January 29, 1965

By Abdull Basit Naeem

 

Great men, as a rule, are a rarity in this world. Rarer still are the likes of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad - mean who literally mold or reate the "nations" they lead.

 

Yet -- as the fate of the people would have it-often their genius goes unreognized and their life's aim and mission misunderstood and misjudged. like precious jewels in a amature collectors hands of a renouned master's work of art before untrained eyes, the value of a true servant of the community 8is seldom appreiated -- except, maybe, when it is physically too late.

   Suh, precisely, is the case of the respeceted American Muslim leader, Mr. Elijah Muhammad.

OVERCOMES HIGH ODDS

Here is a man whose one and only avoiwed purpose in life has been to help the suffering, teh poor and the oppressed of his people. God-sent and God-inspired, he has long been engaged in ideological combat with an enemy considered and known to be a million times as powerful. Despite such incredibly havey odds against him, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has not submitted on yielded to his opponent.

In fact the "wolf" has now all but given up hope of ever recovering the "sheep" retrieved right from his mouth and his den by the courageous shepherd -The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In this respect, I can safely state that he has accomplished more for his flock than a whole flock of other so-called Negro leaders in North America.

  The result of his righteous and practical teachings is manifest in other ways, too. Only the blind will insist that they cannot see it. Nearly every impartial and serious observer of the Islamic scene in America now admits that the nucleus of the NATION OF ISLAM has been firmly established here and that the rise, ultimately, of a Muslim State on this continent is no longer a myth of fantasy but and ellement well within the realm of possibility. I say this not as one who merely wishes to see the birth of a Muslim homeland in teh Western Hemisphere but, having witnessed a somewhat similar development in ans other part of the world --the emergence in 1947 of an independent Islamic State, Pakistan, on the Indian sub-continent-actually believes in the practicality of the idea.

  WORLD FAME

The Messenger's work, I also may add, is no long an isolated, "local" (U.S.) phenomenon. A small following of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is known to exist in both West Africa and the West Indies and his admirers and well-wishers can be found in every nook and corner of the globe.

   Despite his wider acceptance and growing fame abroad, I note with much anguish and pain that his own people in this wilderness have not rallied to his banner of FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY in appreciably large numbers. I do not, of course, imply that Islam's progress here has been checked; on the contrary, the "Nation of Islam" continues to gain new adherents every day. (In Chicago last month, more than 40 new converts were registered during one weekend alone.) I do mean to say, however, that the so-called "Negroes" in America are indeed un-wise and most unfortunate in not responding en mass to the Messenger's final call to ISLAM --which is the only effective remedy of their dreadful afflictions.

  Indeed, I pity these (Allah's own) people who, deprived of their capacity to see and think for themselves, fail to recognize in the Messenger as their true Redeemer. I pity them, also, because they know not that they, as we, are living in the last days of this world. And they know not that when they reject Allah (God), His prophets and His religion -- on the very eve of the Era of Judgment -- they are in reality rejecting their own salvation and the opportunity to see and enter Paradise.

RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad alone, however, cannot sir some 20 million slumbering souls. (Even the sun cannot by itself --without the aid of nature's other agents --revive and transform a quanity of dried seeds into live plants.) The job of spreading his life-giving message --ISLAM--is a responsibility that ALL Muslims must share!

  If you and I, all of us, who are mindful of our duties as the faithful of Allah could henceforth just double our efforts in behalf of our cause (Islam), each in the area in whih he or she is best qualified to server it, black America need not remain in-different to or inconsiderable of the Muslim leader's genius.

  And if we do what needs to be done, and do it NOW, it will certainly enhance the prestige and esteem of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. But that is not all. Our endeavors in behalf of the Messenger also will bring about much new understanding, respect and support for the "Nation of Islam" itself!