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Who Was Elijah Muhammad?
Elijah Muhammad was a prominent African American religious leader and the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his death in 1975. After relocating to Detroit in 1923, Muhammad encountered W. D. Fard, the founder of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad succeeded Fard as the leader of the movement and became known for his controversial teachings. Under his leadership, the NOI attracted influential followers, including Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan.
Early Years and Family
Born Elijah Robert Poole on October 7, 1897, in Sandersville, Georgia, Elijah Muhammad was one of 13 children in the family of William and Mariah (Hall) Poole. His father was a sharecropper, and his mother worked as a domestic servant. Muhammad grew up in Cordele, Georgia, where he received only a fourth-grade education before leaving school to work in sawmills and brickyards. During his youth, he witnessed significant racial prejudice and violence against African Americans.
In 1919, Muhammad married Clara Evans, with whom he had eight children. Seeking better economic opportunities and a more tolerant environment, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1923. There, Muhammad worked in an auto factory.
Joining the Nation of Islam
In 1931, still using his birth name, Elijah Robert Poole encountered Wallace D. Fard, a former salesman who was preaching a new form of Islam focused on the needs and struggles of Black Americans. Poole converted to this new faith and adopted the name Elijah Muhammad. Fard’s teachings, which included the controversial belief that Black people were the original humans and that white people were “devils” created by a mad scientist named Yakub, would form the foundation of the Nation of Islam’s doctrine. Despite the difficulty in interpreting some of these beliefs, other aspects of Fard’s teachings, such as the emphasis on self-reliance, clean living, and the promise of a future free from oppression, resonated deeply with Muhammad and other Black Muslims.
NOI Leadership
Following the mysterious disappearance of Fard in 1934, the Nation of Islam (NOI) fragmented into several rival factions. Elijah Muhammad, a key figure within the movement, relocated a group of followers to Chicago, where he established Temple of Islam No. 2 as the new headquarters of the religion. From this base, Muhammad worked steadily to expand the NOI, gaining new members through his preaching and leadership.
Muhammad faced legal challenges when he was imprisoned from 1942 to 1946 for draft evasion. After his release, he resumed leadership of the NOI, proclaiming that Fard had been an incarnation of Allah and that he himself was now Allah’s messenger.
Over the next three decades, Muhammad transformed the NOI from a small, fringe group into a prominent and complex religious organization. His teachings, which emphasized financial independence for Black Americans, racial separation, and a strict moral code, attracted both significant support and controversy.
The movement gained further momentum with the involvement of Malcolm X, who, while incarcerated, began corresponding with Muhammad and became a prominent spokesperson for the NOI in the 1950s. However, Malcolm X eventually parted ways with the NOI in 1964 due to philosophical differences with Muhammad.
Quotes and Books
Elijah Muhammad was a powerful and charismatic speaker, known for his unwavering criticism of white oppression. He famously declared, “They say that I am a preacher of racial hatred, but the fact is that the white people don’t like the truth, especially if it speaks against them. It is a terrible thing for such people to charge me with teaching race hatred when their feet are on my people’s neck and they tell us to our face that they hate black people.” Later in his life, he moderated his rhetoric, stating just before his death, “The slavemaster is no longer hindering us, we’re hindering ourselves.”
In addition to his speeches, Muhammad authored several influential works, including Message to the Blackman in America (1965) and How to Eat to Live (1967). Other books, such as The God-Science of Black Power (2002), are collections of his lectures and speeches.
Death and Legacy
Elijah Muhammad passed away on February 25, 1975, from congestive heart failure. At the time of his death, he left behind a thriving religious movement with an estimated 250,000 members, along with a network of businesses, real estate holdings, and the national newspaper Muhammad Speaks. The movement’s social, political, and economic influence was a testament to Muhammad’s leadership.
Muhammad’s son, Warith Deen Mohammed, succeeded him and sought to reform the doctrines of the NOI. His efforts were met with mixed reactions. As a result, another prominent NOI leader, Louis Farrakhan, broke away in 1978 to form his own version of the Nation of Islam, continuing the legacy of Muhammad’s teachings in a distinct direction.