John Muhammad (1910-2005 AD) was the “blood and spiritual brother” of Elijah Muhammad,[1] who was the leader of the black nationalist Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 to 1975. Along with members of his family, John Muhammad converted to the NOI in 1931 and studied under its mysterious founder, Master W.D. Fard Muhammad.
Scholarship has somewhat glossed over John Muhammad, who would call himself the Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam[2] after the death of Elijah Muhammad. This was likely not a title that was given to him by Fard or Elijah, but rather it was an extrapolation of John Muhammad himself, because he believed that he had more knowledge about their teachings than anyone alive at that time. “Why are you Supreme Minister? They have asked me that question. I’ll answer right here with you. This is what makes me supreme. Any man that got more knowledge than the other one about a thing, he’s supreme, right? Because that’s what makes me supreme … Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam. I know the beginning, and I might know the ending.”[3]
Perhaps John Muhammad’s legacy was outshone by household names like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, and Warith Deen Muhammad; but John’s proximity to Fard and Elijah, his strict commitment to their teachings, his relative longevity, and his many hours of recorded speeches make him an invaluable resource to those who wish to study the early NOI through the eyes of a member of its inner circle.
His relevance
John Muhammad was the youngest of thirteen children.[4] In 1927, on John’s seventeenth birthday, he dropped out of high school. He felt that he was not learning anything, was deliberately being made to repeat grades, and was a victim of racism. In an integrated classroom, John’s teacher reportedly said, “If I had my way with all of you, I would put you on a ship and send you back to Africa.”[5] In July of 1930, W.D. Fard would arrive in Detroit to found his Nation. John Muhammad gives a different conversion account than what many NOI afficionados are aware of. What is commonly believed is that Clara, the wife of Elijah, had heard of this W.D. Fard and decided to go hear him preach while her husband was inebriated.[6] Then, she invited him over for dinner to meet and convert her husband. John Muhammad, however, recounts that it was his father who first met W.D. Fard and brought his family into the Temple.[7] This is corroborated by Hatim Sahib’s 1951 dissertation on the NOI.[8]
According to John Muhammad, he served as Captain, Minister, and Secretary Assistant under Fard in Detroit at his Hastings Street Temple of Islam.[9] He was also a teacher and principal at Detroit’s University of Islam in 1934;[10] [11] the same school that would be the subject of a much-publicized investigation and trial at the time.[12] John Muhammad’s wife was “the Reformer” Burnsteen Sharrieff Muhammad, Fard’s secretary. In 1934, one year before John married Burnsteen, Fard advised John that it was “no time to get married right now”.[13] This may be because of the Great Depression, but I suggested in my article “The War of Armageddon: The NOI, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Imperial Japan” that Fard, like Rutherford, was advising people to not marry yet due to the impending War of Armageddon.[14] Like his brothers, John spent a lot of time with Fard, and they would even travel together in a hupmobile.[15] On top of his ministerial duties, John Muhammad worked for Chrysler and retired there.[16]
After the death of Elijah Muhammad, John Muhammad did not become a follower of Warith Deen Muhammad or Louis Farrakhan, though he kept relations with both. He rejected Farrakhan and Cushmeer’s assertion that Elijah Muhammad was still alive.[17] [18] John believed that the various leaders ought to reunite under the teachings of Fard and Elijah; and he continued teaching a small circle in his senior years. According to Morrow, “John Muhammad remained faithful to the original Nation of Islam doctrines.”[19] His wife Burnsteen, however, would join Warith Deen Muhammad and be a part of the Shura board of Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit.[20]
In my view, one of the most valuable characteristics of John Muhammad is that he appears to be an even more “blank slate” than Elijah Muhammad was. Being the leader of a tumultuous organization, Elijah Muhammad was involved in politics, maneuvering his followers, and engaging in damage control.[21] He travelled to the Muslim world, and he interacted with Muslims of other sects. Elijah was beholden to his adherents and his donors. As the leader of the NOI, Elijah also had the full creative license to develop the teachings he was left with. John Muhammad, on the other hand, was a simple follower of Fard and Elijah, he did not travel to the Muslim world, and he never rose to the prominence that some of his contemporaries enjoyed. To me, John Muhammad seems like an unwavering believer in Fard and Elijah, and he seemed very careful in not developing, over-interpreting, or changing what he learned from them.
