Editing Five-Percent Nation

{{Short description|American black nationalist religious movement}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}

[[File:Five-Percent (NOGE) Symbol.png|thumb|210px|The Five-Percent emblem, also known as the Universal Flag of Islam (I-Self Lord and Master)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-i-learned-from-the-five-percenters/ |title=What I Learned from the Five Percenters |publisher=VICE |last=Muhammad Knight |first=Michael |date=January 8, 2013 |access-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-date=May 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528043221/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/what-i-learned-from-the-five-percenters |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Clarence 13X.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Clarence 13X]], the founder of the Nation of Gods and Earths]]
The '''Five-Percent Nation''', sometimes referred to as the '''Five Percenters''' or the '''Nation of Gods and Earths''' ('''NGE'''/'''NOGE'''), is a movement influenced by the [[Nation of Islam]] founded in 1964 in the [[Harlem]] section of the borough of [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]], by [[Clarence 13X]], a former member of the [[Nation of Islam]] who was previously known as Clarence Edward Smith.

Members of the group call themselves [[Allah]]'s Five Percenters, which reflects the concept that ten percent of the people in the world are [[elite]]s and their agents, who know the truth of existence and opt to keep eighty-five percent of the world in ignorance and under their controlling thumb; the remaining five percent are those who know the truth and are determined to enlighten the eighty-five percent.<ref name="npr.org">{{cite news |title=God, the Black Man and the Five Percenters |newspaper=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5614846 |access-date=February 13, 2012 |publisher=NPR |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119080426/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5614846 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="HipHopWired">{{cite web |url=http://hiphopwired.com/2012/06/28/the-meaning-of-the-5-a-look-at-the-nation-of-gods-and-earths/ |title=The Meaning of the 5%: A Look at the Nation Of Gods And Earths |last=Chandler |first=D. L. |date=June 28, 2012 |website=Hip-Hop Wired |access-date=October 11, 2013 |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012042550/http://hiphopwired.com/2012/06/28/the-meaning-of-the-5-a-look-at-the-nation-of-gods-and-earths/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Nation of Gods and Earths teaches the belief that [[Black people]] are the [[Original peoples|original people]] of the planet Earth and are therefore the fathers ("Gods") and mothers ("Earths") of [[civilization]].<ref name="npr.org" /> The Nation teaches that Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet, a set of principles created by Allah the Father, is the key to understanding humankind's relationship to the universe. The Nation teaches that the black man, insofar as the Nation defines this race, is himself [[God]], with the black race being a race of actual gods.<ref name="npr.org" />

== History ==
=== 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}}

=== Social and political influence ===
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] opened a file on the Five Percenters in 1965, the height of the [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights]] and [[Black Power movement|Black Power Movements]] in the United States. In "Disturbance by Group Called 'Five Percenters,'" the FBI refers to the organization as a "loosely knit group of Negro youth gangs. ... These particular gangs emanate from New York City Public School Number 120 which is a junior high school."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/5percent/five-percenters-part-01-of-01/view |title=Five Percenters: Part 01 of 01 |website=FBI Records: The Vault |access-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-date=May 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514140833/https://vault.fbi.gov/5percent/five-percenters-part-01-of-01/view |url-status=live }}</ref> The FBI file stated that the organization's name meant "The five percent of the Muslims who smoke and drink."<ref name=":0" />

1965 New York newspaper articles referred to the Five Percenters as a "gang", "hoodlums", and "terror group".<ref name=":0" /> Allah the Father and the Five Percenters "had a reputation for being unreachable, anti-white criminals."<ref name=":1" /> With the goal of preventing New York from having a race riot or uprising, New York Mayor [[John Lindsay|John V. Lindsay]] sent Barry Gottehrer, the head of the mayor's Urban Task Force, to meet with the organization the FBI had called a "gang" and "terror group".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-253-21763-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/19 19] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/19}}</ref> Gottehrer stated Allah the Father was non-violent, "but was dedicated to his community's well-being."<ref name=":1" />

Gottehrer and Clarence began organizing picnics and airplane rides for the Five Percenters that were funded by New York City through the Urban Task Force.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=238}}<ref name=":1" /> [[Wakeel Allah]]'s book ''In the Name of Allah'' includes a photo captioned: "Clarence (in background) along with Mayor Lindsay (holding baby) on airplane ride with Five Percenters."{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=238}} In 1967, Clarence, with Gottehrer's assistance, opened the Urban League Street Academy, which became known as the Allah School in Mecca.<ref name=":1" />

