The Book of Khallid

By Malik Shabazz and Farrah Gray

THE BOOK OF KHALLID chronicles the life and times of Khallid Abdul Muhammad, a notorious legend in the Black activist movement, and a militant prophet of today's radical generation. Minister Khallid Muhammad (1948-2001) was the former security chief and fiery national spokesman for Nation of Islam leader,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shabazz Publishing
• Release date: Feb 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087948300

Book preview

The Book Of Khalid

eBOOK_(2-3-2021)_with_BookmarksJohanna M BoltonJohanna M Bolton151222021-01-04T01:15:00Z2021-02-03T16:42:00Z2021-02-03T19:16:00Z3021877141069975Aspose89162510125517916.00002020-12-15T00:00:00Z2020-12-19T00:00:00Z

Shabazz Publishing                                                Washington D.C.

1st edition (c) January 2021 Shabazz Publishing

Copyright© Malik Zulu Shabazz, Esq.

All rights reserved.

Editoral Director: P. Renae Brooks

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Trinity Amun

Editorial Assistance: Ruby Essien-Udom

Research Assistance: Bruce Willis,

Selassie Amun, Dr. Shamonda Owens

Pictorial Layout: Mentu Sun

Printed in the United States of America ISBN# 9798683230890

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Shabazz, Malik Zulu

The Book of Khallid: by Malik Zulu Shabazz ⎯ 1st  ed.

Includes terminology table, footnotes and index

1.  Khallid Muhammad 1948-2001

2.  Afro-Americans ⎯ Biography

3.  Black Muslims ⎯ Biography

www.thebookofkhallid.com

www.bookofkhallid.com www.shabazzuniversity.com

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of Malik Zulu Shabazz, Esq. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission.

eBOOK_(2-3-2021)_with_BookmarksJohanna M BoltonJohanna M Bolton151222021-01-04T01:15:00Z2021-02-03T16:42:00Z2021-02-03T19:16:00Z3021877141069975Aspose89162510125517916.00002020-12-15T00:00:00Z2020-12-19T00:00:00Z

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Malik Zulu Shabazz is a former aide, spokesman, and lawyer for Minister Khallid Abdul Muhammad. Shabazz succeeded Khallid Muhammad, and served as the national chairman of the New Black Panther from 2001-2013. He currently heads Black Lawyers for Justice, which he founded in 1996. Attorney Malik Shabazz prosecutes civil rights cases against police officers and cities who are responsible for police abuse and murder against Black people (Blackrightsmatter.org). Dr. Shabazz lectures on college campuses in America and worldwide. Malik Zulu Shabazz founded Shabazzuniversity.com, which will host the library and archives of The Book of Khallid.

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Text Description automatically generated

Malik Zulu Shabazz, Esq.

Foreword by Farrah Gray

A picture containing text, person, indoor, posing Description automatically generated

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This Book is Dedicated to

Minister Hashim Nzinga (1962-2020)

3rd National Chairman of

The New Black Panther Party for Self Defense

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to thank my sister P. Renae Brooks for believing in me and in this project. Thank you for your hard work, research, translations, and always coming through with the right assistance when I needed you.

Thank you to Dr. Trinity Amun; your tireless work, meticulous attention to detail and thoroughness is much appreciated.

To brother Farrah Gray; our struggles years ago to support your father has brought us together again. Your commitment to your father’s legacy is respected, your dedication to truth and facts is appreciated.

To brother Minister Hashim Akhenaten Nzinga; brother I miss you beyond words…  I am sorry you could not make it to see this day, but this book is dedicated to you.  You kept Khallid’s work going as the Panther leader and you will never be forgotten.

To the New Black Panther Party for self-defense, who follow Chairman Khallid’s legacy. To brother Talib Muhammad, author of the book Fire 722, much respect for all of your years of service to Khallid Muhammad.

To Mentu Sun, Dr. Amy Jenkins, Imam Akbar, Khadijah Shabazz thanks for your constant hard work for the liberation of our people

Khallid Muhammad’s son David and mother Mattie Morris Van, Khalfani and mother Mahasin Rushiddin, Farrah Gray (Farrakhan Khallid Muhammad), Malik, Kiki, Amir, Ali (King Lawh) and mother

Khallidah Muhammad, Muhammad‘s three sisters Gloria Glenn and Cynthia Moore Kelly, Kashelia Moore Jackson, brothers Frank Zulu Moore Claybourne and Darington Moore Smith.

eBOOK_(2-3-2021)_with_BookmarksJohanna M BoltonJohanna M Bolton151222021-01-04T01:15:00Z2021-02-03T16:42:00Z2021-02-03T19:16:00Z3021877141069975Aspose89162510125517916.00002020-12-15T00:00:00Z2020-12-19T00:00:00Z

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LIST

Abdul Haqq Muhammad • Al-Karriem (NJ) • Alton Maddox (UAM) • Ashra Kwesi • Ayuko Babu • Barney Muhammad • Black Thought (The Roots) • Bob Brown • Chief Ernie Longwalker • Chris Sankara • Danielle Jean-Jacques • D'Angelo • Dr. Cornel West • Dr. Leonard Jeffries • Dr. Maulana Karenga • Dr. Shamonda Owens • Erykah Badu •  Hebrew Ben Israel • Hiram Ashantee (Will Mega) • Hon. Able Mabel Thomas • Hon. Silis Muhammad • ICE T • Imam Akbar Bilal • Ishmael Bey • Jarvis Butler • Juliana Khallidah (Granddaughter) • Kamani Evans • Kashiela •  Khali Ashanti • Kwame Ture (RIP) • Larry Johnson • Lorenzo Raybon, Master P • Minister Wazir Muhammad (RIP) • Morris Thutmose Powell (APM) • Mukassa Ricks • Paula Rushiddin • Professor Ashra Kwesi • Professor Griff • Professor James Small • Prophet T • Public Enemy • R.W. Akile • Sa-Neter • Sharieff Saalakhan • Teairra Myers • Treach • Velda Bell • Vernell Lillie (RIP) • Vibert White • Bro. Wali Muhammad • Warrior Woman • Yaa Asantewaa (NY) • Yaa Asantewaa Nzingha • Yohann Rakeem •

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 - BIRTH OF A BLACK GOD

A Star Student, Debater, and Athlete

Dillard University

Chapter 2 - HAROLD X

Nation of Islam

W. Fard’s Doctrine

Elijah Muhammad’s Program

The F.O.I. and MGT (Women of The Nation)

Black Muslim Program

NOI Economic Program

Malcolm X

Louis Farrakhan

Harold X Heads West

Chapter 3 - THE REIGN OF WALLACE

FBI Plans to Destroy the NOI

Imam W. D. Mohammad Installed

Farrakhan Preaches for Wallace

W.D. Mohammad’s Defenses

Khallid Travels and Grows

President Idi Amin, Uganda

Chapter 4 - THE NATION IS BACK

Silis Challenges Wallace

Farrakhan, Jibril, and Khallid

Khallid Raises Up the West

Khallid, The Activist

"Anything to Keep the Doors Open"

Libyan Terrorist?

