Mother Khadijah Farrakhan was the quiet strength, force and example beside her husband of 72 years, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Her quietness came with the kind of power only a righteous woman of Allah (God) could embody, and she was the standard for women worldwide.
Her impact has reached Black women far and wide, from social justice activist Tamika Mallory to photojournalist Monica Morgan to media personality Vicki Dillard, all of whom extended their love and condolences to the Farrakhan family and to the Nation of Islam on social media.
The Final Call spoke to several women who described Mother Khadijah as a woman of faith who submitted entirely to Allah, as a humble woman who never sought praise or recognition, someone who led by example and who always made those in her presence feel seen and loved.
The list of adjectives used to describe her is long. She was dignified, graceful, wise, compassionate, loving, gentle, strong, elegant, modest, disciplined, patient and courageous. She was a dedicated mother, a selfless helper, an encouraging mentor and beautiful inside and out.
“Her faith in Allah Who intervened in our affairs, in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, and His Messenger-Messiah the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Their Servant among us, her husband, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, continue to add strength to our strength and faith to our faith beyond her physical presence,”
Sister A’ishah Muhammad, Student National Auditing Supervisor, a member of the Shura Executive Council and former National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain, told The Final Call. She described Mother Khadijah’s presence as “strong yet peaceful, firm yet loving.”
“Her keen observation and sense of humor was always on time in a good and wonderful way, and a smile and a wink from Mother was absolutely everything!” she continued. “Mother Khadijah was honest and truthful as a woman of noble character who was always found saying what she meant and meaning what she said.”
She thanked Allah for Mother Khadijah’s tremendous sacrifice and dedication. “We are forever thankful to the Farrakhan family for sharing such a magnificent woman of Allah with a grateful nation.
We will miss her physically, but her quiet voice and her loving spirit will remain in those whose lives she touched. May Allah continue to strengthen and comfort the Farrakhan family as we celebrate her life and legacy,” she said.
Sister Aminah Bayyinah Muhammad is the Executive Administrative Assistant for the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and is a member of the N.O.I. Shura Executive Council. She shared with The Final Call that she first met Mother Khadijah in 1991 at The Palace in Chicago.
Sister Aminah explained that she was coming to get measured for her regulation M.G.T. uniform. To her surprise, Mother Khadijah took her measurements for her uniform. “She was just a kind person and she remained that same person, kind, genuine and down to earth,” said Sister Aminah.
Mother Khadijah made Sister Aminah her beige princess uniform herself. “During all of my years knowing her, Mother Khadijah remained that same humble and beautiful person. She had a heart of gold,” she added.
An example to the sisterhood
For the women serving as the Nation’s Student Regional M.G.T. (Muslim Girls Training) Captains, Mother Khadijah is remembered as a true mother figure.
“Her life has influenced my thinking, strengthened my faith and expanded my understanding of what is possible when a woman submits herself to Allah and dedicates her life to service,” Mid-Atlantic Student Regional M.G.T. Captain Saadiqa Muhammad told The Final Call.
“Mother Khadijah Farrakhan’s legacy is not only found in the work she has done beside the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. It is found in the countless women whose lives she has quietly transformed through her example,” she added.
Western Regional Student M.G.T. Captain Sajdah Karriem recounted one conversation that speaks to Mother Khadijah’s character. “She said, ‘Look, how beautiful the women look.’ She said, ‘Look at the garment that I designed.’
She said, ‘I love to see the sisters in the garment.’ And I told her, I said, ‘Mother, thank you for dressing us. You make garments that’s fit for a queen.’ And she smiled and said, ‘Thank you.’”
“We can never forget about her. We have to make sure we tell the story of Mother Khadijah and keep telling it … and pass it down to generation and generation,” she added.
Mother Khadijah reminded Southwest Regional Student M.G.T. Captain Maalikah Muhammad of her own mother, who made all her children feel like her favorite. “In the midst of whatever was going on, she would take the time either to touch my hand or give me a wink or just acknowledge that she saw me and nod her head and smile,” she said.
As a student captain, she feels the same duty to reflect Allah’s love, especially to those who never met Mother Khadijah or Minister Farrakhan.
“If I have the opportunity to share their spirit, which is Allah’s spirit, … because of what was put into me from them, then that is a blessing, and I take that as a tremendous responsibility,” she said.
Seventh Regional Student M.G.T. Captain Aaniyah Muhammad saw Mother Khadijah as an example of a righteous woman who embodied the women in scripture. “She showed us that a woman can be gentle without being weak, humble without thinking less of herself and powerful without seeking attention.
Her life has left footprints that many of us are trying to follow,” she said. “I pray that as I continue to grow and serve, some of the qualities I witnessed in Mother Khadijah will become evident in my own life. That, to me, would be one of the greatest honors I could ever hope to achieve.”
Southern Regional Student M.G.T. Captain Nusaybah Muhammad had been serving on Mother Khadijah’s security detail since the 1990s, and she had the opportunity of serving Mother Khadijah shortly before she returned to Allah.
“As I was feeding her food, she would look back at me and say, ‘Now you eat some. Now you have some.’ And that was so precious to me, because she wasn’t just concerned about herself. She was concerned about me, even though she was in pain,” she said.
“Mother was a soldier who stood in rank striving to be pleasing to Allah,” she shared, adding that Mother Khadijah is the foundation upon which the Nation was rebuilt.
“May Allah forever bless her legacy,” she said. “As long as I live, whoever I will touch, I will forever give examples of the power of this great and powerful woman, Mother Farrakhan. I’ll always love her.”
Historic contributions
Mother Khadijah was always at her husband’s side, especially during major historic events such as the historic 1995 Million Man March on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Fredrica Bey, and her daughter, Newark, N.J. City Councilwoman Amina Bey played an important role in helping to get Black men to the March. They started the organization, “Women in Support of the Million Man March.” Mother Khadijah visited their newly opened center in August 1997.
