Nations of Islam at War

Two Factions of the Black Muslim Movement Clash Over a Newspaper Route, But the Roots of the Conflict Are Much Deeper

A A A Comments (1) By Peter Noel Tuesday, May 18 1999

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Over the years, Farrakhan and Silis would communicate by phone and by letter because both leaders rarely agreed on the terms for a face-to-face meeting.

They finally met at a hotel in Atlanta on September 9, 1995, about a month before the historic Million Youth March. Farrakhan had invited Silis to attend, but Silis opted out, saying that he was troubled by Farrakhan's philosophy that black men should atone for their past behavior. Relations worsened. Farrakhan's followers in Atlanta demanded a meeting with Silis.

Silis Muhammad: Did his claim to be a "prophet like Moses" spark a 20-year feud?

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When that did not occur soon enough, a group of men allegedly invaded Silis's home on January 25, 1996. In a statement released after the incident, then Lost-Found supreme captain Dhoruba Asadi quoted former NOI Minister Jeremiah Shabazz (a guest of Silis's at the time), as saying, "I was highly suspicious of the huge bulges in their pockets."

With Farrakhan's recuperation from cancer in doubt, no one expects Silis and the minister to be meeting any time in the near future. "It is our own corruption which caused the NOI to fall," Silis declared during his 1979 meeting with Farrakhan. "It is our own corruption today which keeps the NOI from rising. What corruption? Your selfishness," he told Farrakhan and the other Muslims, "your envy, your jealousy, your greed for money, fortune, and fame. This is what keeps the NOI from rising. But the NOI will rise."

Additional reporting by Karen Mahabir

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