In 1967, shortly after Clarence and Justice started holding classes at the Street Academy, [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights]] leader [[Bayard Rustin]] and Massachusetts [[Edward Brooke|Senator Edward Brooke]] visited Father Allah at the academy.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=240}} In an article titled "The Five Percenters", published in ''The New Amsterdam News,'' Rustin wrote<blockquote>We might all applaud the Street Academy as one of the most constructive contributions to the maintenance of stability in the Harlem Community, as well as creating an effective instrument for the rehabilitation of young men who might otherwise have no choice but the streets. ... Besides their academic and social activities, the Five Percenters told me that they pursue a spiritual ideal of "helping others discover a true knowledge of themselves." They said they are "neither anti-white nor pro-black."{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=241}}</blockquote>

Clarence stated that he was "neither pro-black nor anti-white".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2009 |pages=xiii, 142, 227}}</ref> In his "National Statement" given at Brookdale College in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1998, Dumar Wa'de Allah, National Spokesman for the NGE,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2013/jun/27/rip-god-dumar-wade-allah/ |title=R.I.P. God Dumar Wa'de Allah |date=June 27, 2013 |website=Amsterdamnews.com |access-date=April 4, 2019 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809071836/http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2013/jun/27/rip-god-dumar-wade-allah/ |url-status=live }}</ref> stated "we are not anti-white, nor pro-black. In fact, we have white Five Percenters."<ref name="wa'de">{{Cite web |url=http://tareefsea.tripod.com/Degrees/notagang.html |title=A National Statement by Dumar Wa'de Allah |last=Allah |first=Dumar Wa'de |year=1998 |access-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-date=May 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530034937/http://tareefsea.tripod.com/Degrees/notagang.html |url-status=live }}</ref> NGE websites and articles state, "We as a collective are not anti-white nor pro-black. We are pro-righteous and anti-devilishment."<ref name="jerule">{{Cite web |url=https://ngeinla.weebly.com/ |title=Welcome to the Love Allah website of the Gods and Earths! |last=Allah |first=Jerule |access-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529204145/https://ngeinla.weebly.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sfbayview.com/2013/11/state-and-federal-prisons-persecute-nation-of-gods-and-earth-five-percenters/ |title=State and federal prisons persecute Nation of Gods and Earth (Five Percenters) |last=See also: Allah |first=Immortality Exegetical 120 (Randal Best) |date=November 28, 2013 |access-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529210358/http://sfbayview.com/2013/11/state-and-federal-prisons-persecute-nation-of-gods-and-earth-five-percenters/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Voices of the Earth: A Phenomenological Study of Women in the Nation of Gods and Earths |last=Keiler-Bradshaw |first=Ahmon J. |s2cid=151078180 |publisher=Georgia State University: M.A. Thesis |year=2010 |pages=101}}</ref>

There have been from the organization's inception Five Percenters of various ethnicities. The most well-known white Five Percenter is John Michael Kennedy, who met Clarence in 1965. Allah proclaimed Kennedy a "righteous man" and renamed him Azreal.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |publisher=One World |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |pages=85–86}}</ref> Michael M. Knight's ''The Five Percenters'' includes a photo of a gathering of Five Percenters that includes Barkim, who Knight describes as "one of the earliest white Five Percenters" and his siblings.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |publisher=One World |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |at=Plate 2}}</ref> Knight's book includes two photos of Allah with Gottehrer, who Allah called "Moses".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |date=October 2008 |publisher=One World |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |at=Plates 6 & 7 and page 112}}</ref>

