Nation of Islam

File:Savioursday041.jpg

Malcolm X with Elijah Muhammad at Savior's Day

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and social/political organization founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the Spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black men and women of America. NOI also promotes the belief that God will bring about a universal government of peace.

From 1978 to the present, Louis Farrakhan has been the leader of a reconstituted Nation of Islam, the original organization having been renamed and dissolved by Warith Deen Muhammad. The Nation of Islam's National Center and headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is also home to its flagship Mosque No. 2, Mosque Maryam, in dedication to Mary, Mother of Jesus.

History

Elijah Muhammad standing behind microphones at podium

Malcolm X

Current Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan

Main article: History of the Nation of Islam

The original Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad also known as Master W. D. Fard Muhammad (1877-, 1930 or 1893–1934 or later), whom the Nation of Islam believes to be both the long-awaited "Messiah" of Christianity and the Mahdi of some sections of Islam. One of Fard's first disciples was Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975).

Elijah Muhammad began preaching that W.F. Muhammad was literally God in person as was emphasized in his book, 'Message to the Blackman in America:

"Allah (God) came to us from the Holy City Mecca, Arabia, in 1930. He used the name Wallace D. Fard, often signing it W.D. Fard. In the third year (1933), He signed His name W.F. Muhammad, which stands for Wallace Fard Muhammad. He came alone. He began teaching us the knowledge of ourselves, of God and the devil, of the measurement of the earth, of other planets, and of the civilizations of some of the planets other than earth."

The organization came to national attention in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s due to many factors, including nationally televised reports such as The Hate That Hate Produced by then-CBS reporter Mike Wallace; grassroots organizing efforts by dozens of NOI Ministers throughout the country; the notoriety of speeches by Elijah Muhammad's then-national spokesman, Malcolm X; and the controversy around its most famous member at the time, Muhammad Ali.

One day after Elijah Muhammad's death in February 1975, the succession of his son Wallace was approved unanimously during the annual Saviors' Day celebrations on February 26. Wallace Muhammad had been suspended from the Nation of Islam for "dissident views" and ideological rifts with his father over religious doctrine, but had been restored to the organization by 1974. When W.D. (Wallace) Muhammad was installed as Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam in 1975, he immediately began to reformulate his father's beliefs and practices to bring the Nation of Islam closer to mainstream Sunni Islam.

In 1978, after wrestling with the changes and consequent dismantling of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan and his supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by W. Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad. In 1981, Farrakhan publicly announced the restoration of the Nation of Islam, with its national headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, and went forward with Elijah Muhammad's teachings. In 1995 Farrakhan convened what his followers say was the largest march in U.S. history, the Million Man March. While individual attendees credit the power of that day in creating reconciliation and responsibility, Farrakhan himself gave a puzzling, rambling account of what would seem to be the last entirely homegrown NOI statement of faith. Farrakhan referenced ancient Egypt, numerology, specifically the "hidden meaning" of certain numbers to past and future events, extraterrestrial beings, and not so veiled allusions to the disguised malice of whites and Jews in wholly explaining the condition of the black race. Farrakhan's indigenous, separatist Islam was starting to give way to a better understanding of world Islam. However the controversies among and within NOI mosques or majids would continue.

In 2000, Imam Warith Deen Muhammad (formerly Wallace Muhammad) and Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly embraced and declared official unity and reconciliation at the annual Saviors' Day convention, marking 70 years since the Nation of Islam was founded in America. Unofficial accounts of the relationship of the breakaway NOI to the Sunni Islam it transitioned into suggest remaining disagreement still between the tenets of the old guard and the new.

Beliefs and theology

Main article: Beliefs and theology of the Nation of Islam

The main belief of The Nation of Islam and its followers is that there is no God but Allah. However, they redefine "Allah" by saying "who came in the person of W. D. Fard." Fard founded the Nation of Islam that was then adopted by Elijah Muhammad. Their teachings are heretical by traditional Islamic standards which abhor the deification of any person, or the anthropomorphization of God.

The official beliefs of the Nation of Islam have been outlined in books, documents, and articles published by the organization as well as speeches by Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, and other ministers. These include inflammatory statements as well as the pejorative use of the term “devils” to refer to white people. Many of Elijah Muhammad's teachings may be found in Message to the Blackman in America and The True History of Jesus as Taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad . Many of Malcolm X's teachings of NOI theology are in his The End of White World Supremacy, while a later more critical discussion of those beliefs can be found in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, co-written with Alex Haley.

