The Nation of Islam under the leadership of
the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is
the catalyst for the growth and development
of Islam in America. Founded in 1930 by
Master Fard Muhammad and led to prominence
from 1934 to 1975 by
the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad, the Nation of Islam
continues to positively impact the quality
of life in America.
Minister
Louis Farrakhan, born on May 11, 1933 in
Bronx, N.Y., was reared in a highly
disciplined and spiritual household in
Roxbury, Massachusetts. Raised by his
mother, a native of St. Kitts, Louis and his
brother Alvan learned early the value of
work, responsibility and intellectual
development. Having a strong sensitivity to
the plight of Black people, his mother
engaged her sons in conversations about the
struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
She also exposed them to progressive
material such as the Crisis magazine,
published by the NAACP.
Popularly known as "The Charmer," he
achieved fame in Boston as a vocalist,
calypso singer, dancer and violinist. In
February 1955, while visiting Chicago for a
musical engagement, he was invited to attend
the Nation of Islam's Saviours' Day
convention.
Although
music had been his first love, within one
month after joining the Nation of Islam in
1955, Minister Malcolm X told the New York
Mosque and the new convert Louis X that
Elijah Muhammad had said that all Muslims
would have to get out of show business or
get out of the Temple. Most of the musicians
left Temple No. 7, but Louis X, later
renamed Louis Farrakhan, chose to dedicate
his life to the Teachings of the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad.
The departure of the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad in 1975 and the assumption of
leadership by
Imam W. Deen Mohammed
brought drastic changes to the Nation of
Islam. After approximately three years of
wrestling with these changes, and a
re-appraisal of the condition of Black
people and the value of the Teachings of the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Minister
Farrakhan decided to return to the teachings
and program with a proven ability to uplift
and reform Blacks.
His tremendous success is evidenced by
mosques and study groups in over 120 cities
in America, Europe, the Caribbean and
missions in West Africa and South Africa
devoted to the Teachings of the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad. In rebuilding the Nation of
Islam, Minister Farrakhan has renewed
respect for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
his Teachings and Program.
At 75 years of age, Minister Farrakhan still
maintains a grueling work schedule. He has
been welcomed in a countless number of
churches, sharing pulpits with Christian
ministers from a variety of denominations,
which has demonstrated the power of the
unity of those who believe in the One God.
He has addressed diverse organizations, been
received in many Muslim countries as a
leading Muslim thinker and teacher, and been
welcomed throughout Africa, the Caribbean
and Asia as a champion in the struggle for
freedom, justice and equality.
In
1979, he founded
The Final Call,
an internationally circulated newspaper that
follows in the line of
The Muhammad Speaks.
In 1985, Minister Farrakhan introduced the
POWER concept. In 1988, the resurgent Nation
of Islam repurchased its former flagship
mosque in Chicago and dedicated it as Mosque
Maryam, the National Center for the
Re-training and Re-education of the Black
Man and Woman of America and the World. In
1991, Minister Farrakhan reintroduced the
Three Year Economic Program, first
established by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
to build an economic base for the
development of Blacks through business
ventures. In 1993, Minister Farrakhan penned
the book, "
A
Torchlight for America,"
which applied the guiding principles of
justice and good will to the problems
perplexing America. In May of that year, he
traveled to Libreville, Gabon to attend the
Second African-African American Summit where
he addressed African heads of state and
delegates from America. In October of 1994,
Minister Farrakhan led 2,000 Blacks from
America to Accra, Ghana for the Nation of
Islam's first International Saviours' Day.
Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings officially
opened and closed the five-day convention.
The
popular leader and the Nation of Islam
repurchased farmland in Dawson, Georgia and
enjoyed a banner year in 1995 with the
successful
Million Man March
on the Mall in Washington, D.C., which drew
nearly two million men. Minister Farrakhan
was inspired to call the March out of his
concern over the negative image of Black men
perpetuated by the media and movie
industries, which focused on drugs and gang
violence. The Million Man March established
October 16 as a Holy Day of Atonement,
Reconciliation and Responsibility. Minister
Farrakhan took this healing message of
atonement throughout the world during three
World Friendship Tours over the next three
years. His desire was to bring solutions to
such problems as war, poverty,
discrimination and the right to education.
Minister Farrakhan would return to the Mall
on Washington, D.C. in 2000 convening the
Million Family March, where he called the
full spectrum of members of the human family
to unite according to the principle of
atonement. Minister Farrakhan performed
thousands of weddings, as well as renewed
the vows of those recommitting themselves in
a Marriage Ceremony.
