DETROIT—Point No. 12 of “What The Muslims Believe,” published in “Message to the Blackman in America” by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and on the inside back page of The Final Call, contains the cardinal belief of the Nation of Islam. It reads:
“WE BELIEVE that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited ‘Messiah’ of the Christians and the ‘Mahdi’ of the Muslims. “We believe further and lastly that Allah is God and besides Him there is no god and He will bring about a universal government of peace wherein we all can live in peace together.”
The opening plenary session of the Nation of Islam’s Saviours’ Day 2024 convention, titled, “Our Saviour, The Mahdi & The Messiah,” dealt with that very topic. The session took place on the morning of Feb. 23 at the Huntington Place in Detroit.
The workshop was facilitated by Student Minister Daniel Muhammad of Chicago. Presenters included Student Minister Troy Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 1 in Detroit; Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a member of the Nation’s Shura Executive Council;
Student Minister Demetric Muhammad, an author and researcher based in Memphis, Tennessee; Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad, an author, researcher and member of the Nation’s Shura Executive Council; Student Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad, the National Imam of the Nation of Islam and member of the Nation’s Shura Executive Council and Student Minister Abdul Salaam Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 6 in Baltimore.
Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad opened the session on the coming of Master Fard Muhammad.
“He came from that holy place 93, now going on 94 years ago. And He came from Mecca to Mecca, the Mecca in the Western Hemisphere, Detroit, Michigan,” he said. “It is in this city that He made his appearance. It is in this city that He established the Nation of Islam and called us the Lost-Found Nation of Islam.”
While Master Fard Muhammad appeared in July 1930, it wasn’t until September 1931 that He found His long-awaited helper, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who recognized Him immediately as the one that the world had been expecting, the Son of Man, Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad said.
Student Minister Daniel Muhammad emphasized that when Master Fard Muhammad made His appearance, He wore two hats.
“He came with two hats to give two servants that He would make to fit the description of Mahdi on one side and Massi or Messiah on the other side. I thank Allah for His coming. I thank Him for fitting the Honorable Elijah Muhammad with the hat of Mahdi, now in a position of power to fulfill what is expected of Al-Mahdi,” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said in his Saviours’ Day 2020 message, “The Unraveling of a Great Nation.”
“The other hat was for the Messiah because the Messiah of the Christians and the Mahdi of the Muslims are together at the end of the present world. I tried on my hat; it fit quite well,” he said.
Student Minister Demetric Muhammad laid out a historical presentation for the reality of Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad. He listed the various institutions and principles established by Master Fard Muhammad, including Muhammad University of Islam, the M.G.T. and G.C.C. (Muslim Girls’ Training and General Civilization Class), the forgiveness of sin and the removal of fear. Master Fard Muhammad also gave Black people back their original names, a work mentioned in the scriptures.
“The real reason for the season is that we are celebrating the birth of Master Fard Muhammad and that we believe Allah God appeared in His Person,” Student Minister Demetric Muhammad said. “We no longer do religion necessarily to worship God, but we do religion to become god.”
Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad’s presentation was based in the theology of the Nation of Islam compared and contrasted with other religious doctrine.
“We don’t use the language incarnation when we discuss Point No. 12. Incarnation is a Christian principle that states God, for the first time, descended as a man … 2,000 years ago” and before that, He was a spook, Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad said. “That is not the history of the Saviour, Master Fard Muhammad. God was not a spook prior to February 26, 1877. God has been a man for the past 76 trillion years.”
Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad touched on “the other hat” worn by Master Fard Muhammad, the hat of “Messiah.”
“We would do violence and injustice to ourselves if we did not recognize” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as The Messiah, he said.
“It is in Point No. 12, our cardinal point, that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has given to us the keys … to identify the reality of God in the establishment of a universal kingdom of peace,” he added.
He broke down the definition of “Mahdi,” a title meaning “The Self-Guided One.”
“When we look at this history, do your due diligence, and do not allow any of our brothers and sisters in the faith of Islam to make you feel that in any way, that what we have cannot be proven in any limit of time,” he said.
Student Minister Abdul Salaam Muhammad described Saviours’ Day 2024 as “a matter of life and death.” He spoke on the importance of belief and faith in the cardinal principle of the Nation of Islam.
“There is no way one can be a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and dismiss this cardinal principle, for if Master Fard Muhammad is not who the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said He is, then the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is not who we believe him to be … and the Minister is not who he is,” he said. Those of us who dismiss this cardinal belief have seen the consequences of such dismissal instantly, he added.
In a letter to Believers, followers and friends of the Nation of Islam, read by Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan urges: “Hold fast to your faith and hold tightly to the plow of Islam as taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And remember these words, ‘We are fighting 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 and Fight for Your Own!’”
“May Allah’s Peace, Blessings and Protection be with us as we close this chapter of our struggle and open a new chapter which begins with our being in what is called the ‘HEREAFTER.’”
