Both Bible and Qur’an give us glimpses of what heaven or the hereafter is like. The Bible and Qur’an teach us of a life after death. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that the life of this world is really death to the human spirit. The Bible tells us that the fruit of a carnal mind is strife, contention, envy, hatred and murder. This is the order of the day, not only in America, but throughout the earth.
The longing of the soul of the human being is for peace and contentment of mind. This peace and contentment of mind is the base for the heavenly life. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, “The hereafter for my followers begins in this life.” It begins in the heart and mind after the destruction of false ideas and concepts. It begins with the overthrow of the old government of the mind, which is based upon the wisdom of this world, which the Bible teaches is foolishness with God.
The adverbs of place and time in the word “hereafter” teach us that the hereafter is here on this earth after the destruction of the power of the wicked to rule. This process is begun by the overthrow of the government of the mind of falsehood with the presence of Divine Truth. The Bible and Qur’an do not admit us into the hereafter or heaven; both books bring us up to the door of the hereafter or heaven, for both books tell us that the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive what lies beyond this world. Both Divine Books therefore give us a glimpse of the heavenly life.
The New Testament has many references to the mind produced by this world’s life and that the presence of Jesus in the world is to accomplish the most difficult of all work prefigured by the former Prophets. The former Prophets changed the behavior of the people by the implementation of strong law using fear as the inducement for behavioral change. Jesus, however, goes after the core of sin. He goes into the very thinking of the human being and works to change not only the thoughts that human beings think, but the way in which we think and the root out of which our thoughts come. Jesus said, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7.
The Old Testament speaks of Allah’s (God’s) removal of a heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. This is to give us a picture in the physical sense of the type of operation that Jesus would perform on the human mind. He and His Truth would go right to the core or seat of the government of the mind called hart and uproot it, remove it, and replace it with a core based on His Person and His Word that would plant Allah (God), His Law, His Way, and His Word at the center of the thought process of the human being. In this way, the human being would then act on the mind, will, word, law and way of God and become the expression of Allah (God).
The thoughts of the human community would be changed, therefore, the actions of human beings would change. Then all governments, institutions, and systems that would come into the world would be of Allah (God) and from Allah (God.) This is why the Christ figure of the New Testament declares, “Behold I make all things new.” The Apostle Paul consistently speaks of taking off the old man and putting on the new man.
The scripture that was at the core of my own thinking as I formulated the text of my message to the million or more men, was from the Book of Romans, Chapter 12, verses 1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The idea of atonement laid the base and formed the basis for a new beginning and it formed the basis for the initiation of the process of creating the new mind. Division, discourtesy, ill-manners, profane language, boisterous talk and immoral behavior bring death to the human spirit. The world of man and mankind is under the curse of death from racism, sexism, materialism and extreme nationalism. These have slain the true spirit of the true man and woman.
In our lifetime, most of us have not had the pleasure of meeting a true man or woman formed in the likeness of Allah (God). Jesus the Christ is referred to as True Man and True God. This is to teach us the original state of man before his fall into the abyss of sin. David the Psalmist wrote, “Ye are all gods, children of the Most High God.”
The work of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was and is to produce life after man’s spiritual death. Therefore, the scripture refers to Jesus as the second Adam. It says the first Adam was made of the dust of the ground and the second Adam was made of a quickening spirit. This quickening spirit means that Allah (God) would quicken or bring to life the divinity that is inherent in the human being.
On October 16th in Washington, D.C., and throughout the nation, we saw a glimpse of the heavenly life. Black men stood for 12, 14, and 16 hours. Many never felt tiredness until the day was ended and they were on their way back to their respective homes. The spirit of that day buoyed them. Why were there so many tears shed, not only on the mall, but by many who were watching by television or satellite? What touched the hearts, minds and souls of the men who were present?
