A group of African Americans in the beginning of the twentieth century decided to start an organization called “The Nation of Islam” or NOI. It developed into a small, but vibrant new religious movement that invented a unique form of religion practiced by hundreds of thousands of African Americans since 1930.
But, does the NOI really represent Islam?
How close are the NOI’s teachings to the Quran and Sunnah (the way of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)?
In this article, we will try to answer such questions.
Here we will learn the following:
Brief History of the Nation of Islam
Early Origins
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political movement founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad. Not so much is known about that mysterious man, but he appeared in Detroit, Michigan, in 1931 and preached a strange, new form of Islam to African Americans in the city, mixing some teachings of Islam with a call to black empowerment, self-reliance, and separatism. NOI focused on achieving its goals through the reformation of black American minds and bodies.
Fard’s teachings gained a following among African Americans in Detroit and later in other cities, including Chicago. His most prominent disciple was Elijah Muhammad, who eventually became the leader of the Nation of Islam after Fard’s disappearance. The teachings of Fard and Elijah represent the cornerstone of the NOI system of beliefs.
NOI and Malcolm X
Under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam gained prominence in the mid-20th century, attracting notable figures like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. Malcolm X played a significant role in the movement’s growth and later became one of its most prominent spokespersons. However, after a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm X underwent a transformation, embracing mainstream Sunni Islam and renouncing many of the NOI’s teachings. He took a new name, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Shabazz also toured several sub-Saharan African countries but devoted even more time to studying Islamic religion in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Freed from the constraints of the NOI, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity. In February 1965, he was assassinated while delivering a lecture in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.
Temporal Shift towards Sunni Islam
After Elijah Muhammed, his son Wallace led the NOI. Being affected by Malcolm X, Wallace initiated a transformation of the NOI, changing its name to the World Community of Al-Islam in the West and again in 1978 to the American Muslim Mission and gradually dropping its racial and nationalist doctrines as well as its belief in Fard as Allah. In 1985, Wallace dissolved the Mission, urging its members to become Sunni Muslims.
The shift toward Sunni Islam was rejected by some former members, including Elijah Muhammad’s brother, John Muhammad, and national leader Silis Muhammad. They formed two new organizations, both called the Nation of Islam, that continued the teachings of Elijah Muhammad.
Current Leader of NOI
Today, the Nation of Islam continues to exist, primarily under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan, although its influence has decreased compared to its peak in the mid-20th century. A gifted speaker, Farrakhan started his group with just a few thousand members but quickly reestablished a national movement. As a maximum estimation, the group has around 40,000 members. The focus of NOI is currently on community development and social justice issues.
Contradictions to Islamic Teachings
Though NOI’s teachings included many traditional Islamic behavioral practices, such as a strong family life, the refusal to eat pork or to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, they are still in clear opposition to fundamental Islamic doctrines, as being stated in the Quran or Sunnah.
1- Is God A Man?
To understand the main beliefs of NOI, let’s read this passage taken from an article by the wife of Elijah Muhammed and published on the NOI official website:
“IN 1931, THE MASTER WAS preaching this Great Truth of salvation when He met a man named Elijah Poole in Detroit, Michigan. He chose him to be His Divine Representative in continuing this most difficult task of bringing truth and light to His lost and found people…Upon the Master’s departure in 1934, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad labored tirelessly to bring life to his mentally and spiritually dead people until his return to the Master in 1975”
Such passage clearly shows that The NOI teaches that W.D. Fard was somehow divine, capitalizing any reference to him and stating that he chose Elijah to be a prophet and that Elijah returned to him. And when reading on,
“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad identified the Master as being the answer to the one that the world had been expecting for the past 2,000 years under the names Messiah, the second coming of Jesus, the Christ, Jehovah, God, and the Son of Man. When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked Him to identify Himself He replied that He was the Mahdi…”
Now, in this passage, we find that W.D. Fard is considered the awaited Christian Messiah or Islamic Mahdi figures who, according to Islamic tradition, will appear near the time when the world will end.
