FEATURES - 3
September 16, 1992
1
Rise of the Nation of Islam: Moving Beyond The X
By Scott Johnson
Ink Staff Writer
When people think of the Nation
of Islam they think of socially
conscious brothers with short, well
groomed hair wearing sharp,
business bow ties. They think of
bean pies and blue-eyed devils. Or
they think of prominent members,
such as Muhammad Ali, Minister
Louis Farrakhan and of course
Malcolm X.
Malcolm X was the vehicle that
drove the Nation to the forefront of
the Civil Rights Movement. But the
Nation’s history runs deeper than
the 60s and Malcolm X.
In July of 1930, in Detroit, a
simple, light skinned man
“appeared,” hailing from the Holy
City of Mecca bearing a special
message for the American Negro.
Wallace Fard Muhammad, also
called W.D. Fard, gathered a small
group of followers, who were
willing to listen to him preach on
street
corners
about the
beginning
of time, the
formation
of man, and
the future
of African
American’s.
Fard
mystiiously
disappeared
after four
years of
teaching.
He was
never seen
or heard
from again.
The bulk of
h i s
•
teachings
was left
with Elijah
Poole.
The young Elijah continued the
teachings of Fard and is responsible
for waking up mentally dead African
Americans.
Elijah Poole, who soon became
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
began building the Nation of Islam
as we know it today. The Nation
grew steadily throughout the
1940’s and 1950’s, but
remained small in size.
In the 1960s, Elijah
Muhammad’s explosive and
outspoken protege, Malcolm
X, thrust the Nation of Islam
into America’s spotlight
Malcolm X brought the
Nation into the living rooms
of both black and white
America. By preaching the
word of the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad, he was able to
attract hundreds of thousands
of followers who sought to
resurrect the mentally dead
(the so-called American
Negro), and warn oppressive
devils (white America) of
their eventual destruction.
Brothers and Sisters within the
Nation of Islam shocked mainstream
Americans with their Non-
traditional religious views.
According to the teachings of the
Nation of Islam, there have been
Douglas (Fard)
Wallace
several Gods from the beginning of
time. They teach that God is a human
being, more specifically a black
man.
The Nation of Islam asserts that
Allah most recently came in the
person of W.D. Fard and is the
smartest and greatest God. The
Nation of Islam also claims that
Honorable Elijah Muhammed
resurrection of the physically dead
is impossible, and that one can only
be resurrected mentally.
Therefore there is no heaven or
hell, or any other concept of the
hereafter. Elijah Muhammad
preached that the conceptsof heaven
and hell were taught by slavemasters
to keep the slaves in control.
The Nation of Islam attempts to
wake up the mentally dead, and
prepare them for judgement day.
Judgement day is when all of the
righteous people (all the blacks in
this world) are saved and the devils
are destroyed. The Nation has a
strong belief that the original people
will take back what was once theirs
and destroy all of the oppressors of
the last 6,000 years, which is when
the white man was created.
There are 12 basic beliefs of the
Nation of Islam which can be found
more in depth in Message to the
Blackman in America, by the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Here
is a brief summary of the twelve
fundamental beliefs:
1) Belief in the one God whose
proper name is Allah
2) Belief in the Holy Koran and
the scriptures of all prophets of God.
3) Belief in the Bible, but also
belief that it has been tampered with
and so it must be reinterpreted to
avoid the falsehoods.
4) Belief in Allah ’ s prophets and
the Scriptures they brought to the
people.
5) Belief in the resurrection of
the mentally dead, and not
resurrection of the physically
dead. And that blacks arc the
people’s of God’s choice.
6) Belief in the judgement,
and that this judgement will
first take place in America.
7) Belief that this is the
time in history when the so-
called Negro must be separated
from the so-called White
Americans, and that the black
man and woman should be
freed in name.
8) Belief in justice for all
and equality as a nation of
equals.
9) Belief that integration
is hypocritical and is made by
those people who are trying to
Unck the black man and black
woman into believing that despite
400 years of oppression they now
are our friends.
10) Belief that Muslims should
not participate in Wars which take
the lives of humans.
11) Belief that the black woman
should be
respected
and
protected.
12) Belief
that Allah
came in the
person of
Master W.
Fard
MiiianmaL
Within
the last 20
years, the
Nation of
Islam has
changed
dramatkally.
After the
death of the
Honorable
Elijah
Muhammad,
t h e
leadership was handed to his son
Warith D. Mohammed who went
astray from the teachings of his
father to the form of Islam which
has over one billion followers across
the world.
This form of Islam preaches love
for all mankind, and focuses purely
on the teachings of the Holy Koran.
Minister Louis Farrrakhan has taken
over where the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad left off, and is now the
leader/spokesman of the original
Nation of Islam which preaches the
word as taught by Master W. Fard
Muhammad.
Today, the Nation of Islam is
under the direction of Mini.ster Louis
Farrakhan. They have continued to
wake up the mentally dead
throughout mosques all across the
country. In any major city, brothers
in the Nation can be seen selling
issues of their official newspaper.
The Final Call.
Whether you are for the Nation
of Islam or against it, you must look
past the superficial elements and
see that the Nation has, and
continues to be, a major source of
social reform in the United Stales
for African Americans.
It reforms those individuals
which society has already given up
on by teaching them to love
themselves and to love where they
have come from. It teaches the
black
man to be
a role
model
and stay
with his
family, as
well as
respect
t h e
mother of
a I I
people,
the black
woman.
And, it
stresses
the need
for the
proper
education
o f
African-
American
youth, so that they have an
understanding of our history and
the impact we have had on today’s
society.
For those wanting tc know more
about the Nation of Islam, contact
Minister David 2X at 493-0714, or
there are a number of books
available at The Know Book Store
in Durham by N.C. Central
Malcolm