Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center recognizes on this day, November 2, the birth anniversary of Sister Clara Muhammad, wife of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and first lady of the Nation of Islam.

Clara was born on November 2, 1899 in Cordele, Georgia to Quarters and Mary Lou Evans. Clara, her two brothers and two sisters, grew up on their parents’ ranch. They attended public school and worked in the fields. Clara's mother’s family, the Thomases, were known for their good Samaritan characteristics and their quest and support for education. These traits helped shape the great woman that Clara later became.

At the age of 17, Clara married Elijah Poole (later known as Elijah Muhammad). By the time of the Great Depression in 1929, Clara, her husband, and their two small children joined millions in the Great
Migration from the southern states to the Midwest. They took up residence in Detroit, Michigan where they met a stranger known as W. Fard Muhammad. For three and a half years Master Fard taught and groomed Elijah to be the leader of the newly-formed Nation of Islam (N.O.I.). Clara was her husband’s first convert and best follower. During the early stages of the N.O.I.’s development, Clara and her family endured many trying events.

In 1931 Clara took a courageous stand for the right to educate her children in her home when home schooling was illegal. She refused to enroll her children in public school. As a result, she and her husband were charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. Her brave stance against a truant officer paved the way for the establishment of the largest private elementary school system for African American children in the United States of America.

For many years Clara served as her husband’s liaison to the N.O.I, delivering both written and verbal instructions to the lead minister in Chicago, while her husband and all able-bodied members of the N.O.I. were imprisoned for draft evasion. During his incarceration, Elijah Muhammad was a model prisoner and was allowed to teach his fellow inmates about Islam. His request for a Qur’an was denied. Sister Clara copied on paper English translations of verses of the Qur’an and brought them to her husband! Thanks to her courageous devotion, the Nation of Islam survived and prison inmates enjoy access to the Qur’an. Clara Muhammad remained devoted to her husband, her family, and to the Muslim schools until her death on August 12, 1972. She was the strongest and most courageous and dedicated woman of her time. She upheld a posture of grace, righteousness, kindness, and dignity and her example was unparalleled by most women of her day. Her spirit lives on.

May Allah bestow his mercy upon her.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center Recognizes the Muslim Leader's Birth Anniversary

(Chicago, IL, October 7, 2018) The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center (HEMCC) recognized October 7, 1897 as the birthday of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam. On this day we remember him for his tireless and courageous efforts to uplift his oppressed and marginalized people. For more than 40 years, the Hon. Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the Nation of Islam, the world-renowned and largest Muslim-member organization in the United States. He was also the founder of the first Muslim school system in the United States.

Thirty-four years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Poole on or about October 7, 1897 in Deep Step near Sandersville, Georgia.

During the Great Migration, in the poverty-stricken Black Bottom area of Detroit, Elijah Muhammad became the chief student and follower of W. D. Fard Muhammad, who founded the Nation of Islam (NOI) in July 1930. For nearly three and one half years Elijah studied long hours under his mentor until W. D. Fard Muhammad's departure in 1934, leaving Elijah to lead the Nation of Islam.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's call and work for "Freedom, Justice, and Equality" spanned 43 years, from the Jim Crow Era through the Civil Rights period. It was during the early 1960s that the Reader's Digest proclaimed the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as the "most powerful Black man in America." He established an unparalleled legacy of nation building and character transformation in Black communities throughout America. By molding a new 'Black' identity and promoting self-knowledge at a time when "Negro" and "Colored" were used to dehumanize and disenfranchise Black people in America, Elijah Muhammad saved tens of thousands from drug abuse, prostitution, thievery, and self-destruction. James Brown credited Elijah Muhammad for inspiring him to compose one of his signature songs, Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud, which he recorded in 1968.

Under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad the Nation of Islam's presence grew dramatically. The NOI's existence as part of the American landscape was manifested by over 75 mosques in 50 cities, schools in 46 cities, and a range of other enterprises including, restaurants, grocery stores, a bank, a publishing company that printed the country's largest circulating black newspaper, the largest import fishing company in the country, and 1500 acres of farmland in three states. These farms produced beef, eggs, poultry, milk, fruit and vegetables, all of which were delivered across the country by NOI-owned ground and air transport.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad mentored Minister Malcolm X, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ali and his son, Imam W. Deen Mohammed and countless men and women. His guidance lead to the largest impact on conversion to Islam in American history.

HEMCC extends its thanks to its supporters and friends of the Muhammad family.

HEMCC is a family project initiated in 2006 by descendants of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Illinois, dedicated to educating the public about the legacy of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.