Editing Elijah Muhammad (section)

{{Short description|African American religious leader (1897–1975)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Elijah Muhammad
| image               = Elijah Muhammad NYWTS-2 (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption             = Elijah Muhammad in 1964
| alt                 = Black-and-white photo of Elijah Muhammad speaking into microphones at a podium
| order               = Leader of the [[Nation of Islam]]
| term_start          = 1933
| term_end            = 1975
| predecessor         = [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]]<ref name="Corbman 2020">{{cite journal |author-last=Corbman |author-first=Marjorie |date=June 2020 |title=The Creation of the Devil and the End of the White Man's Rule: The Theological Influence of the Nation of Islam on Early Black Theology |editor-last=Fletcher |editor-first=Jeannine H. |journal=[[Religions (journal)|Religions]] |location=[[Basel]] |publisher=[[MDPI]] |volume=11 |issue=6: ''Racism and Religious Diversity in the United States'' |page=305 |doi=10.3390/rel11060305 |doi-access=free |eissn=2077-1444}}</ref>
| successor           = [[Warith Deen Mohammed]]
| birth_name          = Elijah Robert Poole
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1897|10|7}}
| birth_place         = [[Sandersville, Georgia]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1975|2|25|1897|10|7}}      
| death_place         = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| occupation          = Leader of the [[Nation of Islam]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Clara Muhammad]]|1917|1972|end=d.}}
| children            = at least 23 (8 with his wife, 15 with other women), including [[Jabir Herbert Muhammad|Jabir]], [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Warith]], and [[Akbar Muhammad|Akbar]]
}}

'''Elijah Muhammad''' (born '''Elijah Robert Poole'''; October 7, 1897&nbsp;– February 25, 1975) was an American religious leader, [[Black separatism|black separatist]], and self-proclaimed Messenger of [[Allah]] who led the [[Nation of Islam]] (NOI) from 1933 until his death in 1975.<ref name="Corbman 2020" /><ref name="NovaReligio 2016">{{cite journal |author-last=Curtis IV |author-first=Edward E. |date=August 2016 |title=Science and Technology in Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam: Astrophysical Disaster, Genetic Engineering, UFOs, White Apocalypse, and Black Resurrection |editor-last=Wessinger |editor-first=Catherine |editor-link=Catherine Wessinger |journal=[[Nova Religio|Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions]] |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=5–31 |doi=10.1525/novo.2016.20.1.5 |hdl=1805/14819 |hdl-access=free |issn=1541-8480 |s2cid=151927666 }}</ref><ref name="Berg 2011">{{cite book |author-last=Berg |author-first=Herbert |year=2011 |chapter=Elijah Muhammad's Redeployment of Muḥammad: Racialist and Prophetic Interpretations of the Qurʾān |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6V6oW6qdfkC&pg=PA329 |editor1-last=Boekhoff-van der Voort |editor1-first=Nicolet |editor2-last=Versteegh |editor2-first=Kees |editor3-last=Wagemakers |editor3-first=Joas |title=The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Islamic History and Civilization |volume=89 |pages=329–353 |doi=10.1163/9789004206786_017 |isbn=978-90-04-20678-6 |issn=0929-2403}}</ref> Elijah Muhammad was also the teacher and mentor of [[Malcolm X]], [[Louis Farrakhan]], [[Muhammad Ali]], and his son, [[Warith Deen Mohammed]].

In the 1930s, Muhammad formally established the Nation of Islam, a religious movement that originated under the leadership and teachings of [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] and that promoted [[black power]], [[black pride|pride]], economic [[empowerment]], and racial separation. Elijah Muhammad taught that Master Fard Muhammad is the 'Son of Man' of the Bible, and after Fard's disappearance in 1934, Muhammad assumed control over Fard's former ministry, formally changing its name to the "Nation of Islam".

Under Muhammad's leadership, the Nation of Islam grew from a small, local black congregation into an influential nationwide movement. He was unique in his combination of [[black nationalism]] with traditional Islamic themes. Muhammad promoted black self-sufficiency and self-reliance over integration, and he encouraged [[African Americans]] to create a separate state of their own. Muhammad also rejected the civil rights movement for its emphasis on integration, instead promoting a separate black community.

Muhammad's views on race and his call for blacks having an independent nation for themselves made him a controversial figure, both within and outside the Nation of Islam. He has been variously described as a black nationalist and a [[black supremacy|black supremacist]].

Muhammad died on February 25, 1975, after a period of declining health. He was succeeded as head of the Nation of Islam by his son, [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Wallace Muhammad]], who renamed the organization as the World Community of al-Islam in the West. Wallace Muhammad later changed his name as part of his own transition to [[Sunni Islam]] and is now known as Imam Warith Deen Mohammed.