Nation of Islam-what is it all about?

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

Hey guys,
recently, I had this eye opening conversation with a girl who is a believer in NOI..and i must admit, i could not identify to a single issue that she told me about..being a muslim and all…what she told me…on the risk of sounding like an ignorant…it sounded more liek an anti slavery, give blacks their rites..black supremacy…black this black that rather than a musalmaan thing that they believe in…liek black ppl will be resurrected before anyone else…and that (nauzubillah)God appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad,the long-awaited “Messiah” of the Christians and the “Mahdi” of the Muslims…
I plead ignorance in this issue, but considerign that a majority of the muslims of america perscribe to the Nation of Islam than to Islam itself…its very distrubing to me…so could anyone shed some concise, short insight on this topic?

  • Hell..is other people…*
2

it started as a black nationalist movement in 1920s.

founder was Elijha Muhammad, now it has change
Elijha Muhammad was told by ford (which according to him was Allha) that Eljha Muhammad 's seventh child will be a boy and will later lead the nation of Islam.

His seventh son converted to true Islam, denied his father as a prophet and criticize his adultrtrious affairs. Members of Nation of Islam didnt wanted him to become the leader but elijha muhammad said that NO he would be the one to lead.

and today Wallac Muhmmad (a true muslim and son of Elijha muhammad) is leading nation of islam. It is still a black nationalist movement but it has denied all previous belifs and are true followers of prophet Muhammad.

Other sons of Elijha Muhammad still follow their fathers beliefs.

I have met the leader of Nation of Islam Wallac Muhammad three times, he is always surrounded by security gueards and memebrs of his nation but still a very nice and modest person.

To have an insight on the Nation of Islam's role in civil war, leading black america and contribution to iislam in united states you should read the biography of Maclom X or books of Thomas Pirir.

I will get you more information on it later.

What happens when we're dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we'll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

3

Nation of Islam is 100% pure Racism, not a religion.

4

I know I am an ignorant fool but then who is Farrakhan? Is he at all associated with NOI? I have seen him on TV all decked up in white and have these black ladies sitting on the stage all dressed in white with real nice head dresses. Who are they? Any references and I can do the reading by myself.

5

http://www.noi.org/information/default.html

I couldn’t find any reference to Wallac Muhammad. Its Elijah Muhammad or Louis Farrakhan.

6

[quote]
Originally posted by OldLahori:
I know I am an ignorant fool but then who is Farrakhan? Is he at all associated with NOI? I have seen him on TV all decked up in white and have these black ladies sitting on the stage all dressed in white with real nice head dresses. Who are they? Any references and I can do the reading by myself.
[/quote]

Its a strain of Islam, their views are racist, all whites are evil, Luis believes he is Jesus and so and so.

When Malcom X went for haj he use to follow NoI but after what he observed during haj changed his views. He returned a very changed man he left NoI and joined mainstream Islam and apologized to the whites for his racist views.

[This message has been edited by Abdali (edited April 30, 2002).]

7

Thank you Pristine!
Okay guys something really funny is going on!!
I went to the site posted by Pristine. Click on resources and then NOI online study center. Then go to Islamic history. Look at Points 4 and 5 of the Index. They take you to the Ahemddiya site and all about Mirza. Any clues? I never knew that NOI had any connection to Ahemddiyas.

8

I am not sure if i have spelled his name correctly or not.
But he is the son of Elijha Muhammad and current leader of The Nation of ISlam.

He have denied his father’s prophecy, racist beliefs and now practices and preaches sunni Islam.

What happens when we’re dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we’ll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

9

[quote]
Originally posted by isloo_ki_anarkali:
I plead ignorance in this issue, but *considerign that a majority of the muslims of america perscribe to the Nation of Islam than to Islam itself...
*
[/quote]

Are majority of Muslims in America, members of Nation of Islam? I don't know the stats but this statement just doesn't seem right to me.