Passed down via written lessons from 1930-1934 from W. Fard Muhammad to his student, Elijah Muhammad, referred to and titled, The Supreme Wisdom the Nation of Islam continues to teach its followers that the present world society is segmented into three distinct categories. They teach that from a general perspective, 85% of the world's people of all races and faiths are the deaf, dumb and blind masses of the people who are easily led in the wrong direction and hard to lead in the right direction. These 85% of the masses are said to be manipulated by 10% of the people who are referred to as the rich slave-makers of the masses of the people. Those 10% rich slave-makers are said to manipulate the 85% masses of the people through ignorance, the skillful use of religious doctrine and the mass media.

The third group referred to as the 5% poor righteous teachers of the people of the world who know the truth of the manipulation of the 85% masses of the people by the 10% and that 5% righteous teachers are at constant struggle and war with 10% to reach and free the minds of the masses of the people.

Official Platform

The official platform of beliefs as stated by Elijah Muhammad in Message to the Blackman in America published in 1965 are as follows verbatim:

1. Full and complete freedom.
2. Equal justice under the law.
3. Equality of opportunity.
4. The right for people in America whose parents or grandparents were descendants from slaves to be allowed, to establish separate state or territory of their own -- "either on this continent or elsewhere." (funded in full for six years by the U.S. and another six years partially funded by the U.S.)
5. Freedom for all Believers of Islam now held in federal prisons, as well as freedom for all black men and women now under death sentence in innumerable prisons in the North as well as the South. (despite their crimes)
6. Freedom to accept or reject the establishment of a land of their own.
7. An immediate end to the police brutality and mob attacks against blacks throughout the United States.
8. Equal employment opportunities, until a separate territory can be established.
9. For the government of the United States to exempt our people from ALL taxation as long as blacks are deprived of equal justice under the laws of the land.
10. Equal education, but separate schools up to 16 for boys and 18 for girls on the conditions that the girls be sent to women's colleges and universities. The platform also stated that the teachers for these schools would be black as well.
11. A prohibition on interracial mixing and intermarriage. The intention was to maintain the purity of Islam.

The official platform also states the beliefs of the Nation of Islam:

1. Belief in the One God, Whose proper name is Allah.
2. Belief in the Holy Qur-an and the Scriptures of all the Prophets of God.
3. Belief in the truth of the Bible, though tampered by human history.
4. Belief in Allah's Prophets and the Scriptures they brought to the people.
5. Belief in the "mental" resurrection of the dead -- not in physical resurrection but mental resurrection.
6. Belief in the Judgement Day. The first such judgment would take place, as God revealed, in America.
7. Belief in the need to separate white and black people into separate territories.
8. Belief in justice and equality for all peoples.
9. Respect for American laws and citizenry. (except those laws determined to be rooted in bigotry)
10. Belief in the hypocrisy of racial integration.
11. Belief that the American economy would not be able to furnish enough jobs for unemployed black Americans.
12. Belief that Black Americans should not be forced to fight in wars "which take the lives of humans".
13. Belief in the respect (but in Muslim tradition, not the equality) of Black women.
14. Belief that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master Wallace Fard Muhammad, July, 1930 -- the long awaited Messiah of the Christians and the Mahdi of the Muslims. Further, that God would bring about a universal government of peace.

Cosmology

The NOI teaches that the Earth and Moon were once the same, and that the Earth is over 76 trillion years old.. The entire land mass on the Earth was was called "Asia". This was, Elijah Muhammad claims, long before Adam.

A black scientist wished to enforce his linguistic preferences as well as unify human languages, but was frustrated in his efforts. In anger, he drilled a mine shaft into the Earth four-to-five thousand miles deep, then detonated explosives at the bottom. His intention was to end humankind.

Further it is claimed that:

That part of the planet which we call "moon" today was blasted 12,000 miles from its original pocket that it had been rotating in at the time of the explosion, and this part that we call "earth" today dropped 36,000 miles from that pocket and found another pocket and started rotating again . . . (it all happened in the twinkling of an eye) . . . and that part (moon) that was blasted away dropped all of its water upon this part (earth), and this is why three-fourths of the earth's surface today is covered by water, and also why there is no life on the moon.

