The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a Black supremacist, separatist organization operating in the United States. The group mixes tenets of Islam with conspiracy theories and mythology deeply rooted in racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBT beliefs.
February 26, 2023: NOI holds its annual Saviours’ Day conference in Chicago, during which Farrakhan makes multiple antisemitic remarks and declares America’s doom is approaching. Antisemitism watchdogs criticize Ticketmaster for selling tickets to the conference.Maya Zanger-Nadis, “Ticketmaster under fire for selling tickets to Louis Farrakhan event,” Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2023, https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-733548; Nation of Islam, Facebook post, March 14, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=608704807310560; Louis Farrakhan, “THE HISTORIC SAVIOURS’ DAY 2023 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: ‘THE WAR OF ARMAGEDDON HAS BEGUN,’” Final Call, February 28, 2023, https://new.finalcall.com/2023/02/28/the-historic-saviours-day-2023-keynote-address-the-war-of-armageddon-has-begun/.
The Nation of Islam (NOI) was formed in 1930 by Wallace D. Fard, a mysterious figure whose origins remain disputed. Fard was also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad, W. Fard Muhammad, Farad Muhammad, Wallace Dodd, Wallace Ford, Wallie D. Ford, Wallei Ford, and Wallace Farad.“Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. The NOI purports to fight systemic oppression of, and discrimination against, Black Americans by preaching Black racial supremacy. The group mixes tenets of Islam with conspiracy theories and mythology deeply rooted in racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBT beliefs.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. While the NOI claims to be Islamic, its teachings contradict traditional, core Islamic doctrine.
As early as 1974 under Elijah Muhammad, NOI promoted Black separation and lambasted integration.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NOI was considered a fringe “voodoo sect” in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1959, minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. denounced it as “a hate group arising in our midst that would preach the doctrine of Black supremacy.”Barry J Balleck, Hate Groups and Extremist Organizations in America: An Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2019), 205, rb.gy/4vduuc. Upon leaving NOI in the 1960s, Malcom X denounced its racism as a “sickness and madness.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Nonetheless, NOI has since grown into one of the wealthiest and best-known Black organizations in America.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
Under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan, NOI has continued to promote hateful racist and anti-Semitic positions. For example, in 1991, at Farrakhan’s request, NOI’s research department published The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, which highlighted Jews’ involvement in the slave trade and the Confederacy. Historians generally label the book as wildly inaccurate and vicious.“Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” Nation of Islam, accessed July 10, 2020, https://www.noi.org/minister-louis-farrakhan/; “Louis Farrakhan,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed July 24, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/louis-farrakhan. NOI published two volumes of the book and a third called Jews Selling Blacks.Batya Ungar-Sargon, “Is Jewish Control Over the Slave Trade a Nation of Islam Lie or Scholarly Truth?,” Tablet, August 5, 2013, https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/slave-trade-black-muslim. Writing on behalf of NOI, Farrakhan has accused Jews of maximizing their wealth to become “masters in every field of human endeavor.”Louis Farrakhan, “Minister Louis Farrakhan's Letter to Jewish Leaders and An Open Letter to Black Leadership,” Nation of Islam, last updated March 13, 2018, https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Minister_Louis_Farrakhan_9/article_104064.shtml. On October 16, 1995, Farrakhan organized the Million Man March on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., one of the most prominent events in NOI history.“Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/. Between 400,000 and 850,000 people attended the march, during which Farrakhan called white supremacy the root of America’s suffering.“Farrakhan Revels in the Spotlight of Million Man March,” CNN, October 16, 1995, https://web.archive.org/web/20190709014343/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9510/megamarch/10-16/update/index.html; Michael Janofsky, “Federal Parks Chief Calls ‘Million Man’ Count Low,” New York Times, October 21, 1995, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/21/us/federal-parks-chief-calls-million-man-count-low.html; “Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/. Nonetheless, Farrakhan has promoted a virulently anti-white and anti-Semitic ideology through NOI.Louis Farrakhan, “The Criterion,” Final Call, July 14, 2020, https://new.finalcall.com/2020/07/14/the-criterion. Farrakhan has used NOI’s social media presence and his platform at NOI’s annual Savior’s Day rally to promote his positions.“Saviours’ Day 2018 Keynote Address,” Nation of Islam, accessed May 11, 2018, https://www.noi.org/sd18/; “Minister Farrakhan Reveals Truth About Trump, Weinstein, Antisemitism & Black America,” YouTube video, 2:55:54, posted by “Nation of Islam” on May 28, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTGBgIeaStc (video removed). Despite widespread condemnation, Farrakhan and NOI have had widespread influence on celebrity followers,Les Bowen and Rob Tornoe, “Eagles’ DeSean Jackson Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Posts, Says He’ll ‘Do Better’ and ‘Educate Myself,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 7, 2020, https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/desean-jackson-eagles-anti-semitic-instagram-posts-adolph-hitler-louis-farrakhan-jewish-coronavirus-vaccine-20200707.html. as well as individuals such as Noah Green, the alleged NOI follower who rammed a car into two Capitol Hill police officers on April 2, 2021.Ben Decker, Adam Goldman, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Suspect in Capitol attack appears to have been a follower of Louis Farrakhan,” New York Times, April 2, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/noah-green-farrakhan.html.