In 2018, members of the Five Percent Nation and Harlem community members applied to the Transportation/Historic Preservation & Landmarks Committee of Manhattan Community Board 10, to have the northwest corner of 126th Street & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd in Harlem, New York, co-named "Allah, Justice & The Five Percenters Square".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/mancb10/downloads/pdf/11_7_18_gbm_agenda_final.pdf |title=General Board Meeting of City of New York Manhattan Community Board |date=November 7, 2018 |website=www1.nyc.gov |access-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204204520/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/mancb10/downloads/pdf/11_7_18_gbm_agenda_final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |url=https://therighteouswaybook.com/allah-justice-the-five-percenters-square/ |title=ALLAH, JUSTICE & THE FIVE PERCENTERS SQUARE |last=Allah |first=Starmel |date=13 November 2018 |website=The Righteous Way Book |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809033904/https://therighteouswaybook.com/allah-justice-the-five-percenters-square/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The application and subsequent proposal were approved by [[Manhattan Community Board 10]] and the [[New York City Council]].<ref name=":5" /> In March 2019, the intersection of 126th Street & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd in New York was officially co-named "Allah, Justice & The Five Percenters Square".<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thesource.com/2019/03/29/tomorrow-allah-justice-the-five-percenters-square-street-sign-unveiling-in-harlem/ |title=TOMORROW! 'ALLAH, JUSTICE & THE FIVE PERCENTERS SQUARE' STREET SIGN UNVEILING IN HARLEM |last=Allah |first=Sha Be |date=29 March 2019 |website=The Source |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331002444/http://thesource.com/2019/03/29/tomorrow-allah-justice-the-five-percenters-square-street-sign-unveiling-in-harlem/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Conflicts ===
After the founding of the Allah School, the Gods and Earths became more influential{{snd}}upon the April 1968 [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]], it quelled a potential rebellion inside Harlem.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=261–264}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |publisher=Oneworld |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |pages=107–109}}</ref> Allah was assassinated on the 13 June 1969, in the lobby of 21 West 112th Street in Harlem, within the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers housing projects, the residence of his wife and children.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=279-280}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |publisher=Oneworld |year=2007 |isbn=9781851686155 |pages=120}}</ref> There have been rumors and theories about assailants and motives,{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=281-292}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael M. |publisher=Oneworld |year=2007 |isbn=9781851686155 |pages=117, 121}}</ref> but the murder remains unsolved. The murder was a blow to the movement. According to the direct orders of Allah before his death, some of his earliest disciples, a group of nine men who were called the First Nine Born carried on the teachings, and his friend Justice assumed an acting leadership role.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=298-299}}

The FBI's labeling the Five Percenters as a "gang" in 1965 has caused much trouble for Gods and Earths in the United States. The "gang" label has caused individuals with even remote NGE affiliation to be designated as security threats in jails and prisons in [[Michigan]], [[New Jersey]], New York, and [[South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scalc.net/decisions.aspx?q=4&id=3297 |title=Ra'heen M. Shabazz, #170474 vs. SCDOC |date=November 29, 2001 |publisher=SC Administrative Law Court |access-date=January 5, 2010 |archive-date=March 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305165705/http://www.scalc.net/decisions.aspx?q=4&id=3297 |url-status=live }}</ref> NGE literature has been banned from penal institutions in these and other states, and inmates have been denied privileges enjoyed by those of other persuasions. Such rules were relaxed in 2004 in New York to allow registered "sincere adherent(s)" to study teachings personally, but not share with unregistered inmates during their incarceration.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/nation/judge-no-sign-that-nation-of-gods-is-prison-risk/article_3c38162d-837d-59a3-b03e-48e0d1271719.html |title=Judge: No sign that Nation of Gods is prison risk |last=White |first=Ed |date=September 8, 2009 |work=Victoria Advocate |access-date=September 9, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430050257/https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/nation/judge-no-sign-that-nation-of-gods-is-prison-risk/article_3c38162d-837d-59a3-b03e-48e0d1271719.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The group's newspaper, ''The Five Percenter'', condemns the states who impose restrictions on their practice as those who "attempt to define us in ways that seek to criminalize us."<ref>''Five Percenter Newspaper'', Vol 16.8, p.2</ref> In 2009, in Michigan, the Nation challenged a ban on the group's literature among prison inmates, after an inmate was designated a security threat until he renounced his membership. Judge Steven Whalen found no evidence that the group advocated violence and recommended that it be recognized as a legitimate belief system.<ref>White, Ed (September 9, 2009) "Nation of Islam sect allowed in prison", 
''The Associated Press''.</ref>

