Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center

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The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Commemorative Center (HEMCC) remembers Imam W. Deen Mohammed on his birth anniversary, October 30. May Allāh (exalted is He) grant him mercy, forgiveness and the Everlasting Paradise.

Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the seventh child of Sister Clara Muhammad and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (may Allāh grant them mercy, forgiveness and the Everlasting Paradise), was born Wallace D. Mohammed on October 30, 1933 and passed away on September 8, 2008. Before his birth, it was said that he would be a help to his father and his father's mission. He started on the path towards these goals in a natural way: by growing up in the Nation of Islam (NOI) under his father’s leadership and shadowing his parents, older siblings and the pioneers, as the elders of the NOI are called today. This beginning helped Imam Mohammed understand the meaning of community life and, more importantly, its value for the African American people. He committed himself to a Muslim life and was one of his father’s helpers in building a community and ultimately, a nation.

Imam Mohammed was home-schooled by his mother as a young child and attended Muhammad University of Islam (MUI) until his late teens. His education at MUI was a major part of his preparation to help his father. He later received a high school equivalency diploma and attended Loop College (now named Harold Washington College of the City Colleges of Chicago). As a young adult, Imam Mohammed moved from Chicago to Philadelphia to serve as an NOI minister. His time there was short because he was imprisoned for objecting to serve in the Vietnam War. Imam Mohammed said that when he was released from prison, his understanding of Islam was clear. During his imprisonment, he studied the Qur’ān in Arabic, the language of this holy scripture. He was able to read the Qur’ān because he had studied Arabic with a teacher whom his father had employed at MUI.

Imam Mohammed served as Supreme Minister of the NOI. In this capacity, he traveled around the country on behalf of his father to teach NOI ministers and local members. In February 1975, after the passing of his father, ministers and other officials in the organization unanimously voted for Imam Mohammed to succeed his father as leader of the NOI.

During the period of transition from the leadership of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad to the leadership of his son, the community was in a vulnerable state. Imam Mohammed protected his followers by teaching the community his understanding of the Qur’ān. He said, “We have to take this Glorious Quran down from the shelf. We say we are Muslims. What my father taught that is in this book, we will keep. What is not in this book, we have to give up.”

Imam Mohammed led the largest mass conversion to “al-Islam” to date and went on to build a Muslim community upon the foundation of his father’s NOI. Several masjids and Islamic centers were established under his leadership. Thanks to his father, Imam Mohammed’s knowledge of Arabic gave him moral courage, and the community established by his father moved forward.

We ask that Allāh (exalted is He) grant the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and his son, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, mercy, and may He reward them. Ameen.