The Nation of Islam (NOI), also known as Black Muslims, is a spiritual/political movement founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad[?] (1877-1934?). It was based on the doctrine that out of all the nations of the earth, black people are the only nation without any knowledge of their past history, no control of their present lives, and had no guidance for their future. One of Wallace's first disciples was Elijah Poole, who later changed his name to Elijah Muhammad[?] (1897-1975). Elijah Muhammad began preaching that W F. Muhammad was literally God in person.
Elijah was born in Georgia but later moved to Chicago where he came into contact with Fard Muhammad and accepted his teachings. He eventually travelled all across America setting up mosques or temples (as they are commonly called) and named them based upon his sequence of arrival. In New York, to this day, the mosque there is still referred to as Temple No. 7 because that was the seventh place visited by Elijah Muhammad during his travels.
Throughout this time Elijah Muhammad's teachings were spread by his followers, everywhere from the streets to the prisons. They eventually reached a prisoner called Malcolm Little. Upon his acceptance of the teachings, as he left prison he joined the Nation of Islam and became commonly known as Malcolm X. This 'X' represents what is called in mathematics an unknown variable. The followers accept this X as a sign that they are rejecting all that this world has done to them including the family name given to their ancestors by slave owners. They eventually replace this 'X' with an Arabic name more descriptive of their personality and character. (see slave name)
Also around this time an up-and-coming calypso singer, actor and violinist called Louis Eugene Walcott came into contact with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He also accepted the teachings and eventually came to be known as Louis Farrakhan. Louis Farrakhan is currently the leader of The Nation of Islam and lives in Chicago, Illinois at the former home of Elijah Muhammad.
A separate article, Nation of Islam anti-semitism, describes this group's history of anti-Semitic preaching.
Most Muslims all over the world reject and disapprove of this group because of its divergence, sometimes extreme, from the teachings of the mainstream and original Islam.
Nation of Islam and Islam coincide on many points, including the following:
But they differ in several respects:
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