Malaika Muhammad: A Saviour answers the call in Houston

By Ebony Muhammad and Charlene Muhammad -Final Call Staffers- | Last updated: Jun 2, 2015 - 12:22:04 PM

With downtown Dallas in view, water from the Trinity River floods the area below the Sylvan Avenue bridge May 25, in Dallas. Several people were reported missing in fl ash fl ooding from a line of storms that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. Photo: AP/Wide World photos

HOUSTON - When a tornado ravaged Houston May 25, flooding streets, destroying property, and leaving drivers stranded, Malaika Muhammad, a Muslim in the Nation of Islam and a member of the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class Vanguard, emerged as a beacon of light and a saviour for several men and women in despair.

Actual area in which Malaika Muhammad rescued people. The area she is pointing to was underwater. Photo: Durce Muhammad

Ms. Muhammad, a holistic beauty practitioner who owns UrbHol Vibe Lifestyling Studio, ordinarily would have been with her family at a routine gathering. A number of her family members served in the military and they all usually gather at her brother’s house, she said. But she had to work that day and so her mother took her children to the gathering.

She noticed it started raining really bad. When she ran to look outside, she noticed the exit ramp near her home was flooded and a car was there. When she left the window, the car was still there. She thought to herself, “Was it stalled?” When she returned to the window to look again, the car’s headllights were on and she realized someone was in the car and needed assistance.

Ms. Muhammad told The Final Call she then swiftly assessed the situation and moved into action and ultimately saved seven lives.

“A weight of seriousness and clarity came over me. There is no way I could not intervene and go on with my life as if nothing happened. So this is it, either I am who I say I am or I’m not,” said Ms. Muhammad recounting her self-motivating talk.

Malaika Muhammad

By the time she got outside, she saw there was a woman sitting on the hood of the car. At that point, the water was up to the level of the headlights. Ms. Muhammad said she didn’t remember consciously developing a strategy to get to the woman. “Allah took over,” she said.

“I realized it was two individuals in the car—a young man and woman. Once I got close enough to them, I yelled out, ‘Are you okay? Are there any children in the car?’ They replied that there were no children in the vehicle.”

The young woman was afraid to enter the water, but did so after Ms. Muhammad comforted her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” she told the young woman in distress.

At that point, according to Ms. Muhammad, the woman slid off the hood of the car. “She walked about two feet towards me, and I pulled her up onto the underpass. Once I got her up to the underpass, I turned around and noticed another car back there,” she said.

“It was too dark to see into the car. I yelled out ‘I’m coming!’”

This time, there was an older lady and the water was up to her chest, Ms. Muhammad said. The woman made her way to her rescuer and climbed on to the underpass where they were.

Student Min. Robert Muhammad and Malaika Muhammad pose with her city recognition award.

“Once I had both on the underpass, they were shaking and drenched. It was then I introduced myself. I said, ‘My name is Malaika. I’m a member of Muhammad Mosque No. 45 and I stay right over there. You’re safe,’ Ms. Muhammad told them of her house situated just about 50 feet away.

She then took them inside.

Meanwhile, the younger woman yelled at the man to jump into the water, but he wouldn’t, Ms. Muhammad recalled.

She then turned and noticed a police officer coming down the service road. She said she stopped him and alerted him bringing him up to date regarding what was going on.

“Sir, there are people stuck in the water. They need help,” she said. According to Ms. Muhammad, the officer replied, “We’re not doing that right now.” Their dialogue continued.

“I said, ‘You’re not helping people right now?’ He said, “No we’re not doing that.”

Ms. Muhammad returned to her home to find out where the women lived. She told The Final Call when she asked the officer if he could transport one of them home, he also refused to do that.

“I said, ‘So you’re not going to do anything?’ He looked at me, chuckled and said, ‘You’re the good Samaritan. You got it.’ At that point, I just walked away. I could not believe it,” stated Ms. Muhammad.

She returned her attention to the storm victims. Before she left, she gave them her contact information. Moments later, the young woman called to inform her that yet another car was stuck outside.

It was a Sport Utility Vehicle stuck on the exit ramp. The water was now over the hood of the SUV, the headlights were submerged, she said.

“Once I was parallel with the SUV, someone opened the driver’s (side) door. I saw it was an elderly man. The water was up to his chest, near his collarbone. By the time I got to the water, he was letting an elderly woman out the car. Once I got them on the service road, I pointed out my house to them,” Ms. Muhammad told The Final Call.

But her work wasn’t done. There were more.

City recognition by council member Dwight Boykins, District D.

She was halfway back to her house, but turned around and noticed another vehicle driving into the water. “People weren’t able to see the water. It wasn’t detectable,” she stated.

“All you could see at this point was the top of the car and some of the windows. The car mostly submerged. I swam toward the vehicle. I said, ‘You’re going to have to get out.’ He said ‘okay.’ He sticks his feet out of the window, I get his legs and pull him out. Once he got into the water, he takes off swimming. Once he got on the road, he takes off running. I never got his name,” she told The Final Call.

Another she would be blessed to help that night was a man she noticed climbing over an embankment, whose car was already completely under water. She encouraged them all to enter her home, and gave them sheets from her linen closet to wrap up and keep warm.

“The elderly couple, who were mostly Spanish speaking, had gotten a hold of their son and said he was coming for them. Soon he arrived. The elderly woman held her hands up to my face and said, ‘Gracias, and God bless.’ I said, ‘De nada.’ Her husband looked at me and thanked me as well,” Ms. Muhammad said.

Two individuals who had no one to come pick them up stayed at her home overnight.

“It was the older woman from the second vehicle and the young Indian man who walked over the other side of the freeway. I gave them both dry clothes and a blanket. Within five minutes, the older woman was asleep,” she continued.

As she told a TV news reporter who interviewed her that next day, “I’m thankful for my training as a M.G.T. and G.C.C. in the Nation of Islam. If it weren’t for that training, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do what I did. All Praise is Due to Allah!”

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