Elijah Muhammed was the leader of the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X's mentor. He was regarded as a prophet by his followers and preached that white people were demons and that the black race must separate completely from white America. At one point, a sex scandal arose in which Muhammed was accused of illegitimately fathering several childen. After Malcolm X travelled to Mecca and renounced Muhammed's racist teachings, he arranged for Malcolm X to be assassinated.