Jesus Wasn’t a Christian | The Infinite God Body
By Mike Rashid King
I was raised on the stories of Jesus in the church. I grew up hearing about love, redemption, and the miracles of Christ. But as I looked at the condition of my people, suffering in the streets, searching for hope, I began to question why the spirit of Christ seemed absent from the very institutions that claimed His name. In my journey of faith and awakening, I found that spirit alive and well where I least expected: within the Nation of Islam. Today, I speak as a Black Muslim who has walked both paths. I want to share why I believe the Nation of Islam embodies the spirit of Christ more than the Church ever did.
A People Prophesied: Four Hundred Years in Bondage
I am one of the Children of a Prophecy. The Bible tells of God’s chosen people who would be strangers in a strange land and enslaved for four hundred years. For a long time, I thought that story was just about ancient Israelites in Egypt. But then it struck me: that story is our story. We, the Black people in America, endured 400 years of bondage from the first African taken in chains to the New World. Our ancestors toiled under the whip, sang spirituals about Moses and Jesus, and prayed for a deliverer. The scripture says God’s people would suffer affliction for four centuries and then God would judge the nation that enslaved them. Is it a coincidence that from 1555 to 1955 – roughly four hundred years – we faced the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow? I don’t believe in coincidences. We are the prophetic children of Israel, the despised and rejected, prophesied to rise in the last days.
In the churches of my youth, I rarely heard this truth taught. But the Nation of Islam (NOI) boldly declares it. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught that we are the fulfillment of that prophecy – that the Black man and woman in America are God’s chosen people, robbed of our names, language, and culture, just as the Israelites were in Pharaoh’s land. The chains of slavery are gone, but mental and spiritual bondage persist. The Nation of Islam, to me, became the modern Moses calling to let my people go. This awakened a sense of divine purpose in Black Americans. To know that our history is biblical, that our suffering had a redemptive plan, gave us prophetic identity. It’s the same confidence Jesus had telling his people that the last shall be first and the stone which the builders rejected would become the cornerstone.
We carry that lineage of the oppressed who God has not forgotten. Just as Jesus identified with the lowly and promised deliverance, the NOI proclaims that our long servitude is at its end and a new kingdom is at hand. This understanding embodies Christ’s spirit of liberation far more than the mainstream Church’s silence on our true identity. The Church often overlooked the significance of that 400-year sojourn; the Nation of Islam shouted it from the rooftops, infusing us with hope and responsibility as the People of God destined for freedom.
Jesus’s Way of Life: Parallels with Islam
Jesus of Nazareth was a man of profound discipline, compassion, and submission to God. Ironically, I found that the way Jesus lived has more in common with Islam than with many church traditions. Consider these parallels between Jesus’s way of life and the principles of Islam:
- Prayer: Jesus prayed frequently and with humility. The Gospels say “he fell on his face and prayed” in the Garden of Gethsemane, submitting to God’s will. Today, Muslims bow and prostrate in prayer five times a day, just as Jesus did. In the NOI, we are taught to pray and remember God constantly. We begin our meetings with the words “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,” seeking to do nothing without calling on the One God — the same God Jesus prayed to. When I bow my head to the floor in prayer, I feel a connection to Christ’s own devotion.
- Fasting: Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness to gain closeness to God and mastery over temptation. Similarly, fasting is a pillar of Islam. Every year during Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, cultivating discipline and empathy for the less fortunate. The Nation of Islam adds an extra layer of practice by teaching us to eat one meal a day for optimum health and discipline. Elijah Muhammad taught us “to eat to live,” not to live to eat. By mastering our physical appetites, we strengthen our spirit. This kind of disciplined fasting and self-control echoes Jesus’s example far more than the church potlucks and fried chicken dinners I grew up with. It’s not that fellowship over food is wrong – but where is the sacrifice and purification that Jesus showed? I found that spirit of sacrifice alive in Islam’s practices.
