MASTER ELIJAH MUHAMMAD

1st Messiah / Cosmic Christ

Born Oct 7- 1897, the son of a baptist preacher named William Poole later named Wali and Marie Poole in Sandersville ,Ga. In 1931 the Most Hon- Elijah Muhammad came into contact with a  mysterious figure named Master Fard Muhammad and thus began his training which lasted 3 years and 4 or 5 months to prepare him in establishing Islam among the destroyed ,lost but now found  ab-original people in the western hemisphere called America. The 1st phase of his work concluded 1975 and he is now engaged in the 2nd phase from an exalted position of  Cosmic power  rendering guidance and protection to those who’s hearts and minds have been fashioned to established the divine will of Allah among humanity.

 

The Prophecy , the birth and commissioning of the Honorable Elijah Mihammad

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great

and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to

the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and

smite the earth with a curse. Bible: Malachi 4:5,6

Born Elijah Poole on October 7, 1897 in Sandersville, Georgia, the son of

William, a sharecropping, Baptist preacher. His grandfather was also a preacher.

He grew up not many miles from the rural town of Macon, Ga. His mother’s name

was Maria, which is the Spanish version of Mary. He was the 7th of 13 children

and even as a middle child he showed leadership qualities as all his siblings went

to him for advice and to settle disputes. His paternal grandfather named him and

always addressed him as “Elijah the prophet.” Elijah only went to the third grade

and learned only the bare rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic, because

he had to quit school to work the fields helping the family. “At the age of 15,

young Elijah was a foreman over a crew of men much older than him:” * In 1923

he worked as a ramrod foreman and builder for the Southern Railroad Company

and Cherokee Brick Company in Macon, Ga. Elijah Poole, at the age of 25,

married Clara and moved to Detroit in April of 1923. While in Detroit, the family

struggled to make ends meet. Elijah Poole one day later would describe his

condition as being “so deep in the mud of American civilization that only his

eyeballs showed.” He was so distraught that one day, his wife had to come get

him off the railroad tracks where he had fallen in a drunken state. Clara Poole

was a faithful wife, who would go out to work from white people to get money to

care for the family when Mr. Poole was unable to find work.

In the fall of 1931, one of Elijah Poole’s brothers named Charlie began telling him

of a man he heard saying “new things.” The man was teaching Islam. Being the

son of a Baptist preacher, Mr. Poole believed Islam to be a “heathen religion.”

But something that Charlie said made Elijah want to come and hear this

mysterious man. After further encouragement from his wife, going to a few

meetings and missing W.D. Fard, on September 22, they finally met. According

to reliable sources, Mr. Poole already suspected something divine about this

man.

“Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out

heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a

measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Bible Isaiah 40:14

During the talk, W.D. Fard taught on the origin of things including the origin of the

Black and White Nations. He spoke on the measurements of the earth; its weight,

its rotation, diameter, circumference, its distance to the sun and to other planets.

W.D. Fard discussed the future and the judgment of this world and the

establishment of a new world order based on freedom, justice and equality. As

Elijah Poole listened to W.D. Fard, he immediately determined that this was the

man of the book that was prophesied to come and in deed had come, seeking

that which was lost. An excited Mr. Poole was so impressed that he gave his only

dime at the end of the lecture.

During the end of the meeting, Mr. Poole had the opportunity to shake the hand

of the speaker. Elijah approached him, shook his hand and whispered into his

ear, “I know who you are. You are the One that was expected to come at the end

of the world.” W.D. Fard responded—first looking around to see if anyone else

heard what Mr. Poole said—then whispered back, “Yes. I am that One. But who

else knows but yourself?” That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

During this period, W.D. Fard unselfishly gave of His knowledge, teaching young

Elijah whom He had given the surname of Karriem.

This grandson of slaves was an eager student and learned from W.D. Fard

knowledge, actual facts, truths, principles and the Black Nation’s glorious history.

He learned the measurements of the universe, the proper foods to eat, and how

He (God) would separate the righteous from the wicked. He learned the time and

what must be done. He learned about self, other than self and about his teacher,

Allah who appeared in the Person of a man. Master Fard Muhammad left young

Elijah Karriem with wonderful examples of His sincerity, love, devotion and

even told Elijah one day that He would “walk a mountain 40 miles high and eat

rattlesnakes just to teach one” Black person. He paid a tremendous price to show

exactly what it would cost to save the Black Nation from the yoke of white

supremacy.

