Editing Nation of Islam

{{Short description|African American new religious organization}}
{{About|the American religious organization|the pan-Islamic concept of the Muslim nation|Ummah|the form of government based on sharia|Islamic state}}

{{Featured article}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Nation of Islam
| image                    = Logo of the Nation of Islam.svg
| image_size               = 
| abbreviation             = NOI
| formation                = {{Start date and age|1930|7|4}}{{Sfn|Duranton|2024|p=595}}
| founder                  = [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]]
| founding_location        = [[Detroit]], Michigan, U.S.
| type                     = [[Sociological classifications of religious movements|New religious movement]]
| status                   = Active
| headquarters             = [[Mosque Maryam]], Chicago, Illinois
| location                 = United States
| membership               = {{circa|50,000}} {{decrease}}{{sfn|MacFarquhar|2007}}
| membership_year          = 2007 estimate
| language                 = English
| leader_title             = Leader
| leader_name              = [[Louis Farrakhan]]
| key_people               = {{plainlist|
* [[Elijah Muhammad]]
* [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Wallace Muhammad]]
* [[Malcolm X]]
}}
| subsidiaries             = {{plainlist|
* [[Fruit of Islam]]
* [[Muhammad University of Islam]]
* [[Muslim Girls Training]]
* [[Star Chamber Academy]]
}}
| website                  = {{URL|https://noi.org}}
}}
{{Nation of Islam}}

The '''Nation of Islam''' ('''NOI''') is a religious organization founded in the United States by [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] in 1930. The NOI is centralized and hierarchical. It is committed to [[black nationalism]] and focuses  on the [[Black Africa|black]] [[African diaspora]], especially on [[African Americans]]. While describing itself as Islamic and using Islamic terminology, its religious tenets differ substantially from orthodox [[Islamic schools and branches#African-American movements|Islamic traditions]]. [[Religious studies|Scholars of religion]] characterize it as a [[new religious movement]].

The Nation teaches that there has been a succession of mortal gods, each a black man named [[Allah]], of whom Fard Muhammad is the latest. It claims that the first Allah created the earliest humans, the dark-skinned Original Asiatic Race, whose members possessed inner divinity and from whom all [[Person of color|people of color]] descend. It maintains that a scientist named [[Yakub (Nation of Islam)|Yakub]] then created the white race, a group that lacked inner divinity and whose intrinsic violence led them to overthrow the Original Asiatic Race and achieve global dominance. Setting itself against the white-dominated society of the United States, the NOI campaigns for the creation of an independent African American nation-state and calls for African Americans to be economically self-sufficient and [[Black separatism|separatist]]. A [[Millenarianism|millenarian]] tradition, it maintains that Fard Muhammad will soon return aboard a spaceship to wipe out the white-dominated order and establish a [[utopia]]. Members worship in buildings, varyingly called [[temple]]s or [[mosque]]s. Practitioners are expected to live disciplined lives, adhering to strict dress codes, specific dietary requirements, and patriarchal gender roles.

Wallace Fard Muhammad established the Nation of Islam in [[Detroit]]. He drew on various sources, especially [[Noble Drew Ali]]'s [[Moorish Science Temple of America]] and black nationalist trends like [[Garveyism]]. After Fard Muhammad disappeared in 1934, the leadership of the NOI was assumed by [[Elijah Muhammad]], who expanded the NOI's teachings, declared Fard Muhammad to be the latest Allah, and built the group's business empire. Attracting growing attention in the late 1950s and 1960s, the NOI's influence expanded through high-profile members such as the black nationalist activist [[Malcolm X]] and the boxer [[Muhammad Ali]]. Deeming it a threat to domestic security, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] worked to undermine the group. Following Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975, his son [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Wallace D. Muhammad]] took over the organization, moving it towards [[Sunni Islam]] and renaming it the World Community of Islam in the West. Members seeking to retain Elijah Muhammad's teachings re-established the Nation of Islam under [[Louis Farrakhan]]'s leadership in 1977. Farrakhan expanded the NOI's economic and agricultural operations and continued to develop its beliefs, for instance by drawing connections with [[Dianetics]].

Based in the United States, the Nation of Islam has also established a presence abroad, with membership open only to [[Person of color|people of color]]. In 2007 it was estimated to have 50,000 members. The Nation has also influenced the formation of other groups like the [[Five-Percent Nation]], [[United Nation of Islam]], and [[Nuwaubian Nation]]. Muslim critics accuse the NOI of promoting teachings that are not authentically Islamic. Other critics, like the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] and the [[Anti-Defamation League]], have characterized it as a [[hate group]] that promotes [[Anti-White racism|racism against white people]], [[Nation of Islam and antisemitism|antisemitism]], and [[anti-LGBT rhetoric]].

== Definition ==

[[Religious studies|Scholars of religion]] classify the Nation of Islam (NOI) as a [[new religious movement]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=185|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2002|2p=187|3a1=Keener|3a2=Usry|3y=2005|3p=172|4a1=MacGregor|4y=2007|4p=87|5a1=Oliver|5y=2012|5p=28|6a1=Curtis IV|6y=2016|6p=7}} Elsewhere, they have labeled it an African American religion,{{sfnm|1a1=Soumahoro|1y=2007|1p=39|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2pp=59, 60}} a [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] religion,{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013b|1p=573|2a1=Potorti|2y=2017|2p=68}} an ethno-religious movement,{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=2000|1p=45|2a1=Tinaz|2y=2006|2p=151}} a religious nationalist movement,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=159}} a [[social movement]],{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=891|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=165}} and a form of [[Western esotericism|esotericism]].{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=61}} Given that extraterrestrial spaceships feature prominently in the group's teachings,{{sfnm|1a1=Wojcik|1y=2003|1p=280|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=175}} scholars have also highlighted commonalities between the NOI and [[UFO religion]]s.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=7}} More broadly, the [[Sociology of religion|sociologist of religion]] [[Susan J. Palmer]] characterized the Nation as forming part of a "Black cultic milieu" in which it coexists alongside other black-oriented new religions, including [[Rastafari]], the [[Black Hebrew Israelites]], and the [[Nuwaubian Nation]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xxi}}

The Nation of Islam has existed in two organizational forms: the first was established by [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] in the 1930s and existed until 1975, the later form was created by [[Louis Farrakhan]] in the late 1970s.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=55}} Certain differences exist between these forms, with Farrakhan's Nation adapting existing teachings and permitting a greater role for women.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=55|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=34}} As an organization, the Nation is highly centralized,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=881}} hierarchical,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=109, 322|2a1=Akom|2y=2003|2p=311|3a1=Barnett|3y=2006|3p=881}} and [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=117}} Although there are members who privately break the Nation's rules on personal behavior{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=176}}—and who may not accept all the group's teachings{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=169–170}}—in general the group's practitioners display much uniformity and conformity.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|pp=881–882}}

===Relationship to Christianity and Islam===

[[File:Nation_of_Islam_flag.svg|right|thumb|The flag of the Nation of Islam is a white [[Star and crescent|crescent and star]] on a red background.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=60}} The group calls this flag, which is based on [[Flag of Turkey|that of Turkey]], "the national".{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}}|alt=A red background on which stands a left-facing, white crescent moon and to the left of that a white star.]]

The NOI has no [[Religious text|holy text]] of its own.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=169}} Instead, it draws on the [[Bible]] and [[Quran]] yet offers profoundly different interpretations of these scriptures than those typically found in [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=54, 181|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=59|3a1=Barnett|3y=2006|3p=882|4a1=Soumahoro|4y=2007|4p=40}} Having arisen from within the Christian-majority United States, the Nation condemns Christianity,{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=686}} presenting it as a tool of [[white supremacy]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=233|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=574}} For the group—whose members are commonly called "Black Muslims"{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=iv|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=193|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=62}}—their Islamic identity offers an alternative to mainstream, Christian-dominated American culture.{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=42}} 

In describing itself as Islamic, the NOI seeks to reclaim what it regards as the historic Muslim identity of the African American people.{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=686}} The group's second leader, [[Elijah Muhammad]], stated that "Islam is the natural religion of the Black Nation."{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=36|2a1=Tinaz|2y=2000|2p=46|3a1=Tinaz|3y=2006|3p=153}} The NOI sees itself as part of the [[Islamic world]],{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}} and Islamic elements in its practices include the use of the [[Arabic]] language, [[Salah|prayers five times a day]], and the adoption of a flag based on that of Muslim-majority Turkey.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}}

Despite this, the Nation has little in common with mainstream Islam.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=252|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=64|3a1=Berg|3y=2005|3p=700}} Its claims about the nature of God and the afterlife differ fundamentally from Muslim teaching;{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=8}} similarly, it does not accept the standard Islamic belief that the Arabian religious leader [[Muhammad]] was [[Seal of the Prophets|God's final and most important messenger]].{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=40}} Although using standard Islamic terms, it gives these completely different meanings to those understood by most Muslims.{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=62}} Mainstream Muslims generally see the NOI as a movement that selectively adopts Islamic ideas but is not truly Islamic.{{sfn|Oliver|2012|p=28}} From mainstream Islamic perspectives, its teachings are [[Heresy|heretical]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=106|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2006|2p=10}} with its theology being ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' ([[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemy]]).{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=188, 195|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2006|2p=10|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=62}} Accordingly, some scholars of religion have characterized it as "quasi-Islamic",{{sfn|Tinaz|2000|p=50}} or referred to it as "Fardian Islam",{{sfn|Tsoukalas|2004|p=456}} "pseudo-Islam",{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=18}} or "nontraditional Islam".{{sfn|Akom|2003|pp=307, 308}}

== History ==

{{Main|History of the Nation of Islam}}

=== Background ===

Islam existed in [[North America]] prior to the formation of the United States. [[African Muslims]] were among the [[Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest|Spanish expeditions]] that explored the continent during the [[early modern period]], and were also among the enslaved people transported there via the [[Atlantic slave trade]] of the 16th to 19th centuries.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=32|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=2}} Although Islam died out among African Americans in the generations following the [[American Revolution]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=35|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=1}} this historical association influenced the emergence of groups like the NOI in the early 20th century.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=35|2a1=Tinaz|2y=2006|2p=153}}

Various older movements influenced the NOI, including [[Black church|African American Christianity]],{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=63}} [[Freemasonry]],{{sfnm|1a1=Soumahoro|1y=2007|1p=40|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=17|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=63}} and the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]].{{sfnm|1a1=Soumahoro|1y=2007|1p=40|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=17|3a1=Gibson|3a2=Karim|3y=2014|3p=4|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4p=63}} However, the scholar of religion Dawn Gibson characterized the Nation as having principally been "born out of a fusion" between [[Garveyism]] and the [[Moorish Science Temple of America]].{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=13}} Central to Garveyism was the Jamaican black nationalist [[Marcus Garvey]], who lived in the US from 1916 to 1927 and who formed the [[Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League]] (UNIA).{{sfnm|1a1=Tsoukalas|1y=2004|1p=451|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=879|3a1=Acevado|3a2=Ordner|3a3=Thompson|3y=2010|3p=138}} Garveyism gave the Nation its black nationalism,{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=17}} including its emphasis on black self-sufficiency and enterprise.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=880}}
The second key influence, the Moorish Science Temple, promoted an idiosyncratic religion that its followers claimed was Islamic.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=7|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=31|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=193}} This had been established in 1913 by the African American [[Noble Drew Ali]] in [[Newark, New Jersey]];{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=7|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=37|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=193|4a1=Berg|4y=2005|4p=689}} he maintained that African Americans should refer to themselves as "Moorish Americans", reflecting what he believed were their connections to the Muslim [[Moors]] of North Africa.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=37|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2pp=193–194}}

=== Wallace Fard Muhammad ===

{{Quote box
| quote = My name is W. D. Fard, and I come from the Holy City of Mecca. More about myself I will not tell you yet, for the time has not yet come. I am your brother. You have not yet seen me in my royal robes.
| source=A message from Fard Muhammad, as reported by an early follower{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=11|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=18}}
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}

