Greetings...
perhaps you can tell us, what attracts you to Islam and we can take it from there, as the teaching of 'elijah' are indeed not in concert with main stream islam..
if you wish to read this book, here is a review, it might clarify things better from main stream perspective
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/S...re%2FACELayout
Book Review: The Messenger - The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad
By Ali Asadullah
Author: Karl Evanzz
Publisher: Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, December 1999
Num. of Pages: 656 (hardcover)
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction Deconstructing the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its theology has always been a daunting task. Cloaked in ever-shifting layers of rhetoric on issues that range from science fiction - like spaceship theories to the nitty-gritty details of aqeedah (belief) - the Nation of Islam, on many levels, defies definition. Therefore, attempts to bring some order to the discourse on the NOI often elicit barbs and sharp criticism from either the NOI itself or its critics, depending on where a writer stands in his or her perceived support or critique of the organization. Karl Evanzz, in his latest contribution to the controversy,
The Messenger -- The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, has once again stirred sentiments over NOI's history.
The basic lesson readers should take away from
The Messenger is that one cannot critique the Nation of Islam until one knows the Nation of Islam. Born in the aftermath of slavery and tested in the turbulent fires of social upheaval that gripped the United States in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the NOI is a prime example of a movement being a product of its times. It is doubtful that the NOI could have come into existence anywhere else but in America. As such, it is within the American context that the NOI must be evaluated, and it is the context of Elijah Muhammad's life into which Evanzz delves.
There are no Americans alive today who remember slavery. This was not the case when Elijah Muhammad was born in Georgia in 1897. According to Evanzz, 123 blacks were lynched in that year alone. This was the world that greeted Muhammad, a world that would change little in his formative years. Consider the horrific scene Evanzz paints of September 1906, when Elijah was but eight-years-old:
In mid-September, the newspaper (the Atlanta News) editorialized on the need to disenfranchise African Americans, whom it deemed genetically incapable of being civilized. The final and greatest insult, however, came on September 21 when the publication offered white Georgians remuneration for what it christened a "lynching bee". ... After Sunday church services on September 22, hundreds of lynch mobs formed, and "Kill the ******s" became a rallying cry. ... For the next two days, attacks on blacks in Atlanta continued - even thought, President Theodore Roosevelt sent 3,000 federal troops to Georgia at Governor Joseph M. Terrell's request. ... By the time calm was restored, more than a dozen black men had been lynched and hundreds had suffered serious injuries.
From these beginnings, Evanzz goes on to chronicle the forces and influences that shaped Muhammad's eventual ascent to the leadership of the organization he founded, the Nation of Islam. In detailing this process, the reader is introduced to tidbits of information that are not often discussed in defining NOI theology. For instance, Evanzz goes into historical context, explaining that certain aspects of NOI rhetoric actually pre-dated the organization -- it was first Baptist Minister William Saunders Crowdy's 1900 assertion that "God and the first people on Earth were Black."
A special highlight of
The Messenger is Evanzz's in deep examination of the person known in the NOI as Master W.D. Fard. An enigmatic figure whose exact identity has been a source of controversy and skepticism, (Evanzz handled Fard) from an evidentiary perspective as he examines various sources pertaining to Fard's ethnic origin, criminal record and influence on Elijah Muhammad.
Those critical of Evanzz will no doubt take issue with his heavy reliance on FBI records for information on Fard, as well as other topics of controversy in the book. However, this fact notwithstanding, Evanzz's look into Fard and his role in Elijah Muhammad's development provides one of the clearest pictures of Fard that exists and allows the reader to see clear links between various aspects of Black nationalism/self-sufficiency movements and what eventually became the Nation of Islam.
The Messenger is indeed an exhaustive examination of Elijah Muhammad's life. Readers will be able to cut through the murky waters of NOI hierarchy to see Muhammad's relationships with his family, with Malcolm X, with Louis Farrakhan, and with other important figures in the movement. Additionally, readers will understand the various controversies and internal power struggles that have plagued and continue to plague the Nation of Islam. From assassinations to closed-door meetings, Evanzz provides a view not often seen by people outside the organization.
The Messenger provides an important take-off point for anyone interested in understanding the Nation of Islam, its role in American life and its relationship to the larger community of Muslims. If read with a critical eye, and a few grains of salt, it is well worth the time.
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I don't know if you personally use the same Quran that the rest of us do, but certainly read chapter 23 amongst others, in the first ten verses define for you the role of a Muslim, as well highlight that fact that factions aren't acceptable in Islam ...
where I personally don't believe NOI to be islamic in anyway safe for the title, I believe that if you learned the true teachings of Islam you might appreciate it..
there is no distinction or classification based on color or riches or nationality .. the only thing that distinguishes you in the eyes of God, are your righteous deeds...
and Allah swt knows best
peace