- Purity and Discipline: Jesus lived a life of purity. He kept the commandments, refrained from unclean foods, and exemplified holiness in conduct. The codes of the Infinite God Body that I follow as a Muslim echo that call to purity. We don’t consume pork or intoxicants; we strive to keep our bodies clean, as temples of God. The church taught that our body is a temple, but then many would defile it with alcohol abuse or gluttony, thinking faith alone saves. In the NOI, we actually live that temple principle: no drinking, no smoking, no drugs. We treat our bodies as sacred gifts. That bodily discipline is something I had to learn outside the church, in the ranks of the Nation of Islam. We exercise, we train, we stand upright. As a fitness entrepreneur, this resonates deeply with me — it’s faith in action, caring for the vessel of the soul. Christ drove out the money-changers from the Temple; the NOI helped drive out destructive habits from my temple (my body), restoring it to a house of prayer.
- Submission to God’s Will: The very word “Islam” means submission to the will of God. And who submitted to God more fully than Jesus? In the Bible, Jesus says, “I can of mine own self do nothing… I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” This is the core of Islam’s theology – that we surrender our ego and obey the one God. In church I was taught to worship Jesus, but Jesus himself taught us to worship God, not him. That pure surrender, saying “Not my will, but Thy will be done,” is the essence of Islam. The Nation of Islam helped me see that true Christianity isn’t about deifying Jesus, but about following Jesus in doing God’s will. When I say “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest), I’m affirming what Jesus declared throughout his life: the Father (God) is greater than all. That humility and obedience—that is Christ-like.
- Uplift of the Poor and Oppressed: Jesus’s mission was good news for the poor, release for the captives, sight for the blind, liberty for the oppressed. He spent time with the outcasts, healed lepers, fed the hungry multitudes. I ask: which community today mirrors that ministry? I see the Fruit of Islam (the men of the NOI) in the housing projects and streets, respectfully delivering food to families, protecting our neighborhoods from violence and drugs, mentoring young men who had no fathers. I see the Muslim Girls General Training, and Civilization Class teaching young women domestic skills, self-respect, and education — uplifting sisters who the world told were worthless. The spirit of service and uplift that Jesus exemplified is alive in these works. Too many modern churches focus on building fancy sanctuaries or accumulating wealth while the poor in their very neighborhoods go unaided. But the NOI has programs to rehabilitate drug addicts, to reform former prisoners into productive men, to educate our youth in our own schools (like the Muhammad University of Islam). Feeding the hungry, teaching the ignorant, and caring for “the least of these” – that is where Christ’s spirit lives. I saw more of that in the movement started by Elijah Muhammad than I ever saw in many Sunday services.
In all these ways – prayer, fasting, purity, submission, charity – the everyday practice of Islam carries forth Jesus’s way. This realization shook me up as a Christian youth, and later convicted me as I embraced Islam. I came to see that being Muslim made me not less of a follower of Christ, but perhaps even more of one in practice. We greet each other saying “As-Salaam Alaikum” meaning “Peace be unto you” – the very words Jesus greeted his disciples with after the resurrection. Our women veil themselves modestly like Mary the mother of Jesus did. Our men grow beards as Jesus’ disciples did. The more I aligned my life with Islam’s discipline, the closer I felt to the lifestyle of Jesus the Messiah. It was the Church that drifted from that lifestyle, not Islam.
The Church’s Failures to Live Christ’s Mission
This is not an easy truth to speak, but it must be spoken in love: the modern Church has largely failed to live out Christ’s mission. I say this as someone who still holds a deep love for Jesus and for many devout Christians. Yet, when I survey the historical and present condition of the Church – especially here in America – I see glaring contradictions between what Jesus taught and what the Church has done.