W.D. Fard allowed Himself to be arrested and jailed by the enemy in 1932. He

was ordered to leave Detroit on May 26, 1933. Later that same year W.D. Fard

went to Chicago only to be immediately arrested. This time He sent for Elijah,

who was able to see first hand the price for truth. “Each time He was arrested,

He sent for me so that I might see and learn the price of truth for us, the so-called

American Negroes (members of the Asiatic Nation). He was able to save Himself

from such suffering, but how else was the scripture to be fulfilled? We followed in

His footsteps suffering the same persecution.” * The message was clear as W.D.

Fard exhorted Karriem to “take plenty.” The Man who has all power showed his

love by His willingness to suffer for his people. There even was an occasion

when a man slapped W.D. Fard and when Karriem and others got ready to deal

with him, W.D. Fard told the brothers to leave him alone because he would be a

good one, one day.

Somewhere in the winter of 1932-1933, Master Fard Muhammad told Elijah,

“Come on Karriem. We got about all we are going to get.” Elijah Karriem broke

down and cried, “Master, if you destroy them destroy me.” This was a clear

display of the extraordinary love that the Elijah Karriem had for Black people.

Prior to His leaving in 1934, W.D. Fard had a process of allowing his student

ministers to select their own ministers from among themselves. They would

always select the most articulate and charismatic person. For whatever reason,

they never chose Elijah Karriem. One reason may have been his lack of

command of the English language.

After the students made their choices for awhile, W.D. Fard said, “I’ve let you

select yours for awhile. Now I’ll select Mine,” He said. “Hey you over there,

Karriem!”

“Who me,” said a humble, soft-spoken Elijah Karriem?”

“Yes, you Elijah Karriem. Come up here with Me,” He said. Elijah walked to the

front of the class to stand beside W.D. Fard. “From now on this is My Minister,”

Mr. Fard said to everyone with His right arm around Elijah’s shoulder. He chose

Elijah Karriem as Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam. Around this same

time, near his departure, he gave Elijah the surname Muhammad.

W.D. Fard gave Elijah Muhammad 104 books to find and read that would help

him with his Mission. So after three years and about four months, W.D. Fard told

little Elijah that He was leaving him with “the hardest job any man has ever had.”

Elijah Karriem cried when W.D. Fard left. Reports say W.D. Fard got on a train

never to be seen again.

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,

and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I

shall command him.” Bible Exodus 3:10

As agreed upon before Master Fard Muhammad departed, Elijah told the

followers and the world that W.D. Fard was not merely a prophet, but that

mysterious man was in fact God in Person, the long awaited “Mahdi” of the

Muslims and the “Messiah” of the Christians. He said that Man who taught them

to “accept your own and be yourself,” Master Fard Muhammad, was the Holy

One spoken of in the Bible, that the entire world is looking for and has been

expecting for the past 2,000 years. He also declared to all that he (Elijah) was the

“Messenger of Allah.” His declaration was not easily accepted by everyone.

Many followers and former student ministers disagreed. They could not believe

that humble Elijah, who could not speak well, was chosen over them. They

began disbelieving in the very teachings that had saved their life.

In 1934, Elijah Muhammad began publishing a weekly newspaper called The

Final Call To Islam. The newspaper provided lessons and information regarding

the coming of God, along with a question and answer section and Biblical and

Qur’anic Scriptures proving all statements.

While he was busy spreading the Word, many fellow students and even

members of his own family became envious and jealous of his exalted position.

They could not accept Master Fard’s Muhammad’s choice, and their hatred

became so intense that Elijah’s life was in danger and he fled to escape the

hypocrites’ wrath. His fleeing, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad would explain

later, was not due to fear of his own life, because he knew what God would do to

his enemies. He fled to save the lives of those who sought to kill him, so he could

turn around and teach them. From this point on, the drama to unfold was fueled

by envy, jealousy, and ignorance which caused a falling away of the 20,000

followers. So, armed with only the Word, Elijah Muhammad had to rebuild the

Nation of Islam.

Another occurrence in Detroit may also have prompted the Messenger to move.

