[Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint that was published online on March 15, 2005.]
Master Fard Muhammad was born in the Holy City Mecca on February 26, 1877. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad first began to celebrate this day in honor of his Teacher–Master Fard Muhammad–in the late 1940s. His followers joined him in this celebration. [If anyone knows the exact year, please share it.]
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan revived this day of special celebration as part of his work of lifting the name and building on the foundation laid by his teacher.
According to the Encarta World English Dictionary, to celebrate is “to show happiness that something good or special has happened, by doing such things as eating and drinking together or playing music; to mark a special occasion or day by ceremonies or festivities; to perform a religious ceremony according to the prescribed forms; praise something publicly or make it famous.”
›The celebration of this day has always had, as its central feature, a speech. However, the day of celebration–February 26–was not always the day on which that special speech was delivered. For instance, it was February 22, 1981 when Minister Farrakhan and we, who followed him, celebrated Saviours’ Day when he announced that his teacher was in fact alive, in every sense of that word.
The highlight of each of these days of celebration was the address (or the formal speech) that was delivered by the leader. There was always lesser event(s), such as workshops, that marked each of these times of celebration and made each celebration somewhat distinct from the others.
For me, this Saviours’ Day’s “lesser” event that marked this celebration as distinct from others was the fact that Minister Farrakhan traveled on the eve of the day when he was to make a momentous address that potentially could be viewed by many millions.
Generally, the word “title” refers to a name that identifies a person. It’s a name that describes somebody’s profession, job or position in a company or organization. It’s a designation or name that justifies or substantiates a claim or an alleged or recognized right. It can be the distinguishing name of a person.
It can be a descriptive name of dignity, honor, distinction or preeminence attached to a person or family by virtue of rank, office, precedent, privilege or attainment.
Scriptural scholars used this word, “title,” with reference to persons in a more restrictive and deeper way. Their usage of this word includes the idea of describing the character, the inner nature and the functions of the person.
Many years ago, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad publicly mentioned many of the titles of Master Fard Muhammad. On page 111 of “Message to the Black Man,” he wrote:
“This Mighty One is known under many names. He has no equal. There never was one like Him. He is referred to in the Bible as God Almighty and, in some places, as Jehovah, the God of Gods, and the Lord of Lords.
“The Holy Qur’an refers to Him as Allah, the One God; beside Him, there is no God and there is none like Him; the Supreme Being; the Mighty, the Wise, the Best Knower; the Light; the Life Giver; the Mahdi (this is He, Whom I have met and am missioned by).
“He, also, is referred to as the Christ, the Second Jesus. The Son of Man, Who is Wise and is All-Powerful. He knows how to reproduce the universe, and the people of His choice.”
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad mentioned many other names, among which was the “Messiah,” with reference to his Teacher. He stated:
“‘Masi’ means … either one who travels much, or one wiped over with some such thing as oil; the same word as the Aramaic ‘Messiah,’ which is said to mean, the ‘anointed.’”
He possessed all of these characteristics and functions on His arrival. In plain language, some of His names, or titles, were to be shared–to a certain extent–by His servant, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as he grew into his power, to perform aspects of his mission. The title Messiah, for instance, was one of them, in both senses as defined above.
On the morning of February 27, it occurred to me, in a very striking way, that Minister Farrakhan’s traveling on the Birth date of his teacher’s Teacher, to Georgia where his teacher was born, was highly significant.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has written that:
“Master Fard Muhammad, Allah in Person, traveled the world over. The Mahdi is a world traveler. He told me that He had traveled the world over and that He has visited North America for 20 years before making Himself known to us, His people, whom He came for. He has visited the isles of the Pacific, Japan and China, Alaska, the North Pole, India, Pakistan, all of the Near East and Africa.” And there is more. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has also been traveling worldwide.
What I have borne witness to, above, points to the Messianic identity and mission of Black people in America. Black people are becoming aware that, through our suffering untold miseries for the last 450 years and that now, as we awaken to God’s own Supreme Wisdom, we are at the end of a 50,000-year fall; that we’ve fulfilled the Bible’s prophecies of the lost people who will be found and restored to their original place and power. We are the people who have walked in darkness, who are now coming into His marvelous light. We are those people of whom the scriptures speak, who were not a people, but who are deemed the people of God.
It’s clear that we are the people of whom the Holy Qur’an speaks who were made into a thoroughly brand new people through our experiences here in America.
We have not had one of those special men from God, titled “prophets,” as did different people in different parts of the world many years ago. It is written in the scriptures, and made clear by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and his teacher before him, that our problems, due to our condition, was so complicated that no one other than God Himself could solve it. In other words, our condition is absolutely next to the impossible to resolve.
Only Allah’s Supreme Wisdom can get us out of our troubles. And that’s what Minister Farrakhan teaches. Examine his speech on February 27 and you will see that his address–to me anyway–was the perfect introduction to what was in his heart to cover more fully, but time was limited. Nevertheless, it was perfect.
I intend to include an analysis of Minister Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day address, while at the same time continuing the subject of why the heavens and the earth cry out for justice for the innocent man and overcoming envy, etc., by the help of Allah.
As I’m easing my way back to Phoenix by way of a train, I was made aware of the impact of the murder of Levon Jones, a Black youth, who was visiting the city (New Orleans) from Georgia this past December. I saw the whole of a human rights hearing on television. Black people at that hearing were livid with rage.
More next issue, on the situation here in New Orleans and these Messianic times, Allah willing.
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