To Be or Not To Be! What Is A Virtuous Man, Is The Question...

Byron Muhammad was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is now living in Houston, TX. Bro. Byron joined the Nation of Islam in March 1990 and served as Student Secretary and Student Captain in the Nation of Islam. Bro. Byron's professional career has included entrepreneurship in construction and he is now a Clinical Research Associate in the medical field. Bro. Byron's passion includes working with our youth and serving the community. He is now embarking upon a path for the “Get it done” foundation and Do for self entertainment. He loves to share his life experiences with all people but particular emphasis on our youth. 

During Byron Muhammad's interview I asked him the following question, "what does it mean to be a virtuous man?" Below is his answer.

"When one thinks of the word virtuous, normally a picture of a woman comes to mind. Most men are not thought of as virtuous. Men are mostly considered; respectful, courteous, nice, kind and decent, but not virtuous. Why?

Could it be that there are not a lot of virtuous men around? The statement that a lot of women make seems to point in the direction that we don’t have any left, all men are dogs! If we survey the landscape and take an analysis, we can see that the men are missing from the picture. A lot of our men are locked up in prison, no education (knowledge of self and others) and no prospect of a future. Others are just lost in the drive for money and sex. However, all is not lost.

Let’s take a look at the word virtuous. In the book, Choose the right word, by S.I. Hayakawa, on page 84, virtuous implies someone who refrains from immoral behavior. We are taught by The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that our problem is Spiritual. We have a moral problem in all communities. Greed is the order of the day, sexism is the order of the day, classism is the order of the day and racism is the order of the day. We could take all of these “isms” that are affecting our communities and conceptualize into two words, immoral behavior.

Immoral behavior stems from a spiritual defect in the human being.

What does this have to do with, “what does it mean to be a virtuous man?” Well, to me a virtuous man is one who sees himself as God sees him; a protector, a producer and a provider. We will call them the 3 P's. First thing is a protector. A man must, at all times, protect himself from outside influences that are not in his best interest. A man without a plan and the ability and will to carry out that plan is a man that is neither this nor that. If he can’t protect his own interest what about someone in his care? We are not just speaking of physical protection, but a man has to have that mental fortitude to withstand whatever he is faced with in his life. A virtuous man will first protect himself, his mother, his sister, his aunt, his female cousin and then protect all women regardless of relations.

The man must then be a producer. He must produce that which is beneficial to himself, his family, his community and then the world. He must produce that which produces a future for his family and his community.

The man must be a provider. A provider is one who supplies a means of subsistence. A provider is not niggardly he shares in his abundance. He is willing to give. A virtuous man is one who loves to provide. This is what is missing in our communities, virtuous men. A man that is willing to give his all for the benefit of himself, his family, his community and then the world. This man would love to keep his woman virtuous and modest. A woman could not help herself but to be modest in the community of a virtuous man. Furthermore, a man could not help himself in the company of a virtuous and modest woman. In that type of environment, the children would grow up to be an example of what they see."

Thank you Bro. Byron for taking time out of your day to share your knowledge with us and allowing me to feature you on my blog! I pray Allah (God) continues to bless you in your endeavors!