The Black Muslims in America

by C. Eric Lincoln

Hailed as "one of the best technical case studies in the whole literature of the social sciences" upon its original publication in 1961, The Black Muslims in America in this third edition provides a new generation of readers with an enriched, up-to-date knowledge of the important but little- understood Black Muslim movement. This classic sociological study gives a concise, accessible introduction to Islam for Americans whose knowledge of religion is limited primarily to Judeo-Christianity. The book succinctly details the formation and development of the Black Muslim movement through its wide-ranging expressions in America today — a movement born as an organized form of religious and social protest against a society sharply divided by race. This edition includes a new foreword by Aminah B. McCloud, a new preface, and an extensive postscript by Lincoln in which he outlines the course of the Nation of Islam since the death of its formative leader, Elijah Muhammad, in 1975 — the sweeping changes wrought by Elijah's son and successor, Wallace Deen Muhammad, the disintegration of the Nation into splinter groups, and the emergence of Louis Farrakhan as the legitimate head of the "new" Nation. A section highlighting the public career of Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad's famous spokesperson turned cultural icon, is also included. In the wake of recent media events like the film Malcolm X and unsettling national events like the riot in Los Angeles, this timely update provides both fascinating reading and challenging reflection about an American religious group still shaping its destiny, and that of the nation.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Race, History, Nonfiction, African American, Anti Racist

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Muhammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very unbiased account of facts. I love C. Eric Lincoln's scholarship because he gives you the information and allows you to draw conclusions based on that, without interjecting his own opinion in it. Out of all the volumes I've read of the Nation of Islam in particular there are a few perspectives you'll get information from. 1. Propagandist - whose purpose is to supply scholarly dog shit, and tear down meaningful organization. 2. Apologist - who over look every area of concern and instead paint a false picture of "feel good" history. And 3. C. Eric Lincoln, documented facts and you make your own conclusions.

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln is a really great writer and he provides a thoughtful look at black islam that includes one of the earliest american islamic movements. he pays careful attention to leaders and organizations and ideology. this is a good read.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lincoln's work is one of sociology more than history. Not having that much knowledge of the Black Muslim movement, I found this work very interesting and informative. That it was written from a sociological perspective, however, had some drawbacks insofar as the book was organized around topics and themes rather than chronologically. This meant, for me, that at times the work was hard to follow—that is, it was hard to remember particular points because I didn't have a narrative to pin them on.

Of course, history still makes up a large section of the work. One does eventually learn about Wallace Fard, Elijah Muhammed, Malcolm X, and others. Fard was the founder of it all. I don't remember much about those sections of the book, but as the book moved into the 1960s, it becomes clear that Fard comes to be seen by later Muslims as a kind of Allah incarnate. Elijah Muhammed, in turn, becomes Fard's spokesperson and prophet. The movement, in other words, takes on a kind of cultism. Malcolm X was one of the converts (all converts apparently take on the X “surname”), an important one insofar as he was able to give effective voice to Elijah Muhammed's and the movement's ideas. But as becomes plain, very late in his short life, he abandoned certain givens that the movement believed in—possibly at the peril of his life, and certainly at the rejection of him from the movement—coming to see the brotherhood of all people at the Haj.

The cultishness was one of the main things I took from the book; others were the kind of reverse racism embedded in the movement, and the manner in which the movement actually changes people's lives for good. All these things sort of go together.

A major tenet seems to be that White people are essentially the devil. The world will one day change, and God's children, the colored people, will rule and Whites will be cast off to the dustbin (or at least confined to Europe, where they belong). The Muslim movement is not integrationist. And really, in some ways, it's understandable why some minorities would be skeptical of integration, the way that it has often led not to better living conditions for minorities but to simply another manner of oppression.

The Muslims encourage good behavior from their converts, and this has led in some cases to poorer people (to which the movement largely appeals) actually making changes that positively affect their lives (e.g., drug aversion, commitment to family and work). They also encourage self-defense, even as they discourage activist sort of activities. This is in part influenced by the eschatalogical utopian viewpoint—that one day, Allah will take care of everything and Whites will fall and Black people will rise to their natural position. The counterpoint to such beliefs, however, is that it seems as if the religion is a way that actually stifles meaningful interracial achievement and solutions and attempts at meaningful change; instead, it reinforces racial strife.

The sort of eschatological thinking actually reminds me a lot of some branches of Christianity and calls to mind the way that Marx would call religion the opium of the people. The focus of the Black Muslim movement seems in many ways to have been Elijah Muhammed. What he says/believes goes. Run counter to that, and you're out of the church. Don't create trouble, in other words, in or out of church surroundings so that the movement can keep growing.

[Karl Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard of this book 30 years ago while watching an episode of A Different World. Mr. Lincoln presents a very solid study for understanding some of the early history of the Nation of Islam. This book discusses many of the core values of the Nation and its place in the civil rights movement of the USA. While this book is written from an external view of the Nation of Islam, it is a good first step towards learning more about the Nation and some of its prominent members and moments.

[Karl Dumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

good information, about the real purpose behind this movement.

[Tony Rogers Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. My only gripe is I wish the author spent more time discussing Malcolm X and his impact on the movement for the 12 years he was a minister.

[Tatiana C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful information on black America and the ways in which black liberation movements were started in America

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a special topics class in sociology during the first year at Grinnell College in Iowa. Being from Chicago, I'd seen and heard a lot about the Black Muslims, but until I read this book I knew very little about them, sociologically or religiously.

[Csla]

1963 edition

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 1961 ed