I saw in the video: He jumped over a few rows where they were concentrating on Allah.
They didn’t see him! And he ran to the front, and knifed the imam. I pray that the imam is recuperating from that… But what should we be thinking about? What kind of Muslim are we, that we don’t “take precautions” as Allah says to us in the Holy Qur’an?
“Take precautions”: Some pray, and others watch (Surah 4:102). And when the watchers have done, and the prayers have been done, those that were watching come in your place, and say your salat.
So every mosque, every masjid, every church, every synagogue, everywhere where God’s Name is honored must have a group that will protect the elderly and the young with their lives! Don’t just “go to mosque.” In the synagogue, elderly Jews went to pray, and were killed. In New Zealand, we were praying, and a hate-filled man had his weapon and went to two masjids, and shot as many as he could, and was arrested.
You mean he lived to be arrested? What kind of Muslims are we? What has happened to The Ummah—did we not reflect that this reflects on us? Where were the watchers?!
Master Fard Muhammad, The Great Mahdi, when He was among us, He said: “Everyone that enters the mosque should be searched 100 percent.” Because we are seeded, now, with many hypocrites who don’t believe, but they are mischief-makers coming in the mosque to disturb the peace of the believers!
Listen to what Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, Surah 2 Al-Baqarah (“The Cow”), verse 191: “And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out of where they drove you out, and persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them in the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you (in it). So if they fight you in the Sacred Mosque, slay them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.”
Regardless to the law, Allah has given us a command—and we will obey that command! An attacker who comes to the mosque, to the church, to the synagogue, should never leave alive, taking advantage of elderly people, taking advantage of people that are there to pray and not to fight. But we live in a time, now, when war is being forced upon the righteous, and we must have an answer with our lives.
We fight for Islam and we will surely win, with our Saviour, Allah, The Universal King! We are united with our Nation and called by His Name, so let us rise, ye Muslims: Fight for Islam! Fight for your own! Protect the glorious life that Allah has given us! Protect the women and the children if they come to worship with us! It is our duty to make sure that they return home as they came to the mosque, whole.
In every mosque, in every church, the men should be trained! We must watch, as Jesus said, as well as pray. Nobody should come to church anymore, or mosque anymore, or synagogue anymore, and not pass through something that will detect if you have something on your person that will create mischief in the house.
Master Fard Muhammad taught us how to search. We, The Nation of Islam, don’t play with searches, and for 92 years we have never had an incident that I know of, where someone brought—(Well, there’s one instance. There was a brother who got in the mosque; but he was a secretary, and they didn’t search him.)
The Saviour didn’t say, “Well, if he’s a minister, don’t search him.” The secretary didn’t say, “If it’s a rabbi, don’t search him.” Everyone who comes to that house should be searched 100 percent! And when we carry out this Instruction from Al-Mahdi, peace will be in our house.
Did you know that in our temple in Chicago, in the early days, Elijah Muhammad took the soldiers, and with a rope we were tied to the door? (“You don’t come in there, ‘break in.’ We offer you our life before we allow you to come in!”) So if you were on the door post, that’s where you were willing to die, right there, before an enemy would come in to disturb our peace.
Don’t run from death! Don’t turn your back to an enemy! Allah does not like that. Go to the enemy! Go where the shots are being fired, if it’s in your house, with the mind to slay that person who has come into a holy place with the wicked intentions of killing people who want to serve their God.
“Did you say, Minister, that the synagogue should be protected?” Absolutely! “But I thought…” Well look, man, you don’t think. Do you think that we don’t believe in the Holy Qur’an?! “Those who are Jews, those who are Christians, those who are Muslims, those who are Sabians, those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and are the doers of good to others, no fear should they have nor should they grieve.” (Surah 2:62)No, The Houses of God must be protected by The Men and Women of God!
Leaders of the Muslim World: Be careful from whom you take guidance
Muslims, in the 49th Surah of the Holy Qur’an, Al-Hujurat (“The Apartments”), there are two sections, “Respect for The Prophet” and “Respect for Muslim Brotherhood.” In verses 9 and 10, Allah (God) said: “And if two parties of the believers quarrel, make peace among them. Then if one of them does wrong to the other, fight that which does wrong, till it returns to Allah’s command.
Then, if it returns, make peace between them with justice and act equitably. Surely Allah loves the equitable. The believers are brethren so make peace between your brethren, and keep your duty to Allah that mercy may be had on you.”
In 2017, President Donald Trump went to Saudi Arabia, and he asked King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his son, the crown prince, to call for all of the members of the Sunni community to meeting in Riyadh; and Pres. Trump came, and spoke. And in 2018, I saw that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was with Pres. Trump (at the White House), and Pres.
