If you’ve ever ridden the “L” (short for elevated) trains in Chicago, or any other electrified mass transit system in the country, you are familiar with the term “third rail.”

The third rail carries electricity that powers the train, and it is extremely dangerous to touch. It is something that should not be approached without the proper equipment. It could kill you.

There is a conversation emerging in public more prominently today than in the past, mostly because the issue had been considered settled and to raise it in a way counter to the popular narrative could put one in an uncomfortable position.

That question is, “Who are the real children of Israel,” or put another way, “Who are Allah’s (God’s) Chosen People?” Answering this question correctly and acting accordingly would put the world as we see it today in a position to receive mercy from Allah (God) for its transgressions.

Answering the question incorrectly or making it uncomfortable to have a public dialogue on the question gives us the condition we see the world in today—fear, chaos, confusion, war, rumors of war, and increasing natural disasters.

President Donald Trump recently participated in a public event titled “America reads the Bible” where he quoted from 2 Chronicles, verse 14, which says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

It’s the verse that served as the guiding scripture for the historic 1995 Million Man March called by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and attended by nearly two million men.

It is a verse that has consistently underscored Minister Farrakhan’s appeals to his people to seek atonement for our sins and for presidents and the government of America to give justice to the descendants of her former slaves, so the country could delay God’s Wrath.

Many seek to answer the question using the Bible as their sole “evidence.” Specifically, Genesis 15:13, where Allah (God) promises His servant Abram that his seed will be saved and awarded a great future after being subjected to brutal slave conditions for 400 years.

During a 2010 speech before thousands in Atlanta, Ga., Minister Farrakhan raised the question: “Who are the real Children of Israel? The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has said that Almighty God Allah revealed to him that the Black people of America are the real Children of Israel. And we are the choice of God; and that unto us He will deliver His Promise.”

These are powerful and controversial words, but he backed them up with a challenge to the world’s scholars of religion and history: “This question says that somebody has usurped our position.

This question says that somebody has taken The Promise of God to the Children of Israel and claimed it for themselves. But those of you who are scholars of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam: If you can disprove this, then I’ll pay with my life for lying.

“My declaring this, I know, will divide scholars, theologians, Jews, Christians and Muslims. But it is time, now, that a proper dialogue be set up to answer the question that I’ve raised, and answered.”

Interestingly, no scholar or clergy accepted the challenge. The only reaction was verbal stones thrown by those who fear Minister Farrakhan’s words, labeling him with terms aimed at detracting public attention from his message.

Meanwhile, in 2026, the world is watching a genocide of a whole people and the expanded seizure and occupation of land that belongs to others—all under the guise that the land is promised to the “chosen people” who are now taking back their land.

Why does such a simple question cause discomfort among people and nations that no public dialogue can be had on the various positions on the question? Why are people who raise the issue labeled “anti-Semitic,” “bigots,” “haters” and other ugly names?

There is overwhelming agreement among religious and academic scholars that, based on historical and archaeological evidence, or the lack thereof, the enslavement of the Children of Israel in ancient Egypt never happened.

And that “history” certainly has no connection to those who occupy Palestine today and who continue to encroach on the surrounding lands of its Arab populations.

Could it be that Shulamit Aloni, the former Israeli Cabinet member and former Minister of Education, was correct when she told Amy Goodman in a 2002 interview on Democracy Now!

That the use of the term anti-Semitism is “a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic.”

If the definition of semite and semitism at one time referred to the various ethnic groups and languages prominent in the Middle East and parts of Africa, how did the term “anti-Semitism” come to refer solely to those who are “hostile” or “prejudiced” against Jewish people?

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches that the enemy has twisted the word of Allah (God) to cause the people to view Biblical scripture as 75% historical and 25% prophetic, when, in fact, the opposite is true—it is 25% historical and 75% prophetic—meaning most of what is written would happen in the future of the writing.

And since there is no evidence of Jews of today being in bondage to Pharaohs of ancient Egypt for 400 years, who is the promise referring to? If evidence can be presented confirming the promise refers to those occupying Palestine today, so be it.

If it is not, and there is evidence of a people today who have been in bondage in a strange land and persecuted for over 400 years, what then should be done?

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has called the scholars of the Abrahamic faiths—Muslims, Christians, Jews—to the table for dialogue to answer the question. Why hasn’t anyone accepted the invitation?

James G. Muhammad is a former editor-in-chief of The Final Call and is currently a contributing editor.