== Beliefs ==
=== Basis ===
The men of the Five Percent Nation view themselves as Gods, both individually and collectively as the "Original Man".<ref name="IslamIn" /> According to the ''Five Percenter Newspaper'', "God first means that it is no longer a judicial argument; centered means everything we do is about God. Culture is the practices and principles of a people at any given time."<ref>Five Percenter Newspaper volume 16.5 p.2</ref> Gods and Earths sometimes refer to themselves as [[scientist]]s, implying their search for knowledge and proof.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0253217636 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/30 30, 68, 157] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/30}}</ref><ref name="Jackson Richardson 2014">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gl6hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT174 |title=In: Understanding African American Rhetoric: Classical Origins to Contemporary Innovations |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-136-72729-0 |editor-last=Jackson, Ronald |editor-first=Ronald L. and Elaine B. Richardson |location=New York, NY |pages=174, 179 |chapter=The Duty of the Civilized is to Civilize the Uncivilized: Tropes of Black Nationalism in the Messages of Five Percent Rappers |oclc=881034429 |author-link1=Ronald L. Jackson II |access-date=April 23, 2019 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819111826/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gl6hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT174 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths are passed on through a modern oral tradition. The advancement of a God or Earth is based on their memorization, recitation, comprehension, and practical application of the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet and also the 120 Lessons, sometimes referred to as degrees, a revised version of the Supreme Wisdom lessons of the NOI, originally written by [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] and [[Elijah Muhammad]].<ref name="ThisFar" /><ref name="The5">{{cite book |title=The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip Hop, and the Gods of New York |url=https://archive.org/details/fivepercentersis00knig |url-access=registration |author=Knight, Michael Muhammad |publisher=Oxford, England, UK: Oneworld Publications |year=2007 |isbn=9781851685134}}</ref><ref name="CantStop">{{cite book |title=[[Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation]] |first=Jeff |last=Chang |author-link=Jeff Chang (journalist) |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2005 |pages=258, 259}}</ref>

The anthology ''Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Wisdom on the Science of Everything in Life'' by Supreme Understanding details the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ankh |first=Nur |title=Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Wisdom on the Science of Everything in Life (9780981617022): Supreme Understanding, Sunez Allah, CBS Alife Allah: Books |date=July 30, 2009 |publisher=Supreme Design |isbn=978-0981617022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.supremedesignonline.com/knowledgeofself.html#reviews |title=Knowledge Of Self |publisher=Supremedesignonline.com |access-date=February 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129222911/http://www.supremedesignonline.com/knowledgeofself.html#reviews |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Wakeel Allah]] has written ''In the Name of Allah: A History of Clarence 13X and the 5 Percenters'' and ''The Naked Truth: From the Goal Mind of Abu Shahid, the Elder of the Nation of Gods and Earths''.<ref>Muhammad, Ashahed (March 21, 2017). "In the Name of Allah, A History of Clarence 13X and the 5 Percenters". ''The Final Call Newspaper''. Retrieved March 26, 2014.</ref>

=== "Five Percent" ===
The term "Five Percenter" is taken directly from the "Five Percent" who are described in "Lost-Found Muslim Lesson No. 2" of the [[Nation of Islam]]. The lesson groups the people of the world into three categories. Eighty-five percent of the world's population are described as "uncivilized people; poison animal eaters; slaves from mental death and power, people who do not know the Living God or their origin in this world, and they worship that which they do not know. ... [They] are easily led in the wrong direction, but hard to lead into the right direction."<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence |last=Washington |first=Teresa |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-9910730-0-9 |pages=92–93}}</ref>{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=137–138}}

Ten percent of the world's population are described as "The rich; the slave-makers of the poor; who teach the poor lies—to believe that the Almighty, True and Living God is a spook and cannot be seen by the physical eye. Otherwise known as: The Blood-Suckers of the Poor."<ref name=":6" />{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=137–138}}

Five Percent of the world's population are described as "the poor, righteous Teachers, who do not believe in the teachings of the 10%, and are all-wise; and know who the Living God is; and Teach that the Living God is the Sun of man, the supreme being, the (Black man) of Asia [Pangea]; and Teach Freedom, Justice, and Equality to all of the human families of the planet Earth."<ref name=":6" />{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=137–138}}

