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Evolution of The Nation of Islam by Ernest Allen JR
Evolution of The Nation of Islam by Ernest Allen JR
T HE EMIGRATIONIST-SEPARATIST stream of
20th-century African American national-
ism differs significantly from its 19th and
Pan-African identity, the latter a complex of
religious and fictive ones .
late-18th century counterparts due primarily HERE wERE MORE direct historical connec-
to the influence of Marcus Garvey, who tions as well, including the legacy of sym-
linked the quest for black self-determination bolic militarism initiated by the UNIA in the
to a vigorous attack upon African American form of a disciplined, non-armed security
claims to civil and political liberties within force. "Where is the black man's Govern-
the United States! (The way had been pre- ment? . . . his army, his navy, his men of big
pared, it is true, by Booker T. Washington's affairs?," inquired Marcus Garvey during the
subordination of such claims to economic World War I era. "I could not find them, and
development.) This dubious strategy lay at then I declared, `I will help to make them' .""
the core of controversies surrounding the Mr. Garvey's "army" assumed the form of the
0
plary editorship, the presence of Messenger
Muhammad's apocalyptic and occasionally FFICIALLY DEPARTING THE NOI in March
rambling articles on the center pages, sur- 1964, Malcolm X perpetuated the
rounded by news stories devoted to anti-colo- NOI's spiritual/ secular dichotomy by estab-
nial struggles, workers' strikes, anti-war lishing autonomous, short-lived religious and
demonstrations, and the plight of political secular organizations - the Muslim Mosque
prisoners, appeared incongruous at best . Incorporated (MMI) and the Organization
Nonetheless, the formula proved successful : of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), respective-
far broader in scope than any black main- ly By subsequently seeking to join the civil
stream publication, Muhammad Speaks rights movement in a meaningful way he also
remained a source of hard-core news, intro- sought to break with the NOI's past practice
spective commentary, and spiritual suste- of "talking tough, but never doing
nance for literally hundreds of thousands of anything." Malcolm's assassination in Feb-
devoted readers for over a decade . ruary 1965 seems to have led to a significant
falling off of NOI recruitment until the latter
C ODIFIED IN NEWSPAPER LAYOUTS, the doctri- part of the decade, when the organization
nal division between secular and sacred made a substantial comeback . (This revital-
was more significantly reflected in the ization, it should be noted, arrived at a time
respective public roles of Malcolm X and Eli- when civil rights and black power organiza-
jah Muhammad from the late 1950s onward . tions were in terminal decline.)
Whereas Elijah Muhammad's writings and Having had insufficient time to consolidate
speeches occasionally touched upon secular the MMI and the OAAU following his break
themes, most thoughts which he cultivated with the NOI, what Malcolm X left to future
for public consumption tended to be generations was a five-fold ideological legacy.
expressed in spiritual - generally apocalyp- The first involved his imparting a sense of
tic - terms. And where the earliest public integrity, honesty, and genuine pedagogy to
discourses of Malcolm X revolved largely African American leadership which, sad to say,
around spiritual issues, by the 1960s the sub- has remained unparalleled since his death .
ject of religion, in his public teachings at Second was his vow to pursue African Ameri-
least, was mentioned mostly in passing: "You can liberation by "any means necessary." Third
aren't oppressed because you're a Baptist or was the gift of NOI demonology, which contin-
a Methodist," Malcolm chided his African ues to be recycled in numerous reprintings
American audiences, "you're oppressed and reproductions of Malcolm's earlier
because you're black." Increasingly moved by speeches and taped lectures . Fourth was his
the socialist revolutions successfully under- conversion to Sunni Islam, a dramatic moment
taken in China and Cuba, as well as the which' scored a deep imprint upon NOI mem-
ongoing anti-imperialist struggles taking bers and non-members alike. And finally, El-
place in other parts of the "non-white" devel- Hajj Malik el-Shabazz bestowed upon African
oping world, Malcolm X sought to cast the Americans a triple broadening of horizons
African American struggle for human rights regarding the concept of their struggle : from
in a more encompassing, revolutionary light. civil rights to a more fundamental demand for
Thus while Messenger Muhammad's reli- human rights; from the strictures of domestic
gious precepts remained invariant, Minister politics to a genuine internationalism, bearing
Malcolm's secular call for the political trans- implications for global alliances with others
formation of the U.S . was pushed to the facing similar oppression ; and from a narrow
outer limits . Despite the private sanction notion of civil rights where the sanctity of pri-
given this direction by Muhammad, Mal- vate property was never deeply interrogated, to
colm's revolutionary, rhetorical flourishes one of socialist revolution ."