This same year, he was charged by the Michigan State Board of Education with

“contributing to the delinquency of minors.” The Messenger and several Muslim

teachers and the Secretary of the Temple were jailed because the Muslim

children were taught in Muslim schools by Muslim teachers. The courts

expressed their dissatisfaction with the information that the Messenger was

teaching concerning the American flag. The charges were dropped and they

were released. The Messenger was given six months probation and ordered to

put the Muslim children in a public school. He refused and moved to Chicago,

Illinois in September of 1934 where he set up the Nation of Islam headquarters,

called Temple No. 2. “During the time the Messenger was visiting in Chicago in

1933, he first started teaching on the west side in churches and meeting halls,”

said Karriem Allah, one of the first in Chicago to hear Messenger Muhammad.

“One such place was The Hall, Universal Negro Improvement Association, which

was located at 1841 West Lake Street at 8 p.m. on Fridays, also a little church on

Damen and Warren Boulevard.” *

The Messenger opened a school and faced similar “delinquency” charges in

Chicago, but the charges obviously were dropped because no arrest was made

and the school remained open. From 1935-36, the meeting place was at 3317

South State and 37th and State. *

Keeping the hypocrites busy, Elijah kept on the move teaching Islam and

establishing Temples and Study Groups in several cities in the Midwest and on

the east coast for about seven years. He never spent more than two weeks at a

time in a city but still managed to build Temples.

“While running for seven years, I was going in and out of the Congressional

Library daily to hide and study and read books on Islam and Muhammad of 1400

years ago. That is the way I spent a lot of my time. I roomed with poor people

and wealthy people. I wanted to learn both classes of people,” he said in his last

public address of 1967 in Phoenix, Arizona. While in D.C. he lived with a Mr.

Benjamin Mitchell, who later became Brother Minister Benjamin X of

Muhammad’s Temple No. 24 in Richmond, Virginia.

“He came to my home in reply to a “Room for Rent” sign in my window. He

introduced himself as Mr. Evans to my sister, who was attending to our home in

the absence of my wife and I. He was permitted to see the room and informed

my sister that he would return at 5 o’clock to discuss the matter with me. True, he

did return at 5 o’clock and after being admitted he introduced himself and stated

pointedly that he had seen the room, that it pleased him and asked if he could

move in. When I replied, “Yes,” he mentioned that he would like me to black out a

glass transom over the door to the adjoining room. He explained that he would

he using much light and would pay for the extra light, and did not wish to disturb

us. I assured him that he could use all the light he desired and no pay was

necessary.”

Mr. Mitchell worked from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., and each night when he arrived

home, he would find “Mr. Evans” and his family still up talking, “He said he was

doing ‘missionary work among our people.’ He said to me, ‘Brother, I met with

God and He gave me a message to give to my people.’

“Astonished, Mr. Mitchellreplied, “God’?”

“Yes,” “Mr. Evans” said softly.

“You can’t see God and live!” responded Mr. Mitchell. “What did he look like’?”

Calmly, Mr. Muhammad replied, “He is Black and He told me to tell my people to

hurry and join onto their own kind because the end of this world has come.”

After about seven days of this, Mr. Mitchell realized that he had not known him to

go out for food. One Wednesday Mr. Muhammad asked Mr. Mitchell, “Brother, do

you drink coffee?” How about ‘putting my name in the pot the next time you make

coffee?” said Mr. Evans.

“Yes sir,” Mr. Mitchell replied eagerly. “I seized this opportunity to invite him to

dinner,” said Mr. Mitchell. “He accepted the invitation and he went out and bought

all the food, took off his coat, put on an apron and taught my wife how to prepare

the dinner. Imagine that!

“Brother, how are we going to eat all this food’?” asked Mr. Evans.

“Don’t ask me! replied Mr. Mitchell. “1 was wondering the same thing when I saw

you bring it in here.”

“Don’t you have some friends that you could invite over to dinner’?” said Mr.

Evans with a smile on his face. This was the beginning of weeks and months of

talks between the two men. “He was a wonderful mystery to us,” said Mr.

Mitchell.

“One day after he had lived in and moved out of my home for a number of years,

he said, ‘Brother, I’ll be out for awhile and I’m expecting a letter here, it may be in

the name of I. Bogan.’”

Mr. Mitchell responded, “I thought you said your name is Mr Evans?”

Mr. Evans smiled and said, “If it comes, keep it for me.”

Mr. Mitchell related the incident to his wife and they wondered what kind of man

is this, carrying two names. But then a few weeks later, Mr. Evans told Mr.

