Elijah Muhammad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message.
This article has been tagged since February 2006.

Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad (October 7, 1897 - February 25, 1975) is notable for his leadership of the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975.

1 Early life
2 Teachings
3 Legacy
4 Footnotes
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Muhammad was born Elijah Poole in Sandersville, Georgia, as one of 13 children of Willie Poole, Sr. (1868–1942) and Mariah Hall (1873–1958) both were tenant farmers (share croppers). At the age of 16 he left home and traveled about America. In 1917 he married Clara Evans, later to be known as Mother Clara Muhammad. In 1923 he finally settled in Detroit, Michigan where he worked at an automobile factory. The young Elijah Poole apparently witnessed three murders(lynchings) of blacks by whites before the age of twenty.^[1]

In the early 1930s, Muhammad became acquainted with a W.D. Fard also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad. W. Fard Muhammad, then working as a peddler, had already established his Temple of Islam in Detroit; he had approximately 25, 000 followers.^{[citation needed]} The beliefs taught by Fard, though similar to orthodox Islam in some ways, also differed from it in several essentials. Scholars have identified a wide range of possible influences on Fard's theology including Sufi Islam, the teachings of the contemporary Noble Drew Ali of the Moorish Science Temple, Egyptology, Numerology, Eastern mysticism, Black Nationalism, the earlier ideas of economic independence as espoused by Marcus Garvey, and more.

On May 26, 1931 W.D. Fard was ordered out of Detroit. He departed in 1934. Elijah Poole, renamed Elijah Muhammad by W.D. Fard, became the successor to the Nation of Islam and Supreme Minister. In 1942, Muhammad was arrested in Chicago on charges of sedition and violation of the Selective Service Act. He was cleared of the sedition charges, but was convicted of the others, specifically for instructing his followers to avoid the draft. Elijah Muhammad was sent to Federal prison for four years.^[2]

[edit] Teachings

Elijah Muhammad taught what was viewed by most as black supremacist doctrine. He taught that blacks were the first people of the Earth but had been tricked out of their power and oppressed by whites, who were a created by a scientist called Yakub.

The Nation of Islam preaches complete separation from white society. The NOI teaches that black people must develop independence in economics, religion, and nationhood. The teachings of the NOI denounce drinking, gambling, physical abuse of black women, and the inability to protect one's family from attacks by 'violent' white America.

Elijah Muhammad used the newly won independence of many African nations as an example for his followers in America.^{[citation needed]} Unlike many other black leaders in mid-twentieth century America, Elijah Muhammad believed that it made more sense to seek aid from independent African nations rather than going overseas to Africa while their communities at home in America were non-independent. ^[3]

Simultaneously, Elijah Muhammad showed pride in his ability to stand equal with whites, and was willing to work with them when this would further the aims of the NOI. He apparently would brag that he lived in a mostly white neighborhood, and he allowed George Lincoln Rockwell of the American Nazi Party to address the NOI, at a time when both organizations were opposed to racial integration.

Elijah with Malcolm (right) and another minister

One of those Elijah Muhammad would influence was an ex-convict whom the world would come to know as Malcolm X. Though he would later leave the NOI, the influence of Elijah Muhammad on Malcolm's life was undeniable. The young Malcolm developed his speaking and political outlook within the NOI and under Elijah Muhammad's tutelage.

[edit] Legacy

With the death of Muhammad in 1975, the NOI went through a brief period of upheaval. Under the guidance of his son, Warith Deen Muhammad, the NOI was moved into the mainstream of Sunni Islam and even began to accept white members. Such shifts away from the original black-nationalist teachings of Muhammad soon caused a split within the organization, as some members preferred to espouse Muhammad's original teachings. The best known splinter group is probably the 5%'ers whose beliefs ventured even further from mainstream Islam than that of the NOI. The original organization under Warith Deen changed its name to the Muslim American Society. The name and ideology of the Nation of Islam was appropriated by a splinter group led by Elijah Muhammad's second National Representative, Louis Farrakhan, who re-established it in 1978. Later, Louis Farrakhan was accused by the wife of Malcolm X of taking part in his assassination.

Figures that found inspiration from Muhammad's teachings included Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, boxer Muhammad Ali, Clarence 13X and artists like the Poor Righteous Teachers^{[citation needed]} and Wu-Tang Clan^{[citation needed]}.

One of Muhammad's grandsons, Ozier Muhammad^[4], is a photographer for The New York Times who has won a Pulitzer Prize.

[edit] Footnotes

^ An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad
^ New York Times, February 26, 1975, p.1
^ Muhammad, Elijah. Message to the Blackman in America. (p. 35) Atlanta, GA. Messenger Elijah Muhammad Propagation Society. 1997
^ The New York Times: How Race is Lived in America: Photographer's Journals