Killing White Folks?

Supreme Captain

Jesse, Jews, and Farrakhan

FBI Zero in on Khallid

Chapter 5 - NATIONAL SPOKESMAN

Who Speaks for Farrakhan?

Khallid Compared to the Great Orators

Minister Khallid; the Liberation Theologian

Chapter 6 - 100 FBI AGENTS

Trial and Sentencing

Chapter 7 - STUDENT WARRIOR

The Mecca

Islam Arrives

Farrakhan at Howard

Khallid Comes to Howard

Student Takeover at Howard

Showdown at College Park

Chapter 8 - NEW YORK ROLLERCOASTER

Central Park Five

Trouble Brews In New York

Chapter 9 - PUBLIC ENEMY

Khallid Loved the Rappers

Tupac Shakur and Dr. Khallid

Rakim, Khallid, and Others

Khallid and Ice Cube

Chapter 10 - URBAN WARFARE

The Brotherhood of the Blackman

Oliver X Beasley Killed by Cops

Khallid and Gang Members Prepare for War

L.A. Riots Break Out

Khallid Restricted from Rebellion

L.A. Rebellion Spreads to Nation's Capital

The Dopebusters

Marion Barry and Farrakhan

Photographs

Chapter 11 - HEIR APPARENT

Black House Recaptured

Spaceships and Elijah

Farrakhan Contracts Cancer

Jealousy and Envy

Killing for Jesus

Cracks in the Wall

Clash at Columbia University

The Great Debate

Khallid and Imam Jamil Al Amin

Vice President

Malcolm X: The Movie

Chapter 12 - HAS FARRAKHAN CHANGED DIRECTION?

Silis, Farrakhan, and Khallid

The Prepared One

Farrakhan at Howard Again

A Torchlight for America

Khallid and the Torchlight Book

NOI Security Contracts

Farrakhan Plays the Violin

Black Nationalist Reaction

The White Man Is Not the Devil

Farrakhan Denies Change in Direction

March On Washington

Farrakhan and the CBC Sacred Covenant

Jewish Organizations Reject Change

Khallid Fiercely Defends Farrakhan

Chapter 13 - BUSTED [KEAN COLLEGE]

Khallid Was on a War Footing

Khallid Was Teaching NOI Doctrine

Kill ‘Em All

Kean College Speech Aftermath

ADL Provokes Media Firestorm

Jackson Attacks Khallid; Presses Farrakhan

Chavis Repudiates Khallid

Response Inside the NOI

United States Senate Condemns Khallid

Mfume Condemns & Capitulates

Khallid Meets with Farrakhan

Farrakhan Suspends Khallid

The Media Reacts

Black Nationalist Response

Malcolm and Khallid’s Suspensions

Jesse, Farrakhan and Khallid

Chapter 14 - THE EXALTATION OF KHALLID

MUHAMMAD

Death Threats

U.S. House of Representatives Condemn Khallid

Khallid Tries to Tone It Down

Shabazz Comes Under Attack

Farrakhan Responds

Dr. Khallid on a Roll

The Battle at Howard University

Khallid at Jewish Holocaust Museum

Farrakhan Meets Khallid

Black Holocaust at Howard

Post-Howard Reaction

Barbara Walters Pressures Farrakhan

Minister Khallid Destroys Phil Donahue

Chapter 15 - SHOT DOWN LIKE A DOG

Why an Assassination Attempt?

ADI Attempts to Sabotage Khallid’s Speech

Who Is James X Bess?

James X Shoots Khallid

Khallid Hospitalized

Post-Assassination Investigation

James X Bess and Dr. Alim

Khallid Leaves Hospital to Speak

Khallid Meets New Black Panthers

Real Niggaz Don’t Die

Chapter 16 - MILLION MAN MARCH

Let Us Make Men

Reconciliation?

Black Nationalists Rejected

Million Man March Preview

Million Man March

Chapter 17 - BLACK SHEEP

World Friendship Tour 1996

O.J. Simpson

Hannity and Khallid

Atonement?

I’m Confused

Khallid Recruited

Ice Cube Melts on Khallid

Khallid and Chavis Almost Go to Blows

Can’t Get a Meeting with Farrakhan?

Chapter 18 - JASPER, TEXAS

James Byrd, Jr is Murdered

Khallid and Church Burnings

Racial Politics of Jasper

James Byrd’s Funeral

Klan Returns to Jasper

Panthers Run the Klan from Jasper

Khallid Fathers Modern Armed Movement

Chapter 19 - MILLION YOUTH MARCH

Youth March Platform

NOI Reaction

Atlanta Youth March Emerges Against Khallid

Sharpton Meets Khallid

Million Youth March: Athletes and Entertainers

Khallid Meets with Resistant City

Stressors of The Youth March

Giuliani Condemns March

Marchers Head to Court

Khallid Silences Giuliani

New York Appeals

Mayor Giuliani, Police Squeeze March

Million Youth March, 9/5/1998

Youth March Program

Khallid Speaks Fire Against NYPD

Police Seize the Stage

Safir Seeks to Arrest Khallid

Chapter 20 - NEW BLACK PANTHERS

Farrakhan Criticizes March; Rebukes Shabazz

Khallid Claps Back at Farrakhan

Marchers on Trial

Million Youth March Anniversary Rally

September 4, 1999 Rally

Black Panther Opposition

New Black Panthers Spread Rapidly

Turbulence

FBI and Enemy Operations Against Khallid

Chapter 21 - GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Khallid Muhammad Suffers Brain Stroke

Was Khallid Poisoned?

