Beliefs of Farrakhanism or the Nation of Islam
Question

                My question has to do with a group that calls itself the Nation of Islam, which is led by a man whose name is Louis Farrakhan. This group has misled many people with its ideas and beliefs which it propagates and spreads in their midst, especially those who embrace Islam. There are many Christians here in America who have left Christianity, and even people from other religions, who have embraced Islam, but unfortunately the ideas of this group are the first that they encounter. Among the main activities and ideas of this group is that they venerate racism and deny the Prophethood of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). In fact there is a group among them who claim to be divine, and they apply to themselves names and attributes that are only befitting for Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. They strive to spread these toxic ideas among their followers by means of what they possess of eloquent language and powers of persuasion. I have some people I know who believe in the ideas of this group, and I want to convince them that what they are following is the essence of misguidance, but I am not one of those who can argue and debate well. All I want to do is to show them the correct path, supported by evidence from the Qur’an and saheeh Sunnah. I hope that you can help me to do that.
Praise be to Allah.
	The Nation of Islam was founded by Wallace D Fard who 
	appeared suddenly in Detroit in 1930 CE, calling black people to his 
	beliefs. He disappeared mysteriously in June 1934 CE. 

	He was succeeded by Elijah Poole or Elijah Muhammad 
	(1898-1975 CE). The movement passed through distinct ideological stages, one 
	of which was the Farrakhan stage, as we shall see below. 

	In al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Muyassarah fi’l-Madhaahib wa’l-Adyaan 
	al-Mu‘aasirah (1/360), it says: 

	It should be noted that the ideas of this movement developed 
	gradually, under the influence of the leader who ran its affairs. Hence the 
	development of the movement may be divided into three periods:

	1.
	The era of Wallace D Fard:

	From the beginning the movement was known as the Nation of 
	Islam, and was also known by another name, the Lost and Found Nation of 
	Islam. Its most important aims were as follows: 

	·
	Calling for freedom, equality, and justice, and striving 
	to elevate and develop the group.

	·
	Focusing on the superiority of the black race, which they 
	claimed was the original race; they emphasised their African roots, and 
	showed hostility towards whites, whom they described as devils. 
	

	·
	Striving to divert their followers from the Torah and 
	Gospel (the Bible) to the Qur’an, whilst continuing to take some ideas from 
	the Bible.

	2.
	The era of Elijah Muhammad

	·
	Elijah Muhammad declared that God is not something 
	unseen; rather He must be embodied in an individual, and that individual is 
	Wallace D Fard in whom God is incarnated, and he is worthy of supplication 
	and worship. Thus esoteric concepts entered the thought of the group.

	·
	He claimed to be a Prophet, and gave himself the title of 
	Messenger of Allah.

	·
	He forbade to his followers gambling, drinking alcohol, 
	smoking, overeating, and adultery. He banned mixing of women with men to 
	whom they are not related, and he encouraged his followers to only marry 
	people within the movement. He banned them from frequenting places of 
	entertainment and cafes.

	·
	He persisted in the belief that the black race was 
	superior, and regarded it as the source of all that is good, and continued 
	to demean the white race and describe it as base and inferior. Undoubtedly 
	only Blacks were allowed to join the movement; whites were definitely not 
	allowed to join at all. 

	·
	Elijah Muhammad only believed in that which is tangible.  
	Therefore he did not believe in the angels or in the physical resurrection. 
	In his view the resurrection was no more than the intellectual revival of 
	black Americans.

	·
	He did not believe that Prophethood ended with the 
	Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and he declared 
	that he was the final messenger, because no messenger came but he spoke the 
	language of his people, and he – namely Elijah Muhammad – had come as a 
	Prophet to whom revelation came from Wallace D Fard in the language of his 
	people, the blacks.

	·
	He believed in the divinely revealed Books, but he 
	believed that a special book would be revealed to his people, the blacks, 
	and this would be the final Book to be divinely revealed to mankind.

	·
	Prayer at his time consisted of reciting al-Faatihah or 
	some other verses or supplications whilst facing towards Makkah and keeping 
	in mind the image of Wallace D Fard. This was done five times a day.

	·
	They fasted the month of December every year, instead of 
	fasting Ramadan.

	·
	Each member had to give one tenth of his income to the 
	movement.

	3.
	The era of Warith Deen Muhammad

	On November 24, 1975 CE, Warith Deen chose a new name for the 
	organisation, which was the Bilalians, after Bilaal al-Habashi, the 
	mu’adhdhin of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon 
	him). 

	On June 19, 1975 CE Warith Deen repealed the rule banning 
	whites from joining the movement, and on February 25, 1976 CE, a number of 
	whites who had joined them appeared side-by-side with blacks in the 
	convention hall. 

	On August 29, 1975 CE, he issued a statement that it was 
	required to fast Ramadan and celebrate Eid al-Fitr. 

	On November 14, 1975 CE, the name of the newspaper was 
	changed from Muhammad Speaks to The Bilalian News, then it 
	became The Muslim Journal. 

	He announced that his title would be Chief Imam instead of 
	Supreme Minister, and he changed the title “minister of the temples” to 
	“imam”. He focused his attention on religious matters, and delegated other 
	matters to the leaders of the movement. 

