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The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a delegation from the Nation of Islam concluded Ramadan with an historic “Umrah,” or pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, at the invitation of the King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
“Ramadan is the annual Muslim holy month of fasting and prayers which ended for many on June 4 with the sighting of the new moon. It is a very special time of year and celebrates the revelation of the Holy Qur’an given to Prophet Muhammad of Arabia (Peace Be Upon Him) 1,400 years ago.
To be in the birthplace of Islam, it is this city, that is at the root of the civilization on our planet. For us after 42 years, Brother (Abdul Akbar Muhammad) and myself coming back to what we call home, it is from this city that knowledge and wisdom of the original man first started, when this planet was found in this new orbit 66 trillion years ago according to the teachings of our great and masterful teacher the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” Minister Farrakhan said via telephone on the Ramadan Prayerline June 4, from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, as thousands listened live from all around the world. The prayer line is an annual event sponsored by Muslims in the Nation of Islam, which features daily pre-dawn teleconference calls and speakers from different Islamic communities during Ramadan.
“For us, a delegation of 17 to start in Madinah, the city of the Prophet, at his masjid and to see how that masjid, that started with the hijra (flight of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, from Mecca to Madinah to escape religious persecution) as he set foot in Madinah and when he put his foot down, this is where his mosque would be, there was nothing there but stone at the time and now here we are, at the most beautiful city. In my life, this is the most beautiful city that I call home,” said Min. Farrakhan.
He added, “Though I was born in New York and raised in Boston, Mecca is our home and so we are back home and I don’t know of a better place to be during Ramadan and during the last 10 nights of Ramadan. We were in Madinah and now in Mecca. We spent Laylatul Qadar (the night the Qur’an was revealed), the Night of Power, in Mecca. That same night we made Umrah, they said that 2.5 million people were in Mecca. We were guests of the king. We were blessed in a most special way to make Umrah and run between the two hills (Safwa and Marwa).”
During Ramadan Minister Farrakhan said to his friend and longtime confidant Abdul Akbar Muhammad that he wanted to make Umrah during the last 10 days of the month. The significance of performing Umrah during Ramadan is that the reward is the same as if one performs Hajj, which is a visit to Mecca and the Kaaba, the Holy House of Islam, that every Muslim must perform in their lifetime if possible.
