The Nation of Islam and

Malcolm X

30% of the approximately 6 million

(estimate) Muslims in the US are
African American.
Less than 50 thousand belong to the
NOI, under Louis Farrakhan.
Islam came over with Columbus,
later by force (slavery)

Early Islam in the Black

American Community

Some slaves forced to eat pork, often

not allowed to practice Islam
Prince Ayub Ibn Sulayman Diallo
(abducted in 1731) and other
members of ruling families
Alex Haleys Kunta Kinte in
Roots

Today many African Americans

revert to Islam.
African American Islam in the 60s
was associated with the civil rights
movement.
One of the most well known
members of the Nation of Islam is
the boxer Muhammad Ali.

End of Slavery and the ID

Vacuum

In 1863 slaves were gradually freed

under the Emancipation Proclamation.
Identity crisis ensued.
Most newly freed African Americans
had no idea where they were from in
Africa, much less which religion their
group practiced.
Organizations arose to fill this vacuum.

Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) and his

Universal Negro Improvement Association
(1914) urged a return of Blacks to Africa.
Malcolm Xs parents met at a UNIA
convention.
A pan-Africanist, at one point Garvey wanted
to unite all peoples of African descent in the
world into one country, one government.
Garveyism in part inspired Rastafarianism.
This was part of the Ethiopianism
movement, as was Youngs Manifesto.

Psalm 68:31: "Princes shall come out of

Egypt and Ethiopia shall soon stretch
out hands unto God."
Ethiopia as a Black Zion
Ethiopia does repel European invasionswas never colonized.
Ethiopias Black Emperor: Haile Selassie
I, crowned in 1930, known as Ras Tafari
Makonnen. Traces his ancestry back to
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Haile Selassie: 18921975

The Ethiopian
Manifesto

By Robert Alexander Young

Written in 1829
All Africans in Diaspora are Ethiopians, and
the state they are in is like that of the Jews in
Egypt.
He prophesied the coming of a Black
Messiah of White appearance, who would end
subjugation for all slaves of African descent.
But they had to wait.
This is another example of millenarianism!

Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929)and his Moorish

Science Temple of America (1913),
established in New Jersey; later temples in
Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburg.
His theology and ideas
Satan calls himself God but is white; the
real God is Allah.
Future founders of the Nation of Islam
(NOI) were members of this group: W.D.
Fard and Elijah Muhammad.

W.D. Fard

Elijah Muhammad

1897-1975

Noble Drew Alis Moorish Temple not

as successful as the group that
followed: The Nation of Islam.
Look at the word Nation the very
title suggests political goals.
Elijah Muhammad (previously known
as Elijah Poole) and W. (Wallace) D.
Fard founded it in Detroit, Michigan
in 1930

Who Was W.D. Fard?

He was a mysterious figure who, according

to Elijah Muhammad, appeared on
7/4/1930, had come from Mecca to save
Americas Blacks who he said were from
the lost tribe of Shabazz.
Elijah Muhammad added regarding W.D.
Fard: The world has been waiting for Fard
for over 2 thousand years.
W.D. Fard was considered to be a Christlike figure who came to displace the white
Christ.

NOI doctrine has also spoken of God

(Allah) as having come in the form of
W.D. Fard.
You can see the syncretism in the
significance of Fard (both Christ and
Allah)- NOI is a syncretic blend of
Christianity and Islam.
NOI theology was also shaped by the
African American experience.

The part where Fard is called God and

E. Muhammad his prophet, is
considered incompatible with
mainstream Islam.
Mainstream Muslims have had a tense
(at times) relationship with the group.
Many NOI members later joined
mainstream Islam.

W. D. Fard mysteriously disappeared

in 1934- leaving Elijah Muhammad,
his follower, in charge of the NOI.
What about Malcolm X (Born Malcolm
Little, 1925-1965)? He joined in 1947
after tumultuous life experiences.
He was the national representative of
Elijah Muhammad, and was a public
speaker for the NOI.

Malcolm Xs maternal grandfather was

of European descent.
He began to question Elijah
Muhammad and the doctrine of the
NOI.
Malcolm X spoke against the Vietnam
War, angering E. Muhammad.
In 1964 Malcolm X was removed from
his position.

He left for Mecca, and there he was

struck by the differences between the
NOI and mainstream Islam.
He was struck by the rainbow of people
on Hajj, brought together for the same
purpose, brothers and sisters in Islam.
Upon his return, he left the NOI and
changed his name to El Hajj Malik elShabazz.

After his trip, he moved away from

his anger towards Whites and
towards ideas of universal
brotherhood.

In 1965 he was assassinated.

Who did it? The NOI? The FBI?
Today the NOI is run by Louis
Farrakhan.
He has been criticized for anti-Semitic
remarks.
Farrakhan has stated that mainstream
Islam does not accept African
Americans.

Nation of Islam Theology

They taught separatism- separate schools,

separate nation, etc. No intermarriage, no
mixing.
Many have criticized NOI theology as racist,
because it teaches that white people come from
the devil.
The evil scientist Yacub created a white tribe
from recessive white genes, creating a white,
inferior, evil race.
Quite an affirmation of black goodness and as
such a powerful message for the community.

If God is black, then Black is God.

An inversion of the dominant
religion in which Christ was often
depicted as blond and blue-eyed, and
God as an older white man in robes?
An attempt to claim justice?

http://www.ewtn.com/series/2006/fall2006/Finding_God.jpg