Clarence 13X - Founding The Five Percenters

Founding The Five Percenters

After leaving the NOI, Clarence 13X and John 37X continued to study the group's teachings, sometimes while smoking marijuana. They assumed new names: Clarence 13X took Allah, and John 37X, Abu Shahid. After reading an NOI book with 34 riddles, known as the "Lost-Found Lessons", John 37X concluded that numbers represented specific concepts, such as knowledge or wisdom. He referred to this system as "living mathematics". During its development, he was imprisoned on firearms charges. While John 37X was in prison, Clarence 13X taught a system of beliefs he referred to as "supreme wisdom", which he saw as the core of Islam, to groups of young men. He was assisted by his friend James Howard, with whom he developed a modified version of living mathematics, "supreme mathematics", and an accompanying doctrine about letters, the "supreme alphabet". The development of these systems, considered a "divine science" by adherents, may have been influenced by the teachings of Sufism; like some schools of Sufism, they found esoteric meanings in the alphabet. David Smydra of The Boston Globe compares these teachings to Kabbalah; Felicia Miyakawa of Middle Tennessee State University sees similarities to Gnosticism and Kemetism.

Clarence 13X developed novel teachings, assigning backronyms to familiar words. He stated that the letters of the word "Allah" stood for "arm, leg, leg, arm, head", signifying the human body. This was said to prove that humanity held a divine nature. He named parts of the New York area after locations in the Middle East that are significant to Islam: Harlem was referred to as Mecca, and Brooklyn, Medina. Other disaffected NOI members, including some who served the Fruit of Islam, were soon drawn to his burgeoning group. Several people from the NOI who were unwilling to choose between loyalty to Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X also joined; Clarence 13X incorporated aspects of the theology taught by the feuding leaders. In the group's early years, some Five Percenters attended NOI events, and Clarence 13X's theology had much in common with the teachings of the NOI, although there were notable differences. He taught his followers that he was an incarnation of God, and they each were gods. His followers were thus encouraged to look within themselves in their search for God. Clarence 13X taught that there was an inherent greatness in those of African descent not found in Europeans and their descendants, echoing statements made by Elijah Muhammad. However, he did not enforce the NOI's strict moral rules: one way that the group appealed to potential converts was by allowing many practices condemned by the NOI, including gambling, alcohol, and drug use. Clarence 13X told his followers to avoid developing addictions but that drug use was not inherently wrong. He strictly forbade the consumption of pork, arguing that pigs were similar to animals that are not eaten in the United States, such as rats and dogs, and hence should not be consumed. Owing to their belief that black men are gods, the group allowed its members to make choices about clothing and most aspects of diet.

Early members of the group often proselytized on street corners for hours, and Clarence 13X's assistants led classes about the group's teachings, strictly enforcing study habits. He instructed his followers to memorize his teachings on the significance of numbers and letters. Once they did so, they were said to gain an understanding of profound truths. These lessons were taught in a form that resembled catechisms. Rather than hold services in mosques, they gathered for monthly meetings known as parliaments, which were often held outdoors. Attendees were given wide freedom to speak in a system that Ted Swedenburg of the University of Arkansas has compared to Quaker meetings.

Clarence 13X's group was initially known as the "Suns of Almighty God Allah" or the "Blood Brothers". After Malcolm X's death, the group became known as the "Five Percenters" or the "Five Percent Nation". The name was drawn from the NOI's claim to be the five percent of the black community who knew and promoted the truth about God; Clarence 13X considered his movement to be the five percent of the NOI that still held to truth and integrity. The other 95 percent were said to be unaware of the truth or corrupt. Clarence 13X assembled an inner circle of assistants, nine of whom are referred to by Five Percenters as the "First Born": they are said to embody his attributes. The assistants were assigned to spread the group's teachings to younger people, many of whom took African names, including some from non-Islamic societies. Clarence 13X taught Afrocentrism to his disciples and often wore a dashiki; male Five Percenters members frequently wore tasseled kufis, and female members wore colorful African head wraps. Some Five Percenters supported themselves via drug dealing and petty theft; others intentionally committed minor legal infractions, hoping to proselytize to others who had been arrested.

Clarence 13X's followers saw him as a divine messenger and referred to him as "Father Allah". This elevated him to a higher position than Elijah Muhammad, who had deemed himself the "Messenger of Allah". Eventually, Clarence 13X stopped identifying himself as a Muslim and spoke out against the reverence of Fard Muhammad, casting him as a "mystery God". He rejected the idea that God is invisible, which he felt weakened people. However, he encouraged his followers to learn about and respect other spiritual traditions.

Although female converts were initially referred to as "nurses", Clarence 13X renamed them "earths" in 1967. He taught that women were not gods, as he believed that they were created by man and did not possess creative power. In his view, women could nurture, but only men could make children. Women were said to resemble the Earth in their ability to sustain life. Clarence 13X had a patriarchal philosophy, and the Five Percenters were initially overwhelmingly male. He spoke in favor of fathers' arranging their daughters' marriages and told women to embody submission by serving their husbands as God. Polygamy or serial monogamy were allowed, but legal marriage was discouraged. Clarence 13X encouraged his followers to have many children and discouraged the use of birth control.