The Nation of Islam (NOI), also known as the Black Muslim Movement (although the term is discouraged by the NOI), is a spiritual and political black supremacist movement founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad (1877-1934?). It was based on the doctrine that out of all the nations of the earth, black people are the only nation without any knowledge of their past history, no control of their present lives, and no guidance for their future. One of Wallace's first disciples was Elijah Poole, who later changed his name to Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975). Elijah Muhammad began preaching that W F. Muhammad was literally God in person.

Elijah was born in Georgia but later moved to Detroit where he came into contact with Fard Muhammad and accepted his teachings. He eventually travelled all across America setting up mosques or temples (as they are commonly called) and named them based upon his sequence of arrival. In New York, to this day, the mosque there is still referred to as Mosque No. 7 because that was the seventh place visited by Elijah Muhammad during his travels.

The Nation of Islam's headquarters in Chicago known as The National Center, houses Mosque No. 2 now known as Mosque Maryam in dedication to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Throughout this time Elijah Muhammad's teachings were spread by his followers, everywhere from the streets to the prisons. They eventually reached a prisoner named Malcolm Little. Upon his acceptance of the teachings, as he left prison he joined the Nation of Islam and became commonly known as Malcolm X. This 'X' represents what is called in mathematics an unknown variable. The followers accept this 'X', or in other cases an 'I', as a sign that they are rejecting all that this world has done to them including the family name given to their ancestors by slave owners. The 'X' is eventually replaced with an Arabic name more descriptive of their personality and character. (See slave name).

Also around this time Louis Eugene Walcott, an up-and-coming calypso singer, actor and violinist, came into contact with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. Walcott also accepted the teachings and eventually came to be known as Louis Farrakhan, the successor to the leadership of the Nation of Islam.

Elijah Muhammad's son, Warith Deen Mohammad, took over NOI as successor after his father's death. Although he had been suspended from NOI for "dissident views" and ideological rifts with his father over religious doctrine, he was unanimously approved during Savior's Day celebrations on February 26 1975.

When W.D. Muhammad was installed as Supreme Minister of Nation of Islam in 1975, he immediately began to reformulate his father's beliefs and practices to bring NOI closer to traditional Sunni Islam and renamed his organization a number of times, settling on the Muslim American Society, and most of his followers assimilated into mainstream Islam. W. D. Muhammad publicly shunned his father's theology and black separatist views and attempted to forge closer ties with mainstream Muslim communities in the US.

By 1976 Louis Farrakhan became disallusioned with W.D. Muhammad's disavowal of his father's teachings and quietly walked away from the orgnization and activism in general. In 1978 after wrestling with the changes and consequent dismanteling of the NOI, Farrakhan with a few others who supported him, decided to embark on an underground mission to rebuild the NOI upon the foundation of W. Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad.

In 1981, Farrakhan publically announced the restoration of the "old" Nation of Islam, and went forward with Elijah Muhammad's NOI teachings. He continues to be the more media savvy of the two successors, and was responsible for the dramatic Million Man March in 1995. Louis Farrakhan is currently the leader of The Nation of Islam and lives in Chicago, Illinois at the former home of Elijah Muhammad.

Michael Jackson was incorrectly rumored to have joined the Nation of Islam in 2003, according to some newspapers, despite the fact that he professed to be a Jehovah's Witness. This was because he had hired several African-American bodyguards who were members of the NOI.

Many Muslims reject and disapprove of this group because of its seemingly divergence, sometimes extreme, from the teachings of the mainstream Islam. Many Muslims use the pejorative term Farrakhanism to refer to the Nation of Islam.

While the group calls its followers Muslims, in reality, they have very little to do with the Arab culture and traditions imposed on the faith of Islam. Islam believes in the total transcendance of almighty Allah, while they teach that black people are potential gods, under the Supreme God Allah. As stated in the Bible: Ye are all Gods, children of the Most High God. This totally destroys the doctrine and system of white supremacy historically imposed on the black people in America. Islam maintains universal brotherhood. Islam teaches that prophethood ended with Muhammad ibn Abdullah, more than 1400 years ago. They teach that Farrakhan's teacher, Elijah Muhammad ibn Maryam, is the exalted Christ of the Christians and that Master Fard Muhammad is the long awaited Mahdi of the Muslim World. Islam teaches principles of spiritual and moral decorum such as prayer, fasting, charity, pilgimage, etc., Elijah Muhammad taught the same but he gradually introduced them to his people because of the horrific condition they had been placed in by way of their wicked, Caucasian slave-masters. Some Middle Eastern Muslims believe Elijah Muhammad and his followers will be severely punished in the Hereafter, however they have made the United States a God besides Allah in their cowardice and lust for worldly and material gain.

The points Mainstream Islam and the Nation of Islam's interpretation coincide on include

• Both teach that there is but one God.
• Both teach to pray five times each day; to give charity to the poor; that Muslims must fast during daylight hours during the entire month of Ramadan; to make the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).

However, they differ in several respects:

• God's incarnation
  • NOI: Teaches that that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited "Messiah" of the Christians and the "Mahdi" of the Muslims.
  • Mainstream Islam: Teaches that it is heretical to believe that God would be manifested as a human.

• Resurrection of the dead
  • Mainstream Islam: teaches that there will literally be a physical resurrection of the billions and billions of dead people worldwide, and that resurrected souls (or bodies) will be sent to paradise or hell.
  • NOI: Teaches the resurrection of the dead—not in physical resurrection—but in mental resurrection. They believe that the black man and woman of America are most in need of mental resurrection; therefore they will be resurrected first.

• Black supremacy
  • NOI: Teaches that the black man is the original man of the planet Earth and that Caucasians were created by a grafting (selective breeding) process devised by a scientist called Yakub. They teach that Caucasian muslims are their brothers in the faith of Islam and should be honored as such.
  • Mainstream Islam: Teaches that all races are created equal in the eyes of God. Yakub (Jacob) is considered a Prophet of Allah in Islam.

The Final Call is the official newspaper of the NOI in the United States.

The Nation of Islam has an offshoot called the United Nation of Islam.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a controversial anti-hate group, has added the Nation of Islam to its list of watched groups.

External links

• Official website http://www.noi.org
• The Final Call, Nation of Islam Official News Outlet http://www.finalcall.com