Muhammad Speaks

Origins

In May 1960, Elijah Muhammad launched a weekly newspaper, initially titled Some of this Earth to Call Our Own or Else. The Nation of Islam distributed it across the country, covering global events and major news in African American communities, especially stories tied to the organization. Members of the Fruit of Islam sold copies door-to-door and on street corners, and the paper was also available at select newsstands in big cities and inside Nation of Islam temples.

Malcolm X, in his autobiography, said he founded the paper, but no independent proof supports this. The current Nation of Islam maintains that Malcolm X helped create Mr. Muhammad Speaks, a separate New York City paper. The two publications share nearly identical layout, content, and style, suggesting Mr. Muhammad Speaks served as the model. Jabir Herbert Muhammad is also thought to have been involved in starting the paper.

Before this, Elijah Muhammad used the African American press to promote his views; in the 1950s, his regular column in the Pittsburgh Courier, then the largest black-owned newspaper, drew more reader mail than any other feature.

Renamings

After Elijah Muhammad died, his son Warith Deen Muhammad took over and changed the newspaper's name to Bilalian News in 1976, honoring Bilal ibn Rabah, the first known Black African follower of the prophet Muhammad. This shift was part of Warith Deen's effort to move the Nation of Islam toward mainstream Sunni Islam. The paper was renamed again in 1981 to World Muslim News and later became The Muslim Journal, which still publishes today.

Competing titles

The Nation of Islam’s original newspaper, The Final Call to Islam, was started by Elijah Muhammad in the 1940s. In 1979, Louis Farrakhan launched The Final Call in Chicago as the official paper for the re-founded Nation of Islam, which formed in response to Warith Deen’s changes. Several other papers also claim to carry on the original’s legacy.

One is Muhammad Speaks Newspaper, published in Detroit by Minister Levi Karim. Another, with the same name, is published in Camden, New Jersey, by Minister Wasim Muhammad. Both are produced by followers of Elijah Muhammad who say they maintain his traditional teachings.