Editing Nation of Islam (section)

== Organization ==

=== Leadership and financing ===

As of 2020, the Nation consisted of ten ministries: for Spiritual Development, Agriculture, Education, Information, Health, Trade and Commerce, Defense, Justice, Arts and Culture, and Science and Technology.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=148}} It also established a shadow ministry, forming the prototype for the governance of the future state it hopes to lead.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=337}} Responsible for the group's national security is the supreme captain, one of the most powerful roles in the organization.{{sfn|Finley|2022|p=57}} Family ties are an important element of the NOI's senior ranks; various members of Elijah Muhammad's family were for instance married to members of Farrakhan's family.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=125}}

[[File:FruitOfIslam cropped retouched.jpg|thumb|left|Members of the Fruit of Islam photographed in 1974]]

The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is a group of men within the NOI. FOI members are trained in military protocol, wrestling, boxing, and [[judo]].{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=174|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=55}} They are tasked with protecting NOI leaders, temples, and other NOI property and are expected to strictly follow NOI rules.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|p=174}} The Nation has also established [[Muslim Girls Training|Muslim Girls' Training]] for women, whose members receive lessons in domestic skills and self defense tactics.{{sfnm|1a1=Curtis IV|1y=2002|1p=174|2a1=Finley|2y=2022|2p=57}}

The NOI says that its finances come primarily from donations and its businesses.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=137–138}} At the start of the 1960s, it was reported that members were expected to donate a set part of their earnings to the group each year; as of 1952, this reportedly constituted a third of a member's annual income.{{sfn|Lincoln|1961|p=17}} In 1976, Wallace Muhammad estimated the Nation's net worth to be $46 million, although revealed it had a severe cash flow problem, owed millions in back taxes to the [[Internal Revenue Service]], and was making a loss with its agricultural operations.{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=15}} Although the Nation does not disclose the extent of its financial resources,{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=137}} in the 1990s its assets were estimated to total $80,000,000.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=115}}

=== Press and media ===

From its early days, the Nation used print media to promote its ideas, including the magazines ''Muhammad Speaks'' (1961–75) and ''The Final Call''.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=149–150}} ''Muhammad Speaks'' included contributions not only from Nation members, but also from leftist and progressive writers in the African American community.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=67}} Members were encouraged to sell these magazines on street corners or sometimes door-to-door in African-American-majority areas.{{sfn|Curtis IV|2002|pp=174–175}} These sellers were given sales quotas to fulfill and were sometimes punished if they failed to meet them.{{sfn|Haywood|2017|pp=13, 15}} The Nation's first magazine aimed at women, ''Righteous Living'', appeared in the early 1990s.{{sfn|Gibson|2017|p=31}} As well as running shows on radio stations,{{sfn|Tinaz|2006|p=160}} and distributing videos,<ref name="USNWR20110705">Bedard, Paul (July 5, 2011). [https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/05/farrakhans-hate-sermons-to-prisoners-slammed "Farrakhan's Hate Sermons to Prisoners Slammed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103193345/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/05/farrakhans-hate-sermons-to-prisoners-slammed |date=2018-01-03 }}. ''U.S. News & World Report''; retrieved September 5, 2012.</ref> the Nation has also established websites and a presence across many [[social media]] outlets.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|pp=144, 150}}

=== Domestic and international affiliations ===

[[File:Muammar al-Gaddafi-2-30112006.jpg|thumb|upright|Gaddafi was the Nation's most prominent international supporter; Farrakhan stated that "we will always love him, admire and respect him and stand up and speak on his behalf".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=207}}]]

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Nation had links with [[Satokata Takahashi]], a Japanese man promoting pro-Japanese sentiment among African-American groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=62|2a1=Vaught|2y=2017|2p=48}} Takahashi lived with an officer of the Nation for a time and also married a former member.{{sfnm|1a1=Austin|1y=2003|1p=62|2a1=Paisley|2y=2009|2p=23}} Elijah Muhammad declared that Takahashi was teaching African Americans that "the Japanese were brothers and friends of the American Negroes".{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=62}} During the Second World War, in which the U.S. fought against Japan, many Nation members expressed pro-Japanese sentiment and refused the draft, stating that they would not fight people they regarded as fellow members of the Original Asiatic Race.{{sfn|Austin|2003|p=62}}

