Putting Elijah's Prophecies into context...

Elijah Muhammad and the Importance of Good Health for Humanity's Survival

My initial encounter with the teachings of Mr. Elijah Muhammad began with my family's visiting relatives in Los Angeles, when I was about nine years old. One of my older cousins, who was a teenager and bragged about being a member of a gang in Watts, showed me this publication called "Muhammad Speaks."

I looked it over and read a passage that said the racial situation in Los Angeles was a tinder box waiting to explode...and surely enough, a few years later, the infamous "Watts Riot" exploded in newspapers across America...citing black American "anarchy."

I later on, after getting out of the Navy, and becoming one of his representatives on the west coast, decided he was in fact prophetic after reviewing more of his teachings.

One of his messages was that Islam as taught by him did not conform with Orthodox Islam of the east, of which his was a specific message to the Black man of America. He insisted on healthy minds and healthy bodies, and even wrote books such as "How to Eat to Live." He also cited that a healthy body is a sign of a healthy mind.

One of the conformities of Islam of the east that he maintained was "cleanliness" washing before praying...no special procedures, just soap and water and to quietly watch while praying... with none of the public displays as advocated by orthodox Muslims. Men were directed to bathe or shower daily, wear clean clothes, even if they had to wash them the night before, be clean-shaven, and approach people in the public with that healthy (positive) mental attitude, in order to be successful in any society.

True to form, application of his prophetic teachings proved to pave a way to success for anyone who adhered.

PO Box 12231  Roanoke, VA 24023

Pictured from left to right: Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, Mr. Muhammad, Ralph Abernathy, Bernard Lee