Where is the love for the least of these? Jesus preached a gospel of humility, charity, and solidarity with the lowly. He had nowhere to lay his head, he washed his disciples’ feet, he warned the rich and comforted the poor. But the Church (speaking of the institution broadly) became entangled with empire, power, and wealth. From the days of Rome to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Church often stood not with the oppressed, but with the oppressor. European colonizers carried the Bible in one hand and the whip in the other. Slave masters quoted Scripture to justify holding Black souls in bondage, and many churches went along or stayed silent. That betrayal cuts deep. How can the spirit of Christ be in a church that turned a blind eye to racial terror and slavery for centuries? Even today, one of the most segregated hours in America is Sunday morning service. Racism within Christianity’s ranks is a poison that Christ would never have tolerated, yet it persists. The Nation of Islam confronted this hypocrisy head-on, declaring loudly that a religion used to enslave our people could not be the true path of Christ.
Empty worship vs. Righteous Action: Many churches emphasize worshipping Jesus over imitating Jesus. There’s an emphasis on praise and ceremonials, but often a lack of action when it comes to social justice and moral reform. Christ said, “Faith without works is dead.” Yet I saw churches content to have a shouting good time on Sunday, but do nothing about the injustice on Monday. The spirit of Christ’s mission — to free the captives and uplift the brokenhearted — requires work, sacrifice, and sometimes confrontation against evil systems. The Church by and large preached salvation in the hereafter, telling the suffering to wait for heaven. Meanwhile, the Nation of Islam rolled up its sleeves to improve our heaven right here on Earth. When the crack epidemic ravaged Black communities, it was NOI men who organized to confront drug dealers and clean up the corners, while many churches locked their doors at night. When our young brothers were killing each other in gang wars, it was Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Fruit of Islam who walked unarmed into housing projects to promote peace. That is faith with works, love in action — the kind of thing Jesus would do.
Moral Discipline and Integrity: Scandals of abuse, greed, and moral failing have sadly tainted many church leaders. This is not to throw stones, for no group is perfect, but consider the contrast. The NOI from its inception demanded a high standard of moral conduct: no adultery, no fornication, strong family units, respect for women, honest business dealings. Members who violated these standards faced suspension or expulsion because the mission is too critical to tolerate corruption. In some churches, I saw ministers get caught in wrongdoing and be back in the pulpit next week as if nothing happened. The congregation might gossip but ultimately ignore it, saying “we’re all sinners.” Yes, we are all imperfect — but Christ said “Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,” meaning we must strive for perfection in righteousness. The Nation fosters an environment of accountability that, in my experience, is much closer to Christ’s demand for holiness than the lax permissiveness I’ve seen in some Christian circles. Christ’s spirit is one of integrity – walking the talk. The NOI taught me how to walk upright, how to fear God enough to avoid sin, whereas the Church often just said “believe in Jesus” and you’re saved, even if your life doesn’t change much.
Complicity with Injustice: Perhaps the greatest failure has been how the church at large addressed (or failed to address) social injustices. From segregation to economic inequality, too often the church either stayed neutral or even endorsed the status quo. Jesus flipped the tables of corrupt money-changers and challenged the authorities of his day for their hypocrisy. He was a fearless advocate for truth. In our time, where was that fearless voice? Many times it was Min. Farrakhan or other Nation of Islam ministers calling out racism, police brutality, government misconduct – speaking truth to power in the tradition of the ancient prophets. I often wonder: why weren’t Christian bishops and pastors leading those charges with equal fire? Some did, to be fair – I honor the legacy of courageous clergy in the civil rights movement – but by and large, after Dr. King’s era the church became comfortable. It leaned into respectability and away from revolution. The Nation of Islam never shied away from revolution (of the moral and social kind). That revolutionary stance to fight for the “least of these” is emblematic of Christ. It’s painful but honest to say that in this regard, the Church lost the plot while the Nation of Islam picked it up and carried it forward.
Messengers of a New Day: Fard, Elijah, and Farrakhan
God does not leave His people without guidance. In the Bible, when the children of Israel cried out under Pharaoh’s yoke, God sent Moses. When they strayed, He sent prophets. So it is with our 400-year story. In our modern wilderness, God raised men among us to guide us. The Nation of Islam recognizes these key figures, and through them, the spirit of Christ’s mission has been reawakened in our community.