=== The Universal Language ===
{{Anchor|Supreme Alphabet}}
{{Anchor|Supreme Mathematics}}
<!--Do not add a list of the Supreme Mathematics other than what has already been written. Any further details can be accessed via the references below.-->
The '''Supreme Mathematics''' and '''Supreme Alphabet''' are key concepts in the Five Percent Nation. The Supreme mathematics is a system of understanding [[numerical digit|numerals]] alongside concepts and qualitative representations that are used along with the Supreme Alphabet.<ref name="ThisFar" /><ref name="CantStop" /> The Supreme Mathematics is thought to be the highest system of [[numerology]] in the NGE, used to give qualitative value to numbers in addition to quantity. How the values associated with each number were derived is unknown. The numerals are as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence |last=Washington |first=Teresa |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=9780991073009 |pages=97}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0253217636 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/26 26] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/26}}</ref>{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=134}}

* 1. Knowledge
* 2. Wisdom
* 3. Understanding
* 4. Culture or Freedom
* 5. Power or Refinement
* 6. Equality
* 7. God
* 8. Build or Destroy
* 9. Born (Birth)
* 0. Cipher<!--Do not add a list of the Supreme Alphabet other than what has already been written. Any further details can be accessed via the references below.-->

The Supreme Alphabet is a system of interpreting text and finding deeper meaning from the NOI Lessons, by assigning actual meanings to the letters of the [[Latin script]]. For example, the first letter, A, stands for Allah; the 12th letter, L, stands for Love, Hell, or Right; and the 13th letter, M, stands for Master. The Supreme Alphabet was developed by Allah the Father and Justice.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=135}} The method by which letters were associated with certain values is unknown.

=== Customs ===
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The Five-Percent Nation holds events known as Universal Parliaments in various cities—usually once a month—to build on their interpretation of the Supreme Mathematics, lessons, and to discuss business concerning the NGE.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=238–239}} These meetings usually take place in public areas and can be held anywhere.

Because the NGE defines itself as a way of life and not a religion,{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=345}} the Nation generally does not observe religious holidays, including those associated with Christianity or Islam.<ref name="Allah 2009">{{cite book |last=Allah |first=Wakeel |author-link=Wakeel Allah |title=In the Name of Allah: A History of Clarence 13X and the Five Percenters, Vol. 2 |publisher=A-Team Publishing |location=Atlanta, GA |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-9821618-2-1 |oclc=607977900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSeCRQAACAAJ |access-date=23 April 2019 |page=300 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819233340/https://books.google.com/books?id=TSeCRQAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many Five Percenters honor Allah the Father's birthday on February 22, or the official founding of the Nation on October 10, with special events and parliaments.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |pages=172, 214}}</ref> The Show and Prove is an annual event that takes place in [[Harlem]] every second weekend in June.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2014/jun/19/five-percenters-hold-44th-annual-show-and-prove/ |title=Five Percenters hold 44th annual Show and Prove |access-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719024400/http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2014/jun/19/five-percenters-hold-44th-annual-show-and-prove/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Similar to adherents of denominations of traditional Islam, Five Percenters abstain from eating [[pork]] or any pork-based by-products.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=138–139}} According to Five Percenter Universal Shaamguadd, Allah the Father stated Five Percenters should avoid eating "small scavengers, such as shrimp", and avoid "lobsters, crabs, clams, and oysters".{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=149}} Some Five Percenters take further steps and eschew meat altogether, often opting for "strict" [[vegetarianism]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-253-21763-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/32 32] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/32}}</ref> Allah the Father advocated "eating one meal a day, every other day or every third days, as prescribed in the Nation of Islam."{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=149}} Allah was a proponent of [[fasting]] and many new adherents fast as part of "an induction process".{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=151}}