The NOI was founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad, who began preaching to [[Detroit]]'s African Americans in July 1930.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1pp=10–11|2a1=Allen|2y=1996|2p=8|3a1=Gardell|3y=1996|3p=50|4a1=Gibson|4y=2012|4p=13|5a1=Colley|5y=2014|5p=397}} Fard Muhammad claimed to be an Arab from [[Mecca]] who had come on a mission to the African American people, whom he called the "Nation of Islam", to restore them to their original faith.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=50–51}} Later, the Nation began to teach that Fard Muhammad was the latest Allah (God).{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=53|2a1=Deutsch|2y=2000|2p=93}} They claim he was born in Mecca on February 26, 1877,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=53, 155}} the son of a black Meccan and a white woman from the [[Caucasus Mountains]].{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=93}} Being half-white, the NOI maintain, was necessary to allow Fard Muhammad to move freely in white society.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=67}}

Outside the Nation, various theories have been proposed as to Fard Muhammad's identity.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=51}} The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) matched Fard Muhammad's fingerprints to those of Wallie D. Ford, who had a record of arrests and had served a three-year sentence for drug charges. Ford had been released in May 1929, a year before Fard Muhammad's appearance.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=53|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=23}} FBI reports suggest he was a foreign national who entered the US illegally in 1913.{{sfn|Gibson|Karim|2014|p=3}} The NOI reject Fard Muhammad's identification as Ford, claiming that the FBI forged this evidence.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=53}}

Fard Muhammad wrote two manuals, the ''Secret Ritual of the Nation of Islam'' and the ''Teaching for the Lost Found Nation of Islam in a Mathematical Way''.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=14|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=54}} He established the Nation's administration, its school system, and both the [[Fruit of Islam]] paramilitary for men and the [[Muslim Girls Training|Muslim Girls Training School]] for women.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=14|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=54–55|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=195|4a1=Gibson|4y=2012|4p=19}} His following grew rapidly,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=54}} with his meetings, held three days a week, attracting 7,000 to 8,000 people,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=54}} mostly [[Great Migration (African American)|southern migrants]].{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=21|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=3}} One of his most significant disciples was the African American Elijah Poole, who joined in 1931;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=50}} Fard Muhammad appointed him supreme minister of the Nation and renamed him Elijah Muhammad.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=57}} In 1933, Elijah Muhammad set up a new NOI temple on [[Chicago]]'s [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=58}}

The early NOI faced problems from law enforcement. In 1932 the [[Detroit Police Department]] arrested [[Killing of James J. Smith|an NOI member for murder]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=55|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2pp=19–20|3a1=Boaz|3y=2018|3p=17}} The police then raided the Nation's headquarters and arrested Fard Muhammad, but he was soon released.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=55–56|2a1=Boaz|2y=2018|2pp=23–24}} He would be subsequently arrested several further times, with his September 1933 Chicago arrest for disorderly conduct constituting his last known verified whereabouts.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=58}} In 1934, Fard Muhammad disappeared without notifying his followers or designating a successor.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=15|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=58|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=195}}

=== Elijah Muhammad's leadership ===

[[File:Elijah Muhammad NYWTS-2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Elijah Muhammad]], who took over the Nation after its founder's disappearance|alt=A clean-shaven, middle-aged black man, wearing an embroidered hat, standing at a podium with microphones in front of him.]]
Elijah Muhammad then became head of the Nation,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=58|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=195|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=60}} relocating its headquarters to Chicago,{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=58|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=195}} and transmitting his ideas through his publications and speeches.{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=94}} Under his leadership, the NOI's theology took its distinctive form;{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=60}} Elijah Muhammad claimed that Fard Muhammad had been the latest Allah, and had departed the Earth but left him behind as his messenger.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=16|2a1=Allen|2y=1996|2p=10|3a1=Gardell|3y=1996|3p=58|4a1=Tinaz|4y=1996|4p=195}}

During the [[Second World War]], many Nation members refused the military draft, leading the FBI to arrest 65 members, including Elijah Muhammad, in September 1942.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=58–59, 70–71|2a1=Colley|2y=2014|2p=401|3a1=Vaught|3y=2017|3pp=49–50}} Elijah remained imprisoned until August 1946,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=59, 71|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=9}} during which time his wife, [[Clara Muhammad|Clara]], largely ran the organization.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1a2=Karim|1y=2014|1p=9|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=185}} Despite these set-backs, Elijah Muhammad oversaw the Nation's development into a multi-million dollar business empire incorporating apartments, factories, farms and a small bank.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=4}} He himself lived at a villa named The Palace in [[Hyde Park, Chicago|Chicago's Hyde Park]] area, and in winter moved to a ranch outside [[Phoenix, Arizona]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}}

The NOI's membership grew substantially during the latter part of the 1950s.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=12|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=13}} In 1959, the FBI encouraged the media to attack the group,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=73}} with the US press increasingly framing the NOI as [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American]] and [[Black supremacism|black supremacist]].{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=4}} This negative coverage nonetheless gave the group significant attention and assisted its recruitment.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=63, 73}} Further press attention came in 1962, when [[Los Angeles]] police raided a Nation temple, during which one member was killed.{{sfn|Knight|1994|p=183}} Additional issues arose in 1963, when a schism in the Nation's Temple Number 7 in [[Harlem]], New York City led to the creation of a new movement, the [[Five-Percent Nation|Five Percent Nation of Islam]].{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=3|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=224}}

{{multiple image
| align    = left
| image1   = Malcolm X NYWTS 2a.jpg
| width1   = 160
| caption1 =
| image2   = Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg
| width2   = 175
| caption2 =
| footer   = During the early 1960s, [[Malcolm X]] (left) and [[Muhammad Ali]] (right) helped raise the profile of the Nation.
}}

One of the NOI's most significant members in this period was [[Malcolm X]], who rose swiftly through its hierarchy.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=11|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=65|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=197|4a1=Taylor|4y=2005|4pp=59–60}} In 1960, he launched the newspaper ''Muhammad Speaks'', which reached a circulation of over 600,000,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=63–64|2a1=Lee|2y=1996|2p=39|3a1=Haywood|3y=2017|3pp=9, 10}} and in 1963 he became the Nation's first national representative.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=66|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=15}} He also traveled internationally; in Britain, he met with [[Michael X|Michael de Freitas]], who joined the Nation and formed a British branch.{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=155}} In March 1964, Malcolm X left the Nation and became a [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslim]],{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=14|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=80|3a1=Lee|3y=1996|3p=42}} subsequently criticizing Elijah Muhammad's extramarital affairs.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=80–81}} In February 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=76|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=199}} with three NOI members convicted of the killing the following year.{{sfnm|1a1=Buckley|1y=1966|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=77}} Another prominent NOI member was the boxer [[Muhammad Ali]]. He encountered the Nation in 1961 and received significant media criticism after announcing his membership of the group in 1964.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=67–68}}

In 1972, the NOI bought the St. Constantine Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago and transformed it into their headquarters temple, [[Mosque Maryam]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}} By 1974 it had either a temple/mosque or study group in every US state and in the [[District of Columbia]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}} Relations with law enforcement remained strained; in 1972, a policeman was [[1972 Harlem mosque incident|shot and killed]] during a search of a NOI mosque in Harlem.{{sfn|Barnard|2012}} The group continued to face opposition from the FBI, which engaged in a renewed counterintelligence project to destabilize it from the late 1960s.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=86–89}} Strained relations also persisted with other American Muslim groups, which increasingly condemned the Nation as un-Islamic.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=5}} This sometimes brought direct conflict;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=189}} in 1973, [[1973 Hanafi Muslim massacre|NOI members killed seven]] of [[Hamaas Abdul Khaalis]]' [[Hanafi]] Muslims.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1pp=15–16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=189}}

=== Wallace Muhammad and the NOI's transition to Sunni Islam ===

In 1975, Elijah Muhammad died and was succeeded by his son, [[Warith Deen Muhammad|Wallace D. Muhammad]].{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=101|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3p=71|4a1=Curtis IV|4y=2016|4p=24}} Launching what he called the movement's "Second Resurrection",{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=61|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=25}} Wallace Muhammad rejected many of the Nation's idiosyncratic teachings and increasingly aligned the group with Sunni Islam.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=16|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=199|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3pp=76–77|4a1=Curtis IV|4y=2016|4p=25}} "Temples" were renamed "mosques", while "ministers" were renamed "imams".{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=110–111|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=200}} The Fruit of Islam was disbanded.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=109}} Black nationalism was abandoned,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=111–112|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=61}} and the ban on white people joining the Nation was lifted.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=16|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=109|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3p=78|4a1=Fishman|4a2=Soage|4y=2013|4p=61}} Wallace nevertheless retained a focus on raising the status of black people,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=122}} inviting African Americans to call themselves "Bilalians" after the 7th-century African Muslim, [[Bilal ibn Rabah]].{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=66|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2pp=110, 117}}

In November 1976, the Nation was renamed the [[American Society of Muslims|World Community of al-Islam in the West]] and in April 1978 it was renamed again, as the American Muslim Mission.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1pp=2, 17|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=110|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3p=199|4a1=Gibson|4y=2012|4p=78|5a1=Curtis IV|5y=2016|5p=25}} Wallace Muhammad claimed that these changes were in accordance with his father's intentions,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=102}} and that Fard Muhammad had established the NOI to gradually introduce African Americans to Sunni Islam.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=106|2a1=Berg|2y=2005|2pp=696–697}} Most mosques accepted Wallace Muhammad's reforms but some rejected them,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=25}} establishing small splinter groups in Detroit, [[Atlanta]], and [[Baltimore]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=113|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2pp=200–201}} In 1985, Wallace Muhammad disbanded the American Muslim Mission, telling his followers to affiliate instead with their local mosques.{{sfnm|1a1=Buursma|1a2=Houston|1y=1985|2a1=Allen|2y=1996|2p=18|3a1=Gardell|3y=1996|3p=113}}

=== Louis Farrakhan's revival ===

[[File:Louis Farrakhan 2018.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Louis Farrakhan]], who re-established the Nation of Islam after leaving Wallace Muhammad's group in 1977|alt=An elder black man with short cropped black hair, wearing glasses, looking out towards the viewer. He is wearing a white shirt, gray suit jacket, and red bowtie.]]
Leading the opposition to Wallace Muhammad's reforms was Louis Farrakhan, who, with other disaffected members, began rebuilding the Nation of Islam in 1977.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=123|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2pp=85–86|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=25|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4p=132}} Born in [[the Bronx]] to Caribbean migrants,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=119–120|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=132}} Farrakhan had become minister of the NOI's Harlem Temple in 1964 and a national representative in 1967.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=121}}

Farrakhan presented himself as Elijah Muhammad's true successor.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=126}} His reconstituted NOI spent the first several years rebuilding,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=135–136}} re-establishing the Fruit of Islam,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=141–142|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=155}} and buying much of its predecessor's property, including the Chicago Palace.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=20|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=138|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3p=108}} In 1979, Farrakhan launched a newspaper, ''[[The Final Call (newspaper)|The Final Call]]'',{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=140|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=88}} which by 1994 had a circulation of 500,000.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=140}} In 1981, Farrakhan's Nation held its first convention,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=18|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=137}} and its membership began to increase rapidly in the mid-1980s.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=141}} Farrakhan's Nation expanded its international network by building links in Africa,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=142|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2pp=97–98}} seeking a closer relationship with Muslims globally,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=155}} and opening its first British mosques in the 1990s.{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=159}}

