Moorish Science Temple of America

The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American national and religious organization founded by Noble Drew Ali (born as Timothy Drew) in the early 20th century.^[1] He based it on the premise that African Americans are descendants of the Moabites and thus are "Moorish" by nationality, and Islamic by faith.^[1] Ali put together elements of major traditions to develop a message of personal transformation through historical education, racial pride, and spiritual uplift. His doctrine was also intended to provide African Americans with a sense of identity in the world and to promote civic involvement.

Attendees of the 1928 Moorish Science Temple Of America Convention in Chicago. Noble Drew Ali is in white in the front row center.

An organization with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, claiming to be "the ONLY Moorish Science Temple teaching the full National side of the Moorish Movement",^[2] is the Moorish Science Temple, with registered business names of the Divine and National Movement of North America, Inc., and Moorish American National Republic.^[3][4]

One primary tenet of the Moorish Science Temple is the belief that African Americans are of "Moorish" descent, specifically from the "Moroccan Empire". According to Ali, this area included other countries around Northwest Africa. To join the movement, individuals had to proclaim their "Moorish nationality". They were given "nationality cards". In religious texts, adherents refer to themselves racially as "Asiatics", as the Middle East is also western Asia.^[5] Adherents of this movement are known as "Moorish-American Moslems" and are called "Moorish Scientists" in some circles.^[6]

The Moorish Science Temple of America was incorporated under the Illinois Religious Corporation Act 805 ILCS 110. Timothy Drew, known to its members as Prophet Noble Drew Ali, founded the Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913 in Newark, New Jersey, a booming industrial city. After some difficulties, Ali moved to Chicago, establishing a center there, as well as temples in other major cities. The movement expanded rapidly during the late 1920s. The quick expansion of the Moorish Science Temple arose in large part from the search for identity and context among black Americans at the time of the Great Migration to northern cities, as they were becoming an urbanized people.^[7]

Competing factions developed among the congregations and leaders, especially after the death of the charismatic Ali. Three independent organizations developed from this ferment. The founding of the Nation of Islam by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 also created competition for members. In the 1930s membership was estimated at 30,000, with one third in Chicago. During the postwar years, the Moorish Science Temple of America continued to increase in membership, albeit at a slower rate.

Biography of Drew

 

Noble Drew Ali

Timothy Drew was believed to have been born on January 8, 1886, in North Carolina, United States.^[8] Sources differ as to his background and upbringing: one reports he was the son of two former slaves who was adopted by a tribe of Cherokee;^[9] another describes Drew as the son of a Moroccan Muslim father and a Cherokee mother.^[10] In 2014 an article in the online Journal of Race Ethnicity and Religion attempted to link Timothy Drew to one Thomas Drew, born January 8, 1886, using census records, a World War I draft card, and street directory records.^[11]

Founding of the Moorish Science Temple

Drew Ali reported that during his travels, he met with a high priest of Egyptian magic. In one version of Drew Ali's biography, the leader saw him as a reincarnation of the founder. In others, he says that the priest considered him a reincarnation of Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad and other religious prophets. According to the biography, the high priest trained Ali in mysticism and gave him a "lost section" of the Quran.^[12]

This text came to be known as the Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America. It is also known as the "Circle Seven Koran" because of its cover, which features a red "7" surrounded by a blue circle. The first 19 chapters are from The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, published in 1908 by esoteric Ohio preacher Levi Dowling. In The Aquarian Gospel, Dowling described Jesus' supposed travels in India, Egypt, and Palestine during the years of his life which are not accounted for by the New Testament.^[13]

Chapters 20 through 45 are borrowed from the Rosicrucian work, Unto Thee I Grant with minor changes in style and wording. They are instructions on how to live, and the education and duties of adherents.^[14]

Drew Ali wrote the last four chapters of the Circle Seven Koran himself. In these he wrote:

The fallen sons and daughters of the Asiatic Nation of North America need to learn to love instead of hate; and to know of their higher self and lower self. This is the uniting of the Holy Koran of Mecca for teaching and instructing all Moorish Americans, etc. The key of civilization was and is in the hands of the Asiatic nations. The Moorish, who were the ancient Moabites, and the founders of the Holy City of Mecca.^[15]