(similar to Fission Theory)

Black experience of slavery was Bible prophecy

The NOI teaches that black people constitute a nation and that through the institution of the Atlantic slave trade they were systematically denied knowledge of their past history, language, culture, and religion and, in effect, lost control of their lives. Central to this doctrine, NOI theology asserts that Black people’s experience of slavery was the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and therefore, black people are the seed of Abraham referred to in the Bible, in Genesis 15:13–14:

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

— King James Version

And Acts 7:6–7:

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

— King James Version

Separatism & Segregation

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Louis Farrakhan was asked by Tim Russert to explain the Nation of Islam's view on separation:

"Tim Russert: Once a week, on the back page [of your newspaper] is The Muslim Program, "What the Muslims Want," [written in 1965]. The first is in terms of territory, "Since we cannot get along with them in peace and equality, we believe our contributions to this land and the suffering forced upon us by white America justifies our demand for complete separation in a state or territory of our own." Is that your view in 1997, a separate state for Black Americans?" "Minister Louis Farrakhan: First, the program starts with number one. That is number four. The first part of that program is that we want freedom, a full and complete freedom. The second is, we want justice. We want equal justice under the law, and we want justice applied equally to all, regardless of race or class or color. And the third is that we want equality. We want equal membership in society with the best in civilized society. If we can get that within the political, economic, social system of America, there's no need for point number four. But if we cannot get along in peace after giving America 400 years of our service and sweat and labor, then, of course, separation would be the solution to our race problem."

Teachings on race

The Nation of Islam teaches that Black people were the original humans. Louis Farrakhan has stated that "White people are potential humans…they haven’t evolved yet."

Louis Farrakhan further expounded by saying, "If you look at the human family -- now, I'm talking about black, brown, red, yellow and white -- we all seem to be frozen on a subhuman level of existence. In Islam and, I believe, in Christian theology and Jewish theology as well, there are three stages of human development. The first stage is called the animalistic stage of development. But when we submit to animal passions, then we can do evil things to one another in that animalistic stage of development. But when moral consciousness comes and we have a self-accusing spirit, it is then that we become human beings. Right now, we have the potential for humanity, but we have not reached that potential, because we are functioning on the animalistic plane of existence."

"The Blackman is the original man. From him came all brown, yellow, red, and white people. By using a special method of birth control law, the Blackman was able to produce the white race. This method of birth control was developed by a Black scientist known as Yakub, who envisioned making and teaching a nation of people who would be diametrically opposed to the Original People. A Race of people who would one day rule the original people and the earth for a period of 6,000 years. Yakub promised his followers that he would graft a nation from his own people, and he would teach them how to rule his people, through a system of tricks and lies whereby they use deceit to divide and conquer, and break the unity of the darker people, put one brother against another, and then act as mediators and rule both sides."

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Louis Farrakhan said the following in response to host Tim Russert's question on the Nation of Islam's teachings on race:

"You know, it’s not unreal to believe that white people—who genetically cannot produce yellow, brown or black—had a Black origin. The scholars and scientists of this world agree that the origin of man and humankind started in Africa and that the first parent of the world was black. The Qur'an says that God created Adam out of black mud and fashioned him into shape. So if white people came from the original people, the Black people, what is the process by which you came to life? That is not a silly question. That is a scientific question with a scientific answer. It doesn't suggest that we are superior or that you are inferior. It suggests, however, that your birth or your origin is from the black people of this earth: superiority and inferiority is determined by our righteousness and not by our color."

Meeting where Elijah Muhammad addresses followers

Pressed by Russert on whether he agreed with Elijah Muhammad's preaching that whites are blue-eyed devils, Farrakhan responded:

"Well, you have not been saints in the way you have acted toward the darker peoples of the world and toward even your own people. But, in truth, Mr. Russert, any human being who gives themself over to the doing of evil could be considered a devil. In the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, it talks about the fall of Babylon. It says Babylon is fallen because she has become the habitation of devils. We believe that that ancient Babylon is a symbol of a modern Babylon, which is America."

While Malcolm X was a member of the Nation of Islam, he also preached that black people were genetically superior to white people.

