In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam
by Mattias Gardell series edited by C. Eric Lincoln
Duke University Press, 1996 eISBN: 978-0-8223-8243-0 | Cloth: 978-0-8223-1852-1 | Paper: 978-0-8223-1845-3 Library of Congress Classification BP221.G37 1996 Dewey Decimal Classification 297.87
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
In the Name of Elijah Muhammad tells the story of the Nation of Islam—its rise in northern inner-city ghettos during the Great Depression through its decline following the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975 to its rejuvenation under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan. Mattias Gardell sets this story within the context of African American social history, the legacy of black nationalism, and the long but hidden Islamic presence in North America. He presents with insight and balance a detailed view of one of the most controversial yet least explored organizations in the United States—and its current leader. Beginning with Master Farad Muhammad, believed to be God in Person, Gardell examines the origins of the Nation. His research on the period of Elijah Muhammad’s long leadership draws on previously unreleased FBI files that reveal a clear picture of the bureau’s attempts to neutralize the Nation of Islam. In addition, they shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the murder of Malcolm X. With the main part of the book focused on the fortunes of the Nation after Elijah Muhammad’s death, Gardell then turns to the figure of Minister Farrakhan. From his emergence as the dominant voice of the radical black Islamic community to his leadership of the Million Man March, Farrakhan has often been portrayed as a demagogue, bigot, racist, and anti-Semite. Gardell balances the media’s view of the Nation and Farrakhan with the Nation’s own views and with the perspectives of the black community in which the organization actively works. His investigation, based on field research, taped lectures, and interviews, leads to the fullest account yet of the Nation of Islam’s ideology and theology, and its complicated relations with mainstream Islam, the black church, the Jewish community, extremist white nationalists, and the urban culture of black American youth, particularly the hip-hop movement and gangs.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Mattias Gardell is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Uppsala University, Sweden.
REVIEWS
“A unique and unprecedented view of the enigma of Louis Farrakhan. In putting it together, Gardell has masterfully interwoven the information from an impressive collection of documents not treated by other scholars. His access to Farrakhan and the information make this a very special study.”—Yvonne Haddad, author of Muslims in America
“An outstanding work, In the Name of Elijah Muhammad provides an in-depth analysis of the most recent changes in leadership and structure of the Nation of Islam. Gardell’s theological/ideological discussion is brilliant and insightful, while the chapter on the FBI’s counterintelligence program on the Nation of Islam is a stroke of genius. Gardell’s research is comprehensive, well documented, and powerful.”—Clifton E. Marsh, author of From Black Muslims to Muslims
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1
Restoration of Dignity: The Rise of Black Nationalism
Black to Basics
A Black Moses in the House of Pharaoh
2
The Crescent of the Occident: Islam in Black America prior to 1930
Black Muslim Slaves and Scholars
Noble Drew All and the Moorish Gospel
3
The Genesis of the Nation of Islam
Behold, I Will Send You Elijah
A Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
A Nation of Islam
The Image of a Voodoo Cult in an Urban Jungle
Muhammad is the Messenger of God
Champions for Allah
4
Forces of Evil
An Asiatic Assault on Babylon
Exposing the Nation
X Terminated
A Federal Conspiracy to Neutralize the Nation of Islam
Knights of Americanism and the Threat of Black Islam
5
The Fall of the Nation
Until Death Do Us Part
Rapid Islamization Transit
To Dismantle an Empire
Religion, Perception, and Change
6
The Resurrection of the Nation of Islam
From the Nightclub to the Mosque
The Fall and Resurrection of the Nation of Islam
Kinship, Scripture, and Strategies of Legitimation
The Messiah Has Finally Come
The Black Path of Redemption
Rebuilding the Black House
7
A Nation of Gods: The Creed of Black Islam
The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth
Demonogony: The Making of a Devil
Gods Making Evil: The Problem of Theodicy
Death Rides a Pale Horse and Hell Follows with Him
The Sleeping Beauty and the Prince of Love
The Wheel and Satan, the Challenger
Apocalypse Now
Religion, Logic, and Configurations of Belief
There Are but How Many Gods?
Proving the Creed: Religion and Science
The Mathematical Code of Islam
What is New in New Religions?
8
The Sun of Islam Will Rise in the West
Allah's Gradual Approach
Follow Bilal into Paradise
Qadhdhafi and the Third Universal Theory
Islamic Reformer and World Transformer, Qadhdhafi's Twin Role
Qadhdhafi and the Nation of Islam
The Lost Found Nation of Islam
The Five Percent Nation of Islam
The Nubian Islaamic Hebrews: The Ansaaru Allah Community
9
Strained Seeds of Abraham: Is the NOI an Anti-Christian, Anti-Semitic Nazi Cult?
Christendoom and Crucifiction
Black Bridge over Troubled Waters
Blacks, Jews, and the Nation of Islam
From Dirty Religion Blues to Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Anti-Semites or Anti-Satanites?
The Nazi Connection
10
A Divine Nation in a Decaying World
Gangland Gangstas Turning Gods
The Hip-Hop Mission
When Something Wrong In tha Hood, Who Are You Gonna Call?