Drew Ali and his followers used this material to claim, "Jesus and his followers were Asiatic." ("Asiatic" was the term Drew Ali used for all dark or olive-colored people; he labeled all whites as European. He suggested that all Asiatics should be allied.)^[16]

Drew Ali crafted Moorish Science from a variety of sources, a "network of alternative spiritualities that focused on the power of the individual to bring about personal transformation through mystical knowledge of the divine within".^[16] In the inter-war years in Chicago and other major cities, he used these concepts to preach racial pride and uplift. His approach appealed to thousands of African Americans who had left severely oppressive conditions in the South through the Great Migration and faced struggles in new urban environments.^[16]

Practices and beliefs

Ali believed that African Americans are all Moors, who he claimed were descended from the ancient Moabites (the kingdom of which he says is now known as Morocco, as opposed to the ancient Canaanite kingdom of Moab, as the name suggests).^[17] This claim does not align with scientific studies of human history, such as the genetics of African-Americans and genetic history of sub-Saharan Africa. He claimed that Islam and its teachings are more beneficial to their earthly salvation, and that their "true nature" had been "withheld" from them. In the traditions he founded, male members of the Temple wear a fez or turban as head covering; women wear a turban.^[18]

They added the suffixes Bey or El to their surnames, to signify Moorish heritage as well as their taking on the new life as Moorish Americans. It was also a way to claim and proclaim a new identity over that lost to the enslavement of their ancestors. These suffixes were a sign to others that while one's African tribal name may never be known to them, European names given by their enslavers were not theirs, either.^{[citation needed]}

As Drew Ali began his version of teaching the Moorish-Americans to become better citizens, he made speeches like, "A Divine Warning By the Prophet for the Nations", in which he urged them to reject derogatory labels, such as "Black", "colored", and "Negro". He urged Americans of all races to reject hate and embrace love. He believed that Chicago would become a second Mecca.^{[citation needed]}

The ushers of the Temple wore black fezzes. The leader of a particular temple was known as a Grand Sheik, or Governor. Noble Drew Ali had several wives.^[19] According to The Chicago Defender, he claimed the power to marry and divorce at will.^[20]

History

 

Noble Drew Ali (top center) with Chicago Alderman Louis B. Anderson (to his right) and Congressman Oscar De Priest (left)

Early history

In 1913, Drew Ali formed the Canaanite Temple in Newark, New Jersey.^[21] He left the city after agitating people with his views on race.^[22] Drew Ali and his followers migrated, while planting congregations in Philadelphia; Washington, D.C., and Detroit. Finally, Drew Ali settled in Chicago in 1925, saying the Midwest was "closer to Islam".^[23] The following year he officially registered Temple No. 9.

There he instructed followers not to be confrontational but to build up their people to be respected. In this way, they might take their place in the United States by developing a cultural identity that was congruent with Drew Ali's beliefs on personhood.^[24] In the late 1920s, journalists estimated the Moorish Science Temple had 35,000 members in 17 temples in cities across the Midwest and upper South.^[25] It was reportedly studied and watched by the Chicago police.

Building Moorish-American businesses was part of their program, and in that was similar to Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League and the later Nation of Islam.^[26] By 1928, members of the Moorish Science Temple of America had obtained some respectability within Chicago and Illinois, as they were featured prominently and favorably in the pages of The Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper, and conspicuously collaborated with African American politician and businessman Daniel Jackson.^[27]

Drew Ali attended the January 1929 inauguration of Louis L. Emmerson, as 27th Governor of Illinois in the state capital of Springfield. The Chicago Defender stated that his trip included "interviews with many distinguished citizens from Chicago, who greeted him on every hand."^[28] With the growth in its population and membership, Chicago was established as the center of the movement.

