Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad was the most of import early on leader of the Nation of Islam, leading the organisation for over xl years. Muhammad taught that blacks were the master copy human race in addition to that whites were evil beings who had conspired to oppress blacks out of jealousy.

The segmentation betwixt the races was a distinction betwixt good in addition to evil, in addition to although whites mightiness currently seem to concord the advantage, the twenty-four hours was shortly coming when blacks would, amongst their superior news in addition to ingenuity, destroy their white oppressors.

His mixture of religious zeal, dark militantism, in addition to utilisation of conspiracy theories to offering compelling explanations for the plight of disadvantaged blacks played a key utilisation inward the increase of the Nation of Islam equally an of import social movement. He was likewise cardinal to the evolution of after influential individuals such equally Malcolm X in addition to Louis Farrakhan.


Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Poole inward 1897. As he was the boy of a sharecropper, Muhammad’s early on life was dominated yesteryear poverty. In 1923, he moved to Detroit in addition to began working at an automobile factory. In 1930 Muhammad came into contact amongst Wallace Fard.

Fard claimed to survive from the “East” (although his actual personal history is obscure in addition to filled amongst conflicting accounts of his early on life). Preaching a mixture of Islam in addition to dark separatism, Fard found a large publish of converts amid the African American community inward Depression-era Detroit.

Muhammad attended ane of Fard’s meetings in addition to became a convert to the Black Muslim movement. Muhammad shortly became a trusted deputy of Fard, in addition to it was from Fard that Muhammad received his Muslim name. When Fard of a abrupt disappeared from Detroit inward 1934, Muhammad assumed leadership of the Black Muslim movement.

He moved the headquarters of the organization to Chicago in addition to made several spiritual in addition to practical changes inward the organization. Muhammad preached that Fard had been an incarnation of Allah, in addition to claimed himself to survive Allah’s messenger. He likewise freely mixed ideas of traditional Islam amongst those of dark nationalism, peculiarly equally outlined yesteryear Marcus Garvey.

During World War II, Muhammad was sent to prison theatre for avoiding the draft. He likewise openly expressed sympathies toward the Japanese, whom he felt were allies inward the struggle to destination white ability inward the United States. After his release from prison theatre inward 1946, Muhammad continued to construct the Nation of Islam’s attain in addition to membership. Chief amid his aides inward this work was Malcolm X, who became minute alone to Muhammad himself inward his influence inward the movement.

After returning from his trip to Mecca inward 1964, however, Malcolm X broke from the Nation of Islam, asserting, amid other things, that Muhammad had fathered several illegitimate children amongst immature staff members of the Nation of Islam. The assassination of Malcolm X inward 1965 in addition to the conviction of 3 Black Muslims for the offense cast a shadow of suspicion over Muhammad, along amongst his novel principal aide, Louis Farrakhan.

Throughout his life, Muhammad preached strict separation of the races in addition to couched these beliefs inward a cosmology that drew on imagery ranging from the Old Testament to scientific discipline fiction. He taught that whites were a race who had been bred yesteryear an evil scientist 6,000 years ago. Whites were without the intellectual, physical, or moral qualities that were seen inward blacks.

He oft spoke inward apocalyptic damage virtually a time to come battle inward the heaven inward which the “Mother Plane,” a gigantic spaceship built in addition to manned yesteryear blacks of superhuman intelligence, would effortlessly destroy the supposed ability of the white man. After this battle, a new world would survive created according to Allah’s volition inward which blacks volition concord dominion.

Muhammad died inward Feb 1975. His boy became the novel leader of the Nation of Islam, simply he discarded the advert equally good equally some of his father’s beliefs. After he formed the Muslim American Community, several members of the Black Muslim campaign left to follow Farrakhan’s reestablished Nation of Islam, a grouping devoted to reinvigorating the message of Muhammad.