Farrakhan added further novel developments to the Nation's teachings; Masonic elements and [[numerology]] came to play an important part in his speeches.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=25}} He claimed that in 1985, while at [[Tepotzotlán]] in Mexico, he was teleported aboard the Mother Plane spaceship and there met with Elijah Muhammad—who was not really dead—to discuss the Nation's future.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=20|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=131–132|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3pp=25–26|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4pp=137–139}} During the 1990s, Farrakhan was introduced to the [[Church of Scientology]],{{sfn|King|2017|p=219}} and in 2010 he publicly embraced Scientology's system of [[Dianetics]], encouraging NOI members to undergo [[Auditing (Scientology)|auditing]] from the Church.{{sfnm|1a1=Gray|1y=2012|2a1=Rossetter|2a2=Tobin|2y=2012}} Farrakhan also expanded his social outreach projects; in 1989 he launched a campaign against gang violence,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=288}} playing a key role in getting two of the country's largest gangs, the [[Bloods]] and the [[Crips]], to sign a 1992 ceasefire.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=290–291}} Farrakhan also organized the 1995 [[Million Man March]] through [[Washington, D.C.]], which constituted the largest black demonstration in US history.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1pp=23–24|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=343–345|3a1=Tinaz|3y=1996|3pp=203–204|4a1=Fishman|4a2=Soage|4y=2013|4p=61}}

== Beliefs ==
{{Main|Beliefs of the Nation of Islam}}

=== Theology ===

The NOI has a highly distinct and detailed [[theology]].{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=252}} Although professing a [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] belief in a single God, its discourse refers to multiple gods,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=170–171}} meaning that it can be interpreted as [[Polytheism|polytheistic]].{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=62}} In the NOI's view, each [[Allah]] (God) is not an incorporeal spiritual entity but a flesh-and-blood person,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=41}} one that takes the form of a black man.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=876|2a1=Soumahoro|2y=2007|2p=40}} In Nation teaching, the Allahs are not immortal,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=145, 171|2a1=Tsoukalas|2y=2004|2p=455|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=62}} instead typically living for around 200 to 300 years,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=24}} after which a new God will take over from their predecessor.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=173}} The Nation regards its founder, Fard Muhammad, as the latest of these Allahs,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=146}} or "God in person".{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=171|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=41}} The Nation teaches that although this founder disappeared in 1934, he would live for another 409 years.{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=62}}

{{Quote box
| quote = God is a man and we just cannot make Him other than a man, lest we make Him an inferior one; for man's intelligence has no equal in other than man. His wisdom is infinite; capable of accomplishing anything that His brain can conceive.
| source = Elijah Muhammad, ''Message to the Black Man'', 1965{{sfn|Barnett|2006|pp=877–878}}
| width = 25em
| align = left
}}

Reflecting a belief in the inner divinity of humanity that is common among North America's black-oriented new religions,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=32}} the Nation also promotes the idea that "God is man and man is God, that God has a presence inside human individuals."{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=876}} Accordingly, the NOI teaches that the black race is divine,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=134}} a "nation of Gods".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=171}} The NOI maintains that by following its teachings, adherents can recognize their inner godliness.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=877}} In doing so, it stipulates, black people will also recognize that they have [[psychic]] powers;{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=149}} Elijah Muhammad, for instance, claimed [[Telepathy|telepathic]] abilities.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=23}}

According to the scholars of religion Ana Belén Soage and Jason Eric Fishman, the Nation of Islam's theology is "completely divorced" from that of mainstream Islam.{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=64}} In the latter, [[God in Islam|God is a single, monotheistic entity]], one that is eternal and non-anthropomorphic;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=171}} Islam also stresses that there is a fundamental ontological divide between humanity and God, which is at odds with NOI teaching.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=134}} Similarly conflicting with mainstream Islam is the NOI's belief that there is no afterlife;{{sfnm|1a1=Keener|1a2=Usry|1y=2005|1p=175|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=64|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=17}} Elijah Muhammad wrote that "when you are dead, you are DEAD".{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=233|2a1=Keener|2a2=Usry|2y=2005|2p=175}} Notions of [[Heaven]], the Nation claims, are a lie used by white Christians to keep black people docile.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2006|1p=11|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2pp=40–41}} Instead, Elijah Muhammad taught that there is no spiritual realm beyond the material universe.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=9|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=13}}

=== Cosmogony and the Tribe of Shabazz ===

[[File:Nation of Islam, SF 1990's.jpg|thumb|right|Young members of the Nation of Islam in San Francisco in the 1990s|alt=A group of black male adolescents, with shaven heads, wearing black suit jackets, white shirts, and red bowties.]]

The Nation teaches that in the beginning, there was nothing but darkness. Then, 76 trillion years ago, the first Allah willed himself into being, taking 6 million years to form into his desired appearance: that of a black man.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=144|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2pp=22–23}} The first Allah then created the Sun and the planets,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=144|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=23}} as well as fellow black gods, who lived predominantly on the Earth but also on [[Mars]].{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=23}} Of these, the first Allah and 23 others formed a council of ruling [[imam]]s: 12 greater and 12 lesser.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=10|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=144}}

The NOI refers to these early individuals as "god-scientists".{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=24}} They are part of what it calls the "Original" or "Asiatic" race,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=10|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=56|3a1=Soumahoro|3y=2007|3p=42}} a people who were divided into 13 tribes.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=25}} The Nation labels these people "black",{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=876}} describing them as having dark skin as well as smooth, straight hair.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=57}} In portraying humanity as the creation of the first Allah, rather than a product of [[evolution]], the Nation endorses a unique form of [[creationism]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=175–176}} According to Nation teaching, one of the god-scientists was a renegade and, 66 trillion years ago, tried to destroy the Earth with explosives. The resulting explosion forced a chunk of the Earth's mass into orbit, where it became the moon.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=145|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=63|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=25}} One of the 13 tribes was trapped on the moon, where they died due to a lack of water.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=25}} 

[[File:Nation of Islam - Stranger 59 (16780377555).jpg|thumb|left|upright|A member of the Nation, selling the group's newspaper, in 2015|alt=An elder black man, wearing a dark brown trilby and suit jacket, with a white shirt and multicoloured bowtie. He holds a stack of newspapers, ''The Final Call'', in one hand.]]

Of the 12 tribes that remained on Earth, the most resilient was the [[Tribe of Shabazz]],{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=25}} who settled in Egypt's [[Nile Valley]] and the area around Mecca in the Arabian peninsula.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=57|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=882|3a1=Soumahoro|3y=2007|3p=42|4a1=Fishman|4a2=Soage|4y=2013|4p=63|5a1=Finley|5y=2022|5p=25}} The Nation calls this region "East Asia",{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=25}} reflecting its belief that Asia and Africa were once a single continent.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=882}} It was because they moved into the "jungles of East Asia" (i.e., Africa), Elijah Muhammad claimed, that members of this Original Asiatic Race developed [[Afro-textured hair]].{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2016|1p=14|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=26}} The Nation teaches that the members of this Original Race were [[Muslims]] by nature, but that many created heretical deviations, such as [[Hinduism]].{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=58}}

For the Nation, everyone not of West European genetic origin is a descendant of the Original Asiatic Race.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=57|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=878}} In contrast to understandings of race held by most Americans,{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=57}} for the Nation, "black" does not simply mean those of Sub-Saharan African genetic descent, but all [[people of color]], including Asians, North Africans, and Native Americans.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=7|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=57}} Even some Eastern Europeans, such as [[Albanians]], are considered descendants of the Original Asiatic Race.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=63}} Elijah Muhammad, for instance, referred to "black, brown, yellow [and] red" people as collectively constituting "black mankind", which he then juxtaposed against the "white race".{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=57}}

=== Story of Yakub===
{{Main|Yakub (Nation of Islam)}}

{{Quote box
| quote = The white race is not equal with darker people because the white race was not created by the God of Righteousness[...] Yakub, the father of the devil, made the white race, a race of devils[...] The white race is not made by nature to accept righteousness. They know righteousness, but they cannot be righteous.
| source = Elijah Muhammad, ''Our Savior Has Arrived'', 1974{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=99}}
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}

The NOI teaches a story about a figure known as [[Yakub (Nation of Islam)|Yakub]].{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=42}} The story received its fullest exposition in Elijah Muhammad's 1965 book ''Message to the Blackman''.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=14}} In this narrative, Yakub was a black scientist; a child prodigy, by the age of 18 he had learned everything that Mecca's universities had to teach him.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=147|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=15}} He attracted a following but caused trouble, leading the Meccan authorities to exile him and his 59,999 followers to Pelan, the Mediterranean island of [[Patmos]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=147|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=15|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=30}}

On Pelan, the NOI claims, Yakub engaged in a selective breeding program to create the white race. This entailed breeding new children, with those who were too dark killed at birth and their bodies fed to wild animals or incinerated. Over several centuries, Yakub's experiments created a blonde, light-skinned people, the white race.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=148|2a1=Tsoukalas|2y=2004|2pp=453–454|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=15|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4pp=30–31}} The Nation maintains that most white people are unaware of their true origins, but that such knowledge is held by senior white [[Freemasons]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=148–149|2a1=Knight|2y=2000|2p=165}} The NOI teaches that, as a group of people distinct from the Original Asiatic Race, the white race is degenerate,{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=40}} sub-human,{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=41}} bereft of divinity,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=59, 148}} and intrinsically prone to lying, violence, and brutality.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=148|2a1=Tsoukalas|2y=2004|2p=454|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=22|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4p=43}} Elijah Muhammad repeatedly referred to whites as "the devil".{{sfnm|1a1=Taylor|1y=2005|1p=61|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=16}} Various academic commentators have characterized these views as [[racism|racist]].{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=4|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=269, 348|3a1=Deutsch|3y=2000|3p=105|4a1=Gabriel|4y=2003|4p=154|5a1=Gibson|5y=2012|5p=71}}

According to the Nation, Yakub's new white race sowed discord among black people, and thus were exiled to live in the caves of "West Asia", meaning Europe.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=151|2a1=Berg|2y=2005|2p=692|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=32}} In this narrative, it was in Europe that the white race engaged in [[bestiality]];{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=152}} their attempts to restore their blackness resulted in the creation of apes and monkeys.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=152|2a1=Deutsch|2y=2000|2p=108}} To help the whites develop, the ruling Allah sent prophets to them, the first of whom was [[Moses in Islam|Musa]] ([[Moses]]), who taught the whites to cook and wear clothes.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=152|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=32}} According to the Nation, [[Jesus of Nazareth|Jesus]] was also a prophet sent to civilize the white race.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=235|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=16|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=32}} The group rejects the Christian belief that Jesus was a unique manifestation of God, that he was the [[Messiah]], was [[Virgin birth of Jesus|the product of a virgin birth]], or was [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucified]] and [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=129, 234}}

===White rule and antisemitic conspiracism===

{{Quote box
| quote = God say you're the real devil. And you damn sure are. Ain't another devil nowhere else. Ain't no use you get mad with me, white people. You are the devil. The only hell-raiser on the earth. I'm not sayin' that you are responsible, 'cause you are made devil. But I'm not gonna make a mistake in thinkin' that you can be made better through love.
| source = Louis Farrakhan's views on white people being the devil{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=148}}
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}

The NOI teaches that the ruling Allah permitted the white race to rule the Earth for 6000 years,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=59, 148|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=197|3a1=Acevado|3a2=Ordner|3a3=Thompson|3y=2010|3p=139}} a period which ended in 1914.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=59, 16|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=63|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=16}} It maintains that the ruling Allahs allowed this so that black people would discover humanity's inner potential for evil and learn how to defeat it, thus enabling them to realize their inner divine capacity.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=150}}

During the era of white rule, the Nation states, the whites enslaved the Tribe of Shabazz, shipping many of them to the Americas.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=16}} The NOI claims that most enslaved blacks forgot their true names, their Arabic language, and their Muslim identity, instead embracing Christianity,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=16}} which the Nation labels "white man's religion".{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=2006|1p=160|2a1=Acevado|2a2=Ordner|2a3=Thompson|2y=2010|2p=140|3a1=Colley|3y=2014|3p=400}} The Nation claims that in their enslaved state, black people began engaging in sinful behavior such as fornication and drinking alcohol,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=16}} something encouraged by the whites.{{sfn|Potorti|2017|p=69}} The group interprets many of the problems facing African Americans in this framework; Farrakhan for instance claimed that the white establishment encouraged a black gang culture to provide an excuse for the police killing of black youths,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=286–287}} that they flooded black-majority areas with drugs,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=301}} and that they created [[AIDS]] to exterminate black people.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=325–327}} In making this argument, the NOI equates the United States with the city of [[Babylon]], which in the Bible is presented as a symbol of oppression.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=60|2a1=Soumahoro|2y=2007|2p=41}}

[[File:Louis Farrakhan, Press Conference in Tehran - 13 February 2016.jpg|thumb|left|Farrakhan on a 2016 visit to Tehran, Iran; Farrakhan has repeatedly been accused of antisemitism|alt=An elder black gentleman, with short cropped black hair and wearing glasses, sitting before a podium with microphones in front of him.]]