Of course, most of what we have from John Muhammad comes from the 1980s and 1990s, nearly half a century after W.D. Fard departed. Human memory is not perfect, as we sometimes forget or embellish past events. Any accounts given by John Muhammad or anyone else must be put in context with every other resource we have on the early Nation of Islam.
On W.D. Fard being God
John Muhammad continued to teach that W.D. Fard was Allah in Person. However, in a Q&A session, someone asked the Supreme Minister, “Did anyone have any idea that he (Fard) may have been God, or was the Messenger the only one that had come to that conclusion?”. John replied, “No, no one … the Messenger told me that he didn’t know that he was actually God, not until his departure from among us. Then, that’s when he began to question him more about himself, and he told him who he was.”[22]
The question of Wallace Fard’s exact claim to divinity is a contentious one among both scholars and the early Nation of Islam. On one hand, a 1932 Detroit Free Press article cites a Dr. Clark, the medical examiner who treated Fard upon his arrest, as saying that Fard was “suffering from delusions that he is a divinity.”[23] The same article, as well as a 1932 Chicago Defender article says Fard “told detectives that he was the ‘Supreme Being on Earth.’”[24] According to Hatim Sahib’s 1951 dissertation, he quotes Elijah Muhammad that Master Fard had said in a speech in Chicago, “I am God Himself”.[25] On the other hand, soon after Fard had departed in 1934, Elijah and Kallat Muhammad’s The Final Call newspaper were calling him “Prophet Fard” and distinguishing him from Allah.[26] Osman Sharrieff, a minister under Fard in Chicago, insisted that Fard never claimed to be Allah in Person.[27]
One way of reconciling this paradox is saying that W.D. Fard claimed divinity without explicitly using the term “Allah in Person” to describe himself. In NOI theology, the Asiatic black man is God in general, and even Yakub the scientist and his King of Islam were gods.[28]
It is unclear if W.D. Fard was claiming to be a prophet. The 1938 Beynon article would suggest that he was,[29] but the extant newspaper record from 1930-1934 does not record such a claim. Sahib quotes Elijah Muhammad saying, “He did not teach us that he was a prophet. We used to call him prophet. I made the followers [call] him prophet because I do not know exactly what great name to give him. No one called him prophet before me.”[30] Warith Deen quoted his mother Clara Muhammad as saying, “he told us to not even call him prophet. He said that was too big a title for him.”[31] According to an upcoming book by Michael Muhammad Knight, “before identifying Fard as Allah, Elijah Muhammad identified Fard as Allah’s son”.[32] The view that W.D. Fard was a prophet or Allah’s son would eventually be disbanded by Elijah Muhammad in favour of the “Allah in Person” doctrine.
On Elijah Muhammad’s relationship with the Moorish Science Temple
Master Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad are often accused of having been members of Noble Drew Ali’s Moorish Science Temple of America prior to 1930. This claim lacks solid evidence, despite overwhelming similarities between the teachings of the NOI and the Moorish Americans. The two groups certainly interacted, though it is undetermined if Fard and Elijah were ever members. Elijah Muhammad firmly denied that Fard was ever associated with Noble Drew Ali.[33]
In a lecture to his followers, Supreme Minister John Muhammad speaks about the fezzes that W.D. Fard and the NOI wore, which the Moorish Americans would also wear prior to the coming of Fard.[34] In the same lecture, John calls Noble Drew Ali “a good man”; but Fard called him a “smeller of Islam”, because he did not have full knowledge of Islam.[35] This corresponds with a 1933 letter that Fard sent to Elijah Muhammad, where he instructs him to go to Chicago to speak to “smellers”.[36]
John Muhammad states, “Now, a lot of people say that Elijah Muhammad was a member of the Moorish Americans or the Moor Americans or was with Noble Drew Ali. Now, I have heard him say that he have visit there (sic), but I never heard him say he was a member there.”[37] It is unclear if John is referring to before 1930 or after.
