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Yes, Carol Mohammad tells us how when John Mohammad ran off to Antiqua with the children and she became ill and had no money, she turned to the church which offered her no assistance. No help what so ever.
Is Farrakhan saying that he knows people who knew Muhammad? Potential character witnesses? He sure seems to imply that. Who does Farrakhan know?
Whoever it is, it sure isn't the Rev. Al Archer.
Well that's more than we usually get from Muslim leaders.
TC
NewsMax Staff"Those who knew him never said ugly things about his conduct or his behavior," Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said, acknowledging that suspected D.C.-area sniper John Allen Muhammad is a member of the NOI, a group that combines Islam with Black nationalism.
Monday, Oct. 28, 2002
Farrakhan made the announcement during a press conference Saturday at Chicago’s Mosque Maryam, noting that Muhammad would be dismissed from the Chicago-based group if convicted of the shooting spree that left 10 dead and three wounded in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia.
"He has not formally been kicked out of the Nation of Islam, but certainly if he's found guilty of something like this he would not be considered at all a member of the Nation of Islam," Farrakhan said, adding that he "grieves for the senseless loss of life" caused by the sniper.
Muhammad’s possible link to the NOI had been a topic of speculation since a neighbor of Muhammad in Tacoma, Wash. told reporters that he believed the suspect had been a part of Farrakhan’s security detail during the Farrakhan-sponsored "Million Man March" in Washington.
Farrakhan specifically denied that Mohammad had served on his personal detail at the march, admitting, however, "He might well have been there."
Victim and Sniper Both at March
Ironically, sniper victim Kenneth Bridges attended the 1995 Million Man March and, according to published reports, used it as an inspiration in co-founding the MATAH Network, Inc., a black-owned Internet business catering to the needs of black consumers.
Bridges, a social activist and father of six from the Philadelphia area, was shot at a Fredericksburg, Va. gas station Oct. 11.
Although it was being reported that Mohammad had converted to Islam as early as 1985, Farrakhan said that the sniper suspect had not formally joined the religious group until 1997. Furthermore, the NOI leader reported that the suspect had not had any formal contact with the group since 1999.
In that year Mohammad reportedly was involved in a domestic dispute with his wife, who is also a member of NOI.
Farrahkan also confirmed that Muhammad had changed his name from John Allen Williams after converting to Islam.
In the meantime, Muslims around the country have found news of the sniper suspect's faith a cause for consternation.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, some Muslims in Atlanta have voiced concern that Muhammad had again placed a stain on a peaceful religion - just as it was recovering from the Sept. 11 hijackers, also Muslims.
Others, said the report, opined that a true Muslim would never boast he is God, as the sniper did in a note at one of the shootings.
'The Five Percent'
This latest speculation about the infamous "I am God” boast by the sniper has given rise to the theory that Mohammad was an adherent to a splinter group of the NOI known as "Five Percenters.”
According to the teachings of the splinter Muslim sect’s founder, Clarence 13X, once a black man achieved mastery of self, he became God, to the extent that he controlled his own destiny. Five Percent men refer to themselves as Gods and women as Earths, and the religion is commonly referred to as The Nation of Gods and Earths.
Founded by Clarence 13X in New York’s Harlem in 1964, by the mid-seventies Five Percenters had become part of the African-American inner city experience, and 10 years later the group had spread to Los Angeles and other West coast locations.
Clarence 13X's preaching was characteristically delivered in a "rap" that appealed to New York City youth. Early on, the group won converts by the hundreds, and currently the group numbers in the tens of thousands in New York City alone.
Contemporary rap artists like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Lakim Shabazz have used the Five Percent flag, which prominently features a star, on album covers and have written lyrics influenced by its doctrine.
One of the messages left by the sniper was surrounded by a border of stars.
Five Percent has proved attractive to the younger element, who apparently relish that the religion features no leader and the group's meetings, called parliaments, generally occur in public places.
Clarence 13X was killed by unknown assailants in New York City, but Five Percenters believe city police were behind the killing.
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