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Nation of Islam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | NOI |
| Leader | Louis Farrakhan |
| Founder | Wallace Fard Muhammad |
| Founded | July 4, 1930; 93 years ago |
| Headquarters | Mosque Maryam, Chicago, Illinois |
| Newspaper | The Final Call |
| Think tank | University of Islam |
| Women's wing | Muslim Girls Training & General Civilization Class |
| Paramilitary Wing | Fruit of Islam |
| Membership | 50,000 |
| Religion | Nation of Islam Theology |
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a black religious and political organization founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad in Detroit, Michigan in 1930 alongside the Fruit of Islam (FOI) and Muslim Girls Training & General Civilization Class (MGTGCC). Although the NOI considers its self to be an Islamic movement, the NOI belief that Fard Muhammad embodied the spirit of Allah and the upholding of Elijah Muhammad as a prophet is widely considered a break from Islamic theology by Muslim scholars and communities.
History
Founding of the NOI
Elijah Muhammad's NOI
Warith Deen Mohammed and the dissolution of the NOI
Farrakhan's NOI
Following the dissolution of the Nation of Islam under Warith Deen Mohammed, Minister Farrakhan began rebuilding a version of the original NOI, however not based on its original teachings. The Final Call newspaper was founded alongside it in 1979 and Fruit of Islam members began offering and distributing the Nation's newspapers in Afro-American communities again. With these developments, Farrakhan purchased Elijah Muhammad's home in Chicago as well as the largest mosque in the city, which he renamed Mosque Maryam. The movement's old corporate ventures were rebuilt and the Fruit of Islam was transformed into a private security force for hire, allowing them to be contracted to protect public housing programs. An immense number of Afro-Americans living in neighborhoods negatively affected by the drug epidemic of the 1980s praised their performance. Farrakhan also positioned himself as a vocal critic of gang-banging and the disproportionate killing of Black people by AIDS while advocating for the practice of clean living, social conservatism and patriarchy as solutions for Black social issues; issues which Farrakhan and the NOI view the United States government of being the behind. Although Farrakhan's NOI is extremely critical of the US as was Elijah Muhammad's NOI, Farrakhan has told followers to obey US laws and avoid revolutionary activities.