'The Time and What Must Be Done' 2013 Lecture Series, Part 5
BY THE HONORABLE MINISTER LOUIS FARRAKHAN | LAST UPDATED: FEB 12, 2013 - 12:54:53 PM
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[Editor’s note: The following article contains a distillation of the hour-long message delivered by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s as Part 5 of his 52-week Lecture Series “The Time and What Must Be Done.” This message originally aired on Saturday, February 9, 2013. Click here to order this message in its entirety on MP3, DVD and CD, please call 1.866.602.1230, ext. 200, or visit store.finalcall.com.
In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
Greetings to you. I am Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Great Preacher of Freedom, Justice and Equality to the Black People of America and the Western Hemisphere, and to all Oppressed People on our planet. He’s also a Warner to the American government and people, and a Warner to The Nations of the Earth.
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This man, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, is The Eternal Leader of The Nation of Islam.
I am so happy and thankful once again to have this privilege of talking to you, the American people, Black people, people throughout our planet, by radio and television and social media, on a most important subject that was given to us by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and that subject will be our subject for the rest of the year 2013. That subject is titled: “The Time and What Must Be Done.”
‘The Eternal Guide’ leading us towards ‘The Eternal Door’ to Allah (God)
To qualify “the person” who is giving us the Knowledge of “The Time,” and why we should listen to such a man, we have said of him that he is “The Eternal Leader of The Nation of Islam.”
Well, what do we mean by “Eternal Leader”? There is a prophecy in both the Bible and Qur’an, of a man in the Bible called “Jesus,” and a man in the Holy Qur’an called “Muhammad.” Jesus would be “The Eternal Guide” to his Father, The God of Creation; and Muhammad ibn Abdullah, according to the Islamic scholars, would be this “Eternal Door” to Allah.
We are saying to the world that the “Jesus” of 2,000 years ago was a “prophet,” not “The Messiah” that was prophesied to come at the end of the present world. We are also saying that Muhammad ibn Abdullah was a “prophet,” again—but a sign, as Jesus of 2,000 years ago was, of One that would come at the end of this present world. That is why we believe in Abraham and all of the Israelite prophets, and we believe in Jesus, The Prophet. And we believe in Muhammad, The Prophet: “The First” and, “The Last.”
Why do we say “The Last”? Because Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was that “sign” of that Last One Who would come and fulfill everything that the former prophets foretold. And in that Last One fulfilling everything that the former prophets prophesied, He would 1) “seal them,” asprophets put a “stamp of approval” on their Prophethood and their Messengership; and, 2) “seal up the Book,” which means that there would never again be a need for a “prophet” or a “messenger,” but this would usher in “The Coming of God”—The Great Mahdi, Who would bring in an Eternal Government of Peace, Freedom, Justice and Equality.
The “ushering in” of this “Eternal Government of Peace, Freedom, Justice and Equality” is The Role of The Mahdi, and this is The Role of The Messiah. And so we say that Elijah Muhammad is The Eternal Leader of The Nation of Islam because the scripture teaches in the Book of Isaiah,Chapter 9, verses 6-7:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…”
For what purpose is ‘a child born’ and ‘a son to be given’?
What do we mean “a child is born” and “a son is given”? Why should a “child” of this magnitude be born? And why should a “son” of this magnitude be given—and be given “to whom” and “for what purpose”?
In Part 1 of this lecture series, remember we quoted from the Book of Genesis in the Bible: “Let Us make man in our image and after our likeness”; and remember we said that the “Us” represented “The pre-Adamites,” The Aboriginal People of the Earth. And from this Aboriginal People would come a Great Scientist of our people who would bring into existence a new people on our planet, who would create, or make a world that was contrary to The Original Nature of God and The Nature of this Universe.
“The Nature of God” is a nature of “obedience” for every creature that He created is created according to a “law,” and its purpose is only fulfilled because it responds to that law completely. The Original Man is created like that, from The Nature of God: He is created in The Nature of Obedience to The Will of God. And this is why the Holy Qur’an says every human being is by nature a “Muslim,” meaning “one born to submit to The Will of God”—all, except that rebellious devil. Well, when you go back to “the making of Adam” in both the Holy Qur’an and the Bible, there was a man “made.” And that made-man was to make a world contrary to the world that God had originated.
