The Black Muslims as antagonists of the American Society

Résumé du document

To build an impression on the cultural and religious background of the Black Muslim movement, which is also called "The Nation of Islam", we will analyze the relationship of the United States' with Islam and at the history of the Afro-Americans in the USA. The conflict between the United States of America and the Islamic religion is a relatively fresh area, for its origin began only in 1the second half of the twentieth century.

Extraits

[...] He was an excellent missionary. His greatest coup was to convince a young boxer named Cassius Clay to become a Black Muslim. Clay and Malcolm had met each other at a speech of Elijah Muhammad and had become friends. Clay asked Malcolm to come to Miami, where he should fight the champion Sonny Liston in World cup match. Before the fight they met in Clay's changing room and prayed together to Allah to have mercy on Cassius Clay. Then happened what nobody had expected: Clay defeated Liston in round 6 by knockout. [...]

[...] To broadcast his messages the Nation of Islam uses an own newspaper ("The Final Call" ,in tradition of "Muhammad Speaks"), the radio station "Radio Islam" and the NOI Internet page "Nation of Islam Online". Besides this, Farrakhan travels across the USA to hold speeches and is present in TV-shows, independent newspapers and radio shows. Although Farrakhan has not adopted all of Elijah Muhammad's doctrines, he is today still called an extremist and is viewed with suspect by white Americans and by the American government. II.2. The Black Muslim ideology Because of the religious character of the Black Muslim movement, its unique religion and ideology has also to be regarded. [...]

[...] Louis X especially admired Malcolm and after Malcolm's death in 1965 he took over Malcolm's mosque in Harlem. Elijah Muhammad now gave him the name Farrakhan and made him one of his first advisors. After Muhammad's death and the end of the original Black Muslim movement in 1975, Louis Farrakhan started to rebuild the Nation of Islam and was very successful. On October the 16th days after the end of the O.J. Simpson trial, Louis Farrakhan organised the "Million Man March", an event similar to Martin Luther King's march to Washington in 1963. [...]

[...] Fard used various names during his time as leader of the NOI: Walli Farad, Professor Ford, Farrad Mohammed, F. Mohammed Ali, Wallace Fard Mohammed. A short time before he disappeared he even used the names "Allah" and "God". Date of birth: unknown. By some sources his birth is dated in 1877. Place of birth: unknown. He himself claimed to be from Mecca. Origin: unknown. The only thing that can be said for sure about his origin is that he was not black. The only surviving photo shows a white man with a European face and straight dark hair. [...]

[...] Fard was born in the second half of the 19th century, according to Elijah Muhammad in 1877 in Mecca. His identity has never been proved. FBI files from the 1950s identify his fingerprints as the ones of Wallie D. Ford, a white ex-convict born in Portland, Oregon in1891. A woman who called herself Fard's relative said that his name was Fred or Wallace Dodd, born in New Zealand as son of English and Polynesian parents in 1891. Other sources maintain that he was Arnold Josiah Ford, a black rabbi from a cabalistic Hebrew group in New York. [...]