Internal split and murder

In early 1929, following a conflict over funds, Claude Green-Bey, the business manager of Chicago Temple No. 1 split from the Moorish Science Temple of America. He declared himself Grand Sheik and took a number of members with him. On March 15, Green-Bey was stabbed to death at the Unity Hall of the Moorish Science Temple, on Indiana Avenue in Chicago.^[29]

Drew Ali was out of town at the time, as he was dealing with former Supreme Grand Governor Lomax Bey (professor Ezaldine Muhammad), who had supported Green-Bey's attempted coup.^[30] When Drew Ali returned to Chicago, the police arrested him and other members of the community on suspicion of having instigated the killing. No indictment was sworn for Drew Ali at that time.

The death of Drew Ali

Shortly after his release by the police, Drew Ali died at age 43 at his home in Chicago on July 20, 1929.^[31] Although the exact circumstances of his death are unknown, the Certificate of Death stated that Noble Drew Ali died from "tuberculosis broncho-pneumonia".^[32] Despite the official report, many of his followers speculated that his death was caused by injuries from the police or from other members of the faith.^[33] Others thought it was due to pneumonia. One Moor told The Chicago Defender, "The Prophet was not ill; his work was done and he laid his head upon the lap of one of his followers and passed out."^[34][35]

Succession and schism

 

Grand Sheik E. Mealy El in an undated photo, c. 1928

The death of Drew Ali brought out a number of candidates to succeed him. Brother Edward Mealy El stated that he had been declared Drew Ali's successor by Drew Ali himself. In August, within a month of Drew Ali's death, John Givens El, Drew Ali's chauffeur, declared that he was Drew Ali reincarnated. He is said to have fainted while working on Drew Ali's automobile and "the sign of the star and crescent [appeared] in his eyes".^[36]

At the September Unity Conference, Givens again made his claim of reincarnation. However, the governors of the Moorish Science Temple of America declared Charles Kirkman Bey to be the successor to Drew Ali and named him Grand Advisor.^[37]

With the support of several temples each, Mealy El and Givens El both went on to lead separate factions of the Moorish Science Temple. All three factions (Kirkman Bey, Mealy El, and Givens El) are active today.

On September 25, 1929, Kirkman Bey's wife reported to the Chicago police his apparent kidnapping by one Ira Johnson. Accompanied by two Moorish Science members, the police visited the home of Johnson, when they were met by gunfire. The attack escalated into a shoot-out that spilled into the surrounding neighborhood. In the end, a policeman as well as a member were killed in the gun battle, and a second policeman later died of his wounds.^[38] The police took 60 people into police custody, and a reported 1000 police officers patrolled the Chicago South Side that evening.^[39] Johnson and two others were later convicted of murder.^[40]

Kirkman Bey went on to serve as Grand Advisor of one of the most important factions until 1959, when the reins were given to F. Nelson-Bey.^[41]

Nation of Islam

The community was further split when Wallace Fard Muhammad, known within the temple as David Ford-el,^[42] also claimed (or was taken by some) to be the reincarnation of Drew Ali.^[43] When his leadership was rejected, Ford El broke away from the Moorish Science Temple. He moved to Detroit, where he formed his own group, an organization that would become the Nation of Islam.^[44] The Nation of Islam denied any historical connection with the Moorish Science Temple until February 26, 2014, when Louis Farrakhan acknowledged the contribution(s) of Noble Drew Ali to the Nation of Islam and their founding principles.^[45]

The 1930s

Despite the turmoil and defections, the movement continued to grow in the 1930s. It is estimated that membership in the 1930s reached 30,000. There were major congregations in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago.^[46]

One-third of the members, or 10,000, lived in Chicago, the center of the movement. There were congregations in numerous other cities where African Americans had migrated in the early 20th century. The group published several magazines: one was the Moorish Guide National. During the 1930s and 1940s, continued surveillance by police (and later the FBI) caused the Moors to become more withdrawn and critical of the government.^[47]

FBI surveillance

During the 1940s, the Moorish Science Temple (specifically the Kirkman Bey faction) came to the attention of the FBI, who investigated claims of members committing subversive activities by adhering to and spreading of Japanese propaganda. The investigation failed to find any substantial evidence, and the investigations were dropped. The federal agency later investigated the organization in 1953 for violation of the Selective Service Act of 1948 and sedition. In September 1953, the Department of Justice determined that prosecution was not warranted for the alleged violations. The file that the FBI created on the temple grew to 3,117 pages during its lifetime.^[48] They never found any evidence of any connection or much sympathy of the temple's members for Japan.