Khallid Is Celebrated as A Hero

Farrkhan Criticizes Khallid After His Death

Legacy of The Black Nationalist Prophet

Epilogue - WHY DID I WRITE THIS BOOK?

Endnotes and References

FOREWORD

FARRAH GRAY

(SON OF KHALLID MUHAMMAD)

Whenever the name Khallid Muhammad is mentioned, there is no lack of strong sentiments from those who hear his name. The reactions to who he was and the statements he made vary to this day, depending upon one’s perspective. He was beloved and respected by many, hated and feared by others. He was larger than life.

Khallid Muhammad was known as a scholar, a teacher, a warrior, a master orator, and freedom fighter. I was clearly aware of all of the attributes he was known for, and who he was to the world, but before any of that, at the end of the day, I just knew him as Dad.

He inspired so many people. His lifelong mission was to speak painful truths to the unjust powers that be and maintain readiness to fight from the cradle to the grave. His unwavering love for his people, and disgust for our collective conditions, are the embers that burned inside of him, and forged the steel in his spine, which made him immovable when confronted by the storms brought on by those who sought to silence him. For decades, people have wondered, what is it that makes a man like El-Hajj Khallid Abdul Muhammad? I submit, that while this book will likely not change the minds of those who disagree or harbor disdain and hatred for my father, it may lend a bit of understanding and clarity. The Book of Khallid will offer insight, as it relates to understanding my father better, and all he attempted to convey. After reading this book, my hopes are that we all will be able to glimpse the raw reality and plight of our people all over the world, in more realistic terms. It is of no surprise that the Warrior Attorney, Malik Zulu Shabazz, is willing to champion, pen, share, and enlighten the world with The Book of Khallid: The greatest story never told.

Farrah Gray

International Bestselling Author,

Business Mogul & Influener

(Son of Khallid Muhammad)

INTRODUCTION

MEETING THE SWORD OF ALLAH

The sun was shining as I arrived at my grandfather El Amin’s house in the hills of Ladera Heights, California, the day after Christmas in 1989. I was dressed in the same outfit I had on when I introduced Minister Farrakhan at Howard University, on November 18, 1988; black slacks, white shirt, tie, and a sharp silver tweed blazer. Asalaam-Alaikum, said El Amin. Walaikum Salaam, Grandad, I replied. I had a seat in his spacious living room, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the man I had already dubbed, one of the greatest Black men of all times; Khallid Abdul Muhammad.

I was excited and on edge upon my first encounter with a man who had reached a certain level of immortality with me already, via video tapes and through tales relayed to me of his exploits in the field. My heart fluttered as my revolutionary hero, and a legend in the Nation of Islam, walked through the door with his close ally and father figure, Minister Wazir Muhammad, the west regional leader of the NOI. Upon seeing Dr. Khallid walk through the door, I stood up tall, near attention, with an uncontrollable grin. I was elated! Here he was in the flesh, Khallid Abdul Muhammad! We embraced strongly, cheek-to-cheek, from the left side first, then to the right. I was hoping I got it right because I knew this man to be particular about details, and I was eager to be up to standard.

To me, this meeting was similar to Muhammad Ali or Malcolm X meeting The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, or some other prophetic or biblical occurrence. I was blessed to meet an actual divine man, I thought. Minister Khallid did not disappoint me in the least during our first encounter. He was everything I thought he would be and then some!

Minister Khallid, during our first meeting, appeared about six foot one and solid, maybe 205 pounds. The former quarterback looked every bit of it. He sported a beige suit, which was extra-starched (military style), a Kente cloth sash around his neck and a white bowtie. His countenance was illuminated, and his bald head gleamed like a chocolate crystal ball. A uniquely handsome man, Khallid was looking good and smelling good, alligator shoes on his feet, with a fat star and crescent ring that lit up his finger in an array of crushed diamonds. At forty years old, Khallid looked to be in his prime in every regard, and he exuded a distinct aura with his presence. He looked like a Black God, I would remark to myself now and again over the years. However, the man I was meeting was well beyond the looks and the clean wardrobe he was wearing, and he was well beyond the material value of the Rolls Royces that he had become notorious for driving. I was meeting one of the premier revolutionaries in North America.

I was happy and I was in awe! Minister Khallid made me immediately feel right at ease. You are in a key and strategic revolutionary position there, right inside the campus of Howard University. It is you, brother, that can connect the mission of the Honorable Minister Farrakhan in places and locations that we cannot, I can recall him saying rhythmically. He sat with good military posture, commanding ultimate respect. Yes sir, I am for that 100 percent, Dr. Khallid, I obediently replied to my future mentor. I confessed to Minister Khallid, that I’d borrowed direct parts of his speech in my stirring introduction of Louis Farrakhan at Howard University the month prior. We all sat and watched the video together. Khallid was impressed, he liked it. I righteously gave him the credit for influencing my words, and I proposed that I bring him back east to Howard University, which was considered the Mecca of Black Education at the time. We talked about his immediate plans, how much I loved him on the Public Enemy album, and about conscious rap and the growing revolutionary movement amongst our students and our youth, for our resurrection and rise, as Khallid rhythmically phrased it.

Khallid Muhammad was an elite communicator and a master of words, I reflected after we met. Every word he spoke had a conscious and deliberate meaning behind it. When Khallid spoke, there was a power in his word to educate and transform, and I perceived that God was behind this meeting. Minister Khallid put me in touch with his secretary, and as soon as I returned for classes on January 1989, a date was set for him to come on February 14, 1989.

Khallid Muhammad is the truth, I thought. I could not believe it. I was going to be directly working with, The Sword of Allah! As impactful as my initial meeting with him was, I was oblivious to the very controversial and historic journey I was about to be on over the next thirteen years with one of the most controversial Black men in American history.