- Master Fard Muhammad – In 1930, at the end of that 400-year period, a mysterious man came to Detroit’s Black ghetto with a message of liberation. He went door to door in the poorest neighborhoods, teaching a downtrodden people that they were royal, that they were the original people of God. He gave them an Arabic greeting of peace and taught them the true religion of their nature. Many of my Christian brothers might not know him, but to the Nation of Islam he was the Mahdi, a guide sent from God. Some even believe he was the very manifestation of the Supreme Being in human form come to seek His lost people — much as Christians believe God visited humanity through Jesus. Master Fard Muhammad’s approach was quiet, humble, almost secretive (he taught for just 3½ years before departing). It reminds me of Jesus’s words, “Behold, I come as a thief in the night.” He came without fanfare, but his impact was immeasurable. He lit the spark that would become a blazing movement. Like Christ gathering a few fishermen by the Sea of Galilee, Master Fard gathered a few poor Black men and women in Detroit and gave them a transformative teaching. Among those who heard him was a man named Elijah…
- The Honorable Elijah Muhammad – If Fard Muhammad was like a Moses figure, Elijah was like Joshua, or even like Peter building the church after Jesus left. Elijah Muhammad was a Georgia-born Black man, limited in formal education, but rich in faith and courage. He became the foremost student of Master Fard. When Fard left the scene, Elijah Muhammad took up the mission to resurrect the Black nation in America. For over forty years, from the mid-1930s to 1975, he preached, organized, and built an independent spiritual nation. Under his leadership, the Nation of Islam established temples (mosques) across America, farmland, banks, businesses, schools, a society within a society. Elijah Muhammad taught us that we must do for self what others refuse to do for us. In him I see the reflection of Christ’s determination to gather the lost sheep. He fearlessly declared truths that were hard to swallow: that the Black man is the original man of the planet, that we are direct descendants of the Creator, and that we had to separate from the ways of our oppressors to reclaim our destiny. Elijah Muhammad was persecuted, ridiculed, even jailed for sedition during WWII for refusing to drop the mission. Yet, like an apostle in chains, he only grew more convicted. By the 1960s, he had tens of thousands of followers, including prominent names like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. He gave hope and a plan to countless families who had known only despair. Elijah may not have performed literal miracles like curing blindness, but metaphorically he did, he opened the eyes of the blind and set captives free by teaching truth. Drug addicts became sober, thieves became honest, the fearful became courageous under his tutelage. If that’s not Christ-like work, I don’t know what is. He always uplifted Jesus as a model servant of God even as he reintroduced us to Islam. Elijah Muhammad taught that true Christianity and true Islam are one. He urged us to read the Bible with new eyes, to see ourselves in its pages. Through him, I learned that the mission of Jesus didn’t end on the cross — it continued in any people who dare to challenge evil and live righteously. Elijah left in 1975, but the foundation he laid stands firm.
- Minister Louis Farrakhan – In our time, the spirit of the Messiah’s work lives on strongly in the voice of Min. Farrakhan. He is a student of Elijah Muhammad, and to millions he is a beloved mentor and warner. He is my spiritual father who I love dearly. If you’ve ever heard him speak, you know the power and conviction he carries. Minister Farrakhan resurrected the Nation of Islam in 1977 after it had fallen into disarray following Elijah Muhammad’s departure. With almost single-handed determination, he rebuilt the movement from a small few to a global influence. What’s striking about Brother Farrakhan is how much he emphasizes Jesus and the Gospel even as a Muslim minister. He often says, “I am a Christian in the true sense of the word. I follow Christ. And I am also a Muslim, one who submits to God.” He preaches in churches and mosques alike, using the Bible and Qur’an interchangeably to show the unity of God’s message. In 1995, guided by divine inspiration, Farrakhan called for the Million Man March – a day of atonement and
- solidarity in Washington D.C. Nearly two million Black men showed up, confessing their sins, reconciling with God and each other, vowing to be better fathers, husbands, and sons. I was there, a young man in that sea of disciplined, prayerful men, tears in my eyes as we stood in repentance and renewal. That day felt like a page out of the Book of Acts, like Pentecost or the Sermon on the Mount – a gathering in the name of righteousness that no church ever could have organized on that magnitude. Only the Nation of Islam, under Christ’s spirit working through Farrakhan, did that. Minister Farrakhan, like Jesus, has been hated by the powers that be. He’s been slandered, called every name in the book for speaking painful truths about America’s injustices. Yet, also like Jesus, he has a love in his heart even for those who hate him. I’ve seen him embrace Christians, Jews, even former enemies with genuine warmth, while never compromising on truth. He teaches us that “Jesus and Muhammad are brothers” in the work of redeeming humanity. Under his guidance, the Nation of Islam continues to strive for moral excellence and to extend a hand of unity to the broader community. He reminds us often of the words of Jesus: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Look at the fruits of the NOI — transformed lives, dignified men and women, safer neighborhoods, and awakened minds — and judge for yourself who bears Christ’s fruits in this age.
