The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America [Paperback]

Clifton E. Marsh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2000

This important work on American Black Islam, previously published in cloth, is now available in trade paperback. With the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, the Nation of Islam and its often controversial leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, have reemphasized their importance as a major voice of the African-American community. Marsh examines the rise, fall, and rebirth of the oldest, most powerful, and significant Black nationalist organization in the United States. New chapters focus on the ideological splits in the Nation of Islam during the 1970s, the growth of the Nation in the 1980s, and the expanding influence and power of the organization in the 1990s. A key chapter examines the continuing legacy of African nationalist thought from 1815 to 1994, places Farrakhan in historical context, and examines his addition to the African nationalist legacy of Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. DuBois. The appendixes include interviews with important members of the Nation of Islam, Imam, Wallace D. Muhammad (son of Elijah Muhammad) and Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, the national spokesman for minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam; and a directory of Masjids in the United States and abroad. With bibliography and index.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...includes new material on the recent split within American Black Islam between Imam W. D. Muhammad and Minister Louis Farrakhan...Marsh places [important] figures within a long-running strain of black nationalism and separatism dating back to Edward Blyden and others in the nineteenth century...a brief and accurate chronology of the rise of Black Islam in America. (Religious Studies Review )

...useful... (Journal Of Islamic Studies )

About the Author

Clifton E. Marsh is Chairman of the Department of Sociology at Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578860083
• ISBN-13: 978-1578860081
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Shining the light on the Nation of Islam, December 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America (Paperback)

Clearly documents the roots of the Nation of Islam, from its "divine" origin established by Master Fard Muhammad, the implementation of the reforming teaching designed to change the "so-called American Negro" into an upstanding Black man through Elijah Muhammad's direction, to the restructuring of those teachings by Louis Farrakhan that has turned the Nation of Islam into disorganized, pseudo-Civil Rights organization.

5.0 out of 5 stars REVISED EDITION OF A PIVOTAL STUDY OF CHANGES IN THE NATION OF ISLAM, December 23, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Clifton E. Marsh (born 1946 ) is an American author, sociologist and educator. He is currently a professor of Social and Public Services at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, Virginia.

He writes in the Introduction of the 2nd edition (2000) of this book, "The organization has undergone many changes since the publication of (my) first book in 1984 (From Black Muslims to Muslims: The Transition from Separatism to Islam, 1930-1980) ... The book detailed fifty years of the Nation of Islam's birth, development, and change... None of us in the academic community knew or were aware of the black nationalist passion burning in the heart of Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was he who stepped in and forced the death grip from the throat of his spiritual father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In 1977, Minister Louis Farrakhan resurrected/found the Nation of Islam and began to breathe life into a dying movement."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"The 'white man is the devil' theme is a direct influence of Noble Drew Ali, who started the Moorish Science Temple in Newark, New Jersey." (Pg. 93)

"Minister Louis Farrakhan felt Malcolm made a mistake when he says, 'Malcolm X knew where the Nation of Islam should go and ultimately would go, but as a leader he lacked the patience to wait for the development of the minds of the followers toward that direction." (Pg. 106)

"The breakup between Minister Louis Farrakhan and Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984 endures even ten years later in 1994. They rarely talk formally or informally and during public appearances ... were never photographed standing 'close' or next to each other." (Pg 123)

NOI spokesman: "Who ever called us Black Muslims? You probably don't even know. That was a term invented by Mike Wallace. He's the one that called us Black Muslims. We never called ourselves Black Muslims." (Pg. 178)

NOI spokesman: "So this was Malcolm's mistake. He unfortunately, the last few days of his life, he had written to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He wanted to know whether or not he could be forgiven for the things he had done and said... He had found out that he was not the leader he imagined himself to be. He found out that he had taken the organizational platform for granted. He thought it would be easy to go and do that over again and he was a miserable failure." (Pg. 188)