	He prepared the temples to become suited to holding regular 
	prayers (salaah). 

	On October 3, 1975 CE, he issued instructions that prayer 
	should be offered in the correct manner as known to Muslims, five times 
	daily.

	He addressed the Islamic concepts that had been wrongly 
	embraced by the movement since the days of Wallace D Fard and Elijah 
	Muhammad, and tried to correct them. 

	The things that we have mentioned above do not indicate that 
	the movement has taken a completely correct Islamic direction, but they do 
	indicate that there has been an improvement in the thinking of the movement 
	compared to how it was under previous leaders. It still needs corrections in 
	ideological and practical terms in order to be Islamically sound. End 
	quote. 

	These are the stages through which this group has passed. 
	Undoubtedly in the second stage – the stage of Elijah Muhammad – it was a 
	disbelieving group that was outside of the framework of Islam, because of 
	the beliefs mentioned above. 

	Unfortunately Louis Farrakhan has adopted the deviant ideas 
	of the group as they were at the time of Elijah Muhammad. 

	In the source quoted above – al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Muyassarah 
	(1/368) – it says: Farrakhanism is one of the esoteric groups in the USA 
	that still follows the way of Elijah Muhammad. 

	Foundation and prominent figures: 

	Its founder was born Louis Wolcott to a family that worked in 
	acting and music and had roots in the Caribbean islands. 

	In 1956 CE he joined the group of Elijah Muhammad, who 
	claimed to be a prophet and said that his teacher Wallace D Fard was God 
	incarnate. When Malcolm X opened Temple Number 11 in Boston, Louis X was 
	appointed to help him as a preacher and administrator. 

	When Elijah Muhammad expelled Malcolm X, he appointed Louis 
	as the primary spokesman of the group, and gave him the title Farrakhan. 
	Then he made him a preacher in one of the biggest and most important 
	temples, Temple Number 7, which had been run by Malcolm X before he was 
	expelled from the group.

	The beliefs of Farrakhanism: 

	Farrakhan affirmed all the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, 
	apart from a few simple changes. On the last page of every copy of the 
	group’s newspaper, The Final Call, there is a statement under the 
	twin titles of What Do The Muslims Want? and What Do The Muslims Believe?, 
	which includes the aims and beliefs of Elijah’s group, exactly as they were 
	stated in every single copy of the Muhammad Speaks newspaper at the 
	time of Elijah, and as they are mentioned in every copy of the Statements 
	of Elijah which are quoted from old copies of Muhammad Speaks. 

	Some of the basic beliefs of Elijah’s group that were revived 
	by Farrakhan include the following: 

	·
	That Allah created Himself.

	·
	That all black people are gods and among them a real god 
	is born every 25,000 years.

	·
	One of the black gods, who was called Yakub, created the 
	white man as a result of some genetic experiments.

	·
	That Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah (blessings and peace of Allah 
	be upon him) was sent to the Arabs only, and Allah sent Elijah to the blacks 
	of America, and he is the last of the messengers.

	·
	Farrakhan believes that he is the person meant by the 
	disciple Peter who is known in Christianity, and he believes that he does 
	not possess the power to give life, but through the voice of Elijah 
	Muhammad, he will revive the Nation of Islam in its entirety. 
	

	·
	That the white man is a devil.

	·
	That the black man is the one who composed all the 
	divinely revealed books.

	·
	Most of the teachings of the Qur’an are addressed to the 
	messenger Elijah Muhammad and the blacks in America.

	·
	There will be no bodily resurrection after death; 
	resurrection refers to the spiritual awakening of the blacks who are asleep 
	in illusory graves, and that awakening can only come about by learning of 
	Elijah and his god, and believing in them.

	·
	They say that if the Arabs really believed that Muhammad 
	was the final Prophet, then we can meet and debate the evidence until we 
	reach an agreement. But, you Arabs are racists and can never overcome this 
	aspect of your nature which is similar to the nature of the white man, who 
	is a devil. You and the Jews and the white men are all devils.

	Additions of Farrakhan: 

	With regard to the new beliefs of Farrakhan about Elijah, he 
	regards Elijah as God, just as the Christians regard Jesus as God. In fact 
	Farrakhan believes that Elijah is Jesus Christ. 

	He claims that Elijah did not die; rather He was resurrected 
	and is alive, even though Elijah emphatically and absolutely denied the 
	physical resurrection. 

	End quote from al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Muyassarah. 

	From these beliefs it is clear that these notions constitute 
	disbelief and have nothing to do with Islam. 

	What must be done is to call these people to affirm Allah’s 
	oneness and believe in Him, and that must be done by scholars and seekers of 
	knowledge. Not everyone can expose himself to specious arguments and 
	listening to falsehoods, when he is unable to refute them and highlight 
	their falseness. Hence in calling these people, you must seek the help of 
	those who can debate and argue with them, or give them books and material 
	that explain true Islam, without indulging in argument with them when you 
	are not skilled in arguing, for your failure to prove your point and refute 
	their arguments could make them cling more firmly to their ideas and 
	beliefs.

	We are happy to remain in touch with you through this 
	website, and we hope that you will pay attention to the times when you could 
	send your questions, so that we will be able to answer them. 

	We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to help you and take care of 
	you, and to bless your efforts. 

	And Allah knows best.