What is Saviours’ Day
Each year I am so happy and filled with joy to be able to experience once again February 26th and reflect upon the great blessing and extraordinary gift we have received. February 26, 1877 is the birth date of The Great Mahdi, Master Wallace Fard Muhammad. The celebration of his birth anniversary each year is known as Saviours’ Day. He is the founder of the Nation of Islam in America. He is the teacher of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And we believe that his appearance in America constitutes a divine visitation from Allah (God) Himself that is similar to what the Bible’s Abraham experienced in the 18th Chapter of Genesis; and similar to what Moses experienced in Numbers the 12th Chapter; and similar to what Jesus references in John the 8th Chapter.
In Point No. 12 of What the Muslims Believe the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote of him that:
WE BELIEVE that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited “Messiah” of the Christians and the “Mahdi” of the Muslims. We believe further and lastly that Allah is God and besides HIM there is no god and He will bring about a universal government of peace wherein we all can live in peace together.
Master W. Fard Muhammad made a great demonstration of love for the American Black man and woman by boldly entering America, beginning in the year 1910, for the purpose of resurrecting our people from a deplorable and degrading position of ignorance and self-hatred. He made his purpose publicly known on July 4, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan. It was in Detroit the he impacted 25,000 Black people, who upon hearing his bold message, voluntarily changed their names to new names that he gave to them, and began the process of divorcing themselves from the way of life imposed upon us by America’s various manifestations of white supremacists institutions.
He began to completely re-educating all who followed him. He gave to us a way of eating food that would lengthen our lives; specifically forbidding the consumption of pig’s flesh, scavengers and the old “soul food” plantation era diet. He gave us a law that forbid the common vices that are familiar in American society. In fact, his outlawing of alcohol, narcotics, gambling and prostitution became a simultaneous outlawing of the products and services of the various criminal gangs that trafficked in the “vice trades” in Detroit. Of note, is the notorious Jewish Purple Gang. They had established 25, 000 illegal “blind pig” alcohol distilleries in the Detroit area, while Master W. Fard Muhammad had performed the divine work of resurrecting 25,000 Black people from conditions imposed upon them since the days of chattel slavery.
He is the reason for the formation of the Fruit of Islam class of male training. He told the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad to “make all men and boys join the Fruit of Islam class, and make them brave fighters; willing at any time to give their lives for Allah’s sake and righteousness.” And for the past 89 years, the men of the Nation of Islam have demonstrated the bravery and courage that began with the message and work of Allah, in the person of Master W. Fard Muhammad.
He established a class for women known as the MGT & GCC, which stands for Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class. This class is a male free sanctuary for women purposed for the protection and training of women into becoming the righteous women of God. And this class of women have over the course of the 20th century in America, represented a very high standard of womanhood that has stood as the antithesis to negative portrayals of Black women in popular culture’s insulting stereotypes such as aunt jemimas, jezebels, sapphires and mammies.
Master W. Fard Muhammad also guided the development of an independent school system for the education and training of Black children. The Muhammad University of Islam began during the early days of the Nation of Islam and exists as one of the most successful models from which other Black or Afro-centric school systems have taken a pattern.
Master Fard Muhammad did all of this and more. And he never asked for anything in return. He left in early 1935, and placed the Nation of Islam under the guidance of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He continued to guide the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad through letter correspondences and in other ways. But he never mandated that any money or properties or riches be sent to him. He gave to us so much, yet he asked for nothing in return except the simple, yet comprehensive command to his beloved people to “accept your own and be yourself.” And all this, despite being placed in jail while he was among us, due to the fact that the authorities did not want him preaching Islam to the Black ex-slaves in America.
The birth of Master W. Fard Muhammad is very significant in the history of Black people in America. February 26, 1877 is the same day that the event known as the great betrayal of the Negro took place. An excerpt from the book How White Folks Got So Rich discusses this historical and scriptural significance:
“The Compromise of 1877 is arguably the most devastating single event in the history of Blacks in America. That is when a group of politicians convened at the Wormley Hotel in Washington, D.C., to attempt to resolve the deadlocked presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden. They agreed that if Hayes were awarded the presidency, he would remove the federal troops protecting the ex-slaves in the South, and the former Southern slaveholding class would be free to return to power and establish new forms of slavery without federal oversight or control. This is the exact point in American history when Whites determined that the Black man and woman would forever be a second-class citizen in all aspects of American society.
After twelve years of “emancipation” Blacks were returned to virtual slavery, and assigned to permanent political, social, and economic inferiority. A Jewish congressman from Louisiana, William M. Levy, gave the speech that convinced the lawmakers that this wicked act that scholars call “the Great Betrayal of the Negro people” was the best policy for America.
