Elijah Muhammad Research Paper

In the 20th century, a major driving force of the black nationalist movement was the creation of black-oriented religions that fueled enmity and hatred against whites, the foremost of which was the Nation of Islam, or the NOI. The NOI was formed in the 1930s by a Detroit peddler named W.D Fard. Fard influenced a young,

Although Malcolm words often stung with the injustices against blacks in America, the equally racist views of the Nation of Islam kept him from accepting any whites as sincere or capable of helping the situation. For twelve years he preached that the white man was the devil and the "Honourable Elijah Muhammad" was God's messenger. Unfortunately, most images of Malcolm today focus on this period of his life, although the transformation he was about to undergo would give him a completely different, and more important, message for the American people. The Change to True Islam

Master Fard Muhammad first came into America in 1910, entering through New York City. When he got there, just seeing the condition of His father’s people made him cry. From there he went to California and enrolled in the University of Southern California, and The Honorable Elijah Muhammad tells us that he studied there for 20 years before returning to the Holy City Mecca and changing his name from Wallace Fard to Wali Fard. Master Fard Muhammad then returned to America in 1930, and went to Detroit, Michigan. He began teaching in Black Bottom Detroit, which was a predominantly black area. He could not just go around delivering the message

During the early 1960's, Elijah Muhammad became known as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and was well on the way to establishing governmental order for black people. He always showed tremendous love for the black community.

It would be the time spent in prison that would transform Malcolm and change him from a career criminal to the activist he would later be known as. He visited the prison library and read books on religion, philosophy, and history. He read and copied the entire dictionary acquiring the skills that would make him a powerful public speaker. He dedicated his time in prison to his own personal development and through his brother Reginald learned of the organization known as the Nation of Islam or the Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam is an Islamic religious organization founded by its leader Elijah Muhammad which promoted Black separatism from whites culturally, physically, politically and psychologically. Malcolm began to follow the preachings of Muhammad and practiced the religion devoutly, giving up drug use, alcohol consumption, as well as eating pork.

The Nation of Islam was founded by Wali Farad in Detroit, Michigan in 1930. While Farad is credited with the foundation, most of the teachings came from a different movement. It evolved from the Moorish Temple of Science founded by Timothy Drew (Source 1). Drew preached that Islam was the correct faith for African Americans. Drew also preached that African Americans were superior to Caucasians. The Nation of Islam, along with being a religious movement, was a movement for change. They wanted to raise awareness and create racial pride within the African American community (Source 1). The Nation of Islam wanted to improve the lives of African Americans, however, how they wanted to achieve that improvement was unacceptable.

In 1961 James Baldwin met Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam movement at the time. The time Baldwin spent within the Christian Church prior to his meeting with Elijah helped him analyze what the Nation of Islam did for people. It allowed him to notice that everyone needed a gimmick to keep them out of the ghetto, “and it does not matter what the gimmick is” (Baldwin 301). Baldwin realized that the Christian Church was his gimmick, so the Nation of Islam would never do for him what the Christian Church had already done. Plus, some of the beliefs of the Nation of Islam were a little far fetched. The Nation of Islam did not function as a very credible religion during its

Fard Muhammad on July 4, 1930. Inspired by the actions of the Universal Negro Improvement Association lead by Marcus Garvey, the goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity. After Fard Muhammad disappeared in June 1934, the Nation of Islam was led by one of its disciples, Elijah Muhammad. Places of worship called Mosques were established, along with the Muhammad University of Islam School, businesses, farms and real estate holdings in the United States and abroad. By the end World War II, the Temple of Islam had a network of mosques across the United

Malcolm studied the teachings of the leader of the Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad, who advocated an independent black state. The Nation of Islam was based on a theology adapted from several models: traditional Islamic teachings principles of Black Nationalism, and economic self-help programs that addressed the needs of African Americans living in urban ghettoes. Unlike traditional Islam, which rejects all forms of racism, the Nation of Islam declared that whites were the "devil by nature," and that God was black. However, the Black Muslims predicted that in the near future a Great War would take place in which whites would be destroyed and black people would rule the world through the benevolence of Allah, their creator. To prepare for this new order, the Nation of Islam stressed personal self-restraint, opposed the use of drugs and alcohol, and organized economic self-help enterprises that eventually included farms, food stores, restaurants, and small businesses.

