Examination of African American Religious Institutions

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries there are an increase of free Black communities in the northern states, where Black folks, although not enslaved, still had to navigate racism and establish themselves within this environment. They also grappled with pre-existing institutions that sought to exclude Black folks. For example, some Black members of a Methodist Episcopal congregation in Philadelphia were kicked out, and in response they founded their own Methodist Episcopal church, with Black interests in mind. It was the A.M.E church. This is just one example throughout African American history where Black folks founded their own institutions in response to racial exclusion. Another example of founding a religious organization like this would be the Nation of Islam in the 1930s. 

Like the founding of the A.M.E. church to center Black interests in a Christian context, Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam, engaged in this same action, except with the religion of Islam. According to the vision of W.F. Muhammad, the Nation of Islam was founded upon the vision to “…teach the downtrodden and defenseless Black people a thorough Knowledge of God and of themselves, and to put them on the road to Self-Independence with a superior culture and higher civilization than they had previously experienced” (noi.org).  In this statement, there appears to be many elements at work with regards toward the societal advancement of Black folks. Having a knowledge of God and themselves suggests the need for awareness of self as a Black person in the racial and social terrain of this time within the context of the history of Black people in America. 

The Nation of Islam sought to fully realize this “superior culture and higher civilization” through narratives that sought the establishment Black superiority. The main narrative that displayed this was the restoration of the Tribe of Shabazz, a supposedly powerful ancient people that originated in Africa that appeared to have been disbanded as a result of the Transatlantic slave trade. To attempt to establish authority as an institution as well, the Nation of Islam also recognized its founder Wallace Fard Muhammad as the Mahdi of Islam. In Islamic tradition, the Mahdi is, according to prophecy, supposed to redeem the religion and hold some capacity of ruling authority for a period of time before judgment day. The Nation making this claim appears to be essential in tying together the authority of this branch of Islam as well as asserting Black superiority and the “reestablishment” of the Tribe of Shabazz. 

Pledged,
Warren Socher

Word Count: 426

Bibliography:

"NOI History." NOI.org Official Website. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://www.noi.org/noi-history/.