Honoring 'a recording angel:' Saying thanks for incredible service

By Richard B. Muhammad, Editor | Last updated: Jul 30, 2019 - 9:41:57 AM

Abdul Akbar Muhammad and Min. Farrakhan at July 27 tribute dinner.

O’FALLEN, Ill.—The evening was devoted to a beautiful man and his beautiful work that has affected people on at least two continents, several cities and decades in the movement for Black and Pan African progress and unity.

Abdul Akbar Muhammad, Muslim minister, teacher, entrepreneur, father, organizer, author, scholar and historian was recently honored during a special dinner here at the Regency Conference Center.

Muslims family and friends from St Louis and other parts of the country came out for an evening honoring Min. Abdul Akbar Muhammad.

Family members, Muslims, friends and comrades in the struggle shared how the man who joined the Nation of Islam in 1961 as Larry 4X grew to become “Brother Akbar,” whose name is an attribute of Allah (God) and means the “great.”

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, accompanied by his wife, Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, family members and some top aides, was sometimes emotional July 27 as he spoke of the contribution his brother, friend and comrade made to his life and success. Their party was among several hundred people who turned out for the tribute.

“Everybody needs somebody. Somebody that loves you literally unconditionally, because they see the value in you that you don’t see in yourself,” said the Minister as the evening’s honoree sat behind him on stage. Their relationship goes back to the 1960s in New York, where Min. Farrakhan headed historic Muhammad Mosque No. 7 after the defection of Malcolm X. The Harlem mosque enjoyed great success with businesses, schools, satellite mosques, events that drew thousands of people and the Minister wielded great influence.

Min. Ralph Muhammad gives the evening honoree an award made of crystal.

But, said Min. Farrakhan, New York could never have been as great as it was without Min. Akbar Muhammad working by his side and often in the background attending to details, organizing, monitoring activity and watching out for him and his family.

While blessed with great success and major accomplishments, the Minister said he was often “careless” in capturing or focusing on what he did. When it was done, it was over and I was looking for the next thing, Min. Farrakhan continued.

But, he said, Allah (God) blessed me with a “recording angel” in Min. Akbar Muhammad, who now serves as his international representative. Min. Akbar Muhammad kept diligent, copious notes about things I said and did, carefully documented events, keep copies of recordings I made and discarded, said Min. Farrakhan.

(L) James Mtume, (R) Mustapha Farrakhan and his wife, Karen, at tribute dinner.

He described his comrade as a man of “extreme value” and called a previous speaker’s comparison to Chou En-lai, a Chinese Communist revolutionary who served leader Mao Tse Tung, a “perfect” comparison. While Mao Tse Tung was the great visionary, Chou En-lai attended to the details to ensure that the ideas and ideals of the leader were protected and brought into reality.

“The way the God brought it to me, he put by my side a recording angel that I would never write about me because I never thought that I was that important. I lived my life in the shadow of greatness never ever believing that I was in fact great.

“But God put by my side a recording angel who saw value in me that I did not see in myself. So he recorded what I said, he recorded what I did,” said Min. Farrakhan.

When people see the principal figure in a movement, they too often focus on the principal but not the pillars that uphold the principal, said the Minister, who wept at times as he spoke. Min. Akbar Muhammad is one of those pillars.

“God made me for (the Honorable Elijah Muhammad) and he made Akbar for me,” said Min. Farrakhan, who gave his comrade the Islamic name as they were rebuilding the Nation of Islam, which started in the late 1970s.

And as the Minister traveled the country, his “friend,” was there as the advance team, as security, and as the one who introduced him to audiences—sometimes all in the same day. He would do the same on the international level as the Nation grew and progressed, serving as a point man and an ambassador for Min. Farrakhan and the Muslim movement.

It was Min. Akbar Muhammad who was always trying to help me fulfil a vision or even deal with personal matters, the Minister shared. The audience laughed when Min. Farrakhan relayed how he once told his comrade about a check the Hon. Elijah Muhammad had given him. Min. Farrakhan said he didn’t know what to do with the check, but Min. Akbar Muhammad was there to help. “Brother Minister, the interest you could have gotten!” Min. Farrakhan recalled his brother saying when told the check had sat in a drawer for four months.

Min. Farrakhan shared his happiness with the event and seeing Miriam Muhammad, Min. Akbar Muhammad’s wife of many years, and his children and family assembled.

The families of men like Brother Akbar Muhammad and myself suffer because we are gone on a mission and loved ones miss us, he said.

