Page 21 - Desk of the Imam

Desk of the Imam Magazine May 2018

HERE IS WHERE OUR SOLDIERS LIVE

"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.

new prominence. He continued to preach financial
independence for black Americans, racial separation
rather than integration, and a strict code of moral
behavior.
The movement's rise was boosted by Malcolm X, who
began communicating with Muhammad while
incarcerated and became his most prominent apostle in
the 1950s. However, Malcolm X left the NOI by 1964
over disagreements with its leader.

Quotes and Books

A charismatic speaker, Muhammad was unyielding in
Elijah Muhammad his criticism of white oppression. "They say that I am a
(1897–1975)
preacher of racial hatred," he once said, "but the fact is
Elijah Muhammad rose from poverty to become the that the white people don't like the truth, especially if it
charismatic leader of the Nation of Islam, and mentor of speaks against them. It is a terrible thing for such people
Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. to charge me with teaching race hatred when their feet
are on my people's neck and they tell us to our face that
Who Was Elijah Muhammad? they hate black people." He later toned down his
rhetoric, noting shortly before his death that "The slave
Elijah Muhammad, son of a sharecropper, was born into master is no longer hindering us, we're hindering
poverty in Sandersville, Georgia, on October 7, 1897. ourselves."
After moving to Detroit in 1923, he met W. D. Fard,
founder of the black separatist movement Nation of Muhammad also wrote several books, including
Islam (NOI). Muhammad became Fard’s successor from Message to the Blackman in America (1965) and How
1934 until his death in 1975, and was known for his to Eat to Live (1967.
controversial preaching. His followers included
Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. Later Life and Legacy
Joining the Nation of Islam When Muhammad died of congestive heart failure on
February 25, 1975, he left behind a thriving religious
Then known by his birth name of Robert Poole, movement with a membership as high as 250,000. Its
Muhammad in 1931 met Wallace D. Fard, a former social and political influence was matched by the
salesman preaching a new form of Islam tailored to the success of its financial enterprises: real estate holdings,
needs and problems of black Americans. Poole a national newspaper called Muhammad Speaks and
converted and adopted the teachings of the Nation of numerous independent businesses.
Islam, and Fard gave him a new name, Elijah
Muhammad. Teachings, such as self-reliance, clean Muhammad was succeeded by his son Warith Deen
living and the promise of a future in which blacks would Mohammed, whose attempts to reform the doctrines
no longer be oppressed, had obvious appeal for championed by his father drew a mixed response. As a
Muhammad and other black Muslims. result, another prominent leader, Louis Farrakhan,
branched out to form his own version of the NOI in
NOI Leadership 1978.
Over the next 30 years, Muhammad built the religion
from a small fringe group into a large and complex
organization that attracted controversy along with its

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