MINISTER LOUIS FARRAKHAN
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
AND THE NATION OF ISLAM

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.

Statement from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam on
the passing of the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon and the Honorable Rahbee Ben Ammi

To the Rev. Derrick Wells, the Rev. Colemon’s husband Leon C. Blair, and all of the members of Christ Universal Temple in Chicago, Ill., and to Prince Immanuel Ben-Yehuda and the princes and saints of the African Hebrew Israelites in Dimona, Israel

As-Salaam Alaikum.
Shalom Aleichem.
Peace Be Unto You.

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Christ Universal Temple and the Nation of Israel headquartered in Dimona, Israel,

The Nation of Islam in the West, under the leadership of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and His Minister Louis Farrakhan, offers to the followers of the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon and the Honorable Rahbee Ben Ammi of the Nation of Israel, the Hebrew Israelites, our deepest sympathy and profound sadness on the passing of these two great spiritual giants.

When we have great spiritual teachers that bind a community together based on the solid, immutable principles that are found in the nature of God and the order of the universe itself, these principles never die though we who base our lives on these principles have to at some point return to Him, our Creator, who gave us life.

The prophets of God are never spoken of as being dead, neither are the righteous. The Holy Qur’an says, “Speak not of those who die or are slain in the way of God as dead, they are alive but you understand or perceive not.”

The Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon and the Honorable Rahbee Ben Ammi spent their lives teaching and striving to live the principles that they taught. This is called living and dying in the way of Allah (God). How can they be dead when the principles that they taught are alive, and we who structure our lives on these immutable principles are alive in them and they in us?

Naturally there is sadness in both communities. But both communities should not bow their heads in grief, but lift their heads in grateful praise to the Almighty Creator for sending a bit of Himself to the earth in them. The greater His presence in us, then we can say Allah (God) is present and that’s the meaning of the Messiah. His presence demonstrates the presence of God because he is full of the in-dwelling spirit of the Most High.

We who are left behind must recommit our lives to these righteous principles and never deviate or tolerate deviation from these principles. The Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon raised a community in dignity and self-respect, bathed in Christ Consciousness. Rahbee Ben Ammi did the same.

So hold fast to the dignity that your teachers gave you and the example that they shared with us. By so doing, the legacy of their great work continues in us and the spirit of their lives is alive in us—so we fulfill the scripture where it says speak not of those who die or are slain in the way of God as dead, they are alive. They are alive in us and we are alive in them.

May Allah (God) bless, guide and protect these communities. May Allah (God) bless, guide and protect those who carry these communities on in the absence of their great teachers. May Allah (God) give us the patience to hold on through the dark hour for surely the dawn of a new day approaches.

Allah (God) says in the Qur’an, He will never waste the work of a worker so the work of the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon lives on and the work of the Honorable Rahbee Ben Ammi lives on. So their communities will continue to live and thrive in the wisdom that they were taught.

Best wishes for the continued success of both of these great communities, one adhering to Christian principles, another adhering to the principles of the Jewish faith. These faiths in the end are one and so are we as Muslims at one with them.

Thank you for reading these few words.
 
I am your brother and servant Louis Farrakhan,

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan