When the Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in 1930, it was structured with the desire to improve the spiritual, mental, social and economic condition of African-Americans in particular, and all human beings in general.
“Our sole purpose is for the mental and spiritual education of our people, and to produce unity beyond land, language or label, creed, class or color, race religion or ritual,” said Brother Nuri Muhammad, minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 74 in Indianapolis. “We want unity of all people.”
In 1934, after Fard’s disappearance, Elijah Muhammd became the NOI’s leader, and expanded the organization into a growing national movement and family of individuals dedicated to social awareness, community improvement, cultural pride and economic self-sufficiency.
Tawon Muhammad said she accepted Islam into her life because she was tired of the way she had been living.
“Everything else had failed me,” she said. “I finally found a way of life that Allah (God) would approve of. Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us knowledge of self and Allah, how to eat to live, that a nation is judged by the civility of its women and the best form of dress is to go out among this world being civilized, dignified and modest. Islam has saved, preserved and prolonged my life.”
Upon Muhammad’s death in 1975, his son, Warith Deen Mohammed, began to steer the NOI toward a path some observers described as “more in line” with traditional Islam.
In 1978, Minister Louis Farrakhan, restored the NOI as it existed under his mentor Elijah Muhammad’s leadership and has served ever since, being a worldwide spokesman for the organization’s principles, as well as social justice and self-improvement.
“Many of us remember taking tests in school and having examples on the top of the page that made it easier for students to take the test. Well, for me, Minister Farrakhan is the example at the top of the page of life,” Nuri Muhammad said. “As I’m striving to learn how to be a man, father, teacher and servant leader I can look at his example and use the formula he employed to get to the right answers for life’s tests.”
Like many organizations that have been in existence for several decades, however, the NOI has experienced its share of controversy.
This week Nuri Muhammad addressed some of the misconceptions, myths and stereotypes that have been associated with the NOI. He said the biggest “weapon of mass deception” is that the NOI does not believe in Jesus.
“That started as an intentional attempt from the enemy to get Black people to not listen to us,” Nuri Muhammad said. “They know that we have a sensitivity to Jesus in our community, and if you say anything about him you have struck an emotional chord.”
Muhammad went on to explain that the NOI does believe in Jesus, and the holy book it uses, the Quran, has one chapter devoted to a woman: Mary, the mother of Jesus.
“In the Quran, Jesus is considered the Messiah, but they won’t tell you that,” he said. “The third chapter is almost entirely committed to the life and ministry of Jesus, while the 19th chapter is dedicated to the study of his mother and him. We always say we believe in the right Christ, not white Christ. That is the difference.”
He added that the NOI believes not only in the Prophet Muhammad, but in all of the holy prophets, including Christ, Moses and Buddha, in every revelation that God brought. Both the Bible and Quran, he said, claim that there are prophets that are mentioned and some that are not, and all of God’s knowledge is not limited to those two books.
Another perception held by some people is that the NOI is racist against white people.
“We don’t have a problem with white people because of the complexion of their skin, it is because of the history that they have,” Muhammad said. “Every other nation’s people on Earth has history written in ink, while the white people’s history is written in blood. There are more than 600 million darker people that have been killed in the last 6,000 years by Caucasian people.”
Muhammad added that the NOI doesn’t hate white people, but understands them.
“The world has it twisted. They think that to be pro-Black you have to be anti-white and that’s not true,” Muhammad said. “The first law of nature is self preservation. So it’s right that before I learn how to love and respect you, I should learn how to do that for myself and people who look like me. What we are about is not about white hate, but Black love.”
Muhammad added that in the NOI’s 80-year history, the organization has never been charged with violent acts against whites or Jews.
To outside observers, one of the most visible aspects of the NOI are the friendly, energetic men in black suits who can be found near street corners selling copies of the Final Call newspaper as well as bean pies, incense and other items.
Do those individuals work hard just to take money back to the local mosque?
Muhammad explained that generally, they are independent contractors who purchase goods wholesale and then sell them on the street.
“We are not getting any money to be honest. We aren’t making a dime. It is just a way to facilitate a means for them to do for self. That’s how I made a living,” Muhammad said.
He gave the example of ex-offenders who have joined NOI and want to take better care of their children, but have found it hard to get jobs due to their record.
“What we say is you can work as hard as you want to work, and generate revenue for yourself to provide for your family,” Muhammad said.
He added that despite recent laws passed by the city prohibiting panhandling or soliciting near street corners, NOI members are not confronted by police.
“I think law enforcement officers with the goal of actually protecting good people from bad people see us as a group that is a proactive force trying to teach and train people to prevent something from going bad so that the police do not have to be called,” Muhammad said.
Brother Thomas X said he was attracted to NOI because he feels the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and Farrakhan speak directly to who the Black man and woman are by their essence, not their conditions.
“Everything that I studied from the teachings turned out to be fact, and I realized there was no better place for me than the Nation of Islam,” he said. “When you join you become part of a group that lights a fire in you to destroy your old self and become new, more enlightened individual.”
Minister Louis Farrakhan’s weekly address, The Time and What Must Be Done, can be heard Saturdays at 7 p.m. by visiting NOI.org/TheTime.
