Editing Nuwaubian Nation (section)

== Reception and influence ==
Palmer termed the Nuwaubians "one of the most significant Black Nationalist spiritual movements in America, if only in terms of its longevity".{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xv}} In 2000, O'Connor observed that the group "contributes strongly to the current trend of Afrocentrism in African American social and cultural discourse".{{sfn|O'Connor|2000|p=118}} According to Palmer, the shifts and changes in direction that the movement underwent were "even more rapid and extreme" than in other new religions like the [[The Family International|Children of God]], [[Church of Scientology]], and [[Rajneesh Foundation]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=8}} Knight observed that for outsiders to the movement, the Nuwaubian group's defining features were its "eclectic references and seemingly incoherent self-identification".{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=4}}

The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] accuse the Nuwaubians of expressing "black supremacist ideas",<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nuwaubian-nation-moors |title= Nuwaubian Nation of Moors| publisher= [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]| website= splcenter.org| access-date= August 19, 2020}}</ref> and of being a [[hate group]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=132}}<ref name="SPLCenter">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2022 |orig-date=September 2015 |title=Nuwaubian Nation of Moors |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nuwaubian-nation-moors |website=SPLCenter.org |location=[[Montgomery, Alabama]] |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908011706/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nuwaubian-nation-moors |archive-date=8 September 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref>
Journalistic coverage has been overwhelmingly negative,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xxxviii}} with group members generally taking a hostile view of journalists.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xvi}} Two hostile books on the group were also published, ''The Ansar Cult in America'' (1988) by Muslim cleric Bilal Phillips and ''Ungodly'' by journalist Bill Osinski.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=xv–xvi}} There has also been academic interest in the group, initially by those in [[Islamic studies]] but subsequently predominantly by those in [[new religious movement]] studies.{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=7}}
The white Canadian scholar of religion Susan Palmer subsequently investigated the group; she was welcomed to its meetings, was allowed to participate in some rituals, and permitted to chat informally with various Nuwaubians.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=xvi–xvii}}

Sunni Muslims deem York a blasphemer and a fake Muslim.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=1}}
In 1994, Ghazi Y. Khankan, director of the New York office of the [[Council on American–Islamic Relations]], commented about York and his group based on their history in Brooklyn. He said, "It's a cult, in my opinion, and in Islam there are no cults. They consider their leader a prophet, which means they have deviated from the Islamic way."<ref name="nyt.ghazi">{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/24/nyregion/muslims-leave-bushwick-the-neighbors-ask-why.html | first= Dennis| last= Hevesi| title= Muslims Leave Bushwick; The Neighbors Ask Why| work= [[The New York Times]]| date= 24 April 1994| access-date= 26 May 2016}}</ref> Palmer believed that the substantial opposition faced by the Nuwaubians was influenced by the anti-cult movement, racism against African-Americans, and York's own provocative behavior.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xxxviii}} The Nuwaubians' critics in the anti-cult movement labelled it a [[cult]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=9}} For them, York is a stereotypical "cult leader," a charlatan and con artist.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=35}} They maintain that the substantial changes that York brought to the Nuwuabian movement was evidence for fraudulence, with York adopting different marketing strategies in his attempt to attract black youth.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=8–9}} Critics similarly often emphasise York's role as a plagiarist who borrowed heavily from earlier writers.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=24}}

=== Influence upon hip-hop ===
As "Dr. York", the movement's leader was a vocalist and [[Record producer|music producer]] in Brooklyn before he left the area. During this time, his Nuwaubian teachings affected [[Hip-hop|hip hop]] and Black culture in New York. Journalist Adam Heimlich of the ''[[New York Press]]'' suggested the following were influenced by York: [[Jaz-O]], [[Doug E. Fresh]], [[Afrika Bambaataa]], [[Kelvin Mercer|Posdnuos]] from [[De La Soul]], [[Prodigy (rapper)|Prodigy]] from [[Mobb Deep]], and [[MF Doom]]/[[KMD]].<ref name="nypress.com"/>

In his article on York's cult, Heimlich reviewed some of the leader's published works. He wrote that York had borrowed from a variety of sources for his ideas:

{{blockquote|A partial list, from my notes, of places I'd encountered Nuwaubian notions before includes ''[[Chariots of the Gods?|Chariots of the Gods]]'' and the [[Raël|Rael]]'s embellishments on that book, conspiracy lit, UFO lit, the [[Human Potential Movement|human potential movement]], [[Buddhism]] and [[New Age|new-age]], [[astrology]], [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]] and [[Helena Blavatsky|Blavatsky]], [[Leonard Jeffries]] and other [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentrics]], [[Edgar Cayce|Cayce]], [[Lyndon LaRouche|LaRouche]], [[alternative medicine]], [[self-help]] lit, [[Satanism]], the [[Atkins diet]], [[numerology]] and [[yoga]]. Many of these York mentions by name. There are also extensive discourses on the [[Torah]], [[Gospel]]s and [[Quran|Koran]], as well as on [[Rastafari]]anism, the [[Nation of Islam]] and the [[Five-Percent Nation]].<ref name="nypress.com">Heimlich, Adam. "Black Egypt: A Visit to Tama-Re," ''New York Press'', 8 November 2000 {{cite web |url=http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=3036 |title=New York Press |access-date=2005-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109152729/http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=3036 |archive-date=November 9, 2005 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}

In [[Independent music|indie]] hip hop, there are Nuwaubians who perform what they call Nu-wop, such as Daddi Kuwsh, Twinity, Nefu Amun Hotep, 9thScientist, Scienz of Life, [[Ntelek]], Jedi Mind Tricks, Aslaam Mahdi, 720 Pure Sufi, Tos El Bashir and [[The Lost Children of Babylon]].<ref name="imarisha">{{cite news| url= http://www.citypaper.net/articles/020801/mus.lost.shtml | author-link= Walidah Imarisha| last= Imarisha| first= Walidah| title= Right Rhyming: Philly's Lost Children of Babylon spread the Nuwaubu word| work= [[Philadelphia City Paper]]| date= February 8, 2001| via= citypaper.net| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050905201213/http://citypaper.net/articles/020801/mus.lost.shtml |archive-date=September 5, 2005 }}</ref>