These three figures – Master Fard Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan – are not worshipped by us, but revered as instruments of God. They re-lit the lamp of faith in a people who sat in darkness. Through them, the spirit of prophecy is alive. Just as the Bible has a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working in unity, I see a parallel in our context: the Teacher (Master Fard), the Messenger (Elijah), and the Warner (Farrakhan) working in unity to resurrect the spiritually dead. It’s a continuum of guidance, and its fruits are seen in the Nation of Islam’s works and members. The Church leadership throughout those same decades often looked at the plight of Black folks and offered mostly prayer and hope, but these men offered vision and concrete change. That, to me, is embodying Christ’s actual ministry — not just speaking about it, but doing it.
Christ Without Colonialism: The Essence of the Gospel is Islam
One of the most profound realizations I had is that true Christianity, when stripped of its colonial distortions, is practically identical to Islam in essence. This is a bold claim, I know. But walk with me a moment: What if the Christianity that spread through Europe, that came across on slave ships, was not the pure faith of Jesus, but a modified version tailored to empire? When I began studying the history of the early Church, I discovered how political leaders and councils altered doctrines. Over a few centuries, Jesus the prophet of God was transformed into God Himself; the humble teacher who practiced the Law was replaced by a figurehead of a religion that abolished the Law. European imagery turned a Asiatic Melanated Messiah into a blue-eyed, blond-haired deity. The faith was used to justify Crusades, inquisitions, colonization — all things far removed from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
What, then, is true Christianity? It is the religion of Christ, not necessarily the religion about Christ that developed later. The religion of Christ was simple: absolute love and obedience to the One God, compassion for your fellow man, and striving for justice. That sounds a lot like the core of Islam to me. In fact, Islam teaches that Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad all brought the same fundamental message: surrender to the one God (Allah) and live righteously. Jesus himself summarized the law as “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.” There is not a single teaching of Jesus that contradicts what Islam calls us to do. Pray to God alone? Check. Give charity? Check. Fast and seek God’s will? Check. Avoid adultery, murder, theft? Check. Jesus even said, “I did not come to abolish the Law… until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter of the law will disappear.” Yet many churches abolished the very laws Jesus lived by. They say those old laws are “nailed to the cross.” So Christians eat pork, ignore fasting except maybe a token Lent, and often rationalize away the strict moral code of the Bible because they think grace means no effort. That distorted Christianity is a far cry from what Jesus actually modeled.
The Nation of Islam helped me see Christianity through a new lens: removing the filter of white supremacy and colonial influence. When I took that filter off, I saw a faith that was vibrant, radical, and very familiar – it looked like Islam. It felt like home. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad often said, “We are the true Christians” in that we follow Christ’s teachings better than those who merely call themselves Christian. I in no way intend to boast, I wish only to highlight a reality: if Jesus walked the streets today, where would he feel more at home – in the halls of a lavish megachurch that bears no resemblance to the simplicity of the early disciples, or in a modest mosque in the inner city where the poor are being fed and people bow only to God, not to any image? I firmly believe Jesus would recognize the spirit of his own teachings more readily among the humble, disciplined Muslims than among many who shout his name but ignore his commandments.
