Editing Five-Percent Nation (section)

=== Founding ===

{{Nation of Islam|Offshoots}}

The Nation of Gods and Earths was founded by [[Clarence 13X]] after he left the Nation of Islam (NOI)'s [[Mosque No. 7|Temple No. 7]] in [[Harlem, New York]], the same temple where [[Malcolm X]] was a minister from 1960 to 1963. Multiple stories exist as to why Clarence and the NOI parted ways: Some state he refused to give up gambling. Others state he questioned the unique [[divinity]] of [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]], whom the NOI deified as the true and living God in person, or that he questioned Fard's godhood due to the fact that Fard was born of a [[white people|white]] mother.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=48}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |title=The Five Percenters |publisher=Oneworld |year=2007 |isbn=9781851686155 |pages=35–36}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felecia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0253217639 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/15 15–16] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/15}}</ref> One story states that he was disciplined by the NOI and [[excommunicated]] in 1963, but another version of events says that he left of his own free will.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=99}}

After leaving the NOI, he renamed himself "Allah the Father". He was joined by Abu Shahid, formerly John 37X, who agreed with Allah's questioning of Wallace Fard Muhammad. Allah the Father and Shahid were nicknamed "High Scientists" due to their intense study of lessons.<ref name=":4" /> Clarence was joined by Justice, formerly James 109X, and before that, James Howell, who became one of his closest associates until his death.<ref>{{cite web |author=Beloved Allah |url=http://www.thetalkingdrum.com/nge.html |title=The Founding of the Nation Of Gods And Earths |publisher=Thetalkingdrum.com |access-date=February 13, 2012 |archive-date=January 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126101744/http://www.thetalkingdrum.com/nge.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=125-126}}

Clarence proselytized the streets of Harlem, to teach others his views based on his interpretation of NOI teachings. After failing to reach elder adults whom he saw as already set in their ways, he found success with street youth.<ref name="IslamIn">{{cite book |title=Islam in America |author=Jane I. Smith |year=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=101–103, 206}}</ref><ref name="InTheName">{{cite book |title=In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam |author=Mattias Gardell |page=225 |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1996}}</ref><ref name="ThisFar">{{cite book |title=This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience |author=Juan Williams |publisher=Amistad/HarperCollins Publishers |year=2003 |pages=286–288}}</ref><ref name="McCloud 2014">{{cite book |last=McCloud |first=Aminah |author-link=Aminah McCloud |title=African American Islam |publisher=Taylor and Francis |location=Hoboken |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-136-64930-1 |oclc=884017193 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_gJBAAAQBAJ |access-date=April 23, 2019 |pages=59–60 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819132247/https://books.google.com/books?id=j_gJBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Knight, Michael Muhamad. ''The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip Hop, and the Gods of New York''. Oxford, England, UK: Oneworld Publications, 2007. Chapter 16</ref> On October 10, 1964, this young group formed the First Nine Born of what became known as the Five-Percent Nation, or later the Nation of Gods and Earths.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=136–141}}

Clarence taught his Black male students that they were Gods, just as he was. He taught them that the astral twin of the Black man is the Sun.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=141}} In Supreme Mathematics, the Black man is symbolized as "Knowledge".{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=141}} The Black women who came into Clarence's growing movement to study along with the males were taught they were symbolic of the planet Earth, because women produce and sustain human existence as does the Earth.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=141}}

Female Five Percenters are also referred to as "Wisdom".{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=141}} The Nation of Gods and Earths' ''Supreme Wisdom'' states: "Wisdom is the Original Woman because life is continued through her cipher (womb)."<ref>Nation of Gods and Earth. "Supreme Mathematics." ''Supreme Wisdom''. page 8. https://www.scribd.com/doc/302750576/NGE-Supreme-Wisdom {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407025457/https://www.scribd.com/doc/302750576/NGE-Supreme-Wisdom |date=April 7, 2019 }}</ref> The NGE does not consider itself a religion. Its position is that it makes no sense to be religious or to worship or deify anyone or anything outside of oneself because adherents, themselves, are the highest power in the known universe, both collectively and individually.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=137–138}}

Clarence developed a curriculum of eight lessons that included the Supreme Alphabets and Mathematics, which he devised, as well as lessons developed by the [[Nation of Islam]]'s [[Elijah Muhammad]] and [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]].{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=152}} The eight lessons were taught in this order, which follows below:

# Supreme Mathematics (1–10)
# Supreme Alphabets (1–26)
# Student Enrollment (1–10)
# English Lesson C-1 (1–36)
# Lost-Found Muslim Lesson No. 1 (1–14)
# Lost-Found Muslim Lesson No. 2 (1–40)
# Actual Facts (13)
# Solar Facts (9){{sfn|Allah|2007|p=153}}

Each Five Percenter was required to fully "master" each lesson and was expected to be able to "think and reason by forming profound relationships between the lessons and significant experiences within life."{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=153}} Five Percenters were required to share what they had learned with others, and thereby recruit new members.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=138–139}}