JABRIL.MUHAMMAD
[Editor’s note: This article is a reprint and was published online April 11, 2004.]
Many of us are missing very significant experiences that are vital opportunities to be further along in the path of readiness (as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad put it) than we are. Many of us are not keeping up with the words and moves of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as we should. This is critical, as he is guided directly by the Supreme Being and His Messiah.
The word “experience” basically means the participation in events that make up an individual’s life; something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through.”
Every moment of our lives we experience experiences. All of our experiences affect us on one level or another. But of all our experiences, none is better than those that bring us closer to Allah-ourselves.
The word “experience” is being used to describe the impact of the movie The Passion of the Christ. Many say that Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the Passion of the Christ was a significant experience beyond that of a mere entertaining movie. Many Christians say this movie on the Passion of the Christ was the most significant experience of all time. Their claim is that this movie has the power to significantly produce profound changes in people to move them towards Christianity and for Christians to become more rooted in their faith.
Meanwhile, Minister Farrakhan has been working as hard as any human being has ever worked to prepare everyone for what will prove to be the most significant set of events or experiences of all time–the real return of the Christ, this world’s destruction and the physical establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. He works literally, day and night, to produce in us the readiness to escape this world’s end. So, to continually miss such opportunities divinely provided through him to experience the impact of his efforts to prepare us—is to be the height of foolishness.
We’re warned to be ready in the parable of the five wise and the five foolish virgins, as recorded in Matthew 25:1-13. We read, in part, that “the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil. But the wise answered, saying ‘No… . “
A bit later, we read “the bride groom came and they who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.”
On this same subject, the Holy Qur’an teaches of those who “will say to those who believe: ‘Wait for us, that we may borrow from your light.’ It will be said: ‘Turn back and seek a light.’ Then a wall, with a door in it, will be raised between them. Within it shall be mercy, and outside of it chastisement.” (Holy Qur’an 57:13)
This same critical subject is taught from other angles in both books.
Those who listened to both parts of Minister Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day address were deeply affected by what and how he said it. They experienced being moved forward on the path of our salvation. Those who have not yet heard these talks were not. And there were some who secretly hid their rejection of the truth. In any case, we all must cope with the consequences of what these talks are producing.
The March 21 Houston Chronicle had a tiny article about Minister Farrakhan’s presentation at Texas Southern University. It’s tiny when you consider the huge issue that was presented: Reparations. Many white reporters were present. But nearly nothing was reported. So what? We have The Final Call! Let’s increase the circulation to a million!!! Why not?
Some told me that the atmosphere at the meetings, especially the next day at Muhammad’s Mosque No. 45, was like Saviours’ Day. One person told me Minister Farrakhan seemed to answer all of the cries of the believers and that it was clear that Allah was speaking through him. Another said it was way up on the top ten of his speeches. Others said he sounds like he did in the eighties! And he called for ten million names for Reparations before the elections! I got to get all of his tapes.
What he teaches, from his teacher, is that Word that was prophesied that would raise us from our graves.
“And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of … darkness.” (Isaiah 29:18) “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isaiah 35:5)
But what of those who ignore or are too busy for Allah’s truths? If our enslaved and crucified fathers and mothers could come back and see us ungratefully throw away the divine opportunity we have—that includes benefiting from their sacrifices—what would they think of and feel towards us?
Now, to continue from last issue, the writer continued:
“We shall show, not only that such deeds are committed, but that they are frequent; not done in corners, but before the sun; not in one of the slave states, but in all of them; not perpetrated by brutal overseers and drivers merely, but by magistrates, by legislators, by professors of religion, by preachers of the gospel, by governors of states, by ‘gentlemen of property and standing’, and by delicate females moving in the ‘highest circles of society. “
What was promised in this book was delivered.
Now, the second book which bears on this subject is titled, The American Slave Code. The following is a small part of the table of contents (somewhat paraphrased):
“The fundamental idea of slavery was that white people assumed that they had the right to own Black people. They claimed the right of property in their slaves. As property, slaves could be, and were, seized and sold to pay the debts of their owners, while he lived, or for the settlement of their estates after they died. Slaves were transmitted by inheritance, or by will, to heirs. They were used, absolutely by their owners, for the profit or pleasure of the owners. Slaves could own no property, make no contract, marriage or otherwise, nor had they any claim on each other. They had no security from separation, no marital rights, no parental rights, no right to education and no family protection.
“The slavemaster’s power was virtually unlimited. The submission of the slave was unbounded. The slave had no protection from the master, no redress for injuries inflicted by the master. Slaves were worked at the desire and in the way that pleased the master. They were fed or famished, covered or uncovered, sheltered or not, at the discretion or convenience of the master.
“Loss of the slave’s life was looked upon as the loss of property. In fact, slaves were better protected as property than as human beings. There was no protection of the slaves from the master.
“The white man’s law held that the slave had no power of self-redemption. He could not change masters by his own power.
“The slave had no right of his or her own mind, no rights of self-development. Whatever talents or skills that were developed were for the sole use of the master. The government forbade education and any freedom of religious worship, except what pleased white people.”
More next issue, Allah willing.
