The Nation of Islam and History

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower.

The question was asked:
"How has the Nation of Islam changed the meaning of the past?"

Honestly, I don't say that the Nation of Islam has changed "the meaning" of the past. The reason is that "the meaning" of the past...the TRUE meaning of it...is rooted in the Eternal and Unchanging Plan of the Originator of the Heavens and the Earth, as represented today by Master W. Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi -- God in Person.

However, I will say that the Nation of Islam has most definitely changed the people's PERCEPTIONS of "the meaning" of the past, particularly for those who have accepted the Teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. This is because it is the Teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad - like no other teaching - that so fully and so beautifully explains the significance or "meaning" of the past in the Grand Scheme of things, i.e., that every single moment of the Past and Present is leading us to a Time in the Future wherein all Life will have been Evolved to Fulfillment of the Originator's Idea or Plan or Desire for His Creation.

It is the Nation of Islam and the Teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad -- now under the Administration of the Hon. Louis Farrakhan -- that is helping Black people, and others, to see the past more as ALLAH sees it; as a necessary part of the Journey toward what we call "perfection".

When we take into account that Allah is the Lord of All the Worlds - the Creator, Fashioner, Nourisher and Sustainer of all Creation, through stages (time), to its ultimate Perfection - then it becomes easier to appreciate the past as a stepping stone, rather than a stumbling block.

For example, before the Teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, I saw the slave trade as some "unfortunate event" that just happened to us as a people, which we just had to do the best we could to deal with the effects of. But AFTER the Teachings, I can see that past more as a necessary phase in our development and evolution as a people, and in the development and evolution of the human family. We had to be broken all the way down to the least common denominator, so that we could be Re-Built and Re-Fashioned by the Hand of God, Himself. He started with "nothing" in the Beginning and Produced a Universe of Light and Life; and so it is at the Ending of this world. He starts with a PEOPLE who are considered "nothing", and Builds them Up from "nothing" to make them "Something".

As the Hon. Elijah Muhammad once said, "Motion makes Time"; and as long as our Motion is leading us toward Oneness with Allah, then we can Bless the Past, instead of cursing it.

Allah Knows Best.

RM