SAVIOURS’ DAY 2015: The global cry for justice and local work of salvation

By FinalCall.com News | Last updated: Feb 17, 2015 - 8:40:55 AM

Nation of Islam commemoration brings light, life, power to cities and towns across America in preparation for major address by Min. Farrakhan Feb. 22

CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - Saving the lives of Black people, delivering words of enlightenment, standing for the oppressed and charting a way forward in a world of confusion are essential to the mission of the Nation of Islam.

In 2015, the movement marks its 85th year in America and the mission to save Black people and the oppressed, the mission to offer light and the mission to provide divine guidance will encompass this year’s Saviours’ Day commemoration in the third week in February.

Instead of making a journey to Chicago, the Nation’s headquarters, mosques and study groups will stay in their local areas, open their doors, join community partners and present celebrations, workshops, protests and local viewing of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s keynote address Feb. 22, which is titled “The Intensifying Universal Cry for Justice.”

The Minister will speak live in Chicago at 2 p.m. CST at Christ Universal Temple, located at 11901 S. Ashland and doors will open at 12 noon. Admission is free and the program will be broadcast at NOI.org. Visit the webpage for more information.

The schedule in Chicago will begin Friday, Feb. 20, with Mother Khadijah Farrakhan’s Children’s Village and Children’s Gift Exchange at Muhammad University of Islam, 7351 Stony Island Avenue. The Jumu’ah, Friday, congregational prayer will be held at Mosque Maryam at 1 p.m. by resident Imam Sultan Rahman. The prayer service will be webcast around the country.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, there will be a workshop on “Viruses—Weapons of Mass Destruction” at The National Center, 7351 S. Stony Island Avenue. Doors open at 10 a.m. and the program starts 11 a.m. Panelists will include Dr. Saffiyah Shabazz of the Nation of Islam, Dr. Scott Whitaker, and Dr. Leonard Horowitz, author of the bestselling book “Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola—Nature, Accident or Intentional?” A Believers’ Appreciation Banquet will be held that night at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Drive in Chicago, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. CST.

The weekend will be filled with information, spiritual renewal, fellowship and networking. Saviours’ Day, often called the Crowning Event of Black History Month, marks the birth of the founder of the Nation of Islam, Master W. Fard Muhammad, who started teaching in Black Bottom Detroit in 1930, and commissioned the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad with the mission of raising Black people in America.

This year is a wonderful opportunity to take our observance to the public in local cities as we were unable to secure a location for a national convention that gathered all the Muslims in one place, said Ishmael Muhammad, national assistant to Min. Farrakhan and assistant student minister at Mosque Maryam. There is happiness and excitement though, especially with the public having the opportunity to hear another vital message from the Minister on the subject of justice, he added.

“I think that everyone that is familiar with Min. Farrakhan always looks forward to this time of year,” said Ishmael Muhammad.

Protestors block an intersection in downtown Washington, Dec. 5, 2014, during a demonstration against the deaths of two unarmed Black men at the hands of White police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.

The subject of justice is essential in so many ways, he continued. Justice is a principle that we cannot live without, and a principle that Allah (God) has conferred on every creature—not a constitutional principle or right—but freedom, justice and equality are conferred on every creature by God, said the son of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam.

Scripture says God comes at the end of time and the promised Messiah comes into a world of gross injustice, he noted. God is described in the Bible as coming because injustice displeases him and as the Prophet Isaiah says, truth has fallen in the street, justice stands afar off and equity cannot enter, said Ishmael Muhammad.

A woman farm worker that was injured during demonstration due to low wages in the town of Grabouw, South Africa, Jan 9, 2013. Striking farm workers set up barricades and threw stones at motorists and police in a South African province whose vineyards are vital to the wine industry, prompting riot officers to close roads and arrest at least 50 demonstrators, South African media reported.

So courts fail to adjudicate complaints and grievances because there is no respect for justice and the institutions of this world cannot calm the hearts of mothers and fathers and those who have lost loved ones to various crimes, he continued.

And the cry for justice is global whether in Greece and the United Kingdom where the poor feel set upon, in Africa where the poor may feel at the mercy of the West and corporations, in the Middle East where questions about Western hegemony and conflicts between rulers and the ruled exist to the streets of the United States where a mass movement decries police abuses and brutality, criminal justice system failures and screams, “Black lives matter!”

If those in authority do not respond properly while there is time, the cry will intensify and the Minister has warned of a groundswell worldwide of demands for justice and a tsunami of a demand for justice that will have chaos and destruction on all sides, he added.

Muslims in the United States and globally cried out in pain with the execution style murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, N.C., allegedly murdered by a White gunman. There has been anger and outrage over the killing, the lack of initial press coverage and the failure to label the heinous act a hate crime.

Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad spoke to the killing and the cry for justice in a Feb. 13 sermon at the traditional Islamic prayer service at Mosque Maryam. There is a need for justice and respect for Muslim life and Black lives, said the resident imam for Mosque Maryam. “All lives matter,” he said. The Holy Qur’an condemns the unjust taking of life, but in this country there is a history of taking the lives of Blacks and the darker peoples unjustly, he added. That makes the Minister’s message so important, said Imam Rahman Muhammad.

Like other regional and local Nation of Islam ministers around the country, Abdul Khadir Muhammad has been working hard. The student regional minister for the Mid-Atlantic and Eastern Regions see this year as an important time to reach some very special people: Black youth.

Being in Washington, D.C., where Mid-Atlantic Regional Muhammad Mosque No. 4 is located, Student Minister Khadir Muhammad is looking forward to days that include a dinner, Saturday workshops, childrens’ activities, a prayer service and the Minister’s main Sunday address. He expects about 30 different locations in the region to host similar events.

Muhammad Mosque No. 4 is holding events at a high school and will include the Ballou High School Band, he noted. With the regular efforts in the community, distributing The Final Call newspaper, and serving the community the weekend provides an up close view of the Nation and a chance to learn about Min. Farrakhan, said Min. Khadir Muhammad. We offer a different clean version of life, questions can be asked and our efforts will be on display, he said.

Nation of Islam mosques and study groups will be doing the same North, South, East and West. They will be holding forums, youth activities and trainings, marches for justice and the #Black Lives Matter movement, in the streets, community centers and churches.

There is another very important thing about the excitement—fun—F-U-N and people will be able to enjoy themselves in a safe environment knowing nothing will happen, said Min. Khadir Muhammad.

Beautiful schedules, beautiful expectations and why not? It’s Saviours’ Day!

For more information visit www.noi.org.

The Final Call