Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the Nation of Islam, an American black nationalist Muslim sect, between 1934 and 1975. This was the same organization that attracted icons like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Louis Farrakhan.
Elijah Muhammad believed that he was the final Messenger of God, after studying under an occult teacher by the name of W.D. Fard in Detroit and Chicago in the early 1930s. Fard was a mysterious foreigner who taught English, history, mathematics, and religion to thousands of black people during the Great Depression. His teachings mixed elements from Islam, the Jehova's Witnesses, Freemasonry, and Garveyism.
In 1934, Fard disappeared, never to be heard from again. In his leave, he appointed Elijah Muhammad to lead the Nation of Islam. For 41 years, Elijah Muhammad taught that black people were God, that white people were the devil, that the Resurrection was metaphorical for black people returning to self-knowledge, that the Judgment Day would be the fall of America, and that UFOs were helpers of black people.
In 1975, Elijah Muhammad passed away, but those who follow Louis Farrakhan believe that he is still alive, and they expect his messianic return.