"Thoughtful white people know they are inferior to Black people. Even [Senator James] Eastland knows it. Anyone who has studied the genetic phase of biology knows that white is considered recessive and black is considered dominant."

He later repudiated this belief, as a result of embracing orthodox Islam.

The Mother Plane

Elijah Muhammad taught his followers about a Mother Plane or Wheel, a UFO that was seen and described in the visions of the prophet Ezekiel in the Book of Ezekiel, in the Hebrew Bible.

Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.

— Book of Ezekiel Chapter 1:15-18, Bible, English Standard Version

Louis Farrakhan, commenting on his teacher's description said the following:

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told us of a giant Mother Plane that is made like the universe, spheres within spheres. White people call them unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, saw a wheel that looked like a cloud by day but a pillar of fire by night. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that that wheel was built on the island of Nippon, which is now called Japan, by some of the Original scientists. It took $15 billion in gold at that time to build it. It is made of the toughest steel. America does not yet know the composition of the steel used to make an instrument like it. It is a circular plane, and the Bible says that it never makes turns. Because of its circular nature it can stop and travel in all directions at speeds of thousands of miles per hour. He said there are 1,500 small wheels in this Mother Wheel, which is a half mile by a half mile (800 m by 800 m). This Mother Wheel is like a small human-built planet. Each one of these small planes carry three bombs.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said these planes were used to set up mountains on the earth. The Qur'an says it like this: We have raised mountains on the earth lest it convulse with you. How do you raise a mountain, and what is the purpose of a mountain? Have you ever tried to balance a tire? You use weights to keep the tire balanced. That's how the earth is balanced, with mountain ranges. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that we have a type of bomb that, when it strikes the earth a drill on it is timed to go into the earth and explode at the height that you wish the mountain to be. If you wish to take the mountain up a mile (1.6 km), you time the drill to go a mile (1.6 km) in and then explode. The bombs these planes have are timed to go one mile (1.6 km) down and bring up a mountain one mile (1.6 km) high, but it will destroy everything within a 50-square-mile (130 km²) radius. The white man writes in his above top secret memos of the UFOs. He sees them around his military installations like they are spying.

That Mother Wheel is a dreadful-looking thing. White folks are making movies now to make these planes look like fiction, but it is based on something real. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that Mother Plane is so powerful that with sound reverberating in the atmosphere, just with a sound, she can crumble buildings.

— Minister Louis Farrakhan, The Divine Destruction of America: Can She Avert It?

Criticisms

The NOI has been seen by some as attempting to be its own religion separate from Islam. The first book analyzing the Nation of Islam was The Black Muslims in America (1961) by C. Eric Lincoln. Lincoln describes how religious services use fictions and over-generalizations to indoctrinate NOI adherents.

Most Traditional Muslims consider their beliefs to be antithetical of Islam.

Often the minister reads passages from well-known historical, sociological, or anthropological works, and finds in them inconspicuous references to the Blackman’s true history in the world.... Occasionally the minister chides the audience for its skepticism: “I know you don't believe me because I happen to be a Black man. Well, you can look it up in a book I’m going to tell you about that was written by a white man.” He then reads off references that his hearers are challenged to check.

As of 2005, the Nation of Islam was included in the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of active hate groups in the United States.

Legend of the 1975 death of Elijah Muhammad

Members of The Nation of Islam have long held that Elijah Muhammad did not die, but instead escaped a death plot, was restored to health, and is aboard “that huge wheel-like plane that is even now flying over our heads.” Among Muhammad's passengers on the Mother Wheel is the mysterious figure named W.D. Fard.

Charges of Antisemitism

Main article: Nation of Islam and antisemitism

A number of Jewish organizations, Christian organizations, and academics consider the Nation of Islam to be antisemitic. Professor David W. Leinweber, Ph.D. of Emory University asserts that the Nation Of Islam has engaged in revisionist and antisemitic interpretations of the Holocaust and that they exaggerate the role of Jews in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) alleges that NOI Health Minister, Abdul Alim Muhammad, has accused Jewish doctors of injecting Blacks with the AIDS virus, an allegation that Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad has denied.

The Nation of Islam has repeatedly denied charges of anti-Semitism, and NOI leader Minister Louis Farrakhan has stated, "The ADL .. uses the term 'anti-Semitism' to stifle all criticism of Zionism and the Zionist policies of the State of Israel and also to stifle all legitimate criticism of the errant behavior of some Jewish people toward the non-Jewish population of the earth."

