THE NATION OF ISLAM S T U D Y C O U R S E FRIDAY CLASS WEEK 28 IN THAT DAY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL SUSTAIN YOU A Message to the Believers Delivered by The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Pages 1-6 Muhammad University of Islam 2011
Study Course Instructions This study course is designed to be done both in a course room, mosque, study-group or self-paced at home. Certain parts of this course (Key Word Study) will be done with a partner. Other parts will be done independently (by yourself). When its time to partner, you and your partner (twin) are to follow the steps provided in this guide. The study course is laid out in the order you do them. It is important not to skip any steps of the guide. THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BE FOLLOWED IN OUR CLASSES. Purpose of this Study Course Guide: The purpose of this study course guide is to guide you through this course of study. Time to Complete: Although the hour and a half that we have for study this evening will hopefully allow you to progress through most of this study, however it is strongly recommend that you continue to work on this study course at home at your own pace. Important Note: During the study course session, if you have any questions raise your hand for assistance. Each believer (student) should have a copy of this handout and its instructions to take home and continue studying on their own. All steps may not be completed in the class sessions in its entirety. Study Course Steps Step 1: Key Word Clearing Key words are important words related to key concepts found in the reading. Having a good understanding of the meanings of these words will help each student better understand the important concepts and ideas of the study, as well as eliminate misunderstandings that come with misunderstood words. Use the key word list and definitions found in this packet to do the drill (exercise) a and b. 1.) Select a partner (closest to you) and study the Key Words together, through reviewing the questions and answers to master. (If done in course room or mosque/study group the time allotted is 30-45 minutes) 2.) First time through: The student has the questions and answers in front of him or her. The partner asks the student the question, and the student answers it. He/She can look at the answer if needed. The answer does not have to be word-for-word or memorized; just the concept must be correct. 3.) Second time through: Once finished with the drill the first time, you start again from the beginning, this time without the answers in front of you. Your partner asks the question and you answers. If the answer is incorrect, your partner shows you the answer. Look at the answer again and repeat until you have grasped the concept, then continue to the next one. Step 2: Independent Reading After completing step one, you may begin to read the selected reading materials. Step 3: Check Your Understanding Questions: Time Frame: 30 min Review the lists of questions. Each question is formulated to check your understanding of the key concepts and ideas found in the reading. Answer each question on a sheet of paper and be prepared to discuss your answers at the conclusion of this session. Sufficient time may not be given during class session to answer all of the questions. If you do not finish in class, please continue this step at home. 2
KEY WORD CLEARING What is righteousness? Righteousness is the quality of being morally right or justifiable. What does it mean to sustain? To sustain means to give support or relief to; to supply with sustenance, nourish. It is to keep up, prolong; to support the weight of, as in "prop." It also means to carry or withstand (a weight or pressure). What does it mean to be upright? To be upright means to be perpendicular, vertical, erect in carriage or posture; marked by strong moral rectitude. What is the definition of imitate? To imitate means to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or an example. What does it mean to emulate? To emulate means to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass. What is the definition of sufficient? Sufficient is adequate for the purpose; enough to meet a need or purpose. What is the meaning of steadfast? To be steadfast is fixed in direction; steadily directed; firm in purpose, resolution, faith, or attachment; unwavering. What are rules? Rules are principles or regulations governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc.; the code of regulations observed by a religious order or congregation. What is a regulation? A regulation is a law, rule, or other order prescribed by authority, especially to regulate conduct; a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority. What is meant by corruption? Corruption is moral perversion; depravity; perversion of integrity. What does it mean to be pastoral? Pastoral means (in the Christian Church) concerning or appropriate to the giving of spiritual guidance; nurturing. The Latin root of the word pastor means shepherd. What is a soldier? A soldier is a person who serves in an army. What is media? Media is the main means of mass communication (especially television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet) regarded collectively. 3
IN THAT DAY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL SUSTAIN YOU By The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan In The Name of Allah Who Came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad to Whom Praise is due forever. We give Him praise and thank Him for His Wise Choice of His Messenger/ Messiah, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I greet all of you, my dear brothers and sisters of the Nation of Islam, with the greeting words of peace: As-Salaam Alaikum. To all of the F.O.I. who have been with me wherever I have traveled, that their desire was to secure me from any harm or danger; and likewise, the M.G.T. and G.C.C.: Words cannot express my gratitude to each and every one of you who sacrificed to be where I am to make sure that it is a peaceful meeting. I thank Allah that each time we are together, He brings us through safely, successfully, peacefully; and returns us safely to our places of abode. I am very honored to know that each person who completed the Saviours Day Gift Drive will receive a certificate thanking you immensely from us for your sacrifice. And those who were not able to complete, but did what you