As
part of the major thrust for true political
empowerment for the Black community,
Minister Farrakhan re-registered to vote in
June 1996 and formed a coalition of
religious, civic and political organizations
to represent the voice of the
disenfranchised on the political landscape.
His efforts and the overwhelming response to
the call of the Million Man March resulted
in an additional 1.7 million Black men
voting in the 1996 presidential elections.
In July 1997, the Nation of Islam, in
conjunction with the World Islamic People’s
Leadership, hosted an International Islamic
Conference in Chicago. A broad range of
Muslim scholars from Europe, Asia, Africa
and the Middle East, along with Christian,
Jewish and Native American spiritual leaders
participated in the conference.
Following the
September 11, 2001
attacks against the United States, Minister
Farrakhan was among the international
religious voices that called for peace and
resolution of conflict. He also wrote
two personal letters
to President George Bush offering
his counsel and perspective on how to
respond to the national crisis. He advised
President Bush to convene spiritual leaders
of various faiths for counsel. Prior to the
war on Iraq, Minister Farrakhan led a
delegation of religious leaders and
physicians to the Middle East in an effort
to spark the dialogue among nations that
could prevent war.
Marking a new milestone in a life that has
been devoted to the uplift of humanity,
Minister Farrakhan launched a
prostate cancer
foundation in his name May 10-11,
2003. First diagnosed in 1991 with prostate
cancer, he survived a public bout and
endured critical complications after
treatment that brought him 180 seconds away
from death.
In July of that year, Minister Farrakhan
accepted the request to host the first of a
series of summits
centered on the principles of reparations.
Nearly 50 activists from across the country
answered his call to discuss operational
unity within the reparations movement for
Black people’s suffering in the
trans-Atlantic slave trade. Culminating the
Nation of Islam’s Saviours’ Day convention
in February 2004, Minister Farrakhan
delivered an international address entitled,
"Reparations: What does America and Europe
Owe? What does Allah (God) promise?"
stepping further into the vanguard position
of leadership calling for justice for the
suffering masses of Black people and all
oppressed people throughout the world.
On May 3, 2004, Minister Farrakhan
held an international
press conference at the National
Press Club in Washington, D.C. themed,
“Guidance to America and the World in a Time
of Trouble.” The press conference sought to
expose the plans and schemes of President
George W. Bush and his neo-conservative
advisors who plunged American soldiers into
worldwide conflict with the occupations of
Afghanistan and Iraq. This international
press conference was translated into Arabic,
French and Spanish.
In October 2005, after months of a demanding
schedule traveling throughout the U.S.,
Minister Farrakhan called those interested
in establishing a programmatic thrust for
Black people in America and oppressed people
across the globe to participate in the
Millions More Movement, which convened back
at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on
the 10th Anniversary of the Historic Million
Man March. The
Millions More Movement
involved the formation of 9 Ministries that
would deal with the pressing needs of our
people. Also in 2005, Minister Louis
Farrakhan was voted as BET.com’s “Person of
The Year” as the person users believed made
“the most powerful impact on the Black
community over the past year.”
In April 2006, Minister Farrakhan
led a delegation to
Cuba to view the emergency
preparedness system of the Cuban people, in
the wake of the massive failure to prevent
the loss of human life after Hurricane
Katrina in August 2005.
In January 2007, the Honorable Minister
Louis Farrakhan underwent a major 14-hour
pelvic exoneration. In just a few weeks, and
as a testament to the healing power of God,
Minister Farrakhan stood on stage at Ford
Field in Detroit, Michigan on February 25,
2007 to deliver the first of several
speeches that year with the theme “One
Nation Under God.”
On October 19, 2008, after nearly a year
of extensive repairs and restoration,
Minister Farrakhan opened the doors and
grounds of Mosque Maryam to thousands of
people representing all creeds and colors
during a much anticipated Rededication
Ceremony themed “A New Beginning.” This day
also served as the commemoration of the 13th
Anniversary of the Historic Million Man
March and Holy Day of Atonement.
The prayers of spiritual leaders
representing the three Abrahamic
faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—were
offered to bless this momentous affair.
Those who were present that day, and who
watched live via internet webcast throughout
the world, witnessed Minister Farrakhan’s
message of unity and peace for the
establishment of a universal government of
peace for all of humanity.
