The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Photo: Kenneth Muhammad

The huge crowds that President-Elect Barack Obama has gathered, wherever he has spoken, have never been seen before in any political arena. The only politician, to my knowledge, that came close to having this affect on people was Senator Robert Kennedy in his bid to become president of the United States. From what we saw on the night that Mr. Obama was confirmed as the president-elect, the faces that we saw in Grant Park, in Harlem, at the White House, in different parts of the world, they all reflected that same spirit of incredible joy.

With what we have suffered as a people, it was for many, if not all Black people, a confirmation that God has not forsaken us. And even though we have been the last hired and the first fired, and on the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder; and even though we suffer from many, many maladies that literally are destroying us as a people, President-Elect Barack Obama’s meteoric rise is a phenomenon of huge proportions that people who are political, spiritual, scientists of religion and otherwise should attempt to analyze. And from our perspective as followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, we should attempt to analyze this historic event from the point of view of God.

The Spirit of God was present

What I saw in the faces of all those who were present at Grant Park here in Chicago, and in other places around the nation and the world, was a oneness of spirit that I, personally, had neither seen nor felt since the Million Man March. This meant to me that as The Spirit of God was present when nearly two million Black men entered Washington D.C., and many thought we would be there to act foolish; but the spirit that was on that mall on that day told us that God was present. This meant to me that the Spirit of God was present on that night in Grant Park. And wherever people of all races and ethnicities, religions, political affiliations were present, there was that oneness of spirit.

Even before Senator Obama became president-elect, his campaign had unleashed a spirit that brought more hope to the breasts of Black, Brown, Asian, poor Whites and others, and young people—particularly young people—than I had ever witnessed.

This hope did not come in a vacuum. This desire for change is a desire that has intensified in America and throughout the world because of the failure of governments to adequately address the needs of the people under their rule. And this is why the theme of change resonated so strongly in the people of America; and it resonates strongly in people all over the world, because no government, no ruler, enjoys a rulership where the people are completely satisfied.

So who is this young man?

How should Barack Obama be handled in light of his historic victory; and in light of the fact that across all spectrums of this society, he was successful in gaining their support?

But even with this remarkable event, the country still remains divided and polarized. President-Elect Obama won with 65 million votes—eight million votes over his opponent, Senator John McCain, who earned the votes of 57 million Americans. Many of the voters that voted for Senator McCain were older Americans, and most reside below the Mason-Dixon Line where racial attitudes and traditions die hard. How do we read that? What does that mean?

We can change laws, but it’s difficult to change attitudes. That takes time. And while we, as a people, would love to see that kind of change, we have to be the contributors to produce a change in attitude with those among those who have been our former slave-masters, and their children.

There is intense emotion that has built up on both sides—emotion for, and emotion against. And even though Senator McCain’s concession speech, in my judgment, was one of the finest I had heard him make, it was not enough to relieve the pain of loss and frustration and disappointment to those who felt great pain at Mr. Obama’s rise, which makes the difficulty of uniting the country even more so.

The pollsters should be going out now to see how deep the division is, and to see what steps can be taken to heal the disappointed pastors, politicians, business people and school teachers, to help make a smooth transition.

The capacity to handle the burden

There has never been a warner or prophet from God who came into a society and wanted that society to feel the Wrath of God. Every prophet preached hoping that the people would turn from a way that was not good that they might benefit from the blessing of God.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was such a man in our midst. He’s a Warner from God, but it wasn’t in his heart to hope that America would fall; that America would reap a terrible judgment from God. He kept warning America that her mistreatment of the poor, pitiful Black man and woman was a cause for God’s displeasure; and that unjust policies of the government of the United States that made people across the earth hurt, to America’s benefit, is what is causing, of course, the Judgment of God—but also the anger of the people of the world.

This is why today, President-Elect Obama is receiving congratulatory telegrams from all over the world, because America affects the whole world. And what is happening to America in the downturn of her economy is affecting the economies of the whole world. So President-Elect Obama’s rise has not only given hope to us, but it has given hope to the world who is wondering: Can this young man actually bring about the change that he said he would attempt to bring about?

There is a verse in the Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2 (verse 286) that says, “Allah never imposes on any soul a burden beyond its scope.”

The definition of the word “scope” means “the extent of someone’s mental capacity.” Since everyone on the earth—most everyone—has some religious persuasion or some belief in the Almighty, then the question for America and the world to ask and answer is: “Was God involved in this young man’s victory?”

Because if God is involved, and He is, then it is God that has laid on this young man this horrible burden at the worst time in the history of America and the world. But it is also God that has given this young man this tremendous mental capacity to handle what God has put on his shoulders.

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What is the burden that God has laid on this young man? Especially now that we believe God has blessed him with the mental capacity to handle it? We have to determine, now, what time are we living in; and what is the demand of the time, because that sets the agenda.

The religious scientists of America and the world should study the teachings of the prophets. And just as Billy Graham and other religious leaders have been there for many, many presidents to sit with them; to give them the benefit of spiritual guidance based on their understanding of the prophet’s predictions of the hour, religious scientists should be available for Mr. Obama.

And Brother Barack, I humbly, respectfully say to you: With the condition that America and the world is in, you will never be able to turn it around without the help of God and people of good will.

America is at the bar of judgment

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has taught us that we are living in the Time of The Judgment of this present world. The things that are going on should make the most ill-informed of us see the various weather calamities, the fall of the dollar and the collapse of the economy. If you can see the things that are happening, that should tell you that something of great magnitude is happening that the scholars and scientists of knowledge of this world have no solution for.

God has touched the wealth of America, as it is prophesied. This has sent the whole world spiraling downward because the whole world is connected to the economic policies of America.

China and Japan are making an effort to extricate themselves from being tied to the dollar because America’s fiscal policies have hurt the entire world. China’s economic growth is 10 percent, while America’s annual growth is 2.2 percent. Japan’s economy is strong, and China and Japan have become the two richest nations on Earth. And America, now, is really, really poor.

America is trying to keep up the image of her former greatness in the world, but she has to borrow and borrow and borrow, and that has made the future of America’s children very bleak unless God will help Barack Obama; and the scholars and scientists who are not tied to unjust policies will help Barack Obama turn a negative into a positive.

I heard Lou Dobbs, the independent commentator on CNN say, “America is tanking.” Others are saying it in other terms, that the country is in a “free fall”—these are scientists of money that are saying that the economy of the United States is going to collapse, putting America into great straits. They’re saying that if the economy of America collapses, then people will be in the streets fighting for bread. This is not an hour that we should just rejoice. This is an hour that we should be very, very thoughtful, reflective and prayerful.

Do not hamstring the she-camel

If God has given this young man, Barack Obama, to us as a mercy; to give America a chance to change and to produce change in the world that the least of us can have some benefit for their lives, then I give you this history in the 7th Surah of the Qur’an, of the people of Thamud, who had a prophet named Salih.

This Prophet, Salih, told the people of Thamud to worship God and set up no rival or partner with God, but there was a she-camel. And part of the warning of the prophet to the people was “Do not hamstring the she-camel.” After you cut the hamstring of the camel, you might as well kill it; it is not of any value because it cannot go across the desert.

The camel is an animal that can get you across the fierceness of the desert. It is made to get its rider through dust storms. It is made to get the rider through miles and miles of desert. So God asked the people “Do not hamstring the camel,” and He left it as a sign. A “sign” is not the real thing, but it’s pointing to something that is real.

Why is this camel a sign? This young man, Barack Obama, has a journey to make. He is equipped to make the journey. He has the mental capacity to be successful, with God’s help. Well, the people say, “He doesn’t have experience.” As I said in my Saviours’ Day speech, there is no such thing as experience. If something is falling from a mountaintop, what experience does anyone have to check the fall of a falling object, falling from a great height? There is no one in America that has that kind of experience, so it is not experience that he needs.

