Social Activism and Interfaith Outreach in Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam

Abstract

Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam is a small minority Muslim community with affiliated mosques and study groups throughout the United States. Minister Farrakhan is a well-known and divisive religious leader. Indeed, he is regarded by many as a dangerous
anti-Semite. Much less is known about the rank-and-file members of the NOI who work tirelessly to improve socioeconomic conditions in their respective communities. Minister Farrakhan has engaged in interfaith activism throughout his career. His followers have likewise made significant efforts to work across religious and racial lines. This paper concerns itself with the social activism and inter-faith outreach efforts that NOI members make to transform their communities and to ease tensions where they exist within these communities. The paper argues that such efforts have earned the NOI a degree of prestige and respect while also providing Minister Farrakhan with an ever-growing platform in some communities.