Responding to the widely reported assertion that he refered to Judaism as a dirty and "gutter religion", Farrakhan wrote a June 18 1997 letter to a former Wallstreet Journal assocate editor, Jude Wanniski, stating in part:

Countless times over the years I have explained that I never referred to Judaism as a dirty religion, but, clearly referred to the machinations of those who hide behind the shield of Judaism while using unjust political means to achieve their objectives. This was distilled in the New York tabloids and other media saying, "Farrakhan calls Judaism a gutter religion."

As a Muslim, I revere Abraham, Moses, and all the Prophets who Allah (God) sent to the children of Israel. I believe in the scriptures brought by these Prophets and the Laws of Allah (God) as expressed in the Torah. I would never refer to the Revealed Word of Allah (God) -- the basis of Jewish Faith -- as "dirty" or "gutter." You know, Jude, as well as I, that the Revealed Word of Allah (God) comes as a Message from Allah (God) to purify us from our evil that has divided us and caused us to fall into the gutter.

Over the centuries, the evils of Christians, Jews and Muslims have dirtied their respective religions. True Faith in the laws and Teaching of Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad is not dirty, but, practices in the name of these religions can be unclean and can cause people to look upon the misrepresented religion as being unclean.

Jude Wanniski also defended the Nation of Islam against charges of racism and anti-Semitism, writing, "I've met dozens of men and women who belong to the Nation of Islam, attended many of their conferences, and prayed with them in their Chicago mosque to the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. I've concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that there is not an ounce of anti-Semitism or bigotry in Farrakhan."

The Nation of Islam has had friendly relations with the Neturei Karta, a small, controversial Jewish group that is well-known for its association with and support for anti-Zionists. Neturei Karta stressed that NOI leader, "Minister Louis Farrakhan is an extraordinary force for good in the Black community. His followers are responsible, industrious, modest and moral. And for this he and they have our respect."

In a letter responding to ADL Director Abraham Foxman's insistence that black leaders distance themselves from the Nation of Islam, hip hop mogul Russell Simmons wrote, "Simply put, you are misguided, arrogant, and very disrespectful of African Americans and most importantly your statements will unintentionally or intentionally lead to a negative impression of Jews in the minds of millions of African Americans", he continued, "For over 50 years, Minister Farrakhan has labored to resurrect the downtrodden masses of African Americans up out of poverty and self-destruction" and indicated that he had personally witnessed Farrakhan affirm, 'A Muslim can not hate a Jew. We are all members of the family of Abraham and all of us should maintain dialogue and mutual respect.'"

Comparison to traditional Islam

The Nation of Islam preaches adherence to the Five Pillars of the Islamic Faith: shahada, or profession of faith; salat, or prayer, five times daily facing toward Mecca; zakat, charity to the poor; fasting during the holy month of Ramadan; and that every Muslim who is physically and financially able must make Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in his or her lifetime. The NOI also teaches morality and personal decorum, emphasizing modesty, mutual respect, and discipline in dress and comportment. NOI adherents do not consume pork, stress a healthy diet and physical fitness, and the consumption of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco is frowned upon. In these respects, the NOI is in general agreement with traditional Islamic practices. However, the Nation of Islam argues that because of the unique experience of the oppression and degradation of slavery, Elijah Muhammad used unique methods for introducing Islam to his people.

A little mosque of Nation of Islam in Louisiana, 2005.

Other doctrines of the Nation of Islam are disputed, specifically:

• God's incarnation
  • NOI teaches that "Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July 1930; the long-awaited Messiah of the Christians and the Mahdi of the Muslims.
  • Traditional Sunni and Shi'a Muslim doctrine is that it is heretical and blasphemous to believe that God would manifest Himself in human form (or any material form). Likening any individual(s) to God is a form of shirk—a major sin in Islam.

• Relations with whites
  • NOI teaches that the Black man is the original man, and from him came all brown, yellow, red, and white people. By using a special method of birth control law, the Blackman was able to produce the white race. Islam recognizes the Biblical and Qur’anic figure, the patriarch Jacob, but this Jacob is viewed by Muslims as a prophet, and is not connected to the Yakub of the NOI. Traditional Islam does not teach of the Yakub featured in Nation of Islam theology.