AT THE NOI'S THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION control of NOI money affairs on the part of
in 1959 Elijah Muhammad announced a coterie of Chicago-based individuals known
a $20 million project to construct a mosque, affectionately as the "royal family": FOI-head
school, and hospital on six city blocks - an Raymond Sharrieff, Elijah's son-in-law; Has-
endeavor which was never realized .7' But san Sharreff, grandson ; and sons Herbert
building upon earlier acquisitions, by the Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad, Jr.' S
early 1970s the NOI had managed to accrue With the NOI's growing bourgeoisification
some $14 .5 million in Chicago property, endorsed by Elijah Muhammad himself, the
including a string of small bakeries and organization in early 1972 embarked upon a
cleaners, some 40-odd rental units, a control- $2 million project involving the construction
ling interest in the Guaranty Bank and Trust of five homes on South Woodlawn Avenue to
Co, a newspaper with annual profits of $3 be built for families of NOI officials at orga-
million, and a supermarket which cleared nizational expense. While some NOI mem-
$325,000 on sales of $1 .7 million. The group bers felt such gifts to be well deserved, oth-
also ran a $22 million fish import business ers took note of a widening economic gap
and held title to 20,000 acres of farm land in between leaders and followers. In earlier
Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia - some years the NOI had prided itself on holding
$6 .2 million worth. standards higher than those of the Christian
Although overall organizational assets church ; now outsiders and some insiders as
were often reported to have been as high as well began to question whether the differ-
$70 or $80 million, that figure was much too ence between Muslim ministers and their
generous, according to Wallace Muhammad, stereotypical Christian counterparts was root-
who estimated the NOI's net worth in 1976 ed in anything more than narrow doctrinal
.73
to be around $46 million On the debit disagreements.
side, for example, there had existed three Responding to the corruptive "rise to
years earlier some $9.4 million in long-term power" of Mr. Muhammad's heirs apparent,
debt; losses accruing from the farm opera- a rebel group of young Muslims, described as
tions alone came to almost $700,000 yearly; "all in their 20s," took matters into their own
and millions of dollars in back taxes were hands. In October 1971 Raymond Sharrieff
owed the Internal Revenue Service. Other was the target of a botched assassination
problems cited concerned sub-minimum attempt; shortly thereafter several dissidents
wage salaries for employees as well as lapses were found murdered .;~ The following
in social security payments to the federal month, the group initiated a planned tour of
government . Due to a severe lack of cash NOI temples in some 16 cities, ostensibly for
flow, an absence of technical and managerial the purpose of forming a new organization .
skills, and a downturn in the U.S . economy, But the trip ended tragically in Baton Rouge,
at its early 1970's peak the NOI's financial Louisiana in early 1972, where the insur-
empire already lay in jeopardy. In a frantic gents had held a rally which culminated in
effort to obtain cash, the organization the deaths of two white deputy sheriffs and
turned to Arab countries and, reportedly, to an equal number of NOI adherents. From
crime. A $3 million loan - used for the pur- his Chicago headquarters, Elijah Muham-
chase of a Greek Orthodox Church subse- mad denied any knowledge of the incident .
quently transformed into a mosque - was But further incidents of bloodshed - for
obtained from Libya in 1973, but reported which calculated efforts at destabilization
efforts to secure funds from other Arab cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor
nations in exchange for the NOI's relaxing - would continue to mar the NOI's public
of its racial policies and the embrace of a image.79 A year later, in Washington, D.C ., a
more traditional Islam, ended in failure. group of NOI disciples murdered seven
74
Libya later refused a second loan request . members of a Hanafi Muslim sect, including
T
in Newark .