El Rukn connection

In 1976 Jeff Fort, leader of Chicago's Black P Stone Nation, announced at his parole from prison in 1976 that he had converted to Islam. Moving to Milwaukee, Fort associated himself with the Moorish Science Temple of America. It is unclear whether he officially joined or was instead rejected by its members.^[49]

In 1978, Fort returned to Chicago and changed the name of his gang to El Rukn ("the foundation" in Arabic), also known as "Circle Seven El Rukn Moorish Science Temple of America"^[50] and the "Moorish Science Temple, El Rukn tribe".^[51] Scholars are divided over the nature of the relationship, if any, between El Rukn and the Moorish Science Temple of America.^[52] Fort reportedly hoped that an apparent affiliation with a religious organization would discourage law enforcement.^[53]

1980–2000s

 

Temple No 9, in Chicago, Illinois

In 1984 the Chicago congregation bought a building from Buddhist monks in Ukrainian Village, which continues to be used for Temple No. 9. Demographic and cultural changes have decreased the attraction of young people to the Moorish Science Temple. Only about 200 members attended a convention in 2007, rather than the thousands of the past. In the early 2000s, the temples in Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., had about 200 members each, and many were older people.^[54]

21st century

On July 15, 2019, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney, as part of a diversity program, proclaimed July 15 to be "Morocco Day". The city mistakenly invited members of the local Moorish Science temple to the ceremony, believing them to be of actual Moroccan descent.^[55]

Moorish sovereign citizens

Main article: Sovereign citizen movement

During the 1990s, some former followers of the Moorish Science Temple of America and the Washitaw Nation formed an offshoot of the sovereign citizen movement which came to be known as Moorish sovereign citizens. Members believe the United States federal government to be illegitimate, which they attribute to a variety of factors including Reconstruction following the U.S. Civil War and the abandonment of the gold standard in the 1930s.^[56] The number of Moorish sovereign citizens is uncertain but possibly ranges between 3,000 and 6,000 organized mostly in small groups of several dozen.^[57] Moorish sovereign citizens, who consider that black people constitute an elite class within American society,^[57] are in the paradoxical situation of using an ideology which originated in a white supremacist environment.^[58]

In addition to the Moorish Science Temple doctrine that Black Americans are of Moorish descent, Moorish sovereign citizens claim immunity from U.S. federal, state, and local laws,^[59] because of a mistaken belief that the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship (1786) grants them sovereignty.^[56][60] In reality, the 1786 treaty was primarily a trade agreement.

Some also believe that Black Americans are indigenous to the United States.^[61] The Moorish sovereign citizen movement has also expanded to include a few whites.^[62]

The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Moorish sovereign citizens as an extremist anti-government group.^[57][63] Tactics used by the group include filing false deeds and property claims,^[64] false liens against government officials, frivolous legal motions to overwhelm courts, and invented legalese used in court appearances and filings.^[56] Various groups and individuals identifying as Moorish sovereign citizens have used the unorthodox "quantum grammar" created by David Wynn Miller.^[65] An article syndicated by the Associated Press states that the Temple has disavowed any affiliation with those responsible, calling them "radical and subversive fringe groups" and also states that "Moorish leaders are looking into legal remedies." The article also quotes an academic who has been advising authorities on how to distinguish registered Temple members from impostors in the sovereign citizen movement.^[66]

Legal incidents

Some "Moorish" activists have practiced hostile possession of properties, citing "reparations" as a justification for their actions, even though their victims included other Black Americans.^[67] In June 2021, Hubert A. John, a self-identified citizen of the Al Moroccan Empire, was arrested and charged on with counts of criminal mischief, burglary, criminal trespass and terroristic threats after he occupied a house in Newark, New Jersey, claiming that it fell into the jurisdiction of the Al Moroccan Empire.^[68][69]