Trump was showing him the latest jet fighter that they wanted to sell to King Salman. President Trump’s mind was that you would use these weapons against your brother in Tehran, Iran; so he wanted to arm you, so that you could kill your brother. It wouldn’t just be for America, you’d be killing an Iranian for Israel.
Be careful, you leaders of the Muslim world, who you take guidance from. If you are one of those who put the Holy Qur’an behind your back, and can’t find the instructions that Allah has already laid down for us in that Book, then Satan will deceive you and tell you what they think is best.
No, Allah told us what is best through Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him! And he lived the Sunnah of the Holy Qur’an. He lived it! His wife, A’ishah, said “Muhammad is The Qur’an” (“He lives The Qur’an”). And you know, when you stand up for Allah, Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:
“It was not you who slew them, it was I Who slayed them by your hand.” (Surah 8:17) If you don’t give Allah a chance to help you to fight, to protect your life and the lives of the Believers… How can “havoc-making angels” assist you to “stay and lay,” and get your head beat in with people, and you won’t try to fight them?
I want to see 5,000 havoc-making angels! (Surah 3:125) I want to know that they are behind me! I want to stand up for Allah against the enemies of God! And if I die, let me die saying “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.”
So, I want to thank President Xi Jinping of China. Because Allah gives us a command that we are supposed to, when we quarrel, “make peace between the brothers”—but we didn’t do it! So President Xi came, and brought Iran and Saudi Arabia to China, and brokered a peace deal between two brothers. Thank you, Pres. Xi.
And you know what he did? He rescued Saudi Arabia from the web of American so-called guidance and diplomacy. He freed you, that you could come out of that sphere, and come out of the sphere of anyone other than the Sphere of Allah and His prophet. So now, thereis peace coming in Syria. Peace is coming to Yemen. They’re fighting; I hope you will make peace with each other, between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Encourage President Xi to be kind to the Muslims under his charge.
And lastly, remember Genghis Khan. The Khans came out of Mongolia, and they were like a scourge; they beat up Christians, they beat Muslims, they beat Jews—and Allah permitted it. Because when we deviate from what is right, what God has laid down in the scripture for us, we deserve a whooping. So after Genghis Khan beat the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims, he became a Muslim. Think about that. I hope that’s the future of President Xi.
And all the rest of you that are preparing for war, you need to know that you are a part of the plan of God to end the rule of wickedness. Be better yourself.
Closing remarks and immense gratitude for ‘The Ummah Reflects’
I leave this beloved podcast, this beloved broadcast, with my deep personal gratitude to Brother Abdul Muthakkir Muhammad, to Brother Akbar Muhammad, to Brother Shahid Muhammad, Brother Imam Abdul Jalil Muhammad, and all those who make this possible. I want to encourage Brother Jalil with the “Hadith of The Day”: I loved every Hadith that you mentioned; I am fortified by it and your spirit! Keep it going. Keep this program going!
I know I’ve spent a little more time, probably, than I should, but you cannot deny that we need to sharpen the protection of every masjid, every mosque; every place where God’s Name is remembered! Every church, every synagogue. The young Jews should never allow the elderly to meet in the synagogue and you are not there to give your life to protect them.
This is the Way of God. And if a life is lost because they fought us in our sacred place, and we died, and we killed them, we die in a righteous cause, and we did the right thing. They don’t need to go to the police, except in a box. Either with their head in the box, or their body.
We are not savages! But we are not going to allow our houses of worship to be desecrated and made unholy. No, when you come there, you come to worship—and you will worship in peace, because no one in there will have anything in their pocketbook, in their pants pocket hiding somewhere. No, no, no!
You don’t know how to search? Al-Mahdi taught us how to search! And even police, when they come, they say, “My God, these people sure know how to search.” We hide things on some of us and then see if we can find it, in our drills. And if you want us to show you how Al-Mahdi showed us how to protect the house of worship, we will be glad to show you.
The men and the women must learn. We must learn to fight. And I know you may be old, but an old man, in the Name of Allah, hitting somebody, they’ll feel it!
Thank you for allowing me this time. … Thank you for allowing the children to carry the day (“Youth Day”); they did a beautiful job. May Allah bless you with a happy Eid. May Allah bless us to see our sacred duty to protect our women and children, and the believers in the masjids and mosques; and help our Christian family to protect their churches.
And the Jews always have somebody that can show them how to protect their synagogues. You don’t have to worry about protecting it from us, because we will never attack your synagogue or your church; we are forbidden to do such thing. But we are given permission to fight with those who fight with us, and to never, ever, be the aggressor.
Thank you for reading these words, and may Allah bless you as I greet you in peace: As-Salaam Alaikum.
›