Saviours In The Streets

By Leonard Muhammad | Last updated: May 15, 2019 - 8:53:46 AM

Photos by Andre 3X and Final X

If you’ve had the opportunity to attend a Nation of Islam weekend Saviours’ Day Convention, you understand the sensation of leaving the host city on that following Monday. It’s a bittersweet feeling as you leave Black Muslim Utopia and everywhere you look you see the brotherhood of the Fruit of Islam.

We all attempt to make that weekend feeling last as long as we can throughout the year until that utopian society is established permanently. This year, my efforts to capture that feeling and to make it last throughout the year were also influenced by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s command that his followers go into the streets with our people. He has instructed us to spread peace in the forgotten communities across America’s cities.

So, I developed a strategy to deploy the Fruit of Islam to inner cities across the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The FOI, the name given to the military training of the men who belong to Islam in North America, load up their cars and hit the highways. They gather in a designated city, meeting up with other FOI from nearby areas to go out into the community together. I reached out to specific brothers in mosques to be a part of our planning committee, and we got to work!

Our planning committee came up with the name “The Saviours’ Tour” because Minister Farrakhan said God would send saviours, plural, after His people. We aim to be amongst that number.

The committee held conference calls and spoke daily to plan the logistics of moving the brothers to the respective cities. Our primary goal was to make sure that the presence of the FOI and the Nation of Islam was felt in the streets. We wanted Black and Brown people to know Minister Farrakhan cares for them, loves them, and has a plan for them. We also wanted to build strong bonds amongst the FOI in different cities in regions.

The planning committee chose six locations for “The Saviours’ Tour.” Our first tour date was April 13 in Washington, D.C. FOI came from New York City, Newark, Plainfield, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Durham, N.C. Under the leadership of Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Captain Aaron Muhammad, and guided by the FOI officers in Washington, we went to underserved neighborhoods in the Southeast part of the city. Our people received us with love and gratitude!

We were joined by Student Regional Minister Abdul Khadir Muhammad who showed support for the initiative and soldiered alongside the men.

After the callout was complete, the brothers met back at Muhammad Mosque No. 4 in Southeast Washington, where Sister Student Regional Captain Saadiqa Muhammad and the MGT-GCC prepared dinner for the brothers. It was truly the bonding experience that we prayed and planned for it to be.

The next cities on our tour were Baltimore, where Student Captain Andrew Muhammad led the brothers to some of the most violent and crime riddled neighborhoods in America. We traveled to the intersection of North and Pennsylvania Avenues, where hundreds of community activists and leaders had gathered in honor of the slain Baltimorean Freddie Gray, who died after an encounter with the Baltimore City Police Department.

The tragedy has become a catalyst for unity as the Fruit of Islam in Baltimore has joined others in efforts to stop the killing in our neighborhoods. Because of the FOI’s efforts in that city, we were received with open arms, smiles, and in some cases, tears from those overwhelmed with joy and relief.

After our work in the community, the FOI reported back to the mosque to build comradery over food prepared by the MGT-GCC and a friendly but intense military drill elimination competition.

Our efforts have been cheered and encouraged by long standing helpers and laborers of Minister Farrakhan. We received brilliant counsel from Student Regional Ministers Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad of Atlanta, Abdul Malik Muhammad of Los Angeles, and Abdul Khadir Muhammad of Washington D.C. We went to longtime Student Minister Jamil Muhammad for advice, and he contributed as well.

The brothers were even encouraged to keep pushing by Nation of Islam Student Supreme Captain Mustapha Farrakhan.

Next, The Saviours’ Tour, God Willing, will bring the mighty FOI together in Philadelphia on May 11. This will be a tribute to Minister on the anniversary of his birth. Get ready! The Brothers are on the way, and we are thankful!

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