Farrakhan rose to prominence within the NOI under the tutelage of Malcom X in the 1960s. While Malcom X ultimately left and denounced the organization, Farrakhan’s power in it increased.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Longtime NOI leader Elijah Muhammad died in 1975 and was replaced by one of his sons, Warith Deen Muhammad. Warith and Farrakhan disagreed over the NOI’s future. As leader, Warith tried to move the NOI away from preaching racial separatism and Black supremacism and adopt a more orthodox and inclusive Islamic theology, while Farrakhan wanted the NOI to remain true to Elijah’s original teachings. Warith changed the group’s name to the World Community of al-Islam in 1976, but Farrakhan created a new organization named the Nation of Islam that espoused the old NOI’s longstanding theology and ideology.“Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” Nation of Islam, accessed July 10, 2020, https://www.noi.org/minister-louis-farrakhan/; “Louis Farrakhan,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/louis-farrakhan. Farrakhan often refers to himself as the heir to Elijah Muhammad’s legacy, but Warith accused him of presenting a “false image of Islam.”“Elijah Muhammad’s Son Counters Farrakhan Teachings,” Baltimore Sun, May 16, 1994, https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-05-16-1994136064-story.html.
The NOI’s anti-Semitism and support for separation of white and Black Americans has garnered the group positive attention from neo-Nazis and other far-right organizations. In 1962, the NOI invited American Nazi Party head George Lincoln Rockwell to one of its conventions, during which Rockwell called Elijah Muhammad “the Hitler of Blacks.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Shortly before his assassination by an NOI member, Malcolm X revealed that NOI and the Klu Klux Klan representatives had met with the aim of building a mutually beneficial relationship.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. A 2017 tweet by Farrakhan saying, “Black People: We should be more convinced that it is time for us to separate and build a nation of our own,” drew praise and re-tweets from white nationalist leaders like Michael “Enoch” Peinovich, Richard Spencer, and Jared Taylor.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
Farrakhan has also defended foreign dictators, such as Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, Idi Amin of Uganda, and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Most prominently, Farrakhan and the NOI received millions of dollars in donations from former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and Farrakhan traveled to Libya in 1986 to meet personally with Gaddafi.Douglas Frantz and George de Lama, “Farrakhan Probed on Libya Visit,” Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1986, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-13-8601260849-story.html; Louis Farrakhan, “The Nation of Islam Welcomes Muammar Gadhafi,” September 22, 2009, https://www.noi.org/nation-of-islam-welcomes-muammar-gadhafi/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Farrakhan has also made multiple trips to Iran, most recently conducting media tours in 2016 and 2018.“Minister Farrakhan’s Full Iran TV Interview with Nader Talebzadeh,” Nation of Islam, December 6, 2016, https://www.noi.org/farrakhan-iran-tv-interview/.
Since 2012, Farrakhan has also pushed for a “long and beautiful relationship” with Scientology, with thousands of NOI members now studying the fringe ideology.Eliza Gray, “Thetans and Bowties,” New Republic, October 5, 2012, https://rb.gy/ggvpdh. Though L. Ron Hubbard—the science fiction author around whose writings Scientology is based—specifically dismissed the existence of Allah, several members of the Nation of Islam began following the pseudo-religion in the early 21st century.Marlow Stern, “Inside Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam’s Strange Ties to Scientology,” Daily Beast, December 12, 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-nation-of-islams-strange-ties-to-scientology?ref=scroll.
