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American Black Religious Leader ELIJAH MUHAMMAD Autograph Signed Check

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
American Black Religious Leader ELIJAH MUHAMMAD Autograph Signed Check
Autographs
"Elijah Muhammad" American Black Religious Leader
ELIJAH MUHAMMAD [Robert Poole]. American religious leader, son of a Georgia sharecropper and former Slave.
July 31, 1971-Dated, Partially-Printed Document Signed, "Elijah Muhammad" being a Check, 7.25” x 3”, Chicago, Illinois, Choice Extremely Fine. Check drawn on "The Honorable Elijah Muhammed's Poor Fund" his account with the Amalgamated Trust & Savings Bank of Chicago, Illinois. This vivid yellow paper with black printed Check is made payable to "Illinois / Bell Telephone Company" boldly signed "Elijah Muhammad" and accompanied by an 8.25” x 5.25” photo print of Muhammad. (2 items)
The son of a Georgia sharecropper and former Slave, Robert Poole migrated north in 1923 with his family to work on the auto assembly lines of Detroit. There, in 1930, he became the disciple of Wali D. Fard, the founder of the Nation of Islam (later known as the Black Muslim movement), who established a mosque in Detroit in 1931.

In 1934, Elijah Muhammad (renamed to indicate his position of leadership in the movement), established Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 2 in Chicago. Fard disappeared in 1934; Elijah was named the Messenger of Allah and took over the movement, claiming to be Allah's divinely chosen messenger. He advocated black nationalism, separatism, self-respect, and self-reliance.

He continued to preach his stern, puritanical version of Islam for American blacks into the 1970s, by which time the movement had its own schools, businesses, mosques, and weekly newpaper, "Muhammad Speaks". The movement gained considerable publicity when heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay converted in 1964, taking the name of Muhammad Ali. Elijah Muhammad's principal disciple was Malcolm X, who broke away in 1965 to form a broader movement.