CHAPTER 1

BIRTH OF A BLACK GOD

Khallid Abdul Muhammad was born Harold Moore, Jr., in Houston, Texas, on January 12, 1948.¹ This great child originated from his mother, Lottie B. Moore and his father Harold Moore Sr. Young Khallid (Harold) was reared by his aunt, Carrie Moore Vann.² According to KaSheila Moore Jackson, Khallid’s younger sister, Harold Sr.’s sister, who was Khallid’s aunt, took Butch (Khallid) and raised him, and she even adopted him. Harold Moore Sr. lived right next door to his sister Carrie and young Harold. There were two little shotgun houses right there next to each other, is how Khallid’s close family described the setting. Khallid’s mother, Lottie, and his dad, Harold Sr., went their separate ways early on. After the separation Lottie B. Moore eventually mothered a total of three boys and three girls, giving Butch, as he was called, a total of five siblings. According to KaSheila, My mom wasn’t able to provide for us, based on the story my mom told us. My mom was not able to provide for all of her children. She kept the girl, raised Cynthia, and allowed Butch (Khallid) to stay with his aunt. My Mom went back to get Butch, because you know how people get attached. Therefore, Khallid was raised by his aunt.

According to all accounts, young Harold was very bright as a child and he consistently excelled in his academic studies. Harold (Khallid) attended Bruce Elementary School and E.O Smith Junior High School. During this time, he also ministered at Sloan Memorial Methodist Church in Houston Texas.³  According to Khallid Muhammad

As a young boy, at six, seven, eight years old, I had always wanted to be a minister, a preacher of the gospel. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a minister. I wanted to be a preacher. At that time, I knew in my heart I wanted to be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Khallid recalls that As a young boy, at age seven, while located at 709 Jensen Drive in a little shotgun 3-room house, I used to stand on a box on the porch and preach at the cars that were passing by. Young Harold X had a bred-in, natural gift for speaking and oratory. He was therefore nicknamed, The Preacher by his friends. While at Sloan Memorial Methodist Church, at age 16-years old, Harold Vann Moore became a youth minister, under the stewardship of Pastor Ernest McGowan. He served as the Houston District President of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. As a naturally gifted speaker and orator, young Harold was therefore called the most powerful youth minister, and was spiritually adopted by Pastor McGowan and his wife Jewell.⁴

A Star Student, Debater, and Athlete

"In the mid-1950s, the state legislature passed segregationist laws directed towards blacks, which addressed education, residential areas, and public accommodations. The Texas governor opposed the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, he also charged the Texas Rangers at Mansfield in 1956, to prevent black students from entering the public school.⁵ While growing up in Houston, young Harold Vann Moore’s training and experiences greatly influenced the man he ultimately became. A close lifetime friend, Jarvis Butler, witnessed Butch," as he was called, become a significant force in stopping gang violence in the Houston area.

Dr. Khallid saved countless other people's lives, not only from drowning in the pool, but from not allowing gang violence to breakout in the Fifth Ward. This is a story that needs to be told. It is important that people know that he was a civil servant par excellence, just by being a lifeguard and stopping the gang violence in various neighborhoods. By the tour de force of his personality, Houston is a safer place today because of that man. I would have drowned if he didn't jump in the pool and save me.⁶

Khallid was so scholastically talented that he was placed in an accelerated learning program as one of the 27 students in the entire school to be given such a distinguished opportunity.⁷ The July 26, 1970 Forward Times of Houston, TX stated, Vann, a polished kid, was very smart in the classroom, and he was an active member of the speech department at Wheatley. Vann was an eloquent and loquacious speaker who would one day speak his way to success.⁸ According to this news report, Khallid maintained a straight-A average grade in school. He became the captain and star member of the debate team at Wheatley under the distinct tutelage of Dr. Vernell Lillie. He was an honor student and esteemed member of Stagecrafters, where he developed exceptional debate and drama skills.⁹ Notably, Wheatley High in Houston Texas spawned such great orators as Congressman George Mikey Leland, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and Congressman Craig Washington.¹⁰ In his early days, young Harold Moore was both intellectually gifted and physically talented. Khallid’s sister, Kashiela Moore Jackson, recalled that Khallid had great athleticism, but leaned more toward his intellect, while he played both basketball and football. He played basketball, which was the only time I would not see him in a suit. Even while in Nation of Islam, when he stayed with my Mom where we all lived, he would go to the park to play and hoop, she recalls.

According to Butler, when Khallid was younger he was an honor student and quarterback of the football team at the all-black Wheatley High School in Houston.¹¹  Young Harold’s athleticism as a quarterback and the senior year football team captain demonstrated his early leadership qualities According to Jarvis Butler, Butch’s real claim-to-fame was that he was the first dark-skinned quarterback. He was a color-barrier, color-breaker, and those from Houston who played in the NFL said he could have very easily played in the NFL, because of his performance at Phillis Wheatley High School. Khallid graduated in 1966, and in the year 2013 Khallid Abdul Muhammad was inducted into the Phillis Wheatley Wall of Fame by the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association.¹² Khallid’s sister, KaSheila accepted the award on her deceased brother’s behalf. KaSheila recalls her older brother as competitive in nature. At the end of Khallid’s life term, Dr. Vernell Lillie, known also as Aunty Vern, attended the memorial event for her former student, who had become quite a controversial and famous man.

Dillard University

In the fall of 1966, Harold Vann Moore (Khallid Muhammad) enrolled in Dillard University, in New Orleans, Louisiana, seeking a degree in theological studies. Along the way, he was initiated into the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.¹³ Below, is the record of Khallid Muhammad’s Omega Psi Phi pledge line:

1967 – Initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity –

Theta Sigma Chapter, Dillard University

– Funky Fifteen Initiation Line:

In joining the Omegas, Khallid was on a quest for brotherhood, and his fraternal pledge experience is believed to have had a significant impact on his later ability to forge fraternal bond and instill strength in other men. According to Hiram Ashantee, a Greek letter fraternity member and later aide to Khallid Muhammad, Minister Khallid’s Black college experience as a fraternal pledgee had a formidable impact on his future Nation of Islam career.

Most notable, however, was the spiritual and religious challenges young Harold Vann More was facing as he forged his way through Dillard University. According to Khallid:

I left high school to go to college, while being on a grant to Harvard and living on the east coast. The Black conscious movement, the Black power movement, my Black studies, and the study of history, allowed me to dig to the root of White Christianity, which is not the true history of Jesus, but the White Christianity that had been given to me. The hypocrisy, the slavery, the deception, the lies, and the oppression of Christianity, destroyed my faith in God, destroyed my hope and destroyed me. I was a broken young man who had, at one time, known which way I wanted to go and knew what I wanted to be.¹⁵

Young Khallid was already a Black conscious student on campus prior to formally converting to the NOI. Warren Jones, a Dillard alumnus and former professor stated that, Vann (Khallid), a philosophy and religion major, engaged any and all who would listen in dialogue, discussion and debate, on religion, politics and the ‘Black Condition’ in America. Freedom Rider and alumnus, David Dennis, recalled Vann as being complicated and committed, controversial and outspoken.¹⁶ In 1968, Khallid spent a year at Harvard University as an exchange student on a grant from the Ford Foundation in order to study urban politics and sociology.¹⁷ Khallid said, that while he was in Boston retracing the life and steps of Minister Malcolm X, he joined conscious Black political circles at Harvard.

