Nation’s youth discuss taking progress to the next level

By Janiah X -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Feb 23, 2017 - 12:29:46 PM

(L) Attendee asks question. | (L-R) Jalil Muhammad, Akilah Nehanda Muhammad and Ilia Rashad Muhammad. Photos: Hannibal Muhammad

(CW From Left) Ruqayyah Farrakhan, Halimah Muhammad, Kareem Muhammad, Jalil Muhammad, Salih Muhammad, Karimah Muhammad. Photos: Abdul Karriem

DETROIT (Cobo Center)—College students gathered at the Nation of Islam Student Association workshop during Saviours’ Day 2017 learned how to gain influence on their college campuses, have a purposeful education and be nation builders.

The workshop was put on by college students who are leaders in their own right. It was assembled to discuss the importance of using the skills and wisdom of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad to be effective on campus.

Panelists included Kareem Muhammad, a sophomore at LeMoyne-Owens College in Memphis, Tennessee, studying information technology; Chavan Muhammad, a junior at LeMoyne-Owens College studying business administration with a concentration in accounting; Halimah Muhammad, a sophomore at Kent State University studying fashion design and international business; Karimah Muhammad, a social work major at Tennessee State University; Salih Muhammad, a University of California Berkley alumni; Jalil Muhammad, a former college organizer and Akilah Nehanda, a Howard University graduate. Each of the panelists are or were in leadership positions at their schools, or established an NOI Student Association on campus.

Topics ranging from what a student who is a follower of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad looks like to the realities college students in the Nation of Islam face and economics among college students were discussed.

Salih Muhammad said a college student who is a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is successful.

“For a college student, what should your success look like? At every turn, I wanted to make an example to Black and all students what it looked like to have a follower of the Minister on your campus,” Salih Muhammad said. “You have to think, who can I make connections with now that can be an assistant principal in five years of Muhammad University of Islam? Think about what are the connections I can make now that can have an impact after I leave campus.”

Halimah Muhammad mentioned the importance of proper representation on campus.

“On a college campus, young women don’t understand just how valuable they are,” she said. “So as an MGT, when they see you walk with strength and dignity, they see you representing something that is more important than yourself.”

Students who are in the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba—Maryam Farrakhan, Ruqayyah Farrakhan and Naa’irah Muhammad—were present to promote the advantages the school offers to students interested in medicine.

“This program has been told to us by the Minister to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Naa’irah Muhammad, a second-year medical student. “This program can equip physicians with a knowledge of self and how to eat to live. These physicians will be able to bring about that change in our Nation and community.”

Focus was placed on how to choose a major and how to conduct one’s affairs as a Muslim on campus.

“Find out what you want to do,” advised Karimah Muhammad. “Find those who are doing it, find out what they were doing at your age, and multiply those efforts.”

“Studying the Teachings and praying is where your light comes from, and that’s how the other students are attracted to you,” added Akilah Nehanda Muhammad. “You just have to make time to study both the Teachings and your curriculum. You must reevaluate why you are on campus and find what is the mission of your life. You must first resurrect the dead in you so you can attract others.”

There were also performances by youth in the Nation of Islam, promoting the message of doing for self and helping Black people do something for self.

“The nation will be stagnated until the youth of the Nation find ways to escalate and elevate the quality of tact and work,” said Salih Muhammad. “If we don’t realize that it’s our responsibility to genuinely get it to the next level, then it’s not going to get to the next level.”

The Final Call