Under Elijah Muhammad, the Nation established relations with various Muslim countries,{{sfnm|1a1=Tinaz|1y=1996|1p=198|2a1=Austin|2y=2003|2p=64|3a1=Izadi|3a2=Hosseini|3a3=Mohammadi|3a4=Anjomeruz|3y=2020|3p=138}} regarded as strategic allies in its conflict with the U.S. government.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=190}} In 1957, Malcolm X organized a conference on colonialism attended by delegates from Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, and Morocco,{{sfnm|1a1=Fishman|1a2=Soage|1y=2013|1p=64|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=139}} while Elijah Muhammad met with Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in 1959 and the Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] in 1972.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=206}} For many years, Gaddafi was the Nation's most prominent international supporter and offered them assistance in various forms.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=205–206}} His government gave the Nation a $3 million interest-free loan in 1972 to purchase its Chicago South Side centre,{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=15|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=207|3a1=Fishman|3a2=Soage|3y=2013|3p=66|4a1=Jeffries|4y=2019|4p=6}} and another $5 million interest-free loan in 1985 to fund its black enterprise program.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=207, 319–320|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=201}} It later offered Farrakhan's Nation $1 billion, which the U.S. government sought to block.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=138}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gaiter |first=Dorothy J. |date=August 26, 1996 |title=Nation of Islam Tries to Accept Gift of $1 Billion from Libya |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB841007141275125500 |access-date=March 4, 2017 |website=The Wall Street Journal |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305114530/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB841007141275125500 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Richard W. |date=August 28, 1996 |title=Officials to Block Qaddafi Gift to Farrakhan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/28/us/officials-to-block-qaddafi-gift-to-farrakhan.html |access-date=March 4, 2017 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305115239/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/28/us/officials-to-block-qaddafi-gift-to-farrakhan.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 29, 1996 |title=Farrakhan Denied $1 Billion From Libya |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-29-mn-38706-story.html |access-date=March 4, 2017 |website=Los Angeles Times |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305113908/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-08-29/news/mn-38706_1_louis-farrakhan |url-status=live }}</ref> On taking control, Farrakhan also pursued links with various Muslim-majority countries,{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=139}} visiting Ghana and Libya in 1985,{{sfn|Gibson|2012|p=97}} and embarking on a larger tour of Africa and the Middle East in 1996, meeting with leaders including Gaddafi, Ghana's [[Jerry Rawlings]], Nigeria's [[Sani Abacha]], South Africa's [[Nelson Mandela]], and Iraq's [[Saddam Hussein]].{{sfn|Woodford|1996|pp=35–37}} On that tour, he also attended annual celebrations of the [[Iranian Revolution]] in [[Tehran]];{{sfnm|1a1=Woodford|1y=1996|1p=37|2a1=Izadi|2a2=Hosseini|2a3=Mohammadi|2a4=Anjomeruz|2y=2020|2p=141}} he visited Iran again in 2018.{{sfn|Izadi|Hosseini|Mohammadi|Anjomeruz|2020|p=162}}

Like Garvey's UNIA before them, the Nation built links with [[white nationalism|white nationalist]] and other far-right white groups on the basis of their shared belief in racial separatism.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2pp=271–272}} Malcolm X revealed that the Nation had held meetings with representatives of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] (KKK) and the [[American Nazi Party]] (ANP).{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=273}} The ANP's leader [[George Lincoln Rockwell]] attended an NOI rally in Washington DC in 1961 and then spoke at the Nation's St Saviour's Day rally in Chicago in 1962.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=5|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=274}} Links with the white far-right continued under Farrakhan's Nation, with [[Tom Metzger]] of the [[White Aryan Resistance]] donating money to the Nation in 1985 and expressing approval of its separatist aims.{{sfnm|1a1=Allen|1y=1996|1p=6|2a1=Gardell|2y=1996|2p=277}} During the 1980s, the Nation also had a supportive relationship with the British [[National Front (UK)|National Front]] as the latter's [[Strasserism|Strasserite]] leadership were endorsing a united front against multi-racial society.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=274–275}} During the 1990s, the Nation collaborated with members of the far-right [[LaRouche movement]] as part of their shared opposition to the U.S.-led Gulf War.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=278–279|2a1=Knight|2y=2000|2p=164}} These links have not prevented some white far-right opposition to the NOI; in 1993 the [[Fourth Reich Skinheads]] were revealed to have plotted to kill Farrakhan.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|pp=280–281}}