Khallid Abdul Muhammad, the young man who would grow up to roil America and be condemned by the White House, was shaped by multiple challenges and experiences. He was raised by his Aunt, who would inspire a fierce sense of self determination and pride in the young man as he strove to show he was worthy. Khallid’s young ministry work, formal debate training, gang truce interventions, and lifeguarding, would all measure as important foundations for a much greater work amongst the liberation of his people. As a college student, Harold Van Moore’s quest for spiritual understanding, along with his debate skills and academics, had not yet been welded together to give him a true purpose in life. It was only when the national representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Minister Louis Farrakhan, visited Dillard University, that Khallid Muhammad would receive the divine revelation which forever changed his life, and thereby changed the lives of countless others.

CHAPTER 2

HAROLD X

In the fall of 1967, Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke at Theodore Lawless Memorial Chapel at the Afro-American Arts Festival on the campus of Dillard University.¹⁸ His speech was entitled, Have We Made Progress? Khallid Muhammad consistently credited this single occasion as his greatest life-changing moment. Khallid recalled that he was a young man about 19-years of age in his sophomore year at Dillard, with my big, tall afro, looking like a billion Black Power fists standing up on top of my head, heavy mustache and a light beard, a long Nigerian dashiki, with a heavy medallion around my neck, bearing the picture of Malcolm X, with the back of the inscription stating, By Any Means Necessary.¹⁹

Khallid was thoroughly impressed by Louis Farrakhan. Khallid, who was a part of the student hosting committee, recalled, I watched his security. He was stern, immaculately dressed and seemed to be a well-disciplined man. I asked myself, ‘What manner of man is this? Young Harold, who had shown such promise as a Methodist preacher, appeared to be at a spiritual crossroads at this time, unable to reconcile the conservative doctrine of the Methodist religion that he had been indoctrinated into as a youth with the exploding radicalism of the Black revolt going on around him in the 1960s. I was at a point in my life which was somewhat of a crossroads. I had given up on God, I had lost faith, I had lost all hope, and I lost the faith in my own self. Then this man, Minister Louis Farrakhan, came to New Orleans, Louisiana. The well-spoken orator is well known for his extensive use of the Bible, which likely stirred Khallid’s soul. Khallid claimed that as a young Black Conscious student, he couldn’t find that link between religion and revolution.

He (Farrakhan) fired my soul. He became the instrument that Almighty God used to bind-up my wounds, to heal my disappointed and broken heart, to restore my faith, and to win me back to Almighty God again.²⁰

Farrakhan’s speech was impactful, but it would be the private meeting between the two that would prove pivotal. Khallid spent several hours with Farrakhan and he said, It changed my life. Farrakhan told him, Brother you are going to be a great helper in the work for our people one day.²¹ Still not fully convinced, Khallid said that he went to the local Temple in New Orleans and attempted to disprove the teachings and got converted. Harold Van Moore was no more, he was now Harold 2X under the tutelage of Minister Sidney X. Sidney made Khallid an assistant minister with a focus on the colleges, and he was dispatched to talk to the students at LSU, Xavier, Dillard, and Southern University in Baton Rouge.²²

Khallid would go on to be hailed in the deep South as an effective minister and a particularly exceptional salesman of Muhammad Speaks newspapers. He would also be hailed for his relentless and tireless recruiting abilities for the Nation of Islam Temples in which he would serve. In the zealous manner of Jehovah’s Witness, young Harold X was passionate in his desires to save souls, and would aggressively proselytize, or conduct Dawa for his Muslim faith.²³ According to FBI records, as the NOI Minister in Dallas, Texas, Khallid Muhammad came under government monitoring as early as 1970.²⁴ Khallid (Harold X) became thoroughly baptized in the Black Muslim program, its preaching, its aims, and objectives. In his earliest years as a new convert, he was unaware that one day he would ascend to become the fifth most popular member ever of the Nation of Islam, which has been one of Black America’s most iconic and enduring organizations over the last 100 years.

Nation of Islam

It is not possible to understand the life of Khallid Abdul Muhammad without gaining a fundamental grasp of the history, ideology, program, and practices of the Nation of Islam, often referred to by scholars as the Black Muslims. It is critical to understand the Nation of Islam in order to fully comprehend the ideology and mentality of Minister Khallid. He spent approximately thirty years inside the Nation of Islam, spanning from 1967-1997. Khallid loved the name Harold Vann Moore dearly, but when he joined the Black Muslims, he subscribed to a Nation of Islam policy of Muslim recruits to drop their slave name and to receive an X as their last name.²⁵ The NOI completely transformed the already gifted and talented Harold’s life in a most meaningful way. Khallid could have become a congressman, a major Christian preacher, a star lawyer, or even professional actor, but his path led elsewhere. In assessing Khallid Muhammad’s most interesting sojourn, many have overlooked the fact that he first joined the Black Muslims in 1967 during the first resurrection of the Nation of Islam, otherwise known as, the Old Testament Nation of Islam. Heavily impressed by Malcolm X, Khallid became deeply inclined to believe in the more militant and radical racial proclamations of the Black Muslims of the 1960s.