In the Bible, the Book of Genesis (Chapter 3), it teaches us that “Adam rebelled”: After getting Divine Instruction from God, he rebelled against those Instructions, and brought into existence “a world of rebellion,” a world where people would not obey The Law of Creation, but would follow the lusts and desires of their own hearts. And in the Holy Qur’an (Surah 2, verse 30 and Surah 18, verses 50-51), Allah (God) said to the angels: “I am going to place a ruler in the earth, and the angels said we extol your holiness, we believe in you—but, what is this that You’re going to place in the earth other than that which would create mischief and cause the shedding of blood?” But Allah said to the angels: “I know what you know not,” and they were all asked to “submit to Adam.” And they all submitted except Iblis.
There are several meanings to that scripture, but for this lecture we will use a meaning given by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. One of the meanings that he gave to such scripture is that coming onto the planet would be “a man,” “a people” and “a civilization” that would create mischief and cause the shedding of blood, and that “mischief-making rule,” that “blood-shedding era” would last for 6,000 years.
So when the scripture teaches “for unto us a child is born” and “unto us a son is given,” the “Us” here are The Aboriginal People out of which came the “new people” who would create mischief” and “cause the shedding of blood.”
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Again, in the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 1, verses 4-8, the scripture teaches: “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.” What a tremendous prophecy of this One that would come at the end of this present world and its system of things!
None of us can deny that the history of these last 6,000 years has been written in the blood of all creatures. The history of the last 6,000 years has been written in mischief-making, lies, murder and deceit. And so we have suffered under such rule, and we have groaned under the terrible pain of mischief-making, lies and deceit that has put “one man against another,” “one brother against another,” “one tribe against another,” “one people against another” to such a degree that millions, and tens and hundreds of millions of lives have been lost under this kind of mischief-making rule.
So out of the nature of the longing of The Aboriginal People for “a change” of this world, a woman would come that would bear a child, and that child would be a “Child of Destiny.” That “child” is referred to as “Mahdi” and “Messiah”.
These are Two Men that will be together in the end of this world of evil; Who are “The Doorway” to The Beginning of a Brand New World that is called in the Bible “The Kingdom of God,” and in the Holy Qur’an, “The Kingdom of Islam”—which is also called “The Hereafter,” here, on this Earth,after the power of The Wicked to rule has been destroyed.
The One Establishing this ‘New Government of Peace, Freedom, Justice and Equality’
In Part 2 of this lecture series, we discussed the scripture from the Book of John, Chapter 3: “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.” So the “Jesus” of The New Testament talks about “everlasting life”; that The God we are speaking of is going to give the world One who would give His life for the world that He would bring into existence.
“The Son of Man” and “The Messiah”: Both of Them would be willing to suffer to bring into existence this “Brand New World.” And so, with those who follow The Messiah and The Mahdi: It would be a Time of great suffering, great privation and great tribulation, that would demand perseverance and strength on the part of The Believers to see that New World come in; and, to work hard with The Truth to end that mischief-making world of The Great Deceiver Satan.
We are saying that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is that One that God has chosen out of a people despised, rejected, unloved, unwanted. The Bible refers to him as the “first begotten of the dead.”
The Black man and woman of America, and the Dark People of the world, are considered “dead”: Having “eyes” but not being able to see, having “ears” but not being able to hear; having “tongues,” but, having not heard The Truth that would make them “free,” they could not speak that Truth! But God is coming to raise up a man from among a “dead” people—“Unto us a child is born…,” untous a “Son” is now given, and he has a Government on his shoulders!
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad brought for us a Flag that represents that “Government,” The Universal Flag of Islam, “The Sun,” “The Moon” and “The Star”: The Sun representing “Freedom,” for no life can come into freedom without the presence of The Sun; The Star representing “Justice,” for the star justifies The Wisdom of The Creator in this magnificent creation; and The Moon representing “Equality,” as the moon equalizes the 139,685,000 square miles of water on the Earth (compared to the 57,255,000 square miles of land). If there were no “moon” to equalizethe waters of the Earth, the waters of the Earth would drown out civilization.
The New Government is a Government of Peace! The New Government is a Government of Freedom, Justice and Equality!
The ‘pearl of great price’ symbolized by a man and a people chosen by God
Whether the world agrees or disagrees, “likes it” or “not,” God said in the scriptures He would choose “the despised” and “the rejected,” a People that were “lost,” a People that were “friendless”—but God would be their Friend, and raise them from a dead level to a Living Perpendicular, and place on their shoulders the burden of bringing into existence a New Government, a “Government of Peace.”
