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The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America
This important work on American Black Islam, previously published in cloth, is now available in trade paperback. With the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, the Nation of Islam and its often controversial leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, have reemphasized their importance as a major voice of the African-American community. Marsh examines the rise, fall, and rebirth of the oldest, most powerful, and significant Black nationalist organization in the United States. New chapters focus on the ideological splits in the Nation of Islam during the 1970s, the growth of the Nation in the 1980s, and the expanding influence and power of the organization in the 1990s. A key chapter examines the continuing legacy of African nationalist thought from 1815 to 1994, places Farrakhan in historical context, and examines his addition to the African nationalist legacy of Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. DuBois. The appendixes include interviews with important members of the Nation of Islam, Imam, Wallace D. Muhammad (son of Elijah Muhammad) and Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, the national spokesman for minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam; and a directory of Masjids in the United States and abroad. With bibliography and index.
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2000
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May 27, 2026
AN UPDATING OF HIS SYMATHETIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE NATION OF ISLAM
Clifton E. Marsh (b. 1946) is an American sociologist, who is professor of Social and Public Services at Tidewater Community College; he was previously Chair of the Social Science at Morris Brown College, and taught sociology at Hampton University in Virginia.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book (which was previously titled ‘From Black Muslims to Muslims: The Resurrection, Transformation and Change of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America, 1930-1995’), “In 1977, Minister Louis Farrakhan was excommunicated from the World Community of Al-Islam in the West. Once he was excommunicated, Minister Farrakhan began to resurrect and rebuild the ‘house’ of his spiritual father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. It was inevitable that Minister Farrakhan would depart from the course charted by W.D. Muhammad [Elijah Muhammad’s son]. Minister Farrakhan’s resurrection of the Nation of Islam was a second birth for the organization. The black nationalist Nation of Islam was slowly dying under the orthodox leadership of W.D. Muhammad.
“The [Nation of Islam/NOI] has undergone many changes since the publicarion of the first book in 1984… The book detailed fifty years of the Nation of Islam’s birth, development and change. It was extremely interesting to observe the Nation of Islam change during the transition of leadership to W.D. Muhammad. However, the biological son was dismantling, destroying, and dissolving the oldest, most powerful black nationalist organization in the United States. During this period of history the Nation of Islam became lost under the leadership of W.D. Muhammad. It seemed that prior to 1977, the world was ready to close the book of life on Elijah Muhammad’s beloved nation. All social scientists (including myself) were ready to write the final chapter (an obituary if you will) for the Nation of Islam.
“None of us in the academic community knew or were aware of the black nationalist passion burning in the heart of Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was he who stepped in and forced the death grip from the throat of his spiritual father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Minister Louis Farrakhan resurrected/found the Nation of Islam and began to breathe life into a dying movement. Therefore, Minister Farrakhan has forced the social-scientific community to reexamine the new nation. The sociological and historical developments over the last 15 years… had forced me to radically change the second edition….
“Even as I write this introduction, the ‘Nation’ is in the news. Thirty years after the murder of Malcolm X, his memory, image, and legacy haunts the Nation and Minister Louis Farrakhan. Qubilah Shabazz… daughter of Malcolm X … allegedly … traveled interstate to hire Michael Summers … to kill Minister Farrakhan to avenge the murder of her father over 30 years ago. The men who were arrested and convicted for the murder of Malcolm X have served well over two decades in prison and have been released. An ironic twist of Malcolm’s murder is the fact that both he and his convicted assassins eventually embraced orthodox Islam…
“It seems very curious that the legend of Malcolm X is being used as a weapon against Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was more feared in the 1960s than Minister Farrakhan is in the 1990s. The public embrace of Malcolm should not be in conflict with Minister Farrakhan’s mission. Remember, Malcolm was also a student of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm fought for the same ideals as Minister Farrakhan.”
