“We have indeed revealed clear messages. And Allah guides whom He pleases to the right way. And they say: We believe in Allah and in the Messenger and we obey; then a party of them turn away after this, and they are not believers. And when they are invited to Allah and His Messenger and we obey; then a party of them turn away after this, and they are not believers.” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 43, verses 46-48
I departed from Mexico on my way to Los Angeles, California, to visit my sister Karlotta, who had fallen ill as a result of a stroke which had impaired some of her motor skills affecting the left side of her body, particularly her left arm and leg and muscles affecting the left side of her jaw. Her mind was still active and perceptive and she was mentally alert and comprehensive of all communications. I thank the team of sisters and brothers from Los Angeles, Compton, and Long Beach who upon hearing of my sister’s weakened condition, organized qualified help for her nursing and rehabilitation needs. She was also assisted with a diet of organic vegetables and fruits combined with super food additives prepared by one of our own sisters.
A special thanks to Student Minister Tony Muhammad and acting Captain Halim Muhammad and the brothers who provided transportation during my stay in Long Beach. I also had an opportunity to visit with the M.G.T. and G.C.C. class under the direction of acting Captain Arisha Muhammad for a requested question and answer session in my ongoing attempt to gather materials in preparation for the writing of my memoirs which is proving to be one of the most difficult tasks of my writing career. Ever since I came into the Nation of Islam in my early teens, I have held so much of the intimate details of my life’s journey with the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as a secret until this time.
I have patiently waited for a sign from Allah (God) and his exalted Christ as to when and how it would be appropriate for me to do so. I have kept an abundance of written notes and reflections throughout the years with recordings of my testimony on my life’s experiences, having been placed in very delicate situations. My story is like a revelation both to myself and to others. Beginning this year, 2012, following a meeting with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, in Chicago, wherein I shared with him an updated report on a project begun on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas with the hopes that one day he would be able to visit this small little paradise island in the sun. So many travelers bypass this small island en route to the capital of Nassau, Freeport, the Grand Bahamas, and other destinations.
This meeting took place following our Saviours’ Day event held at the Stephens Convention Center and the United Center. I shared with our Minister my initial steps taken in the process of working on my memoirs. A few days earlier, I had met with a few staff members of The Final Call newspaper who had requested to ask me some questions pertaining to my studies and research on a number of topics. Brother Hassan, formerly known as Brother Daniel Muhammad, head of the tape department, also joined this endeavor and recorded what I had to share. He particularly wanted to enlarge this interview with an outline that he had prepared since the end of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s World Friendship Tour III in 1997. He wanted to learn some of my perspectives and observations from that journey. When sharing this information with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, he recommended that I secure a legal document to protect the information that I would so freely share with others who might misuse that information without regard for my hard work and sacrifice.
Following this meeting, I traveled to the city of Detroit, Michigan, to visit with the M.G.T. class continuing to gather material for my memoirs using a question and answer format. I was equipped with a legal document that would protect my rights regarding all intellectual property. Simultaneously, I was gathering information on my geneaology on both on my father and mother’s side of the family as a part of my heritage. I highly recommend that all Believers learn more about their family geneaology as it gives a greater perspective on your family roots.
Paralleling these tantamount events, I was also focused on the Nation’s Program as directed by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on the return to the acquisition of land and the importance of agriculture. I shared some of these ideas and plans with the Believers in the Detroit mosque at our Sunday meeting. After the meeting a few of the Believers, including Student Minister Troy Muhammad, some of his staff and University of Islam students, accompanied me to Belleville, Michigan, to the farmland that my grandmother had once owned and had raised her own fresh vegetables and produced a grapes, along with a small orchard of fruit trees.
The land appeared abandoned and has a new owner. With great enthusiasm, a few of us have now launched a pilot program in conjunction with the University of Islam student body and staff in Detroit, Michigan, to retrieve this land once again, Allah willing, and initiate our agricultural program and establish a historical homestead dedicated to the memory of my grandmother Irene, who was honored with several visits to her little country home by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Mother Khadijah Farrakhan and several of their children, and enjoyed the hospitality of my grandmother and her delicious home-cooked meals from her own garden.
Our motto should be: Let’s get busy and do for self–know your value, know your worth, invest in yourself and become an exciting New You!
“The response of the believers, when they are invited to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is only that they say: We hear and we obey. And these it is that are successful. And he who obeys Allah and His Messenger, and fears Allah and keeps duty to Him, these it is that are the achievers. And they swear by Allah with their strongest oaths that, if thou command them, they would certainly go forth. Say: Swear not; reasonable obedience (is desired). Surely Allah is Aware of what you do. Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, he is responsible for the duty imposed on him, and you are responsible for the duty imposed on you. And if you obey him, you go aright. And the Messenger’s duty is only to deliver (the message) plainly.” –Holy Qur’an, Surah 43, verses 51-54
To be continued.
