[Editor’s note: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan appointed his daughter and eldest child, Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan, as his first National Captain of the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class (M.G.T. and G.C.C.) in December of 1988 where she served faithfully until 1992. Her captaincy set a standard for the three future National M.G.T. Captains who served after Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan. Below are sentiments and reflections from Student National M.G.T. Captain Naeemah Muhammad, Former National M.G.T. Captain Charlene Muhammad and Former M.G.T. National Captain A’ishah Muhammad on the impact and influence of their sister, predecessor and friend, Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan.]

Our Dear and Beloved Sister
by Student National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain Naeemah Muhammad

As I reflect on the life and work of Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan, I cannot help but think of the words of Jesus in John 15:13, which says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” She was the embodiment of a profound love that translated into profound duty, which led to profound works. Coupled with her warrior spirit, this made her an unstoppable force in whatever she set out to do. It was more than an honor to work with her and learn from her. It wouldn’t take long for us to realize that we were cut from the same cloth.

Sister Betsy Jean and I shared a bond and a love that we affectionately called “Crazy Love.” We shared that Crazy Love for Allah, the Christ and the Messiah, and a Crazy Love for each other and the sisterhood. This is the kind of love that produced a deep and immensely profound duty to the Messiah and to the people that He was sent to raise.

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Sister Betsy Jean loved to sit at His feet, feed on His Word, and reveled in the work of making that Word flesh. Whatever He instructed her to do, she was found carrying it out with no hesitation. Wherever He said go, she didn’t just go; she was found swiftly running there. His Word was Her Bond and her Life, and she would give her Life before her word to Him would fail.

Watching her in motion, locking step with her father, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, and moving in strict obedience to his guidance and instructions inspired me to strive to do the same. In her life and work that was born from love, I saw both myself and the woman I desire to pattern myself after in her complete devotion to Allah, the Mahdi, the Messiah, and the Cause of Islam. To witness her in motion was amazing to behold. She was strong yet feminine, disciplined yet compassionate; a warrior with a loving heart who was willing to sacrifice for her father, her people, and the Nation of Islam.

That love is woven into everything I write here because mere words are far too inadequate to express the indelible mark that Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan left on the Nation of Islam and the Believers, but perhaps most deeply on the women and girls she loved, taught, and trained. She carried the tremendous responsibility of serving as the first National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain under the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Therefore, if it were not for her, I would not be. Her leadership set the standard for every Student National M.G.T. Captain who came after her. Under the guidance and direction of her father, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Sister Betsey Jean helped lay a firm foundation for the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class. More than a superwoman, she was able to accomplish this while also being a devoted wife and mother who loved her people mightily. Wherever Allah placed her hands, she worked. Wherever duty called, she answered. She just could not help herself because she was driven and compelled by that “Crazy Love.”

She was a sister and a soldier, a captain and a farmer, a daughter and a friend. She was dearly loved and will be truly missed. And I will carry our Crazy Love for the Three, the sisterhood, and for each other with me always. Her life and work have inspired me to follow in her footsteps to press on in the work and the mission in strict obedience to the Messiah as a helper in the cause of Islam.

We thank Allah for the life of our dear and beloved Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan and for her tremendous service and sacrifice to this Nation. Though she is no longer physically among us, her work continues through the lives she touched, the seeds she sowed, the women she trained, and the standard she established. May Allah forever be pleased with our dear Sister Betsy Jean, and may He bring peace and comfort to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, the entire Farrakhan Family, and the Believers during this time.

Sister Naeemah Muhammad is the Student National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain and was appointed in 2010. She is also a member of the N.O.I. Shura Executive Council.

In Honor of Our Beloved Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan
by A’ishah Muhammad

“The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. They all believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His messengers.” —Holy Quran Surah 2:285

Steadfast and fierce, incomparable and legendary! Sister Captain Emeritus Betsy Jean Farrakhan proved to the very end that she was in fact a Believer in Allah, Who Came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad.

Even as she was facing her eventual return to Allah, she leaned on Him; she called on Him and she never forsook Allah with disappointment, anger or acrimony. Our beloved sister lived by her oath stated in the Holy Qur’an, “My life and my death are all for Allah!” She made no associate with Allah, and she fully submitted her will.

Her stalwart example reminded me of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, her beloved father, when in his decades-ago “death bed” confession he thanked Allah (God) for allowing him to be a part of His Creation. He did not beg for more time as he put his complete and unwavering faith and trust in Allah with great strength and humility.

As the first-born child of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, Sister Betsy Jean was a great helper to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in the rebuilding of the Nation of Islam. A faithful follower of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Sister Betsy Jean represented her father and mother excellently as a true example of a Muslim woman; a woman of grace, dignity and unquestionable strength.