When sent to Ghana, Min. Akbar Muhammad accepted the mission and immersed himself in Africa and has a passion for the Motherland, said Min. Farrakhan. He lived in Accra, Ghana, for several years running a Nation of Islam Information Center, running a tourism business that brought thousands to Africa and building relationships in West Africa and on other parts of the continent.

Abdul Akbar Muhammad with his wife Nafisah and one of his children.

“Many of us do things out of vanity seeking some personal aggrandizement, Akbar was not like that for me and I was never like that for my teacher,” the Minister added.

“This is a great man,” Min. Farrakhan said. “I really thank Allah for you, Brother Akbar, and I realize how valuable you are to your Nation and our people.”

The legacy of Min. Akbar Muhammad will live on through the generations and no history can be written of me without writing about him, said Min. Farrakhan.

Min. Farrakhan was among speakers that night who paid homage to “Brother Akbar,” a father of 12 children, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Emceed by Min. Ralph Muhammad, of Mosque No. 28B, in East St. Louis, Ill., who with his wife, Pamela Muhammad, and Minister Donald and Helen Muhammad of Mosque No. 28 in St. Louis led the effort.

The children and family members of Min. Akbar Muhammad crowded the stage. His daughter Samimah Aziz shared how she and her eight sisters grew up under the guidance of their father, who taught them to be strong and independent women. All of them had jobs as their father pursued different businesses, whether a bookstore or making bean pies, and traveled, she said. When he returned the girls would rush to him, seeking to get the first kiss, and watch news programs with their father explaining what was really going on after the programs went off.

“We were curious and we were learning about the world from our dad,” she said.

His wife, Nafisah Muhammad, thanked her husband for making her compassionate, caring, loving, all characteristics she found in him—as she referred to him several times as “my dear.”

Alice Wyndon remarked at how special the occasion was for so many people to show up and there were others whose hearts were there. Min. Akbar Muhammad has done so many things that any one thing would be enough for a lifetime, she said. But, Ms. Wyndon, added, as a man who sponsored book fairs and brought authors into the city, the most important thing you have done is encourage our people to read.

Acolytes and those well-taught by Min. Akbar Muhammad were eager to share their stories of lessons learned from him. Min. Donald Muhammad shared how his mentor was often simply referred to as “Big Brother.” And, he said, from this man I learned how to run a mosque, how to conduct a press conference, was inspired to go into business and learned how to fill a stadium.

Anthony Muhammad, the Nation of Islam minister from Memphis, and Nisa Islam Muhammad shared how Min. Akbar Muhammad was instrumental in helping establish the annual Ramadan Prayer Line, which now touches thousands of people in 50 countries each year. The prayer line is now 10 years old.

It was also amazing that Min. Akbar Muhammad could come into your city, working in advance for Min. Farrakhan, and know more people than you did, added Anthony Muhammad as the audience laughed.

There were stories of how Min. Akbar Muhammad got things done by assigning the same task to multiple people and by teaching excuses were useless and a waste of time.

St. Louis was dead when Min. Akbar Muhammad came here, said activist Anthony Shahid, who counts himself among those trained by Min. Akbar Muhammad. But, he came with a “New York takeover and St. Louis makeover,” said Mr. Shahid. Within a month, Muhammad Ali and Min. Farrakhan had visited St. Louis and Min. Akbar Muhammad was shaking up the city, he said.

“The main thing you taught us was to love the brotherhood,” said Anthony Shahid.

“My heart and my spirit are soaring,” said music producer and performer James Mtume who came down to support his longtime friend. There is a difference between what appears to be leadership and what leadership really is, he said. Min. Akbar Muhammad and Min. Farrakhan represent real leadership, he added.

His son, Jihad, 22, thanked his father for his work, teaching and example, and for devoting his life to serious pursuits. He called his father a born leader and a born soldier. A rendition of “What A Difference A Day Makes” was delivered to her father by Ruqayyah Muhammad and the evening drew near closing with a song and words from Denise Thimes.

George Khladun, who met the evening’s honoree as a teenager in New York, shared how it was Min. Akbar Muhammad who taught him to sell the Muhammad Speaks newspaper, under the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. It was Mr. Khaldun who likened Min. Akbar Muhammad to Chou En-lai. And, he said, this man worked under Malcolm X, under Imam W.D. Mohammed after the departure of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and with Min. Farrakhan to rebuild the Nation. “We have a beautiful Nation of Islam with the love Akbar has for Islam and Black people,” he said.

A proclamation was presented from Mayor Ras Baraka in Newark and St. Louis alderman John Muhammad presented a proclamation declaring July 27 “Akbar Muhammad Day,” in St. Louis.

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