The Final Call

(CCW from left)Former NBA player Stephen Jackson and Student Min. Abdul Haleem Muhammad. | Rapper 2Chainz (left) and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. | Min. Farrakhan flanked by his son Student Supreme Captain Mustapha Farrakhan (right) and Abdul Wazir Muhammad. | Actor and activist Nick Cannon and Student Min. Abdul Malik Sayyid Muhammad. Photos: Haroon Rajaee

The commemoration of the coming of Master Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi and 90th anniversary of the Nation of Islam followed by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s global address hit home for many guests invited to hear him in person at his home July 4.

“We heard a message today from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that is universal in its impact, universal in its application to the state of affairs that we see as humanity in this hour,” said Rahman Sultan Muhammad, student national imam of the Nation of Islam and great-grandson of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Islamic movement.

“He identified our open enemies; he cleared his own recording, defending himself from false charges and anti-Semitism and all that his detractors have labeled him to be. It is the hour in itself that we are in that is also exonerating our Minister from false charges,” said Imam Sultan Muhammad.

“This is what I needed,” said Stephen Jackson Sr., former NBA player and good friend of the late George Floyd, whose death in police custody in Minneapolis sparked anger and outrage in the U.S. and abroad. “I came in about a week ago and had the chance to sit down with him and ask a lot of questions about being a leader in this new road that’s been bestowed upon me after my brother was murdered,” Mr. Jackson told The Final Call.

“I needed this. He answered a lot of questions and he is my teacher, he is my leader and I needed this to continue to keep this fight and to lead the right way,” he said.

Hip hop artist and actor Clifford “T.I.” Harris said he was honored to hear Min. Farrakhan’s powerful address, “The Criterion” in person.

“Every time I hear the Minister speak, he’s always extremely honest, poignant and his words [are] immensely powerful because of the honesty that he dares to speak from. I was honored to be here, I was completely honored by the invitation as I always am and the message was necessary,” he said.

Actor and rapper, T.I. (in yellow suit) with his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris surrounded by guests excited to have heard from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Photo: Haroon Rajaee

(L) Jay Electronica (R) Nick Cannon (left) being interviewed by Final Call managing editor, Starla Muhammad. Photos: Haroon Rajaee

His wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris agreed. “Well, this is my first time coming to one of his events and of course it was the most powerful thing that I really heard [in] a message from our people and I just really appreciate being here,” she said.

Hip-hop artist Jay Electronica said he was happy to be a part of such a historic event. “I’m just happy I’m alive at this time. I’m happy I’m alive during this time and I’m not just talking about the time of July 4, 2020, of just being this time that we’re living in. I could have been born at any time, I’m glad I’m here at this time and a part of this little 90-year-old Nation. So, praise be to Allah!” he told The Final Call.

Grammy-award winning recording artist Stephanie Mills said she was happy to have been a part of the 90th-anniversary of the Nation of Islam.

“I feel that everybody was in one tune about the flag, about being 90 years old. That is wonderful,” she told The Final Call. She said she was very excited to hear the Minister’s message to the world.

Dr. Abdullah Hasan-Pratt, an emergency medical resident at the University of Chicago said, “I think that the Minister’s address was right on time, I feel like he addressed every issue that the Black community has been hungering for and I think he gave a lot of direction to those of us who have been seeking a pathway for our people.”

Dr. Hasan-Pratt was most relieved to hear Min. Farrakhan give guidance regarding the Covid-19 pandemic during his address.

“Speaking as a physician who works, lives and who was raised in a community right on the South Side of Chicago, many of my patients ask about vaccines. They ask about coronavirus fears especially dealing with those who are more vulnerable and they ask about the violence. How do they reconcile all of those issues into action and I think that the Minister’s address touched on the violence, which is going to get worse—this is the 4th of July as we speak. I’m about to head back to the city and work a 12-hour shift primarily because anticipating that violence. But the Covid, we are all preparing for another round of that as well, as well as the international and bigger grand scheme of how we approach this virus going forward,” he continued.

“I think that we’ve got plenty of marching orders especially for those who fight on behalf of our Black and Brown communities,” added Dr. Hasan-Pratt.

Marcus Muhammad, mayor of Benton Harbor Michigan was also in attendance. “Given that it’s July the fourth which is a very serious and significant holiday and the most powerful nation in the world for the Nation of Islam to be right in the underbelly of writing our independence is a great historical marker given it’s the 90th anniversary,” he said.

(L-R): 2Chainz, T.I. and his wife Tameka Harris and Rick Ross after visiting the Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Michigan home for his July 4th address. Screenshot: Instagram

(L) Student Min. Nuri Muhammad (R) Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad Photos: Haroon Rajaee

“The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is a gift to the whole world and his message today, I believe will reflect the seeds for the Hereafter.”

Student Minister Abdul Rashidullah Muhammad of Mosque No. 26 in San Francisco said he felt overjoyed to hear what the Minister had to say.

“I feel overjoyed that our beloved and glorious Nation of Islam has stood the test of time, we have met and overcome all opposition to truth and now we have established Islam forever, never to fall again and that is a glorious thing, a blessed day because we’ve been led perfectly and so majestically by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan who by the guidance and will of God done something that has never been done before and that is to rebuild that which was destroyed by the United States government,” he said.

“He (Min. Farrakhan) has rebuilt the Nation and reestablished the name and the efficacy of the truth of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, not just as being alive but in his rightful position as Messiah and Exalted Christ,” added Student Min. Rashidullah Muhammad.

“Why do you want to speak to Farrakhan now? Why do you want to hear his guidance now? Because this is the hour that we have been warned of. It is beyond words to have had the privilege to be here in the garden of our Minister’s home where he addressed the entire planet. If we look deep within we can find a remedy to the ills of our hearts, to the disease of our hearts of vanity, of arrogance that will— Allah willing—help us to humble ourselves in such a moment on the hour that Allah has given us,” added Imam Sultan Muhammad.

“So, we thank Allah for this step toward His mercy and grace for Allah is, as our Minister has pointed out in the Holy Qur’an, that this pestilence is from heaven, so let us take this medicine, this heavenly chastisement as a moment of reflection and a moment of repentance.”