Nation of Islam Press Conference

March 19, 1999
Salaam Restaurant - Chicago, IL.

James G. Muhammad (JGM): Today you will be hearing from the National Board of the Nation of Islam. The first person you will hear from is Brother Leonard Farrakhan Muhammad. He is the Chair of the National Board of Laborers.

Leonard F. Muhammad (LFM): In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, Who came to us in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, and I bear witness that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is His servant, the Exalted Christ. And we bear witness that the Hon. Louis Farrakhan is Their Divine Reminder and Apostle among us.

I would like to thank all of you for coming and welcome to the Salaam Restaurant. It’s okay to smile in the Salaam Restaurant because this is a great place dedicated to our people called the Palace of the People built through the inspiration of the Hon. Louis Farrakhan with about five million dollars of investment from the Nation of Islam.

I would like to say, first of all, we are very thankful to all of the people around the world that have called out of concern for Minister Farrakhan’s health. We also would be remiss, I think, if we didn’t acknowledge my congressman, even though I don’t think this is his district, the Hon. Danny K. Davis. We thank you for being here Congressman Davis.

The first thing that we want to do is to bring before you our Minister of Health, Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad. At this point he will have a statement to make to you concerning the current health status of Min. Louis Farrakhan.

Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad (AAM): In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger. I am very happy to greet you this morning. I am, as the Chief of Staff said, the Minister of Health and Human Services for the Nation of Islam and I am also Min. Farrakhan’s National Spokesman and his personal physician. What I am here to do this morning is to give you some background information sufficient to help balance your view of the Minister’s health so that everyone, friend and foe alike, would understand exactly what the Minister’s clinical status is. I just left Min. Farrakhan. He is in fine spirit. His face is beaming. He is full of energy. He is full of life. So this should serve notice to all of the vultures who are hovering over what they expect to be a dead carcass, that you can go home. There is no death vigil. This is no deathwatch. The Minister’s life is not in eminent danger from any medical condition.

I’m sorry if you are disappointed to hear that the Minister’s health is stabilizing. That does not mean that there are not health-related issues that need our concern. I explained to Min. Farrakhan when I spoke with him and we were discussing what I should say or should not say. I explained to my brother, my friend, my minister, and my mentor that he is much more open about his health issues than I am. I’m speaking as a physician therefore, I will give you as much information as I think is appropriate for you to have a balanced view. But the level of detail may not be altogether satisfying. Maybe you can ask a question after I am finished, and maybe I will decide to answer your question at the level of detail that you desire.

Having said that let me give you a brief chronology of the Minister’s present illness. In 1991, a diagnosis was made on the basis of a needle biopsy of carcinoma of the prostate, the garden-variety cancer of the prostate gland which, as you know, is of epidemic proportions among Black males in America. The number one risk factor for prostate is to be a Black male. So many of our great leaders, many of our well-known individuals are afflicted with this epidemic cancer that is occurring in unprecedented levels throughout our communities.

In 1991 that diagnosis was confirmed by a second biopsy and over the period of time—from 1991 to 1994—Min. Farrakhan was treated appropriately with a form of hormonal suppression. In 1994, Min. Farrakhan underwent an implantation of radiation seeds, which further suppressed the progression of the disease. I might point out to you that at its worst the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) for the Minister had risen as high as 16. After treatment it had dropped below one and has remained less than one since 1994. And the latest value of his PSA is .06, which is an extremely low value, which means to us that his prostate cancer is no issue. It is completely controlled. However, in 1997 it was discovered that there was a microscopic nest of prostate cancer cells in the seminal vesicles, which anatomically is adjacent to the prostate gland. This is where there was some discussion that the cancer had spread. Probably not spread in the sense of ____. We developed a new approach and technique for treating the Minister, and with this increased access we were able to discover that which was probably already there even as early as 1991 and additional radiation seeds were implanted in 1997 just prior to his embarkation on the third World Friendship Tour. Subsequent tests, diagnostic imagining, I won’t bore you with the details, all kinds of follow up studies have indeed confirmed that even this additional disease which was in the seminal vesicles is completely under control.

