Evolution of a Nation

The Nation of Islam Celebrates 80 Years

While many Black organizations have come and gone, the Nation of Islam has withstood blithering attacks from all sides, including inside. A target of the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program, the NOI’s infiltration by FBI and police agents is documented since its very beginning.

Strong voices of the NOI include its leader Elijah Muhammad, and his internationally recognized students Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan and Warith Mohammed. All were visited and have FBI dossiers. The FBI has documented their own tactics, including propaganda publications, phony letters, fake phone calls, informants, and plots to disrupt the group and frighten its members.

During the 1960’s there were two active Black movements - the non-violent Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and the bold and aggressive Black Power Movement led by the Nation of Islam. Nearly all other groups fell under one philosophy or the other.

Many say the NOI is an off-shoot of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA but, it was the Nation of Islam who replaced the word Negro for Black. Additionally, the NOI, in 1930, was the first to proclaim that Jesus was Black and that all life originated from the Black woman in Africa. Now, scientific studies agree and are broadcast on the Discovery Channel. (Buy the video - The Real Eve)
Fundamental beliefs of the group include a message to Blacks to stop begging for their basic needs and Do For Self. Although NOI Spokesmen would be welcomed by huge crowds to hear their sometimes harsh delivery of “The Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad”, the NOI was not all talk. The espoused vision of Doing For Self was a mandatory tenet that reached its highest peak during the life of Elijah Muhammad.

Muhammad, known as The Messenger of Allah, never strayed from this instruction. He and his followers engaged in international trade, owned farms, animals, trucking companies, clothing factories, and a number of other businesses. Under his watch, Blacks were able to cover most of their basic needs by shopping with and working for NOI establishments.

In 1975, the Muslims of the NOI suffered the abrupt departure of their leader and said goodbye to the Nation as they knew it. Muhammad’s son, Wallace, took the reins of the NOI and quickly changed the direction of the group to a more orthodox philosophy of Islam. Soon thereafter, many of the businesses and property were lost or abandoned as many followers defected.

In 1977, Louis Farrakhan who was Elijah Muhammad’s last National Spokesman, grieved heavily over the lost of his leader while trying to adjust to the direction. He ultimately became disenchanted and left the group altogether. Three years after the departure of Elijah Muhammad, he decided to rebuild the NOI under its original teachings. Under his leadership, membership increased and with the support of his followers, he was able to purchase much of what had been lost. Including the NOI’s flagship mosque in Chicago.

Farrakhan has placed Muhammad’s teachings on an international stage and has led the NOI to many triumphs such as the Million Man March in 1995 and the World Friendship Tour in 1997. The economic by-product of their teachings is also gaining momentum even though many wonder if the check and balance system J. Edgar Hoover put in place is still at work.

Is a debt owed to the Nation of Islam? Arguably, were it not for their boldness and financial independence, many concessions made by the United States Government during the Civil Rights Era may not have been realized. The NOI, who demanded land and a separate state as partial repayment for slavery, made the government’s decision on the Right to Vote and desegregation less threatening and the Civil Rights Movement a respite. Metropolis