The Nation of Islam’s answer to the issue of unfair treatment of Blacks in America is best depicted by Wright in his essay, “[w]hite people had come to lead, as well as control, much of the movement for civil rights. Malcolm X, against this state of affairs, demanded that organizations for black men’s improvement – like those of the Jews by Jews and Irish by Irish – be black supported and black led” (Wright 105). The Nation of Islam felt

Although the majority of black people in America do not consider themselves members of the NOI, the group still attempts to represent all black people. And, because of the strong messages of strength, unity, and betterment of the black race, the NOI reaches the hearts and minds of many blacks as a driving social force, even if they don¹t consider it their religion. Another major way the NOI impacts race relations is through the strong seemingly racist beliefs that are inherent to its theology. The NOI has always been open about its views. Not only have they always taught that the white man is the devil, but they believe that the battle of Armageddon will consist of a holy war between Islam and Christianity of which Islam will be the victors, representing the victory of black people over white people. (1) Jews are referred to as "great enemies" for no particular reason. The NOI has been viewed as a strongly anti-Semitic organization since the early eighties. (4) I think the NOI theology can best be understood as an example of power-conflict theory. First of all, the NOI is strongly against cultural assimilation for American blacks. They believe that black people should exist entirely apart from American (white) culture. Elijah Muhammed, an early and extremely powerful leader who is now viewed as a deified human clearly taught against assimilation. (1) Since whites were inherently created as an evil and

Before Mecca when Malcolm was still a part of The Nation of Islam he was taught the principles of racial hatred and separatism. Their beliefs were based on that the race known as “white” were to be considered as “ devils”. Malcolm quickly believed in their leader Elijah Muhammad and began to rise quickly through the ranks becoming a national celebrity. But, it was soon after this that Malcolm found out the truth about his leader. He found out that

He met the leader of the NOI, Elijah Muhammad in Chicago in 1952 and Malcolm soon began opening temples for the NOI in major cities. He went on to found the NOI’s newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, that he printed out of the basement of his home. Malcolm articulated the Nation’s doctrines of whites being inherently evil and blacks being naturally superior. Malcolm was quickly rising in rank and growing closer to Elijah Muhammad. Soon, he was second in command to Elijah with much more power over the NOI. Due to Malcolm, the NOI gained a large increase in membership and the influence of the group always exceeded its size. Malcolm was an ideal representative due to his public speaking skills and ability to represent the emotions of NOI members. Throughout his rise of power, Malcolm continued to criticize the mainstream Civil Rights Movement. He challenged Martin Luther King Jr’s notions of integration and nonviolence and argued that more was at stake than simply the right to sit in a restaurant or vote. He wrote in his book, “No sane black man really wants integration! No sane white man really wants integration!” (X, 250). He felt that the most important issues were black identity, integrity, and independence. He urged his followers to defend themselves by any means necessary and told critics, “I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence,” (X). In his ideology, blacks could never

In the novel The Fire Next Time Baldwin address the Nation of Islam and its effect on the civil rights movement. The Nation of Islam was a religious movement in the mid-1900s, led by Elijah Muhammad. The religion focused on Black power and taught ideas such as white people are the devil and black people are the original person. Second in command, Malcolm X, was a key figure in the movement and arguably led The Nation of Islam as a political movement. Malcolm X believed in taking control of one’s life; consequently, “Malcolm X’s message was that blacks should accept themselves as they are rather than trying to emulate white people and assimilate into European culture” (Jahn). His ideas of taking matters into one’s own hands and enough waiting around resonated with many and allowed Nation of Islam movement to grow.

The Islamic religion is not only a religion, but a complex lifestyle full of dynamic truth which has a past that spans over fourteen centuries. It’s history encompasses the ancient spirits of people from North Africa as far as Malaysia. Islam is also one of the youngest major religions as the “Qur’an “came down” to Muhammad six centuries after Jesus, so that a large portion of the developed world which it soon overran had been evangelized for centuries” (Burrell 1). Although Islam was budding, it has grown into one of the world’s largest religions having a following of over one billion. Islam is known to be the fastest growing faith worldwide, and in recent years has made striking advances in North America (3). “The rapid expansion of the community of Believers after Muhammad’s death has its roots in the events of the last years of his life” ( Donner 92). Islam can be abridged into three timeframes that are as follows; The Time of Ingratitude, Muhammad 's life and story, and the organizations and laws that were created after the demise of the prophet.