This past Monday, November 22, 2021. I received some painful news that a good spiritual brother/friend of mines died from COVID. The news was very painful because I had just talked to him a week and a half before he died. We were joking, laughing, and reminiscing on our younger days in San Diego, California.
Brother Jerry Ali Muhammad was one of the first believers I met when I started attending the Nation of Islam mosque. He and another spiritual brother/good friend of mines, Brother Dayrel Muhammad were the first ones I met because they picked me up for the Friday Study Group, mosque meeting.
I was nervous about going to the mosque because I was a gang member at that time; I was a blood from a gang called 59 Brims and the mosque was located in my arch-rival territory; West Coast Crips. By visiting the mosque, I was putting my life on the line. When I talked to the brother over the phone and told him, I wanted to visit the mosque but I was afraid that the West Coast Crips would try to kill me. The brother assured me, that, everything would be alright and if anyone mess with me in their presence; they are messing with them.
So, Brother Jerry and Brother Dayrel were sent to pick me up and they both assured me, I would be okay. Brother Dayrel knew my big Sister Valerie from high school and he also told me he was a former gang member from a gang called Skyline Piru. I told him, I was very much familiar with that gang because I have family members from that gang.
I asked Brother Dayrel what they called him (his former street name), he said Tiger, and I remembered him because he used to be a big-time gambler, he used shoot dice. Also, I saw him back in the days when he used to bang and I remembered him because he had a long Jerry curl and every function I went to; he was there in the middle of the dice game.
On the ride to the mosque, I do not remember, Brother Jerry, saying anything. It was not until I started processing class where Brother Jerry and I started talking and getting to know each other. Processing class is where (new believers learn to get their X to become a registered member of the Nation of Islam).
Brother Jerry and I became close, he is the first believer whose house I went to and we used to always talk about the teachings. Well, Brother Jerry did most of the talking and I would just listen because I was so amazed by the wisdom/knowledge he used to share with me. I always saw him as a future minister. He was humble but he was strict when it came to the Nation of Islam and its teachings. The first time, I was ever reported was by Brother Jerry. One day, he was telling me how much he loves The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. I told him, I love Minister Rahim Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him). I could tell Brother Jerry was offended by the expression on his face. He did not say anything else he walked away….
The next day, before our processing class, I was called into a meeting with Brother Jerry and Minister Rahim; Minister Rahim said, Brother Jerry reported you to me and he said, that, you love me more than The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. I said, yes sir because I do not know Minister Farrakhan but I know you and you are the one that inspired me to join the Nation of Islam. Minister Rahim said, I told Brother Jerry one day you will love The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan more than me; you just need to study, listen to The Minister’s tapes and watch his videos, and that I did!!
Over the years, Brother Jerry and I would laugh about how stubborn and rebellious I was. How believers could tell me nothing without proof. They used to say, I was like a lawyer, I wanted evidence. He said, to see the man I am becoming and me going back to college to further my education is very surprising, especially for someone like him who saw me at the beginning.
Not knowing, the last conversation I had with Brother Jerry would be the last. There is no doubt a divine reason why Allah (God) put it on my heart to inbox him to call me because it would be our last conversation.
