The Nation of Islam (or Farrakhanism) is a political and religious group with a race-based, pro-black philosophy. It is active primarily in America.
They believe that black people are racially superior to other races, and that the "blue-eyed devils" (whites) were selectively bred from blacks by an evil black scientist named Yakub, whose work supposedly took hundreds of years for him and his disciples to fully whiten his creations, with the intent to enslave the black race. According to Malcolm X's autobiography, on his pilgrimage to Mecca, the Muslims there were shocked to learn of the Yakub doctrine.
Unlike mainstream Islam, which traces its roots to Abraham like Judaism and Christianity, NOI:
- is a racist black hate group
- its positions are based on radical Islamic philosophies. Its current leader is Louis Farrakhan.
- is antisemitic, criticizing Jews for allegedly controlling the U.S. government and the economy.
- is classified as a hate group by SPLC.
Many mainstream Muslims regard NOI as a cult and not a true Islamic denomination.
Notable members
- Elijah Muhammad
- Louis Farrakhan
- Malcolm X (Later broke away from NOI and became a mainstream Muslim, changing his name to Malcolm Shabazz.)