Elijah Muhammad suggested that [[Orthodox Jews]], by following the [[Law of Moses|laws set down by Moses]], had raised themselves to a higher spiritual level than most white people.{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=99}} Subsequently, Farrakhan and his NOI [[Nation of Islam and antisemitism|have repeatedly been accused of antisemitism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=232–233|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=253|3a1=Perry|3a2=Schweitzer|3y=2002|3pp=213–214}} Farrakhan promoted [[antisemitic trope]]s about a [[Jewish]] cabal controlling the US government, [[Economic antisemitism|banking systems]], universities, and entertainment sector.{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=110}} Elsewhere, Farrakhan called [[Judaism]] a "dirty religion",{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=253|2a1=Deutsch|2y=2000|2p=111|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3p=95}} and described [[Adolf Hitler]] as a "very great man".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=252}} Other senior figures have also made [[antisemitic]] statements. NOI representative [[Khalid Abdul Muhammad]] referred to the "Jew-nited Nations" in "Jew York City",{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=264}} while NOI health minister Abdul Alim Muhammad accused Jewish doctors of injecting blacks with AIDS.{{sfn|Stein|2002|p=10}} The group has also [[The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews|espoused the claim that Jews were disproportionately responsible for the Atlantic slave trade]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=260–261|2a1=Reid-Pharr|2y=1996|2pp=140–141|3a1=Deutsch|3y=2000|3p=109|4a1=Knight|4y=2000|4p=163}} and has embraced an [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]] position regarding [[Israel]].{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=141, 148}}

=== Eschatology and the Mother Plane ===

The NOI is [[Millenarianism|millenarian]].{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=8|2a1=Lee|2y=1996|2p=2|3a1=Wojcik|3y=2003|3p=280|4a1=Barnett|4y=2006|4p=874}} Central to its view of the apocalypse is a large spaceship, known as the Mother Plane, the Mother Ship, or the Wheel,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=158|2a1=Taylor|2y=2005|2p=63|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=68}} which Elijah Muhammad described as "a small human planet".{{sfn|Tsoukalas|2004|p=456}} The Nation teaches that this vessel is [[Merkabah mysticism|the Merkabah]] that appears in the [[Book of Ezekiel]] (1:4–28).{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=158|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=253|3a1=Tsoukalas|3y=2004|3p=456|4a1=Taylor|4y=2005|4p=57}} It maintains that Fard Muhammad/Allah and many of his scientists live aboard the Mother Plane;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=131, 159}} Farrakhan has claimed that Elijah Muhammad never died but is resident aboard this ship.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=133}} The Nation teaches that there are also smaller vessels, "baby planes", docked inside the Mother Plane, which travel to Earth.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=131}}

NOI members have repeatedly claimed that this apocalypse is imminent; in the early 1960s, Elijah Muhammad was predicting that it would occur in 1965 or 1966,{{sfn|Lee|1996|pp=34, 47}} Farrakhan later stated that the [[Gulf War]] of 1990 would spark it,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=162}} while [[Tynetta Muhammad]] thought it would occur in 2001.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=179}} According to Nation teaching, the apocalypse will come when the Mother Plane appears above the Earth and transports the righteous to live aboard it.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=164}} It will then use the baby planes to bury bombs beneath the Earth's surface, which, on detonation, will wipe out the old, white-dominated order.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=159, 164|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2pp=19–20}} The NOI has taught that the white ruling elite are aware of this forthcoming apocalypse and that the [[Space policy of the United States|US exploration of space]] and the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] are futile attempts to protect themselves from the Mother Plane.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=159|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=71}}

According to this account, after the bombs explode, the Earth's atmosphere will burn for 390 years and spend another 610 years cooling down.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=164}} Once the Earth is again habitable, the ruling Allah will return the righteous to the planet, in a new black paradise.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=59, 164|2a1=Tsoukalas|2y=2004|2p=456}} In his book ''The Supreme Wisdom'', Elijah Muhammad claimed that after the apocalypse, "Peace, joy and happiness will have no end,"{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=22}} with residents of this perfect society eating the finest food and wearing silk clothes interwoven with gold.{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=35|2a1=Tsoukalas|2y=2004|2p=456|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=69}}

=== Black nationalism and separatism ===

Black unity is at the core of the NOI's black nationalist ideology.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=321}} The group seeks to empower black people by purging ideas they may have of white superiority and black inferiority.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=874}} Instead, it maintains that the black race is superior and the white race inferior.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=58|2a1=Acevado|2a2=Ordner|2a3=Thompson|2y=2010|2p=142|3a1=Boaz|3y=2018|3p=24}} The Nation is also [[Black separatism|black separatist]],{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=4|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=60|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2006|3p=2|4a1=Soumahoro|4y=2007|4p=40}} rejecting the integration of black and white people.{{sfnm|1a1=Acevado|1a2=Ordner|1a3=Thompson|1y=2010|1p=145|2a1=Haywood|2y=2017|2p=12}} This racial separatism put the NOI at odds with the [[civil rights movement]] of the 1950s and 1960s.{{sfn|Acevado|Ordner|Thompson|2010|p=145}} The Nation was critical of African American activists who promoted racial integration, such as [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP),{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=60}} calling them "[[Uncle Tom|Uncle Tom Negroes]]".{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2006|1p=3|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013|2p=65}}

{{Quote box
| quote = We want our people in America whose parents or grandparents are descendants from slaves to be allowed to establish a separate state or territory of their own, either on this continent or elsewhere. We believe that our former slave masters are obligated to provide such land and that the area must be fertile and minerally rich.
| source = Elijah Muhammad, 1965{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=69}}
| width = 25em
| align = left
}}

As [[Reparations for slavery in the United States|compensation for the unpaid labor]] of their enslaved ancestors,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=310}} the NOI has called for the creation of a sovereign African American nation-state in the [[Southern United States|southern part of the United States]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=60|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013|2p=62}} Elijah Muhammad stipulated that the US should financially support this new country for 20 to 25 years.{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=32|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=30}} Farrakhan also suggested that the countries of Africa should set aside land on that continent for the African diaspora, characterizing this as a reparation for the complicity of West African states in the Atlantic slave trade.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=309}}

Rejecting [[Pan-Africanism]],{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=66}} the NOI focuses on African Americans rather than emphasising links between Africa and the African diaspora.{{sfnm|1a1=Soumahoro|1y=2007|1p=42|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=882}} Elijah Muhammad stated that "{{sic?|where as}} the Black man in Africa is our brother, our central responsibility is with the Black man here in the wilderness of North America".{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=65|2a1=Soumahoro|2y=2007|2p=42}} The NOI's origin myths present Mecca, not Africa, as the original home of African Americans,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=883}} and its writings portray Africa itself as the least desirable of the Original Asiatic lands.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=65}} The scholar of religion [[Michael Muhammad Knight]] argued that Elijah Muhammad "upheld white supremacist tropes" about African cultures.{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=11}} Elijah, for instance, complained of Africans' "savage dress and hair styles",{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=11}} adding that it was the Nation's job to "civilize Africa".{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=31}}

=== Gender and sexuality issues ===

[[File:BLACK MUSLIM WOMEN DRESSED IN WHITE APPLAUD ELIJAH MUHAMMAD DURING THE DELIVERY OF HIS ANNUAL SAVIOR'S DAY MESSAGE IN... - NARA - 556245.jpg|thumb|right|Women members of the NOI at a Savior's Day meeting in 1974. A women's outfit incorporating a headpiece and full-length garment covering the arms and legs was introduced in the 1930s, intended to preserve the wearer's modesty.{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=35}}|alt=A large number of black women, wearing white hats and white tops with long sleeves.]]

The NOI's teachings on gender are conservative and patriarchal.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=330|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=879|3a1=Turman|3y=2015|3p=140}} Emphasis is placed on the family unit;{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=879}} the group is critical of the [[Matrifocal family|matrifocal]] focus of many African American families, instead stressing the importance of a male family figurehead.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=47}} Men are encouraged to be economic providers for their family;{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=330|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=879|3a1=Gibson|3a2=Karim|3y=2014|3p=30–31}} women to be caretakers of the household and children.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=330|2a1=West|2y=1996|2p=42|3a1=Barnett|3y=2006|3p=879|4a1=Colley|4y=2014|4p=409}} Outsiders often perceive the Nation's women as victims of male oppression,{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=33}} and some ex-NOI women have complained of a repressive atmosphere in the group.{{sfn|Gibson|Karim|2014|p=1}}

The NOI's leadership is overwhelmingly male.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=879}} Despite this, Clara Muhammad led the group while Elijah Muhammad was incarcerated between 1942 and 1946,{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1a2=Karim|1y=2014|1p=9|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=185}} and during the 1990s several women rose to senior positions;{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2012|1p=104|2a1=Gibson|2y=2017|2p=42}} in 1998 the Nation appointed its first woman minister, [[Ava Muhammad]], as head of Mosque Number 15 in Georgia.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2012|1p=104|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=19}} Women have also been allowed leadership in the Muslim Girls Training group and in the NOI's schools and businesses.{{sfn|Gibson|Karim|2014|p=25}}

The NOI enforces heterosexual monogamy and encourages sexual abstinence prior to marriage.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=18}} Despite the group's formal opposition to [[polygyny]], Elijah Muhammad had sexual relations with multiple women, whom Farrakhan has called his "wives";{{sfn|Gibson|2016|pp=110–113}} the group states that this was permitted because Elijah was God's messenger.{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=115}} Nation members are encouraged to wed other members,{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=87}} although marriage to non-members is permitted.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2016|1p=96|2a1=Gibson|2y=2017|2p=38}} The NOI stipulates that followers should only marry other black people,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=61, 335|2a1=Lee|2y=1996|2p=30}} although this includes Native, Latino, and African Americans.{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=96}} Marrying whites is taboo,{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=96}} with the group claiming that sex with white women emasculates black men.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|pp=171, 172}}

[[File:TaWanda Boatner and Ava Muhammad an American Black Muslim. In 1998 First female Minister of the Nation of Islam.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Ava Muhammad]] (left, photographed in 2014), was the NOI's first female minister|alt=Two middle-aged black woman stand looking at the viewer, evidently posing for the photograph. The woman on the left is wearing a purple outfit with long sleeves and a matching headpiece.]]

