Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Elijah Muhammad
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Conversion and rise to leadership== {{Main|Nation of Islam}} While he was in Detroit, Poole began taking part in various [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] movements within the city. In August 1931, at the urging of his wife, Elijah Poole attended a speech on [[Islam]] and black empowerment by [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] (Wallace D. Fard). Afterward, Poole said he approached Fard and asked if he was the [[Mahdi|"Mahdi" (redeemer)]], Fard responded that he was, but that his time had not yet come.<ref name="An Original Man" /><ref name=AmericanVisions /> Fard taught that black people, as original Asiatics, had a rich cultural history which was stolen from them in their enslavement. Fard stated that African Americans could regain their freedoms through self-independence and cultivation of their own culture and civilization.<ref name="noi-history">{{cite web|last1=Muhammad|first1=Tynetta|title=Nation of Islam in America: A Nation of Beauty & Peace|url=http://www.noi.org/noi-history/|publisher=Nation of Islam|access-date=March 13, 2015|date=March 28, 1996}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Citation is document by Muhammad's widow, published on NOI website—not impartial|date=March 2015}} Poole, having strong consciousness of both race and class issues as a result of his struggles in the South, quickly fell in step with Fard's ideology. Poole soon became an ardent follower of Fard and joined his movement, as did his wife and several brothers. Soon afterward, Poole was given a Muslim surname, first "Karriem", and later, at Fard's behest, "Muhammad". He assumed leadership of the Nation's Temple No. 2 in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]].<ref>''The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad'' (2001). This source claims the first encounter between Poole and Fard took place at the Poole's dinner table.</ref> His younger brother Kalot Muhammad became the leader of the movement's self-defense arm, the [[Fruit of Islam]]. Fard turned over leadership of the growing Detroit group to Elijah Muhammad, and the Allah Temple of Islam changed its name to the Nation of Islam.<ref>''The Messenger'' (2001) suggests the name was changed to convince the authorities that Allah's Temple of Islam had disbanded.</ref> Elijah Muhammad and Wallace Fard continued to communicate until 1934, when Wallace Fard disappeared. Elijah Muhammad succeeded him in Detroit and was named "Minister of Islam". After the disappearance, Elijah Muhammad told followers that Allah had come as Wallace Fard, in the flesh, to share his teachings that are a salvation for his followers.<ref>''An Original Man'': One NOI tenet states: "There is no God but Allah, Master W. D. Fard, Elijah, his prophet"</ref><ref>Charles Eric Lincoln, ''The Black Muslims in America'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994.</ref><ref>Chronology of the Nation of Islam, Toure Muhammad.</ref> In 1934, the Nation of Islam published its first newspaper, ''Final Call to Islam'', to educate and build membership. Children of its members attended classes at the newly created [[Muhammad University of Islam]], but this soon led to challenges by [[Board of education|boards of education]] in Detroit and [[Chicago Board of Education|Chicago]], which considered the children [[Truancy|truants]] from the public school system. The controversy led to the jailing of several University of Islam board members and Elijah Muhammad in 1934 and to violent confrontations with police. Elijah was put on [[probation]], but the university remained open.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)