2- Contradiction to Allah’s Monotheism
So, in a few sentences on the NOI website, we see clear self-contradiction and contradictions to Islam, which is based upon the belief that God is One and different from His creature. God does not belong to a particular religion, country, or race. He is Unique and Unseen in this world. He is the God of every one of us. Any form of God incarnation in His creature is completely rejected in Islam.
The simplicity and beauty of Islamic monotheism in summarized in the following 4-verse chapter:
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
[Quran 112:1-4]
I highly encourage you to discover more about The Concept of God in Islam.
3- Views on the Day of Judgment
NOI followers believe that Paradise and Hellfire are not actual places, but states of mind—a belief shared by many other metaphysical religions in the twentieth century. In the teachings of the Nation of Islam, the day of judgement is often understood in the context of the liberation and salvation of black people in America. Elijah Muhammad taught that there would be a day of reckoning when the oppressed would be vindicated and justice would prevail.
Of course, this has nothing to do with the belief of The Day of Judgement in the Quran or Sunnah.
4- Views on Prophethood
It is a common belief among NOI members that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet chosen by their master, Wallace Fard Muhammad.
On the other hand, Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet to humanity. Therefore, after the death of Prophet Muhammad, anyone who claims that he is a prophet is clearly making a huge lie that opposes the following unambiguous Quranic verse and hadith:
مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍۢ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًۭا
“ Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
[Quran 33:40]
“Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) set out for Tabuk, appointing Ali as his deputy (in Medina). Ali said, “Do you want to leave me with the children and women?” The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Will you not be pleased that you will be to me like Aaron to Moses? But there will be no prophet after me.”
[Hadith]
5- Views on Racism
A- Origin of Racism According to NOI
Elijah Muhammad asserted the moral and cultural superiority of Africans over whites in his teachings. In explaining the origins of slavery and racism, Elijah Muhammad offered a unique myth, sometimes called ‘the Myth of Yakub’. He claimed that the original man—the first human species—was black. These black people, who followed the religion of Islam and lived in Mecca. But a mad scientist named Yakub began the process of genetically engineering the white man, who was naturally barbaric and greedy. When the white people eventually conquered the black people, the latter adopted the religion of their slave masters.
B- No Racism in Islam
Despite the awkwardness of such narration, the point to highlight here is there is no room for any racism or any feeling of superiority or arrogance in Islam. Ibn Masood (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (PBUH) said,
“He who has, in his heart, an ant’s weight of arrogance will not enter Jannah.” Someone said: “A man likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?” The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and despising people.”
[Hadith]
To discover more about racism in Islam, check our article: The War on Racism.
An UFO Religion
In the twenty-first century, Farrakhan made an alliance with the Church of Scientology, and various
members of the NOI engaged in a Scientology practice called auditing, which focuses on self-knowledge. The two organizations’ interest in science, technology, and especially extra-terrestrial beings became a common ground for cooperation, and demonstrated the seriousness of the NOI’s long history as what some students of new religious movements have called “UFO religion”
Conclusion: How Islamic is the Nation of Islam?
NOI, a movement and organization founded in 1930, is known for its teachings combining elements of traditional Islam with black nationalist ideas. The founder of NOI put together a system of beliefs that appeal to African Americans, who were struggling due to white racist practices . He held the mission of resurrecting the Black man and woman. As a movement, the NOI has remained a vital element of the US religious scene for decades.
During its 100-year-old history, the organization has gone through different stages, shifting sometimes near and sometimes far from Sunni Islam. In choosing its name, NOI’s founder might have been referring to a Quranic verse that talks about the unity of the message of prophets all over history:
إِنَّ هَـٰذِهِۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُونِ
“Verily this nation “Ummah” of yours is a single nation, and I am your Lord; so worship Me.”
[Quran 21:92]
Despite having common things with Sunni Islam, there are clear huge contradictions to basic Islamic beliefs, which renders NOI an organization unrepresentative of Islam.
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