W. Fard’s Doctrine

In the name of Allah, who came in the person of Master Fard Muhammad, to whom praises are due forever, was a familiar opening statement for Khallid Abdul Muhammad throughout his entire, storied career in the ministry of the Nation of Islam. History records that Minister Khallid was consistent in his loyalty to W. Fard Muhammad throughout his career. In 1930, Fard established the Temple of Islam headquarters in Detroit, declared himself a prophet, and began preaching as the leader of the Nation of Islam. By 1933, he had 8,000 followers.²⁶ Fard‘s Supreme Wisdom Lessons of the Lost Found Nation of Islam are his primary revelation, and he declares in his English Lesson C-1, that I came to North America By Myself.²⁷ W. Fard Muhammad was known by a number of aliases including, Abdul Wali Farad Muhammad, W.D. Fard, W.D. Ford, and other names. According to NOI legend, Fard was born February 26, 1877 and appeared on July 4, 1930 in the City of Detroit Michigan.²⁸   Fard, according to NOI theology, is the promised Mahdi of the Muslims and the promised Messiah of the Christians.²⁹

The phrase, Allah, Master Fard Muhammad, or using Allah interchangeably with Master Fard Muhammad, is standard terminology for Nation of Islam adherents.³⁰ To equate Fard with The Lord of the Worlds or the God of the Universe is a part of the religious culture of the Nation of Islam, yesterday and still today. The deification of W. F. Muhammad draws frequent charges of shirk, or the allegation of rivaling partners with Allah from orthodox Islamic scholars, and the religious critics of the NOI who have over the decades charged the Black Muslims with not being true Muslims or violating the tenants of the faith of Islam.³¹ However, the N.O.I, adherents have defended their exaltation of W. Fard Muhammad up until the time of this writing by countering with the argument that traditional Islam is an old world Islam, and that the Arabs worship a spook God. The Black Muslim, while defending their theology, will at times boldly announce; Show me your God! to the traditional or orthodox Muslim believer, who attempts to downgrade their alleged home grown brand of Islam.

According to NOI history, Fard went door-to-door to sell his wares and his doctrines. He carried with him a newspaper called Lost-Found Nation of Islam to the Wilderness of North America, which he used to help spread his message. Fard’s message was three-fold:

a)  Christianity is a tool in the hands of white slave masters to control the minds of Black people,

b)  White people are devils, the embodiment of evil, and

c)  the only hope for Black people in America is total separation and self-reliance.

Prophet Fard established his ministry and soon recruited Elijah Poole, an auto worker who was unemployed due to the Great Depression.³² While establishing independent schools for the children of his Black Muslims followers, Fard came into direct conflict with Detroit police and judicial authorities.³³ In 1934, a second temple was founded in Chicago and the following year Fard Muhammad mysteriously disappeared.

There are many facts about W. Fard Muhammad which are contested, but the impact of his work is not in dispute. Rare is the single figure, whom in such a short span of time has had his doctrine spread so pervasively. Though W. Fard spent just a few years active amongst the population, the potency of his message would resonate widely, and reduplicate itself for decades into the ideology of the liberation struggle of Black people of America and the world. According to Elijah Muhammad in his book, Message to The Blackman:

Fard taught the identity of the devil; he gave the exact birth of the white race, the name of their God, who made them and how, and the end of their time, the judgment, and how it will begin and end. He taught us the truth of how we were made slaves and how we are kept in slavery by the slavemaster’s children. He declared the doom of America, for her evils to us was past due, and that she is number one to be destroyed. Her judgment could not take place until we hear the truth. He declared that we were without the knowledge of self or of anyone else. How we had been made blind, deaf and dumb by this white race of people, and how we must return to our people, our God and His religion of peace (Islam), the religion of the prophets.³⁴

According to NOI scholar, Tynnetta Muhammad, the mission of the Nation of Islam can be summed up in the goals of its founder, Fard Muhammad. His goal was to teach the downtrodden and defenseless Black people a thorough knowledge of God and of themselves, and to put them on the road to self-independence, with a superior culture and higher civilization than they had previously experienced.³⁵

As a southerner, young Khallid was well aware of all the inequities of Jim Crow. As a college student, and through independent study, he would learn all about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, the gross abuses of colonialism and the tragedy of the Black Wall Street massacre. He would also study the facts on the thousands of Blacks that were lynched and terrorized in the post reconstruction era.³⁶ Like the newly converted Malcolm X, young Harold X was a voracious reader and seeker of knowledge. He would study in-depth, the centuries of racism, discrimination, and the extensive crimes of the White man that have been committed upon Blacks worldwide.

Like Malcolm and legions of others, one reason Khallid Muhammad joined the Muslims was due to Fard’s doctrine, which provided decisive answers to White oppression and White injustice. Fard’s startling revelation, The White Man is the Devil, would be a mantra for Khallid Muhammad his entire storied career. Khallid loved Fard’s theology, which prophesized the Destruction of America by divine judgment, and the prohibition of racemixing between Blacks and Whites. Fard himself deified the Blackman and declared Blacks to be God’s Chosen and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Genesis 15:13.³⁷ Fard’s Supreme Wisdom Lessons of the Lost Found Nation of Islam were the basis of Khallid’s instruction, which proceeds by designating the nature of the Black man and the White man:

Student Enrollment (Rules of Islam):

1.    Question: Who is the Original Man?

Answer: The Original Man is the Asiatic Black Man, the Maker, the Owner, the Cream of the Planet Earth, Father of Civilization, God of the universe.

2.    Question: Who is the Colored Man?

Answer: The Colored man is the Caucasian, (White man), Yacub’s grafted devil, the Skunk of the Planet Earth.³⁸

Fard’s Supreme Wisdom Lessons would be required of his members to memorize them word for word. Over the decades his core doctrine played a significant part of the fabric of Black culture, being popularized by the 5-Percenters, an offshoot of the NOI, which is heavily populated with youth and Hip-Hop artists. The Nation of Islam would be charged in the 1960s with promoting Black Supremacy and teaching hatred against Whites.³⁹ None of this bothered young Harold X, because the NOI’s radical teachings, to him, were a wholly rational and a divine answer to White racism and White supremacy.

Khallid Muhammad was a diehard, firm believer in the doctrine of W. Fard Muhammad. Fard’s ideology on Blacks being God’s chosen and Whites being devils to be separate from, was conclusive proof of Fard’s divinity to Dr. Khallid.

Minister Khallid Muhammad would go on to cement a career as a premier lecturer, and he would achieve this feat by teaching from the base of his belief in Fard’s doctrine, which to young Harold X, thoroughly explained the nature of the oppression of his own people by Whites.

