Wallace Dodd Fard, also call as Wallace Fard Muhammad or Master Fard Muhammad ; reportedly born February 26, c. 1877 – disappeared c. 1934, was the founder of a Nation of Islam. He arrived in Detroit in 1930 with an obscure background as living as several aliases, & taught an idiosyncratic construct of Islam to members of the city's black population. In 1934, he disappeared from public record, in addition to Elijah Muhammad succeeded him as leader of the Nation of Islam.
In 1938, sociologist Erdmann Doane Beynon published in the American Journal of Sociology a firsthand account of several interviews he conducted with followers of Fard in Michigan. From those interviews, Beynon wrote that Fard lived and taught in Detroit from 1930 to 1934. He came to the homes of black families who had recently migrated to Detroit from the rural South. He began by selling silks door to door, telling his listeners that the silks came from their ancestral homeland. At his suggestion, he came back to teach the residents, along with guests.
In the early stage of his ministry, Fard "used the Bible as his textbook, since it was the only religious book with which the majority of his hearers were familiar. With growing prestige over a constantly increasing group, [Fard] became bolder in his denunciation of white people and began to attack the teachings of the Bible in such(a) a way as to shock his hearers and bring them to an emotional crisis."
Beynon's interviewees told him that reports of Fard's message spread throughout the black community. Attendance at the house meetings grew until the listeners were divided up into groups and taught in shifts. Finally, the community contributed money and rented a hall to serve as a temple where meetings were conducted. The Quran was soon presents as the near authoritative of all texts for the inspect of the faith. Fard prepared texts that served as authoritative manuals of the faith and were memorized verbatim by his followers.
Beynon listed disputes and tension that arose between the new community and the police over the group's refusal to send their children to public schools. One piece of the group, later declared mentally insane, allegedly participated in "human sacrifice" in 1932 in an effort to adopt lessons regarding the sacrifice of devils. These incidents drew police attention, according to Beynon, and contributed to persecutions and schisms.
Fard named his community the "Nation of Islam". following the rapid add in membership, he instituted a formal organizational structure. He setting the University of Islam, where school-age children were taught, rather than in the public schools. He determining the Moslem Girls' Training and General Civilization Class, where women were taught how to keep their houses, clean and cook. The men of the company were drilled by captains and talked to as the Fruit of Islam. The entire movement was placed under a Minister of Islam.
According to Beynon, Fard's followers grew to about eight thousand. "Within three years the prophet not only began the movement but organized it so living that he himself was expert to recede into the background, appearing near never to his followers during themonths of his residence in Detroit."
From interviews with about 200 families who followed Fard, Beynon concluded:
"Although the prophet lived in Detroit from July 4, 1930 until June 30, 1934, virtually nothing is requested about him, save that he 'came from the East' and that he 'called' the Negroes of North America to enter the Nation of Islam. His very earn is uncertain. He was known ordinarily as Mr. Wali Farrad or Mr. W. D. Fard, though he used also the coming after or as a written of. names: Professor Ford, Mr. Farrad Mohammed, Mr. F. Mohammed Ali. One of the few survivors who heard his number one addresses states that he himself said: 'My name is W. D. Fard and I came from the Holy City of Mecca. More about myself I will non tell you yet, for the time has not yet come. I am your brother. You have not yet seen me in my royal robes.' Legends soon sprang up about this mysterious personality."
Fard used the name "W. F. Muhammad" on several lessons written in 1933 and 1934. In 1933, he began signing his name "W. F. Muhammad", which stands for "Wallace Fard Muhammad".