could, the Saviours Day Gift Drive would not be successful without your help, no matter how small or how great that help may be. And while I m thanking you all for your great work, let me personally thank the F.O.I. who go out from their homes with The Final Call newspaper, and brings The Message of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his minister to the people. The Final Call is a wonderful newspaper, filled with knowledge and wisdom. Every newspaper is really a small book; so when you take this Final Call, and study it, and then deliver it to our people, you are doing The Work of a minister. You should not fear to go out amongst our people to deliver The Message, for the Bible (I Chronicles 16:22), puts it like this: Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm. You are walking in The Footsteps of The Prophets of God. And even though you may be evil spoken of, even though you may be rejected, even though sometimes we are attacked, and even though sometimes we may be arrested, yet, we are following in The Footsteps of The Prophets of God. There is no nobler task in this world than to imitate and emulate The Prophets of God for you are with The One Who ends all of the prophets, and ushers in The World of God Himself. The Student Ministers who speak on Sundays live from Mosque Maryam is showing the world that we have a stable full of fiery representatives of the Teachings. 4
We must now commit ourselves not only to deepen our understanding of The Message, but grow into a pastoral understanding of how to pastor, or nurture, The Followers. When this evangelical spirit brings them in, then we must pastor them into being themselves which is a process that begins with the bearing of witness that: There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger, and it goes on and on, until we become one with God. No Weapon Formed Against The Righteous Shall Prosper In April, there was media attention on Southaven, MS where brothers and sisters in The Nation of Islam have a Study Group; and word went out that members of the Tea Party were going to the building where the brothers and sisters have meetings, to hold a demonstration in protest of The Nation of Islam. The newspapers wanted to know what we thought And I must say: Be very careful how any of us talk to media, because no member of the media is our friend. They are always looking for an angle in what we say to try to hurt us. However, the scripture teaches, No weapon formed against the righteous shall prosper. We understand that eventually, the Tea Party had other things to do, so they never showed up. Now, I instructed The Believers not to go there. You may ask, Why? Were not our brothers and sisters there in trouble? No. If a lot of Believers went, we would have created an atmosphere of contention, and we would have allowed the Tea Party to give us a stage on which to act. We do not act on somebody else s stage. We create The Stage upon which we act, so we go about our business. I was with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in The Palace one day, and he said to me: Brother, if 10,000 were on the outside of this house against me, I would not fear. The Tea Party certainly was not bringing 10,000 people; and in the end, nobody showed up. But whatever they brought, it does not matter! Allah is sufficient for The Believers! In response to this situation with the Tea Party, Brother Malik Zulu Shabazz said that he was going there with The New Black Panther Party, some of whom had permission, legally, to carry weapons. When I talked with Brother Malik, I said to him: Brother, for 81 years now we have had gatherings and we have never armed our self in any gatherings, even if we were opposed by those with arms I m grateful that you love your brothers and sisters in the Nation of Islam enough that you would want to come and stand by our side as any good brother or sister would do. But I would not want the world to think that we have no defense ; that we are looking for somebody to come to our aid with weapons, or not with weapons. Believers: I want us to know that it is not Elijah Muhammad or I who have asked you, on our own, to not carry a weapon in your homes or on your person not even so much as a penknife because Allah said from His Mouth that He will be our Defender and our Protector. So I said to our Brother Malik: Brother, we believe that! And we put our complete trust in Allah. And Allah says in the Qur an that if there is one of you steadfast, He will put to flight 10; if there are two of us steadfast, We will put to flight 20. So the steadfastness of The Believer, and the faith that we exercise in God s Ability to Defend and Protect us, is how we re going to get through The Hour that is in front of us. 5
Whose Soldiers Are We? Every nation on the Earth is arming themselves to the teeth except The Nation of Islam under The Guidance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad! We don t need carnal weapons! Well, suppose they fight us? Well, the Qur an tells us never be the aggressor and Allah hates the aggressor and We fight with those who fight with us. And so dear brothers and sisters: As we go through this Dark Hour, let no one pull you off of your post. You are a Soldier in The Army of Allah. As an F.O.I., it s the Military Training of The Men who belong to Islam in North America. Well, what kind of soldier are we? Are we soldiers after the order of the soldiers of this world, where they go through learning how to shoot their various weapons; how to kill? On Saviours Day, I quoted the scripture from the Book of Nehemiah (9:27) where God said He will send saviours after our people. He didn t say: I m going to send killers after our people, He said, I m going to send saviours after them so the type of militancy that is in The Nation of Islam is learning that when you come under The Law and Rule of God, you come under His Orders! And when God orders us, then it is our duty, if we are Muslims, to submit to The Will of God and trust in Him that He will take us successfully from Point A to Point B. It doesn t mean that sometimes we would not be forced to fight, but if you have to fight, fight in The Name of Allah! And if He brings you out victorious, so be it! And if we die in a noble attempt to defend what we believe, so be it! But we are not to violate what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has given us as an Order: We do not carry weapons. We do not rely on the carnal weapons of this world. And while others may look at us being unarmed, thinking that we are an easy prey : Not so, when we have One Guarding us, Guiding us and Watching Over us Who has Power over all things. Whose soldiers are we? Now, when you come into The Nation of Islam from the military of The Enemy, you know he trained you to kill. But when you come into The Military of God, under The Order of God, following The Laws of God, obeying The Rules and Regulations that governs our lives, then you are being Prepared by God through His Messiah to be a saviour for our people. 6