Men and women are discouraged from forming friendships with each other.{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=39}} Instead, members seeking to court each other are expected to inform the captain of their local Fruit of Islam or Muslim Girls Training branch about their intentions.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2016|1pp=98–99|2a1=Gibson|2y=2017|2p=38}} Men found to have beaten their wives are temporarily suspended from Nation membership.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=330}} Divorce is discouraged but not forbidden.{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=30|2a1=Gibson|2y=2017|2p=33}} NOI members are encouraged to have children, with Farrakhan also encouraging adoption.{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=108}} Children are expected to study hard, avoid street culture, and respect their elders.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=61}} 

The Nation criticizes birth control methods as the white establishment's attempt to lower the black birthrate,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=335|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=103|3a1=Curtis IV|3y=2016|3p=16|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4p=59}} although it does not ban their use.{{sfn|Gibson|2016|p=108}} Farrakhan expressed support for [[abortion]] in cases of rape, incest, or where the woman's life is endangered.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=335|2a1=Gibson|2y=2012|2p=103}}
Same-sex relationships are condemned as immoral.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=336|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=879|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=56}} Elijah Muhammad complained that schools, jails, and prisons were "breeding dens of homosexuals,"{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=56}} while Farrakhan banned gay men from his Million Man March, bringing accusations of [[homophobia]].{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=101}}

== Practices ==

=== Services, prayer, and celebration ===

[[File:20051030-161112-08-E-Nation-of-Islam-mosque.jpg|thumb|A Nation of Islam [[mosque]] in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], United States in 2005|alt=The front of a building. On the right is a closed white door; on the left is a window on which is a poster proclaiming "Muhammad Mosque Number 65".]]
During the 1960s and early 1970s, the NOI's places of worship were called both temples and mosques,{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2006|1p=3|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=10}} although the latter term was favored under both Wallace D. Muhammad and Farrakhan.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=155}} These were numbered in order of their foundation.{{sfn|Gibson|Karim|2014|p=11}} As well as their religious function, NOI mosques can also serve as community centers, banks, schools, and child-care facilities.{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=722}} The mosque leader is called a captain and will be a member of the Fruit of Islam subgroup.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=57}}

Those attending services will sometimes [[Body search|be searched]] by members of the Fruit of Islam or the Muslim Girl's Training group, who look for weapons and discouraged objects like cosmetics and cigarettes.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=173}} Attendees are then seen to their seats,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=173}} usually rows of benches.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=191}} The sexes are segregated; women on the right and men on the left.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=191|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=879}} The tone of Nation services is sombre and quiet.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=173}} Services typically begin with the statement "[[As-salamu alaykum]]" (peace be upon you), with the congregation responding "Wa 'alaikum As-salam" (and also upon you).{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=65}} The congregation will pray together,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=173}} the Nation's "national anthem" may be played,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=191}} and a minister will provide a lecture and sometimes read verses from either the Bible or Quran.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|pp=173–174}}

[[File:A PORTION OF A CROWD OF SOME 10,000 MUSLIMS APPLAUD ELIJAH MUHAMMAD DURING THE DELIVERY OF HIS ANNUAL SAVIOR'S DAY... - NARA - 556243.jpg|thumb|left|Members of Nation of Islam applaud during Elijah Muhammad's annual [[Saviors' Day]] message in Chicago in 1974.|alt=A large hall full of black men, dressed in suits and ties, clapping.]]

In the late 1950s, Elijah Muhammad published a prayer manual outlining how his followers should pray five times a day.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=183}} This involved an ablution beforehand,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=183}} typically involving washing the hands, face, and ears, symbolically associating physical cleanliness with the broader purification of the body.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=58}} Women cover their heads while praying.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=58}} Elijah Muhammad stipulated that prayers should be in English, although commented that in future he would explain how to do so in Arabic.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=183}} In later articles, he explained that his followers should face towards Mecca as they pray, symbolizing their journey toward the restoration of black greatness.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|pp=183–184}}

The most important date in the Nation's year is February 26, [[Saviours' Day]], which members believe is Fard Muhammad's birthday.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=63|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=60}} This is the date on which the organization holds its annual national convention.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}} Under Farrakhan, the Nation introduced a second annual Saviours' Day, on October 7, to mark the birth of Elijah Muhammad.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=137}} In the 1990s, Farrakhan's Nation also introduced an annual event called the World's Day of Atonement or Holy Day of Atonement, held over the course of October 15 and 16; this is characterized by fasting, prayer, and reconciliation.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutsch|1y=2000|1p=112|2a1=White Jr.|2y=2001|2p=202}} In addition to marking festivals, NOI members are encouraged to make the [[hajj]] pilgrimage to Mecca;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=192}} Elijah Muhammad himself did so three times.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=189–190}}

=== Lifestyle ===

As a declaration of mental emancipation, the Nation requests that members change any names inherited from white slave-owners.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=54|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=886}} This is not necessary if the new member has a name that is African in origin.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=886}} In the NOI's early years, Fard Muhammad bestowed new names on followers for a $10 fee.{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=18}} During the mid-20th century the Nation began encouraging the use of "X" as a surname, symbolizing an African American's identity as an "ex-slave" and providing a marker for their lost ancestral name.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=64}} As this results in many individuals having the same name, numbers are added before the X to differentiate members (i.e. "Charles 2X", "Charles 3X").{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=64|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=6}}

[[File:Nation of Islam at the Bud Billiken Parade 2015 (20402381246).jpg|thumb|left|Members of the Fruit of Islam at Chicago's [[Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic|Bud Billiken Parade]] in 2015|alt=A group of black men, with closely cropped hair and wearing navy blue suits, in a line saluting.]]

The NOI encourages followers to live highly disciplined and structured lifestyles.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=883}} Members are expected to obey the law,{{sfnm|1a1=Colley|1y=2014|1p=405|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=17}} to seek gainful employment,{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=17|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=18}} to always be punctual,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=18}} to avoid buying on credit,{{sfn|Lincoln|1961|p=17}} and to never gamble.{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=17|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=61|3a1=Lee|3y=1996|3p=30}} They are also urged not to rely on state welfare payments, with the Nation arguing that these undermine the African American community's ability to be self-sufficient.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=319}}

Male members typically cut their hair short, sometimes shaving the head entirely, and do not usually wear beards.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=888}} They are expected to wear suits with ties or bowties;{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=61|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=889|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=55}} those who are part of the Fruit of Islam wear military-style uniforms,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=889}} sometimes accompanied by a [[Fez (hat)|fez]].{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=64}} Women are commanded to dress modestly;{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=61|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=54}} they are not permitted to wear trousers,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=889}} are expected to wear long sleeves,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=54}} and are encouraged to cover their heads.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=889|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=12|3a1=Finley|3y=2022|3p=54}} Cosmetics and the [[Hair straightening|chemical or heat-based straightening of hair]] is also discouraged.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=54}}

====Dietary requirements====

[[File:Bean pie recipe.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bean pie]]s are associated with the Nation and Elijah Muhammad encouraged their consumption.{{sfn|Potorti|2017|pp=79, 80}}|alt=A selection of pies of various sizes.]]

The NOI teaches that practitioners should keep fit and eat healthily,{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=877|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=574}} as part of which it espouses strict dietary rules.{{sfn|Potorti|2017|p=70}} These were outlined by Elijah Muhammad, who claimed to have received them from Fard Muhammad.{{sfn|Deutsch|2000|p=95}} 

[[Vegetarianism]] is encouraged, although not obligatory,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=62|2a1=Deutsch|2y=2000|2p=96}} with Elijah Muhammad writing that "meat was never intended for man to eat".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=62}} In ''[[How to Eat to Live]]'', Elijah Muhammad urged his followers to subsist primarily on fruit, vegetables, and certain grains, and to choose lamb if they must eat meat.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=65}} Pork is forbidden on the grounds that pigs are [[Haram|deemed unclean]].{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=30|2a1=Deutsch|2y=2000|2p=96}} Other discouraged foods include dried fruits,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=62}} white flour,{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2016|1p=18|2a1=Potorti|2y=2017|2p=83}} additives,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=18}} and [[fast food]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=62}} Although its own produce is not wholly [[Organic product|organic]], the Nation is supportive of organic food and the avoidance of [[genetically modified crops]], [[insecticide]]s, and pesticides.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013b|p=575}}

The NOI also encourages followers to avoid foods associated with the slave culture of the US, such as [[cornbread]], [[catfish]], and [[collard greens]], deeming this cuisine to be undignified and unhealthy.{{sfnm|1a1=Lee|1y=1996|1p=30|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=18|3a1=Potorti|3y=2017|3pp=75, 85|4a1=Finley|4y=2022|4p=51}} Concerned about obesity and diabetes among African Americans, Elijah Muhammad urged his followers to restrict their caloric intake, ideally by eating only one meal a day.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=62|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=18}} He claimed that those who ate only once every 24 hours would live for 150 years and that those who ate once every seven days would live for 1,050 years.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=18}} Members are also encouraged to conduct regular three-day fasts,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=62}} and to fast during the daylight throughout December.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=62}} The NOI also [[Teetotalism|prohibits the use of alcohol]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=61|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=575|3a1=Colley|3y=2014|3p=400|4a1=Curtis IV|4y=2016|4p=18}} tobacco,{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=17|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=61|3a1=McCutcheon|3y=2013b|3p=575|4a1=Colley|4y=2014|4p=400|5a1=Curtis IV|5y=2016|5p=18}} and recreational drugs.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=61|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=883|3a1=Colley|3y=2014|3p=400}} In addition, it advises that followers [[Vaccine hesitancy|avoid vaccines]],{{sfn|Knight|2000|p=153}} typically deeming them part of a white conspiracy to deplete populations of color.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=199}}

=== Economic and educational independence ===

[[File:YBMB2.jpg|thumb|upright|The interior of a Nation-owned bakery in [[Oakland, California]]|alt=A selection of baked goods on shelves, next to a photograph of a middle-aged black man on the wall]]

Espousing [[economic nationalism]],{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=884}} the Nation follows earlier thinkers like [[Booker T. Washington]] and Marcus Garvey in emphasizing African American infrastructure as a means of community empowerment.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=318}} The Nation has created many companies,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=884}} including the Salaam restaurant chain, the Shabazz bakeries, the Fashahnn Islamic clothing range, the Clean 'N Fresh skin and haircare products, and Abundant Life Clinics.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=318}} These businesses provide income for the NOI and help address African American unemployment.{{sfn|Potorti|2017|pp=76–77}}

Since the 1980s, the Nation has sought government contracts,{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=19}} and in 1988, it established the Security Agency Incorporated to provide Fruit of Islam patrols for clients.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=304|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2pp=202–203}} In 1985 it launched its POWER (People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth) project, designed to redirect black [[purchasing power]] toward black-owned businesses.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=319|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=201}} It also seeks African American economic advancement through individual achievement;{{sfn|Akom|2003|p=307}} various women members have created their own businesses, sometimes run from the home.{{sfn|West|1996|p=45}} While the Nation's African American [[Anti-capitalism|anti-capitalist]] critics have derided the group's economic approach as [[black capitalism]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=321|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=884}} Farrakhan has responded that capitalism is the only feasible road to African American economic empowerment.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=321}}

The Nation prioritizes land ownership to increase food production and African American autonomy,{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013b|p=575}} using the slogan: "the farm is the engine of our national life."{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=61}} It established a farm in [[White Cloud, Michigan]] in 1947,{{sfn|Potorti|2017|p=76}} and by the early 1970s owned 20,000 acres of farm land in Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia.{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=14}} In 1991, Farrakhan's Nation launched its Three Year Economic Savings Plan, asking followers to send them $10 a month over three years, money that would collectively allow the group to buy more farmland.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=320}} As a result, in 1994 it purchased 1,556 acres near [[Bronwood, Georgia]], there establishing [[Muhammad Farms]].{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=62|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=572}} Much of the produce grown there is distributed to NOI mosques around the country.{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=65|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=575}} The NOI hopes to establish a system of black-owned farms through which to feed 40 million black people,{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=62}} with the stated aim of providing at least one healthy meal a day for every African American.{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=65|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=575}} NOI members also own urban gardens in various US cities.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=62}}

The NOI is highly critical of the US school system, believing that it perpetuates white supremacy, and so has established its own educational system.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=61, 323|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} This includes Muhammad Universities of Islam; most of these are [[Elementary schools in the United States|elementary schools]], although a few also offer [[Secondary education in the United States|secondary education]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=323|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} These emphasize science, mathematics, black history, Arabic, and NOI doctrine;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=61}} Farrakhan has said that the Nation needs to provide black children with "an education to make them Gods".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=322}} In these schools, boys and girls are taught separately;{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=61, 324|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} pupils receive two weeks of vacation each year.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=61}} Combating the idea that academic achievement entails "acting white", the Nation has sought to associate hard work in school with pride in being black.{{sfn|Akom|2003|p=313}}

=== Civic engagement ===
[[File:FruitOfIslam cropped retouched.jpg|thumb|Members of the Fruit of Islam in 1974|alt=A group of black men, wearing navy blue uniforms, seated in two lines which intersect to form a V formation.]]

