First, Love Yourself..... by The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad (1038 hits)
One of the greatest handicaps among the so-called Negroes is that there is no love for self, nor love for his or her own kind. This not having love for self is the root cause of hate (dislike), disunity, disagreement, quarreling, betraying, stool pigeons and fighting and killing one another. How can you be loved, if you have not love for self and your own nation and dislike being a member of your own, then what nation will trust your love and membership?
You say of yourself, “I love everybody.” This cannot be true. Love for self comes first. The Bible, the book that you claim to believe says, “Love the brotherhood” (I Peter 2:17), “Love one another” (John 15:17). Love of self comes first. The one who loves everybody is the one who does not love anyone. This is the false teaching of the Christians for the Christians war against Christians. They have the Bible so twisted by adding in and taking out of the truth that it takes only God or one whom God has given the knowledge of the Book to understand it.
The Bible puts more stress upon the “love for thy neighbor” than the “love for the brother.” When asked, “Who is my neighbor?” The answer was contrary and incorrect. Jesus’ answer was that of two men who were on a journey. They were not from the same place. One was from Jerusalem, the other one was a Samaritan. The Samaritan came to where the man from Jerusalem lay wounded by the robbers who had stripped him of his possessions. The Samaritan showed sympathy for the fellow traveler. (He was not a neighbor in the sense of the word. A neighbor can be an enemy.) Many enemies live in the same neighborhood of a good neighbor. But, the answer that Jesus gave was a futile one, which can could be classified as a parable of the so-called Negroes and their slavemasters.
The so-called Negroes fell into the hands of the slavemasters, who have robbed, spoiled, wounded and killed them. The Good Samaritan here would be the Mahdi (Allah)–God in Person, as He is often referred to by the Christians as the “the second coming of Jesus, or the Son of Man to judge man.” This one will befriend the poor (the so-called Negroes) and heal their wounds by pouring into their heads knowledge of self and others and free them of the yoke of slavery and kill the slavemasters, as Jehovah did in the case of Pharaoh and his people to free Israel from bondage and the false religion and gods of Pharaoh.
There were many other proofs in the Bible which agree with the above answer.
Love yourself and your kind. Let us refrain from doing evil to each other and let us love each other as brothers, as we are the same flesh and blood. In this way, you and I will not have any trouble in uniting. It is a fool who does not love himself and his people. Your Black skin is the best and never try changing its color. Stay away from intermixing with your slavemasters’ children. Love yourself and your kind.
Very interesting teaching . I suspect that it had to be very appropriate for the time it was taught/written during major unrest in America for blacks and the Civil Rigths Movement. I don't know that I could have lived during those times. I think it would have taken some very strong leadership such as the Nation of Islam to have helped strenghten the black community.
Tuesday, October 7th 2008 at 9:48PM
Jen Fad
Well I did live during those times My Sister, attended Mosque #18 in Cleveland ,Ohio. Under the teachings of Honorable Elijah Muhammad. During the Hough riots and Kent state masacres. When the Black Panthers existed and Angela Davis, and yes the marches of Dr. Martin Luther King. The unity that existed during those times that you mentioned ,that you don't think you could have lived during,were significent times of unity and leadership. The so-called American Negro learned more about himself and his people during those times than he ever did in American History.Any remnants of unity that has endured today is the Exact results of what took place during those times. I grew up on "MESSAGE TO THE BLACK MAN", and" HOW TO EAT TO LIVE". But there became a "breaking away", and many leaders died, or gave up, or got caught up in the rapture.However, because of the teachings and unity that the Nation of Islam still retains,there are more than we think, that know how to love themselves and therefore can love their brothers. Peace
Tuesday, October 7th 2008 at 11:48PM
Min.Dr.LaDonna Blaylock D.D.
Inshallah, Sister MInister!!! All things in due time. I am so glad to know that you went through the re-training of self-knowledge. I am also very pleased with the direction the NOI is taking to be inclusive and bring at this time Hispanics into the Nation. So Malcolm was right and I knew he was. Thank you Sister Muhammad for bringing forth this information, for there are many who have no idea, or they try to hide it, because of Minister Farrakhan's unpopularity with the status quo. Thanks you again. It helps me with my work.
Wednesday, October 8th 2008 at 12:15PM
Marta Fernandez
Yes, Sister Marta, there's a season for ALL things, and the moment is NOW, we all need to wake the HEY UP. MOST of us anyway !The Sister may have been walking quietly all this time, but carries a BIG STICK! LOL, and I"M glad It's a BIG ONE ! LOL !
Wednesday, October 8th 2008 at 2:14PM
Min.Dr.LaDonna Blaylock D.D.
