Transcript The Nation of Islam - University of Mount Union

The Nation of Islam
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The Lost/Found
People of God:
Descendents of God
The Forerunner
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Timothy Drew founded
the Moorish-Science
movement which had
some Muslim practices
wearing Fezzes, used
the Qur'an, chose
Muslim names and
denied certain
fundamental Christian
beliefs.
The man with a mission
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His movement was a
mixture of "Black
nationalism and
Christian revivalism with
an awkward, confusing
admixture of the
teachings of the
Prophet Muhammad."
Noble Drew Ali taught
that blacks were no
longer blacks or
Negroes but "MoorishAmericans" which was a
claim to Islam.
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The movement spread to Pittsburgh,
Detroit, Chicago and to some places in
the South. However, after his death in
1929 the movement lurched along.
The Nation of Islam
The Religion for the Black Man
The Original Man
Wallace Fard
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Wallace Fard
claimed to have
come from the “Holy
City of Mecca on a
mission of
redemption and
restoration of the
Black underclass. He
founded the Black
Muslims.
Some of His Teachings
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He taught that the
Black African Diaspora
were all of Muslim
heritage,” and were the
“lost-found members of
the tribe of Shabazz.”
He called whites “blueeyed devils.”
He claimed that whites
used “tricknology” to
exploit blacks.
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Human culture began in
Africa.
He dropped the
Western names and
used X instead.
He founded the
University of Islam in
Detroit.
Fard disappeared in
1934 and was later
elevated to a divine
status.
Elijah
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Elijah Muhammad, born
Elijah Poole in
Sandersville, GA on Oct.
7, 1897. He was one of
13 children born to a
Baptist preacher and his
wife; what he learned
about Islam "early" was
from Wallace Fard. He
revived Islam in the US.
NOI Main Points
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Origin of the Black man/woman
Origin of the White man/woman
The Place of Islam and Christianity
Remuneration
End Times
Origin of the Black Man/Woman
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The Black man and woman is a god and
a goddess
Blacks are the original man.
Blacks are asleep and ignorant of their
true nature
Origin of Caucasians
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Mr. Yacub grafted the Devil (Caucasians)
Mr. Yacub, who had rebelled against God,
"extracted the negative from the black man,
and grafted a manlike creature out of pure
concentrate of evil. The white man 'is the
negative side of the original nature.'"
God has given the devil a respite (that's why
there is so much evil.)
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism
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Islam is the religion of the Black man
Christianity is the religion of the Devil
Judaism has been referred to as a
“gutter” religion by Louis Farrakhan the
current leader of the NOI
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NOI is said to be anti-Semitic
There is friction between the NOI and the
Jewish community.
NOI “Reparations”
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NOI wanted at first to be completely
separated from whites as a sovereign nation
[10% population = 5 states (southern)].
However, now they want to exist
independently within America much like the
Amish "self-supporting, autonomous in
religious matters and politically quietist."
End Times
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The NOI is living at the end of time now
(Apocalypse)
America is doomed and Allah will rescue
the faithful
The Wants and Beliefs of the
NOI
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Here is the website stating the beliefs
of the NOI
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http://www.noi.org/muslim-program/
The Pivotal Figure
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Malcolm X was a pivotal
figure in the NOI.
Malcolm Little was born in
Omaha, NE.
He was the son of a
Baptist preacher who was
active in Garvey’s Universal
Negro Improvement
Association.
El Hajj Malik El Shabbaz
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Malcolm broke away from
the NOI and founded his
own organization.
He moved toward
internationalization of the
plight of African
Americans.
He also moved toward
mainstream Islam.
He was assassinated in
1965 at the orders, so
some believe, of Elijah
Muhammad.
The Death of the Minister
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In 1975 Elijah Muhammad died
His son Wallace D Muhammad took
over.
Changes of Wallace D
Muhammad
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He immediately made
changes and
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1. he did away with the
doctrine of black racial
superiority taught by
Elijah Muhammad.
2. he redefined Fard as a
wise man and not God
himself.
3. he restored Malcolm
X's legacy as a
respected and prominent
member.
4. He separated business
from religious practices.
In addition
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5. He ended the
desire for a separate
state.
6. He honored the
US Constitution.
7. Lastly, he aligned
the NOI doctrine with
Orthodox Islam.
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He changed the
name of the NOI,
first the Bilalian
Community, then to
the World
Community of AlIslam in the West, to
the American Muslim
Mission (1980s), and
finally to the Muslim
Mission (1990s).
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“Each change was an effort to make the
organization and it's members adhere to
strict, traditional Islamic principles and to
exclude race, nationalism, and racial images
of God and prophets from theory and
worship.” 17
The Muslim Mission now holds orthodox
Islamic views and is accepted as part of the
traditional Islamic community. 18
The previous 4 slides
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Source - Created by Jan Dodoo.
Special thanks to Loryn Lawson who
created an earlier version of this page,
For Soc 452: Sociology of Religious
Movements Spring Term, 2000
University of Virginia
The Split
The Nation of Islam and
The Muslim Mission
1977
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In 1977 Louis
Farrakhan was
dissatisfied with the
changes and
founded the
Original Nation of
Islam, now known
as Nation of Islam.
Louis Farrakhan
The Current Leader of the NOI
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Slide 23 – http://www.noi.org/
Slide 15 –
http://www.bme.jhu.edu/~cwilson/grap
hics/malcolm.jpg
Slide 16 –
http://www.jazzchaser.com/jazzart/stud
yofmalcolmx.jpg