“Or do they not recognize their Messenger, that they deny him? Or say they: There is madness in him? Nay, he has brought them the Truth, and most of them hate the Truth. And if the Truth follow their desires, the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein would perish. Nay, We have brought them their reminder, but they turn away from their reminder.
Or dost thou ask them a recompense? But the recompense of thy Lord is best, and He is the Best of providers. And surely thou callest them to a right way. And surely those who believe not in the Hereafter are deviating from the way.” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 23, verses 69-74
As we move from the year 2012 into 2013 on the Gregorian Calendar, 64 years are missing from their calculation of time which ends their world.
According to the Divine Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, this missing 64 years begins in 1555 when our first foreparents were brought from Africa as cargo being forced into servitude slavery under the British Slave Trader, John Hawkins. From 1555 we count forward 64 years to the year 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia, as the historical starting point for our being bought and sold as slaves on the auction blocks in America by our former slave masters.
It was during this 64-year period when our first foreparents, who were Muslims of the Tribe of Shabazz were methodically destroyed, to keep us blind, deaf and dumb to our Islamic origins.
We will note that during that time period and even earlier, other slave traders from Spain and Portugal were also trafficking slaves and establishing settlements along the Eastern Seaboard of America.
The slaves were of varied ethnic groups from Africa, who were settled in the Carolinas and Georgia and even including the Appalachian Mountains. Some of our descendents were settled in the Gullah Islands off the coast of the Carolinas and other places, many of whom were of mixed blood types, associated with their Islamic and Mediterranean roots.
Some of our descendents have memories of Moorish history having fled from the Iberian (Spanish) Peninsula. These migratory groups were also associated with the period of the pirates that were working along the Barbary Coast and the eastern shores of America into the Caribbean.
Many of our descendents struggled for their survival and were carried aboard pirate ships and escaped to parts of Florida, the Bahamas, and other islands of the Caribbean, including Cuba. From there some were transported to Mexico, Central and South America, during the period of the conquest of Mexico by Hernando Cortez in 1519.
During last year’s Holy Day of Atonement and 17th Anniversary of the Million Man March held in Charlotte, North Carolina, I had the opportunity to travel into South Carolina to visit with some of my remaining family members on my father’s side, which took me to Sumpter, Summersville and to the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. While visiting the Old Slave Mart Museum, we noted at the beginning of the exhibit words marking the beginning of slavery accounts in the Carolinas going back as early as 1526. During the colonial period, there are variations to the type of treatment we received under the Spanish, the Portugese, the French, the Dutch and the British, with the English slave traders being by far the most violent in their mistreatment of us with extreme torture and abuse, including great mental agony and oppression.
Reflecting upon my recent visit to Atlanta, Georgia as a participant in the Global Peace Convention from November 29th to December 2nd, which hosted more than 800 delegates from more than 42 countries, I realized we were coming into a New Era in global history where the suffering masses of Indigenous People and nations around the world is gradually coming to grips with the ring of terror enforced by their former colonial masters. I thought over how Divine Intervention in the 13th century gave rise to a leader like Ghengis Khan, born as Timujin, in a rough hewn nomadic society in the remote, grassy lands of Mongolia received a Divine Decree in playing a significant role in transforming a heathen and barbaric world into a new culture.
Now, after 800 years, the world has not been reformed from its savagery and is continuing a downhill road to self-destruction through exploitation of humanity bringing devastation to our earth’s environment as never before as we enter the 21st century. All nations and societies are calling for peace in the midst of ravaging wars, pestilences, and a culture of violence beyond one’s imagination. Once again, I thought of God’s Intervention in these troubled times is requiring reform to a world that thrives off of violence, bloodshed and war regardless to the millions and billions of voices, mostly women and children, calling for peace.
At this Global Peace Conference were gathered so many respectable leaders in all categories of service, including women leaders and youth organizations all struggling to make a difference in the world, among them African delegations, Asian delegations, Freedom Fighters from the Civil Rights Movement, former heads of state from Latin and South America, all gathering under the auspicious banner and theme of “One Family Under God,” encouraging Moral and Innovative Leadership, Building Strong Families, Healthy Societies and a Global Culture of Peace.
One of the centers of motivation where the youth were aligned with Civil Rights leaders and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center were all invested with good intentions as we read in the opening statement for the convention. “The 2012 Atlanta Convention will draw upon America’s story as a nation of immigrants and will emphasize that the guarantee of individual rights rests upon responsible and engaged citizenship as articulated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. … The Global Peace Convention will enable experts, policymakers and community leaders to examine issues relating to peace building, youth entrepreneurship, family welfare, and economic development fighting a unique cross-disciplinary platform for diverse leaders to gain new insights and explore areas of collaboration.”
There is only one important element that is missing in the above words, which is stated by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad which is: “The Time and What Must Be Done.” Without a spiritual head (God Himself in Person), we are yet fractile units that must be united as “One Family With God,” seeking Divine Guidance across the turbulent Red Sea, crossing to a place of safety on the other side. We must first know God and know ourselves to be truly liberated and freed. May the power of the Living God, who is present and intervening in our affairs, truly unites us for the future beyond tomorrow until we make it our own.
“Until, when We open for them a door of severe chastisement, lo! they are in despair at it. And He it is Who made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts. Little it is that you give thanks!” —Holy Qur’an, Surah 23, verses 77-78
To be continued.