The Nation has long been involved in civic, economic, and political activities.{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=722}} In African American-majority neighborhoods, the NOI has engaged in door-to-door campaigns to raise awareness about pollution,{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=723}} provided services that public institutions do not,{{sfnm|1a1=West|1y=1996|1p=45|2a1=Akom|2y=2007|2p=725}} and used Fruit of Islam patrols as a community watchdog{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=723}}—especially to stop drug-dealing.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=302–303}} These efforts have earned praise from within the broader African American community.{{sfn|Lee|1996|p=48}}

Although the scholar of religion Stephen C. Finley maintained that the NOI is "first and foremost a religious community,"{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=159}} it does formulate political demands.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2002|2pp=167–168}} The NOI has nevertheless urged its members to avoid electoral politics;{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=17}} Elijah Muhammad instructed them not to vote.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2006|1p=12|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=79}} Later, Farrakhan backed [[Jesse Jackson 1984 presidential campaign|Jesse Jackson's 1984 campaign]] to become the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]'s presidential candidate,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=4|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=250|3a1=Gibson|3y=2012|3p=89}} and in 1990 three NOI candidates stood for election in the US.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=313–314}} Although many outsiders have presumed the NOI to be a revolutionary movement,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=891}} it has not sought to foment political revolution or violent social change, instead focusing on shifting the consciousness of its members, encouraging personal moral improvement, family building, and economic productivity.{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=891|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=17}}

== Organization ==

=== Leadership and financing ===

[[File:Mosque Maryam.jpg|thumb|right|Mosque Maryam in Chicago, the headquarters of the Nation of Islam|alt=A large grayish stone building, topped with a golden dome.]]

Headquartered at Mosque Maryam in Chicago,{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=198}} the Nation is highly hierarchical.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=109, 322}} By the 2020s, it was governed by an executive council of 13 members, potentially alluding to the original 13 tribes of humanity in NOI belief.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=200}} It also maintains ten ministries: for Spiritual Development, Agriculture, Education, Information, Health, Trade and Commerce, Defense, Justice, Arts and Culture, and Science and Technology.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=148}} During its history it has also operated a shadow ministry, forming the prototype for the governance of the future state it hopes to lead.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=337}} Within the group's senior ranks, family ties are important; various members of Elijah Muhammad's family were married to members of Farrakhan's family.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=125}}

Responsible for the group's security is the supreme captain, one of the organization's most powerful roles.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=57}} Security is provided by the Fruit of Islam, a group of men trained in military protocol, wrestling, boxing, and [[judo]].{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=174|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=55}} Expected to strictly follow the Nation's rules, the Fruit protect NOI leaders, temples/mosques, and other NOI property.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=174}} The Nation also runs its Muslim Girls Training, whose members receive lessons in domestic skills and self defense.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=174|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=57}}

Funding for the NOI's operations come primarily from donations and its businesses.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=137–138}} At the start of the 1960s, it was reported that members were expected to donate a set part of their earnings to the group each year; as of 1952, this reportedly constituted a third of a member's income.{{sfn|Lincoln|1961|p=17}} In 1976, Wallace Muhammad estimated the Nation's net worth to be $46&nbsp;million, although revealed it had a severe cash flow problem, owed millions in back taxes to the [[Internal Revenue Service]], and was making a loss with its agricultural operations.{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=15}} Although the Nation does not disclose the extent of its financial resources,{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=137}} in the 1990s its assets were estimated to total $80,000,000.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=115}}

=== Press and media ===

From its early days, the Nation promoted its ideas through print media, issuing the magazines ''Muhammad Speaks'' and ''The Final Call''.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=149–150}} ''Muhammad Speaks''—which was published from 1961 to 1975{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2006|1p=7|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2pp=149–150}}—included contributions not only from Nation members, but also from various [[African-American leftism|African American leftists]].{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=67}} Members were encouraged to sell these magazines on street corners or door-to-door in African American neighborhoods.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|pp=174–175}} These sellers were given sales quotas to fulfil and were sometimes punished if they failed to meet them.{{sfn|Haywood|2017|pp=13, 15}} The Nation's first magazine for women, ''Righteous Living'', appeared in the early 1990s.{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=31}} Other media outputs have included radio shows,{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=160}} videos,{{sfn|Bedard|2011}} and websites and [[social media]] accounts.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=144, 150}}

=== Domestic and international affiliations ===

[[File:Muammar al-Gaddafi-2-30112006.jpg|thumb|upright|Gaddafi was the Nation's most prominent international supporter; Farrakhan stated that "we will always love him, admire and respect him and stand up and speak on his behalf".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=207}}|alt=A middle-aged man, with black hair and facial stubble, wearing a white robe.]]

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Nation had links with the Japanese [[Satokata Takahashi]],{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=62|2a1=Vaught|2y=2017|2p=48}} whom Elijah Muhammad declared was teaching that "the Japanese were brothers and friends of the American Negroes".{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=62}} During the Second World War, in which the US fought Japan, many Nation members expressed pro-Japanese sentiment and refused to fight people they regarded as fellow members of the Original Asiatic Race.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=62}} The Nation has remained critical of "US aggression" towards countries with non-white or Muslim majorities.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=151}}

Under Elijah Muhammad, the Nation established relations with various Muslim countries.{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=1996|1p=198|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=64|3a1=Izadi|3a2=Hosseini|3a3=Mohammadi|3a4=Anjomeruz|3y=2020|3p=138}} In 1957, Malcolm X organized a conference on [[colonialism]] attended by delegates from Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, and Morocco,{{sfnm|1a1=Fishman|1a2=Soage|1y=2013|1p=64|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=139}} while Elijah Muhammad met with Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in 1959 and the Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in 1972.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=206}} For many years, Gaddafi was the Nation's most prominent international supporter.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=205–206}} His government gave the Nation a $3&nbsp;million interest-free loan in 1972 to purchase its Chicago South Side center,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=15|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=207|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=66|4a1=Jeffries|4y=2019|4p=6}} and another $5&nbsp;million interest-free loan in 1985 to fund its black enterprise program.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=207, 319–320|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=201}} It later offered Farrakhan's Nation $1&nbsp;billion, which the US government sought to block.{{sfnm|1a1=Izadi|1a2=Hosseini|1a3=Mohammadi|1a4=Anjomeruz|1y=2020|1p=138|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=153}} Farrakhan visited Ghana and Libya in 1985,{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=97}} later embarking on a larger international tour in 1996, meeting with Gaddafi, Ghana's [[Jerry Rawlings]], Nigeria's [[Sani Abacha]], South Africa's [[Nelson Mandela]], and Iraq's [[Saddam Hussein]],{{sfn|Woodford|1996|pp=35–37}} and also attending annual celebrations of the [[Iranian Revolution]] in [[Tehran]].{{sfnm|1a1=Woodford|1y=1996|1p=37|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=141}}

Like Garvey's UNIA, the Nation built links with [[white nationalism|white nationalist]] and other far-right white groups because of their shared belief in racial separatism.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=271–272}} Malcolm X revealed that the Nation had met with [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) and [[American Nazi Party]] (ANP) representatives;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=273}} the ANP's leader [[George Lincoln Rockwell]] spoke at the Nation's 1962 Savior's Day rally in Chicago.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=274}} Links with the white far-right continued under Farrakhan, with [[Tom Metzger]] of the [[White Aryan Resistance]] donating money to the Nation in 1985,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=6|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=277}} and links also being established with the British [[National Front (UK)|National Front]] during the 1980s.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=274–275}} By the 1990s, the Nation collaborated with the far-right [[LaRouche movement]] as part of their shared opposition to the US-led Gulf War.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=278–279|2a1=Knight|2y=2000|2p=164}} These links have not prevented some white far-right opposition to the NOI; in 1993 the [[Fourth Reich Skinheads]] were revealed to have plotted to kill Farrakhan.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=280–281}}

==Demographics==

{{Quote box
| quote = In their testimonies of "What Islam Has Done For Me," most believers offered personal narratives about what life was like before conversion to [the Nation of] Islam, how they came to convert, and what happened to them as a result. These moving tales often included the stories of how ex-convicts, drug addicts, and sexually promiscuous men and women came to find pride, self-esteem, dignity, good health, a sense of peace and security, a happy marriage, and gainful employment as a result of their conversion.
| source = Historian Edward E. Curtis IV{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=24}}
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}

The Nation does not publish the size of its membership,{{sfn|MacFarquhar|2007}} and there have been no censuses to determine a reliable number.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=4}} Under Fard Muhammad's leadership, membership reached a total of approximately 8,000,{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=11}} and by 1960 it was estimated at between 30,000 and 100,000.{{sfn|Colley|2014|p=398}} In 2007, the scholar of religion Lawrence A. Mamiya suggested that membership stood at around 50,000.{{sfn|MacFarquhar|2007}} At various points, the Nation has had a high member turnover;{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=39}} many members have left the group,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=4}} sometimes becoming Sunni Muslims.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1a2=Karim|1y=2014|1p=1|2a1=Gibson|2y=2017|2p=39}}

While based in the US, the Nation has also established either a presence or influence among African diasporic communities elsewhere;{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=154}} in 2006, the scholar Nuri Tinaz suggested that the Nation "may have" up to 2,000 members and sympathisers in the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=152}} Despite focusing on African Americans, since Elijah Muhammad's era it has also sought to recruit Latino and Native Americans.{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2012|1pp=104–105|2a1=Gibson|2a2=Karim|2y=2014|2p=20}} As of 2009, Latinos were estimated to comprise over 20 percent of the Nation's membership, although some complained of facing ethnic prejudice within the organization.{{sfn|Gibson|Karim|2014|p=20}}

In its early decades, the Nation's appeal was strongest in poor African American neighborhoods,{{sfn|Colley|2014|p=399}} but over the course of the 20th century its membership became increasingly middle-class.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=115|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=140}} The scholar of religion [[Mattias Gardell]] attributed this to the Nation's focus on hard work and rigid morality, which helped improve the economic situation of its members, coupled with the broader growth of the African American middle class in this period.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=115–116}} He also believed that the changing class composition, and with it a less hostile attitude to white-dominant society, assisted the 1970s shift to Sunnism under Wallace Muhammad.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=117}} 

===Conversion===

The NOI refers to its [[Proselytism|proselytising]] efforts as "fishing for the dead".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}} To this end, it holds open meetings, mass rallies, street-corner lectures, and prison outreach,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=63}} and has used books, radio broadcasts, and audio-recorded speeches to promote its message.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=64}} Through this, it has sought to attract unemployed, disenchanted black youth,{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=161}} with its recruitment efforts proving particularly effective among drug addicts and incarcerated criminals.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=306|2a1=Akom|2y=2003|2p=311}} 

[[File:Noi.PNG|thumb|left|Nation of Islam members proselytising at [[Speakers' Corner]] in [[Hyde Park, London]] in 1999|alt=A group of young black men, wearing suits and with shaven heads, standing outdoors. One is in the center, speaking aloud. The others surround him, facing outward. Although the speaker does not wear sunglasses, the others all do.]]