Fard’s detractors argued that Master Fard Muhammad was actually Wallace Dodd Ford, a White man and a career criminal. This attack stemmed from the famous 1960 Hearst Papers article, that ran a newspaper with the sensational headline; Nation Of Islam Cult Members Worship White God.⁴⁰ The FBI did not identify Fard as Ford until 1957, claiming thereafter, that W. Fard Muhammad was a Turkish born Nazi agent, and that he worked for Hitler during World War II.⁴¹ This false sketch went on to say that Fard and Elijah Muhammad had concocted the whole idea of a Nation of Islam while they both were in prison together in Federal Correctional Institution, located in Milan, Michigan in 1943, even though W.D. Fard had not been seen since 1934.⁴²

Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X were successful in discrediting the White Nazi from Turkey story with articles of their own published in the Muhammad Speaks, The Los Angeles, and the Herald Dispatch.⁴³ According to Khallid Muhammad, none of the scandalous allegations against Fard have ever been proven true against the NOI founder and he claimed that they were a part of an FBI plot and smear campaign to discredit the Black Muslims by lying White people. In an effort to inconclusively determine the whereabouts of Fard, the FBI pursued leads that Wali Ford was born in New Zealand. The Bureau traveled to New Zealand with photos of Fard Muhammad, but the family in question denied that the person that they were shown was related to them. A July 30, 1963 FBI memo, basically concluded the FBI’s search, admitting:

We have not been able to verify his (W.D. Fard’s) birth date or birthplace, nor identify his parents. W.D. Fard has not been seen or heard from since 1934.⁴⁴

The evidence supports Khallid Muhammad here, as the FBI investigation into Fard Muhammad was closed, with a statement regarding Fard: Subject's true identity unknown. Minister Louis Farrakhan taught that, Master Fard Muhammad was an Arab, and Minister Khallid was firm that, Master Fard Muhammad was not a White man. Master Fard Muhammad had a jet Black, original father, and a Caucasian mother. Khallid would cite Mendel’s law on genetics and would argue, Black genes are dominant, White genes are recessive, thus it would be impossible for Master Fard Muhammad to be White.⁴⁵ Since I have personally walked with Khallid Muhammad for 13 years, I will attest that if there was any conclusive evidence that the man the Nation of Islam would honor annually as its Saviour was a White man, Khallid Muhammad would not have held any loyalty to him at all. Minister Khallid was sincerely and fiercely Black conscious and would never behold a Caucasian anywhere in his divine spiritual belief system.

Elijah Muhammad’s Program

Without question, Khallid Muhammad was one of the fiercest defenders Elijah Muhammad has ever had. Messenger Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Poole on October 7, 1897, in Sandersville, Georgia. His parents were William and Mariah (Hall) Poole.⁴⁶ He sought a better life away from the Jim Crow segregated South, and in 1923 he moved to Detroit Michigan. During those downtrodden years of the great depression, Elijah was in the mud with only his eyeballs sticking out, according to Minister Khallid.

Upon Fard’s departure in 1934, Elijah made good on his near fanatical belief in his teacher, by elevating Fard’s theological identity to Allah in the Person.⁴⁷ Elijah Muhammad’s revelation, at this point, was that he was the Messenger of Allah, or Fard‘s Messenger. With the force of his conviction, Elijah embarked on a storied career that would forever change the course of Black people in America and impact world history. Elijah Muhammad met the misfortune of being imprisoned in 1942 for refusal to register for the WWII draft.⁴⁸ While imprisoned, the Messenger’s wife, Clara Muhammad and other women in the Nation of Islam played a substantial role in administering and operating NOI affairs.⁴⁹ They ran the Nation while Elijah Muhammad was incarcerated, as the legend is told by elders. The Messenger’s time in prison would begin a great tradition of recruiting and reforming Muslim converts out of America’s jails and prisons. Upon his release from jail in 1946 Elijah Muhammad continued to spread his version of Islam by cultivating an effective, growing ministry, and establishing temples across America.

"The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches," rolled off the lips of young Harold X often. Minister Khallid, along with a plethora of scholars, often credited the Messenger of Allah as being the genius and the creative force behind converting Fard’s doctrine into a viable, social, cultural, economic model and movement for Black people. The Messenger made the word a living reality. After Fard’s departure, Elijah would advance Fard’s mission to historical proportions. His program and movement impressed young Khallid the most after joining the NOI, and the brotherhood and sisterhood of the Nation of Islam was effusive and infectious to him.

A Nation of our own was the goal, and all signs indicated that the Messenger of Allah was making good on his promises by 1970. Throughout this golden age of progress of the Nation of Islam, the farms, grocery stores, factories, fisheries, banks, and clothing outlets of Elijah Muhammad’s economic program, would dot the landscape of America. The Black Muslim economic movement was very impressive to the young Harold X, who while militant minded, was also attracted to the do for self ideology of the Black Muslims and their heaven on earth while you live promises.

The F.O.I. and MGT (Women of the Nation)

The impressiveness of the Fruit of Islam was a key factor in Khallid’s initial attraction to the Nation of Islam. The brotherhood of the Black Muslims was similar to that which Khallid had experienced with Omega Psi Phi while in college, but on a much higher, Black conscious level. Unknowingly, while young Harold X was entering the Nation of Islam in Louisiana, he was wholly unaware to the fact that that one day he would rise to be the commanding officer over all F.O.I. men in North America. The development of the F.O.I (Fruit of Islam) represented the organizational genius of Messenger Elijah Muhammad, and by the 1970s, the NOI had become legendary for reforming men in the Black community. The Fruit of Islam of the NOI are the male members of the group who are responsible for the security and safety of the leaders, and the property of the organization. W. Fard Muhammad established the FOI and Elijah Muhammad greatly expanded the FOI’s membership under his reign (1934-1975). The reason for the necessity of the paramilitary outfit was due to the fear of trouble with unbelievers and the police.⁵⁰

The Black Muslims of the first resurrection made their name by instilling military training to men and boys. Based on the Fruit of Islam Training Manual, in part, the FOI instills a sense of discipline in its members, a trait many have never experienced before. Members of the FOI are trained into the knowledge of the aims and purposes of Islam. They are to clean up people who are not clean morally as well as spiritually, in America, and to make them fit to become good members of society.⁵¹

