The relationship between teacher and student

By

Brother Mustafaa Muhammad

In the Name of ALLAH, the Beneficent, the Merciful

‘’And all We relate to thee of the account of the messengers is to strengthen thy heart therewith. And in this has come to thee the truth and an admonition and a reminder for the believers.’’(Holy Qur’an 11:120)

In the fourth article in the series-My walk with Farrakhan-we will be exploring the dynamics between teachers and their students. Also, we will explore why we need good teachers and what must a good student do to represent a great teacher.

Today, many people have been turned off or disillusioned, due to being mislead or abused, with leaders and teachers from the political arena, the spiritual arena and other arenas where teachers are supposed to guide human beings into being great men and women.

The role of a true leader/teacher

When you come into the presence of a true teacher they only work as a mirror to help develop inner qualities that you may not see. As I heard the Hon. Minister Farrakhan say, ‘’There are no two snowflakes alike or blades of grass.’’ This teaches us that every human being is a unique creature and has a unique gift from the Creator. So, a great teacher often puts us through exercises designed to bring out the hidden talent that is placed within.

According to The Holy Qur’an whenever a people become lost from the light of God ALLAH sends the people messengers and prophets to show them the way back to God. Also, the prophets come to teach the human being how to connect to God within self and to be led by God and God alone.

However, as seen in history many students become personality worshipers of the very teacher who is trying to make them great. We have seen this in history from Muhammad and Jesus of yesterday to The Hon. Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan of today. The aforementioned men always told their followers to keep focused on God and follow their teachings as a means to uplift self, family and community.

Our goal as students of our respective teachers is to internalize and actualize the principles according to the unique way we are formed and with the gifts our Creator has endowed us with. Otherwise, we will only be making a mockery of our teacher and denying the greatness within that our teacher has come to manifest. I love my teacher and mentor, The Hon. Louis Farrakhan, and have learned plenty; however I do not seek to emulate him in his speech, hairstyle, manner of dress or other superficial details that doesn’t make him The  great man he is.

I follow him to be inspired to further submit my will totally to Almighty God and to nurture the divine gift given by our Creator. It is by living the principles of our teachers that they will never die and God will be glorified.

“I want your mind.” Spoken by The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad to Minister Farrakhan

The above words were said to the Hon. Louis Farrakhan by his teacher, The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad. The power of the human being, given by our Creator, is the power of control that the mind has over its actions. Jesus reminded us, ‘’As a person thinks so are they.’’ So, Minister Farrakhan’s teacher was saying I want your mind, not to make you a slave, but to connect your mind to The Creator so you will develop your own unique gift and calling in life as I.

The well known Muslim scholar Al-Ghazzali wrote on the properties of the student and the teacher

“Student submit yourself to your teacher, and he will make something out of you. Student, do not have a divided mind. Line your mind up with your teacher and he will make you a great man.’’

Since 1977 Brother Minister Farrakhan has been showing that he was a good student and is living the principles of his teacher by his rebuilding the house(Nation of Islam) of his teacher, doing what he was born to do and serving as a teacher to others to help them develop their divine gifts.

In the person of

The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad taught that he was taught by God in the person of Master Fard Muhammad. Many of our traditional Muslim family have misunderstood what this "in the person of" means. Master Fard Muhammad, we are taught, studied for 42 years, developed himself and prayed. This teaches us that as a certain point he was dependant upon a higher power at that stage in his life. He was a man born, February 26th 1877, into a world that had already been created and under the laws established by the Creator(Originator). What this means is he submitted himself totally to the will of he who created the heavens and earth and due to the quality of his submission the Supreme being came in his person. 

In this instance Almighty God was the teacher and The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad was the student of God. 

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad in a chapter(The will of ALLAH is being done) from the book Our Saviour Has arrived speaks on his submission to his teacher and the results:

"When a person gets righteous, God accepts him as His FRIEND. Then the will of each other is with each is with each other. What one wills, the other wills. It is the will of both...The Messenger’s will is in accord with the Will of Allah. The Messenger cannot will something opposed to Allah. Allah has taken over the Messenger’s heart, mind, and brain and Allah is making them to react according to His Will!"

This is accord with what Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) stated in Hadith Qudsi:

"That when Allah loves a person and a person gets righteous he(ALLAH) becomes the eyes with which they see, the mouth with which they speak, the hands with which they hold, the ears with which they hear."

Jesus(Peace be upon him) similarly spoke of the close relationship between him and his father, God, by saying, "I and my father are one." This only means unity of purpose and unity in will.

Now when we look at The Hon. Louis Farrakhan, who is a student of The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad, who are we looking at?  I am here to say that The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad, the Messenger-Messiah, has come in the person of Minister Farrakhan. Minister Farrakhan has totally submitted his mind and essence to his teacher where the will of his teacher is being personified in himself. This makes The Hon. Louis Farrakhan a divine leader, teacher and guide and an embodiment of The power of God and his Messiah. 

We as students of Minister Farrakhan have the opportunity to open our hearts and minds to allow him to come in our person and become functionaries of the power that he represents in his person.

I think The Hon. Louis Farrakhan is a student that should be studied by the whole world of humanity.  I study him to learn of his example of submission to the will of Almighty God. I study him to learn of his marvelous methods of uniting people of faith whether they be Muslims, Christians or others. I study him as an example of how with faith mountains can be moved and great things can be accomplished if we just have active faith in ALLAH.

In conclusion, we can only prove that we had a good teacher/leader by being successful in our particular lives and in living the principles that will improve self and make the world a better place.

There is one more thing we must take into consideration in conclusion. No great teacher, no matter how great, wants their students to be a repeat of them in their greatness. There would be no progress in the world if everyone just followed the same course. Jesus said that those who follow him will be able to do the same works as he, but they will manifest greater works. So, let us follow the principles of our teachers, manifest our greatness and take things to a higher level of expression.

Thank you for reading these few words!

Copyright2008©Mustafaa Muhammad

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