Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and socio-political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 with a declared aim of "resurrecting" the spiritual, mental, social and economic condition of the black man and woman of America and the world.

Divergence from mainstream Islam

NOI is viewed by almost all Muslims as a heretical cult. The reason cited most often by traditional Muslims is that the NOI has taught that God would manifest himself in a human being (Fard Muhammad) -- in Islam, the most central article of faith is the statement, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet," -- and that one race (the black race) is superior to other races, whereas Islam believes in the total transcendence of God, and that people of all races are created as equals and viewed as such by God.

Related Topics:
Cult - Statement - Muhammad

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Many Muslims reject and disapprove of this group because of its divergence, sometimes extreme, from the teachings of mainstream Islam. Some Muslims refer to NOI with the pejorative term Farrakhanism in order to distinguish themselves from it.

Related Topics:
Muslim - Islam

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Like mainstream Islam, the Nation of Islam preaches adherence to the "five pillars of the (Islamic) faith": salat, or prayer, five times daily facing due East, toward the holy city of Mecca; zakat il-fitr, charity to the poor; fasting during the holy month of Ramadan; and that every Muslim who is physically and financially able must make Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in his or her lifetime. The NOI also teaches morality and personal decorum, emphasizing modesty, mutual respect and discipline in dress and comportment. NOI adherents do not consume pork, stress a healthy diet and physical fitness, and the consumption of alcohol and tobacco is frowned upon. In these respects, the NOI is in general agreement with mainstream Islamic tradition. However, the Nation of Islam argues that because of the unique experience of the oppression and degradation of slavery, Elijah Muhammad used unique methods for introducing Islam to his people.

Related Topics:
Mecca - Ramadan - Hajj - Slavery

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In other matters, NOI teachings diverge markedly from traditional Islam.

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• God's incarnation
• NOI: Teaches that "Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited Messiah of the Christians and the Mahdi of the Muslims."
• Mainstream Islam: Teaches that it is heretical and blasphemous to believe that God would manifest Himself in human form (or any material form). God is incorporeal.
• Resurrection of the dead
• NOI: Teaches the resurrection of the dead—not in physical resurrection—but in mental resurrection. They believe that the black man and woman of America are most in need of mental resurrection; therefore they will be resurrected first.
• Mainstream Islam: teaches that there will literally be a physical resurrection of the billions and billions of dead people worldwide, and that resurrected souls (or bodies) will be sent to paradise or hell.
• Relations with Caucasians
• NOI: Teaches that the black man is the original man of the planet Earth and that Caucasians were created by a grafting (selective breeding) process devised by a scientist called Yakub. They teach that Caucasian Muslims are their brothers in the faith of Islam and should be honored as such. However, they also teach that Caucasians are inherently evil and therefore are not accepted into the NOI (all other races are eligible, however).
• Mainstream Islam: Teaches that all races are created equal in the eyes of God. People of all races may convert to Islam and are fully accepted. Islam recognizes a biblical and Quranic figure, the patriarch Jacob, but this Jacob is viewed by Muslims as a prophet, and is not connected to the Yakub of the NOI. Mainstream Islam does not teach the existence of Yakub.