In 2005, musician Roy "Future Man" Wooten pleaded guilty to income tax evasion, after having been indicted on charges in 2001 that he had not filed or paid taxes between 1995 and 1998.^[70] He was affiliated with the Washitaw Nation, and before his guilty plea had been judged possibly incapable of assisting in his own defense after filing incomprehensible sovereign citizen paperwork with the court.^[71]

In 2016, Washitaw Nation affiliate Gavin Eugene Long ambushed six police officers and killed three of them in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Police killed Long in the resulting confrontation.^[57] A Rise of the Moors member had earlier been arrested in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 2019 on an outstanding warrant. He alleged his arrest was unlawful and filed a federal lawsuit against the police, which was dismissed after he tried to pay the court fees with a silver coin, saying U.S. currency was unconstitutional because it was "not backed by anything of value".^[72]

In July 2021, eleven men identifying themselves as a group called Rise of the Moors were arrested on Interstate 95 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, after a state trooper responding to disabled vehicles allegedly found the group carrying long guns, side-arms and wearing tactical body armor. Police said the group claimed to be traveling from Rhode Island to Maine for "training" on their privately owned land.^[73][74][75] An Instagram account belonging to the group says its goal is to continue the work of Noble Drew Ali.^[76]

On August 23, 2023, 63-year-old William Hardison Sr. opened fire on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania law enforcement officers attempting to serve an eviction notice on him for occupying a former family home that had been sold after the death of the original owner.^[77][78] Over a hundred rounds were fired between Hardison and multiple officers in the city's Garfield neighborhood.^[79] The standoff lasted several hours before Hardison was eventually shot dead by police.^[80] The shooting started at 11 a.m. and ended at around 5 p.m, and was described by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as "perhaps the biggest gun battle in [Pittsburgh's] history".^[81][82] Over 70 cops were placed on leave over the incident, pending investigation by higher authorities.^[83] Hardison was a self declared Moorish sovereign citizen.^[78][84][85]

See also

•  Chicago portal
•  Religion portal

• Black Hebrew Israelites
• Five-Percent Nation
• Hoteps
• Moorish Orthodox Church of America, a splinter group

