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| In this 2017 photo, the children, grandchildren and family members of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Mother Tynnetta Muhammad gather at the intersection of what is now “Tynnetta Muhammad Ave.” in Detroit, Mich., named for the late scholar, author and world traveler. Photos: Nabil Muhammad |
Muslims of Detroit’s Muhammad Mosque No. 1, community leaders, and supporters recalled with fondness and compassion the life, and impact of Student Minister Rasul Hakim Muhammad, who returned to Allah (God) on March 13. Brother Rasul was the son of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his wife Mother Tynnetta Muhammad.
Appointed minister of the Detroit mosque after completing a Nation of Islam 1988 fundraising tour there to help reacquire Nation of Islam properties in Chicago, Brother Rasul Muhammad’s labor, service, and activism inspired many as he helped the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to rebuild the work of his father.
The Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, in the city where the Nation first began in 1930. He was installed as minister of Mosque No. 1 in 1989.
“Detroit was his ‘love,’” the janazah (funeral) program noted. During his janazah service, it was pointed out that Bro. Rasul passed away on March 13 (3-13) and the area code of Detroit is 313.
“Rasul quickly gained the love, admiration and respect of the city from the Mayor, The City Council, State Representatives, Civic and Religious Leadership, to the people in the streets, everyone knew Rasul, and he made Mosque No. 1 one of the most productive and influential mosques in the Nation,” the program stated in part.
During his time serving in Detroit, he spoke and taught in prisons around the state, at schools and churches and was a featured guest on local TV and radio stations.
In 1990, “The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan brought Saviours’ Day to Detroit for the first time and he also received the ‘Spirit of Detroit Award’ and ‘The Achievement Award’” from the city of Detroit, according to the program.
In 1995 Minister Farrakhan relocated Brother Rasul to Mosque No. 29 in Miami where he was eventually appointed to the newly established 7th Region and from 2008-2013, he ministered in Miami and Detroit.
The Detroit community recognized and reflected on his decades of service as the Nation of Islam’s local minister under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Bro. Rasul impacted those he labored with when he served as minister in “The Motor City.”
“I served with him from 1989 until the early summer of 1995,” said Mosque No. 1 F.O.I. Student Captain Emeritus Abdul Majied Muhammad, formerly known as Captain Thomas O. X. Bro. Majied told The Final Call that Bro. Rasul’s labor was rooted in his profound devotion to the people and his strong desire to see freedom, justice and equality.
“The tremendous love he had for people and the ability to interact with such a diverse number of people, we had very high respect as a mosque from the mayor’s office to the city council, right down to the police departments,” Bro. Abdul Majied said.
“We had a tremendous amount of respect from the colleges and universities within the Michigan area and some of the notable things that he did with the help of myself and Dawud Muhammad (formerly Student Assistant Minister David X) was the set-up of a study group on the Michigan State University campus,’” he said.
Bro. Abdul Majied also reflected on Bro. Rasul’s ability to reach out to others regardless of their religion, creed, class, or color.
“I called and thanked the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan for sending him here,” said Bro. Abdul Majied. “Minister Farrakhan said, ‘he is yours and you are his,’ and that’s how we worked and that is how we felt about each other,” Bro. Abdul Majied continued. “Brother Rasul was very charismatic, and if there was one thing he really possessed, it was the ability to connect with people.”
Pastor of Fellowship Chapel and president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, told The Final Call that he considered Student Minister Rasul Muhammad his brother and friend. He offered deep condolences to his family and those who loved him.
“Rasul was a good brother, he was my friend, and we loved each other,” Rev. Anthony said. “It had nothing to do with him being in the Muslim community and me being a Christian. We recognized we were both sons of God and we had much more in common than we did in conflict, so we never had conflict.
We always embraced each other, respected each other, and appreciated each other. We joked together, laughed together, and sometimes we got angry at conditions in our country … together,” he said.
“I had nothing but love for Rasul,” Rev. Wendell Anthony said. “I’m so sorry to hear of his passing, I know he will be missed. We talked every now and then and I knew that he had a problem with his sight and his vision was going, but he still had 20/20 vision in terms of how he perceived and understood the conditions of our people and he never lost sight of that,” he said.
“My heart goes out to his family and everyone that loved him. I am comforted by that old African proverb that says those whom we love die only in the physical sense, but their spirit continues to live on in the will and determination of those whom they leave behind.
I know the spirit of Rasul will continue on in those people he leaves behind of those who loved him, who are touched by him, and I will never forget him.”
Detroit radio talk show personality and journalist Mildred Gaddis, host of The Mildred Gaddis Show on KISS 105.9 FM, told The Final Call that she had a very positive relationship with Bro. Rasul from the time he was a local minister in the city. She said that anyone who met him would feel his spirit of sincerity.
“When you connect with him, when you meet him for the very, very, first time, there is a genuineness, a passion that just emerges, that emanates from him and you learn very, very early how passionately in love he is with Black people, and that passion exists and that sincerity, without him hating anybody else,” Ms. Gaddis said.
“He was a man who always wanted to do right, to be right, and for others to do the same and he was not a person who expected more from you than he was willing to do or give from himself.
He was a man with one face,” she said. Ms. Gaddis also dedicated a tribute on her show to Bro. Rasul where his family members and others called in to share their reflections and memories and his music was also played.
Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus and former vice-chair of the Wayne County Commission, Keith D. Williams, told The Final Call that when Bro. Rasul returned to serve Detroit in the early 2010s, their interactions were based upon ethics, morality, and accountability to the Black community.
“He never judged me on my religion, he was more about my heart, making sure I was doing right by my people,” Mr. Williams said. “He and I used to meet once a week or once a month where he was staying and we would talk about life, he was just a wonderful loving brother.”
Mr. Williams said when he received a call informing him of Bro. Rasul’s passing, he cried, “because we lost a giant,” he said. “We lost a giant because of his intellect, but more importantly because of his heart.”
Brenda Jones is a former president of the Detroit City Council and a former U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. She shared with The Final Call that during her time in local government, her memories of Bro. Rasul was after his return to Detroit in the early 2010s.
She was also the sponsor of the 2016 resolution to grant the intersection of Linwood and Puritan the secondary name, Tynnetta Muhammad Avenue, named after Bro. Rasul’s mother, who grew up in Detroit.
“Brother Minister Rasul was an individual that could actually read your personality, he could actually read if anything was going on with you, and what was going on with you,” Ms. Jones said.
“Once you first established a relationship with Brother Minister Rasul, after that, he could pretty much tell you about yourself, you really didn’t have to tell him anything because if something was going on he could tell you whether or not something was going on in your life and he was definitely one that understood people,” Ms. Jones reflected.
“Brother Minister Rasul will definitely be missed around the City of Detroit. He will truly be missed and he’s one you will never forget, and his legacy will continue to live on. He touched so many lives here,” she said.
Bro. Troy Muhammad, the current student minister of Detroit’s Muhammad Mosque No. 1, told The Final Call he served as an assistant when Bro. Rasul returned to the city around 2008.
“I was his assistant minister for three years, and it was a blessing to come in contact with Minister Rasul,” Student Minister Troy Muhammad said.
“In reflecting on all that I’ve heard and all that I’ve seen over the last 13 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that Minister Rasul Muhammad was a very necessary figure for the City of Detroit.
He impacted and lifted so many, myself included, who are now in major positions of leadership today and who are doing great works in the City of Detroit today.”
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