Editing Nation of Islam (section)

== Definition ==

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a [[new religious movement]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=185|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2002|2p=187|3a1=Keener|3a2=Usry|3y=2005|3p=172|4a1=MacGregor|4y=2007|4p=87|5a1=Oliver|5y=2012|5p=28|6a1=Curtis IV|6y=2016|6p=7}} a black nationalist religion,{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013b|1p=573|2a1=Potorti|2y=2017|2p=68}} and an African-American religion.{{sfnm|1a1=Soumahoro|1y=2007|1p=39|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2pp=59, 60}} As well as being characterised as an "ethno-religious movement",{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=2000|1p=45|2a1=Tinaz|2y=2006|2p=151}} it has been labelled a [[social movement]].{{sfnm|1a1=Barnett|1y=2006|1p=891|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=165}} Scholars of religion have highlighted commonalities between the NOI and [[UFO religion]]s,{{sfn|Curtis IV|2016|p=7}} with extraterrestrial spaceships featuring in the group's ideas about the end of the world.{{sfn|Wojcik|2003|p=280}} The scholar of religion Stephen C. Finley also suggested that it could be seen as a form of [[Western esotericism|esotericism]].{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=61}}

The name "Nation of Islam" has represented two distinct organizations: the first group was established by [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]] in the 1930s and existed until 1975, after which the second organization was created by [[Louis Farrakhan]] in the late 1970s.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=55}} Farrakhan's second Nation has some differences from its predecessor,{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=55}} reflecting how the Nation's teachings have shifted over its history.{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=1996|1p=193|2a1=Curtis IV|2y=2016|2p=13}} More broadly, the [[Sociology of religion|sociologist of religion]] [[Susan J. Palmer]] characterised the Nation as forming part of a "Black cultic milieu" in which it coexists alongside various black-oriented new religions, including [[Rastafari]], the [[Black Hebrew Israelites]], and the [[Nuwaubian Nation]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xxi}}

The Nation of Islam is a highly centralized, hierarchical,{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=109, 322|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=881|3a1=Akom|3y=2007|3p=311}} and [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] movement.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=117}}
Unlike practitioners of Rastafari, members of the Nation do not exhibit considerable variation in their approach to the religion, displaying a high degree of uniformity and conformity.{{sfn|Barnett|2006|pp=881–882}} Despite this, not all members have believed all of its teachings implicitly,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=169–170}} and there are members who have privately broken its rules on personal behavior and lifestyle.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=176}} 

===Relationship to Christianity and Islam===

[[File:Nation of Islam flag.svg|thumb|right|The flag of the Nation of Islam is a white [[Star and crescent|crescent moon and star]] on a red background.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=60}} The group calls this flag, which is based on [[Flag of Turkey|that of Turkey]], "the national".{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}}]]

The Nation has no specific [[Religious text|holy text]] of its own,{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=169}} and is influenced by both Christianity and Islam while offering profoundly different interpretations of their central scriptures, the [[Bible]] and the [[Quran]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=54, 181|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=59|3a1=Barnett|3y=2006|3p=882|4a1=Soumahoro|4y=2007|4p=40}} 
Having arisen from within a Christian-majority society, the Nation denigrates Christianity,{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=686}} presenting it as a tool of [[white supremacy]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=233|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=574}} For the group—whose members are commonly called "Black Muslims"{{sfnm|1a1=Lincoln|1y=1961|1p=iv|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=193|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=62}}—their Islamic identity offers an alternative to mainstream, Christian-dominated American culture.{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=42}} 

In describing itself as Islamic the NOI seeks to reclaim what it regards as the historic Muslim identity of the African-American people,{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=686}} with the group's second leader, [[Elijah Muhammad]], stating that "Islam is the natural religion of the Black Nation."{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=36|2a1=Tinaz|2y=2000|2p=46|3a1=Tinaz|3y=2006|3p=153}} The Nation sees itself as part of the Islamic world,{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}} and Islamic elements in its practices include the use of the [[Arabic]] language, prayers five times a day, and the adoption of a flag based on that of Muslim-majority [[Turkey]].{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=59}}

The Nation has little in common with mainstream forms of Islam.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=252|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=64|3a1=Berg|3y=2005|3p=700}} Mainstream Muslims generally see it as a movement that has "selectively adopted some Islamic beliefs and concepts" but is not "truly Islamic".{{sfn|Oliver|2012|p=28}} The scholars Jason Eric Fishman and Ana Belén Soage observed that although the Nation uses many standard Islamic terms, it gives them "profoundly different meanings" to those understood by most Muslims.{{sfn|Fishman|Soage|2013|p=62}} The Nation's views differ from the [[Five Pillars of Islam|Five Pillars]], which are typically seen as central to Islam;{{sfn|Berg|2005|p=699}} its claims that God takes anthropomorphic form and that there is no afterlife differ fundamentally from Muslim teaching.{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=8}} Unlike most forms of Islam, the NOI does not hold that [[Muhammad]] was the final nor the most important messenger of God, instead treating its first two leaders, Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad, as being more important.{{sfn|Soumahoro|2007|p=40}}
From mainstream Islamic perspectives, its teachings are [[Heresy|heretical]],{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=106}} with its theology being ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' ([[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemy]]).{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=188, 195|2a1=Fishman|2a2=Soage|2y=2013|2p=62}} Accordingly, some scholars of religion have characterised it as "quasi-Islamic",{{sfn|Tinaz|2000|p=50}} or referred to it as "Fardian Islam",{{sfn|Tsoukalas|2004|p=456}} "pseudo-Islam",{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=18}} or "nontraditional Islam".{{sfn|Akom|2003|pp=307, 308}}