Nation of Islam: Cult of the Black Muslims/Chapter 9
IX. SECURITY MEASURES AND DISCIPLINE
A. Security Measures
"It's for everybody's protection," explains the FOI guard to the visitor, who must be searched before entering an NOI meeting place. Negro reporters for the "Chicago American" told about their experience before a meeting got under way where Elijah was to speak. You are led into a room, they said, where you register with a smiling Muslim at a desk. Then you are conducted before a team of guards who begin to search you for dangerous weapons. They are gentle but thorough, covering hat to shoes:
- "... A muscular young Muslim tells you to empty your pockets. Your ballpoint pen is clicked repeatedly to make sure it's not a miniature weapon. Anything objectionable in your pockets goes into a brown bag and you get a claim check to redeem it after the meeting.
- "Then you're standing ... arms thrust skyward. The muscular one takes a karate stance and commands you to 'move into me.' His fingers dart up to yours, then flick downward over your arms, across the top of your chest, under your armpits, and down your sides. The hands go inside and under your belt, all the way around.
- "Then the probing fingers glide down your legs, inside and out. The Muslim slaps your thighs and hips, nods to three men standing silently behind you and mutters, 'O.K.' Then in a dull monotone, he apologizes for the frisk and hopes 'you're not offended.'"
Frisking for weapons as the standing line gradually moves up causes long delays. Men search men, women search women. After being cleared, the visitor enters the meeting hall, where men sit on one side and women on the other. The speaker is surrounded by stern-faced, neat, young bodyguards standing at ramrod attention and facing the audience from fixed positions around the rostrum. Other FOI guards stare into the audience from side and rear positions or move soundlessly around the hall. At short intervals the guard changes. With appropriate salutes and a brief verbal exchange, those on duty are relieved.
Constant vigil is kept because Elijah and his leaders always suspect the presence of "stool pigeons" and "hypocrites." After years of cautioning the faithful to guard against "stool pigeons," Elijah now fears "hypocrites" even more than "stool pigeons." Since the cherished Malcolm X broke from Elijah, Elijah has constantly denounced him and others like him who once followed closely but later deserted.
Should a "stool pigeon" or a "hypocrite" gain entrance to a meeting or rally and be discovered, FOI guards immediately converge on him and forcibly eject him. During the 1965 Savior's Day convention, guards spotted a visitor who had formerly attended meetings and later spoken out against the NOI. Twenty or more FOI guards charged toward him and dragged him to the back of the hall. They beat him and kicked him unmercifully before he crawled out through the doorway, where police
rescued him. Elaborate and showy security protection has always been provided for Elijah Muhammad by the FOI bodyguards. Much of this protection in the past undoubtedly was ceremonial and ritualistic evidence of his followers' respect for him as the "Messenger of Allah."
Since early 1964, however, when Malcolm X and many other cult members left the NOI, the protection afforded Elijah has been very serious and complete. During the Summer of 1964, a new procedure was inaugurated to protect Elijah. Formerly, his escorts numbered into the hundreds. Confusion and shoving resulted when they attempted to enter buildings and automobiles. The new plan is for the supreme captain of the FOI and a selected few highly trained and trusted FOI men tightly to surround Elijah at all times. On either side of these bodyguards, a column of security escorts acts as the buffer guard. The FOI guards are constantly reminded that they are the soldiers of Islam, serving the greatest general, Elijah Muhammad, and that every "Fruit" must be willing to sacrifice his life for "the Messenger."
After the assassination of Malcolm in New York City on February 21, 1965, and subsequent threats by Malcolm's followers against Elijah and NOI property in Chicago, Elijah advised the press that he did not fear for his life; nevertheless, he welcomed the protection afforded him by the Chicago police. When appearing at the annual convention less than a week after Malcolm's death, Elijah was additionally protected on the speaker's stand by a double row of NOI ministers sitting in front and on either side of him. This double row was in addition to the regular FOI guards facing the audience and standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the speaker's stand.
NOI members are constantly reminded that "the first law of Islam is obedience." Members are guided by a variety of "musts" and "must nots." Some of these are that they must regularly attend meetings, make the required financial contributions, sell their quota of the cult newspaper, and trade with Muslim-operated businesses. They must not smoke, drink liquor, eat pork, use narcotics, commit adultery, or associate with non-Muslims. Women members must wear the prescribed head covering, keep their homes neat, and serve the proper Muslim foods; and they must not wear lipstick, high heels, or short dresses. These rules are but a few of the many that have guided those who accept Elijah Muhammad's concocted version of Islam.
Muslims are warned that they must obey without question all orders of those in authority. Any member who violates the rules is subjected to disciplinary action administered by the NOI leadership composed of Elijah Muhammad, the national officers, the temple ministers, captains, lieutenants, and investigators. When a member is "brought up on charges," he is given a trial, sometimes before a regular temple meeting, sometimes before only the temple officials. The penalty of the guilty depends upon the nature of the charge and varies considerably among temples. For a minor violation, a member may be suspended from all temple activity for a period from 30 to 90 days; or, if the charge is more serious, he may be suspended for one to five years.
A suspended member is not permitted to associate with other members or take part in any temple activities. Upon completion of his sentence, the member who shows the proper respect and promises to obey henceforth all Muslim rules is permitted to return to the organization. One member, although suspended for a year for having an affair with a woman other than his wife, took steps to ensure that he would be able to return at the completion of his sentence. He continued his regular monetary contributions and sent numerous recruits to his temple.
Except in certain isolated cases, the most severe penalty meted to violators of cult rules has been permanent expulsion from the cult. During the past year, however, the rise of dissidence among members influenced by the expelled leaders—Malcolm X,
b6
b7C —has led to the cult's
resorting to violent measures to punish those who have been slandering "the
Messenger" and questioning his claim to be the last Apostle of Allah. Throughout 1964, the cult paper regularly printed articles concerning hypocrites. A hypocrite, as defined by Elijah, is "one who
first says he believes, then disbelieves, and seeks to oppose the Messenger
and those who believe in him." During the first half of the year, Elijah's
venomous condemnations were aimed at Malcolm X as the "chief hypocrite,"
and after
b6
b7C broke away from the cult in June, 1964, they
too were denounced as hypocrites.
During June, the Chicago press was reporting on seven admitted dissident members of the Chicago NOI temple who complained that each one of them had been threatened with bodily harm by the Muslim goon squad. One of them already had been beaten by two FOI lieutenants. Other newspapers reported similar beatings administered to dissident members in both Philadelphia and New York.
Elijah grew concerned over the publicity regarding an increasing number of hypocrites. He called an emergency meeting of ministers and captains at Chicago on August 19, 1964. From many temples, they slipped secretly into Chicago to hear Elijah discuss how the problem of defectors, dissidents, and hypocrites should be met.
In Boston, just three days after this conference, a dissident member and his wife were beaten by FOI guards outside the Muslim temple. The day after that, two dissident male members were badly beaten by nearly a dozen strong-arm men from the Boston Temple. One of these men, in an article in "The Saturday Evening Post," February 27, 1965, described their beatings as punishment for quitting and also as a warning "to keep our mouths shut."