Elijah Muhammad Research Paper

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.

Other Muslims thought Malcolm was getting to powerful. One example of the conflicts Malcolm's power caused involved the leader of the Muslim Nation, Elijah Muhammed. Elijah Muhammed was said to have fathered two young women's children. Malcolm went to talk to the women. The women told Malcolm that Elijah always talked behind Malcolm's back, saying bad things. Malcolm's faith was shattered. He was with the Black Muslim religion for twelve years. He decided to try to take, and make his own Islam religion. Muhammed found out about this, and said that Malcolm could not preach for 90 days.

Malcolm X was also a very great leader during the Civil Rights era. His Islamic religion helped influence how he led those who followed his teachings. He was motivated by anger that was created from white men in the past. When he was younger, his mother was threatened to move out of town because his father’s sermons were starting to cause an up roar in the community between blacks and whites. The leadership Malcolm X brought to the community was rejuvenated energy that gave young black men and women the hope to rise above the

After Malcolm separated from the Nation of Islam, part by choice but part by force, he had to turn elsewhere for the acceptance and purpose, which all African American males needed at this time. With his national prominence he formed a new organization. This organization would be the last place he found acceptance because of his untimely death. His organization, the Muslim Mosque Inc., he

Muhammad would do this by any means possible. Though he practiced the faith of Islam he was very violent in his ways. He started his nation in Chicago by teaching people about the white devils and getting more and more people to convert to Muslims. As he increased his followers he began incorporating the teachings of Marcus Garvey and the back to Africa theory. Muhammad could not do this all on his own, and with the help of Malcom X, his chief disciple criminal turned righteous Muslim, they accomplished much. Malcom was a man who had recently been released from prison for robberies learned about the faith and the ideas and began to put all of his effort into converting his fellow Negroes. Malcom also took care of the “by any means necessary” part. He formed a group of violent blacks called the Black Panthers. The Panthers would target white supremacies and use violent force to get their message across. Muhammad was the leader of the group of Black Muslims who were Muslims but did not follow the rules. Muslims in general are very peaceful for example one of their beliefs is “WE BELIEVE that we who declare ourselves to be righteous Muslims, should not participate in wars which take the lives of humans. We do not believe this nation should force us to take part in such wars” (Muslim Program 2). This did not hold true with Elijah and Malcom.

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.

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

Instead of going to school to get a traditional education, he dropped out of school at fifteen and learned the ways of the streets. Malcolm associated himself with thugs, thieves, dope dealers, and pimps. He was convicted of burglary at age twenty and remained in prison until he was twenty-seven. During his prison sentence, he became a changed man. He educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam, studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. Elijah taught Malcolm how history had been “whitened by the white man” (p.184) and he echoed “the black convict’s lifelong experience” where “the white man is the devil,” (p. 186). This thought process encouraged many black inmates to discover the Nation of Islam.

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.

Malcolm X was a man who supported violence in getting equal rights for black citizens. To do this, he assisted the national Muslim leader, Elijah Muhammad by sharing the Black Muslim beliefs throughout the United States. Malcolm X started many Muslim groups and worked hard to develop racial pride in his black listeners by recognizing the suffering whites caused by blacks. With the Black Muslims, Malcolm X practiced a vigorous self-defense against white violence. He also urged blacks to live separately from whites and prevented them from attaining their freedom. He affected his followers so much that when his followers would see white people they would often harass or hurt the white people. Through his travels in the Middle East and Africa, he began to realize and change his views regarding potential brotherhood between black and white Americans and rejected the view that all whites were devils. (Harris 99) He thought that one day his religion could unite people of all races. To do this he formed his own group, The Organization of Afro-American Unity. Many people, both black and whites admired his tireless efforts to build pride in blacks and whoever shared his dreams that someday everyone would be joined in brotherhood. Malcolm X was admired by many people because of his drive to unite the blacks and whites as one, but many people also condemned his as a hypocrite and traitor because of his change in views. Malcolm X

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

After his release from prison, Malcolm helped lead the Nation of Islam to its greatest growth and influence (Brazil and Reed, 2004). Significantly he met Elijah Muhammad in Chicago and began organizing temples for the Nation in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. He was extremely devoted and even founded the Nation's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, which he printed in his home basement (Mamaiya,

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.