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Elijah Muhammad was born on October 7, 1897, and was raised in Sandersville, Georgia. As a child, Elijah grew up in the segregated south where he witnessed extreme misjudgment and violence toward blacks. He was born into a family of 13 children with his father being a sharecropper and his mother being a domestic worker.

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In 1919 Elijah Muhammad would go on and marry Clara Evans and in 1923 he would move to Michigan, Detroit for a better life where he would start working for the automobile industry. In August 1931 he attended a speech on Islam and black empowerment by Wallace Fard Muhammad and he would go on to make the teachings of Islam well known.

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After the disappearance of Wallace Fard Muhammad Elijah changed his last name to Muhammad

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Elijah Muhammad's surname, given at birth, was Elijah Poole

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Elijah Muhammad died at age 77 on February 25, 1975, because of congestive heart failure

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"No one will respect you unless you respect yourself."- Elijah Muhammad

"Knowledge of one's identity, one's self, community, nation, religion, and God, is the true meaning of resurrection, while ignorance of it signifies hell." ~ Elijah Muhammad

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Muhammad was the teacher and mentor of Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ali, and his son Warith Deen Muhammad

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Elijah Muhammad was born into a family of 13 children with him being the 7th born child!

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As a child Elijah Muhammad only received education up to the eight grade

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Muhammad had 8 children with his wife Clara Evans along with 9 other children from extra-marital relationships.

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Muhammad opened many religious centers and established businesses that were focused on practicing cooperative economics

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Elijah Muhammad had to work at a young age to support his family

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In 1934 he also began to establish schools to educate black students who were getting inadequate education to poor areas

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After Muhammad was arrested and let go, he moved to Chicago, Illinois

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Under Muhammad's tutoring, Louis Farrakhan became a well know spokesperson to the Nation of Islam

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When Elijah Muhammad got arrested again in 1942 his wife took control over his organization, The Nation of Islam

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Elijah Muhammad went to jail because the board of education objected to his way of doing things

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He started working alongside Wallace and helping to reconstruct the black community. The disappearance of Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1934 allowed Elijah to become the leader of the movement and taking on the title of minister of Islam. He later renamed the organization to the Nation of Islam. During World War 2 he was arrested in 1942 for avoiding the draft and preaching sedition. In his later years he continued to support black men and women rights and grow the Nation of Islam into one of the most powerful organizations in the world

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Because of Muhammad's efforts the Nation of Islam is one of the most powerful black organizations

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By the 1960's, Elijah Muhammad's organization had become a multi million dollar organization owning many restaurants, trucking companies, stores, and clubs across 46 states. Using Islam's teachings, he has helped to uplift many black men and women in the world. Today his organization continues to grow in the hands of the new minister, Louis Farrakhan, one of Muhammad's old students.