He reports, “In April 1964, Malcolm X made the pilgrimage, known as the Hajj, to the Holy City of Mecca… During his pilgrimage Malcolm began to alter his perspective on the Nation of Islam’s doctrine … Malcolm was embarrassed because, as a Muslim minister, he did not know the prayer ritual, nor did he practice the ‘Pillars of Islam’ and other Islamic principles. He was impressed with the spirit of brotherhood, lack of color-consciousness, and nonracist attitudes among Muslims. He met with Islamic scholars and read volumes of literature on the religion… Malcolm changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz after he accepted orthodox Islam. Malcolm felt true Islam unites people rather than separating them as Elijah Muhammad’s teaching advocated.” (Pg. 60-61)
He recounts, “When Elijah Muhammad assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam in 1930, he deemed Master Fard Muhammad as ‘God in Person’ or Allah, and Elijah became the prophet of Allah… remember, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was the son of a Baptist preacher and was very knowledgeable of the Bible. Both [Marcus] Garvey and [Noble] Drew Ali felt that the black man’s God must be black… The Yacub Theory was created by Master Fard Muhammad… [who] was influenced by Marcus Garvey, Noble Drew Ali, and the Moorish Science Temple to provide a black political perspective … heaven and hell were on earth… The ‘white man is the devil’ is a direct influence of Noble Drew Ali, who started the Moorish Temple.” (Pg. 92-93)
He notes, “Minister Louis Farrakhan perceived Malcolm as being impatient for the changes that Imam W.D. Muhammad ultimately made… ‘as a leader he lacked the patience to wait for the development of the minds of the followers toward that direction.’” (Pg. 106)
He argues, “As far as ‘Elijah’s [son] Imam Warith Deen Muhammad is concerned, he is carrying out the plans of … the Honorable Elijah Muhammad … and was told that this transformation was the ‘original plan.’ If, however, that was the original plan, why did the Honorable Elijah Muhamad excommunicate Imam W.D. Muhammad several times for straying from the black nationalist doctrine of the Nation of Islam?” (Pg. 109)
He points out, “The Nation of Islam has moved from the fringe of traditional Black moderate leadership and established a welcomed presence in the African American community… The Nation of Islam is being recognized by police departments as a positive force for social change.” (Pg. 133)
Marsh recounts an interview with Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, National Spokesperson for Minister Louis Farrakhan, who told him: “We are not some little lightweight cheap people that people can build their academic careers on… We’re interested in any scholarship that will help us accomplish that objective… C. Eric Lincoln [is] famous all over the world … because he wrote a book about the Black Muslims in America. He doesn’t even bother to check with us to see, ‘did you ever call yourselves ‘Black Muslims’?” (Pg. 178)
Marsh was told, “By the grace of Allah, who came in the person of Master Fard Muhammad. He’s our senior, he is our redeemer, he is the Messiah. He is the Mahdi. He is God.” (Pg. 179)
He was also told, “the last few days of his life, [Malcolm] had written to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He wanted to know whether or not he could be forgiven for the things he had done and said. The Honorable Elijah Muhammed answered him and said, ‘Brother, there is nothing unforgivable in Islam.’ So Malcolm was planning to attend the Savior’s Day in 1965. He was unfortunately assassinated a few days before he would be able to reconnect with his base. He clearly recognized that he had made a horrible miscalculation. He had found out that he was not the leader he imagined himself to be. He found that he had taken the organizational platform for granted. He thought it would be easy to go and do that over again and he was a miserable failure. He recognized his mistake and wanted to come home. The enemy saw to it that he never made it.” (Pg. 188)
Marsh concludes, “The Farrakhan train began to pick up speed in the 1980s thanks to the right-wing conservative push of the Reagan/Bush administration. Leading into the new decade of the 1990s it appears the train cannot be stopped. Minister Louis Farrakhan has grown in stature, prestige, power, and influence. Minister Farrakhan compares himself and his message to Jesus: ‘the reaction against me is the same as you read would come against Jesus.’” (Pg. 126)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the Nation of Islam.
Clifton E. Marsh (b. 1946) is an American sociologist, who is professor of Social and Public Services at Tidewater Community College; he was previously Chair of the Social Science at Morris Brown College, and taught sociology at Hampton University in Virginia.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book (which was previously titled ‘From Black Muslims to Muslims: The Resurrection, Transformation and Change of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America, 1930-1995’), “In 1977, Minister Louis Farrakhan was excommunicated from the World Community of Al-Islam in the West. Once he was excommunicated, Minister Farrakhan began to resurrect and rebuild the ‘house’ of his spiritual father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. It was inevitable that Minister Farrakhan would depart from the course charted by W.D. Muhammad [Elijah Muhammad’s son]. Minister Farrakhan’s resurrection of the Nation of Islam was a second birth for the organization. The black nationalist Nation of Islam was slowly dying under the orthodox leadership of W.D. Muhammad.
“The [Nation of Islam/NOI] has undergone many changes since the publicarion of the first book in 1984… The book detailed fifty years of the Nation of Islam’s birth, development and change. It was extremely interesting to observe the Nation of Islam change during the transition of leadership to W.D. Muhammad. However, the biological son was dismantling, destroying, and dissolving the oldest, most powerful black nationalist organization in the United States. During this period of history the Nation of Islam became lost under the leadership of W.D. Muhammad. It seemed that prior to 1977, the world was ready to close the book of life on Elijah Muhammad’s beloved nation. All social scientists (including myself) were ready to write the final chapter (an obituary if you will) for the Nation of Islam.
“None of us in the academic community knew or were aware of the black nationalist passion burning in the heart of Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was he who stepped in and forced the death grip from the throat of his spiritual father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Minister Louis Farrakhan resurrected/found the Nation of Islam and began to breathe life into a dying movement. Therefore, Minister Farrakhan has forced the social-scientific community to reexamine the new nation. The sociological and historical developments over the last 15 years… had forced me to radically change the second edition….
