Nation Of Islam : The History Of The Nation Of Islam

satisfied requirements put before us by Allah and His Messenger that qualify you to enter amongst us. Your persistence in doing so has awarded

On October 7th, 1897, The Nation of Islam gained a new visionary with great talents. Elijah Muhammad is considered to be one of the most religious African American leaders to guide groups of converted muslims to fight for their beliefs. Little did he know, Muhammad would go face to face with a man who would impact his life through the religion and use his teachings to put wisdom through the black community. His life and stories have truly inspired many civil right activists and his name has also been mentioned in this category. Elijah Muhammad has shown incredible acts of leadership through leading a large group of Muslims and himself to find true peace for the rest of the black community, who were suffering from white supremacy. Therefore,

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

In his autobiography Malcolm X writes,“In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I never will be guilty of that again – as I know now that some white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man. The true Islam has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites made blanket indictments against blacks”(Haley 369). Malcolm, the spokesman for the Nation of Islam (NOI), writes this after he has converted from the NOI to Orthodox Sunni Islam. The Nation of Islam strayed very far from traditional Islam, and rather than promoting peace, it promoted hatred against the white man. Malcolm’s conversion

mainly to was to segregated whites and blacks. The Nation of Islam wanted to establish a separate Afro-American homeland in the U.S. and believed that the white person is "the Devil" who wanted to enslave all non-whites. The Nation of Islam also strictly followed the Islamic belief.

Elijah Muhammad rose from poverty to become the controversial, charismatic leader of the black separatist group The Nation of Islam. To this day, now under the direction of Minister Louis Farrakhan, the NOI has maintained a consistent record of racism and anti-Semitism under the guise of instilling African-Americans with a sense of empowerment. Charismatic ministers of "the Honorable Elijah Muhammad" campaign black pride, economic self-help, and moral uplift attracted large numbers of blacks to the Muslim movement, leading to the establishment of NOI temples throughout the country.

After his encounter with Fard Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad founded his first temple in Detroit, and then moved to Chicago where he set up the headquarters for the Nation of Islam. He was arrested for lecturing against negroes fighting “the white man’s war”, and although he was absolved of sedition, he was later found guilty of draft dodging and served three years in the Federal Correction Institution at Milan, Michigan in 1943 (Mr. Muhammad Speaks, 103). After being released, he continued building 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.

The Nation of Islam empowered many blacks in a time and place where the concept of power was used to oppress. Christianity being a white man’s religion in the eyes of the oppressed, Islam was used in America as a tool for confirmation of beauty. The reminder of inner beauty for the people of color caused substantial growth and powerful movement that impacted American history for generations. The same principles that hoped to empower and give freedom towards African Americans is the same principles that continue to mask the beauty of the Muslim woman. How can two oppressed groups of people, blacks and woman, find two very different outcomes when practicing the Islam faith? Recognizing the differences between the Nation of Islam and the other sects of Islam faith, there is still a center focus on self identity and living into that mold. For some, that means taking back what has been taken away from them, freedom. For others, it continues to mean denying inner desires for something greater than following social norms.

spiritual awakening. He then had abandoned the Islamic Nation and became an orthodox Sunni Muslim. Elijah Muhammad rose from poverty to become the charismatic leader of the black nationalist group Nation of Islam, and mentor of Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan.

Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much

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

Essentially, the group believes in the racial superiority of blacks, a notion supported by a complex genesis fable, which includes an envious and evil white scientist who put a curse on blacks. The faith became a focus for Malcolm’s fury about his family’s treatment at the hands of whites (specifically the Ku Klux Klan), the lack of opportunities he had as a young black man, and the psychological damage of systematic racism (Ferran, 1992). There, in prison, he converted to the Nation of Islam (McGill, 2011). This group is commonly considered to be an extremist radical group of African Americans. In order to educate himself, Malcolm spent extensive time reading books within the prison library and even, memorizing a dictionary. Additionally, he sharpened his legal skills by participating in debate classes. Following tradition, he replaced his last name with an “X,” a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their familial names to have originated with white slaveholders (Mamaiya, 1).