Because of the large number of radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate gland and the seminal vesicles, a total of 238 seeds, there has arisen an area of inflammation in the rectal mucosa, which is the lower end of the colon. This is a known complication of this implantation therapy. Every single person who receives these seed implants develops what we could call a localized protitis. This inflammation in the lower rectal area can produce pain, spasm, diarrhea, occasionally a little blood. It is expected that it will take as long as 18-24 months for that area of local inflammation to completely heal. Min. Farrakhan is in that process of healing from a known expected complication of treatment.

On the third World Friendship Tour it has been reported that he was treated in Libya. That is not correct. We passed through Libya and it just happened to be at the time in his recovery period when it was necessary for us to do routine laboratory follow-ups and a MRI scan. That was done at a hospital in Tripoli, Libya. Not because there was some emergency. It was a routine follow-up examination and we continued the Third World Friendship Tour. Bringing it up to date.

In the middle of the summer, I believe July 1998 there was a slight increase in a little show of blood. At that time the Minister underwent an examination that some of you have had called a colonoscopy. In the process of performing a colonoscopy the area of inflammation due to the radiation treatment was further disturbed and there was additional bleeding. As a result of that chronic blood loss then over a period of time the Minister became somewhat anemic. He has always had a very robust physiology. He has never even been close to needing a transfusion. He has never been in the hospital for any of these complications. These are things that have been easily handled on an out patient basis.

In December 1998 Min. Farrakhan like many of us became infected with essentially a flu virus. The language that has appeared or has been used concerning a mystery virus is only a mystery to the extent that we don’t necessarily have the exact strain of flu bug that infected Min. Farrakhan. Just as you don’t know the exact strain of virus when you have an upper respiratory infection. Not that that can not be learned but it is just not productive to go to the time and expense to fully characterize that. On top of having the flu for two weeks, this bleeding from the area of inflammation in the rectum continued, the anemia worsened and of course as a consequence of that Min. Farrakhan did not feel very good. He felt weak, drained, he was not his usual energetic self. We are dealing with a man who characteristically rises long before the sun comes up. He practices his violin for two hours. He goes to the gym and works out for 2-3 hours then he starts his business day. That business day may continue with numerous appointments, speaking engagements, late into the night. So if you want to get a perspective of what this is like this is like Superman who is used to scaling a tall building in a single bound now it take two bounds. But for mere mortals like you and I that’s still superman.

And so, on top of the anemia the viral syndrome then we have to take into consideration the chronic fatigue of a man who has been on a mission working day and night ceaselessly for 40 years. And the last 22 years just at a pace that is almost unbelievable. As his personal physician for the last seven or eight years at least I have urged Min. Farrakhan to please take a rest. Take one, two, three months off; you can not continue at this pace. Finally, at long last, we were pleased to hear from him last week that he intends to take a sabbatical for four months for rest, recovery and recuperation. And so let me emphasize the major point is that the Minister does have health issues. Those issues are under control. There is no need for anyone to expect the eminent demise of the Hon. Louis Farrakhan. He is not going anywhere. Some of you who have black hair you hair will turn to silver before you see the Hon. Louis Farrakhan leave the scene.

There is no doubt that Min. Farrakhan, like all of us, needs and deserves our prayers. And so we should remember him in our prayers. Not because we think that he is at deaths door but because he needs all of the help and the strength and the love and the power that he can get so that he can complete the mission that God has for him. Thank you for your kind attention.

