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What makes an effective student?

By Jabril Muhammad | Last updated: Nov 13, 2019 - 10:23:05 AM

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[This is a reprint and was published online April 3, 2006.]

Revelation 16:17 reads: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’”

Revelation 21:6, 7 reads: “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.’ He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Near to the end of his work with the early Christians, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Is there a connection between these prophetic words and acts? Do they bear on our lives and the lives of our loved ones right now? Yes. Yes.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught that the White race has mixed up what the prophets of God brought so much that they lost the knowledge of its truths. They entangled the scriptures so thoroughly that only God Himself could untangle them and He gave their secrets to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Messiah, as a major part of his divine education.

Minister Farrakhan—the best in the class of the Messiah’s students—was divinely anointed and backed to present the scriptures’ truths clearly to us today.

It’s written in the scriptures that Aaron was divinely anointed with the oil of divine wisdom. Aaron was a sign of Minister Farrakhan, who has further lit up this world with divine understanding. Take it or leave it!

The above scriptures were written long, long before the events of today.

The work of the seventh angel is among the most serious phases of the overall judgment of this evil world by Almighty God Allah, about which the Honorable Elijah Muhammad warned us and then continued to warn us through the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan for decades.

These seven angels, or men, are mentioned in Revelation 15:1, which reads: “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.”

Under the Authority of Master Fard Muhammad, they have already conferred in person with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. There is vast Power behind Minister Farrakhan.

Revelation 16:1 reads: “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.’ ”

As Minister Farrakhan has clearly stated, continue watching the weather, the insects, the sun, the droughts, huge hail stones and other weapons that one of the prophets called the “arrows” of God.

***

Circumstances force me here to make a change in what may appear for the next few articles. By Allah’s help, I’ll return to what I am working on later. For now, let’s start by going back nearly six years to the following interview I conducted of Minister Farrakhan.

Brother Minister Jabril Muhammad:

This is Memorial Day, May 30, 2000. It’s a Monday. This is the start of “Closing the Gap, Part Two.

Minister Farrakhan, I came by your home, a couple of nights ago and when I came into the living room, you were there with Sister Ayke Agus, Sister Saffiyyah and your daughter, Sister Fatimah. You all didn’t see me slip in and I just sat quietly. I watched with rapt attention. I witnessed a learning experience, with you as the student and her as the teacher.

I don’t recall all the things that were said. Much of the musical language went over my head. But I was profoundly impressed. I couldn’t stop smiling at what I saw.

When there was a break and you stood up and saw me, you smiled. I was already smiling because of what I saw. An article, or a series of articles, were forming in my mind: “Farrakhan:” in this case, “The student,” or “Farrakhan: The Model Student.”

At one point, Sister Ayke Agus spoke of you as a “fast learner.” So, Brother Minister, what makes for an effective student?

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan:

I would say that the first thing is the desire to know what one does not know. Then, the humbleness of heart and mind to accept instruction and, more importantly, to accept critical analysis of whatever the person (student) is doing and desires to improve in, that he or she (student) may move a step closer to perfection.

The student must also have the ability to focus; to concentrate on the teacher or the lesson that the teacher is giving. Next, the student must be willing to practice in order to perfect what he or she desires to do. And lastly, there must be a willingness on the part of the student to sacrifice time, in order to give to the endeavor the requisite time and effort to improve and grow or develop the technical skill necessary to become proficient in that endeavor.

Brother Jabril:

How important are the qualities of humility and patience in relation to the quality and the speed of a student’s learning?

Minister Farrakhan:

Humility is the greatest of the characteristics of any student. One may have the desire, but the desire will soon dissipate if the student is not humble enough to recognize his or her need for more and more instruction in that in which the student intends to perfect or prosper.

Jesus said, “Except you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Children are born with a nature of curiosity and it is this curious nature of the child that makes it humble toward instruction.

So, this is a principle that is seen in everything, pertaining to being an effective student.

The hardest person to teach, as I heard the Honorable Elijah Muhammad say, is the one who thinks he or she already knows. That person uses what they think they know to argue against what they’re being taught. As a result, they don’t accept instruction. Their desire to improve begins to dissipate and weaken, and then the will to become what they thought they wanted to become is broken, and the person loses out and does not wish to continue in that pursuit any longer.

I’ll close this by saying, so many people that I have met in my short life on this planet want to become great, but they lack the will to sacrifice and to be patient with themselves as they practice that which would give them skill in their chosen endeavor.

A lack of humility also makes you impatient. Impatience means you want to get there and you don’t wish to take the necessary steps to get there. You want to rush, and so you end up breaking your neck.

Brother Jabril:

We’ve all heard the old expression, that to be a good leader, you must first become a good follower. But some have stated this expression this way: that to be a good teacher, you must first become a good student.

So, how important is the relationship between being a good student, first, and an effective teacher later on?

More, next issue, Allah willing.