The NOI Prison Reform Ministry: Let My People Go
40 Acres and a Mule
Vote Black Muslim for Congress
Farewell to Welfare: The Black POWER of the Nation of Islam
Exit by Reeducation: Road to Freedom
Artificial Disease and Natural Health Care
“It's a God in the House”: Black Islamic Family Ideals
Justicia Niger
The Quest for Black Reunification
Children of Armageddon, or, To Civilize the Uncivilized
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and The Nation of Islam
by Mattias Gardell series edited by C. Eric Lincoln
Duke University Press, 1996 eISBN: 978-0-8223-8243-0 Cloth: 978-0-8223-1852-1 Paper: 978-0-8223-1845-3
In the Name of Elijah Muhammad tells the story of the Nation of Islam—its rise in northern inner-city ghettos during the Great Depression through its decline following the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975 to its rejuvenation under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan. Mattias Gardell sets this story within the context of African American social history, the legacy of black nationalism, and the long but hidden Islamic presence in North America. He presents with insight and balance a detailed view of one of the most controversial yet least explored organizations in the United States—and its current leader. Beginning with Master Farad Muhammad, believed to be God in Person, Gardell examines the origins of the Nation. His research on the period of Elijah Muhammad’s long leadership draws on previously unreleased FBI files that reveal a clear picture of the bureau’s attempts to neutralize the Nation of Islam. In addition, they shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the murder of Malcolm X. With the main part of the book focused on the fortunes of the Nation after Elijah Muhammad’s death, Gardell then turns to the figure of Minister Farrakhan. From his emergence as the dominant voice of the radical black Islamic community to his leadership of the Million Man March, Farrakhan has often been portrayed as a demagogue, bigot, racist, and anti-Semite. Gardell balances the media’s view of the Nation and Farrakhan with the Nation’s own views and with the perspectives of the black community in which the organization actively works. His investigation, based on field research, taped lectures, and interviews, leads to the fullest account yet of the Nation of Islam’s ideology and theology, and its complicated relations with mainstream Islam, the black church, the Jewish community, extremist white nationalists, and the urban culture of black American youth, particularly the hip-hop movement and gangs.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Mattias Gardell is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Uppsala University, Sweden.
REVIEWS
“A unique and unprecedented view of the enigma of Louis Farrakhan. In putting it together, Gardell has masterfully interwoven the information from an impressive collection of documents not treated by other scholars. His access to Farrakhan and the information make this a very special study.”—Yvonne Haddad, author of Muslims in America
“An outstanding work, In the Name of Elijah Muhammad provides an in-depth analysis of the most recent changes in leadership and structure of the Nation of Islam. Gardell’s theological/ideological discussion is brilliant and insightful, while the chapter on the FBI’s counterintelligence program on the Nation of Islam is a stroke of genius. Gardell’s research is comprehensive, well documented, and powerful.”—Clifton E. Marsh, author of From Black Muslims to Muslims
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1
Restoration of Dignity: The Rise of Black Nationalism
Black to Basics
A Black Moses in the House of Pharaoh
2
The Crescent of the Occident: Islam in Black America prior to 1930
Black Muslim Slaves and Scholars
Noble Drew All and the Moorish Gospel
3
The Genesis of the Nation of Islam
Behold, I Will Send You Elijah
A Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
A Nation of Islam
The Image of a Voodoo Cult in an Urban Jungle
Muhammad is the Messenger of God
Champions for Allah
4
Forces of Evil
An Asiatic Assault on Babylon
Exposing the Nation
X Terminated
A Federal Conspiracy to Neutralize the Nation of Islam
Knights of Americanism and the Threat of Black Islam
5
The Fall of the Nation
Until Death Do Us Part
Rapid Islamization Transit
To Dismantle an Empire
Religion, Perception, and Change
6
The Resurrection of the Nation of Islam
From the Nightclub to the Mosque
The Fall and Resurrection of the Nation of Islam
Kinship, Scripture, and Strategies of Legitimation
The Messiah Has Finally Come
The Black Path of Redemption
Rebuilding the Black House
7
A Nation of Gods: The Creed of Black Islam
The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth
Demonogony: The Making of a Devil
Gods Making Evil: The Problem of Theodicy
Death Rides a Pale Horse and Hell Follows with Him
The Sleeping Beauty and the Prince of Love
The Wheel and Satan, the Challenger
Apocalypse Now
Religion, Logic, and Configurations of Belief
There Are but How Many Gods?
Proving the Creed: Religion and Science
The Mathematical Code of Islam
What is New in New Religions?
8
The Sun of Islam Will Rise in the West
Allah's Gradual Approach
Follow Bilal into Paradise
Qadhdhafi and the Third Universal Theory
Islamic Reformer and World Transformer, Qadhdhafi's Twin Role
Qadhdhafi and the Nation of Islam
The Lost Found Nation of Islam
The Five Percent Nation of Islam
The Nubian Islaamic Hebrews: The Ansaaru Allah Community
9
Strained Seeds of Abraham: Is the NOI an Anti-Christian, Anti-Semitic Nazi Cult?
Christendoom and Crucifiction
Black Bridge over Troubled Waters
Blacks, Jews, and the Nation of Islam
From Dirty Religion Blues to Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Anti-Semites or Anti-Satanites?
The Nazi Connection
10
A Divine Nation in a Decaying World
Gangland Gangstas Turning Gods
The Hip-Hop Mission
When Something Wrong In tha Hood, Who Are You Gonna Call?
The NOI Prison Reform Ministry: Let My People Go
40 Acres and a Mule
Vote Black Muslim for Congress
Farewell to Welfare: The Black POWER of the Nation of Islam
Exit by Reeducation: Road to Freedom
Artificial Disease and Natural Health Care
“It's a God in the House”: Black Islamic Family Ideals
Justicia Niger
The Quest for Black Reunification
Children of Armageddon, or, To Civilize the Uncivilized
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE