Elijah Mohammad

Elijah Muhammad was born on or about Oct. 7, 1897 in Sandersville, Georgia. The exact date of his birth remains unknown because record keeping in rural Georgia for the descendants of slaves was not kept current, according to historians and family members. He was born Elijah Poole, the son of a minister, and whose parents, William (later named Wali) and Marie Poole, had 12 other children. He had to quit school after barely finishing the third grade to …

…others places, according to the Muhammad Speaks newspaper, the religion's chief information apparatus. A host of Islamic and African governments all over the world received him and donated generously to his mission. He made Hajj, (holy pilgrimage) to Mecca on more than one occasion and advocated worldwide brotherhood and sisterhood. In 1972, the Elijah Muhammad opened a $2 million mosque and school in Chicago. In 1975, the year of his death, Farrakhan split with the Nation of Islam.