Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam

by John Andrew Morrow

Overview

Since his arrival in Detroit on July 4, 1930, W.D. Fard, known also as Wallace Fard Muhammad and over fifty other aliases, has elicited an enormous amount of curiosity. Who was this man who claimed that he was both the Messiah and the Mahdi, and who was identified as God in Person by his disciple, Elijah Muhammad, whom he reportedly appointed as his Final Messenger? The people who actually met him, and the scholars who have studied him, have suggested that he was variously an African American, an Arab from Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco or Saudi Arabia, a Jamaican, a Turk, an Afghan, an Indo-Pakistani, an Iranian, an Azeri, a white American, a Bosnian, a Mexican, a Greek or even a Jew. In an attempt to determine the origins of W.D. Fard, most scholars have relied on his teachings as passed down, and perhaps modified, by Elijah Muhammad. Some have suggested that he was a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America or the Ahmadiyyah Movement. Others have suggested that he was a Druze or a Shiite. Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam provides an overview of the scholarly literature related to this mysterious subject and the theories concerning his ethnic and racial origins. It provides the most detailed analysis of his teachings to date in order to identify their original and multifarious sources. Finding W.D. Fard considers the conflicting views shared by his early followers to decipher the doctrine he actually taught. Did W.D. Fard really profess to be Allah, or was he deified after his death by Elijah Muhammad? The book features a meticulous study of any and all subjects who fit the profile of W.D. Fard, and provides the most detailed information regarding his life to date. It also offers an overview of turn-of-the-20th-century Islam in the state of Oregon, demonstrating how much W.D. Fard learned about the Muslim faith while residing in the Pacific Northwest. The work finishes with a series of conclusions and suggestions for further scholarship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781527521995
Publisher:	Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/2019
Pages:	499
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

John Andrew Morrow received his PhD from the University of Toronto, where he studied Hispanic, Native, and Islamic Studies. He worked as a university professor for two decades. After reaching the rank of Full Professor, he retired from academia to devote himself entirely to scholarship and service. He has authored a vast body of scholarly works, including The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World (2013), which has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Indonesian. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Islam and the People of the Book: Critical Studies on the Covenants of the Prophet, a three-volume encyclopedic work on the letters and treaties of the Prophet Muhammad. Along with Charles Upton, he directs the Covenants Initiative, lectures around the world, and acts as a religious and political advisor to world leaders.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Endorsements x

Foreword Dennis Walker xii

Chapter 1 Issues of Origin 1

Chapter 2 Religious Roots 36

Chapter 3 Who was W.D. Fard? 111

Chapter 4 The Genealogical Connection 156

Chapter 5 The Sun Rises in the West 231

Chapter 6 The image of Islam in Oregon at the Turn of the 20^th Century 288

General Conclusions 314

Afterword 332

Works Cited 344

Appendix 1 Khan Documents 362

Appendix 2 Fred Dodd Documents 375

Appendix 3 Historical Images of Fred Dodd's Salem 414

Appendix 4 Pearl Dodd Documents 418

Appendix 5 Wallie D. Ford Documents 429

Appendix 6 Wallace Max Ford Documents 445

Appendix 7 Major Figures 458

Index 466