Let’s talk “colonial distortions” plainly: The version of Christianity imposed on enslaved Blacks taught us to be docile, to “turn the other cheek” excessively, to obey our earthly masters as a duty to God. It divorced faith from liberation. It painted our African spiritual heritage as evil and told us salvation could only come through a white savior figure. That was a psychological chain even after physical chains were gone. The Nation of Islam broke those chains by teaching that God is not a European and that salvation is not in the sky after you die, but in the liberation of your mind and body here on Earth. It reintroduced us to a faith that affirms our dignity. Interestingly, that makes us better Christians in the true sense: we now see Christ in ourselves and each other, not in some distant stained-glass idol. The Infinite God Body concept I subscribe to says that we, the original people, reflect God. It reminds me of Jesus quoting the Psalms: “Ye are all gods, children of the Most High.” He tried to tell the people that the kingdom of God is within them. The Church rarely emphasizes that divine potential within humanity, but the Nation of Islam and related movements (like the Five Percent Nation that calls Black men “Gods”) put it front and center. That empowerment – seeing God within yourself and your brother – naturally produces love, unity, and accountability, which are hallmarks of Christ’s ideal community.
In essence, when you remove the layers of man-made dogma, you end up with a faith that honors one God, respects His prophets, and seeks to establish a just, moral society. That is Islam. That is also true, original Christianity. They are one and the same at the core. This realization made me comfortable embracing Islam fully, without feeling I had betrayed Jesus. On the contrary, I felt closer to Jesus than ever, because I was finally understanding him without the centuries of political smoke and mirrors. The Church as an institution may have lost that essence, but the Nation of Islam picked it up, dusted it off, and lives by it.
Living the Mission: The Nation of Islam’s Work and Legacy
Theory and theology are important, but one might ask: what is the real-world impact? How does the Nation of Islam embody Christ in practice, day to day? Let me paint a picture of what the NOI has done and continues to do — culturally, theologically, and mission-wise — and you decide if this looks like the work of Jesus.
Cultural Renaissance: The Nation sparked a cultural awakening among Black Americans. It taught us to take pride in our African heritage, our Black identity, at a time when everything around us said being Black was a curse. The Black man was taught he is divine in origin, not inferior. The Black woman was uplifted as the mother of civilization, not the “welfare queen” society maligned. This is significant because Jesus’s ministry was also countercultural – he affirmed the value of those whom society despised (tax collectors, Samaritans, lepers). Likewise, the NOI took those called “Negroes” and said, “No, you are original, you are beautiful, you are God’s own.” We stopped using our slave masters’ last names and adopted names like Muhammad, Ali, X – symbolic of casting off an old identity and being born again in a new one. The Church speaks of being “born again,” but for us that wasn’t just a feeling at the altar; it was a concrete rebirth of our self-image and lifestyle. We started wearing dignified attire — men in suits or military-style FOI uniforms, women in modest graceful garments. This outward change reflected an inner transformation: we now saw ourselves as representatives of God. When a people’s culture begins to reflect godly values – clean living, modesty, unity, respect – that is a victory of the spirit. The hip-hop culture even picked up on this; terms like “Word is bond,” calling each other “God” and “Queen,” came from the teachings of the Nation and its offshoots (like the 5% Nation). It injected a sense of destiny and self-worth into Black culture that decades of church sermons about a white Jesus had not achieved. This, to me, is a Christ-like accomplishment: empowering the downtrodden to stand up with self-worth.