=== Teachings on race ===
The teachings of Five-Percent Nation have been accused of promoting Black supremacy. As in the Nation of Islam, Five Percenters believe that the original inhabitants of the world were Black, which they refer to as the "Asiatic Blackman" and believe had inhabited the earth for "66 trillion years", who ultimately descended from the [[Tribe of Shabazz]], while the [[White people|white race]] are evil "devils" who were created 6,000 years ago on what is today the Greek island of [[Patmos]], by a "rogue bigheaded scientist" named [[Yakub (Nation of Islam)|Yakub]], the Biblical and Qur'anic [[Jacob]], who was of the [[Mecca]]n branch of the tribe. After the whites attempted to rise up against their creators, they were exiled to the caves of "West Asia" – what would later be known as Europe. The Yakub origin story is the basis for all Five Percenter racial understanding.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/8737494 |title="Ain't No Spook God": Religiosity in the Nation of Gods and Earths |last=Andrews |first=Pamela |website=Academia.edu |access-date=2 August 2019 |archive-date=October 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029212422/https://www.academia.edu/8737494 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Gender perceptions ===
Some Five Percenters have been accused of promoting male chauvinism and [[misogyny]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2007 |pages=214–215}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature |last=Washington |first=Teresa N. |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-9910730-0-9 |pages=123–128}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Voices of the Earth: A Phenomenological Study of Women in the Nation of Gods and Earths |last=Keiler-Bradshaw |first=Ahmon J. |publisher=Georgia State University: M.A. Thesis |year=2010 |pages=63}}</ref> According to Prince Allah Cuba, since the death of Allah the Father, some Gods have grown preoccupied with male supremacy, and this preoccupation has resulted in the minimization of all things female: from the crescent moon on the nation's flag being made smaller and eventually placed under the number seven, to the lack of parity in the God-Earth dyad.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip Hop and the Gods of New York |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |pages=214–215}}</ref>

According to the Five Percent Nation, each member constitutes a divine being in their own right.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence |last=Washington |first=Teresa N. |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-9910730-0-9 |pages=123}}</ref> Some men promote the minimization of women, as with [[Lord Jamar]]'s lyric that woman is "secondary but most necessary".<ref>Lord Jamar. "Supreme Mathematics." ''[[The 5% Album]]''. [[Babygrande Records|Babygrande]]/[[Koch Records|Koch]]. 2006.</ref> Others describe the Black woman as the Black man's equal: In [[X Clan]]'s song "Wiz Degrees", Five Percenter [[Brother J]] describes his partner as "Wisdom and the Goddess manifest".<ref name=":2">[[X Clan]]. "Wiz Degrees." ''[[Mainstream Outlawz]]''. Suburban Noize. 2009.</ref> [[Ladybug Mecca]], a Five Percenter and the female member of the hip hop group [[Digable Planets]], offers her view of gender and divinity: <blockquote>We need to know that there is a feminine and masculine principal or consciousness that is considered the God or the Creator. It's not a male, like religion will tell you. It's a mother/father principle, a masculine/feminine principle. [...] The feminine principle is what gives birth to the universe. It's what brings creation forth, so there has to be an acknowledgement and respect for her in order to bring back the balance. In religion, in Christianity and in Islam, in all religions ... it's a perverted piece of the truth, when it doesn't hold the woman on a pedestal.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence |last=Quoted in: Washington |first=Teresa |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-9910730-0-9 |page=127}}</ref> </blockquote>

Five Percenter Just I C Equality Allah, asserts that gender equality is an inherent aspect of ALLAH: "How can woman not be God as well as man? First of all, we are the Arm Leg Leg Arm Head (Allah). There is no gender type, we all have the components that make the physical. Allah is the all in all. How can we be the all in all if 'all' isn't included?"<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2007 |pages=219}}</ref> When Allah the Father was alive, some female Five Percenters referred to themselves as Goddesses.<ref name="knight220">{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |pages=220}}</ref> A Five Percent female named Tawanna referred to herself as God. When challenged by some male Five Percenters, Tawanna defended her position and was declared by Justice to be "more God than some of the men!"<ref name="knight220" />

==Influence on hip-hop  ==
The majority of allusions to Islam in American hip-hop, either conscious or otherwise, spawn from adherents of the Five Percenters.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejf_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Five+Percenters&pg=PA169 |title=Representing Islam: Hip-Hop of the September 11 Generation |last=Mohamed Nasir |first=Kamaludeen |date=2020 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253053053 |access-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603061001/https://books.google.com/books?id=ejf_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Five+Percenters&pg=PA169 |url-status=live }}</ref> In its article on Five Percenter [[Jay Electronica]], ''[[Vice Magazine]]'' stated in regard to the Five Percent Nation: "It's a movement that's been affiliated with hip-hop from the very beginning, coining terms like 'ciphers' and 'dropping science' and influencing everyone, [[World's Famous Supreme Team]], [[Big Daddy Kane]], [[Busta Rhymes]], [[J. Cole]], [[Jay-Z]], [[Rakim]], [[Wu-Tang Clan]], [[Brand Nubian]], [[Nas]], [[Common (rapper)|Common]], [[Poor Righteous Teachers]], [[Erykah Badu]], and [[AZ (rapper)|AZ]]. With these artists, and any others associated with the Five Percenters, music was more than just a message."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-prestige-the-five-percenters-and-why-jay-electronica-hasnt-released-his-debut-album/ |title=The Prestige, The Five Percenters, and Why Jay Electronica Hasn't Released His Debut Album |last=Bassil |first=Ryan |date=October 23, 2013 |publisher=Noisey.vice.com |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227225011/http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/the-prestige-the-five-percenters-and-why-jay-electronica-hasnt-released-his-debut-album |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Nation of Gods and Earths has propagated its teachings throughout the [[United States]] and abroad. In the early 1980s, this spread was in part due to early adherents teaching when away at college or in the military and, more famously, because of the rise of [[hip hop music]]. The main theme of the NGE doctrine spoken on hip hop records were the teachings that black people were the original or first human life to walk the planet, that the Blackman is God, the Blackwoman is Earth, and through the inner [[esoteric]] powers of the Gods and Earths, the youth can transform and possess its true potential, which aspires to overthrow the overbearing [[oligarchy]] by becoming just rulers of themselves. This especially meshed well with conscious themes found in other golden-age hip hop recordings.

Early hip-hop acts affiliated with the Five Percenters, and who spread its teachings through hip hop, include two MCs from the conscious-rap era of the late 1980s and early 1990s: [[Rakim]] of [[Eric B. & Rakim]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_WwhU7vQ5ancC |title=SPIN – |via=[[Internet Archive]] |date=February 1991 |publisher=SPIN Media LLC |access-date=February 13, 2012}}</ref> and [[Big Daddy Kane]]. These two acts, as well as some of their other contemporaries, infused Five-Percent teachings and symbolism throughout their music and videos. This reputation brought fans of Rakim in particular to refer to him as the God MC.{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=321}}<ref name="Knight 2007 117–186">{{Cite book |title=The Five Percenters |last=Knight |first=Michael |publisher=One World |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85168-615-5 |pages=117–186}}</ref><ref name="Washington 2014 101–136">{{Cite book |title=Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence |last=Washington |first=Teresa |publisher=Oya's Tornado |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-9910730-0-9 |pages=101–136}}</ref><ref name="Miyakawa 2005 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/41 41–72">{{Cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap |last=Miyakawa |first=Felicia |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-253-21763-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/41 41–72] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/41}}</ref>

After Rakim and Kane's heyday, acts emerged that were more explicitly aligned with the NGE, most notably [[Brand Nubian]], [[Poor Righteous Teachers]], [[Wu-Tang Clan]], [[Killarmy]], [[Sunz of Man]], [[Gravediggaz]] and [[Busta Rhymes]].{{sfn|Allah|2007|p=321}}<ref name="Knight 2007 117–186"/><ref name="Washington 2014 101–136"/><ref name="Miyakawa 2005 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/41 41–72"/> The popularity of these acts sparked a boom of new NGE students. The hip hop group [[3rd Bass]], whose MCs [[Pete Nice|Prime Minister Pete Nice]] and [[MC Serch]] were white and Jewish, respectively, cited NGE lessons in the song "Triple Stage Darkness" and other songs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genius.com/3rd-bass-triple-stage-darkness-lyrics |title=3rd Bass – Triple Stage Darkness |website=Genius |publisher=[[Genius.com]] |access-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903212035/https://genius.com/3rd-bass-triple-stage-darkness-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref>

Five Percenters were the innovators behind early hip-hop slang, including "word is bond", "break it down", "peace", "droppin' science", and "represent".<ref name="HipHopWired" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shobak.org/text/hiphop-full.html |title=FEAR OF A MUSLIM PLANET:THE ISLAMIC ROOTS OF HIP-HOP |last=Mohaiemen |first=Naeem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002100445/http://www.shobak.org/text/hiphop-full.html |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 22, 2013}}</ref> Many MCs employ the technique and terminology of the Supreme Alphabet to create [[acrostics]], [[acronyms]] and [[backronyms]] in their rhymes. For example, in the song "Wildflower", [[Ghostface Killah]] rhymes, "I'm God Cipher Divine", spelling G-O-D in the Supreme Alphabet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blackapologetics.com/supremealpha.html |title=Supreme Alphabet |publisher=Blackapologetics.com |access-date=February 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208121207/http://www.blackapologetics.com/supremealpha.html |archive-date=8 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rapgenius.com/Ghostface-killah-wildflower-lyrics |title=Ghostface Killah – Wildflower Lyrics |publisher=Rap Genius |access-date=February 13, 2012 |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401001542/http://rapgenius.com/Ghostface-killah-wildflower-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref> [[RZA]] directly rhymes the Twelve Jewels of life's objectives on his later work with [[Gravediggaz]], rhyming in succession: knowledge, wisdom, understanding, freedom, justice, equality, food, clothing, shelter, love, peace, happiness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genius.com/Gravediggaz-twelve-jewelz-lyrics |title=Gravediggaz – Twelve Jewelz |website=Genius |publisher=[[Genius.com]] |access-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903211703/https://genius.com/Gravediggaz-twelve-jewelz-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref> He regularly wears an eight-pointed star pendant, with a number seven and a crescent, which can be seen on the cover of his album ''[[The World According to RZA]]''.

Five Percenters in New York City were a visible presence at parties during hip hop's formative years of the 1970s. Scene pioneer [[DJ Kool Herc]] recalled that while there was a heavy gang presence in attendance, the Five Percenters were there as a ''de facto'' peace-keeping element.<ref name="GodHop">{{cite book |title=Five Percenter Rap: God-Hop's Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745 |url-access=registration |author=Felicia M. Miyakawa |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005}}</ref>

Other examples of hip hop and [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] acts who are, or have been, associated with Five Percent teachings include [[Killah Priest]], [[Digable Planets]], [[J-Live]], [[Nas]], [[Erykah Badu]], [[Queen Latifah]], [[Planet Asia]], and [[Guru (rapper)|Guru]].<ref name="Miyakawa2005b">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745 |url-access=registration |quote=nas percenter. |title=Five Percenter Rap: God Hop's Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission |author=Felicia M. Miyakawa |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-253-34574-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253345745/page/4 4], 103–106}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |last=Allah |first=Wakeel |author-link=Wakeel Allah |title=In the Name of Allah: A History of Clarence 13X and the Five Percenters, Vol. 1 |publisher=A-Team Publishing |location=Atlanta, GA |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59916-200-3 |oclc=137272467 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFBbPQAACAAJ |access-date=April 23, 2019}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051112015610/http://www.allahsnation.net/ The official Web site of the Nation of Gods and Earths (archived)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110814081607/http://comp.uark.edu/~tsweden/5per.html A paper presented at the American Anthropological Association's Annual Meeting (Nov 1996) about Five Percenters and its influence on hip hop music, as well as its divergence from traditional Islam]
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/5percent FBI files on the Five Percenters]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=WwhU7vQ5ancC&pg=PA54&dq= The Five Percent Solution] – By ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171201233014/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/da2edx/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-talib-kweli---defying-the-gatekeepers-with--radio-silence----extended-interview The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Interviews Talib Kweli and Five Percenters] – The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Interviews Talib Kweli
* [https://bitterwinter.org/4th-circuit-five-percent-nation-is-protected-as-a-religion-even-if-it-denies-being-one/ "4th Circuit: Five-Percent Nation is Protected as a Religion Even if It Denies Being One"] by [[Massimo Introvigne]], ''Bitter Winter'' (December 21, 2023)
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRpcsJdkFjQVQCJE2rzcCdw Official YouTube Channel]

{{Hip hop}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Five-Percent Nation| ]]
[[Category:Five percenters]]
[[Category:Islamic organizations established in 1964]]
[[Category:African and Black nationalist organizations in North America]]
[[Category:History of hip-hop]]
[[Category:African-American Islam]]
[[Category:1964 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Religious belief systems founded in the United States]]
[[Category:Harlem]]
[[Category:Anti-white racism in the United States]]
[[Category:Islamic new religious movements]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1960s]]