The Bible teaches, “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” and that young man is a visionary. And that is what America needs more so than experience: America needs vision.

Barack Obama has touched something very deep in the people because he’s more than a politician—he is a mercy from God out of those that have been despised and rejected. He comes from the two people, Black and White, and he has said of his DNA that he feels he is born to bring the two people together.

My counsel to you is this: Please, don’t cut the hamstring, because when you cut the hamstring, you destroy or hinder the efficiency of; you frustrate; you restrict the activity or free movement of; you chain; you fetter; you hamper; you handcuff; you hobble; you leash; you manacle; you shackle. You make it impossible for him to do what God has raised him to do!

If Congress tries to hamstring him because of his vision for change, and if the Whites in America don’t understand that Barack Obama is mercy, not only for us, but for them and for their children, and for their children’s children; and if we hurt this young man and keep him from doing what is in his heart to do, then as the hamstringing of the she-camel in the days of Salih and the people of Thamud brought about the terrible chastisement of God, we will bring on ourselves a chastisement from God the like of which has never been seen before in any nation that God has chastised.

My plea is this: Please, don’t hamstring the she-camel. Don’t harm this young man.

How can we help him?

To Black people in America: Is the Civil Rights Movement irrelevant now that this historic election has taken place? Is there no more need for Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton; the NAACP; the Urban League, and other civil rights activist organizations that are working on problems that directly affect the quality of life of Black, Brown, the poor and the Native Americans?

Does this mean that Farrakhan has run his course and the Nation of Islam is irrevelant now? No.

As long as there is injustice in any shape, form, or fashion that hinders the growth and development of any people that are apart of the fabric of America, there will always be a need for a Reverend Jackson, a Reverend Sharpton, the NAACP, the Urban League and activist organizations that work for change, whether it’s in the medical field or in the social field, in curbing the violence that exists in our community. They are not irrelevant.

Now, I don’t think I am irrelevant because I come from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and he is a Warner. He is like a watchman on the wall, watching for the evils that ill-affect a people in whom God is interested. I have to continue to warn and guide.

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I want to say to the pastors who may be listening; the Black pastors: You must not stop your prophetic role to say to the politicians “Thus sayeth the Lord,” in order to seek favor with anyone, because your favor with the world may make you and me and us disfavored with God. All of us as spiritual teachers have a duty as a watchman on the wall because we do not want to see the nation fall.

Now, there are 37 million poor people in America, and Black people are a little over a third of those. How can we be from God and not consider the least of these? How could we say we are true Christians or true Muslims, or really true believers in a Superior Power, and not consider the least of these? And as long as these problems exist, we have a duty to make our voices heard.

Do you know that Barack Obama is more powerful than any president that has ever come to power in the last century or so? Do you know what makes him that way? Most presidents are bought before they get to office.

But here’s a man unlike any! He tapped the Internet, and he had some good people around him; helping him to raise more money than any presidential candidate in history. And he did not get most of it from special interests. He got it from middle class and poor people.

Now the pundits are in agreement that Barack Obama was not running a campaign, but was absolutely building a movement. And Mr. Obama said, “We are at the dawn of change.” He said, “This is not the change because you elected me—it’s not about me—it’s about you, and the work that has to be done by all of us.”

If that brother, and the movement he leads, can produce a change in this society that will make men more free, more justified, more equal, why would anybody want to fight him?

Suffice it to say, this man not only needs our protection, and Divine Protection, he needs every one of us, especially the 65 million people that voted for him, to ask the question: What can I do to make him a successful president of the United States of America? Remember, he comes from us, but he’s the American president.

Be qualified to fit in

Here’s a man that says he wants to create five million jobs in his effort to make the economy of America a “green economy,” and to get her away from dependence on foreign energy sources. He’s doing that for all Americans that are out of work! But each American has to be qualified to fit in that job category.