I had the honor and privilege of serving under and alongside Sister Emeritus Captain Betsy Jean Farrakhan since the 1980s and have enjoyed a beautiful relationship through the years. I have many memories of the first Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class (M.G.T. and G.C.C.) national curriculum developed under her tenure as I served as the National M.G.T. Vanguard Captain and Sister Donna Farrakhan, the National Vanguard Directress. Sister Betsy Jean modeled what a National Captain was while at the same time being an attentive wife and adoring mother who not only taught the 7-Training Units, but she also lived them!

While we live in a time when it appears that most people do not live by the principles of the lives of the prophets that we claim to follow, Sister Betsy Jean did not just talk about it, she walked it with quiet authority and a commanding presence! Sister Besty Jean compelled admiration and deep respect by the undeniable and unshakable inmost conviction of her being.

She will be sorely missed but we will carry her wherever we go because like her her Beautiful Mother Khadijah Farrakhan,, our First Lady of the Nation of Islam, we will continue to carry them both with us through their words, their wise counsel, and deep love for Allah’s people, wherever we go. We cannot thank Almighty (God) Allah enough for the gift of these two precious women that we are still coming to learn more of.

Alhamdullilah (All Praise is due to Allah)!!! May Allah strengthen and comfort the entire Farrakhan family.

Sister A’ishah Muhammad served as Chicago M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain 1986-1988 and National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain 1996-2010. She is currently the National Auditing Supervisor and a member of the Nation of Islam Shura Executive Council.

A Diamond Among Women
by Charlene Muhammad

A Captain’s Captain. A warrior in the cause of Islam. A force of nature. A kind, gentle soul. A defender of women. These words help describe Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan, the first-born child of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan.

Sister Betsy Jean Farrakhan was appointed by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in 1988 to serve as the first National M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain of the Nation of Islam. She set the standard and the bar for all National M.G.T. Captains that have served in the post after her.

Sister Betsy Jean loved her father. Everything she did for the M.G.T. and G.C.C. was on behalf of her father. She was so much like her father that when I became the National M.G.T. Captain after her it seemed to me they were one in the same. Most of the words I would hear her say often were, “My father wants the sisters to be treated well.”

She didn’t want any sisters who were over sisters to mistreat or mishandle the sisters.

Sister Captain Betsy Jean loved the M.G T and G.C.C. and was like “mother hen” over her chicks wanting them to be the best and be taught the best. She wanted them to soar to the heights of grace, elegance, and style. She also didn’t want M.G.T. to be cowards in the face of danger and if we were cowards or had weak knees, she made us into warriors.

When I look back on our time together, she had the awesome and unenviable responsibility of putting order to the M.G.T. classes not only in Chicago but all across the country. She set up the Regional M.G.T. Captains in Los Angeles; Atlanta; Washington, D.C. and Houston, something that we never had under this dispensation. At that time, we didn’t have a Central Regional M.G.T. Captain. Sister Betsy Jean was local, Central and National M.G.T. Captain all in one.

She wanted all the classes to be uniform, meaning what was taught in Chicago would be taught across the country. She made sure that we all had our white M.G.T. uniforms with our white gloves, white shoes and white pocketbooks/purses. She said you were not a well-dressed M.G.T. unless you had all three, including your M.G.T. bar pin.

Sister Betsy Jean crisscrossed the country setting up M.G.T. classes, sometimes with her security, Sister Victoria Muhammad, and sometimes with me. Sometimes she would show up unannounced. She said that if she was announced the sisters would put on a show, and she wanted to see the class in its actuality. She said, “how can you correct something if you can’t see the defects.”

There were many facets to Sister Betsy Jean. I did not know the gentle side until years later when we were no longer in the post. She allowed me to see her “farmer” side. I heard the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan say at a meeting that they had found a way to grow food that was 98 percent toxin free. I was very interested in this, so I called the National House to get more information. The secretary wrote down my message, and a few hours later Sister Betsy Jean called me to invite me to the Michigan Farm to learn the process. She told me don’t come dressy, wear your coveralls and boots.

I rode up with one of the cooks of Minister Farrakhan and spent the day learning about the process. I learned about red wrigglers (worms) who eat organic waste and turn it into nutrient rich fertilizers. Sister Betsy Jean loved those red wrigglers and took good care of them. She did all of this out of love for her father so that his food would not have the toxicity of chemicals and fertilizers that can cause illnesses in the body.

After a long day, we went to eat and we laughed and joked until I had to leave to go back to the farm to go home.

I recently saw her and we spent the day reminiscing about our days together.

May Allah (God) bless this standard of Womanhood, Defender of the Faith of Islam, Exemplar of Divine Elegance and Grace. A sparkling diamond, like unto a star.

She had stopped calling me Charlene and called me “Sha Sha.” Her last words she ever spoke to me were “I love you, Sha Sha.”

I love you too, Sister Captain Betsy Jean. You are my Captain, my sister and my friend.

May Allah grant you Jannah (paradise).

Sister Charlene Muhammad served as National M.G.T. & G.C.C. Captain from 1993-1996.