The Nation was active in prison ministry by the 1950s, with its numbers of imprisoned followers rising steadily in the latter part of that decade;{{sfn|Colley|2014|p=394}} among these imprisoned recruits was Malcolm X.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=181|2a1=Colley|2y=2014|2pp=393–394}} Farrakhan stepped up the prison ministry in the 1980s.{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=105}} By the early 1960s, prison authorities were raising concerns that the NOI was exacerbating racial tensions in prisons.{{sfn|Colley|2014|pp=394, 405}} Some incarcerated members have reported discriminatory treatment from prison authorities because of their religion,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=307–308|2a1=Colley|2y=2014|2pp=404–405}} and have sometimes responded with legal action.{{sfn|Vaught|2017|pp=53, 57}}

Various motivations have led people to join the Nation.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=25}} The historian Zoe Colley thought that the NOI appealed to men living in poverty by offering them the "opportunity to reclaim their manhood and sense of pride",{{sfn|Colley|2014|p=409}} with some members reporting that joining helped them overcome low self-esteem or depression.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2006|p=25}} Ula Y. Taylor, a scholar of [[Black studies|African American studies]], suggested that female members were attracted by the Nation's offer of a "stable family life" and the opportunity to assist "the development of a new black nation".{{sfn|Taylor|2017|p=105}} The Nation also attracted followers with its offer of a separate schooling system where African American children would not suffer the racism found in public schools.{{sfn|Taylor|2017|p=37}}

== Reception and influence ==

[[File:Nation of Islam in Indianapolis - Stierch.jpg|thumb|right|The logo of the Nation on its property in [[Indianapolis]], Indiana|alt=A white circle around the outer edge of which is written "In the Name of Allah" and "Nation of Islam". In the center is a red square, within which is a small white star and a left-facing white crescent shape.]]

The sociologist of religion [[David V. Barrett]] called the NOI "one of the most visible and controversial black religions",{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=250}} while Gardell termed it the "most renowned and controversial" of the African American Muslim groups.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=4}} According to the black studies scholar Malachi D. Crawford, the NOI became "perhaps the most influential African American religious community in the twentieth century".{{sfn|Crawford|2015|p=ix}}

Various groups have broken from the Nation, including Clarence 13X's Five-Percent Nation,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=3|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=224}} Silas Muhammad's Original Nation of Islam,{{sfn|White Jr.|2001|p=206}} and Solomon Muhammad's [[United Nation of Islam]].{{sfn|White Jr.|2001|p=206}} The NOI has also influenced the development of other religions, including the [[Nuwaubian Nation]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=226–227|2a1=Palmer|2y=2010|2pp=13–14}} whose founder, [[Dwight York]], claimed that Elijah Muhammad had heralded his own arrival.{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=20}} Influences from the NOI have also been argued for the [[Word of Faith]] movement.{{sfn|MacGregor|2007|pp=92–93}}

Despite reticence from the Nation itself during much of its history,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Akom|2y=2003|2pp=308–309}} the group has been the subject of much scholarly attention.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=6}} Initial research, largely undertaken by historians and sociologists in the late 1950s and 1960s, was often hostile or dismissive; research influenced by disciplines like religious studies and [[gender studies]] followed later.{{sfn|Gibson|Berg|2017|pp=2–3, 4}}

===Cultural impact===

The black studies scholar Priscilla McCutcheon noted that although the NOI remained comparatively small, it had "a wide discursive reach".{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=69}} By the 1990s, its influence among black youth was far larger than its membership,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=285}} being evident among hip hop and rap artists like [[Public Enemy]], [[Ice Cube]], [[Kam (rapper)|Kam]], [[The Skinny Boys]], and [[Sister Souljah]].{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=295}} The Nation has cultivated a sense of pride among many African Americans,{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=253}} and its role in confronting gang violence, drugs, and poverty within African American communities has earned it respect.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=316}} The sociologist A.A. Akom opined that the NOI had a reputation among African Americans of "speaking truth to power";{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=718}} a 1994 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''/[[CNN]] poll found that two-thirds of African Americans who knew of Farrakhan viewed him favorably.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=271}} Similarly positive assessments of the Nation have been observed among Britain's black communities.{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=161}}

Other black, as well as non-black people, have criticized the Nation.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013b|p=574}} Critics have characterized Fard Muhammad as a petty criminal who swindled his followers,{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=19}} accused the group of stirring up anti-white racial hatred,{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=253}} and maintained that the NOI's teachings are illogical and irrational.{{sfn|Tinaz|1996|p=197}} Scientists have labeled the group's mythological accounts as [[pseudoscience]].{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=7}} Most mainstream American Muslim groups have distanced themselves from the NOI,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=188|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2002|2pp=182–183|3a1=Austin|3y=2003|3p=64}} as have smaller Muslim groups like the [[Ahmadiyya]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=188|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2006|2p=5}} typically maintaining that Nation members are not true Muslims.{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=164}} Elijah Muhammad countered by claiming that the "Old Islam" of his critics was "led by white people",{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=699}} while Farrakhan responded by accusing the Islamic world of racism and sectarian violence.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=195–196}}