Theological Challenge and Clarity: The Nation of Islam didn’t just make societal impact; it posed a serious theological challenge to America’s religious landscape. By preaching that God is One and that His truth is universal, it forced many to re-examine doctrines of exclusion and supremacy. For example, the idea that only those who explicitly accept Jesus are saved never sat right with me, even as a Christian – it seemed to condemn billions unjustly. Islam (and the NOI) clarified that God judges us by our righteousness and submission to Him, not by a label. In the Bible, Jesus even said, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom, but he who does the will of my Father.” That is exactly the Islamic viewpoint: doing God’s will (being in a state of islam) is what matters. The Nation taught that many Christians say “Lord, Lord” but don’t do God’s will, whereas a sincere Muslim or anyone doing right by God’s standards is honoring Him whether they carry the name or not. This inclusive yet challenging perspective is closer to how Christ would separate the sheep from goats by deeds, not by church membership. The NOI also confronted false images: we boldly said Jesus was not a white man – likely he was a man of color, a humble servant of God. Imagine the shock waves that sent in the mid-20th century! But it began a healing process for our people, because if we could see Jesus more truthfully, we could see God and ourselves more truthfully. Theological clarity came when we realized we don’t need a mediator to reach God; we can pray to Him directly as Jesus and Muhammad did. We don’t need to confess to a priest; we can repent and change our own lives with God’s help. These principles returned agency to the individual believer – a very empowering, Christ-aligned notion (Christ tore the Temple veil, after all, symbolically removing barriers between God and man).
Mission-Driven Work: Perhaps most importantly, the Nation of Islam is mission-oriented. The Church talks about the “Great Commission” – to spread the gospel to all nations. The NOI has its own great commission: to resurrect the Black nation and establish a heaven on earth for the oppressed. Both are about saving souls, but in different senses. The NOI’s work is holistic: material, mental, and spiritual salvation. In the 1960s, it ran numerous businesses: bakeries, restaurants, fish markets, farmland in the South to supply our people with healthy food. It taught entrepreneurship and circulated the Black dollar within our community. It reminded me of how the early Christians in Acts pooled their resources so none among them would lack. This kind of economic self-help is a form of loving thy neighbor. After all, what good is it to say “Jesus saves” to a man who can’t feed his family? Better to first help him find dignity through work or charity, then his heart is open to spiritual truths. The NOI understood that. They created job programs, training for young men to be disciplined (the FOI drill, for instance, instills military-like bearing and teamwork). They set up free drug rehabilitation through moral teaching, not expensive clinics. The “Dope-Busters” initiative in the 1980s saw Muslim men patrol DC neighborhoods to stop drug activity peacefully, succeeding where law enforcement often failed. That is saving lives in a very real way.
And consider education: the NOI established its own schools, like the University of Islam, to teach children academics plus knowledge of self, so they wouldn’t grow up mentally enslaved. This is akin to Christ teaching in the temple, enlightening the youth. Many Christian schools existed too, but few explicitly aimed to undo the psychological damage of racial oppression as ours did. The mission was not just to get us to believe in God, but to know ourselves as a part of God’s plan – to become self-sufficient and upright. Every program, from marriage counseling to farm cooperatives, was part of this grand mission of liberation. When I partake in this work – whether it’s leading a community workout promoting health or mentoring a young brother to stay out of trouble – I feel imbued with the spirit of Christ. Because I’m doing what He said to do: feeding His sheep, tending to “the least of these my brethren.”
The results speak loud: countless individuals who were deemed “lost causes” by society found purpose and discipline through the Nation. I’ve met men who were former gang members now respectfully saying “Yes sir, no sir,” raising their children in stable homes. I’ve seen sisters who once had no self-esteem now glow with confidence and modest pride, pursuing education and business. Families have been healed, marriages strengthened, communities organized. These are the kinds of miracles of transformation Jesus performed on hearts and souls. And it’s all done without begging for money or seeking approval from those in power – it’s done by the grace of God and the collective effort of believers united in mission.
Conclusion: Walking in Christ’s Footsteps Today
The spirit of Christ is not a stagnant relic of 2,000 years ago; it is a living force that manifests wherever people sincerely dedicate themselves to truth, love, and liberation. I have come to understand Jesus not just as a figure to accept in words, but as an example to emulate in deeds. In looking at the track record of the modern Church versus that of the Nation of Islam, I say this not to boast or condemn but to speak an evident truth: the Nation of Islam embodies that Christ-like example more faithfully.