Tell me this: How can we qualify to fit into what he intends to do for America if we are not properly educated? Let’s deal with us, because somebody has to talk to us on real terms; not out of anger, but out of pure love for you! Even if he creates the atmosphere and opportunities, can we measure up? Well, you say, “Yes! Yes we can!” But that must not be a mantra and a slogan; because we can, but that means that every one of us has to accept a real responsibility to rise up with him and qualify ourselves for whatever position may be awaiting us, either that he makes or we make for ourselves!

All of us have been risen by his rise. Boy, that’s something. These young brothers and sisters have a new sense of hope that we must not let die. It is not for Mr. Obama to do the job for us; it is for all of us—the teachers, the preachers, the civic leaders, the Black organizations that were set up to advance us as a people—now we must shoulder the burden and the responsibility of raising our people up and qualifying our people to take their proper and rightful place in the world!

We have to double our effort to get our people ready for whatever opportunity can be provided for all Americans to benefit from—and not look for special favors. We have to measure up, we have to qualify, we have to make the schools better; and whatever we can do to make our children competitive in a global economy, we have to do that. That is our responsibility.

The universities and colleges that we attend must equip us with the knowledge to fit into that which is demanded of us. Don’t go to school taking these little silly courses that give you a degree so you can get out and do nothing! Play basketball and do nothing! Play football and do nothing! You must equip yourself with the essential civilization-building skills!

The Bible teaches, “And they will rebuild the wasted cities.” Well, how are you going to rebuild the inner cities of America without knowing how to build? Who is going to take that responsibility on to teach our young people how to build; how to be responsible? That’s our job.

What is needed is not somebody giving us a check for $20,000 that you’re going to throw away in 20 minutes. I know money would help, but to give people money who do not know the proper use of money would be wasteful, and America has no money to waste. But it is the transfer of knowledge and land into our hands that will allow us to make money, create business, give jobs to ourselves and our people to satisfy our needs and our wants.

Knowledge is here: We need it! We deserve it! We should seek it! And if we seek, we will find.

The Mission God gave to

the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

It is written in the Qur’an that Allah (God) made a covenant through the prophets. He made an agreement with all of the prophets, and that means He made it with every prophet that He sent in any part of the world. And He made it with them through the people, as well.

Allah (God) says in the Holy Qur’an, “Certainly what I have given you”—God talking to the prophets—“a book and wisdom. Then a Messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you. You shall believe in him and you shall aid him.”

Allah (God) said to the prophets, “Do you affirm and accept my compact in this matter?” And they said, “We affirm.” He said, “Then bear witness for I, too, am of the bearers of witness with you, and whoever then turns back after this, these are the transgressors.”

What is it saying? This Messenger that is found in the Torah and the Gospel; when he comes he verifies that which all the prophets have received. So Jews have messengers; Christians have prophets, messengers; Muslims, the Eastern world, has had their prophet. So every one of them have been touched, that when that One comes, who is found written in the Torah and the Gospel, you should aid him.

All along I have been saying that Barack Obama needs our help, but what I didn’t say was that Black people in America are not just America’s problem. They are the world’s problem, because the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said no problem of the world would be solved until the problem of Black people in America, who were destroyed by slavery and injustice, has been properly redressed!

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was given the wisdom to address a problem. Yes, White people set us free, but they never gave us the tools to go with and make a free and independent people! So, 150 years after we have been set free we are still dependent on others to do for us what we should have been qualified to do for ourselves. Now, that’s a problem.

We have been trained in self-hatred! We are not proud to be who we are; and that self-hatred has caused us to turn in on one another like it never was during the darkest days of slavery! That is a problem. Walk the streets of the Black community and see the problem that slavery and injustice has created!

So I today, representing that One that is found in the Torah and the Injil (Gospel) and the Qur’an, I am asking for the help that I deserve from the world to help my people get up out of this condition!

Thank you for reading these words, and may Allah bless you as I greet you in peace: As-Salaam Alaikum!