The Coming of Our Saviour

The Nation of Islam, as we know it today, began on July 4^th, 1930 in the United Sates of America on the coming of Allah (God) Who Came in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad. Master Fard Muhammad is the long awaited “Messiah” of the Christians and “Mahdi” of the Muslims. He came in fulfilment of the scriptures of the Bible and Holy Qur’an to find and redeem the Lost and Found members of the aboriginal Black nation of the earth also known as the Lost Sheep of the Bible. Master Fard Muhammad came to North America by Himself. He bagan His mission in Detroit, Michigan by going door to door taking orders for made to measure suits for men. He was known under various aliases, such as Mr. W.D. Fard, until 1933, when He signed His name as W.F. Muhammad, which stands for Wallace Fard Muhammad. From 1930 to 1934 approximately 25,000 Black men and women accepted His message.

Elijah Meets the Saviour

In 1931, one of those men who accepted the teaching was Elijah Poole. Elijah was born in Sandersville, Georgia in October of 1897. His parents Willie and Marie, who were Georgia sharecroppers, raised him on the farm. Elijah never completed past the 4^thgrade of school because of his duties on the farm. He married Clara Evans after 2 years of courtship on May 2^nd, 1917 and in 1923 moved to Detroit, Michigan.

When Elijah met W.D. Fard at one of those meetings, he shook hands with Him and said, “You are the One that the Bible prophesies that will come at the end of the world under the name Son of Man and under the name the Second Coming of Jesus.” W.D. Fard responded, “Yes, I am the One, but who knows that but yourself?”

W.D. Fard then began teaching Elijah night and day for the next 3 years and four months. W.D. Fard (or Master Fard Muhammad) first gave Elijah the surname Karriem, and then later gave him the name Muhammad. Before departing Master Fard Muhammad appointed Elijah the Su7preme Minister of the Nation of Islam in 1934 and charged him with the mission of resurrecting the mentally dead Black man and woman in North America.

The Hon. Elijah Muhammad Faces Persecution

From 1934 to 1975, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad worked hard to establish the Nation of Islam. Along the way, He was met with fierce opposition and persecution but was able to prevail over all. In the mid 1930’s, certain members of the N.O.I. including one of the Messenger’s blood brothers, jealous of Master Fard Muhammad’s choosing of Him as His Messenger sought to take the Hon. Elijah Muhammad’s life. For 7 years he criss-crossed the U.S., eluding his enemies, teaching Islam and establishing Temples.

On May 8^th, 1942 the Hon. Elijah Muhammad was arrested by the F.B.I on the grounds that he was evading the draft. However, he was over the age of 45 and the draft only covered men between 18 and 44. He refused entry into the military on the grounds that he was a Muslim and would not take part ina war that takes the lives of humans. According to Messenger Elijah Muhammad, the U.S. government later admitted that they jailed him only because they feared His teaching would make it difficult for them to prosecute a war in Germany.

A Nation within a Nation

While in prison, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad’s one and only wife of over 50 years Sister Clara Muhammad held the Nation of Islam together until his release in the late 1940s.

The Messenger once again began the work of spreading Islam to the Black man and woman. In the midst of the civil rights era of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad established a nation within a nation.

Tens of thousands of black people from every walk of life were reformed from every vice of society into the most organized, disciplined group of black people this world  has ever seen. Some of the more famous converts include Malcolm Little (Malcolm X), Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) and RnB singer Joe Tex (Yusef Haziez) and members of the band Kool and the Gang (circa 1969). The Hon. Elijah Muhammad was also a major influence on the careers of James Brown (“Black and Proud”) and boxing promoter Don King.

The Work of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad

Under the leadership of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad the Nation of Islam established:

• Muhammad’s Temples of Islam in every city in America as well as in Jamiac, the British Honduras and England.
• Over 46 Muhammad Universities of Islam in America.
• Thousands of acres of farmland in Georgia, Michigan, Alanbama and other states including dairy farms and a 50 acre apple orchard.
• Low rent apartment complexes in Chicago for over 800 people.
• The Guaranty Bank and Trust Company (a Black bank!)
• Your Supermarket grocery stores, Salaam restaurants, Shabazz bakeries, Capitol Dry Cleaners, Temple no. 2 Clothing Store, Chicago Lamb Packers, a food processing, canning factory, Shabazz barber shops, salaam Snack Shop, Progressive Land Developmet, Muslim Import Store, etc.
• A fixed aviation department in gary, Indiana with our own plane.
• The Muslim Fish Program (at its peak 3 million tons a month of whiting H&G fish from Peru and Chile).
• A fleet of cross-country tractor trailer trucks for transportation of goods and merchandise.
• The Muhammad Speaks newspaper, which at its peak sold close to one ,million copies every issue.

By 1975 the Hon. Elijah Muhammad presided over a Black empire worth an estimated 85 to 150 million dollars. The Nation of Islam under His leadership was recognized as the largest Black owned corporation in America.

Messenger Passes and Son becomes Leader of N.O.I.

On February 25^th1975, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad passed away and his son Wallace Muhammad was appointed by N.O.I. officials and the Messenger’s family as the leader of the Nation of Islam. Wallace did not share his father’s beliefs and turned the N.O.I. toward an orthodox, arab persuasion of Islam. Within 2 years he dismantled the belief system and structure of the N.O.I., vilifying his father and Master Fard Muhammad. Within 2 years everything established under the Hon. Elijah Muhammad was gone.

Various Branches of the N.O.I.

From that time, various men and groups have risen up and established different branches or programs of the N.O.I. and the Messenger’s teachings in the U.S. varying in doctrine and direction. These include Silas Muhammad and the Lost Found Nation of Islam in the West (Atlanta), John Muhammad, the Messenger’s blood brother (Detroit), Louis Farrakhan (Chicago), Royall Muhammad (Kansas City), Dr. Yusef Bey – Your Black Muslim Bakery (Oakland).

Other groups carrying on the teachings and programs of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad include: C.R.O.E. (the Coalition for the Remembrance of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad); Muhammadspeaks.com run by Minister Levi Karim and Sis. Zakyah Karim; Muhammad’s Temple #20 (Camden, NJ); Sis. Sharazad Ali (author of the Blackman’s Guide to Understanding the Black woman); Min. Eric Muhammad (Atlanta); M.E.M.P.S. (Messenger Elijah Muhammad Propagation Society), Nothingbutelijah.com and many others across the U.S.

Aside from these branches, there have been numerous organizations and individuals that have been inspired by the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and his teachings such as the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths, the Black Panther Party (old and new), Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH, Yahweh Ben Yahweh and the Hebrew Israelite Nation, Malachi York, Afrika Bambattaa and the Zulu Nation, Kwame Toure, Dick Gregory, Farrah Gray and scores of Hip Hop artists.