The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip hop and the Gods of New York

by Michael Muhammad Knight

Sensationalized and reviled as the Hell’s Angels of Black America, the Five Percenters (also known as the Nation of Gods and Earths) began as a cluster of outcasts from the Nation of Islam’s Harlem mosque in the 1960s. Led by a man named Allah, the Five Percenters taught the city’s black youth that they were gods. From their marginalized beginnings, the movement’s history has been charged with drama, spanning the war between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, the Attica prison revolt, Brooklyn turf gangs and 1980s crack empires. Now counting several hip hop stars amongst their ranks, including RZA, GZA, Rakin, and Lord Jamar, the Five Percenter’s profile is arguably greater than their parent organization, the Nation of Islam. With a cast of characters ranging from Malcolm X to rap stars 50 Cent and the Wu-Tang Clan, Knight’s exciting work is the first detailed account of the organization inextricably linked with black rights, Islam, New York and hip hop. The first serious treatment of the Five Percenters as a legitimate value system and culture with its own traditions, Knight investigates the community’s icons and history, examining its appeal in youth culture. Also covering the status of women and non-blacks within the movement, he explores why the organization has often been greeted with negative publicity. With unrivalled insider access to the movement’s elders, oral tradition and community literature, Knight reveals the hidden reality behind the myths, rumours and hearsay, and explores the origins and development of this misunderstood community. Fast-paced and compelling, The Five Percenters will captivate anyone with an interest in hip-hop, intrigue or Urban American sub-culture. Michael Muhammad Knight converted to Islam at 16 after reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X, and at 17 traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan to study at Faisal Mosque. His debut novel, The Taqwacores, is credited with influencing the American Muslim woman-led prayer movement and has also inspired a nascent Islamic punk rock scene.

Genres: Islam, Religion, History, Music, Hip Hop, Nonfiction, Spirituality

328 pages, Hardcover

First published June 25, 2007

About the author

Michael Muhammad Knight (born 1977) is an American novelist, essayist, and journalist. His writings are popular among American Muslim youth. The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "one of the most necessary and, paradoxically enough, hopeful writers of Barack Obama's America," while The Guardian has described him as "the Hunter S. Thompson of Islamic literature," and his non-fiction work exemplifies the principles of gonzo journalism. Publishers Weekly describes him as "Islam's gonzo experimentalist." Within the American Muslim community, he has earned a reputation as an ostentatious cultural provocateur.

He obtained a master's degree from Harvard University in 2011 and is a Ph.D. student in islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Karl Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to give it to this book. It opens you up to a world beyond what you hear in the lyrics and other stories about the Five Percenters. Michael Muhammad Knight takes you through the history of the gods and their belief structure. Reading this book made me take another look at the lyrics of some of my favorite emcees from the Golden Era and see the influence that the Five Percenters had on the early history of hip hop music. Seeing the Five Percenters from the perspective of the author, an Orthodox Muslim, who was welcomed into the cipher and allowed to build with the First Born and other members was awesome. I knew very little about The Father before reading this book. Not only did I learn about him, I learned a little more about the tensions in the streets in the sixties surrounding the NOI, Muslim Mosque Inc, and other Muslims in Harlem. If you are looking to get a better understanding of the Nation of Gods and Earths, you need to read this book.

[Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinda blew my mind. i knew a very little bit about the five percenters from paying a little attention to various hip hop lyrics over the years, but really delving into the history and ideology of both the NOI and the Five Percenters is really crazy. totally recommended for those of us who listened to lots of hiphop growing up. peace!!

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has completely changed not only the way I listen to artists like Rakim and Wu-Tang Clan, but also the way I think about the public bus I ride to work. It's not the 92A, it's the Born Knowldege Allah bus. Seriously, this book tells a sympathetic version of the story of how Clarence 13X taught Supreme Wisdom Lessons and a new mathematics to youth in New York City and how those youth became a new religious movement, a movement that insists it isn't a religion. Some of the stories in here are so sad and painful and then on the next page is some humourous detail, like the explanation of why white people play golf (hint: the sand traps remind white people of when they were driven out of africa and had to cross the desert before hiding in the caves of europe), which the author concedes is not "the intellectual high point" of the Five Percenters.
Another excellent portion of the book is about the 'Ben Ishmaels,' a US-American group at the end of the 19th century made up of ex-slaves, poor whites and some native americans who adopted 'Islam' (no one knows how close their beliefs were to *the* Islam) and wandered around like Irish Travellers or Yennish people in Europe. It sounds like something from a William Burroughs novel, but it's ALL TRUE. peace.

[Abdullah Furqaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oddly enough, throughout my own journey, this has been one of the most influential books that has spoken to me the most about religion. The Five-Percenter system and history that is laid out in extravagant detail teaches that one cannot trust the religious leaders, that God is within every man, that eternity begins here and now and not in some fantastical, bedouin-inspired vision of Paradise with alcohol-less liquor and big-tittied fair maidens of modest gaze, and how living traditions work. Knight has lived with the Five-Percenters, built with them, and this group, in turn, has accepted him as one of their own (even dubbing him with a mathematically ciphered name!). Like the legendary Hunter S. Thompson, Knight dives head first into the Parliament and discovers what lies within the rabbit hole.
For Muslims and non-believers alike, this book is like taking the red pill. You can't go back to seeing reality normally.