The NOI purports to fight systemic oppression of, and discrimination against, Black Americans by preaching Black racial supremacy. The group also mixes tenets of traditional Islam with conspiracy theories and mythology deeply rooted in racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Since its foundation, NOI has characterized whites as “devils,” claimed Jews control the government and perform chemical experiments on Black Americans, and forbidden interracial marriage.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
While the NOI claims to be Islamic, many of its teachings contradict traditional, core Islamic doctrine.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1. Most glaring, the NOI claims that Allah “appeared in the Person” of the group’s founder, Wallace D. Fard, and that Fard’s appearance on Earth signaled the coming apocalypse which would overthrow the white “devil”—a battle the NOI would play a central part in.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
The NOI’s version of the Shahada—the central creed of Islam—states, “There is no God but Allah, who appeared in the person of Master [Wallace] Fard Muhammad, and I bear witness that the most honorable Elijah Muhammad is the exalted Christ, and that the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is our divine reminder, warner, and servant among us.”Lenore Muhammad, “The Nation of Islam's M.G.T. & G.C.C. Presents Home Pressure Canning,” Abdul Qiyam Muhammad, posted on March 31, 2020, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLY6lDr17o4. By contrast, more orthodox schools of Islam hold that Allah does not assume human form, and the traditional Shahada simply states, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.”“Incarnation,” Oxford Islamic Studies Online, 2020, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1027; “Shahadah: the statement of faith,” BBC News, August 23, 2009, https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/shahadah.shtml.
The NOI’s hybrid theology claims Black people were the original human beings and lived in an earthly paradise. Then, an evil scientist named Yakub (the same person as the Biblical character Jacob) created the white race through selective breeding of Black people to produce humans with increasingly lighter skin, and those whites then subjugated the Black people.“National Geographic Proves Teaching on Mr. Yakub,” Final Call, May 23, 2013, https://new.finalcall.com/2013/05/23/national-geographic-proves-teaching-on-mr-yakub/; Alan Muhammad, “Myth or High Science? Is There Evidence of Mr. Yakub?,” Final Call, October 24, 2010, http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_7371.shtml; Louis Farrakhan, “Have No Fear for the Future: The Future is Ours,” Final Call, February 21, 2017, https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Minister_Louis_Farrakhan_9/article_103513.shtml; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. The impending apocalypse will return the world to that earlier state of paradise.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. According to the New York Times, the NOI also does not observe sharia (Islamic law), which is derived from the Quran and the prophet Muhammad’s reported statements.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1.
Following Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975, his son, Warith, attempted to moderate NOI’s rhetoric and adjust its teachings to reflect more orthodox Islamic practices.“Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. In 1976, he changed the group’s name to the World Community of al-Islam.Malise Ruthven, “Obituary: WD Mohammed,” Guardian (London), September 11, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/12/islam.religion. In 1977, however, Farrakhan split off from the renamed organization and created a new Nation of Islam that espoused Elijah Muhammad’s views.“Several Black Muslims Denounce Farrakhan,” New York Times, July 5, 1984, https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/05/us/several-Black-muslims-denounce-farrakhan.html; “Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” Nation of Islam, accessed July 10, 2020, https://www.noi.org/minister-louis-farrakhan/. “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
Farrakhan frequently refers to Judaism as the “dirty religion” and claims that Black people, not Jews, are God’s “chosen people.”Ashahed M. Muhammad, “Blacks in America: The True Children of Israel,” Final Call, October 5, 2010, http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7316.shtml; Richard B. Muhammad and Ashahed M. Muhamad, “Farrakhan: Blacks Are True Children of Israel,” Final Call, June 28, 2010, http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7089.shtml; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. In 1991, Farrakhan commissioned a purported study by the NOI’s Historical Research Department that falsely claimed Jewish merchants were the main perpetrators of the Atlantic slave trade.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Farrakhan also describes the LGBT community, Catholics, and whites as “potential humans ... [who] haven’t evolved yet.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. He has also pushed anti-LGBT conspiracy theories, claiming homosexuality is the result of a chemical reaction and part of a government conspiracy to chemically castrate the Black American population.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