“Even as I write this introduction, the ‘Nation’ is in the news. Thirty years after the murder of Malcolm X, his memory, image, and legacy haunts the Nation and Minister Louis Farrakhan. Qubilah Shabazz… daughter of Malcolm X … allegedly … traveled interstate to hire Michael Summers … to kill Minister Farrakhan to avenge the murder of her father over 30 years ago. The men who were arrested and convicted for the murder of Malcolm X have served well over two decades in prison and have been released. An ironic twist of Malcolm’s murder is the fact that both he and his convicted assassins eventually embraced orthodox Islam…
“It seems very curious that the legend of Malcolm X is being used as a weapon against Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was more feared in the 1960s than Minister Farrakhan is in the 1990s. The public embrace of Malcolm should not be in conflict with Minister Farrakhan’s mission. Remember, Malcolm was also a student of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm fought for the same ideals as Minister Farrakhan.”
He reports, “In April 1964, Malcolm X made the pilgrimage, known as the Hajj, to the Holy City of Mecca… During his pilgrimage Malcolm began to alter his perspective on the Nation of Islam’s doctrine … Malcolm was embarrassed because, as a Muslim minister, he did not know the prayer ritual, nor did he practice the ‘Pillars of Islam’ and other Islamic principles. He was impressed with the spirit of brotherhood, lack of color-consciousness, and nonracist attitudes among Muslims. He met with Islamic scholars and read volumes of literature on the religion… Malcolm changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz after he accepted orthodox Islam. Malcolm felt true Islam unites people rather than separating them as Elijah Muhammad’s teaching advocated.” (Pg. 60-61)
He recounts, “When Elijah Muhammad assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam in 1930, he deemed Master Fard Muhammad as ‘God in Person’ or Allah, and Elijah became the prophet of Allah… remember, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was the son of a Baptist preacher and was very knowledgeable of the Bible. Both [Marcus] Garvey and [Noble] Drew Ali felt that the black man’s God must be black… The Yacub Theory was created by Master Fard Muhammad… [who] was influenced by Marcus Garvey, Noble Drew Ali, and the Moorish Science Temple to provide a black political perspective … heaven and hell were on earth… The ‘white man is the devil’ is a direct influence of Noble Drew Ali, who started the Moorish Temple.” (Pg. 92-93)
He notes, “Minister Louis Farrakhan perceived Malcolm as being impatient for the changes that Imam W.D. Muhammad ultimately made… ‘as a leader he lacked the patience to wait for the development of the minds of the followers toward that direction.’” (Pg. 106)
He argues, “As far as ‘Elijah’s [son] Imam Warith Deen Muhammad is concerned, he is carrying out the plans of … the Honorable Elijah Muhammad … and was told that this transformation was the ‘original plan.’ If, however, that was the original plan, why did the Honorable Elijah Muhamad excommunicate Imam W.D. Muhammad several times for straying from the black nationalist doctrine of the Nation of Islam?” (Pg. 109)
He points out, “The Nation of Islam has moved from the fringe of traditional Black moderate leadership and established a welcomed presence in the African American community… The Nation of Islam is being recognized by police departments as a positive force for social change.” (Pg. 133)
Marsh recounts an interview with Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, National Spokesperson for Minister Louis Farrakhan, who told him: “We are not some little lightweight cheap people that people can build their academic careers on… We’re interested in any scholarship that will help us accomplish that objective… C. Eric Lincoln [is] famous all over the world … because he wrote a book about the Black Muslims in America. He doesn’t even bother to check with us to see, ‘did you ever call yourselves ‘Black Muslims’?” (Pg. 178)
Marsh was told, “By the grace of Allah, who came in the person of Master Fard Muhammad. He’s our senior, he is our redeemer, he is the Messiah. He is the Mahdi. He is God.” (Pg. 179)
He was also told, “the last few days of his life, [Malcolm] had written to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He wanted to know whether or not he could be forgiven for the things he had done and said. The Honorable Elijah Muhammed answered him and said, ‘Brother, there is nothing unforgivable in Islam.’ So Malcolm was planning to attend the Savior’s Day in 1965. He was unfortunately assassinated a few days before he would be able to reconnect with his base. He clearly recognized that he had made a horrible miscalculation. He had found out that he was not the leader he imagined himself to be. He found that he had taken the organizational platform for granted. He thought it would be easy to go and do that over again and he was a miserable failure. He recognized his mistake and wanted to come home. The enemy saw to it that he never made it.” (Pg. 188)
Marsh concludes, “The Farrakhan train began to pick up speed in the 1980s thanks to the right-wing conservative push of the Reagan/Bush administration. Leading into the new decade of the 1990s it appears the train cannot be stopped. Minister Louis Farrakhan has grown in stature, prestige, power, and influence. Minister Farrakhan compares himself and his message to Jesus: ‘the reaction against me is the same as you read would come against Jesus.’” (Pg. 126)
This book will be of keen interest to those studying the Nation of Islam.
January 23, 2017
This is a great introductory book to the formation of the Nation of Islam and the World Community of Al-Islam in the West. It helps contextualize key figures such as Malcolm X and (later) Louis Farrakhan, noting the schisms within the movement and philosophical shifts in the organizations over time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews