The controversial religious group known as the Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit on July 4th, 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad with the millenarian vision to:
”teach the downtrodden and defenseless Black people a thorough Knowledge of God and of themselves, and to put them on the road to Self-Independence with a superior culture and higher civilization than they had previously experienced.”
The Nation combines Muslim elements of traditional Islam and with Black Nationalist and race-based theology. The group has roughly between 20,000 and 50,000 members.
Among their teachings, they believe that a black scientist by the name of Yakub who lived 6,600 years ago, developed the white race, made to attract others and through the “knowledge of tricks and lies, rule the original black man.” His discovery that the original black man, who is thought to be the aboriginal species, was created by a “brown germ” and a “black germ” lead him to create a despotic regime in the island of Patmos, Greece with 59,999 followers. Through a process of selective breeding and the killing dark complexioned babies, after the first 200 years the ruberoid “red man” rose, 200 years later the citrine “yellow man” evolved and the final 200 years created the albinoid “white man”. Yakub is believed to have died at the age of 152 and after his death his followers continued to weave his mission. Their theology states that he was the biblical Jacob. According to the NOI, Yakub’s heirs were destined to rule for 6,000 years beginning in 1914 before the original black people regained dominance of the world.
During the 1960’s, amidst the peaceful message and marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of civil rights and integration, The NOI preached a different message, that of separation and independence. With famous black muslim spokesperson Malcolm X at the helm, the NOI spread the message that whites couldn’t be trusted and that blacks should branch off into separate schools, churches, and communities. While violence wasn’t preached as the only means of achieving this dream, it was justified in self defense and as a tool to further the cause. In the mid 60’s Malcolm split from the black nationalist group and made his pilgrimage to Mecca. Upon his return his stance on violence seemed to have softened and he even met with MLK Jr. to discuss the current movement. Sadly a year later after leading a mass rally in harlem, Malcolm X was shot down by rivals in the NOI.
”teach the downtrodden and defenseless Black people a thorough Knowledge of God and of themselves, and to put them on the road to Self-Independence with a superior culture and higher civilization than they had previously experienced.”
The Nation combines Muslim elements of traditional Islam and with Black Nationalist and race-based theology. The group has roughly between 20,000 and 50,000 members.
Among their teachings, they believe that a black scientist by the name of Yakub who lived 6,600 years ago, developed the white race, made to attract others and through the “knowledge of tricks and lies, rule the original black man.” His discovery that the original black man, who is thought to be the aboriginal species, was created by a “brown germ” and a “black germ” lead him to create a despotic regime in the island of Patmos, Greece with 59,999 followers. Through a process of selective breeding and the killing dark complexioned babies, after the first 200 years the ruberoid “red man” rose, 200 years later the citrine “yellow man” evolved and the final 200 years created the albinoid “white man”. Yakub is believed to have died at the age of 152 and after his death his followers continued to weave his mission. Their theology states that he was the biblical Jacob. According to the NOI, Yakub’s heirs were destined to rule for 6,000 years beginning in 1914 before the original black people regained dominance of the world.
During the 1960’s, amidst the peaceful message and marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of civil rights and integration, The NOI preached a different message, that of separation and independence. With famous black muslim spokesperson Malcolm X at the helm, the NOI spread the message that whites couldn’t be trusted and that blacks should branch off into separate schools, churches, and communities. While violence wasn’t preached as the only means of achieving this dream, it was justified in self defense and as a tool to further the cause. In the mid 60’s Malcolm split from the black nationalist group and made his pilgrimage to Mecca. Upon his return his stance on violence seemed to have softened and he even met with MLK Jr. to discuss the current movement. Sadly a year later after leading a mass rally in harlem, Malcolm X was shot down by rivals in the NOI.
sources
www.ushistory.org/us/54h.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islamtion_of_Islam
www.socialistalternative.org/life-legacy-malcolm-x/nation-islam-black-muslims/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islamtion_of_Islam
www.socialistalternative.org/life-legacy-malcolm-x/nation-islam-black-muslims/