THE SUPREME WISDOM - Volume 1
Solution to the so-called NEGROES’ Problem
By
Elijah Muhammad
(Messenger of Allah)
To the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in North America
Copyright 1957
Published by
Secretarius MEMPS Publications at Smashwords
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* * * * * * *
“Islam Means Freedom,
Justice and Equality”
- - Mr. Elijah Muhammad
Under the title "Mr. Muhammad Speaks", writings and teachings of Mr. Elijah Muhammad is printed weekly in the "Pittsburgh Courier", which claims to have a circulation of almost 200,000.
* * * * * * *
By Mr. Abdul Basil Naeem, Editor-Publisher, MOSLEM WORLD & THE U.S.A.
It is with pleasure that I am writing these few lines of Introduction of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, the author of this book.
Mr. Elijah Muhammad is the leader and spiritual head of several thousand Moslems in the United States of America, all of whom are of African descent and converts from Christianity.
While Mr. Elijah Muhammad's Moslem movement has no special name, its members are generally known as “The Temple of Islam" people, for that is what their house of worship and instruction is called: "The Temple of Islam." There are at present over twenty such temples in the U. S. A. — in the states of New York, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Ohio and in the District of Columbia.
Mr. Elijah Muhammad's movement is also known for its highly successful and smart business enterprises around the country, which include farms, apartment houses, restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries. A number of Mr. Elijah Muhammad's followers own and operate a variety of businesses, such as barber and shoe repair shops and dry cleaning plants.
In Mr. Elijah Muhammad's words, and as confirmed by many U. S. Moslem authorities, the Moslem movement of which he is the head is "the fastest growing Moslem religious body in North America." Dozens of men and women are said to join its ranks each month.
Mr. Elijah Muhammad is the only Moslem leader in this country I know of who is actively engaged through his writings (he writes a column each week in the "Pittsburgh Courier," which has a national circulation of nearly 200,000 copies per issue), Temples of Islam and its members, in seeking converts to Islam. Others, at least so it seems to me, are only interested in "defending" Islam or preaching "Moslem-Christian brotherhood." In the opinion of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, "this is no time to think of anyone other than our own, especially when the Holy Quran itself, in Chapter 5:14. speaks against friendship with Christians as well as Jews."
Mr. Elijah Muhammad, again, is the only Moslem leader in this country who has paid some attention to the educational problems of his people. (My friends might dispute this statement and say that I have done more in this respect. However, I cannot consider such an impression on the part or my friends to be entirely correct. I am, after all, only a writer and publisher, and not a leader of any Moslem group or movement.) The University of Islam in Chicago, which Mr. Elijah Muhammad founded a few years ago, and which now has more than two hundred students on its rolls, is an outstanding example of his accomplishments in this direction and an everlasting tribute to his leadership.
I am of course fully aware of the fact that some of the teachings of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, which have been included in this book, would not be acceptable to Moslems in the East without, perhaps, some sort of an explanation by the author or by someone who can interpret them well. The Moslem leader himself knows this, and he is perfectly frank about it. As he told me a few months ago, ''My brothers in the East were never subjected to conditions of slavery and systematic brainwashing by the slave-masters for as long a period of time as my people here were subjected. I cannot, therefore, blame them if they differ with me in certain interpretations of the Message of Islam. In fact, I do not expect them to understand some of the things I say unto my people here."
As far as I am concerned, I consider the differences between Islam of the East and teachings of Mr. Elijah Muhammad to be of relatively minor importance at this time, because these are not related to the SPIRIT of Islam, which, I am sure, is completely shared by all of us. A Moslem from Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran or Egypt only has to meet some of Mr. Elijah Muhammad's followers to be convinced of their love, utmost devotion and passion for all that is the true Islamic Spirit.
Not many of Mr. Elijah Muhammad's followers have had the opportunity to read and understand the Holy Quran or fully comprehend the concept of Moslem prayers, fasting, zakat (alms-giving) and the institution of hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). However, I am in a position to say, most authoritatively, that Moslems under the leadership of Mr. Muhammad have now BEGUN to make a serious study of Allah's Divine Word and to grasp its true meaning. Very soon, I can further state, they will also start receiving instruction in the daily prayers and other Islamic duties.
I know of what I have just said, in the preceding paragraph, because I am the humble individual through whom Mr. Elijah Muhammad's followers are obtaining their copies of the Holy Quran and other Islamic literature and I know that they have already acquired more copies of the Holy Quran than might be in the possession of all the other Moslems in the U.S. A.!
The Spirit of Islam, which prevails in the heart of each of Mr. Elijah Muhammad's followers, can also be judged by the attention that he or she pays to such important aspects of life as food and clothing. A follower of Mr. Elijah Muhammad will never eat outside of his home, except in a Moslem-owned restaurant. Members of the Temples of Islam never touch pork, ham, bacon, lard "or any other filth" forbidden by Allah. They do not take intoxicants of any type, and they do not even smoke. And most of them are known to eat but one meal a day!
As for clothing, men and women who are members of the Temples of Islam in the United States, wear only Moslem- style garb. The women are especially careful in the selection of their clothes. They do not permit themselves to be attracted by "the latest trends in fashion, which can only suit the beasts."
The followers of Islam under the guidance of Mr. Elijah Muhammad do not go dancing, dating or nightclubbing. Nor do they participate in or attend any other function or activity that is "unlawful in the eyes of Allah and Islam." Small wonder, then, that some of the Eastern Moslems in America who do not faithfully observe the Divine restrictions do not appreciate Mr. Elijah Muhammad's mission and achievements.
Despite Mr. Elijah Muhammad's "blunt techniques" and a few controversial teachings about certain aspects of Islam, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Moslem leader. I do indeed appreciate his efforts to bring the black people of America "back into the fold of Islam." which, in his opinion, as in mine, is the only solution to their basic problems. Islam alone, undoubtedly, will elevate the status of those among the so-called "Negroes" in America who are down - trodden and in a pitiable mental condition. I believe that the so- called "Negroes" need Allah and His Religion of Peace, Justice and Equality —Islam. Islam can and will give them a New Life and assurance of seeing the Hereafter.
Americans of African descent, I believe, should be grateful that the Message of Allah has, at last, been brought to them, through the person of the author of this book, Mr. Elijah Muhammad.
Abdul Basil Naeem
Servant of Islam: Editor-Publisher. MOSLEM WORLD & THE U.S.A.
475-A First Street
Brooklyn 15, NY
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By Mr. Malcolm X, Minister, Muhammad’s Temple No. 7
If TRANSFORMATION is the yard-stick by which the strength of religious Truth should be measured, let us examine and see what sort of change the Message of the Honorable ELIJAH MUHAMMAD has brought about in his followers during the short while he has been teaching here in America...and thereby judge him according to the RESULTS of his teachings among us.
Before hearing his soul-stirring Message, the religion that our Slave-master had brainwashed us with was one in which we served many idols and stayed bewildered and upset by a conglomeration of confusing doctrines. The Slave- master called our church the "NEGRO CHURCH,” to let the world know that "ours" was a church separate, distinct and apart from his own Christian Church which he had every intention of keeping Lily White. In fact, the Negro Church was just a futile attempt to imitate the white church of the Slave-master...even going so far as to parrot the Slave-master's lying doctrine that all black people were cursed by God to work for the white Christians. Our churches stayed torn apart by argument and jealousies of petty leaders who wanted power for themselves, and were therefore constantly creating "new denominations" and setting up factions of their own, that kept us confused and divided against each other. In fact, strangely enough, the unity of the Negro Churches (IN THE PAST) never constituted a threat to the Slave-master, but was a constant source of disunity AMONG US, and AGAINST US.
Furthermore, before receiving the Light of Islam from the Teachings of Messenger Muhammad, most of us were an illiterate and ignorant people who not only despised education and intelligence, but were even suspicious and wary of those of our own kind who had it. We had no knowledge of anything other than what the Slave-master taught us, and took everything he said just as though it was the gospel truth, without examining it and looking into it for ourselves, just because "HE" (the white Christian) said it. We knew nothing of our own glorious history, our religion, and our own God.
We even accepted all of the stereotyped doctrines the Slave-master taught us about ourselves, no matter how degrading it was. We didn't think our Christian Slave-master would purposely lie. In fact, many of us thought that white Christians could do no wrong and could speak no wrong. No wonder we were divided. No wonder we hated ourselves. We hated what we had been taught we were. We fought among ourselves at the slightest provocation, filling the hospitals and the cemeteries with our own kind, ... and at the very same time our own religious leaders were teaching us to love, be patient, understanding, forgiving (turn-the-other-cheek) TO THE CRUEL SLAVEMASTER. We were kind to OUR ENEMY, but viciously impatient and cruel toward ourselves.
As "Negro Christians" we idolized our Christian Slave-master, and lived for the day when his plurality (trinity) of white gods would allow us to mingle and mix up with them. We worshipped the false beauty of the Slave-master's leprous looking women. Our greatest desire was to have one of them even if it meant death. We regarded them with the utmost respect, courtesy and kindness, bowing and tipping our hats, showing our teeth. We perfected the art of humility and politeness for their sake, but at the same time we treated our own women as if they were mere animals, with no love, respect or protection, beating and abusing them even in public places, selling them from man to man, letting all other races (even the Slave- master) mix freely with them, having no regard whatsoever for their feelings, in public or in private.
No one had more "Christian Churches" than we; yet our morals were at their lowest. Bastard babies of all shades were in abundance, often carrying the mark of the Slave-master's adulterous blood (mail men, milk men, insurance men, and other bill collectors).
We were supposed to be a part of the "Christian Church" yet we lived in a bitter world of dejection, caused by our being rejected by the white Christian Church". In large numbers we became victims of drunkenness, drug addiction, reefer smoking, ... in a false and futile attempt to "escape" the reality and horrors of the shameful condition that the Slave-master's Christian religion had placed us in.
Loathsome diseases caused by too close a contact with the weak-blooded white race ran rampant through us.
Our economic plight was so pitiful, and our hope of sufficient FOOD, CLOTHING, and SHELTER was so remote that we turned to vices of the very lowest sort, to gambling and games of chance, hoping that just one "lucky number" would put us in reach of the necessities of life again for ourselves and our families. Yes, many of us who were even the "pillars of the church" were artful thieves, master liars and often the organizers of the very evils that were tearing our people apart.
Fear ruled us, but not fear of God. We had fear of the Slave-master. We had no knowledge of Truth and we were apparently afraid to let him see us advocating or practicing love and unity towards each other. We were not man enough to stand up and protect our own kind from the lyncher’s rope or from the Slave-master's acts of rape, but at the same time we would go around the world fighting others in behalf and in defense of our Slave-master.
Is it a wonder that the world laughed at us, ridiculed us and held us to scorn? We practiced love of others, while hating ourselves...patience with others and impatience with our own kind...unity with others and disunity with our own kind. We called ourselves "Negro Christians", yet we remained an ignorant, foolish people, despised and REJECTED by the white Christians. We were fools; ALL PRAISE IS DUE TO ALLAH, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Just as surely as seasons bring about changes in the Earth, today TIME is bringing about a CHANGE in our condition. An earthshaking REFORMATION is taking place among the so-called Negroes in America. Almighty God ALLAH has appeared in our midst and raised from among us a REFORMER in the person of the Honorable ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, the MESSENGER with a Message for us. His work among us has already produced results unequaled in history.
His Message shows us how the "Christianity" offered us by the Slave-master has failed to give us Freedom, Justice, and Equality ... How we yet are not treated as citizens in the governments of Christianity ... How it has neither enlightened nor elevated us. It has not succeeded in uniting us with love and Brotherhood.
The soul-stirring, life-giving Message of the Honorable ELIJAH MUHAMMAD is bringing us together today, and uniting us into a vast Brotherhood under ONE GOD ALLAH overnight. He has filled us with an unquenchable thirst for education, knowledge and wisdom. He has given us the desire not only to know ALLAH now, but also to be with Him in the hereafter. His Message of Truth has cured us of Drunkenness and dope addiction and other vices that were destroying our morals. He is teaching us the importance of respecting and protecting our women, and placing them on the highest pinnacle of civilization; giving them castles and treating them like Queen Mothers of civilization that they are. Among those of us who follow him, adultery and fornication has completely disappeared. Lying and stealing has been stamped out.
No more are we filled with fear of the Slave-master. We now have ONE GOD, ONE RELIGION, ONE LEADER and TEACHER. This ONENESS gives us a UNITY never before attained by any other people (in such a short period of time) in history.
On the following pages of this Book are portions of the MESSAGE being taught us by the Honorable ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. May Almighty ALLAH open your heart that you too may receive understanding and LIGHT from His Words...and become guided by His Light forever more.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter A
Chapter B
Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar and
Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and
Chapter C
Cause for the Nation of Islam to Rejoice
Chapter D
Chapter E
Enemy, There can be No Love for An
Chapter F
False Pride
Freedom and Justice, It's Natural to Love
Chapter G
Chapter H
Hereafter Will Be Like, What the
Hereafter is NOW, For My Followers
Hereafter Not a Life of Spirits
Chapter I
Islam and Nothing Else but Islam
Islam, Other Notable Aspects of
Islam Recognizes Equality of Brotherhood, Christianity Does Not
Islam--The Religion of All the Prophets
Islam The Religion of the Tribe of Shabazz
Islam
Alone can Unite the So-Called Negroes
Islam
is Ageless and Will Last Forever
Islam for All Mankind, Why Not?
Islam, White Race Will Never Accept
Islam Will Replace All Other Religions
Chapter J
Justice, It's Natural to Love Freedom and
Chapter K
Chapter K
Leave
Your False Pride Now and Accept Allah
Light
of Islam Will Shine Forever, The
Chapter M
Muslim Shall Speak Ill of Another, No
Muslim
Prayer Service Best Suits the So-Called Negroes
Muslim's
Prayer, Meaning of the Various "Steps" of
Muslim Prayer Service is Unequaled
Chapter N
Negroes Lack the Knowledge of Self, The So-Called
Negroes Must Work, The So-Called
Negroes
Mentioned in New Testament, The So Called
Negroes
are Good by Nature, The So Called
Negroes
are Sacred in the Eyes of Allah, The
Chapter O
One Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, The
One Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, Prophecy About The