For years, the NOI has warned Black people against getting vaccines, spreading anti-vaccination conspiracy theories such as that the shots cause autism.Anna Merlan, “The Anti-Vaccination Movement Is Working with the Nation of Islam to Scare Black Families,” Jezebel, June 26, 2017, https://jezebel.com/the-anti-vaccination-movement-is-working-with-the-natio-1796021231. In its messaging opposing vaccinations, the Nation’s exploits distrust among Black people of the government’s motives and claims. For example, the NOI cites the example of the 40-year-long Tuskegee experiment, in which the U.S. Public Health Service studied the effects of syphilis on hundreds of black men but did not give them suitable treatment or enough information to provide informed consent.“The Tuskegee Timeline,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm. Recently, the Nation has also strongly opposed receiving vaccinations for COVID-19. Farrakhan has described vaccination as “toxic waste” and a “vial of death.”Louis Farrakhan, “Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Remarks at the National Afrikan/Black Leadership Summit,” Nation of Islam, December 12, 2020, 51:35, https://www.noi.org/minister-louis-farrakhan-afrikan-black-leadership/; Louis Farrakhan, “Minister Farrakhan Speaks at Saviours' Day Plenary,” Abdul Qiyam Muhammad’s YouTube channel, February 27, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fDYN8StltU&t=2s. He has also accused infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates of seeking to use vaccinations “to depopulate the earth.”Louis Farrakhan, “The Criterion,” Final Call, July 14, 2020, https://new.finalcall.com/2020/07/14/the-criterion.
Across the United States, the NOI operates places of worship called mosques or temples.“Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/. Farrakhan oversees a Council of Leaders, which he has claimed will take over the NOI following his death.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1. The NOI further consists of ten “ministries”: Spiritual Development, Agriculture, Health, Education, Information, Trade and Commerce, Defense, Justice, Arts and Culture, and Science and Technology.“The Ministries,” Nation of Islam, https://www.noi.org/the-ministries/. Each ministry is reportedly headed by a “minister,” although the current ministers remain unlisted on the official NOI website.
NOI’s militant branch, the “Fruit of Islam” (FOI), was designed by Fard to protect followers from police and to patrol low-income Black neighborhoods, where it has been credited with reducing crime rates.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. In a 2017 interview, NOI expert Professor Zain Abdullah referred to the group as a “self-defense organization.” He added, “They believe in self-defense, they don’t believe in turning the other cheek,” indicating the group believes in using violence when its members feel threatened.“Why Is the Nation Of Islam Classified as a Hate Group?,” WBUR, May 3, 2017, https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/05/03/nation-of-islam. In 1990, NOI founded a subset of FOI, the Nation of Islam Security Agency, in Washington, D.C. This group was specifically tasked with guarding low-income housing projects in an effort to help lower crime rates, and received multi-million-dollar contracts from cities, including Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Chicago.Steven A. Holmes, “As Farrakhan Groups Land Jobs from Government, Debate Grows,” New York Times, March 4, 1994, https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/04/us/as-farrakhan-groups-land-jobs-from-government-debate-grows.html.
The Fruit of Islam has so successfully achieved its aims that in 2012, Chicago’s then-mayor, Rahm Emanuel—himself Jewish—said, “They have decided, the Nation of Islam, to help protect the community. And that’s an important ingredient, like all the other aspects of protecting a neighborhood.”Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/. The NOI has also worked with local police to develop anti-drug plans for low-income housing complexes.Sari Horwitz, “Police to Cooperate with Muslims in Mayfair Mansions Drug Patrols,” Washington Post, April 21, 1988, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/04/21/police-to-cooperate-with-muslims-in-mayfair-mansions-drug-patrols/8b3c2439-66d9-4f5e-8d6b-0ecadba35259/?utm_term=.c0faf6f13cd3.
The NOI’s anti-crime and rehabilitation efforts have long been its major draw for African American activists. Many anti-violence groups have also partnered with the NOI due to its extensive presence in prisons, where it uses its ideology to reform violent inmates and preaches a strict anti-drug, pro–traditional family ethos.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/.
