Finding A Way Home

By Azizah Muhammad | Last updated: Jul 18, 2019 - 12:06:14 PM

(L-R) Azizah Muhammad, Safiyah Muhammad, Barakah Muhammad and Aliyyah Muhammad at Saviours’ Day MGT Graduation 2019.

Why a mother and three daughters joined the Nation of Islam

My mother, sisters, and I are four women who have been on various journeys throughout our lives. We do not travel on the same roads, but the navigation of Allah’s (God’s) compass often guides us on different routes to the same destination. In the spring of 2018, we stepped foot on a pathway that showed us divine beauty as we’ve never seen it before.

The journey began with my mother. In September 2017, a young girl was found dead in a Chicago hotel. The teenager had supposedly stumbled to her own death by walking herself into a hotel’s walk-in freezer. My mother’s heart was so connected to this story that she couldn’t go a day without searching the internet for various updates. She felt like there was a piece of valuable information that she desperately needed to know, and she did not stop searching until she found out what that information was.

Throughout my mother’s daily internet search of the case, she came across a video of a man who courageously voiced, not his opinions or emotions, but proven facts about the young girl’s case, organ trafficking, and the fight for justice. My mother was so impressed by this man’s honesty and knowledge of social subjects. She soon discovered that he was a Muslim in the Nation of Islam.

In 1984, my mother met my father, got married, and began following Orthodox Islam.

She did not know much about the Nation of Islam when following the case of the death of the young woman and deciding to learn more about it. As my mother began listening to lectures by Minister Louis Farrakhan, my sisters and I noticed a newfound brightness in her face. It was as if God had come to visit her, turning the knob on all the doors that were once closed, and I could tell she welcomed Him in by the smile I witnessed on her face and the love that lingered in her voice. The Teachings of Elijah Muhammad were bringing light and life to her existence, and my sisters and I watched in wonderment.

I wanted to know where the brightness was coming from, so I decided to do my own research. As a follower of Orthodox Islam, there were some aspects of the Teachings of Elijah Muhammad that I had yet to understand, like the belief that resurrection is mental and not physical. But I was determined to find answers. I found an audio reading of “Message to the Blackman in America” by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. While listening to the audio, truth penetrated my ears and my mouth fell open from its impact. The words of Elijah Muhammad were so simple and direct, yet overwhelmingly magnetic. Shortly afterward, I read “Our Saviour Has Arrived” and my heart arrived at a place of peace. I finally began to understand why my mother was so intrigued by the Nation of Islam. The words of Elijah Muhammad gave her life, and she was passing that life down to my sisters and me.

My sisters and I were neither forced nor interested in following the footsteps of our mother without doing our individual research. At different stages, we all said, “the Nation of Islam is appealing to our mother, but that does not mean we have to feel the same appeal.” However, the conversations within our household began to significantly shift and we started having serious dialogues and discoveries about things we once did not know or pay attention to, such as the root cause of issues surrounding Black communities and how God came in the form of a man. Our questions always led to detailed, undeniable answers.

My older sister, Aliyyah, is a curious person and a natural researcher. The world we live in did not make sense to her. She had often felt like something wasn’t adding up, as if some of the puzzle pieces were put out on the table while the others were hidden away. What caught her attention about the Nation of Islam is that she felt it put all the puzzle pieces together, not leaving out a single one. As Aliyyah looked into the teachings, she regained her sight. As for my little sister, Barakah, the Nation of Islam gave her a sense of security. As a young girl she experienced brutal bullying and racism at the private school we attended. A lot of her self-esteem had been chipped away, but the Teachings of Elijah Muhammad gave her an understanding of her own identity. Barakah was offered Knowledge of Self.

For my mother, sisters, and me, the Nation of Islam has been the key to a home we never imagined having the honor of dwelling in. We bear witness to its life-changing greatness. As newly registered Muslims in the Nation of Islam, all four of us have found exactly where we belong.

Azizah Muhammad lives in Stone Mountain, Ga., and attends Muhammad Mosque No.15 in Atlanta.

The Final Call