Citations

1. Gomez, Michael A. (2005). "Chapter 6: Breaking Away – Noble Drew Ali and the Foundations of Contemporary Islam in African America". Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 200–217. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511802768.008. ISBN 9780511802768. LCCN 2004027722.
2. "About". Moorish Science Temple. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
3. "Moorish Science Temple, The Divine and National Movement of North America, Incorporated, N". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
4. "Home page". Moorish Science Temple. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
5. The Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America, Chapter XXV – "A Holy Covenant of the Asiatic Nation"
6. . newafricacenter.com. 2019. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
7. Turner, pg. 93.
8. Wilson, p. 15; Gomez, p. 203; Paghdiwala; Gale Group.
9. Wilson, p, 15.
10. Gomez and Paghdiwala give both versions.
11. F. Abdat, "Before the Fez-Life and Times of Drew Ali", Journal of Race Ethnicity and Religion, Vol 5, No 8, August 2014 [1]
12. Brown, Ann (May 7, 2019). "10 Things To Know About Noble Drew Ali". moguldom.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
13. Dowling, Levi (1907). The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Cosimo. ISBN 9781602062245.
14. Ghaneabassiri, Kambiz (2010). A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order. Cambridge University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0521614870.
15. Curtis, Edward E. (2010). Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History. Infobase Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9781438130408.
16. Nance, Susan (Summer 2002). "Mystery of the Moorish Science Temple: Southern Blacks and American Alternative Spirituality in 1920s Chicago". Nance, Susan (2002). . Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation. 12 (2): 123–166. doi:10.1525/rac.2002.12.2.123. S2CID 144840143. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012., Religion and American Culture 12, no. 2: 123–166. doi:10.1525/rac.2002.12.2.123. JSTOR 10.1525/rac.2002.12. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
17. Yusuf Nuruddin (2000). "African-American Muslims and the Question of Identity: Between Traditional Islam, African Heritage, and the American Way". In Hadda, Yvonne Yazbeck; Esposito, John L. (eds.). Muslims on the Americanization Path?. Oxford University Press. p. 223. ISBN 9780198030928. Hence it is in the Moorish Science Temple that we encounter fables about the "ancient Moabite kingdom now known as Morocco, which existed in northwest Amexem. which is now known as northwest Africa."
18. Koura, Chloe (May 27, 2017). "The American Religion That Makes Its Members 'Moroccans'". Morocco World News. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
19. Chicago Tribune (1929) and Chicago Defender (1929).
20. Chicago Defender (1929).
21. Paghdiwala, p. 23.
22. Paghdiwala
23. Wilson, p. 29.
24. Gomez, Michael A. (2005) Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas, Cambridge University Press, p. 219. Retrieved August 29, 2009
25. Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1929.
26. Gomez, Michael A. (2005) Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas, Cambridge University Press, p. 260. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
27. Nance (2002), p. 635–637
28. Chicago Defender, January 1929.
29. Chicago Tribune
30. Gale.
31. Chicago Defender, July 27, 1929.
32. Perkins, p. 186, as well as other less reputable sources. Perkins cites "Standard Certificate of Death No. 22054, Timothy Drew, issued July 25, 1929, Office of Cook County Clerk, Cook County, Illinois". The certificate was filed by Dr. Clarence Payne-El, who was reportedly at Drew Ali's bedside when he died. See also Scopino.
33. McCloud, p. 18; Wilson, p. 35. The Chicago Defender, whose news articles had turned critical, said that "it is believed that the ordeal of the trial together with the treatment he received at the hands of police in an effort to obtain true statements are directly responsible for the illness which precipitated his death" (July 27, 1929).
34. Quoted by Paghdiwala, p. 24. Also quoted by Nance (2002, p. 659, note 84) with a reference to "Cult Leader Dies; Was in Murder Case", Chicago Defender, July 27, 1929.
35. "Hold Final Rites for Moorish Chief", Chicago Defender, August 3, 1929, page 3.
36. Gomez, p. 273.
37. McCloud, p. 18. Gardell, p. 45.
38. "Patrolmen Jesse D. Hults and William Gallagher", Officer Down Memorial Page
39. Chicago Tribune, September 1929. The Washington Post, September 1929.
40. Hartford Courant, April 19, 1930, p. 20.
41. "Supreme Grand Advisor and Moderator C. Kirkman-Bey". moorishamericannationalrepublic.com. 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
42. Prashad, p. 109.
43. Ahlstrom (p. 1067), Abu Shouk (p. 147), Hamm (p. 14), and Lippy (p. 214) all state that Fard claimed to be, or was considered by many Moors to be, the reincarnation of Drew Ali. According to Turner (p. 92), Ford El, also known as Abdul Wali Farad Muhammad Ali, unsuccessfully challenged Drew Ali in Newark in 1914.
44. Ahlstrom (p. 1067), Lippy (p. 214), Miyakawa (p. 12).
45. Farrakhan, Louis (February 26, 2014). "Saviours' Day 2014 Keynote Address: 'How Strong Is Our Foundation; Can We Survive?'". FinalCall.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
46. Paghdiwala, p. 26.
47. Nance, p. 659.
48. . FBI FOIA Archive. FBI. Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
49. Nash (p. 167) says Fort did join the Milwaukee temple. Hamm (p. 25) states otherwise: "Fort tried to join the Moorish Science Temple in Milwaukee but Temple elders refused to have him."