[Jeff Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too intricate not enough meat couldn't keep up with dates and names. This book needed ai point of view for the readers to follow. Plus the 120 lessons would have helped. Not sure what to think about this book. nt

Couldn't keep up with dates and names, this should be from a point of view not Fromm the perspective it was written

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Five Percenters may have had a lasting influence on the golden age of hiphop but I found this book utterly boring. The most interesting thing was that Erykah Badu incorporated their theology into her musical lyrics, since I like Erykah Badu, I found that cool. Other than that, its a lot of trivial history of an obscure religious movement. I'm sure the founding fathers of Nation of Islam, Five Percenters and Nation of Gods and Earths, Malcolm X etc are extremely interesting as individuals, but the book as a whole about the five percent movement just didn't do it for me. For people who may be into Five Percenter lore, they will like this.

[Matt Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly the definitive text in print on the subject. I appreciate the manner in which Knight wishes to look for ways to link NGE with "al-Islam," especially in comparison with certain streams of "intoxicated" Sufism (e.g., Hallaj, Ibn Arabi). As he himself notes, however, this may be a bit of a stretch, even a tad naive. Well-done overview, almost a monograph with some personal narrative thrown in, and extensive use of primary sources (including oral sources, clearly important in this context).

[Bob Doto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and well-rounded (and personal) (and well-researched) exploration into the world of (NYC's) Harlem's indigenous social-mystic movement, The Nation of Gods and Earths. Otherwise known as The Five Percenters. Think Wu-Tang and Supreme Mathematics....

[Kiani Delahoia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is pure heretical belief. This books title alone is misleading and should be renamed Paganism, and Hip hop. The author of this book is deluded and is a deviant in suggesting that such abhorrent works can quantify as them having anything to do with Islam.

[Bo'kem Allah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book to gain an understanding of how Allah's 5% Nation of Gods & Earths started and how it grew and developed throughout the early years.

[James Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful into a very interesting topic

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best piece of literature on this subject.

[Matthew Gibb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will help one understand Hip Hop lyrics and their close relationship with The 5 Percent Nation of Gods and Earths,which is a kind of hybrid religion combining elements of Islam and Numerology in The Supreme Mathematics and the 120 Degrees. The metaphors used in the book compare men to the sun,women the earth and children to stars. The perpetuation of our species exists from the magic of 1+1=3 and 3x3=9 months to birth and equating to 9 planets revolving around the sun. Women should know their place and reflect a god's shine. The earth is covered mostly in water and thus a woman should cover most of her body to show her modesty and refinement. So many problems in 2024 seem to stem from this weird role reversal where women have become more masculine and men more feminine. Some say the 5% are crazy, but take a look around and see you're surrounded by delusional lunatics following a dozen different paths. For sure the 5% went off the rails a bit with smoking weed called equality. There's a fine line between crazy and brilliant. Those who are omniscent and fully aware might be called the 5% poor,righteous teachers.

[Richard Balmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine if, twenty years after the death of Christ, a doubting believer with a historian's sensibilities travelled around Judea interviewing the surviving disciples. I've never read a book like it.

In addition, The Five Percenters unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best books about city politics I've ever read. The sections regarding the relationship between New York's city government and a folk religion emerging on the streets of the city was truly fascinating. The condensed but very readable history of the NOI and the early "Moorish" and pseudo-Islamic movements in the United States is also very good. (read in 2016)

[Muhammad Shemyal Nisar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting insight into the history of the Nation of Islam, and the five percenter movement. Knight does also try to run parallels between teachings and practices of NOI in general and five percenters in particular, and other established religions like Judaism, Chiristianity and more often Islam. I found the earlier chapters of the book to be gripping and most interesting while the later chapters were ok but not as good.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of the Five Percenters with some related side history of the N.O.I and Moorish Science Temple along with the authors personal antecdotes of his interactions with them. I thought this was a very interesting read.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masses of information about the various origins and people involved presented in an easy to read way. Kept me hooked all the way through. Not quite as much emphasis on hip hop as I believed from the title. Not a criticism though, my interpretation of the title, interesting read.

[Umar Hashmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

bop

[ALAN MERRIWEATHER]

Read this

[William Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knight's book, while uneven at times, is a densely packed look into the world of the Five Percenters. The book begins primarily as a historical account, becoming at the end more akin to Knight's strength, travel writing. The account to say the least is amorphous, yet this aptly reflects the oral nature of the sources at hand as well as the malleable sense of memory cultivated by the community. While the whole may be difficult, if not elusive, to grasp, it is well worth the time.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious about the 'mathematics' references certain rappers (GZA, Rakim) drop? The 85%, 10% & then the 5% of 'poor righteous teachers' get covered here.

Even just as a historical overview of the genealogies of Black Muslims in the U.S. the book is really interesting. Might depend on your tolerance for numerology, cults & the oral tradition though...

[Beautiful · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written book. Disheartening at times when you learn what the elites have attempted to do to dismantle a powerful movement of original people who was in quest for knowledge of self.

[Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

everything i wanted to know about NY rap but had no way of asking

terrific!

a whole culture is made clear to me

[Yusuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting topic but surprisingly a dense read

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone interested in Moorish Science, NOI, and offshoots.