CHICAGO—The Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours’ Day convention, which was held at the National Center in Chicago during the weekend of February 20-23, included a graduation ceremony to welcome new members into the ranks of the Fruit of Islam (F.O.I.)
And Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class (M.G.T. & G.C.C.). Brothers and sisters from around the country decided to accept their own and be themselves as students and followers of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad under the leadership and guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
Included in this year’s graduating class were three sons of members of the Nation of Islam’s Shura Executive Council, including a grandson and a great-great-grandson of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Brother Kaseem Muhammad, son of Student Minister Ishmael R. Muhammad, National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan; Brother Rashaun Ali Muhammad, son of Student National Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad; and Brother Berve Muhammad III, son of Student National Secretary Sa’ad Alim Muhammad.
Becoming a registered member of the Nation of Islam involves a process each individual undergoes with one critical prerequisite: writing a very specific letter. Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad elaborated on the required Saviours’ Letter during the graduation ceremony.
“Each of us that registered had to first write a letter and that letter is our Shahada, the profession of faith as the first pillar of Islam. Muslims all over the world bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger.
This simple yet profound statement expresses a Muslim’s complete acceptance of and total commitment to Islam and the cause of Allah.
But, in the Nation of Islam, we go a little further in that Shahada than other Muslims on our planet by bearing witness that there is no God but Allah, who came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad to Whom Praises is due forever, and that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is His True Servant and Apostle.”
“My wife, Sister Karli Muhammad and myself were very happy and very proud that our son, Kaseem, who made age 21 on February 27, accepted the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
And decided for himself to become a registered member of the Nation of Islam, to help his grandfather (the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad) in this great work that Almighty God, Allah, has given to Him and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” continued Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, son of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
In an interview with The Final Call, Student Minister Ishmael explained, “As believing parents nothing pleases us more than after raising our children as Muslims under the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that our children would grow up and make that decision for themselves.”
He continued, “Allah (God) says in the Qur’an, there is no compulsion in religion, so we do our best as parents to give our children the way of God, the life of God, the Will of Allah (God), so we don’t force it upon them.
As children, they accept what their parents give them, but at a certain point as they mature and become older, that is a choice that they have to make for themselves of their own volition, to become registered members of the Nation of Islam.”
Student Minister Ishmael explained that as parents all we can do is as the scriptures explain, which is to “train them up in the right way, that when they get older, they will not depart from it.”
“My wife and I did our best and are doing our best with our children, to teach our children Islam, but we also know that they have free will, so we do not impose on them or force the religion on them.
That is a choice that they have to make for themselves, so we are happy as believing parents after the investment that we have put in them that they reach that point in their lives that they say this is what I want to be, this is where I want to be, and I want to be written down as one of the helpers of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.”
Bro. Sa’ad was also very happy that he and his wife, Sis. Tameka’s son Bro. Berve became a newly registered member of the Nation of Islam.
“I was overjoyed to hear that my son wanted to become a registered member of the Nation of Islam because that was the answer to a prayer,” Brother Sa’ad said.
“I never pushed him to join. I just wanted to set the best example I could for him to follow in my footsteps and become registered. Since he joined on his own volition, prayerfully he will continue on this journey he started for himself.”
Bro. Rashaun Ali Muhammad, 21, son of Student Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad and his wife Sis. Naadhera Muhammad is their second son to become registered. Student Imam Sultan is the great-grandson of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad making Bro. Ali another generation in the Nation of Islam as his great-great-grandson.
Bro. Ali graduated in 2024 from the University of Illinois Chicago where he majored in industrial engineering with a minor in business administration.
Bro. Kaseem, Bro. Ali and Bro. Berve also graduated from Muhammad University of Islam in Chicago.
Bro. Sa’ad offered cautionary words to parents in the Nation of Islam concerning their children and their journeys in faith.
“I do not believe any parent should try and force their children to become registered any more than we would have wanted our parents to try and force us to do something we did not want to do or were not ready to do.
If a child registers only to appease his or her parents, it will only be a matter of time before that child falls out and may end up resenting his or her parents.
We are taught there is no compulsion in Islam. So, to try and compel a child to join would seem to be counterproductive to a principle of the faith a parent is trying to get his or her child to accept,” he said.
May Allah continue to bless and strengthen all the recent F.O.I. and M.G.T. graduates.
Shawntell Muhammad can be contacted at [email protected].