50. Chicago Tribune, "El Rukn street gang joins drive to register voters", August 25, 1982, p. 17.
51. Shipp, The New York Times (1985).
52. Blakemore, et al. (p. 335) says that "The Moorish Science Temple of America has always denied such a connection."
    See also Nashashibi ("In 1982 the El Rukns dropped their affiliation with the Moorish Science Temple of America and moved closer toward a more orthodox understanding of Sunni Islam.")
    See also the 1988 court case, Johnson-Bey et al. v. Lane et al. ("The sinister El Rukn group is a breakaway faction from the Moorish Science Temple of America ... apparently it no longer has any connection with the Moorish Science Temple.").
53. Main, Chicago Sun-Times (2006).
54. Paghdiwala, Tasneem (November 15, 2007). "The Aging of the Moors". Chicago Reader. Vol. 37, no. 8. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
55. Owen-Jones, Juliette (August 13, 2019). . Morocco World News. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
56. Ligon, Mellie (2021). "The Sovereign Citizen Movement: A Comparative Analysis with Similar Foreign Movements and Takeaways for the United States Judicial System" (PDF). Emory International Law Review. 35 (2): 297–332. ISSN 1052-2840.
57. "Moorish Sovereign Citizens". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
58. Cash, Glen (May 26, 2022). "A Kind of Magic: The Origins and Culture of 'Pseudolaw'" (PDF). Queensland Magistrates’ State Conference 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
59. Hauptman, Max (July 4, 2021). "What to know about Rise of the Moors, an armed group that says it's not subject to U.S. law". The Washington Post.
60. "Treaty with Morocco". U.S. National Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
61. Pitcavage, Mark (July 18, 2016). "The Washitaw Nation and Moorish Sovereign Citizens: What You Need to Know". Anti-Defamation League.
62. Sovereign Citizen Movement, Anti-Defamation league, retrieved January 23, 2022
63. Morrison, Heather (July 6, 2021). "'Rise of the Moors' classified as antigovernment group by Southern Poverty Law Center". MassLive.
64. Steinback, Robert (July 20, 2011). "Judge Ignores 'Martian law,' Tosses 'Sovereign Citizen' Into Slammer". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
65. Anti-Defamation league (2016), "The Sovereign Citizen Movement Common Documentary Identifiers & Examples" (PDF), adl.org, retrieved December 23, 2021
66. "Bogus court filings spotlight little-known sect Moorish Science Temple of America". syracuse. Associated Press. July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
67. "She Bought Her Dream Home. Then a 'Sovereign Citizen' Changed the Locks". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
68. "LA Man Arrested for Allegedly Taking Possession of Woman's Vacant New Jersey Home". NBC New York. June 22, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
69. Niemietz, Brian (June 25, 2021). "Black nationalists declare 'legal residency' in Newark woman's home, police disagree". Daily News. New York. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
70. "Flecktone, once part of 'Empire Washitaw De Dugdahmoundyah,' guilty of tax fraud - Nashville Post". Nashville Post. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
71. . Roth & Company, P.C. May 5, 2004. Archived from the original on February 28, 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
72. Alanez, Tonya (July 8, 2021). "Rise of the Moors member sued Danvers police, then sought to pay filing fees with a silver coin". The Boston Globe.
73. Hilliard, John; Crimaldi, Laura; Milkovits, Amanda; Lyons, Jack (July 3, 2021). "Group of men involved in hours-long highway standoff expected to face 'a variety of charges'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
74. Crimaldi, Laura; Milkovits, Amanda (July 3, 2021). "What is 'Rise of the Moors,' the R.I. group that broadcast live from the I-95 standoff?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
75. "Photos, video: the Interstate 95 standoff". The Boston Globe. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
76. "Massachusetts armed group arrested after stand-off with police". BBC News. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
77. Williams, Colin (September 15, 2023). "After tragedy, Garfield leaders say they need housing resources". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
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80. Grant, Teddy; Shapiro, Emily (August 23, 2023). "Suspect dead after 'active shooting situation' in Pittsburgh neighborhood, authorities say". ABC News. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
81. "Sheriff says officers were serving eviction notice when things 'escalated tremendously'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 23, 2023. from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
82. Guza, Megan; Wereschagin, Mike (August 28, 2023). "A 2019 traffic stop offered a glimpse into the Garfield shooter's anti-government views. The standoff reflects a wider trend". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
83. Mokay, Erica (August 24, 2023). "75 officers on leave after 'thousands' of shots fired in Garfield standoff". CBS News. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
84. McGee, Noah A. (August 25, 2023). "After Black Man Was Dies In A Violent Standoff With Pittsburgh Cops, We Ask: What's a Sovereign Citizen?". The Root. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
85. Sheehan, Andy (August 24, 2023). "Who is William Hardison? Suspect in Garfield standoff held sovereign citizen beliefs". CBS News. Retrieved January 14, 2024.