The NOI has also produced several in-house newspapers dedicated to spreading the NOI’s message and to the “survival of the Black nation.”Toure Muhammad, “The Final Call to Mark 40 Years of Publishing with Special Banquet,” Final Call, February 5, 2020, https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/The-Final-Call-To-Mark-40-Years-Of-Publishing-With-Special-Banquet.shtml. From 1960 to 1975, the NOI ran a popular tabloid called Muhammad Speaks.Roland Wolseley, The Black Press, U.S.A. (Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1990), p. 90, https://archive.org/details/Blackpressusa0000wols_h5o4/page/90/mode/2up. When Warith left NOI in 1975 he took Muhammad Speaks with him, changing its name first to Bilalian News and then to Muslim Journal.Eric Washington, The Black Muslims in America (Grand Rapids, Michigan: History Publishing Company, 1994), p. 127-129. Farrakhan established a new NOI newspaper in 1979, the Final Call, dedicated to spreading the NOI’s message and to the “survival of the Black nation.”Toure Muhammad, “The Final Call to Mark 40 Years of Publishing with Special Banquet,” Final Call, February 5, 2020, https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/The-Final-Call-To-Mark-40-Years-Of-Publishing-With-Special-Banquet.shtml.
Under Farrakhan, the NOI also established the Nation of Islam Research Group, which ostensibly collects and writes articles on current topics related to the NOI’s activities.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. The Research Group has been used to lend credibility to the NOI’s anti-Semitic claims. In 1991, for example, it published a study titled, “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” which falsely claimed Jewish merchants were the main proponents of the Atlantic slave trade.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
The NOI began building a massive financial base in the 1940s, when Elijah Muhammad purchased farmland and founded businesses in several U.S. states that would be worth millions.“Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Under Farrakhan’s leadership, the NOI further invested in economic self-sufficiency, and established shops and health products.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. The group also owns farms in Michigan and Georgia, selling its food at its own grocery store in Atlanta. Farrakhan himself is worth more than $3 million.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. NOI goods, including its teachings and speeches by its leaders, are available for sale at all major online retailers, as well as in stores such as Walmart and Barnes and Noble.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
The NOI also received $8 million in donations from Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the 1970s and 1980s.Louis Farrakhan, “The Nation of Islam Welcomes Muammar Gadhafi,” September 22, 2009, https://www.noi.org/nation-of-islam-welcomes-muammar-gadhafi/. Gaddafi had a close relationship with the group, and the NOI believed Gaddafi was “a friend of the struggle of Black people all over the World for true liberation.” The group saw his regime as part of NOI’s same fight against white Western oppression.Louis Farrakhan, “The Nation of Islam Welcomes Muammar Gadhafi,” September 22, 2009, https://www.noi.org/nation-of-islam-welcomes-muammar-gadhafi/. Gaddafi explicitly stated that this money was intended to aid Farrakhan in establishing his economic vision for the NOI, and these funds indeed supported many NOI-operated businesses.Douglas Frantz and George de Lama, “Farrakhan Probed on Libya Visit,” Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1986, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-13-8601260849-story.html; Steven Holmes, “Farrakhan’s Angry World Tour Brings Harsh Criticism at Home,” New York Times, February 22, 1996, https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/22/world/farrakhan-s-angry-world-tour-brings-harsh-criticism-at-home.html; Louis Farrakhan, “The Nation of Islam Welcomes Muammar Gadhafi,” September 22, 2009, https://www.noi.org/nation-of-islam-welcomes-muammar-gadhafi/. A final donation from Gaddafi of $1 billion was blocked by the Clinton administration in 1996 due to increased U.S. sanctions against Libya.Dorothy Gaiter, “Nation of Islam Tries to Accept Gift of $1 Billion from Libya,” Wall Street Journal, August 26, 1996, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB841007141275125500.
