Saviours' Day Salat Al-Jumu'ah message: Be Thankful!

By James G. Muhammad -Contributing Editor- | Last updated: Feb 26, 2015 - 10:11:03 AM

Jumu’ah prayer service at Mosque Maryam during Saviours’ Day 2015 in Chicago. Photos: Abdul Karriem Muhammad (Bottom) Muslim women join congregational prayer service.

CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The budding Muslim Nation of Islam in America will grow and develop to become “a light to the entire world,” said Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad, during the Friday, Feb. 20 khutbah (prayer service message) at Mosque Maryam to kick off Saviours’ Day 2015 weekend. To be successful, however, believers must be thankful to Allah (God) at every moment for spiritual, mental and physical life, he said.

Taking his message from Chapter 55 of the Holy Qur’an titled “Ar-Rahman,” Imam Sultan, as the resident Imam of the Nation of Islam, said Allah (God) would present Believers with trials that are meant for purification and that Muslims must face trials by submitting.

Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad

The service was webcast into venues across some 150 cities where Muslims gathered for Saviours’ Day weekend, a celebration of the birth of Master Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi who taught the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam.

Throughout the country, however, Muslims bore heavy hearts at the recent news of the passing of Mother Tynnetta Muhammad, wife of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and often referred to as the “Mother of the Faithful.”

Addressing the issue and giving words of guidance and comfort, Imam Sultan reminded listeners that “Allah will try us so that He may distinguish the true Believer.”

“Many of us woke up without thanking Allah for allowing us to open our eyes, or to even have eyes,” he said. “This is the essence of Ar-Rahman. He (Allah) is merciful.”

“We have lost a very treasured jewel among us who must be remembered and we must be thankful for her,” he said. “It is a great trial. It is through submission to trials that we are purified.”

Imam Sultan said Black people in America have been blessed with a light in the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, whose 40-year work since the departure of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad in 1975 has reestablished the Nation of Islam after the world thought it had been destroyed.

Black people once were dead (mentally), without the knowledge that would bring them to life, the imam said. Now that the followers of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad have been given a light in Min. Farrakhan, “we have an obligation.”

“A child reaches an age where they become accountable,” he said. “We are accountable for our actions. We are accountable to call out a lie when we see it. We are accountable to bear witness to the truth.”

“We are showing brotherhood by lining up in ranks, shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot. This is something that our people haven’t had in many years.”

When Believers are on the straight path, there are many obstacles to contend with, the imam continued. Satan comes in Allah’s straight path; we will not be left alone and not be tried, he said.

The imam cited the example of Musa (Moses), who in the Holy Qur’an questioned the decisions of a wise man with whom he was traveling and ultimately failed his trial.

“In that moment, what Musa needed was faith. He needed patience,” the imam said. “Allah wanted Moses, in that time of struggle, to submit. Allah wants us to submit during our trials.”

After the service, Min. Thomas Jihad, a minister of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad, said the prayer service demonstrates the growth and development of the Nation under Min. Farrakhan.

Children and young men join congregational prayer service.

The Minister has taken what the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad taught and digested it so that our brothers in the East can see “this budding nation in the West and we can be an example for them and not them be an example for us,” he said.

Sis. Akilah Muhammad of St. Louis, who worked on Mother Tynnetta’s first book, The Comer by Night, said the prayer service showed how the Nation is developing into what Min. Farrakhan wanted it to be and what he often talked about with Mother Tynnetta as the book was being written.

“There was a chapter on Jumu’ah even before we started observing Jumu’ah,” she said. “It was also at a time when we first fasted during the month of Ramadan with the Muslim world. I’m seeing how the Minister’s vision is coming into fruition, even though some didn’t understand it at that time.”

Sis. Akilah Muhammad noted that the imam’s words on being thankful for the lives of Believers who no longer are with us stuck with her. Mother Tynnetta’s presence has been worldwide, she said.

“It’s something how a death can strengthen you,” she said. “I’m thankful for knowing Mother. We can’t allow anything she did to go by the wayside.”

Sis. Judith Muhammad marveled at the growth and development of Imam Sultan, a great-grandson of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad and whose father was Mr. Muhammad’s pilot. Imam Sultan’s grandmother was Sis. Judith Muhammad’s M.G.T. captain in Pittsburgh, Pa. She was also mesmerized at seeing the musallah for the first time, which is where the prayer service was held.

“I wanted to see where the imam sits. The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad said that’s what he wanted for Min. Farrakhan,” she said. “When I saw the minbar (the imam’s seat) and the beautiful Arabic letters, my heart was happy.

“We have so much to be thankful for,” said Sis. Judith Muhammad, she joined the Nation in 1970. “We have something that nobody else has. I see the vision of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad taking place.”

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