HE FINANCIAL TURMOIL resulting from Eli-
jah Muhammad's having died intestate
The Passing of Elijah: From Nation to
pitted the claims of some family members
World Community
E
against those of the organization . For years,
LIJAH MUHAMMAD'S DEATH in February cash had been taken in with no accountabili-
1975 set into motion a chain of events ty; in many instances Elijah Muhammad's
which would change the face of Islam in the personal holdings proved inseparable from
United States . Taking firm charge of the those of the NOI . As a result, some of the
NOI, Wallace Muhammad instituted theolog- properties, including Your Supermarket,
ical and structural changes at a dizzying The Fish House, Salaam Restaurant, and the
pace . Four months after taking command he Shabazz Bakery, were divided among the
announced a change in policy permitting family ; others went to the organization . In
whites to join the group ; around the same the process the state did its best to withhold
time the first female minister was appointed. as many resources as possible from the
Harlem Temple No . 7 on 116th Street was NOI. In mid-1986 a Chicago probate court
renamed after Malcolm X, and a new temple ruled that a $5 .7 million Poor Fund Account
opened in Spanish Harlem in an effort to belonged not to the former Nation of Islam,
increase the number of Hispanic members . but to Mr. Muhammad's personal estate .
Legal fees for NOI members accused of Awarding the amount to his twenty-two docu-
,87
crimes were no longer to be automatically mented children the court ordered the
paid . The NOI's stringent dress code was repository for the account, Dai-Ichi Kangyo
relaxed, its security force, the Fruit of Islam, Bank (formerly First Pacific Bank) of Chica-
abolished. No longer celebrated, as in the go, to relinquish the funds.$$
past, as a commemorative religious holiday, Inheriting an economic morass which was
Saviour's Day, 1976 was made the occasion of years in the making, Wallace Muhammad
the first-year anniversary report; the follow- announced to his followers in 1976 that "You
ing year the observance became known as are in debt, debt, debt. ""9 With the selling off
Survival Day. By early 1978 it was reported or leasing of NOI properties, millions of dol-
that every top-ranking administrative post lars of inherited financial obligations were
had been changed at least twice, with minis- eventually retired. Stepping down as leader
ters placed on fixed salaries at $150-$300 per of the WCIW in 1978, Muhammad noted
week, instead of being able to set their own that the organization's "image has been
rate . The ministers - now designated as changed from one of financial empire to
imams - were removed from business opera- one of a real religious movement and I hope
tions, and unprofitable enterprises it remains that way" But the claim was not
quite accurate : although the WCIW had
.88
scrapped In line with these structural trans-
formations, a most fundamental change dropped the rhetoric of economic national-
occurred within NOI doctrine as well . No ism and involuntarily liquidated many of its
longer would the racialized elements of NOI properties, the quest for economic empire
eschatology issue from its gatherings and seems to have burned just as strongly as
N ELECTING TO RETURN to the old teachings, E QUAL IN IMPORT to the partial civil rights
Farrakhan faced a two-fold problem of victories of the 1960s was an amend-
legitimation : finding acceptance among the ment to the U.S . Immigration and Nationali-
NOI faithful as the Messenger's rightful heir, ty Act, effective at the very end of 1965,
on the one hand ; and on the other, cultivat- which sparked the entry of foreign-born
ing a sense of ambivalence, if not approval, Muslims into the U.S . by the hundreds of
within traditional Islamic circles regarding thousands. From 1965 to 1986 the number
his spiritual authenticity. Formidable obsta- of Muslim immigrants admitted to the U.S .
cles blocked Minister Farrakhan's belated each year (most of whom hailed from the
bid to insert himself in the direct line of Middle East, North Africa, and Asia) would
leadership succession to Elijah Muhammad. multiply by a factor of eight. By the latter
For three years, after all, the world was made year the total number of Muslims living with-
to understand that Wallace Muhammad, son in U.S . borders would be estimated at 4 mil-
121
of Elijah, had been chosen by the Messenger lion . Carried past immigration checkpoints
of Allah as his successor. And had not Louis by an unprecedented wave of adherents, tra-
Farrakhan himself proclaimed that "No ill ditional Islam rapidly spread to key U.S .
winds will ruffle this divine nation . No one cities, further narrowing the possibilities for
A N EGYPTIAN COLUMNIST NOTED that Minister Far- tional message that comes after the prophet Mo-
,6
rakhan first made press headlines in Africa in hammed, is not proper and must be rejected .'
