Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), American Black Muslim, who was leader of the Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims, from 1934 until his death. Born near Sandersville, Georgia, one of 13 children of an itinerant Baptist preacher, he was originally named Elijah Poole. His formal education ended when he was nine years old. In 1923 he settled in Detroit, where, eight years later, he met and became a disciple of Wallace D. Fard, also known as Walli Farad, founder of the Temple of Islam in Detroit.

When Farad disappeared in 1934, Poole changed his own name to Muhammad and assumed leadership of the movement that later became known as the Black Muslims. Muhammad spent the next eight years recruiting followers throughout the country. In 1942 he was imprisoned for urging blacks to resist the military draft; after his release in 1946, the movement spread quickly. It grew and prospered, especially in the 1960s, surviving a rift between Muhammad and his disciple Malcolm X. Muhammad advocated the establishment of an autonomous state for Black Muslims.