Blacks had made great strides in developing private businesses, but the Ku Klux Klan targeted these businesses for destruction as in Rosewood, Fla. and Tulsa (Black Wall Street), Okla. and many, many other lesser-known places. Blacks lost billions in investment dollars to Whites through these acts of terror. Black businesses were often uninsured because of the racist policies of American insurance companies, so the destruction of a Black business was totally unrecoverable. Whites had no such disabilities in growing their businesses.
The most profound part of this history, however, is that on THE SAME DAY that those White politicians decided to end Black progress forever, Allah decided that The Saviour to the Black man and woman would be born. Both events—the two MOST SIGNIFICANT IN THE HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICA—happened on February 26, 1877!”
Consider some of the beautiful words spoken and written about Master W. Fard Muhammad by His best and most successful student, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad:
“Allah came to us from the Holy City Mecca, Arabia, in 1930. He used the name Wallace D. Fard, often signing it W. D. Fard, in the third year (1933). He signed his name W. F. Muhammad which stands for Wallace Fard Muhammad. He came alone. He began teaching us the knowledge of ourselves, of God and the devil, of the measurement of the earth, of other planet, and of the civilization of some of the planets other than earth. He measured and weighed the earth and its water; the history of the moon, the history of the two nations, black and white that dominate the earth. He gave the enact birth of the white race, the name of their God who made them and how; and the end of their time, the judgment how it will begin and end. He taught us the truth of how we were made “slaves” and how we are kept in slavery by the “slave masters” children. He declared the doom of America for her evils to us was past due. And that she is number one to be destroyed. Her judgment could not take place until we hear the truth. He declared that we were without the knowledge of self or anyone else. How we had been made blind, deaf and dumb by this white race of people and how we must return to our people, our God and His religion of peace (Islam), the religion of the prophets. We must give up the slave names of our slave masters and accept the name of Allah (God) or one of His divine attributes. He also taught us to give up all evil doings and practices and do righteousness or be destroyed from the face of the earth. He taught us that the slave-masters had taught us to eat the wrong food and that this wrong food is the cause of our sickness and short span of life. He declared that he would heal us and set us in heaven at once, if we would submit to Him. Otherwise He would chastise us with a severe chastisement until we did submit. And that He was able to force the whole world into submission to his will. He said that he loved us (the so-called Negroes), his lost and found, so well that he would eat rattlesnakes to free us if necessary for he has power over all things. I asked him, “Who are you, and what is your real name?” He said, “I am the one that the world has been expecting for the past 2000 years. I said to him again, “What is your name?” He said, “My name is Mahdi; I am God, I came to guide you into the right path that you may be successful and see the hereafter.”
“The Great Mahdi has taken FARD as a name for himself corresponding with the time of His coming — which is in the early days (or years) of the seventh thousand years. The early morning is the first part of the seventh thousand years and the year under the name Millennium (which the Christians say means the 1,000 years Christ will reign on the earth). This is the 1,000 years which it will take to restore peace and honor, after the removal of peace breakers. This time also includes the birth of a new nation from the mentally dead. However, the name FARD fits the context. We are reminded that this prayer is made obligatory; it is also binding upon the Believers (Muslims) in Allah (God) to obey Him. For in that 1,000 years of Millennium, the disbelievers will cease to be. And to those who live in that time it shall be binding upon them to serve and obey One God: Fard Muhammad the Great Mahdi, or Allah in Person. The Mahdi must restore the Kingdom of Islam and He must weed out from the kingdom of Islam all disbelievers. This He will do in His time. FARD is a name many of the scholars have said is not one of the 99 attributes, but still it is a name that is selfindependent, and one which means that the Believers are obligated to obey. We can see clearly why he took this Name (FARD) for Himself. We are now living in the early morning of that seventh thousand years. The world of evil was given 6,000 years to reign over the righteous. Now, since their time expired in 1914, as all religious scientists agree, we are in the seventhousandth year since the creation of Adam, or the Caucasian race. It shall be binding upon you to serve and obey the Great Mahdi (FARD MUHAMMAD) or else be cut off from the people of righteousness. All praise is due to our Lord and Saviour, Master Fard Muhammad. To Him do we submit; to Him we fly for refuge from the evils of Yakub’s civilization.”-Message To The Blackman in Ameica
“Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, To Whom Praises are due forever found us, His Black people here in North America which is spiritually referred to as the Wilderness of North America. He has power over the heaven and the Earth. He called us a Nation for the first time. This coincides with the Bible which refers to Him as making a Nation out of us Himself after He found us. Therefore He began at once calling us the Lost Found Nation of Islam in the Wilderness of North America. He brought to us a Flag to represent our independence as a Nation. He offered to us a Flag which represents an independent people.”
“Once we get the knowledge of ourselves and others, the Giver of the knowledge being God Himself, His aim in doing so is to put us on top. Since He, the Divine Supreme Being, is on top, He wants to put His servants on top. He will do this for everyone of us who believe and will choose Him for our God as He has chosen us to be His people. For we are the children of the Aboriginal Creator and we are equal and we are justified in being put back in our own. As, if everyone of my people understood this of the truth that I am trying to make them to understand of God and of ourselves, before this book would be read they all would be united onto our God and follow His servant. This is the aim and the purpose and the work that He, Master Fard Muhammad, God in Person to Whom Praises are forever due, came to do. He came to restore us
back to self”
“The truth that I am teaching you, came from the very mouth of Allah (God) Who came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad to Whom Praises are due forever. Anyone of you, if you accept this truth, it will make you superior and an dominant people over others. You no more can submit to the teachings of this world (white race) because the truth makes you feel proud of self because of its own self-exalting and strength of stability. It forges you into the zone of
wisdom.” -The Flag of Islam
“The coming of Allah in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, was for the deliverance of the lost-and-found people (Black) from a four-hundred year-old enemy who has never shown them anything but evil, murder and death. Being very angry, as it was written of Him and as I know it to be the truth, He desires nothing more than freedom, justice, and equality for us, the once lost and now found Black members of our nation, the original Black nation of the earth.”
“Since we the Black people were kidnaped and forced into this world (of the white race) we must be forced out of this world. It is not that you my people will accept by just having the freedom to accept of your own choice. No. You will have to be punished, divinely beaten and destroyed until you accept Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are Due forever, as your God and Saviour, as I and thousands of my followers are doing.”
“I warn you my Black brother and Black sister that unless you believe in Almighty God Allah, Master Fard Muhammad, as I do and receive the name of the holy and perfect God you will never see the hereafter.”
“Master Fard Muhammad, Who is Allah in Person, wants to make it clear that He has chosen the American so-called Negroes to be His people. The truth that He gives to them and they, themselves, are sacred before His eyes and the world of the righteous. Showing disrespect to God and His people is inviting the punishment and doom of God.”
“God, in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, will not be defeated. The more evil, deceiving, tricking and making of false promises to the American so-called Negro only increases America’s divine chastisement — doom.”
“We, the poor Black people here in America, must be changed into a new and different people altogether, so Allah (God) Whom came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, taught me.”
“Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, has the power, and He is using His power on the wicked to bring them to their knees. Allah (God) is the greatest and there is no equal to Him. Allah (God) can take us by our own way of thinking and spin us as though we are a play-toy. We cannot fight a successful fight against Him. He is too powerful. He listens in on our thinking and He is capable of making us to think and to do that which He desires to be done.”
“The Mother Plane and her work is a display of the power of the mightiest God, Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever. Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, is the Wisest and Best Knower; He is the Mightiest of Them All.”
“Allah (God) Who came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praises are due forever, is wiser than any god before Him as the Bible and the Holy Qur’an teach us.”-The Fall of America
“The Mahdi is a world traveler. He told me that he had traveled the world over and that he had visited North America for 20 years before making himself known to us, his people, whom he came for. He had visited the Isles of the Pacific, Japan and China, Canada, Alaska, the North Pole, India, Pakistan, all of the Near East and Africa. He had studied the wild life in the jungles of Africa and learned the language of the birds. He could speak 16 languages and could write 10 of them. He visited every inhabited place on the earth and had pictured and extracted the language of the people on Mars and had a knowledge of all life in the universe. He could recite by heart the histories of the world as far back as 150,000 years and knew the beginning and end of all things.”
“The names Christ, Jesus, Jehovah, God, Allah and many other good names, rightly are His names and He came to give divine names to the whole of the 17 million so-called Negroes, Jesus was made an example for the Jews (Holy Qur-an 43:59). Jesus and his mother were made as a sign (23:50).” -An Invincible Truth
During the Rebuilding of the Nation of Islam, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan was guided to make Saviours’ Day a day of honor and respect for Master W. Fard Muhammad and all of the great worthy leaders of the struggle of our people for liberation. The Minister cited the Bible in Nehemiah 9:27 that reads as folllows:
Much more can be written about this great day and the man whom it honors. We thank Allah for His merciful intervention into our affairs in the person of Master W. Fard Muhammad and for raising the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and for choosing us as His people and for His promise to deliver us and make of us a Nation of Righteousness!
Happy Saviours’ Day