[Editor’s Note: The Final Call presents a portion of a message by Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Below are edited excerpts by Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad from part of his keynote delivered Sunday, November 10, 2024, titled: “Survival of the Black Community.” To view the message in its entirety, visit media.noi.org.]
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. As-Salaam Alaikum
Our subject today is ‘The Survival of the Black Community.’ To survive means to live on. Survival is defined as the state of continuing to live or exist, typically, in spite of an accident, some ordeal or difficult circumstances.
We all are here, and we have continued up to this very point in our own time on the planet to live in spite of many adverse circumstances, many conditions that have come into our life. Most of the conditions and circumstances that have visited us are not of our doing. We are all victims of circumstances that we did not create.
So, you should celebrate your life that you have survived a lot, but I have to continue to live. I have to continue to gain requisite knowledge that would allow for me to not just be in a mode of survival, but I need to know how to live. And, there’s a difference between being alive and living.
As a people, boy, we have been through a lot. We’ve come a long, long way, but we’re still here. We have overcome overwhelming odds. So that tells you and me that God has been with us. That tells you and me that He’s intimately involved in our struggle.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to us that we are at the end of this world. He taught us that we are at the end of Western civilization as we know it, that we are at the end of White supremacy, at the end of democracy, capitalism, socialism, communism, all the so-called political governance systems of the world are coming to an end. He taught us that we are in the time of God’s Judgment.
Both the Bible and the Holy Qur’an talk about the Judgment of God and the destruction of this world and most religious people, whether you are Christian or Muslim or Jew, all of us Believe in God. Do you believe in God?
Well, that’s the first step to knowing. Belief presupposes the absence of facts. Belief is the absence of knowledge, but belief starts you on a journey to confirm what you believe in.
There’s power in believing, but there’s more power in knowing, and that’s why the Scriptures say ‘to know God is to have life.’ Now you must know that God is, that means that He exists. He’s not a mystery, He’s not some spook, but He’s real.
But you must know the reality of God, and your belief in God leads you to the discovery of His existence. So, to know God is to have life, and you must know God and that all those who diligently seek Him are rewarded.
In all of these religions that believe in the oneness of God, there is a belief in the judgment of God, believing in God and believing that there will be what, a judgment. And one of the great principles of belief for Muslims and for Christians as well is a belief in the Day of Judgment.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has said to us, ‘the people that live in the world must know that God is judging today, and He’s going to make it so clear as to why He’s judging and then give us that standard, and then command us to be in harmony with the requirements of the time that we might be successful and come through God’s Judgment of this present world. Most preachers, pastors, imams, don’t preach and talk about God’s Judgment.’
The Minister said they run away from the preaching of judgment. Why is that, when all the signs of the judgment, all the signs that Jesus spoke of and the prophets in the Bible, are clear? They’re manifesting. They’re being fulfilled in our face. And, the signs of the return of Jesus, the Christ, the Minister said, are in our face.
He raised the question, why aren’t they preparing the people for His coming? How can you talk about Jesus, represent Jesus to the people, and not prepare the people for His coming since we preach that you’re going to meet the Lord, you’re going to be in His presence? Well, how do you prepare to be in the presence of God?
Nothing happens except by the permission of Allah. It’s either out of His Permissive Will or His Active Will. Nevertheless, whatever happens is by His permission, and the Qur’an says, ‘Nothing will afflict us except what Allah has ordained for us. He is our patron, and on Allah let the believers rely.’
President Donald Trump has won the 2024 national election to be the 47th president of the United States. And that 47 is significant. He won the popular vote at last count with 74,657,054 votes to Vice President Kamala Harris with a little over 70 million votes. That shows you that though he won the popular vote by a very small margin, 5 million votes is not a lot, but it shows you how divided the country is.
He won the electoral vote 312 to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 226. It was a decisive victory for President Trump that has left half of the American people who voted for Vice President Harris disappointed and bewildered.
There was great hope that Vice President Kamala Harris could have been the first female president of the United States and the first Black woman to sit in the Oval Office.
Many in the Black community are upset and disappointed, and this election, like no other, created a lot of contemptuous exchanges in families, on the job, and it caused division among us. We invested so much in this election, and the loss has caused many to be troubled, some depressed, and many apprehensive over the future.
The Honorable Minister, Louis Farrakhan said, ‘We’ve entered extremely dark days in the fall of America and the fall of the present world. It is difficult for some of us to think about separation because we say separation is the scheme of nationalists.’
And, may I add, we think that the idea of separation is dated. We live in, what do they call it, a post-racial society. Really? Where do you live? The Minister said, ‘But even if you say that you are not with the nationalist, the question is, are you with God?
Because if you love God and are with God, then you should want to know what God wants. Have you even asked that question? What does God want? We don’t even consider Him.’ And then he said, ‘If you love God and are with God, and you should want to know what God wants. So, does God want us integrated into a house that is under divine judgment?’
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, brothers and sisters, that separation of the so-called Negroes from their slave masters’ children is a must. He said it is the only solution to our problem. You must know that this is the time of our separation and the judgment of this world, the Caucasian which you and I have known.
The Minister said, ‘Allah, God is not going to tolerate the righteous with the wicked. This is the day of separation in every house, and Allah God is going to separate those who love righteousness from those who choose to live a satanic life. Some people are trying to remain in this system. But it’s frequently pointed out that there are two Americas, one Black, one White, one rich, one poor, separate and unequal.’
And this, the Minister said, is the weakness of America, because Black people have become the Achilles heel of America since this country no longer has use for us. The rulers know our future, so their aim is to take us completely out of the favor with Allah God and cause us to fall with them.
When will we wake up?…
Don’t you think we need to come together and educate our own children? Come on! Come on! Don’t you think we should come together and create jobs and industry and factories and things where we can be progressive and productive as a people? Don’t you think it’s time for us to use our brain power and our intelligence and our resources to do something for ourselves?
Don’t you think it’s time now for us to stop depending on others to do for us what we can and should be doing for ourselves? Don’t you think it’s time now for us to stop looking to state government, county government, city government, federal government?
Mama may have, papa may have, and they do have. White folks have, Arabs have, Asians have … Everybody has. They got land that they can call their own, they take pride in their own flag. Where is yours? You’re not Jamaican, you’re not Nigerian, you’re not South African. You know you’re not Chinese, you’re not German, you’re not English. Who are you?
The Jamaicans come, they come into Chicago, they come into the cities, and they are segregated from us. Did you ever look at that? Our members of our family, the Ghanaians, the Nigerians, whoever comes. The Senegalese, they have their community, open up their restaurant, do their business and keep a distance.
Have you noticed that? That’s our family, but they come in with a certain pride, because they embrace their identity, right? And here we are. Been here now nearly 500 years. Did you know that’s how long we’ve been here, nearly five centuries? This is the 469th year of our sojourn, been it longer than anybody.
But you don’t see them begging government. You don’t see them with press conferences. You don’t see them complaining about crime … whatever problems they have in their community, they handle their business. The Italians handle their business. Something’s wrong. These are members of our family. Mama may have and she has, papa may have, but God blesses the child whose got his own.
So, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad came from Master Fard Muhammad with these words, and therein is our salvation, therein is the survival of the Black community: Accept your own and be yourself.