LFM: Well, we had good news from the medical front. I just want to say on behalf of the National Laboring Board and well wishers of Min. Farrakhan here in America and throughout the world, this doesn’t mean that we are not suspicious and concerned about attempts on the Nation of Islam and attempts on the Minister’s life and your constant effort to destabilize our community through the destabilization of the Nation of Islam. What you have done is this. Is anyone here from the Village Voice? I suspect not. As it was when the Village Voice broke it’s story regarding Aziz Muhammad when we had a press conference in New York they didn’t choose to come to find out what the facts were. All of you pick up your stories from the Village Voice in the name of legitimate journalism. This is shameful because if the Village Voice is anamnesis of the Nation of Islam and has chosen to write sensational and untrue stories concerning the Nation of Islam then why should you use them as a source of your information. Some of you would say, we saw information in The Final Call newspaper. Yes you did but from what date? The story that you read by Jabril Muhammad was information that he shared from his perspective as a journalist and a spiritual person prior to the Minister’s appearance in an extremely healthy state at Saviours’ Day this past February where the Minister, we all saw him, speak for over three hours (3 hours and 15 minutes). Longer than most of us could speak and he wasn’t really ready to go even though we were urging him to stop. This was not a sign to you of a man near death. These are the points that were ignored; ignored by media. So our question and concern is, why are you picking up these stories from these sources like this that you know have an alternative motive. The Village Voice is no friend of the Nation of Islam. Since you know that, then why quote from them?

What was their motive? Their motive chiefly was to get into an area where they wanted to discuss succession to a man walking around the scene that as our doctor has said is no where near going anyplace. Why do you want to know about succession? Congressman Davis, some of us have been through this before. So just because our doctor gives this report doesn’t mean that we don’t know you and that we don’t know what you are up to. By the help of Allah you will not be successful. The Nation of Islam will not be destabilized. Because those of us in the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Hon. Louis Farrakhan are in a unity that is unusual in the Black community and when you try us you will see that unity come against you with a force that you have never seen before. So we are asking our people around the country to spare not. The only reason for hope in the Black community throughout this country, in many sectors of this country, is because of the strength of the Nation of Islam and the purpose of the Village Voice was to cause them concern.

So we are saying to you Village Voice and all of the other voices, if you are not legitimate media, then announce yourself as an opposor of the Nation of Islam and write from that perspective. But why do it in the name of legitimate journalism. This is not correct. This is not fair. I do want to say that these incidents give us great opportunity. And it gave us in this case an opportunity to see the tremendous outpouring of support for the Nation of Islam here in this country and throughout the world. So we thank the Village Voice for that but that was not their intention.

So now Dr. Alim Muhammad and myself will take a question or two.

Jeff Flock, CNN - Did Minister Farrakhan or any of you have any reason to believe that he may have been poisoned or otherwise harmed by anyone out there or are you confident that it was just the flu?

LFM: The doctor can speak to that and I have my own feeling about it. But there is always reason to believe every day that a Black man that is opposed by some of the most powerful forces that you can imagine there is always reason to believe. Go ask the family of Martin Luther King do they have any reason to believe. Yes we have reason to believe and we are going to continue to believe until you do better.

AAM: I would just respond to your question by saying that the systematology that the Minister develops suddenly that included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, which is a loss of appetite, of course caused us to think that perhaps this could be due to some poisoning. So the appropriate tests were done. All of those test did not confirm that there was any poisoning involved although of course we realize there are sophisticated toxins that are available to certain people that would not be detected by these kinds of tests. So just as a general security measure as the chief of staff said, we are always concerned about that and we will continue to be concerned about that and we will do all in our power to prevent any such poisoning from occurring.

Angela Miles – WGN News – It would have been nice if he could have come here today since he seems to be feeling so well. Is there any chance that we could see him? How is he doing? Why did he not come today?

LFM: Because he reserves the right, as you know to appear when he is ready. Min. Farrakhan has said that he is going to be out of the public for about four months and that he doesn’t intend to appear for any purpose except if its an emergency. And we don’t consider this an emergency because you should consider the statements from his staff and from his personal physician sufficient for you.

Angela Miles – WGN News – Well I guess since we are vultures and you know we have got to see it to believe it.