Civil rights groups have also criticized the Nation; the NAACP's [[Roy Wilkins]] labeled it a "[[hate group]]",{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=182|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2006|2p=4}} while the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] accused it of promoting an "innate black superiority over whites" and having a "lengthy record of antisemitism, homophobia, and connections to prominent white supremacists".{{sfn|Southern Poverty Law Center|2020}} The NOI has also been accused of antisemitism by groups like the [[Anti-Defamation League]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gibson|1y=2012|1p=97|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=159|3a1=Anti-Defamation League|3y=2021}} an organization that has placed the group under surveillance, lobbied against it, and attempted to block its enterprises.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=259}} Four Jewish organizations withdrew their sponsorship of the [[Parliament of World Religions]] when it invited Farrakhan to speak,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=245}} while Jewish student groups have picketed Farrakhan's speeches on university campuses.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=259}} Far-right Jewish groups have gone further; the [[Jewish Defense League]] organized a 1985 "Death to Farrakhan" march,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=269|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=156}} while the [[Jewish Defense Organization]] included Farrakhan on its kill list.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=269}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Acevado |first1=Gabriel A. |last2=Ordner |first2=James |last3=Thompson |first3=Miriam |year=2010 |title=Narrative Inversion as a Tactical Framing Device: The Ideological Origins of the Nation of Islam |journal=Narrative Inquiry |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=124–152 |doi=10.1075/ni.20.1.07ace}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Akom |first=A. A. |year=2003 |title=Reexamining Resistance as Oppositional Behavior: The Nation of Islam and the Creation of a Black Achievement Ideology |journal=Sociology of Education |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=305–325 |doi=10.2307/1519868 |jstor=1519868}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Akom |first=A. A. |year=2007 |title=Cities as Battlefields: Understanding how the Nation of Islam impacts Civic Engagement, Environmental Racism, and Community Development in a Low Income Neighborhood |journal=International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=711–730 |doi=10.1080/09518390701630858 |s2cid=145201636}}
* {{cite journal |first=Ernest Jr.|last=Allen |year=1996 |title=Religious Heterodoxy and Nationalist Tradition: The Continuing Evolution of the Nation of Islam |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=26 |issue=3–4 |pages=2–34 |doi=10.1080/00064246.1996.11430810}}
*{{Cite web |author=Anti-Defamation League |title=The Nation of Islam |year=2021 |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/the-nation-of-islam |access-date=March 23, 2021 |website=Anti-Defamation League |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402230801/https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/the-nation-of-islam |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Austin |first=Algernon |year=2003 |title=Rethinking Race and the Nation of Islam, 1930–1975 |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=52–69 |doi=10.1080/01419870022000025270 |s2cid=143645380}}
*{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/nyregion/harlem-split-on-plan-to-honor-officer-killed-in-72.html?_r=1&ref=annebarnard |title=Harlem Split on Plan to Honor Officer Killed in Mosque in '72 |last=Barnard |first=Anne |date=11 May 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=15 May 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830114931/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/nyregion/harlem-split-on-plan-to-honor-officer-killed-in-72.html?_r=1&ref=annebarnard |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Michael |year=2006 |title=Differences and Similarities Between the Rastafari Movement and the Nation of Islam |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=36 |pages=873–893 |doi=10.1177/0021934705279611 |jstor=40034350 |number=6 |s2cid=145012190}}
* {{Cite book |last=Barrett |first=David V. |title=The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions |publisher=Cassell and Co |year=2001 |isbn=978-0304355921 |location=London}}
*{{cite news |last=Bedard |first=Paul |date=July 5, 2011 |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/05/farrakhans-hate-sermons-to-prisoners-slammed |title=Farrakhan's Hate Sermons to Prisoners Slammed |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103193345/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/05/farrakhans-hate-sermons-to-prisoners-slammed |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |website=U.S. News & World Report |accessdate=September 5, 2012}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Berg |first=Herbert |year=2005 |title=Mythmaking in the African American Muslim Context: The Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, and the American Society of Muslims |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=685–703 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfi075}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Boaz |first=Danielle N. |year=2018 |title=The Voodoo Cult of Detroit: Race, Human Sacrifice, and the Nation of Islam from the 1930s to the 1970s |journal=Journal of Interreligious Studies |volume=23 |pages=17–30}}
* {{Cite web |last=Buckley |first=Thomas |date=March 11, 1966 |title=Malcolm X Jury Finds 3 Guilty |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/11/archives/malcolm-x-jury-finds-3-guilty-2-black-muslims-and-3d-man-convicted.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 2, 2014 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619215830/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/11/archives/malcolm-x-jury-finds-3-guilty-2-black-muslims-and-3d-man-convicted.html |url-status=live }}
*{{Cite web |last1=Buursma |first1=Bruce |last2=Houston |first2=Jack |date=May 3, 1985 |title=Main Black Muslim Sect Dissolves As Leader Quits |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-05-03-8501270247-story.html |access-date=March 26, 2021 |website=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407104050/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-05-03-8501270247-story.html |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Colley |first=Zoe |year=2014 |title="All America Is a Prison": The Nation of Islam and the Politicization of African American Prisoners, 1955–1965 |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=393–415 |doi=10.1017/S0021875813001308 |s2cid=144329284}}
* {{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Malachi D. |title=Black Muslims and the Law: Civil Liberties from Elijah Muhammad to Muhammad Ali |location=Lanham |publisher=Lexington |year=2015 |isbn=978-0739184882}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Curtis IV |first=Edward E. |year=2002 |title=Islamizing the Black Body: Ritual and Power in Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam |journal=Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation |volume=12 |pages=167–196 |doi=10.1525/rac.2002.12.2.167 |jstor=10.1525/rac.2002.12.2.167 |number=2 |s2cid=145361488|hdl=1805/35944 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{Cite book |last=Curtis IV |first=Edward E. |title=Black Muslim Religion and the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0807857717}}
* {{Cite journal |author-last=Curtis IV |author-first=Edward E. |year=2016 |title=Science and Technology in Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam: Astrophysical Disaster, Genetic Engineering, UFOs, White Apocalypse, and Black Resurrection |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-pdf/20/1/5/212858/novo_2016_20_1_5.pdf |journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=5–31 |doi=10.1525/novo.2016.20.1.5 |hdl=1805/14819 }}
* {{cite book |last=Deutsch |first=Nathaniel |authorlink=Nathaniel Deutsch |editor-first=Yvonne|editor-last=Chireau |editor-last2=Deutsch |editor-first2=Nathaniel |title=Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York and Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=978-0195112580 |language=en|pages=91–117 |chapter=The Proximate Other: The Nation of Islam and Judaism}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Duranton |first=Nils |title=Life in Abundance: Diet, Black Health and Spirituality in the Nation of Islam, 1930–1975 |journal=Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses|year=2024 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=593–611 |doi=10.1177/00084298241238138|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Finley |first=Stephen C. |year=2022 |title=In and Out of This World: Material and Extraterrestrial Bodies in the Nation of Islam |location=Durham and London |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1478016137}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Fishman |first1=Jason Eric |last2=Soage |first2=Ana Belén |title=The Nation of Islam and the Muslim World: Theologically Divorced and Politically United |journal=Religion Compass |volume=7 |issue=2 |year=2013 |pages=59–68 |doi=10.1111/rec3.12032}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gabriel |first=Theodore |title=UFO Religions |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0415263245 |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher |location=London and New York |pages=149–161 |chapter=The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gardell |first=Mattias |title=In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0822318453 |location=Durham}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=Dawn-Marie |title=A History of the Nation of Islam: Race, Islam, and the Quest for Freedom |publisher=Praeger |year=2012 |isbn=978-0313398070 |location=Santa Barbara}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=Dawn-Marie |title=The Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, and the Men Who Follow Him |year=2016 |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137540768}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Dawn-Marie |year=2017 |chapter=Ebony Muhammad's ''Hurt2Healing'' Magazine and Contemporary Nation Women |pages=31–45 |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Dawn-Marie |last2=Berg |first2=Herbert |year=2017 |chapter=Introduction |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176 |pages=1–6}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Dawn-Marie |last2=Karim |first2=Jamillah |year=2014 |title=Women of the Nation: Between Black Protest and Sunni Islam |location=New York and London |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0814737866}}
*{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Eliza |date=October 5, 2012 |title=The Mothership of All Alliances |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/108205/scientology-joins-forces-with-nation-of-islam |access-date=November 19, 2012 |archive-date=October 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012004247/http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/108205/scientology-joins-forces-with-nation-of-islam |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Haywood |first=D'Weston L. |year=2017 |chapter="A Superb Sales Force… the Men of Muhammad:" The Nation of Islam, Black Masculinity, and Selling ''Muhammad Speaks'' in the Black Power Era |pages=9–30 |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Izadi |first1=Foad |last2=Hosseini |first2=Hassan |last3=Mohammadi |first3=Setareh Sadeqi |last4=Anjomeruz |first4=Susan |year=2020 |title=The Islamic Republic of Iran in the Rhetoric of the Nation of Islam |journal=Journal of World Sociopolitical Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=133–175}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Jeffries |first=Bayyinah S. |year=2019 |title=Black Religion and Black Power: The Nation of Islam's Internationalism |journal=Genealogy |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=34 |doi=10.3390/genealogy3030034 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last1=Keener |first1=Craig S. |last2=Usry |first2=Glenn |year=2005 |chapter=The Nation of Islam |title=A Guide to New Religious Movements |editor=Ronald Enroth |publisher=InterVarsity Press |location=Downers Grove, Illinois |isbn=978-0739454954 |pages=169–183}}
* {{Cite book |last1=King |first1=Jacob |year=2017 |chapter=Clearing the Planet: Dianetics Auditing and the Eschatology of the Nation of Islam |pages=218–235 |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Knight |first=Frederick |year=1994 |title=Justifiable Homicide, Police Brutality, or Governmental Repression? The 1962 Los Angeles Police Shooting of Seven Members of the Nation of Islam |journal=The Journal of Negro History |volume=79 |number=2 |pages=182–196 |doi=10.2307/2717628 |jstor=2717628 |s2cid=141089165}}
* {{cite book |last=Knight |first=Michael Muhammad |title=Metaphysical Africa: Truth and Blackness in the Ansaru Allah Community |series=Africana Religions |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park |year=2020 |isbn=978-0271087092}}
* {{cite book |last=Knight |first=Peter |year=2000 |title=Conspiracy Culture: From Kennedy to The X-Files |location=London and New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415189781}}
* {{cite book |last=Lincoln |first=C. Eric |authorlink=C. Eric Lincoln |year=1961 |title=The Black Muslims in America |location=Boston |publisher=Beacon Press |oclc=422580}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Martha F. |title=The Nation of Islam: An American Millenarian Movement |publisher=Syracuse University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/nationofislamame0000leem |year=1996 |location=Syracuse |isbn=978-0889468535}}
*{{Cite news |last=MacFarquhar |first=Neil |date=February 26, 2007 |title=Nation of Islam at a Crossroad as Leader Exits |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/us/26farrakhan.html |access-date=May 24, 2025 |archive-date=May 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525043310/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/us/26farrakhan.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite journal |last=MacGregor |first=Kirk R. |year=2007 |title=The Word-Faith Movement: A Theological Conflation of the Nation of Islam and Mormonism? |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=87–120 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfl063}}
* {{Cite journal |last=McCutcheon |first=Priscilla |year=2013 |title="Returning Home to Our Rightful Place": The Nation of Islam and Muhammad Farms |journal=Geoforum |volume=49 |pages=61–70 |doi=10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.05.001|s2cid=7188105 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Priscilla |last=McCutcheon |year=2013b |chapter=Community Food Security "For Us, By Us": The Nation of Islam and the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church |title=Food and Culture: A Reader |edition=third |editor=Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=572–586 |isbn=978-0-415-52103-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Oliver |first=Paul |title=New Religious Movements: A Guide for the Perplexed |publisher=Continuum |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4411-0197-6 |location=London and New York}}
* {{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Susan J. |title=The Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control |location=Farnham |publisher=Ashgate |year=2010 |isbn=978-1138265585 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Perry |first1=Marvin |last2=Schweitzer |first2=Frederick M. |year=2002 |title=Antisemitism: Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present |location=New York and Basingstoke |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0312165611 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Potorti |first1=Mary |year=2017 |chapter=Eat to Live: Culinary Nationalism and Black Capitalism in Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam |pages=68–94 |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Reid-Pharr |first=Robert |year=1996 |title=Speaking through Anti-Semitism: The Nation of Islam and the Poetics of Black (Counter) Modernity |journal=Social Text |pages=133–147 |doi=10.2307/466897 |jstor=466897 |number=49}}
*{{Cite news |last1=Rossetter |first1=Shelley |last2=Tobin |first2=Thomas C. |date=October 18, 2012 |title=Louis Farrakhan renews call for self-determination among Nation of Islam followers |work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/louis-farrakhan-renews-call-for-self-determination-among-nation-of-islam/1128781 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105093720/http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/louis-farrakhan-renews-call-for-self-determination-among-nation-of-islam/1128781 |archive-date=November 5, 2012}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2007 |title=The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |last=Soumahoro |first=Maboula |editor-last=Theodore Louis Trost |pages=35–48 |isbn=978-1-4039-7786-1 |contribution=Christianity on Trial: The Nation of Islam and the Rastafari, 1930–1950}}
*{{Cite web |author=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=2020 |title=Nation of Islam |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam |access-date=11 July 2020 |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |location=[[Montgomery, Alabama]] |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011080634/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam |url-status=live }}
*{{Cite book |last=Stein |first=Howard |contribution="The Eternal Jew": Resurgent Anti-Semitism in the Post-Cold War World |editor=Jerry S. Piven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eFFsEYvBEZgC |title=Judaism and Genocide: Psychological Undercurrents of History Volume IV |publisher=Writers Club Press |location=Lincoln, NE |year=2002 |isbn=978-0595240869 |pages=1–24 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Ula Yvette |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469633930.001.0001 |title=The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation of Islam |date=2017 |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |doi=10.5149/northcarolina/9781469633930.001.0001 |isbn=978-1-4696-3393-0}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Wayne |year=2005 |title=Premillennium Tension: Malcolm X and the Eschatology of the Nation of Islam |journal=Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=52–65 |doi=10.1080/10999940590910041 |s2cid=143226936}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tinaz |first=Nuri |year=1996 |title=The Nation of Islam: Historical Evolution and Transformation of the Movement |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=193–209 |doi=10.1080/13602009608716338}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tinaz |first=Nuri |year=2000 |title=Global Impacts of an Ethno-religious Movement: The Case of Nation of Islam (NOI) in Britain |journal=Journal of Economic and Social Research |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=45–71}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tinaz |first=Nuri |year=2006 |title=Black Islam in Diaspora: The Case of Nation of Islam (NOI) in Britain |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=26 |number=2 |pages=151–170 |doi=10.1080/13602000600937580 |s2cid=143231871}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tsoukalas |first=Steven |year=2004 |title=Understanding the Nation of Islam: Toward a More Effective Evangelism |journal=Missiology: An International Review |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=449–464 |doi=10.1177/009182960403200404 |s2cid=158017571}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Turman |first=Eboni Marshall |year=2015 |title="The Greatest Tool of the Devil:" Mamie, Malcolm X, and the PolitiX of the Black Madonna in Black Churches and the Nation of Islam in the United States |journal=Journal of Africana Religions |volume=3 |pages=130–150 |doi=10.5325/jafrireli.3.1.0130 |jstor=10.5325/jafrireli.3.1.0130 |number=1 |s2cid=144861867}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Vaught |first1=Seneca |year=2017 |chapter=The Crescent Moon and the Carceral State: The Nation of Islam and the Legal Battle for the Right to Assemble |pages=46–67 |title=New Perspectives on the Nation of Islam |location=New York and Abingdon |publisher=Routledge |editor=Gibson Dawn-Marie and Herbert Berg |isbn=978-0367875176}}
* {{Cite journal |last=West |first=Cynthia S'thembile |year=1996 |title={{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|Revisting}} Female Activism in the 1960s: The Newark Branch Nation of Islam |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=26 |issue=3–4 |pages=41–48 |doi=10.1080/00064246.1996.11430812}}
* {{Cite book |last=White Jr. |first=Vibert L. |title=Inside the Nation of Islam: A Historical and Personal Testimony by a Black Muslim |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2001 |location=Gainesville |isbn=978-0813020822}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wojcik |first=Daniel |title=UFO Religions |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0415263245 |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher |location=London and New York |pages=274–300 |chapter=Apocalyptic and Millenarian Aspects of American UFOism}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Woodford |first=Maize |year=1996 |title=A Chronology: Farrakhan's "World Friendship Tour" to Africa and the Middle East: January–February 1996 |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=26 |issue=3–4 |pages=35–40 |doi=10.1080/00064246.1996.11430811}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Berg |first=H. |title=Elijah Muhammad and Islam |publisher=New York University Press |series=Makers of the Muslim World |year=2009 |location=New York |isbn=978-0814791134}}
* {{Cite book |last=Damak |first=Sadok |title=The Nation of Islam's Cautious Return to Americanity in the 2010s: A Cultural Studies Inquiry |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |year=2019 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |isbn=978-1527543379}}
* {{Cite book |last=DeCaro |first=Louis A. |title=Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and Christianity |year=1998 |location=New York |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0814718605}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Paisley |first=Fiona |title=From Nation of Islam to Goodwill Tourist: African-American Women at Pan-Pacific and South East Asia Women's Conferences, 1937 and 1955 |journal=Women's Studies International Forum |volume=32 |year=2009 |pages=21–28 |doi=10.1016/j.wsif.2009.01.008}}
* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Robert S. |title=The Farrakhan Phenomenon: Race, Reaction, and the Paranoid Style in American Politics |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=1997 |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0878406579}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Chicago|United States|Politics|Islam}}
{{Commons}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://wrldrels.org/2016/10/08/nation-of-islam/ Nation of Islam] profile at the World Religion and Spirituality Project (WRSP)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070113202150/http://www.seventhfam.com/ Messenger Elijah Muhammad Web Resources Center, Online books, audio, and video]
* [http://www.finalcall.com Nation of Islam-affiliated ''Final Call'' newspaper website]
* [http://www.noi.org.uk/ Official Website of the United Kingdom Branch of the Nation of Islam]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110626212207/http://static.nicic.gov/Library/017613.pdf Federal Bureau of Prisons ''Technical Reference Manual on Inmate Beliefs and Practices'']
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Nation%20of%20Islam FBI file on the Nation of Islam]

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