# Nation of Islam · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/cults/038-nation-of-islam/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
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The Cult Dossier · No. 038 · Racial / Nationalist
Nation of Islam
NOI; the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in the Wilderness of North America
4 July 1930 – present · Detroit; Chicago; nationwide USA
IV. THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
Fully religious — Black nationalist religious movement
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 4 July 1930 Fard begins preaching in Detroit.
- 1934 Fard disappears without trace; Elijah Muhammad takes over and declares him Allah.
- 1942–1946 Elijah Muhammad imprisoned for draft evasion.
- 1952–1963 Malcolm X's leadership drives membership from a few hundred to tens of thousands.
- 1963 Malcolm suspended for his chickens coming home to roost remark on the Kennedy assassination; he also learns of Elijah Muhammad's secret children by young secretaries.
- 8 March 1964 Malcolm X leaves the NOI.
- 21 FEBRUARY 1965 MALCOLM X ASSASSINATED at the Audubon Ballroom, Harlem, by NOI members. Two of the three convicted men were innocent; exonerated 2021.
- 25 February 1975 Elijah Muhammad dies; Warith Deen Mohammed converts the organisation to Sunni Islam and dissolves the racial doctrine.
- 1978 Farrakhan rebuilds the original NOI under the old theology.
- 16 October 1995 The Million Man March in Washington DC, convened by Farrakhan — the movement's high-water mark of public influence.
### Its people
### Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Poole; the Messenger of Allah
Leader, Nation of Islam · 7 October 1897 – 25 February 1975 · active 1934–1975
Before the law. Convicted of draft evasion, 1942; served four years.
Where things stand. Deceased 1975. His son Warith Deen Mohammed dissolved the racial doctrine and took the main body into Sunni Islam.
- 1931 Meets W. D. Fard in Detroit.
- 1934 Fard disappears; Elijah takes over and deifies him.
- 1942–46 Imprisoned for draft evasion.
- 1952–63 Malcolm X's recruitment drive expands the movement enormously.
- 1963 Malcolm suspended; learns of the secretaries.
- 21 February 1965 Malcolm X assassinated by NOI members.
- 25 February 1975 Dies in Chicago.
Checked
### Wallace Fard Muhammad
W. D. Fard; Wali Farrad; Master Fard
Founder, Nation of Islam; later declared Allah incarnate · c.1877 – disappeared 1934 · active 1930–1934
Before the law. Ordered out of Detroit by police in 1932. Never charged with anything.
Where things stand. FATE UNKNOWN, AND IT IS ONE OF THE GENUINE UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. He was last seen in 1934. RE-CHECKED 2026-09-07: nothing consulted adds anything, and no claim about what became of him rests on evidence rather than on the competing accounts of people with an interest in the answer.
- 4 July 1930 Begins preaching in Detroit.
- 1930–34 Founds Temple No. 1, the University of Islam and the Fruit of Islam.
- 1932 Detroit police question him after a member commits a ritual killing; he is told to leave the city.
- 1934 DISAPPEARS COMPLETELY. Never seen again.
Checked 2026-09-07 · living: health details are kept at home
### Louis Farrakhan
Louis Eugene Walcott; Louis X
Leader, the reconstituted Nation of Islam · born 11 May 1933 · active 1955–present
Before the law. Never charged in connection with Malcolm X's murder.
Where things stand. LIVING, AGED 93 — CONFIRMED AUGUST 2026. He has led the Nation of Islam since 1978 and remains its leader. A CLAIM WITHDRAWN: this file previously said he had 'reportedly reassumed full leadership in early 2026'. He continues to preach, largely online alongside some public appearances. WORTH RECORDING FOR WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THIS WHOLE DOSSIER: A WIDELY CIRCULATED REPORT OF HIS DEATH SPREAD IN EARLY AUGUST 2026 AND WAS FALSE. It was debunked within days. That is the hazard of every living-person entry in this file compressed into a single month — and the reason each carries a LAST VERIFIED date rather than a bare assertion. Minister ISHMAEL MUHAMMAD is widely regarded as the presumptive successor, but no formal succession has been announced.
- 1955 Recruited by Malcolm X.
- 1964 Writes that Malcolm X is 'worthy of death'.
- 1978 Rebuilds the Nation of Islam under the original theology.
- 16 October 1995 Convenes the Million Man March in Washington DC.
- 2010s–2020s
- 22–23 FEBRUARY 2025 AGED 91, HE IS LARGELY ABSENT FROM SAVIOURS’ DAY — a break with more than forty years of tradition. He appears at a private graduation ceremony but not at the public keynote, which is delivered instead by MINISTER ISHMAEL MUHAMMAD of Mosque Maryam, widely regarded as his successor.
- EARLY 2026 A senior aide states that FARRAKHAN HAS QUIETLY REASSUMED FULL RESPONSIBILITY for the movement. The succession remains unresolved in practice.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Warith Deen Mohammed
Wallace D. Muhammad
Successor who dissolved the Nation of Islam's theology · 30 October 1933 – 9 September 2008 · active 1975–2008
Before the law. Imprisoned for draft refusal in the 1960s.
Where things stand. Deceased 2008. The community he led is the largest body of Black American Muslims.
- 1961–75 Repeatedly suspended and excommunicated for doctrinal dissent.
- 25 February 1975 Inherits leadership on his father's death.
- 1975–76 Dismantles the racial theology; renames the organisation; adopts Sunni orthodoxy.
- 1992 First Muslim to deliver the invocation in the US Senate.
- 9 September 2008 Dies.
Checked
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