FBI Report on Elijah Muhammad

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: If you had been the director of the FBI in the 1950s and 1960s, would you have ordered the investigation of the Nation of Islam? Why or why not?
• 2.: What is the connection between black nationalism and the Nation of Islam?
• 3.: Based on the material presented in the FBI file, do you believe that the Nation of Islam is (or was) a racist organization? Explain.
• 4.: Using such documents as Malcolm X’s “After the Bombing” speech and Louis Farrakhan’s Million Man March Pledge, explain how the modern-day Nation of Islam is different from the organization as it was conceived by Fard and Elijah Muhammad.
• 5.: Muhammad expressed a number of views that run counter to known facts and accepted beliefs; examples include his view of the origin of American Indians and his apparent belief that Mars is populated. To what extent do you think that these highly unorthodox views undermine Elijah Muhammad’s message—if at all?