Mitchell that he was expecting another letter, this time in the name of Mohammed

Rassoul.”

A raid took place in Chicago at 51st and Michigan where the meeting place was

from 1940-42. Then, on May 8, 1942, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

head J. Edgar Hoover, arrested the Messenger on trumped up charges of failing

to register for the draft. At the time of arrest he was 45 years of age and the law

pertained to those aged 44 and under. They apprehended him in D.C. where he

spent time going to the Congressional Library reading the 104 books that Master

Fard instructed him to read. While detained, the FBI seized the Messenger’s bag

and copied everything in it. They questioned him for approximately 14 hours then

held him two and one half months in D.C. and 11 months in Chicago. While in

prison he set up a Temple and held classes. He would teach on Wednesday and

Friday evenings until the bugle sounded and it was time for bed. He also taught

on Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. The government actually was afraid of the

Messenger teaching during the war, so he eventually spent more than four years

in jail, without even a trial. Several other converts went to prison also, including

his son, Emmanuel Muhammad and Raymond Sherriff, who would later become

the Supreme Captain of the Nation of Islam.

About 70 Followers were sent to Sandstone in Minnesota, and others went to

Milan in Michigan. While in prison, his wife would bring material for him and the

other followers locked up to read. She even typed verses of the Holy Qur’an. Sis.

Clara kept the family and the Temples together while her husband was locked

up. She would handle all problems and if she could not handle them, she would

ask her husband for the solution. “When my father and I were in prison,” said

Emmanuel, “the FBI approached my mother and told her that she would have to

return the children to the devil’s school. She told them she would rather die first.”

* The Messenger then told his followers to raise the $5,000 necessary to get him

out of jail and August 26, 1946 he was released, and returned to the meeting

place which was then at 63rd and Cottage Grove. Then, they moved that same

year to the first building the Muslims actually owned at 824 East 43rd Street.

In the winter of 1955, the Muslims purchased a building from a Jewish

community at 5335 South Greenwood in Hyde Park that functioned as Temple

and school. The Messenger also moved to 4748 South Woodlawn. “And you

should have seen it when he got it!” said Emmanuel Muhammad, a son of

Messenger Muhammad. “It was in real bad shape. Whites had lived in it for a

long time and it had all kinds of need for repair.” *

The Messenger went on a world tour in 1959 visiting many heads of state on the

continent of Africa and the Middle East. This same year, he gave an historic

lecture to 10,000 at Uline Arena in Washington, D.C. He was honored with a

police motorcade and escorted down Pennsylvania Avenue in the same city

where he was falsely jailed less than 20 years earlier.

Also this year, TV journalist Mike Wallace conducted the five-part television

documentary called “The Hate That Hate Produced.” Although the intentions

were to destroy the small group of Black Muslims with false accusations, it did

just the opposite, because membership enrollment steadily increased by the

heightened awareness of the Muslims presence and doctrine. Shortly afterwards,

Alex Haley did an article on the Muslims for Reader’s Digest. At the beginning of

the next decade, 1960, the Messenger established Muhammad Speaks

newspaper with the help of Minister Malcolm X and Minister John Shabazz (now

named Abdul Allah Muhammad) and others.

In 1961 C. Eric Lincoln wrote a history book on the Nation of Islam, that received

much acclaim from those outside the Nation, but much criticism for inaccuracy

from those in the Nation of Islam. Shortly afterwards, the Messenger and the

Muslims purchased a new Temple at 7351 South Stony Island in June of 1972.

At the dedication of the mosque he delivered his historical and well-respected

series of lectures, titled “The Theology of Time.”

Then, in 1975 time seemed to completely halt. On February 25, reports that the

leader of the Nation of Islam died sent shock waves throughout the entire world.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad returned to Allah. Jet magazine in its report on

the funeral service had a headline that said “Muhammad Leaves Great Legacy of

Pride and Respect.”

The unexpected departure of the Messenger Muhammad caused widespread

uncertainty, confusion, panic, controversy and mixed feelings.

The Believing community misperceived and misjudged the news about the

Muhammad. Many in the Muslim back into total disbelief in Islam, others become

“orthodox” Muslims. The only thing that could be just as shocking to the Muslim

community as the news of Muhammad’s death was when, a few years later, the

Minister Farrakhan would announce that he believed that the Honorable Elijah

Muhammad was alive physically.