WEB POSTED 03-09-2000
70 year Commemorative of The Nation of Islam in North America

Mother Khadijah Farrakhan:
A beloved First Lady

It takes a special kind of woman to be the wife of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.  In fact, when Khadijah Farrakhan was  made they broke the mold.  She is often imitated but never duplicated.

She came to Islam with her husband, then Louis Eugene Walcott, in 1955.  She was Betsy Ross and they had only been married a brief two years.

As Minister Farrakhan enrolled in the Fruit of Islam , his wife also enrolled in the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class under the direction of Sister Captain Anna Lois Muhammad in New York City.

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The sisters in Mother Khadijah’s class would include many important figures such as Sister Betty Shabazz, the late wife of Malcolm X.

Mother Farrakhan, as she is often called, was an eager student and quickly rose to the top of her class.  She was trained by none other than the  Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Soon  Minister Farrakhan  was promoted to be the minister of Boston’s Temple No. 11.  Since they both had Boston backgrounds, they were right at home and worked tirelessly to build the New England area into one of the Nation of Islam’s key developments from 1956-1965.

In 1965, after Minister Farrakhan was promoted to the National Representative of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and relocated to Mosque No. 7 in New York City, this husband and wife team went to work immediately bettering the quality of life for New Yorkers from Harlem to New Rochelle.

Under the leadership of Sister Captain Aminah Rasul Muhammad and First Officer Medina Farrakhan, the former wife of the late Alvan Farrakhan, Minister Farrakhan’s older brother, New York City’s M.G.T. had one of the country’s largest assemblies of Muslim women in the United States. 

By 1975, she and her family relocated to Chicago. After Minister Farrakhan decided to rebuild the Nation of Islam under the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1977, she became the “new” Nation’s first treasurer and secretary when the couple opened their home to host “study group” meetings in Chicago.

She shared her skills in office systems and communications, particularly in developing the secretarial department, that invaluably helped launch many of the Nation of Islam’s programs and thrusts that have become so popular in mosques across the globe.

As Minister Farrakhan’s popularity grew, her responsibilities expanded to fund-raising, registration of new members, a free food distribution to homeless families, humanitarian aid for the flood victims in the south, heading Nation of Islam delegations overseas at the opening of mosques, schools, historic foreign policy missions in Africa, addressing the Million Woman March in 1996, receiving and hosting visiting First Ladies of African countries, and directly helping one of the century’s most important figures, her husband, Minister Louis Farrakhan.

At a Saviour’s Day Believer’s meeting, the Minister described her as “his best friend.”  Quite a compliment from one of the most revered men on the planet. That same love and affection that warms and comforts the Minister in his best and worst times is shared with all who meet her.

One of Mother Farrakhan’s special skills is sewing.  She started as a child and has been sewing ever since.  She is responsible for elevating the style of dress for Muslim women. She designed the military uniforms worn by the Vanguard class. this uniform has received world wide acclaim for its military look combined with its feminine appeal.

Her fashions have been featured in shows in America and Africa. Her designs have wide appeal that are adored by women everywhere and can be purchased from her own factory.

She is unlike any other and wears the crown of the First Lady of the Nation of Islam.
--Nisa Islam Muhammad