General references

• Ali, Drew (1928). Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America. LCCN 2018662631.
• Abdat, Fathie Ali (August 2014). (PDF). Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Religion. Sopher Press. 5 (8): 1–39. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2014.
• Abu Shouk, Ahmed I.; Hunwick, J. O.; O'Fahey, R. S. (1997). "A Sudanese Missionary to the United States: Sāttī Mājid, 'Shaykh al-Islām in North America,' and His Encounter with Noble Drew Ali, Prophet of the Moorish Science Temple Movement". Sudanic Africa. 8: 137–191.
• Ahlstrom, Sydney E. (2004). A Religious History of the American People (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10012-4.
• Blakemore, Jerome; Mayo, Yolanda; Blakemore, Glenda (2006). "African-American and Other Street Gangs: A Quest of Identity (Revisted)". In See, Letha A. (ed.). Human Behavior in the Social Environment from an African-American Perspective. Haworth Press. ISBN 978-0-7890-2831-0.
• "Cult Head Took Too Much Power, Witnesses Say". Chicago Tribune. May 14, 1929.
• "Drew Ali, 'Prophet' of Moorish Cult, Dies Suddenly". Chicago Defender. July 27, 1929. p. 1.
• Gardell, Mattias (1996). In the Name of Elijah Muhammad. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-1845-3.
• Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (2004). "Ali, Noble Drew". African American Lives. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0195160246. Retrieved September 10, 2012.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Gomez, Michael A. (2005). Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84095-3.
• Hamm, Mark S. (December 2007). Terrorist Recruitment in American Correctional Institutions: An Exploratory Study of Non-Traditional Faith Groups Final Report (PDF) (Report). U.S. Department of Justice. 220957.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Lippy, Charles H. (2006). Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, New Directions. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-98605-6.
• Main, Frank (June 25, 2006). "Dad: Sears Tower suspect under spell of mystery man: But claims of religious ties are puzzling, experts say". Chicago Sun-Times. p. A03.
• McCloud, Aminah (1995). African American Islam. Routledge. ISBN 9780415907859.
• Miyakawa, Felicia M. (January 28, 2024). Five Percenter Rap: God Hop's Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21763-9.
• Nance, Susan (December 2002). "Respectability and Representation: The Moorish Science Temple, Morocco and Black Public Culture in 1920s Chicago". American Quarterly. 54 (4): 623–659. doi:10.1353/aq.2002.0039. JSTOR 30041944. S2CID 143541638.
• Nash, Jay Robert (1993). World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80535-6.
• Nashashibi, Rami (2007). "The Blackstone Legacy, Islam, and the Rise of Ghetto Cosmopolitanism". Souls. 9 (2): 123–131. doi:10.1080/10999940701382573. S2CID 143981631.
• Paghdiwala, Tasneem (November 15, 2007). . Chicago Reader. Vol. 37, no. 8. Archived from the original on March 14, 2008.
• Perkins, William Eric (1996). Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture. Temple University Press. ISBN 9781566393614.
• Prashad, Vijay (2002). Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-5011-3.
• "Religious Cult Head Sentenced For Murder". The Hartford Courant. April 19, 1930. p. 20.
• Scopino, A. J., Jr. (2001). "Moorish Science Temple of America". In Mjagkij, Nina (ed.). Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African American Associations. Garland Publishing. p. 346.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• "Seize 60 After So. Side Cult Tragedy". Chicago Tribune. September 26, 1929. p. 1.
• Shipp, E. R. (December 27, 1985). "Chicago Gang Sues to Be Recognized as Religion". The New York Times. p. A14.
• "Timothy Drew". Religious Leaders of America. Detroit, MI: Gale. 1999.
• "Three Deaths Laid to Fanatical Plot". The Washington Post. September 27, 1929. p. 2.
• Turner, Richard Brent (2003). Islam in the African-American Experience. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21630-3.
• Wilson, Peter Lamborn (1993). Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam. City Lights Books. ISBN 0-87286-275-5.

External links

• Official website
• FBI on the Moorish Science Temple of America