Christ said “By their fruits you will know them.” What are the fruits of the Church in our community? Beautiful sanctuaries, stirring choirs, yes – but also division, complacency, and a flock that is often still lost from Monday to Saturday. And what are the fruits of the Nation of Islam? Men and women who were once dead in spirit now alive with purpose; communities cleaner and safer; a people who once felt like nobodies now stand as somebodies, disciplined and dignified, proclaiming faith in one God. Those are fruits worthy of the tree of Christ.
I speak in the first person because this is my testimony. I found Christ’s teachings anew in Islam. I learned to love my brother as myself when I saw my brother as myself – a reflection of God – as taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I learned to discipline my body and mind, to rise for prayer before dawn, to respect my wife as a divine gift, to cherish knowledge and hard work. These things were abstract ideals in the church, but they became concrete realities for me in the Nation of Islam. I have seen with my own eyes that when we implement the principles of prayer, fasting, purity, charity, unity, and knowledge of self, we resurrect the condition of our people. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He resurrected Lazarus, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk. Metaphorically, the NOI has resurrected a downtrodden nation (the so-called Negroes became proud Black men and women), given sight to those blind to the truth of self and God, and made a people once lame (unable to progress) stand up and march forward. That is the spirit of Christ at work.
In writing this, I am not interested in vilifying the Church or converting Christians to Islam per se. My aim is truth and reconciliation. We must reconcile the truth of Christ with the reality of who is actually carrying out Christ’s mission. Many of my Christian brothers and sisters truly love Jesus; to them I say, examine the example of the Nation of Islam without prejudice. You might find kindred souls, even if our theology differs on points. We love and revere Jesus too – as a Messiah, as a Prophet, as a righteous leader. We simply refuse to limit his legacy to what the Church has made it. The churches may have hymns and creeds, but we strive to have his heart and deeds. And to my Muslim brothers and sisters, I say we should not shun Jesus because some have misrepresented him. In the Qur’an, Jesus is a spirit from God, born of a virgin, a worker of miracles, and one who will return in the end times to restore justice. In Islam, we are closer to Jesus’s actual expectations than we ever were in the pews, and that is something to celebrate, not hide.
Ultimately, this is about the unity of truth. The Honorable Minister Farrakhan often teaches that Jesus and Muhammad are brothers carrying the same light. The Nation of Islam, in embodying Christ’s spirit, serves as a bridge between the Christian and Muslim worlds – especially in Black America, we have members who comfortably quote both Bible and Qur’an, who end a prayer with “in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, and in the name of His servant and Messiah Jesus the Christ.” That kind of synthesis is powerful. It heals the divides that have long kept us separated and weak.
I am a Black man, a Muslim, a follower of the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and a lover of Jesus. I see no contradiction in that. In fact, I feel I’ve resolved the contradiction that puzzled me in youth: why the church talked about Jesus but didn’t produce Jesus’s results. Now I know that when you live as Jesus lived and teach as Jesus taught, you get the results Jesus got. The Nation of Islam lives and teaches in that fashion, and the results are evident in transformed lives and communities. The mainstream Church, for all the good intentions, has struggled to do the same on the same scale or with the same unwavering focus.
So I invite anyone reading this to reflect deeply. The spirit of Christ is calling out in the world today for those who will truly follow his way. You might just find it in a place you didn’t expect — perhaps in a mosque on a Sunday afternoon where men in suits and women in white garments are feeding the hungry and teaching the lost, all in the name of Allah (God). Don’t let labels fool you; by their fruits you shall know them. I have seen the fruits. I have tasted this truth. And it is sweet, liberating, and divine.
In the words of Scripture, “He that hath an ear, let him hear.” The spirit of Christ is alive in the Nation of Islam. It’s been said that faith without works is dead — well, here is faith with works, faith that inspires works. That’s the faith Jesus wanted us to have. I thank God for guiding me to this path and allowing me to see unity where others see division. May we all be blessed to embody the spirit of Christ in our lives, whether we call ourselves Christian or Muslim. In the end, it’s not the label, but the life lived in service to God and humanity that matters. And that is the light the Nation of Islam continues to carry, for the glory of God and the upliftment of His people.