LFM: Well I don’t consider you a vulture but I don’t want you to look at yourself that way. But I understand the tenacity of the press and your eagerness to get a story you would like to hear from him. And I hope that when he does reappear and goes on a thirty five city tour and hopefully culminating in the year 2000 with the Million Family March there will be enough Farrakhan for all of us to share.

Grant Rampy, FOX News – When The Final Call said in the most recent issue by Mr. Jabril Muhammad that he was gravely ill, and then when the Minister made the Feb. 28 speech saying that he had never been sicker in his life, was he in a way overstating innocently his own feelings of illness?

LFM: If you talk to my wife whenever I get the flu, she will tell you I always say, I have never been this sick in my life. Because as lay people, we use terminology that the doctor sometime will correct from a medical point of view. So we are only saying to the press, permit a journalist to be a journalist, permit a spiritual person to be a spiritual person, and now we brought the doctor in from Washington, DC to talk to you in strictly medical terms. But I think that some of our grandma’s would have said the same thing. I have never seen him this sick. This is the worst that we have ever seen.

Grant Rampy, FOX News – Have you been happy with the treatment of the radiation seed and have they proven completely successful or is there a regiment that you are now going to pursue that you have not prior to today?

AAM: To date the treatment has to be considered a complete success. It would be premature to declare that Min. Farrakhan has been cured of prostate cancer. There will be a continued vigilance from now on. So he is on a routine checking on things approximately every six months and he gets a full work up from head to toe just to make sure that everything that has been well, remains well.

Leslie McCloud, Chicago Defender – I would like to know where is Min. Farrakhan right now?

AAM: Min. Farrakhan is in a safe, secure place. If I told you where that was you might go and knock on his door and disturb his rest.

Andy Shaw – WLS – In the interest of allowing us to report accurately on the situation, is he here in Chicago and would it be fair to surmise that he is comfortably at home in his residence as opposed to wandering around? We would assume that he is dealing with the pain at home but that would be a logical assumption. Is that a fair one Leonard?

LFM: We don’t like to talk about that because our security measures are what they are for Minister Farrakhan so far and we thank Allah for that. But it is not a good question from that point of view.

Andy Shaw – WLS – They are pretty good.

LFM: But to say that he is around people that he loves and he is having a great time just living everyday and getting better. That is what he is doing. I can’t talk to you about where he is. Next question.

(...): Are there some family members here today? And if there are can we hear from the immediate family members?

LFM: Right now I’m his son-in-law and that’s probably about as immediate as we are going to do today.

John Davis – WBBM TV – Dr. Alim you said you spoke with the Minister this morning. What if anything can you share from that conversation that he told you perhaps to tell us to tell those well wishers, supporters and followers?

AAM: I forgot to say precisely what he told me to say which was that he wanted to offer all of you his greetings of As-Salaam Alaikum. And the second thing that he said is that you all will have to wait four months until you see him and then you can judge for yourself concerning his health.

Andy Shaw – WLS - I may missed this because I was outside. Bear with me if I did. The four months being the length of time that it will be before he could resume normal activity?

AAM: I wish that I could get him to rest for about six months. But four is about all that we could get.

Andy Shaw – WLS – So he needs four months of good solid recuperation without a hectic schedule. And so for the next four months that’s what he will be doing as far as you know?

AAM: Yes.

John Coty – WBBM Radio – Sir a very direct question. Is he presently in the hospital?

AAM: No he is not.

LFM: Let’s be very direct. Of those of you who reported on the Nation of Islam over the years, you know you ask us from time to time if he is appearing at an event, what time is the Minister going to arrive. We’ll tell you that we can not tell you that. What route is he going to take? We tell you that we can’t tell you that. So please take that comment in that way. It is a matter of our security not to talk about the Minister’s whereabouts and just take it in that light because that’s what it is.

Andy Shaw – WLS – Would it be reasonable to tell us though whether he is in Chicago or Phoenix?

