The Economic Blueprint: The Unity Of Booker T. Washington, Prophet Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan

By Cedric Muhammad -Guest Columnist- | Last updated: Nov 14, 2013 - 10:10:43 AM

When I learned that Saviours’ Day 2014 would be held in Detroit, Michigan, my mind went to the steps that Allah (God) guided Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) to take in Arabia 1,400 years ago. I also thought in a particular way, that Booker T. Washington was the economic forerunner of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, perfectly complimenting what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad stated—that the Honorable Marcus Garvey was a forerunner of his.

One aspect of the work of Prophet Muhammad was his establishment of a market in Medina where his people would be free from taxation. M.J. Kister’s “The Market of The Prophet” published in The Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient in 1965 documents this. One of the motives in the mind of the Prophet was his desire to benefit two different classes of his followers from two different regions in Arabia. One group of his followers, the Muhajirun—from Mecca—were primarily merchants and traders. The other group, the Ansar— from Medina - were farmers. Muhammad of 1,400 years ago wanted to see them united.

Booker T. Washington’s economic work simultaneously addressed two often divided classes in Black America. In 1901 he founded the National Negro Business League focused on “commercial, agricultural, educational and industrial advancement.” Its work in both the heart of the South (where agriculture shaped Black life) and the North (where manufacturing was booming) brought Black laborers, entrepreneurs, professionals and farmers together in business.

In 1972, during his Theology of Time series, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad spoke to the need for unity between the poor and the professional class. At one point he described how he had been waiting for such professionals for 40 years. During that time he asked then-Minister of Temple #7 in New York City, Minister Louis Farrakhan to bring a group of professionals to Chicago in order to help the Nation of Islam improve the management of its business entities. With the help of Brother Larry 4X, now known as Abdul Akbar Muhammad, Minister Farrakhan hired six Eastern Airline jets, filled with members of the learned class, who paid their own way to come to Chicago for a meeting.

Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) market in Medina eventually was corrupted in the caliphate of Mu’awiyah. The National Negro Business League eventually ‘died’ and the 1972 effort initiated by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was only a ‘dry run’ as Minister Louis Farrakhan explains in Closing The Gap for something that would come decades later.

I have no knowledge of what message and guidance Allah (God) and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad will bless the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to deliver in February of 2014. I’m ignorant of that. But the setting of Detroit is now part of the context for that communication and therefore a vital part of understanding it. So, consider this succinct statement from Brother Jabril Muhammad in Is It Possible That The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Is Still Physically Alive???, “Among the main facts one should know about any communication, especially one of significance, whether it is spoken or written, are (1) the premise, (2) the intention, (3) the context. To put it another way, regardless to the means by which information is conveyed, or given, the more we know of the reason (the ‘why’ or the ‘motive’) for it and the circumstances involved in its production, the better we can understand and properly use the information presented to us.”

Scripture better than any other written source, provides insights, hints and nods regarding the premise, intention and context in the words and actions of Minister Farrakhan. Isaiah 61: 4 states, “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.”

Would Detroit qualify as a ‘waste city?’

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has referred to Tuskegee University as both a seminal fluid and manger.

Does the Nation of Islam holding its Day of Atonement and Saviours’ Day conventions back-to-back in these two cities signify a new stage in the building of an economy, inspired by God?

In the 1983 introduction of his previously mentioned book Jabril Muhammad writes, “Now, Moses’ life did not end when he went up in the mountain to meet God for the second time. After he came down and found the people involved in calf worship, he had to go back to God in order to get a second set of laws, which God gave him on his first trip. Nor did such trips end, as it was necessary for him to go up to meet God a third time. This third meeting has a profound bearing on very significant events that are happening now—which involve Minister Farrakhan—and that are yet to take place in these days of the establishment of God’s complete rule.”

From another perspective some scholars say Moses visited Jehovah at least 8 times. Exodus 24 and 25 pictures his seventh trip to the mountain where, after 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord tells Moses, “Speak to the children of Israel that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering.”

EconomicBlueprint.org

The contributions were to be used to make a sanctuary and tabernacle after a pattern which God gave to Moses.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote of his economic blueprint, “I have set before you a program, according to the Divine Supreme Being and his Prophets.”

Every time we make a contribution to economicblueprint.org, we participate in a divine work.

Now, just imagine what would happen if college students earning degrees in urban planning, economics, international studies, engineering and agriculture—at Tuskegee University—and elsewhere, began studying the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s vision for the cities of Phoenix and Chicago, outlined in his Theology of Time series and Muhammad Speaks newspaper.

More scripture – this has everything to do with Matthew 21.

(Brother Cedric Muhammad is an Economist and Member of the Nation of Islam’s Research Group.)

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