10

[quote]
Originally posted by OldLahori:
Thank you Pristine!
Okay guys something really funny is going on!!
I went to the site posted by Pristine. Click on resources and then NOI online study center. Then go to Islamic history. Look at Points 4 and 5 of the Index. They take you to the Ahemddiya site and all about Mirza. Any clues? I never knew that NOI had any connection to Ahemddiyas.
[/quote]

ROFL!!!!!!!

Their entire "Islamic History" page is just a Ahmediyya website about Ahmediyya history opening in a frame!!!!

What idiot designed the NOI site?

11

mAd_ScIeNtIsT and Abdail;

It was started as a black nationalist movement , who believed in black supermacy and had racist views.

but its not like that anymore, all those theories have been denied by Elijha Muhammad's son. who is currently leading NOI.

They are sunni muslims and nationalists. and are working to improve the conditions of black americans but are not racist anymore.

I have heard the speeches of their leader, he preaches equality and peace like all other imams.

But some followers of nation of nation of islam have sticked to the teachings of Elijha Muhammad. majority had'nt.

What happens when we're dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we'll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

12

accurate spelling of his name is “Wallace Dean Muhammad”.

What happens when we’re dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we’ll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

13

[quote]
Originally posted by OldLahori:
I know I am an ignorant fool but then who is Farrakhan? Is he at all associated with NOI? I have seen him on TV all decked up in white and have these black ladies sitting on the stage all dressed in white with real nice head dresses. Who are they? Any references and I can do the reading by myself.
[/quote]

Louis Farrakhan is best known today as the head of the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam advocates black separatism along with some of the practices and beliefs of Islam. One of its main goals is for blacks to attain self-sufficiency. Farrakhan has been highly criticized as a racist and is thought to be anti-Semitic. Farrakhan has sparked more criticism in recent years, particularly from the U.S. Government, because of his "world friendship tour." During the tour he visited several countries run by dictators.

Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Wolcott in New York City. He grew up in Boston and became a nightclub singer in his early twenties. He was known as "Calypso Gene" in those days. He joined the Nation of Islam through the encouragement of Malcolm X and changed his name to Louis X. (He later changed his name again to Abdul Haleem Farrakhan.) He rose quickly in the Nation of Islam because of his speaking and singing talents. When the split occurred between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan became increasingly critical of Malcolm X. He later admitted to helping create the atmosphere that led to the assassination of Malcolm X. Farrakhan formed a new Nation of Islam in the 1970s after Muhammad's son, Wallace Muhammad, changed the name and the purpose of the original organization.

Wallace Muhammad, the current leader follows the suni islam .
Elijah Muhammad died in 1975 and was succeeded by his son Wallace Muhammad, who proved much quieter and more moderate than his father. At Wallace Muhammad's invitation Farrakhan moved to Chicago to work in the movement's headquarters. Soon Wallace Muhammad began to pursue a program of moderation for the movement, abandoning its antiwhite rhetoric (and even admitting whites to membership) and building bridges to the larger world from the Islamic community. That program resulted in a movement that today functions as a relatively conventional expression of Islam.

What happens when we're dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we'll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

[This message has been edited by secret_obsession (edited April 30, 2002).]

14

this site contains complete information.

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9912/noi.html

What happens when we’re dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we’ll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

15

secret obsession you wrote that NOI has undergone major reform, as in they arent racsist etc etc, but piqued by what my NOI believing friend told me, I spoke to a couple of other girls and they are pretty much as racist as one can get..it seems almost like they are black KKK members..and on the risk of sounding like a racist my self..they looked like the major sermon they receive is that of total world submission to the blacks of the world...one of the girls is a 'sister' at teh local NOI and she told me that the claim that ahmedis and qadiyanis have about their Hazrat Mirza is almost identical to the claim they have about Elijha Muhammad..and as expected, they believe that he was the Messiah...and that is still the offical banner of NOI....

plus, i checked out the link by pristine adn its disturbing to find that they quote the Bible, Scriptures with as much ease as they do the Quran...that bugs me..the two religions are quite distinctly apart within themselves eventhough they are abrahamic religions..

muni the statistic i quoted, i think i heard on tv...i think it was said that about 35% of muslims in america are NOI members...and since all sects of Islam are counted under the banner of one islam, the NOI is considered a part of Islam (<-i hope that sentence made sense)