The violent reaction by some U.S. state governments to the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s helped push Black Americans to join the NOI. The new recruits were drawn to the group’s hardline stance against the oppression of Black Americans by the “white devil.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Many prominent civil rights leaders joined the Nation in the 1950s, including Malcolm X and boxing champion Muhammad Ali, which also helped expand the NOI’s membership.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Membership surged again in the 1960s as a new generation of civil rights activists adopted more militant positions and found common ground with the NOI and its ideology.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. As urban riots erupted in northern states, Black Americans were increasingly drawn to the language of racial separatism espoused by the Nation.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
In recent decades, the NOI’s rehabilitation and anti-crime work among Black American prisoners and low-income communities has attracted broad support, including new followers and allies within the civil rights movement.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/. These allies have historically been wary of criticizing the racist and anti-Semitic aspects of the NOI, claiming the organization is the only group helping destitute Black Americans.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/. Despite this, NOI membership figures have fallen drastically under Farrakhan’s leadership, standing at approximately 35,000 today compared to its peak of 100,000 followers in 1995.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1; “Nation of Islam (NOI),” USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, April 16, 2019, https://crcc.usc.edu/report/national-association-of-real-estate-brokers-nareb-religious-literacy-primer-2019/nation-of-islam-noi/. Black American Muslim converts, once the core of the NOI’s membership, have turned increasingly to traditional Islamic sects in the twenty-first century.David Lepeska, “Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam,” New York Times, April 9, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1.
The NOI conducts education and training programs in prisons, aimed at recruiting new members and rehabilitating convicts.Adam Serwer, “Why Tamika Mallory Won’t Condemn Farrakhan,” Atlantic, March 11, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/nation-of-islam/555332/; “Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. New converts study under an NOI leader, taking classes and completing an oral exam before being given a new last name and officially joining the group.Patrice Gaines-Carter, “The Nation of Islam a Close-Knit Society,” Washington Post, September 18, 1988, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/09/18/the-nation-of-islam-a-close-knit-society/906113e7-3776-4655-b390-f4e179a9350c/. Men who join the FOI are taught physical fitness, receive self-defense and martial-arts training, and learn “how to be a good husband and father, how to become employed and stay employed, career development and salesmanship.”Patrice Gaines-Carter, “The Nation of Islam a Close-Knit Society,” Washington Post, September 18, 1988, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/09/18/the-nation-of-islam-a-close-knit-society/906113e7-3776-4655-b390-f4e179a9350c/.
In a 2019 video, U.S. Army veteran and FOI member Minister Abdullah Tahama claimed that FOI training was modeled after the Army’s bootcamp and was intended to separate trainees from society to remove material urges.Abdullah Tahama, “US Army Training vs FOI Training—Minister Abdullah Tahama,” Laugh at First Site, posted on March 22, 2019, YouTube video, 13:13, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XeP9q2sRAA. A 2014 ad for the FOI posted on YouTube showed members boxing and weightlifting while a voice-over spoke about the importance of spiritual strength.Steven Price, “F.O.I Commercial,” Culture Revolution, posted on February 25, 2014, YouTube video, 2:01, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LaA2YmUzgM.
The all-female counterpart to the FOI, known as the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class, teaches women “how to take care of themselves, their families and their husbands,” and offers classes on physical fitness, Arabic, Islamic history, and spiritual lessons.NOI: Denver Study Group, “Muslim Girls’ Training and General Civilization Class,” Facebook video, 1:19, September 18, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/MuhammadMosque51/videos/1116458361711289/?v=1116458361711289; Lenore Muhammad, “The Nation of Islam’s M.G.T. & G.C.C. Presents Home Pressure Canning,” Abdul Qiyam Muhammad, posted on March 31, 2020, YouTube video, 18:55, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLY6lDr17o4; Patrice Gaines-Carter, “The Nation of Islam a Close-Knit Society,” Washington Post, September 18, 1988, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/09/18/the-nation-of-islam-a-close-knit-society/906113e7-3776-4655-b390-f4e179a9350c/.
Leader
National assistant minister
Student minister
Editor-in-chief of Final Call
Supreme Captain
None.
NOI’s anti-Semitism and support for racial separatism has attracted positive attention from neo-Nazis and other far-right groups. In 1962, NOI invited American Nazi Party head George Lincoln Rockwell to one of its conventions, during which Rockwell called Elijah Muhammad “the Hitler of Blacks.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Shortly before his assassination by an NOI member, Malcolm X made public a meeting between NOI and the Ku Klux Klan aimed at building a mutually beneficial relationship.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
A 2017 tweet by Farrakhan saying, “Black People: We should be more convinced that it is time for us to separate and build a nation of our own,” drew support and retweets from white nationalist leaders, who retweeted Farrakhan and spoke positively of NOI.“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. Michael “Enoch” Peinovich, founder of the white nationalist blog “The Right Stuff,” said, “I’ve always been a fan of Farrakhan [to be honest],” while white nationalist Richard Spencer offered to meet with Farrakhan “for a real dialogue.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam.
