The Nation of Islam's influences
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The Nation of Islam has been influenced by various movements, mythologies and theories. First of all, the monotheist sacred books, the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah, influenced its mythology. Throughout Malcolm X’s account of what he learned about the Nation of Islam, we can see recurring characters known in the world in other religious books. For example, Moses is part of the mythology of this group. He is sent by Allah to civilize white people living in caves. Malcolm even explains the link to the Bible: “Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.” The Nation of Islam interprets it as the serpent being the symbol of “the devilish white race.” Interpreting holistic books that are already believed by many people is a clever way to build up mythologies. Science also influences the Nation of Islam’s mythology. The origin story states that among the Black race, there were 24 scientists. One of the descendants, “Mr Yacub,” was born to create trouble. He learned how to “breed races,” and he created a “bleached-out” white race using eugenics. Using science in the Nation of Islam’s mythology was a way to make it more real. Race theories also inspired the Nation of Islam. The whole basis for the origin story was race theories. They believed that different races were created at different times. The main characters are the “devil white man” and the “brainwashed black man.” It explains why the black man does not know his own history. The white man “whitened” it to continue to control the world. This point is very interesting because we can easily argue that white men “whitened” history for its sake and continue to do so. The Nation of Islam created mythology from known characters from religious books, science, and race theories.