Sustain Yourselves By Being Upright As we look on the horizon and we see all that is going on in the world, and The Destruction that God is bringing about with natural disasters, some of us may become a little nervous and wonder: How are we going to escape? If the Minister is talking as strong as he s talking, and The Enemy wants to come against us, oh my Lord! What are we going to do? Well, pay attention to these words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who said to me: Brother, in that day, your righteousness will sustain you. I want you to study the meaning of the word sustain : SUSTAINTo give support or relief to; to supply with sustenance, nourish. To keep up, prolong; to support the weight of, as in prop. Also, to carry or withstand (a weight or pressure). The Honorable Elijah Muhammad didn t say your knowledge of all The Lessons is going to sustain you, although that will help! He didn t say that your learning of martial arts will sustain you, although that will help! But He did say: Your righteousness will sustain you. In the Holy Qur an, Surah 30 ( The Romans ), verses 41-42 reads: Corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on account of that which men s hands have wrought, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, so that they may return. Say: Travel in the land, then see what was the end of those before. Most of them were polytheists. Now, you can t travel all over the world, but we travel by reading history. When you study the Qur an, reading about the people to whom Allah raised a Messenger and a Warner, you ll see that they were confronted with the power of The Wicked and the polytheists. Yet, God brought His prophets out successfully. Their righteousness sustained them. And if you travel in the land, you will see that for any of us who set up other gods beside Allah, we become the losers. So, the Orthodox Muslim World will say to us: Well, you all are polytheists for you set up Fard Muhammad as a god beside Allah Wrong! We are saying that Master Fard Muhammad is The Manifestation in Human Form of The Power and Wisdom of Allah seen in this Person called Mahdi. This Man, Mahdi, can t set down tyrants all over the planet, and set justice in the Earth if He is not Anointed with The Power of Allah Himself! So we are not worshiping the wisdom and power of a human being we are worshiping The Wisdom and Power of God found in a human being that was foretold from the very beginning that such a Man would come at The End of this World of Evil. If we are confronted with a situation where we say: I need my weapon; Let me find my gun, isn t that worshiping a god other than Allah if you re going to rely on that to defend you, to protect you, when Allah asked you through His Mahdi to turn all of that down and put your trust completely in Him? Well, if you are a Believer, you will do that. But if you are a Hypocrite, you ll try to bring along a gun, and make some excuse as to why you have to have this kind of weapon. 7
No! Believers: Your weapon today is Righteousness! Your weapon today is your complete Faith and Trust in Allah! Allah says in the Holy Qur an, Surah 30:43: Then set yourself being upright, to the right religion before there comes from Allah the day which cannot be averted: on that day they will be separated. UPRIGHT Perpendicular, vertical, erect in carriage or posture; Marked by strong moral rectitude. Set yourself means make yourself firm. How? By being upright. Allah didn t say set your faith to go to the mosque to be sloven and slack, He said: Set yourself being upright to the right religion before there comes from Allah the day which cannot be averted; and on that day they will be separated. Here, The God is Talking about a Day of Separation. 8
STEP 3: Check Your Understanding The following questions are for discussion at the conclusion of the study session. The remaining questions can be completed at your own pace as you continue your study at home. You can use your book if you need help answering the questions. Write your answers on a sheet of paper. Questions For Discussion: 1. Why is the Final Call Newspaper so important to the work of resurrecting our people? 2. How are we walking in the footsteps of the prophets of God? 3. What weapons do the enemy form against the righteous? 4. Why do we have to be careful of how we talk to and in the media (internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? 5. What is meant by we do not act on somebody else s stage? 6. We are being qualified to be saviours of our people. What does a saviour of our people have to be equipped and prepared with to be effective in saving lives? 7. Why have we been instructed not to carry weapons? 8. How is righteousness a weapon? How will it sustain us in this hour? 9. If an Orthodox Muslim says to you, Well, you all are polytheists for you setting up Fard Muhammad as a god beside Allah. How will you intelligently respond? 10. What attributes are needed in order to get through the hour that is in front of us? Questions For Further Study: 1. Why is the FCN more than just a newspaper? 2. What is the noblest task to emulate or copy? 3. What must we commit ourselves to do in this hour? 4. Why did The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan inform the believers of Southaven study group not to attend their meeting? How does this demonstrate his wise guidance? 5. Describe the form or type of militancy we (NOI) are under? 6. What was The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan s response to Brother Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party? 7. What kind of soldiers are we being made into? 8. What words of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad will calm our fears in this hour? 9. How will The Mahdi prove his authority and power? Muhammad University of Islam 2011 www.noi.org/gostudy 9