“She thanked us for coming together as women and building an institution and building a facility that serves the people, children and families,” Fredrica Bey shared. “What a role model for women everywhere, not only Muslim women, but women throughout the diaspora.”
Amina Bey remembered how proud Mother Khadijah was of their work. “We were honored to be in her presence that day. I carry a little bit of that day with me every day since,” she said.
She expressed how Black women are often told they are too much, but although Mother Khadijah championed the traditional roles of women, she also “encouraged us not to make ourselves small to make other people feel comfortable.”
She shared her gratitude, love, prayers and condolences. “We want to make sure that everyone knows that on behalf of Women in Support of the Million Man March here in Newark, New Jersey, we will continue to pray for Mother Khadijah, for the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, for the entire family and for the Nation of Islam, because that’s our sister, too, and she’s our family, too, and we love her,” she said.
Former National M.G.T. Captain Charlene Muhammad met Mother Khadijah in 1986. “We were not in uniform when we came in. We were kind of like a hodgepodge kind of group, and we just had on anything,” she said. “Mother Khadijah set up the M.G.T. factory to help us look as M.G.T. should look.”
She affectionately remembers Mother Khadijah as “the wind beneath Minister Farrakhan’s wings”: a powerful, unseen force that lifts and inspires. “I’m not saying that you couldn’t see her, but she was just that force, that powerful force [beside] the Minister to inspire him to become the man he is today,” she said.
Sister Loray Muhammad, wife of the late Brother Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, who served as the Nation’s Eastern Regional Student Minister, joined the Nation in 1982 and became a minister’s wife shortly after. Because there was no handbook for being a minister’s wife, she observed and emulated Mother Khadijah.
She saw Mother Khadijah as another mother. “Every woman who you admire and who you appreciate becomes your mother, because there’s something that you’re going to learn from that woman that you might not have learned from your mother,” she said.
“When you come into the mosque, you need someone to look at to know that when I grow up, I’m going to be like that person. If I strive, I can be like that person. You need a model, and that’s what she did for me. She was my model.”
The next generation of Muslim women
Young Black Muslim girls and sisters in the M.G.T. Vanguard class, ages 16-35, are striving to follow in Mother Khadijah’s footsteps, recognizing the example she set and the path she paved.
Sister Qayyimah Muhammad, 12, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, admired Mother Khadijah for her generosity, creativity and fashion.
“I know there were probably a lot of responsibilities, but whenever you saw her, she always had a smile on her face,” she said. “She shows you that no matter what you go through, you always will make it through when you trust in God, Allah.”
Mother Khadijah was a big part of Sister Janiah X’s goals this year in shaping the woman she is striving to become. Hearing Mother Khadijah speak for the first time years ago and the love she exuded made her cry. “It was someone who I often saw, but seeing her that close and hearing her speak, … it really, really struck me, and I was just in awe,” she told The Final Call.
Sis. Janiah X, an M.G.T. Vanguard at Mosque No. 29 in Miami, revered Mother Khadijah’s sense of fashion. “She literally had a crown on her head every time we saw her, and I think for me that represents how bold we should be and feel in our dress as women who follow the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and honoring what it is that Master Fard Muhammad came to give us,” she said.
“Insha’Allah (God-willing), each and every single one of us who were impacted by her, who continue to be impacted by her, can continue the work that she left us,” she added.
New York M.G.T. Vanguard Sis. Jadayah Muhammad recalled a story on Minister Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah’s travels to a country where women were praying in the heat while men had air conditioning.
“She gracefully but gently led a revolution where she’s like, ‘No, I’m going to be in the A.C.,’ and the Minister stood by that, and the other women went and followed her,” she said. “We set the standard for what kind of treatment the woman should receive.”
“Without yelling and screaming or kicking and fussing, … she was able to [demonstrate] how she herself is willing to be treated,” she added. Mother Khadijah also showed that “the place for women in Islam is not nine paces behind your husband, but right next to him,” she said.
Growing up, Sis. Khaliah Muhammad, an M.G.T. Vanguard and student officer in Atlanta, always saw Minister Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah as “the prime example for what a married couple and what a healthy marriage should be.”
“I didn’t have a whole lot of married couples in my family, and even those that were married, unfortunately, they did not stay married. And then of those in my family that stayed married, unfortunately, it was not necessarily the healthiest marriage dynamic. And so, the biggest aspect was learning about what she did in her marriage and as a wife,” she said.
Many of the Vanguard, including Qadira Muhammad in Oklahoma City, acknowledged Mother Khadijah’s impact in not only creating Newell Apparel, which manufactures the official uniforms of the M.G.T., but also in creating the specialized Vanguard uniform.
One of Mother Khadijah’s lasting impacts on the children of the Nation of Islam is her Children’s Village, a staple at the annual Saviours’ Day convention. Sis. Qadira credited the village with gifting her a prayer rug and a small Holy Qur’an. “When I was praying on my prayer rug after hearing of her transition, it was the prayer rug from the Children’s Village,” she said.
She questioned how she could be like Mother Khadijah. “How can I be a stronger M.G.T., a stronger woman, in the sense of my relationship with Allah and my confidence in myself?” she questioned.
“I think her legacy and impact is further than even some people realize or know, because there are people who may not even know who Mother Khadijah is; they may not even know the Nation of Islam yet, but her legacy and impact has made ripples.”
We have a responsibility, especially the women, but also all of us in general, to not just uplift her name, but to live what she stood for and to continue her legacy and her impact. I pray that we carry that torchlight forward of Mother Khadijah, of all of the great believers who have come before us.”