[Editor’s note: The following article was originally published in The Final Call newspaper, Vol. 10, No. 15, July 22, 1991, as the first installation
of a special five-part series on health (“The War Against Obesity (Fat)”) penned by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. This is the final excerpt from part 1 of that message.]
THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD hated to see our women and our men fat. He would scold the sisters and brothers over being overweight.
Master Fard Muhammad warned the sisters against weighing other than themselves, in regards to living a righteous life and weighing properly; however, in all the mosques today, there are overweight women, overweight children, overweight men. There are young men with huge bellies, not distended from a lack of food, but expanded from too much food and too little exercise.
When we warn our people against being overweight, some will say, “Mind your business, this is my body.” It is your body, however, our duty is to remind you that you have a divine obligation to care for that body in which the Spirit of Life has come to dwell.
The scriptures say that in the last days, the chosen people would become a “royal priesthood,” the Family of the King of Kings. I am asking the members of the Black Nation to get a full length mirror.
Every morning when you wake up, take a long look at yourself and greet yourself, “Good morning your Royal Fatness.” Make up your mind that wherever you see excess FAT, you will wage war on it until that excessive amount is no more a part of you.
I will not have an obese (fat) Laborer standing as a representative of the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to an obese (fat) Nation of people. Every Laborer has six (6) months to correct that condition. If, after six (6) months, there is no significant progress, you will have to find a position elsewhere. I repeat, I will not have an obese (fat) Laborer in front of obese (fat) people.
The moment you get comfortable giving yourself excuses, you have made yourself comfortable with death. In the Bible it is written that we would live in a world called Death.
This world called Death is a world in direct contravention to the Law of Life. The Law of Life is obedience to the Will, Wisdom, Law of Allah (God). Death is rejection of and rebellion to this. It is a world whose ways we cannot follow and hope to have a long, healthy life.
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
—Proverbs 14:12
In the Bible, Jesus casts 7 devils from the woman. The devils ran into the body of a swine. Who is the woman? What are the “7 devils”? Who is the Jesus that cast them out?
When Allah (God) intends to use a woman for His Glory, to make her the Wonder of the Earth, that woman must first be made to see her importance, her value, that she may take the first step to producing great offspring for the Glory of Allah (God); that first step is to clean up her house (body and mind).
Jesus had to cast out the devils from the woman. Two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. If God is going to come in, then Satan has to go out. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that Allah (God) has chosen the Lost Found Members of the Aboriginal Black Nation in the Western Hemisphere as the foundation stones of a New World Order.
We have been reared by Satan and are full of devils that have to be driven out. Seven of the devils that are defiling the House (human body) of Allah (God) are: 1.) PRIDE that produces rebellion to the Will and Way of Allah (God). As a result, we defile the House (body) of Allah (God) with 2.) Pork, 3.) Alcohol, 4.) Tobacco, 5.) Drugs, 6.) Red Meat and 7.) A Host of Other Bad Food.
These devils have to be cast out of the woman. As a people, we are styled as a woman. Why? As a female will remain without child unless the egg is fertilized by the male sperm, a people cannot germinate new life until they meet with the Presence of God and Truth.
In this case, the Black Nation is like a woman that God desires, but is filled with devils and uncleanness. He cannot put new wine in an old wineskin, meaning He cannot put the New Wisdom and the Spirit of God in a House of poison, filth, debris and swill.
The Black Nation MUST clean up or we are out of luck with God. Let every member of the Nation of Islam make a conscious effort to get rid of unwanted FAT. Get away from junk food and eat proper food. (Study How To Eat To Live, Books One and Two).
Let us exercise this wonderful body that gravity is constantly pulling on. That sagging flesh is sagging because we refuse to exercise. The grave is calling you; gravity is bringing you down.
It takes a powerful force to escape the pull of gravity in the Earth’s atmosphere. The Force of Life is powerful enough to keep us out of the grave, but we must eat properly and exercise properly. Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, said to us that the best exercise is waling and medical science is agreement with Him.
I AM PLEADING with the entire Black Nation, particularly our women, to go to war against FAT and strip Self of poisons that we are pouring into the House of God.
Allah (God) has blessed me and you with a wonderful Gift: Life. We have a magnificent form (body) through which He can express His Will. I am ashamed that I have been irreverent and disrespectful to my body.
While exercising this morning, tears filled my eyes and I asked Allah (God) to forgive my disrespect of His House and for not caring for it as I should. I promised Him that from this day forward, not one ounce of unwanted fat would remain on my body.
Though I am considered a middle-aged man, I am determined to craft my body into a perfect manifestation of a House that the Spirit of God would be pleased to dwell in.
This is not for vanity, or to walk on a beach displaying flesh. This is gratitude to Allah for giving me the best of forms—and the best form He gave to the human being.
I want to keep perfect, to live longer, that I may express His Will even better—for a sound mind dwells within a sound body.
The Nation of Islam has declared a War on Fat and we shall be victorious.
TO BE CONTINUED.
This is the final excerpt from part 1 of that message.]