Love abounded and brothers who had never seen each other embraced each other in the spirit of love. Old friends reunited—teachers and students, coaches and players, leaders and followers. Acrimony and bitterness were not reported anywhere from what I am told. There was not a smell of alcohol, marijuana, or even cigarettes. Everywhere one looked there was nothing but peace. The Qur’an teaches us that in the hereafter there will be no vain discourse, just peace. Everywhere on the Mall, on that day, brothers were offering to each other the salutation of peace. On that day, those brothers gave the world a glimpse of the heavenly life or the hereafter.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told me that when the human spirit is so contented and so happy, so joyous, he said that at that very moment you’re in the spirit of Allah (God). He said in this world that spirit comes upon us every once in a while and it is fleeting, but he said in the hereafter we would live in that spirit every moment of our lives. You can see that if we, as human beings, would live in that spirit, death and its misery would be totally destroyed.
For nearly 14 hours the brothers on the Mall and many in their homes lived in that spirit of complete joy. When these men returned home to their mothers, wives, and friends, everyone noticed a change in their behavior and in their countenance. The spirit of Allah (God) had touched them and in a twinkling of an eye they were changed.
Many who were asked to describe what they felt said it was indescribable. It was indescribable because The God Who produced that spirit defies description. The only event that I know which compares to what we saw on October 16th is the annual pilgrimage of Muslims from all over the world to Mecca, the spiritual center of the Muslim world. When the pilgrims get near to Mecca they take off their national dress, jewelry, or anything that distinguishes a person from another because of wealth or status of life and the pilgrims put on a white seamless garment and begin their motion toward Mecca. During the pilgrimage there is to be no argument, no vain discourse is allowed, no sexual contact. Our minds and hearts are to be stayed on Allah (God).
I was blessed to be a part of this pilgrimage in 1985, an experience I shall never forget. What I saw, heard, and felt in Washington, D.C., at the Capitol on October 16th was similar to the spirit of pilgrimage. Many commentators likened this march to a pilgrimage. Even though the men were dressed differently, under different standards and banners, from different organizations, fraternal and political affiliations, nevertheless, The Spirit of God destroyed all artificial barriers and transformed us into the oneness of mind and spirit. The despised, the rejected, the unloved and unwanted Black male gave the world a glimpse of the heavenly life.
Now we must strive to be in this spirit and to live this life each and every day of our lives. The spirit of courtesy, good manners, kindness, and consideration should all be a part of the national dress of the Black man and woman. If we continue in the process of the renewing of our mind and the transformation of our mind from the peace and contentment of our own mind, we will begin the process of transforming our family life, community life, and before long the blind touch of Satan is blinded. The word of deceit, strife, racism, and extreme nationalism will vanish from the face of the earth because it will have vanished from our minds.
In closing, the Book of Daniel gives us a beautiful vision of the Kingdom of God as a stone hewed out of a mountain without hands. As that stone began to roll through Babylon it smote the great image of a golden head, a breast plate of silver, and legs of iron mixed with clay. It smote the image as it rolled through Babylon tearing up the kingdoms of the world and it kept on rolling and growing until it became a mountain and the mountain covered the entire earth.
The movement of October 16th is just like that. We are like a little stone (nearly two million men) hewed out of a great mountain (5 billion human beings) without hands, because we came at a call and now we have become a movement. Many now are affected in every city and town in America. The spirit of the Million Man March has affected the Caribbean, Africa, and the Muslim World, as well as Central and South America. Let us continue in this process and never again return to the unrighteous life that we lived prior to October 16th.
Many argued over whether Farrakhan is the new leader and some even took umbrage that any one person should be the leader. In truth, the Messiah does not bring His leadership. The Messiah’s presence is the force that overthrows the old government of the mind and plants Allah (God) firmly in the core of the human beings or the heart of man and woman, thus, the recipient of this new mind can, like David, say, “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.”
There will be no real peace and contentment of mind until Allah (God) Himself becomes the leader of all human life. I am eternally grateful to Allah (God), the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and to all of those who helped to form The Day of Atonement in my mind. Last, but certainly not least, I am grateful to every Black man, woman and child who came and stood on that Mall to give the world a glimpse of heaven.
Thank you for reading these words.
No comments:
Post a Comment