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[[File:Nation of Islam members.jpg|thumb|''Nation of Islam'' members in their trademark bow ties and suits.]]

[[File:Nation of Islam members.jpg|thumb|''Nation of Islam'' members in their trademark bow ties and suits.]]

The '''Nation of Islam''' is a political and religious group with a [[race]]-based, black supremacist philosophy. The group was founded in [[Detroit]], Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930. It is active primarily in America.

The '''Nation of Islam (NOI)''' is a political and religious group with a [[race]]-based, black supremacist philosophy. The group was founded in [[Detroit]], Michigan by Wallace D. Fard (a/k/a Wallace Fard Muhammad) in July 1930. It is active primarily in America.

They believe that [[African Americans|black people]] are [[racial superiority|racially superior]] to other races, and that the "blue-eyed devils" (whites) were selectively bred from blacks by an evil black scientist named Yakub, whose work supposedly took hundreds of years for him and his disciples to fully whiten his creations, with the intent to enslave the black race.  

 

*First, the NOI teaches that founder Fard was God incarnate and that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet. Traditional Islam teaches that no human can be an incarnation of God and that Muhammad was the last prophet.

The Nation of Islam teaches that founder W.D. Fard was God incarnate and that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet. Traditional Islam teaches that no human can be an incarnation of God and that Muhammad was the last prophet. As NOI teachings contradict the first pillar of Islam in two ways, and due to their teachings on race, a subject that the Qu'ran is silent on, the Nation of Islam is not considered Islam by the overwhelming majority of Muslims.  

*Second, the NOI teaches that the "blue-eyed devils" (whites) were selectively bred from blacks by an evil black scientist named Yakub, whose work supposedly took hundreds of years for him and his disciples to fully whiten his creations, with the intent to enslave the black race. Although traditional Islam recognizes a Yakub (Jacob, the grandson of Abraham through Isaac), they do not teach him being an evil scientist.

*Finally, due to the workings of Yakub, the NOI believes that [[African Americans|black people]] are [[racial superiority|racially superior]] to other races, and that whites are not worthy to be converted.  Traditional Islam has no such restriction: it accepts members from all races and nationalities.  

==Criticism==

==Criticism==

[[Martin Luther King]] described Elijah Muhammad's movement in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

[[Martin Luther King]] described Elijah Muhammad's movement in his '''Letter from Birmingham Jail''':

:Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil." [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html]

:Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil." [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html]

*[[Elijah Muhammad]]

*[[Elijah Muhammad]]

*[[Louis Farrakhan]]

*[[Louis Farrakhan]]

*[[Malcolm X]] (Later broke away from NOI and became a mainstream [[Muslim]], changing his name to ''Malcolm Shabazz''.)

*[[Malcolm X]] (later broke away from NOI and became a mainstream [[Muslim]], changing his name to ''Malcolm Shabazz'')

*[[Muhammad Ali]] (His ties to the NOI were severed after a dispute regarding his divorce.)

*[[Muhammad Ali]] (his ties to the NOI were severed after a dispute regarding one of his divorces)

== External links ==

== External links ==