The Fruit of Islam of the 60s and 70s were not just men of reform; they were also men of a paramilitary nature and were looked upon as a protecting force against racial and police violence. According to Gibson, The Fruit of Islam’s, the NOI’s own paramilitary wing, originally had several veterans as members, so their presence may have had a significant impact on the direction of the NOI. Despite the source, militancy was encouraged by the leadership, as was fighting in self-defense, even when being attacked by armed police, which seemed to have been appealing to many African-Americans who feared racist violence.⁵² The F.O.I of this era were certainly feared as an internal enforcement outfit within the Black Muslim movement. According to Clegg, under the Supreme Captain Kalot Muhammad (Elijah’s younger brother), the Fruit enforced the laws of the movement through example first, but by coercion, when necessary. The men in this wing of the organization were trained in fighting tactics, drilled along military lines, and looked to for protection in the event of outside interference in temple affairs.⁵³

The continued national sale and distribution of Muhammad Speaks newspaper by the FOI was another of Messenger Elijah Muhammad’s great milestones. The Black Muslim weekly reached a weekly sales high in 1969 when 400,000 copies of Muhammad Speaks were printed per week. In 1974, those numbers grew to a record 950,000 in one week, making the paper one of the largest Black-owned publications in the nation.⁵⁴ For young Khallid, the selling of the Muhammad Speaks newspaper would become his early trademark in the Nation of Islam. All F.O.I. were expected to sell the Muhammad Speaks newspapers, and young Harold X gained a positive reputation for being exceptional in this regard.

A nation can rise no higher than its women, and the Messenger said that 75% of his work was with the Black woman. These are phrases often heard from Khallid Muhammad and other NOI ministers throughout the history of the Nation of Islam. Home is the Black woman’s base, but the world is her place, was an oft-repeated mantra of Minister Khallid throughout his career. The positive effects of Elijah Muhammad’s program and message of reform amongst Black women were legendary in the urban areas of Black America at the time Khallid joined the NOI.

As a youth, Khallid was impressed with the way Muslims reformed and elevated the character of Black women through Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Classes and program (MGT). According to Dawn Marie Gibson, in her book, Women of the Nation, Contrary to popular thought, not all of the women who arrived at the NOI temples were poorly educated members of the proletariat. A significant number of women who joined the NOI had college degrees or were pursuing an advanced degree.⁵⁵ Women joined the Nation for a variety of reasons; some saw it as a political group or beacon of Black consciousness, others as a forum for rehabilitation, and still the family structure appealed most to other groups of women. Elijah Muhammad’s program worked positively in the lives of the NOI members, which impressed young Khallid greatly.⁵⁶

Comprehensively, the Black Muslims, under Elijah Muhammad’s leadership, offered Blacks real social, spiritual, and political answers to White oppression in America. The NOI offered its entrants a new and better way of life, which had a corresponding positive effect on the entire Black community.

Black Muslim Program

Minister Khallid Abdul Muhammad was a very politically astute and studious person, a characteristic that would trademark his illustrious career. He was wedded to the specifics of the Black Muslim Ten Point Program, represented by Elijah Muhammad’s What the Muslims Want: What the Muslims Believe, located on the back of the Muhammad’s Speaks newspaper. The Black Muslim program demanded; full and complete freedom, equal justice under the law, and equal membership in society with the best in civilized society. Other NOI demands included freedom for all believers of Islam now held in federal prisons, an end to the death penalty, an immediate end to the police brutality and mob attacks against the so-called Negro throughout the United States, and, that Black men and women who are tried in white courts receive justice in accordance with the laws of the land."

The NOI program goes on further to demand equal justice under the laws of the United States, including an exemption for our people from ALL taxation, with equal employment opportunities, while we are being deprived of equal justice under the laws of the land.⁵⁷ The above-stated demands of the NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, were remarkably similar to the demands of civil rights leaders in the South who were fighting racial segregation. The Muslims too demanded equality and their platform highlighted the common aims of the Negro revolt of the time. This fact betrays the commonly held belief that the Black Muslim program was strictly religious and apolitical.

However, other demands of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam included a separatist agenda, which advocated complete separation of Blacks and Whites, altogether. There were some stark differences between the Nation of Islam objectives and civil rights groups, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, who were fighting for integration. The Muslim demands were not for integration, but for separate but equal education, with further separations between males and females through the college level. This was a separatist demand for Black children to be taught and trained by their own teachers. Importantly, Messenger Muhammad declared; We believe that intermarriage or race mixing should be prohibited.⁵⁸

"We want our people in America, whose parents or grandparents were descendants from slaves, to be allowed to establish a separate state or territory of their own, either on this continent or elsewhere. After giving them 400 years of our sweat and blood, and receiving in return, some of the worst treatment human beings have ever experienced, we believe our contributions and suffering forced upon us by white America, justifies our demand for complete separation in a state or territory of our own.⁵⁹

The Nation of Islam program would have a heavy ideological influence on the Black revolt of the 1960s. By October 15, 1966, the radical Black Panther Party had emerged with its own 10-point program, which borrowed and took from Elijah Muhammad’s 10-point program.⁶⁰ The Black Muslims that Khallid Muhammad joined were the progenitors of the Black nationalist movement, and Elijah Muhammad is considered the father of the Black conscious movement of the 1960s. As Eric Lincoln, the great Black Muslim biographer stated, The  Black Muslims have made a science of black nationalism. They have made being black the ideal, the ultimate value. They have proclaimed the black man to be the primogenitor of all civilization, the Chosen of Allah, the rightful ruler of Planet Earth.⁶¹

NOI Economic Program

Khallid Muhammad was extremely impressed with the economic program of the NOI under Elijah Muhammad. Khallid believed in something sound on the ground while we are still around, and not a pie in the sky after we die. The Messenger’s NOI business accomplishments are a source of legend in Black history. Scholars have differed in their opinions about the career of Elijah Muhammad, however, few can dispute his economic genius. Specifically, Elijah Muhammad had a keen industrial and business focus, that enabled him to establish his operation as a model for economic progress for so-called negroes in the 60s and 70s.

According to Halasa Malu, by the end of the 1960s, the NOI had fifty temples in operation, and the increase in membership expanded business opportunities. The NOI launched a back-to-the-farm program to stimulate interest in owning land. Build Black, Buy Black was Muhammad’s advice to his followers. The small business effort of the Black Muslims became well respected amongst all races and eventually expanded into "grocery stores, apartment buildings, factories, farms, cleaning establishments, restaurants, bakeries, service shops for