Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad was an African-American religious leader. Muhammad served as the leader of the Nation of Islam, a militant offshoot of traditional Islam, from 1934 until his death in 1975.http://www.africawithin.com/bios/elijah_muhammad.htm His controversial and, sometimes, incendiary beliefs drew as many critics as converts and Muhammad was closely monitored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for years.http://foia.fbi.gov/muhammad/muhammad1.pdf

Muhammad was most known for developing his protege, Malcolm X. X, formerly Malcolm Little, was introduced to the Nation of Islam during his time in prison and converted, becoming a Black Muslim. Upon his release from prison, X met Muhammad and came to be one of his closest confidants and spokesmen, in time even overshadowing Muhammad as the "face" of the Nation of Islam.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1007.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1281268803-gsiJHRkdhP89McYCSwYynA After discovering that Muhammad had fathered several children out of wedlock with young assistants, X left the Nation. He was assassinated in 1965 by three Black Muslims. X believed that Muhammad was behind the attempts on his life.http://www.africawithin.com/malcolmx/malcolm_bio.htm

Muhammad was born in 1897 as Elijah Poole in Sandersville, Georgia. His parents were former slaves and Poole spent much time working in the fields with his family. He moved to Detroit as a young man where he met W.D. Fard, the founder of the Nation of Islam. Fard was preaching a message encouraging Black people to adopt the ways and manners of their brethren in Africa. To accomplish this, Fard prescribed following a militant form of Islam and separating from Whites.http://www.africawithin.com/bios/elijah_muhammad.htm

Poole became one of Fard's assistants and eventually changed his name to Elijah Muhammad. After Fard disappeared in 1934, Muhammad became the leader of the Nation of Islam, serving as its "messenger" and delivering the message given to him by Fard, whom Muhammad viewed as Allah. He went to prison from 1942 to 1946 for encouraging his followers to avoid being drafted into the United States military. After Malcolm X's death, Muhammad continued to operate his organization out of Chicago, Illinois. He died there on February 25, 1975. Louis Farrakhan succeeded Muhammad as the leader of the Black Muslims after Muhammad's son formed his own separate organization.http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmuhammad.htm