Nation of Islam
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on Nation of Islam.
Nation of Islam
Facts for kids
Nation of Islam
Facts - 1:
The
Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded during the 1930's
in Detriot by Wallace D. Fard, later
known as Farrad Muhammad, whose followers later became known as the
Black Muslims. Farrad Muhammad was strongly influenced by the first
American Black Islamic society, the Moorish Science
Temple Movement, which had been formed in New Jersey in
1913 by a man named Noble Drew Ali.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 2:
Farrad Muhammad taught a unique form of Islam
preaching the
teachings of the Quran
and the worship of Allah but based on the belief
that blacks were his chosen people.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 3: Followers of the Nation of
Islam were given Arabic names to replace those that had originated
in slavery.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 4: The first temple
of the Nation of Islam was established in Detroit,
during the early 1930's, by which time 8,000 African
Americans had had been recruited to the religion. Each
NOI temple was given a number indicating when it was
built.
Nation of Islam
Facts -
5:
Farrad Muhammad taught a unique form of Islam based on the
teachings of the Quran. One of his disciples, Elijah Muhammad (born
Robert Poole). Farrad Muhammad mysteriously disappeared
and Elijah Muhammad took over as the leader of the
Nation of Islam from 1934 to 1975.
Nation of Islam
Facts -
6:
Elijah Muhammad became known for his loud rhetoric
directed at white people, whom he called “blue-eyed
devils.” Within the NOI, he became widely known as "The
Messenger of Allah".
Nation of Islam
Facts -
7: In 1961,
Elijah Muhammad
visited various Muslim countries and, upon his return,
directed that the NOI temples should now be referred to
as mosques.
Under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, the NOI
gained one million followers who by the 1970'sworshipped
in 76 mosques.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 8: Members of the NOI,
the Black Muslims, are required to adhere to a strict
moral, disciplinary and dress code. Members are forbid
from eating of pork, corn bread or 'slave food' and the
consumption of alcohol or tobacco. The typical dress
code of male members is to suits and ties, and women
members are required to wear modest clothing, typically
long white gowns or saris.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 9: The rituals of
Black Muslims included praying toward Mecca (east) five
times each day (and pre-prayer washing rituals. They
were also required to attend at least two meetings at
the temple every week, recruit new members "Fish
for the dead" and to sell the NOI newspaper.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 10: The NOI also
established the "University of Islam" providing the
education for elementary to high school children
Nation of Islam
Facts - 11:
The Nation of Islam (NOI) advocated black
nationalism that called for the creation of a separate black nation
in America as an alternative to being assimilated by the American
nation.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 12:
Members of Nation of Islam also supported Black
separatism, a movement that aimed to create separate institutions
for African Americans.
Continued...
Nation of Islam
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Nation of Islam for kids
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Nation of Islam
Facts for kids
Nation of Islam
Facts - 13:
The Civil Rights activist Malcolm X,
formerly Malcolm Short, was inspired by the beliefs of
Elijah Muhammad and joined the Nation of Islam in 1952.
Malcolm X, like many members of the organization, also
supported the concept of what would become known as
Black Power.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 14:
During the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 1950's -
1960's, and the emergence of the concept of Black Power,
membership to the Nation of Islam increased as the
charismatic Malcolm X became spokesman the NOI
attracting new followers including high profile
personalities.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 15:
Sporting personalities such as the boxer Cassius
Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and
basketball player Lewis Alcindor, who took the name
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, became famous followers of the
Nation of Islam. Note:
Other famous personalities such as Cat Stevens (Yusuf
Islam) and Jermaine Jackson, brother of the world-famous
pop star Michael Jackson, adopted the Muslim religion in
the 1960's but were not members of the Nation of Islam.
Nation of Islam
Facts -
16: Louis Eugene
Walcott joined this Muslim movement in 1955 and at first
adopted the name Louis X, which he then changed to Louis
Farrakhan. During the early 1950s and 1960s, the NOI
called for racial separatism in the United States, and
protested against police intimidation and brutality.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 17:
Elijah Muhammad
died on February 25, 1975, and the leadership of the NOI
was passed to his son Warith Deen Muhammad. However
Warith Deen Muhammad renounced the origins of Black
Muslims together with the concept of black separatism
and established the World Community of Al-Islam in the
West, which later became known as the American Muslim
Mission.
Nation of Islam
Facts -
18: Disagreeing with
the views of Warith Deen Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan took
over the leadership of the fragmented Nation of Islam,
in 1978. He reestablished the Nation of Islam (NOI) but
was strongly criticized for expressing anti-white
and anti-Semitic statements.
Nation of Islam
Facts -
19: Khalid Abdul
Muhammad, born Harold Moore Jr., was a became the
National Assistant to Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of
Islam. During the late 1980s and early 1990s Khalid
Abdul Muhammad gave numerous speeches at many U.S.
colleges but his harsh rhetoric about Jews and whites
led to his expulsion from the NOI.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 20: Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan famously went on to lead the Million Man March. It was
held on October 16, 1995 around the National Mall in Washington,
D.C., to highlight the problems faced by black communities and call
for unity and revitalization of African American population. .
Nation of Islam
Facts - 21: The Million Man March was
attended by a massive crowd of 850,000 of all different religious
denominations. It featured the keynote address by Louis
Farrakhan and other prominent speakers included civil rights
activists such as Jesse Jackson and Rosa Parks and entertainment was
provided by Stevie Wonder and Maya Angelou.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 22: In 2010, Louis
Farrakhan made the public announcement that he had
embraced Dianetics and actively encouraged Nation of
Islam members to undergo auditing from the Church of
Scientology.
Nation of Islam
Facts - 23: In 2015, on the
20th anniversary of the Million Man March, another rally
was held and Louis Farrakhan, aged 82, passed the torch
to the next generation, again called for unity and
reform in social justice issues affecting African
Americans.
Nation of Islam
Facts for kids
Nation of Islam
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The Nation of Islam, a major
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Fast, fun facts about the NOI
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● The
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