History of The Nation of Islam - A New NOI: 1978

A New NOI: 1978

At the outset of Wallace Muhammad's leadership of the Nation, many members were disturbed at the movement's new, moderate direction; and a minority of them years later formed more doctrinaire splinter groups. The most important of these was Louis Farrakhan, who, in a 1990 interview with Emerge magazine, expressed his disillusionment with the changes and decided to "quietly walk away" from the organization in 1976, rather than cause a schism among the membership. In 1978, after wrestling with the changes and consequent dismantling of the NOI, Farrakhan and his supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by W. Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad.

In 1979, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks was reestablished by Farrakhan under the name The Final Call.

In 1981, Farrakhan publicly announced the restoration of the Nation of Islam and went forward with Elijah Muhammad's teachings.

In 1988 the resurgent Nation of Islam repurchased its former flagship mosque and headquarters in Chicago and dedicated it as Mosque Maryam, the National Center for the Re-training and Re-education of the Blackman and Woman of America and the World.

In October 1990, a 2,000-member delegation from the United States traveled to Accra, Ghana, for the Nation of Islam's first International Savior’s Day convention on the African continent. Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings officially opened and closed the five-day convention.

In December 1997, the Nation of Islam sponsored a world tour referred to as the World Friendship Tour III. A delegation of Muslim and Christian clergy from America, led by Minister Louis Farrakhan, visited the Caribbean and almost 40 countries as well, including Canada, Mali, South Africa, South Korea, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Russia, Arabia, Libya, Cuba, Egypt, and the Philippines. Using the themes of the Million Man March held two years earlier, Farrakhan declared the mission of the tour to “spread the message of atonement, reconciliation, and responsibility.”