Doc...wow you make want to have lived during that time. I hope my age isn't telling on me. I do appreciate all the brick layers who laid the foundation so that I could experience intergration at it's finest. Thanks very much for love of self and our people because we truly need it.
Thursday, October 9th 2008 at 10:35AM
Jen Fad
In reality, those of us who are not knowledgeable of the time in which we are living in are still in the Matrix. Yes, we are able to go to the same schools, shop in the same stores, live in the same neighborhoods, work on some of the same jobs, and play on some of the same playgrounds,as our former slavemasters' children, but is that a true testament of loving ourselves? Has acquiring any of what the world has to offer taught us the value of who we are and the true meaning of loving self?
Who is the "SELF" with whom we should fall in love? I can wake up every morning, look at myself in the morning and say, "I love you', but do my day- to -day actions bear witness to my love of self? How far and wide does loving self stretch? Is it limited to fancy clothes, makeup, money, accredited colleges, multi-million dollar homess, drinking the finest wines (ciders in my case), owning a multi-billion dollar company, etc. Is loving myself limited to my rep?
In order to love yourself/myself, I have to know myself. You have to know yourself. This takes patience, prayer, humbleness, obedience, submission, an open heart and mind, and study. So I raised a few questions to myself: 1) "Who is this 'Self' and how do I become acquainted with her? 2) Is this "Self" concept exclusive to my person or inclusive of who I am as an Original Black Woman or Man and my true connection to Allah (The Supreme Being) and the entire universe?
Learning to love "Self" is a never ending course of study that takes you on a lifetime journey. Because we have been robbed of our names and our language, we limit our homeland to the jungles of Asia (Africa). Because we have no knowledge of self, we believe the false doctrine of being found in that part of Asia (Africa), swinging from trees, running naked with bones in our noses like savaged beasts, until the European white man enslaved and civilized us. Because we have no knowledge and love of self, it's easy to equate everything of good to white, and everything bad to black. We can "patty cake" with others and accept what they say as the gospel, but shun our own people when truth is brought to the table to shed light on falsehood.
To know God is to know self. To know Self is to know God. To know our history as a people, beyond the school text books, but from Bible and Qur'an all the way down to the volumes of that are found in libraries and hidden by the rulers of this world, starts us on a journey of accepting and embracing the power and beauty of who we are as a people and how valuable we are as a people. To know God is to know Self, but if I don't take the time to read and study God's words, then how will I ever become acquainted with Him? If I never understand that I don't need an intermediary, but can speak directly to God, how will I become acquainted with Him? If I never take the time to question what is being delivered to me, how will I know whether it is from God or if someone changed God's words and has me worshiping them, as oppose to worshiping the Father?
First Love Thyself?
To learn thyself, one has to learn how to study the Scriptures of both Holy Qur'an and Bible, learn of our history before the Mayflower, before we were sold into bondage. To love thyself means to take what we learn and use it for the spiritual, educational, social, moral, financial, and mental advancements of us, as a people. To love thyself means to do for self and get our mouths out of the white man's and everyone else's kitchen.
Thursday, October 9th 2008 at 1:42PM
YaSinah M. Muhammad
..."To love thyself means to take what we learn and use it for the spiritual, educational, social, moral, financial, and mental advancements of us, as a people"...
I do agree with you regarding this. In addition to what you have said, I'd like to add that learning is never limited to a scholarly classroom setting or even limited to a religious book. Learning about one's self and loving self can be experienced thru journeys to other places. For example the journey to Mecca that the Late Malcolm X took when he discovered there was a world outside of America's black and white issues;
But there were cultures and people(s) that enrich our understanding and minds thru interaction with one another far more than we can by sitting in one place reading about it. Thanks again Cheralyn for the post. I am learning a lot about you thru reading your blogs sister. Are you planning to go to Mecca or have you already been on a pilgrimage? If you have, I'd love for you to share your experience with us on BWC.
Friday, October 10th 2008 at 9:57AM
Jen Fad
Yes, and the First Law of Nature is SELF PRESERVATION. Once you can TRUELY love yourself, you can TRUELY love GOD, for that is where God resides . Through that studying you WILL find ENLIGHTENMENT. Through that enlightenment, you will understand why you exist,who you are ,and who you were meant to be. Therefore, wanting to preserve your life and your surroundings. Your concentration will be more for life and living, than living life in hell and death. Thanks Sister for ENLIGHTENING US !! Peace, Beloved. Doc
Friday, October 10th 2008 at 10:06AM
Min.Dr.LaDonna Blaylock D.D.
