Once the convert becomes a Black Muslim he is baptized as a citizen in the Nation of Islam. They have a flag, a symbol, and a cause. From this day forward his life centers around activity at the Muslim restaurant and temple.
Who are these Black Muslims? Where do they live, and what do they do for a living?
These questions baffle all observers because any Negro you encounter could be a Black Muslim. Usually the men wear identifying pins, and the Muslim women can generally be spotted by their dress, particularly the long, flowing headpiece. But these identifying signs are not always present. I have encountered Black Muslims working in printing plants, in barbershops, as messenger boys, as night-club entertainers, and as cab drivers. I will never forget taking a stroll in Central Park where I came across a Muslim sister working as a nursemaid to three white children! Since most nurses and maids are Negroes, the rise of the Black Muslims has sent a quiet but very real chill through the employment agencies in several major cities. After all, there is no telling what these Muslim women will do when the “word” comes, when the Battle of Armageddon is declared. And there is no way for employment agencies to determine if Negro applicants are Black Muslims before sending them out as servants in white homes. Nor is there any way for heads of households to know just who their butlers and cooks are. To borrow from James Baldwin, nobody knows their name. It could be “X.”
The Black Muslims flatly refuse to discuss their organizational finances with anyone. However, observers of the movement are convinced that the tithes collected at temples and the income from temple restaurants form the basis of the Muslim economy. The local restaurant—and most of them are called “Shabazz” restaurants after Malcolm X whose “restored” Arab name is Shabazz—is under the supervision of the local minister. He seems to have fairly complete control, but all matters are subject to review by Malcolm X as Elijah’s roving ambassador. The local ministers are allowed a certain portion of what they raise, but only top insiders know just how Mr. Muhammad makes this determination. The major leaders of the movement all seem to have taken a vow of poverty and live on expenses furnished by the movement itself. I know this is true of Malcolm X and I suspect it to be true of others.
But it must be remembered that the Black Muslims are both thrifty and industrious; they are encouraged to open their own businesses and many of the top leaders are themselves businessmen. Elijah Muhammad, Jr., runs one of the largest bakeries in Chicago; Raymond Sharrieff is said to have ownership in a clothing store there. All evidence indicates that local Muslim leaders finance themselves through various enterprises and that the bulk of the funds raised in the temple itself flow on to the movement headquarters in Chicago.
Whoever and wherever these Black Muslims are they lead an exacting, regimented life. In their homes they practice strict dietary laws—precisely those of the kosher Jews—and avoid contact with white people as much as possible. The private role of both the man and the woman in the family is clearly defined, and the children are indoctrinated with the faith while they are still young. Muslim men are watched by The Fruit and must engage in some kind of gainful employment. They are encouraged to go into small business whenever possible; they are assured of patronage from their fellow Muslims. A number of Negro businessmen have been attracted to the Nation of Islam because it provides them with a ready source of customers. Other Muslim brothers can be seen on the streets every day selling Muslim newspapers. They are allowed to keep a goodly portion of what they earn and are thus independent. The temple restaurants employ scores of Muslim men and women, thus decreasing the ranks of their unemployed. Other Muslims are door-to-door salesmen and find easy entry in the Negro community, where the white door-to-door salesmen have become anathema.
But the average Black Muslim works for some white man somewhere in some capacity. He is urged to learn a trade and thus ready himself for the day when he will be called upon to be one of the heads of industry and commerce in the Muslims’ own, separate state.
The Black Muslim men are lectured constantly about family responsibility and are subject to trial before their peers if they violate the rules of the order. Punishment can vary from a small fine to temporary or permanent banishment from the temple. No Muslim will associate with an offender for the duration of his exile. It is said that Malcolm X’s brother was once banished and that Malcolm refused even to write the man until the period of punishment had been served.
Black Muslim women are schooled in the art and need for homemaking, and are taught to take a back seat in the presence of their husbands. Muslim women almost never talk to strangers—non-Muslims, that is—and maintain a general silence that is unnerving. They also eschew make-up and fancy dress. When I first encountered the Muslims some five years ago, this ban on feminine adornment was rigidly enforced. But there seems to have been a strong revolt among temple women and the ban has been relaxed to the point where employing make-up is now optional. Yet I have seen few Muslim women exercise this option. The wife of a major Muslim official, say Joseph X of New York, certainly wouldn’t exercise it.
The Black Muslims are a male-oriented organization. A man reaches real stature in the movement when he becomes a member of The Fruit of Islam, the functional and disciplinary arm of the movement. The Fruit hold separate temple services, where they are taught, among other things, every possible method of self-defense. Every local temple has a Captain of The Fruit—in New York it is Joseph X—and the entire network is headed by the son-in-law of Elijah Muhammad, Raymond Sharrieff. The Fruit enforce brotherhood among the men of the temple and form the honor guard whenever Malcolm X or Elijah Muhammad makes a public appearance. The Fruit work under the local minister, but there is a line of authority that runs down to the local captains directly from Sharrieff’s Chicago headquarters. The Muslim Girls Training Class (MGT), for young women, is headed by Sister Lottie X, also of Chicago.