The Detroit Free Press photograph of W.D. Fard and the mugshots
In 2010, a 1932 newspaper article from the Detroit Free Press resurfaced online. The article contains a photograph of W.D. Fard in police custody.[38] In 2020, I also found a different photograph from the same event in the Des Moines Tribune.[39] The reason why these photos are significant is because, since the 1930s, the only extant picture of Master Fard Muhammad was his official Nation of Islam portrait[40] and the various police mugshots of Wallace Ford. Elijah Muhammad famously claimed in 1963 that the mugshots were of a “phony” and not his teacher, Fard.[41] One problem, however, is that the Fard in the 1932 Detroit Free Press and Des Moines Tribune photographs looks almost identical to the police mugshot photos. These newspaper articles were also in circulation in 1932, while Fard was still active; and the early NOI never claimed that the photographs in the newspapers were fraudulent.
While some NOI members may still deny the authenticity of the newspaper photographs, John Muhammad, who knew Fard personally, confirmed the authenticity of the Detroit Free Press photograph in his Q&A.[42] This is corroborated by a reference in the FBI file on Wallace D. Ford: Willie Muhammad, another brother of Elijah Muhammad, allegedly identified the police mugshot photograph of Fard as “my sweet savior, my all powerful Allah”.[43]
I spoke with a close family member of John Muhammad, and he confirmed to me in an interview that John considered the 1926 San Quentin mugshot of Wallace D. Ford to be the same person as W.D. Fard.
Fard’s accent
John Andrew Morrow argues in his Finding W.D. Fard that Fard did not have an “identifiable accent”,[44] while A.K. Arian argues in Chameleon that he had a “thick accent”.[45] Accents are relative – there are many accents in the United States, and everyone has his own manner of speech. However, Fard’s direct writing is fraught with spelling and grammar errors, which suggests that he was either foreign or undereducated.
According to Medina Mohammed, the daughter of John Muhammad, Burnsteen “said that he (Fard) had a very heavy accent, and he would often say to them, ‘I hope you understand what I’m trying to say to you.’”[46]
John Muhammad said in his Q&A that Elijah Muhammad would sometimes speak like Master Fard in a “foreign-like” manner.[47] Elijah Muhammad indeed had a unique way of speaking, one that was different even from other members of his family. This may simply have been a speech impediment, or perhaps Fard made a permanent impression on him, so much so that Elijah would mimic his teacher.
Fard’s prayers and blessings
According to John Muhammad, Master Fard was asked by his followers if they could use this blessing before meals. The blessing he apparently approved was “bismillāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm, lā ilāha illallāh, farad mukhmud (sic) rasūlallāh, amīn”[48] – meaning: in the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful; there is no god but Allah, and Fard Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, amen. He also claims that Fard never prayed while delivering a lecture on the rostrum, and that he discouraged (but allowed) getting on one’s knees to pray.[49] For John, the fact that Fard did not pray was a proof for his divinity. It is difficult to know for certain if the aforementioned blessing was used in the time of W.D. Fard. However, we do see the same blessing being used in English in the 1934 Final Call.[50] According to Sahib, “they offer their so-called prayer whenever they meet in the temple or they have to eat.”[51] Sahib probably called it a “so-called prayer” because it is not the ṣalāt prayer that orthodox Muslims are familiar with.
In a 1983 lecture in Farrakhan’s Final Call Administration Building, John Muhammad claimed that W.D. Fard would say “Mukhmud” instead of “Muhammad”.[52] This pronunciation seems to have precedence in the written record, as Elijah Muhammad taught the story of General “Muk Mud”. Is it possible that W.D. Fard, who allegedly came from the Muslim world, was mispronouncing “Muhammad”? Or is it more likely that the undereducated Elijah and John simply couldn’t pronounce “Muhammad” as pronounced in an eastern language?
Ramadan
While orthodox Muslims fast the month of Ramadan in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar, the followers of Elijah Muhammad were known to fast the month of December. This may be because the days are short. Louis Farrakhan’s followers currently fast the same month of Ramadan that orthodox Muslims fast.
According to Sahib, the Nation of Islam was fasting in September in 1951.[53] John Muhammad says in a Q&A that Master Fard Muhammad was asked if Ramadan could be done in December; he said that Ramadan could be done in any month.[54] This may not be so inconsistent with orthodox Islam. In Sunni and Shia Islam, if one misses a fast in Ramadan due to illness or travel, they may make up that fast in another month. However, it is indeed unorthodox for an entire community to miss the lunar month in favour of a solar month.