  • Hell..is other people...*
16

This is what I have been able to find on the topic so far. SO is correct that Wallace accepted orthodox Islam and also published Bilalian News till 1985. His chapter of NOI more or less disappeared after that. Farrakhan on the other hand is a controversial guy, and there are many many testomonies that his chapter is corrupt and bears very little resemblance to traditional Islam. The disturbing thing is that I contacted the local chapter of NOI here, and apparently there is some sort of tying up between the Ahemdiyya movement and NOI that has taken place; I was being told a lot about the Ahemdiyyas at a NOI chapter!!!

******************************************* http://www.blackpressusa.com/history/timeline_essay.asp?newsID=100

“The paper,” she continued, “carrying a large amount of original news that would often not be given a single column in general market newspapers, had an orderly plan for content and made stimulating reading, particularly for followers of the movement.”

Muhammad Speaks, like its NOI founder namesake, bore many children.

It was renamed Bilalian News after Wallace Muhammad, one of Elijah Muhammad’s sons, took over the original NOI after Elijah died in 1975. Wallace subsequently changed the group into a religious order that embraced both Orthodox Islam and all races.

Wallace’s group began publishing Muslim Journal after Bilalian News was discontinued.

The largest splinter group that left the original Nation after Elijah Muhammad’s death was the one led by Farrakhan. Farrakhan’s NOI was established by 1981, the same year its organ, The Final Call, began publication.

And a new Muhammad Speaks has been publishing in the 1990s. The tabloid is the organ of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, another splinter group from the original NOI. The Lost-Found Nation is led by Silis Muhammad

The URL below is the link to muslim journal the journal that took over Bilalian News, Wallaces paper. I think it speaks for itself.

***************************************** http://www.muslimjournal.com/

At that URL you may want to read what Imam Deen has to say!!!

[This message has been edited by OldLahori (edited May 01, 2002).]

17

** why is it so hard to keep a movement just that and not translate it into a religious faction? **

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/frown.gif

OL-u re right..wot Imam D hath said is worth ones own eyes to read rather than another pointing it out!

  • Hell..is other people…*

[This message has been edited by isloo_ki_anarkali (edited May 01, 2002).]

18

My point still stands, Secret Obsession. The group that identifies itself as NOI follows a racist ideology and not a religion.

In 1985, the majority of those previously identifying themselves as NOI became Sunnis. However, Farrakhan then set up a new group, also called NOI, to continue the propagation of the racist ideology whilst trying to call it Islam.

19

[quote]
Originally posted by mAd_ScIeNtIsT:
**My point still stands, Secret Obsession. The group that identifies itself as NOI follows a racist ideology and not a religion.

In 1985, the majority of those previously identifying themselves as NOI became Sunnis. However, Farrakhan then set up a new group, also called NOI, to continue the propagation of the racist ideology whilst trying to call it Islam.**
[/quote]

NOI , is divided .

one sect is being run and lead by Wallace Muhammad, whi is sunni muslim. He is completely unracist, i know it because i have met him, have heard his speeches live and have talked to him personally. His followers are not racist either.

and yeaha , even in the sunni sect of noi , only african americans are allowed to have membership (not even africans) because its a nationalist movement and work to improve socio econminc status and other improvments for black america.

the one lead by Farrahkhan are pure racist, they belive blacks are the original people of the world and whites are devils made by a scientist who denied god.

What happens when we're dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we'll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.

All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.

20

Interesting topic! I will have to look more into it, InshAllah!

Though at times its talked about (in Ahmadi & Non-Ahmadi circles) how Elijah Muhammad was influenced by the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as), I haven't heard the NOI accepting that anywhere. Recently someone asked in a Questions & Answers session to the present Khalifa (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad) about his view of the NOI and if I remember correctly, he said "They are a nation, though not of Islam" - pointing to few of their racist ideologies.

Here in America we have a vast majority of African American Ahmadis. Actually the Naib Ameer of the USA jama'at is one & I personally had a chance to work with him last year. A very humble & loving being!