NOI has found common ground with multiple U.S. political leaders, both Black and non-Black. Several U.S. politicians have met with Farrakhan. In 2005, then-Senator Barack Obama met with Farrakhan during a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) meeting on Capitol Hill. Journalist Askia Muhammad took a photo of Obama and Farrakhan, but reportedly had questioned whether to release it in 2005 because of the controversy around Farrakhan and the potential of hurting Obama’s chances at a future presidential bid. In the end, the photo was turned over to Farrakhan's chief of staff. However, Muhammad published the photo in a 2018 book, The Autobiography of Charles 67X.Hazel Trice Edney, “Hidden photo of Obama and Farrakhan released in new book,” Philadelphia Tribune, January 30, 2018, https://www.phillytrib.com/news/hidden-photo-of-obama-and-farrakhan-released-in-new-book/article_0b95a0d4-05fe-5b90-b9c7-23206514acea.html; Also in the photo were Democratic Representatives Charles Rangel and Cynthia McKinney. Upon the photo’s release, the Anti-Defamation League called on Obama to denounce Farrakhan’s antisemitism. “ADL head calls on Barack Obama to again denounce Louis Farrakhan,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 31, 2018, https://www.jta.org/2018/01/31/united-states/adl-head-calls-on-barack-obama-to-again-denounce-louis-farrakhan; Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “Why did Barack Obama meet with Louis Farrakhan in 2005?,” Jerusalem Post, February 2, 2018, https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/why-did-barack-obama-meet-with-louis-farrakhan-in-2005-540510. In June 2018, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison defended his past association with Farrakhan on CNN. Ellison had previously said he had no association with Farrakhan, but CNN claimed the pair had held a meeting at a hotel in 2016. Ellison had earlier denounced Farrakhan’s antisemitism and bigotry in 2006 during his initial run for Congress.Julia Manchester, “CNN’s Tapper has testy exchange with Ellison over Farrakhan,” Hill, June 26, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/house/394263-cnns-tapper-presses-ellison-on-ties-to-farrakhan/.
President Donald Trump did not meet with Farrakhan personally while in office, but Farrakhan made multiple statements seemingly praising Trump. After then-candidate Trump told a group of Jewish Republicans, in December 2015, he didn’t want their money and they couldn’t control him, Farrakhan praised Trump for standing up to the Jewish community. Though Farrakhan said he still didn’t like Trump, he praised the candidate for telling “those who control the politics of America, ‘I don’t want your money,’ that means you can’t control me. And they can’t afford to give up control of the presidents of the United States.”Eli Stokols, “Trump concedes he won’t win Jewish Republicans,” Politico, December 3, 2015, https://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/trump-jewish-republicans-216398; Nolan D. McCaskill, “Louis Farrakhan praises Donald Trump,” Politico, March 1, 2016, https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/louis-farrakhan-donald-trump-220021. In 2017, Farrakhan condemned what he called Trump’s attempts to remove any traces of the first Black president from the White House, but he also claimed God had chosen Trump.Michelle Boorstein, “Saying God picked Trump, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan portrays him as both truth-talking hero and racist villain,” Washington Post, November 16, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/11/16/saying-god-picked-trump-nation-of-islam-leader-louis-farrakhan-portrays-him-as-both-truth-talking-hero-and-racist-villain/. In September 2020, Farrakhan claimed Trump would help further NOI’s goal to break Black Americans away from “white America.”“Nation of Islam,” Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed September 6, 2020, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. While the Republican Party has largely condemned Farrakhan for his antisemitic and racist rhetoric, far-right Representative Marjorie Taylor Green posted a series of tweets in November 2021 claiming “common ground” with NOI and lauding its anti-vaccine position.Marjorie Taylor Greene, Twitter post, November 8, 2021, 10:11 a.m., https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1457727371826565123; Marjorie Taylor Greene, Twitter post, November 8, 2021, 10:11 a.m., https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1457727381628760068; Marjorie Taylor Greene, Twitter post, November 8, 2021, 10:11 a.m., https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1457727389513957380.
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.