|
| “ | Justice or else! | „ |
| ~ The Nation of Islam's motto. |
The Nation of Islam, often abbreviated as the NOI, is an African-American religious movement founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad that desires to spread the rest of Islam to blacks everywhere. They hold black supremacist ideals and are considered to be a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The NOI is currently lead by Louis Farrakhan. Malcolm X got his early start as an activist with NOI and soon became indoctrinated into their extremist beliefs about whites, but he soon became disillusioned with their extremist beliefs and left the organization, which eventually lead to the organization's then leader, Elijah Muhammed, to order Malcolm's assassination. The group also has ties to the New Black Panther Party, as many NOI members have also been members of the New Black Panther Party.
Beliefs and theology
The main belief of the NOI and its followers is that there is no other God but Allah. They teach that their founder, Master Fard Muhammad is the Mahdi. The official beliefs of the NOI have been outlined in books, documents, and articles published by the organization, and in speeches by Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Farrakhan, and other ministers. Many of Elijah Muhammad's teachings may be found in Message to the Blackman in America.
Written lessons from 1930 to 1934 were passed from W. Fard Muhammad to his student, Elijah Muhammad. These were collected and entitled The Supreme Wisdom. The NOI continues to teach its followers that the present world society is segmented into three distinct categories. They teach that from a general perspective, 85% of the population are the "deaf, dumb and blind" masses of the people who "are easily led in the wrong direction and hard to lead in the right direction". Those 85% of the masses are said to be manipulated by 10% of the people. Those 10% rich "slave-makers" are said to manipulate the 85% masses of the people through ignorance, the skillful use of religious doctrine, and the mass media. The third group is referred to as the 5% "poor righteous teachers" of the people of the world, who know the truth of the manipulation of the 85% masses of the people by the 10%. The 5% "righteous teachers" are at constant struggle and war with the 10% to reach and "free the minds" of the masses of the people.
In recent years, the embrace of Dianetics under Farrakhan has drawn much criticism that the Nation of Islam is becoming too close to the Church of Scientology and the ideas of its founder L. Ron Hubbard, whom Farrakhan has said he respects. Farrakhan has praised Hubbard, saying he was "exceedingly valuable to every Caucasian person on this Earth". Of followers of Scientology, he stated "You can still be a Christian; you just won't be a devil Christian. You'll still be a Jew, but you won't be a satanic Jew!" NOI Sister Charlene Muhammad, a correspondent for NOI's newspaper The Final Call, received the "Dianetics Auditor of the Year" Award 2018. In her acceptance speech she thanked, in order, Minister Louis Farrakhan, David Miscavige (leader of the Church of Scientology), and “most of all, L. Ron Hubbard."
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Nation of Islam "has maintained a consistent record of anti-Semitism and racism since its founding in the 1930s."
The Nation of Islam has repeatedly denied charges of anti-Semitism. Farrakhan has stated, "The ADL ... uses the term 'anti-Semitism' to stifle all criticism of Zionism and the Zionist policies of the State of Israel and also to stifle all legitimate criticism of the errant behavior of some Jewish people toward the non-Jewish population of the earth." However, NOI officials and outlets including Farrakhan have also been accused of repeatedly using anti-semitic and homophobic rhetoric, including saying, "It's the wicked Jews, the false Jews, that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality. It's the wicked Jews, false Jews, that make it a crime for you to preach the word of God, then they call you homophobic!"
Regarding condemnation for having referred to Adolf Hitler as being a "great man", Farrakhan has said, "I have throughout my life referred to Hitler as a wicked man, yet, the national news media insists that I called him a 'great man', with the implied inference that 'great' means 'good'. However, I did refer to him as 'wickedly great', in the same sense that Genghis Khan stands out in history."
David W. Leinweber of Emory University asserts that the Nation of Islam engages in revisionist and antisemitic interpretations of the Holocaust and that they exaggerate the role of Jews in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Leinweber and others use the original statements of Farrakhan and others as the basis for their evaluation.
NOI Health Minister Abdul Alim Muhammad has accused Jewish doctors of injecting Blacks with the AIDS virus.
Trivia
- The Nation of Islam harbors a pseudohistorical belief that a black scientist named Yakub orchestrated a eugenics program of selective breeding that created the white race on the Greek island of Patmos 6,600 years ago.