01/24/08, Letter to the Editor, printed in the Finger Lake Times (NY)






Martin Luther King Was Great But Not a Prophet
By Sardar Anees Ahmad
Waterloo, New York

Father. Humanist. Revolutionary. These are all fitting descriptions of Atlanta’s native son. However, one title can never be given to the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – prophet. Yet this is precisely what the respected Rev. Dr. Harold Middlebrook Sr. implied during his address this past Monday in Geneva, NY. For a pastor to liken the assassination of a great civil rights leader to the events of Noah, Moses, and Jesus Christ (peace be on them all) is shocking. Where in the Torah is this assassination prophesied? Where did Jesus Christ ever allude to this tragic event? Moreover, why must it be Dr. King’s assassination that is significant? Why not the 40th anniversary of his birth? Indeed, Dr. King sadly passed before even reaching 40 years of age. If any fitting similarity could be drawn between Dr. King and the number 40, it is of Philo of Alexandria who taught, in 40 C.E., that all men are born free.

Television programming, professional sports, the job place, the friendly manner in which Americans of every background embrace each other are all a living testament to the greatness and vitality of Dr. King’s message. As a minority, ethnically and religiously, I have a deep and profound love for Dr. King. But it is because I believe in the reality of Dr. King as a liberator, not as a Divine appointee, that he has won my admiration.