the mid-1980s as a result of his "much publicised call to Islam in Africa also raised the
friendly relations with the Libyan leader Muammar issue of white supremacist attitudes among Arab
Qaddafi." Broadening those African connections, Muslims: "to my Arab brothers and sisters," ex-
the NOI's First International Saviours' Day was held claimed Farrakhan on International Saviours' Day,
in Accra, Ghana from October 6 through 9, 1994. you have to be very careful about how you spread
NOI leaders were accompanied by some 1,500 to Islam. You cannot spread a cultural imperialism in
2,000 black Americans on the trip, including the rap the name of Islam. . . . If you feel that Islam is the
group Public Enemy and other musicians. There true path, then ask me to accept Islam but don't try
Farrakhan called for a new vision which would bring to make me an Arab when I am African. Allow me
about economic self-sufficiency for the African con- to keep my African personality, my African culture.
tinent .2 At the end of the conference the NOI's Min- What has happened in Africa is that the seed of
ister of Health announced plans to construct a $20 white supremacy is even seen in Islam in the way
million factory in Ghana to manufacture medical some of my Arab brothers treat their African broth-
ers in Islam. They are not treated as equal. They are
supplies - syringes, drugs, and drug containers -
for local use as well as export. High on the project's treated as somebody who joined a faith that doesn't
belong to them.'
agenda was the introduction of a device for HIV
screening known as target HIV, "whose results could Anti-black Arab racism is indeed a problem. But by
be read visually and obtained within five minutes. criticizing Arab Muslims, and thereby seeking to un-
The NOI has had no prior experience in running dercut the role of traditional Islam in Africa south of
such an operation, however, and it remains to be the Sahara, Minister Farrakhan appears to ignore
seen whether the enterprise will get off the ground . the region's twelve-century-old Islamic legacy -
There were Ghanaian supporters as well as de- which includes the wide-ranging historical influence
tractors of International Saviours' Day, and it would of indigenous African Muslim leaders such as Al-Hajj
be unfair to draw up a balance sheet based upon Omaru and Usuman dan Fodio.s Given the histori-
newspaper accounts alone. The arguments of some cal background, it remains to be seen just how Min-
of these contrary voices, however, were not without ister Farrakhan's approach to Islam, tied to the
ballast. Declaring itself in opposition to "racialized" theme of oppositional culture, will be received in
politics, for example, the Ghanaian Chronicle af- West, Central, and East Africa.
firmed that: - Ernest Allen, Jr.
Acknowledgments
70 Lawrence Mamiya has advanced a convenient para- 77 Chicago Tribune (January 13, 1972): 2, sect. 113; (Janu-
digm to characterize the difference between Louis ary 14,1972) : 2, sect. 1D .
Farrakhan and W. Deen Mohammed as that of a pre- 78 [New Orleans) Times-Picayune (January 11, 1972): 1, 2;
hajj "Old Malcolm" to that of a post-hajj "New Mal- (January 12, 1972) : 1, 2; (January 13, 1972) : 2, 3;
colm ." This framework holds true, however, only if Chicago Tribune (January 14, 1972) : 18 ; (January 15,
one limits oneself to the domains of religion and 1972) : 1; (May 1, 1973) : 1, 3; New York Times (January
racial nationalism. See Lawrence H. Mamiya, "Minis- 21, 1972): 1, 21 ; (May 1, 1973): 35; (April 1, 1975) :
ter Louis Farrakhan and the Final Call : Schism in 25 . Nine Muslims were eventually found guilty of
the Muslim Movement," in The Muslim Community in murder, but the convictions were overturned on a
North America, ed . Earle H. Waugh Baha Abu-Laban technicality.
and Regula B. Qureshi (Edmonton: University of 79 Nor was the NOI image helped by the fact that
Alberta Press, 1983,`., 234. African Americans affiliated with Dar Ul Islam, a tra-
71 Pittsburgh Courier (February 28, 1959) : 4-5 [mag . ditional Islamic organization based in Brooklyn,
sect.] . were also involved in a deadly gun battle in early
72 Chicago Tribune (March 12, 1995) : 16. 1974; to the general public, to be black and Muslim
73 Newsweek (March 15, 1976): 33. was to be a "Black Muslim," or NOI adherent. See