Elijah Muhammad, son of a sharecropper, was born into poverty in Sandersville, Georgia, on October 7, 1897. After moving to Detroit in 1923, he met W. D. Fard, founder of the black separatist movement Nation of Islam.

Muhammad became Fard??? successor from 1934-75 and was known for his controversial preaching. His followers included Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. He died February 25, 1975, in Chicago.