LFM: I thank you all so much. If you have another real question

Jeff Flock, CNN – May I ask you sir, why wasn’t there an advance announcement sabbatical and what is the plan for the leadership of the organization? How will it work during the time of that sabbatical? What role will Min. Farrakhan play?

LFM: Well we work with the Nation of Islam because we are a military command and we have a structure. We work and function the way we do when he is out of town. We work and function the way we do when he is taking a trip. He has been on many tours as you have noticed over the last few years and you have not seen any questions regarding the leadership inside of the Nation of Islam. We wonder about questions about that because usually those are questions that are geared for some other purpose. Min. Farrakhan is here, he is present and believe me he is 100 percent in control of the Nation of Islam and all of us. We serve at his pleasure. So that’s it.

Jeff Flock, CNN – And again sir, why was it that you didn’t announce in advance his sabbatical or had you planned to do this press conference anyway?

LFM: Well, frankly we are not people that talk to you guys very much as you notice so we do a lot of things without talking to you. And we just didn’t see it as appropriate necessarily not intending that you shouldn’t know. We just didn’t. There are a lot of things that we don’t talk to you guys about.

Derrick Blakley – WMAQ TV – I have never heard the term radiation seeds used before. That may be a common medical term but could you explain exactly what that means what that treatment entails.

AAM: No it is not a common procedure that is done. This is state of the art treatment for prostate cancer and we have a team of experts who are world leaders in this seed implantation technique and it is very effective. It is probably more effective than any other mode or treatment. As time goes on, you will begin to hear more and more about it.

Derrick Blakley – WMAQ TV – When you say a seed do you mean a physical object as opposed to …

AAM: Yes. I think all of us are familiar with beam radiation where a radiation beam is directed at a particular area for treatment. Well, the same kind of radiation can be delivered through placing tiny little metallic seeds directly in the treatment area. These seeds are inserted under visualization through MRI, through little tubes and so then you can completely seed the whole area without fear of missing anything. And so as I mentioned the Minister received 238 of these little seeds in the area of his prostate and seminal vesicles. That’s a lot of seeds. That’s a lot of radiation. The dosage delivered to where the tumor was, was on the order of 19,000 rads. That is an extremely high dose. It kills all of the cancer cells and that’s what we think we have achieved with Min. Farrakhan.

Derrick Blakley – WMAQ TV – It is much more localized. You can put it where you want it.

AAM: Exactly.

Steve Kloehn – Chicago Tribune – I just want to understand the chronology. You mentioned the flu bug or flu virus that struck in December and I thought you mentioned two weeks. Is that what continued to make him feel ill through January and February?

AAM: I’m sorry I didn’t make that exactly clear. I think in fact there were two episodes of a flu syndrome, one in the early part of December and then a second episode that occurred at the end of December. The one in early December was a respiratory viral syndrome. The one that came after that which has a more prolonged course is an intestinal kind of a virus that produces these symptoms, nausea, vomiting, weakness, lack of appetite, weight loss, dehydration.

Steve Kloehn – Chicago Tribune – And that continued to bother him through January and February?

AAM: Yes, for about a month or so.

Steve Kloehn – Chicago Tribune – Doctor may I ask about how he personally took this. If this happened to you or I we are going to be extremely scared in February before we find out from a doctors perspective what is going on inside of us. How is he handling it? Is he terrified? Is he calm? What kind of man do you see here?

AAM: Min. Farrakhan I think mostly was just a little bit frustrated that he could not do what he wanted to do. He wanted to be speaking. He wanted to be ministering to his people. He wanted to be in meetings and appointments taking care of his usual schedule. He wanted to be bench pressing 360 pounds. He wanted to be doing 150 wheelies and all of those things that he likes to do. And so he felt a little bit frustrated and annoyed because here is a man at 65 years of age who has never been sick like that before. Who has never been in a situation where he couldn’t just jump up and do what he wanted to do. And so now he knows what it feels to be like the rest of us.

JGM: Thank you very much.

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