Elijah Muhammad’s successor
Elijah Muhammad believed he was God’s last messenger, and he is quoted as having said, “there will be no successor. There is no need for a successor.”[55] Jeremiah Shabazz, who joined the Nation of Islam in 1943, became one of Elijah’s top ministers, and was at Elijah’s bedside during his fatal illness, confirms that “the Messenger never did choose a successor. He didn’t choose Wallace. He didn’t choose Farrakhan. He didn’t choose Silas. I know he didn’t choose them. I was by the Messenger’s bedside for two weeks before he left us in 1975.”[56]
John Muhammad curiously said, “My brother, Elijah Muhammad, never said to me who his successor would be, but he told me who he wanted it to be, and he proved it by actions and words. He said to me that he did not have that authority to choose his successor. Further, he taught me that no messengers choose his successors – that is with Allah.”[57] Who was this person that Elijah wanted to choose but did not end up choosing? In his Q&A, John Muhammad says regarding Warith Deen, “Some of them think that the Messenger chose him. He wanted him – I tell you the facts – that was the man that Elijah Muhammad wanted to carry out the Nation of Islam. He wanted him, but he couldn’t choose him. He told me that … he couldn’t choose a successor.”[58] So, despite John’s theological disagreements with Warith Deen, he admits here that Warith Deen was the one Elijah Muhammad wanted to succeed him. It is likely that their theological differences and their turbulent relationship is what prevented Elijah from formally appointing him.
Conclusions
As more tapes of Supreme Minister John Muhammad surface, we will learn more about the identity and teachings of W.D. Fard. John represented a strict adherence to Fard and Elijah’s teachings without the gradualism and the innovations of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad and Minister Louis Farrakhan. While Elijah Muhammad was more prone to guarding sensitive information about the early Nation of Islam, we have demonstrated that John Muhammad simply lets some of these details out. Human memory is fallible, but much of what John Muhammad says can be corroborated by other sources.
[1] Shah-Allah Shabazz, The Physical Whereabouts of the Messenger, YouTube, 0:00:30-0:00:40. https://youtu.be/zyg1dYz2doc
[2] Shah-Allah Shabazz, Q&A With The Supreme Minister, YouTube, 12:07-12:12. https://youtu.be/jLbSV1lVW-Q
[3] Ibid, 12:16-12:55.
[4] John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 203.
[5] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA, YouTube, 37:50-39:16. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[6] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 90.
[7] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA, YouTube, 1:27:15-1:27:27. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[8] Hatim Sahib, Contributions in Black Studies, “The Nation of Islam”, Vol 13., Article 3, pp. 21.
[9] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA, YouTube, 7:27-9:38. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[10] Ibid, 24:37-25:00.
[11] John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 203.
[12] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 117-123.
[13] Shah-Allah Shabazz, “Q&A With the Supreme Minister”, 28:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbSV1lVW-Q
[14] Bilal Muhammad, “The War of Armageddon: The NOI, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Imperial Japan”, https://bliis.org/essay/the-war-of-armageddon-the-noi-jehovahs-witnesses-and-imperial-japan
[15] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1989 SAVIOURS DAY, YouTube, 21:56-23:07. https://youtu.be/e00Vc2Dtf-8
[16] At My Sister’s House, “At My Sister’s House: Replay”, YouTube, 10:23-10:36. https://youtu.be/g12pFVsi9II
[17] Shah-Allah Shabazz, The Physical Whereabouts of the Messenger, YouTube, https://youtu.be/zyg1dYz2doc
[18] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 482-483.
[19] John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 202-206.
[20] This is common knowledge, but it was also confirmed to me in an interview with a close family member of Burnsteen Sharrieff Muhammad.
[21] The Hearst article on W.D. Fard, the assassination of Malcolm X, the various challenges to his leadership, and accusations of infidelity, to name a few examples.
[22] Shah-Allah Shabazz, “Q&A With the Supreme Minister”, YouTube, 15:55-16:42, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbSV1lVW-Q
[23] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 110, also see https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press/33026251/
[24] Ibid, also John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 206.
[25] Hatim Sahib, Contributions in Black Studies, “The Nation of Islam”, Vol 13., Article 3, pp. 71.
