The Final Call

COMMENTARY

In Part 2 of his extraordinarily profound Saviours’ Day message, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan discussed the subject of “Jesus Is the Key.” This message is a message that is rich with wisdom, understanding and revelatory insight. And the areas of the message where the Minister boldly discussed his own life’s history that parallels with both Biblical and Quranic scripture deserves deeper study and acknowledgement by believers of all faith traditions.

Mural on wall at Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington D.C. Photo: Final Call Archives

“Messiah is the Hebrew word for ‘Anointed One.’ The equivalent word in Greek is Christos. In the Old Testament it was sometimes applied in a general sense to prophets or priests (Exodus 30:30), but more specifically it referred to the coming of one who would usher in a period of righteousness and conquer sin and evil (Daniel 9:26). In the New Testament the Evangelists made it clear that they knew Jesus was the long-anticipated Messiah (Acts 2:36; Matthew 16:17; Galatians 3:24-29).”

Jesus: Basis for Muslim – Christian Unity

Within the Christian and Muslim sacred texts —The New Testament and The Holy Qur’an-Jesus is the name of the Messiah. Both Christianity and Islam are in agreement on the fact that Jesus is worthy of respect, honor, and that all righteous people should emulate his sterling example of obedience to Allah (God).

The Jewish faith does not share this honor and respect for Jesus. While Jewish religious tradition maintains a belief in an expected Messiah, Jewish belief subscribes to the notion that the Messiah is yet to arrive. The New Testament famously documents that the historical Jesus’ most ardent foes were the Jewish leaders of his day—The Pharisees, Sadducees and The Scribes—who disagreed that he was the promised Messiah and as a result organized his crucifixion. Some of the New Testament scriptures that highlight Jesus as the Messiah include the following:

“But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” (Mark 14:61-62)

“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:25-26)

Characteristic ayats/verses that serve as samples of the Holy Qur’an’s high regard for Jesus the Messiah include the following:

“When the angels said: O Mary, surely Allah gives thee good news with a word from Him (of one) whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, worthy of regard in this world and the Hereafter, and of those who are drawn nigh (to Allah).” (Surah 3:45)

“And for their saying, ‘We did slay the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of ALLAH;’ whereas they slew him not, nor did they bring about his death upon the cross, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it; they have no certain knowledge thereof, but only pursue a conjecture; and they did not arrive at a certainty concerning it.” (Surah 4:157)

The Historical Jesus Was a Sign of The Messiah

According to the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the work of the Messiah was not completed 2,000 years ago by the “historical” Jesus. For certain, the man whose name was Isa in Arabic and Yeshua in Hebrew is the man commonly referred to in English as Jesus. And he was an important prophet of Allah (God). However, the work that is described as being done by the Messiah, was not done by that man. But that man’s name and life have been preserved in world history to serve as a sign of the Messiah. The Holy Qur’an states in Surah 23:50 the following: “And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign ...”.

Moreover, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote on September 21, 1957 in the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper that what is contained in the New Testament about Jesus the Messiah or Christ does not refer to the “historical Jesus.” He writes:

Nearly 75 percent is referring to a future Jesus, coming at the end of the White races’ time, to resurrect the mentally dead, lost members (so-called Negroes) of the Tribe of Shabazz.

And it might surprise many who don’t really examine religion from an academic or empirical perspective to learn that some of the most esteemed Biblical scholars in the world have done research and drawn conclusions that agree with the writings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. On March 4, 1991, The Los Angeles Times published the following:

The provocative Jesus Seminar on Sunday concluded six years of voting on what the Jesus of history most likely said, ruling out about 80% of words attributed to him in the Gospels and emerging with the picture of a prophet-sage who told parables and made pithy comments.

Modern Black Messiah to End Satan’s World

The fact that the world’s leading Biblical scholars have concluded that the historical Jesus did not perform 80 percent of what the New Testament attributes to be the actions and sayings of the Messiah has extraordinary implications!

It obviously and sadly makes clear the fact that the masses of the people don’t know the truth of Jesus and have been deceived about the true role and function of the Messiah. To this sad fact, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad noted the following on July 7, 1957 in the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper.

“I do believe that if my poor, blind, deaf and dumb people could be taught the true knowledge of the true history of Jesus, they would awaken at once.”

The awakening that the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad makes mention of is actually one of the most important events to take place at the end of this world and civilization; referred to in the scriptures as the “resurrection of the dead.” And it is the Messiah whom Allah (God) uses to bring about the resurrection. The Holy Qur’an makes mention of this in Surah 3:49 when it states:

“And (make him) a messenger to the Children of Israel (saying): I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I determine for you out of dust the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with Allah’s permission, and I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life with Allah’s permission; and I inform you of what you should eat and what you should store in your houses. Surely there is a sign in this for you, if you are believers.”

The Holy Qur’an also helps us to understand why the Messiah, while being loved by the poor and oppressed, is at the same time, hated and vehemently opposed by the wicked rulers of nations and societies. The Messiah’s role in “bringing the dead to life with Allah’s permission” is the major end-times event that is the Holy Qur’an’s signal indicator of the permanent doom and punishment of Satan. For the time provided to Satan/ Shaitan is called a respite, which is defined as “a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant; postpone (a sentence, obligation, etc.,)” and it is to only last until the day of the resurrection of the mentally and spiritually dead. This eschatological picture is discussed in the Holy Qur’an 7:14, 15:36, 17:62 and 38:79.

The Messiah then, according to scripture and the history of religions is to perform a work of resurrecting the mentally and spiritually dead, who have been rendered such as a result of the evil influence and teaching of Satan. Satan, according to the Book of Revelation 12:9 deceived the whole world, thus making mental death widespread.

In America, the divine work of the Messiah can be witnessed in the work of the Nation of Islam. J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI infamously documented within his nefarious counterintelligence memos that he wanted to prevent the rise of a messiah among Black people in America. And further research has revealed that he devoted most of his anti-Black Messiah resources (time, money, manpower and strategic focus) towards sabotaging the Nation of Islam and its divine leadership.

This suggests that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover understood the Black Man and Woman of America to be a people from whom the Messiah would be born. And he saw the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam as best fitting the description about the true role and function of the Messiah. So, like Pharaoh and Herod of the Bible, he sought to kill the Messiah before he could grow to fulfill his purpose of ending Satan’s world. In a future article, I hope to go further into the research that buttresses and supports Minister Farrakhan’s bold claims!

Read more from Demetric Muhammad, a Nation of Islam student minister based in Memphis and member of the NOI Research Group, at www.researchminister.com. Follow @brotherdemetric on Twitter.