• Perspectives on the Quran.
  • The vast majority of Muslims, worldwide, believe that it was Allah's final revelation to mankind and that it was given to the Islamic prophet Muhammed between the years of 610 and 632. The NOI states that they believe in the Qur'an and the writings of all the prophets of God.

• Status of the Islamic prophet Muhammed vs. other prophets.
  • Mainstream Islam teaches that Muhammad was the last of the messengers that Allah has sent to mankind--there would be no more, and the one for all to follow. The Nation of Islam believes that Elijah Muhammad was also a messenger and was taught by God Himself (W. D. Fard).

Actions and programs

NOI preacher in 1999, in England.

A Nation of Islam member sells copies of the Final Call newspaper and what looks to be assorted oils and perfumes.

The NOI has a do-for-self philosophy that resulted in the NOI owning and operating hundreds of businesses nationwide, employing thousands of people. The NOI has purchased and now operates food-industry services, bakeries, and restaurants. It owns a large amount of farmland in Georgia, USA. It owns and operates hair-care shops. Some of these business ventures have been success stories. Others have been criticized as Amway-style marketing schemes that have not benefited most of their employees.

The NOI has worked to clean up drug addicts, reform prostitutes, and keep black youth out of gangs. It has helped some newly released ex-convicts make a new start and stay out of jail.

In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin wrote:

Elijah Muhammad has been able to do what generations of welfare workers and committees and resolutions and reports and housing projects and playgrounds have failed to do: to heal and redeem drunkards and junkies, to convert people who have come out of prison and to keep them out, to make men chaste and women virtuous, and to invest both the male and the female with pride and a serenity that hang about them like an unfailing light. He has done all these things, which our Christian church has spectacularly failed to do. (James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time, New York: Vintage International/Random House, 1963)

During the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development employed several private firms run by members of the Nation of Islam to provide security in housing projects in black neighborhoods. The Anti-Defamation League was successful in lobbying congress to sever the HUD contracts.

Noted current and former members of Nation of Islam

• Elijah Muhammad
• Louis Farrakhan
• Malcolm X - Later converted to mainstream Islam
• Muhammad Ali - Later converted to mainstream Sunni Islam
• John Allen Muhammad - The Beltway Sniper, Gulf war veteran, former NOI member
• Benjamin Chavis Muhammad
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

See also

• History of the Nation of Islam
• Nation of Islam and antisemitism
• The Final Call
• Fruit of Islam (FOI)
• Islam in the African Diaspora
• Moorish Science Temple of America
• The Nation of Gods and Earths
• Black supremacy
• Nation of Domination -A parody of The Nation of Islam in the World Wrestling Federation from 1996 to 1998

Audio/video webcasts

• Saviours' Day 2007 Webcast: 'One Nation Under God' by Minister Louis Farrakhan, Feb. 25, 2007
• Messenger Elijah Muhammad's Theology of Time Lecture Series
• Messenger Elijah Muhammad's Classic Lectures
• Mr. Muhammad Speaks Radio Broadcasts
• Messenger Muhammad's Saviour's Day and other Historic Videos
• March, 2006 Havana, Cuba Press Conference
• Let us make man
• BBC Video
• May, 2004 National Press Club Press Conference (Nation of Islam's Position on Iraq and the "War on Terror")
• Millions More Movement (FOX News Interview)
• Nation of Islam's Position On the Murder of Malcolm X
• Malcolm X Reloaded: Who Really Assassinated Malcolm X

External links

Nation of Islam Links

• The New Nation of Islam Website, not affiliated with the 'Nation of Islam' under Louis Farrakhan
• The Nation of Islam Website
• Nation de Islam, Paris, France (Français)
• Seventhfam-- Elijah Muhammad's Teachings Online
• The Nation of Islam's Final Call Newspaper
• Millions More Movement
• NOI "Muhammad Farms" Project
• Black Business Directory (Advertisement)
• The Immortal Birth Book, The Nation of Islam (Advertisement)

Criticism from Non-NOI Muslims

• Tawhid and Shirk: A Clear Guide to Islam
• The Nation of Islam Exposed
• The Nation of Islam is not Islam
• Learn about true Islam