[26] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 123-124.
[27] Ibid, pp. 125.
[28] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, “SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA”, YouTube, 1:31:50-1:32:30. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[29] Erdmann Beynon, “The Voodoo Cult Among Negro Migrants in Detroit”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 6 (May 1938), pp. 895.
[30] Hatim Sahib, Contributions in Black Studies, “The Nation of Islam”, Vol 13., Article 3, pp. 70.
[31] Baitcal Media Group, “W. Deen Mohammed and Louis Farrakhan Interview”, YouTube, 2:59-4:05. https://youtu.be/328DMQ7TGrs
[32] https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/supreme-wisdom-lessons/
[33] TheElijahMuhammad, “Elijah Muhammad- Newsweek Interview”, YouTube, 38:30-39:45. https://youtu.be/VWCONdydrxA
[34] Shah-Allah Shabazz, “Was Messenger, Elijah Muhammad a Moor?”, YouTube, 3:16-5:00. https://youtu.be/sELxyqPw9GU
[35] Ibid, 5:39-6:54.
[36] Alam Khan Publications, “WD Fard’s Angry Letter to Elijah Muhammad (December 18, 1933)”, YouTube, 8:00-8:30. https://youtu.be/Ryk-46zlJG0
[37] Shah-Allah Shabazz, “Was Messenger, Elijah Muhammad a Moor?”, YouTube, 19:55-20:55. https://youtu.be/sELxyqPw9GU
[38]https://www.newspapers.com/image/97678435/?clipping_id=6908428&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjk3Njc4NDM1LCJpYXQiOjE3MTE5NDg0ODQsImV4cCI6MTcxMjAzNDg4NH0.12uBsYelxC-YR–dcUOuJwqJr3VvxTGkg9BtY6jNeAA
[39] https://www.newspapers.com/article/des-moines-tribune-wallace-farad/15351265/
[40] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Fard_Muhammad#/media/File:Wallace_Fard_Muhammad.jpg
[41] https://www.noiwc.info/master-fard-muhammad.html
[42] Alam Khan Publications, “WD Fard’s Newspapers Authenticated by John Muhammad”, YouTube. https://youtu.be/gyekPhgv0ZM
[43] U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Wallace D. Ford”, pp. 15.https://vault.fbi.gov/Wallace%20Fard%20Muhammed/Wallace%20Fard%20Muhammed%20Part%205%20of%207
[44] John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 4, 128.
[45] A.K. Arian, Chameleon: The True Story of W.D. Fard, pp. 65, 164.
[46] At My Sister’s House talk show, “At My Sisters House: Replay”, YouTube, 45:00-46:00. https://youtu.be/g12pFVsi9II
[47] Alam Khan Publications, “What Did WD Fard Sound Like”, YouTube. https://youtu.be/PprkS7-k-nU
[48] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, “SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA”, YouTube, 1:20:00-1:30:00. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[49] Ibid.
[50] Karl Evanzz, The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, pp. 123-124.
[51] Hatim Sahib, Contributions in Black Studies, “The Nation of Islam”, Vol 13., Article 3, pp. 89.
[52] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, “SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1983 FINAL CALL BUILDING CHICAGO ILLINOIS”, YouTube, 1:12:30-1:13:30. https://youtu.be/4_cNDxWhYtc
[53] Hatim Sahib, Contributions in Black Studies, “The Nation of Islam”, Vol 13., Article 3, pp. 89.
[54] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, “SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD 1988 EAST POINT GEORGIA”, YouTube, 1:44:30-1:46:05. https://youtu.be/O5X4V-dPHF8
[55] John Andrew Morrow, Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam, pp. 84.
[56] Shah-Allah Shabazz, “Minister Jeremiah Shabazz; Did Muhammad Choose Wallace or Farrakhan?”, YouTube, 1:44-2:30. https://youtu.be/q0s_aQx7eJE
[57] Shah-Allah Shabazz, The Physical Whereabouts of the Messenger, YouTube, 16:20-17:00. https://youtu.be/zyg1dYz2doc
[58] SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD, SUPREME MINISTER JOHN MUHAMMAD COLLEGE PARK GEORGIA 1985, YouTube, 3:18:50-3:19:25. https://youtu.be/it5Kkh4iwqg