Well, the Bible, in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 13, verses 41-46, the scripture teaches about a “field” that was a barren field; it looked like “Who would want it?” But a man took everything that he had to buy that field, because in it was “a pearl of great price.” The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that this “field” that was barren, that looked like it was worthless—yet, God came to pay a price to get such a field, because in it was “a pearl of great price”: That “pearl” symbolizes the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and it symbolizes the Black man and woman of North America who are The Choice of God to help to bring in a Brand New Reality.
To my dear Christian friends, brothers and sisters, and you that think that those who refer to themselves as “Jews” are the real “Children of Israel”: No! You have made a theological “mistake.” And some of you have made a theological error, because you know The Truth, but yet you consider your wickedness in promoting a Deceptive Lie. The True “Children of Israel” are the Black man and woman of America! It is we whom the scriptures are referring to, that if you do good by us, God will do good by you! But look at what you have done, are doing, and are planning to do by a People that God has chosen and taken to Himself…
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Well, that brings us to this subject of “The Time and What Must Be Done”—and why the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is The Most Qualified Man on our planet to teach The Knowledge of The Time, for he is one that God Himself has raised up to teach such Knowledge. And I am his Student! I am his Representative.
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“The Time” and “What Must Be Done”: Again, I will repeat that great Surah (Chapter) in the Holy Qur’an, Surah 103 Al-Asr (“The Time”), that is The Guiding Light for this year “2013”:
“By the time! —
Surely man is in loss,
Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin one another to Truth, and enjoin one another to patience.”
If you recall, The Muslim Prayer Salatul-Asr is the time of prayer that takes place “after the zenith” of The Sun and “just before the setting” of The Sun. However, Asr is not necessarily talking just about “the time of prayer” midway between the prayers of Zuhr (“midday prayer”) and Maghrib (“the prayer at sunset), it’s talking about a Time that heralds: 1) “The sunset” of a world; 2) “The sunset” of a civilization; and 3) “The sunset” of a people that were doomed from the very day they were made, who were not to have a permanent existence on our planet.
That “Time” has arrived. That “God,” Mahdi, has appeared. And that “Messiah” has been in the world—and has raised me to continue his work of warning the nations of the Earth, warning America, and warning you and me that “The Time Has Come” that we must obey the dictates of the time, or continue to suffer the loss that America is experiencing, that Black people are experiencing, and that the world is experiencing.
‘Belief,’ the ‘doing of good’ and ‘enjoining truth, ‘enjoining patience’:
Actions We Must Perform in This Time of Trouble
“…Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin one another to Truth, and enjoin one another to patience.” Here we have two similar things that are joined by two conjunctions: “Believe”and “do good” is one; and “enjoin one another to Truth” and “enjoin one another to patience” is the other.
So if you look at the meaning of word “conjunction”: con meaning “with,” and junction meaning “to join”: Well, the word “belief” is coupled with “the doing of good,” so in the context of these words, “one is joined to the other.” In other words, you cannot say you “believe” and then don’t “do good,” for as it was the Apostle Paul who said, “Faith without works is dead”—you can’t say you “believe” and then not “do the good” that belief should lead The Believer to do! And that is also why Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, “Mere belief counts for nothing except that that belief is carried into practice.”
You can’t just “believe” and “do good”—now, God is telling you “the good” that we have to do! After you know The Truth, you can’t “sit on it”! After you know The Truth, you can’t go in your house and shut the door, and see people dying for the lack of Knowledge and not “intervene,” as God Intervened in our affairs!
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“Belief” and “The Doing of Good”: Well, what does that lead to? If I believe in “The Man” and in “The Teaching of ‘The Time’,” and you disbelieve, then my duty to you is to continue to teach you “The Time,” and to tell you “What Must Be Done” if we are to escape loss! That is my duty to you.
The Bible teaches in the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 3, verses 18-19: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Wow! That means if you know The Truth, and will not warn The Wicked of their wickedness, then they are going to surely die, but God will require their death at your hand.
Well, I must continue to warn regardless of whether you “hear” or “forebear,” whether you “like it” or “dislike it”—that’s immaterial with me! I have no power to make you a “believer”! I can only give youThe Message… And then The God will answer The Message that I’m giving you, because The Qur’an warns us in Surah 6 Al-An’am (“The Cattle”), verses 42-43: “And indeed We sent (messengers) to nations before thee then We seized them with distress and affliction that they might humble themselves...” So after “The Warning”: Keep looking and see will not more distress and affliction come upon you!
This is to encourage you to come to belief, and if you come to belief, then you must change into the doing of good. And that “good,” I repeat, is acting in accord with The Will of God.
