'O Prophet, strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be firm against them.  And their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.'
�Holy Qur�an Surah 9, verse 73

The best defense against
the encroaching enemies
of God�s True Religion, which renders Submission to His Will, is through a careful analysis and application of Prophet Muhammad�s History and the Holy Qur�an, the character of which is one and the same, as the vehicle to express the Majesty of God�s Divine Unity and Divine Revelation to the Nations.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad stated that the root of Muhammad is the Holy Qur�an and the Holy Qur�an is the root of Muhammad. One of the Prophet�s wives, when asked about his character and morals replied that his morals are the Qur�an�we, too, who have studied the work and the Divine Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad can also bear witness that his guidance and instructions to us was to perfect our moral character and to respect and honor Allah�s Revelation to us in the Holy Qur�an.

In fact, he taught us that everything about ourselves can be found written in a book. We are now living in the end Time of the fulfillment of a cycle of Time which is both prophetic and decisive. When we think we are reading stories of the past behavior of peoples and nations, we are actually reading about ourselves.

The Holy Qur�an is such a Divine book which closes the gap on Time past, present and future in one great expression of Truth in the finality of our lives whether we lived yesterday or today, God�s Revelation never changes and binds us together as one.

When we are born in this life, we must struggle to overcome difficulties. This is expressed in the Arabic language in principle as "Jihad." This term also implies fighting in a figurative sense for Truth and Righteousness to manifest in our own lives and affect evolutionary change in our environment for good. According to the commentary of Maulana Muhammad Ali on the significance of this word, in footnote 1073, we read: "The correct rendering is that Jihad signifies striving, or exerting oneself, and there is nothing in the word to indicate that this striving is to be effected by the sword or by the tongue or by any other method."

In the recent Jet magazine issue, June 5, featuring the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, setting the record straight, we are examining the most noble example of the higher Principle of Jihad in our striving to overcome severe tests and trials that involve our defense against inner and exterior forces coming against the character and integrity of one�s being.

The Followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad were never taught to carry or bear arms, not even a pen knife; and it is a known fact that a careful search procedure of persons entering our facilities is carried out for such items as firearms, tobacco or other abusive substances before being allowed to enter our services�our defense has always been the total reliance on the Word of God as our only defense. But if we are attacked, our nature allows us the recourse of self-defense, there has never been the training among us of the use of carnal weapons due to our Faith in God to go into Battle for us as our greatest defense.

It was organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League that called for the death of Minister Farrakhan in the early 1980s after his defense of Jesse Jackson who ran for the elected office of President. Minister Farrakhan was never sought after all these years for complicity in the death of Malcolm X, why now?

Many Powerful lessons are to be learned from the study of the Battle of Uhud. We discussed some of the misfortunes experienced by the Prophet and his followers contingent to the Final Victory. We will note that the number 9 occurred in both areas of the misfortune which left the Prophet open to a direct attack and assault by the enemies who were looking for every possible moment to attack. Today with Minister Farrakhan the same condition prevails. Almighty Allah is separating the People in ranks of 3 Principle groups the Believers, Disbelievers and the Hypocrites. The Faithful await Allah�s Judgment in our Affairs. "There are grades with Allah. And Allah is Seer of what they do. Certainly Allah conferred a favour on the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His messages and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error. What! When a misfortune befell you, and you had inflicted twice as much, you say: Whence is this? Say: It is from yourselves. Surely Allah is Possessor of power over all things." �Holy Qur�an Surah 3, verses 162-164

To be continued.