Al-Furqan (‘Farrakhan’): The Discrimination in The Time of Separation
“…and enjoin one another to Truth”: So you must “enjoin” people, to cause people to come in harmony with Truth through “encouraging” them; “cajoling” them, if you will… However, you can’tmake them “believe,” but you and I can do our part by enjoining the people to Truth. And then what? You can’t stop there: “…enjoin one another to patience.” What is the meaning of “patience” here?
The Holy Qur’an says of The Messenger, in Surah 5 Al-Ma’idah (“The Food”), verse 67: “O Messenger, deliver that which has been revealed to thee from thy Lord; and if thou do (it) not, thou hast not delivered His message. And Allah will protect thee from men. Surely Allah guides not the disbelieving people.” The Messenger of God needs “protection” because The Disbelievers, now, because they hate The Knowledge of The Time and The Truth that comes with that Knowledge! They hate The Man that God has raised, because He becomes “a place of departure” for them: “You either fall on one side of that man, or the other.”
I think that’s why my Father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, named me “Farrakhan”… And now I’m coming into The Knowledge of the meaning of this name, which is a modern expression of an ancient Characteristic of God; also, it is the 25th Surah of The Qur’an titled Al-Furqan (“The Discrimination”). He makes a man for you with “The Gift of Speech,” that when we speak, a foolcannot find it difficult to hear, to understand—if the fool would listen! So when I speak, you fall on one side of what I say, or the other: There is no “in between”! You either or “with it,” in agreement with it! Or, you’re against it!
Well then, this causes The Disbelievers to form into a “group,” and The Believers to form into a “group,” because The Truth brings about “Separation.”
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Allah (God) says in the Holy Qur’an that He will surely aid “The Believer” against “The Disbeliever,” so that The Believer will become triumphant. We’re living in a “Time of Separation”—that’s what The Truth brings about!
Study the words of Jesus that appear in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 34-36: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, nay, a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household…”In other words: “I come to bring division.”
Jesus said, “they of a man’s own household will be his worst enemy”; he said, “two will be laying in the bed”—that’s very close, isn’t it?—“and I’m going to take one, and leave one.” Jesus said, “Two will be grinding at the mill”—involved in “the same work”; but one of them is appealing to God, and the other is not.
Well, some of us are in the church, mosque or synagogue, and we’re doing “the same work”; some of us are in the NAACP, the Urban League, other organizations, doing “the same work”—but some are doing that work from a negative motivation! Some of them are doing the work out of lust for “power” and “greed.” Well, that’s one that will be “in the bed” while God will take the other; that’s one that will be “grinding at the mill,” and God will “take one” and “leave another.” Well, my God… This is a tough time, because you don’t know who you’re “sleeping with” until The Truth comes into that house. You don’t know who you’re “working with” until The Truth comes into the workplace!
And when The Truth comes, and you go in the workplace, what is your “duty”? Well, you want to “protect your job” for sure, but in some way, you have to tell the workers that are working with you “The Truth.” But sometimes you don’t necessarily want to be “the spokesperson,” but then, there’sThe Final Call newspaper: If you have it on the job, you give it to your worker. And I don’t care if it’s “the boss”: He needs to know The Time and What Must Be Done! Because he may be planning to fire you, Black brother and sister; but when he sees that you are The People of God—and The Book says that if the wicked give you even so much as a glass of cool water, it will bring “mercy” to them in The Time of God’s Judgment. Or, you may want to walk out among the people, and tell them The Good News that you have received.
Everyone who “knows Jesus,” must confess Jesus. Everyone who “knows The Christ” mustconfess The Christ. You cannot keep your belief a “secret”!
And if you keep your belief a “secret,” wanting “favor” with the world, then all right: You have chosen to see your brother and sister without knowledge, dying in ignorance, being manipulated in their ignorance by the accursed Satan. And you would not intervene? You see your friend is dying from drugs, dying from a life that is encouraged by Satan—and you would not, in a skillful way, tell them The Time and What Must Be Done, and encourage them in Truth and the doing of good?
“…and enjoin one another to Truth and enjoin one another to patience”: Well, we’re all, then, in“The Valley of Decision,” enjoining one another to Truth. So what is needed now in the world is“Teaching”: Teaching the people “The Time,” Teaching them the requirements of The Time; and,being patient with people as they grow out of the wickedness and mischief-making of a lying, murderous people, into Righteousness!
Be patient with yourself! And be patient with one another!
