Elijah Muhammad, son of a sharecropper, was born into poverty in Sandersville, Georgia, on October 7, 1897 (biography.com). After moving to Detroit in 1923, he met WD Fard, founder of the black separatist movement Nation of Islam (biography.com). Muhammad became Fard's successor from 1934 to 1975 and was known for his controversial preaching (biography.com). Muhammad faced many challenges throughout his life. He declared that Fard had been an incarnation of Allah and that he himself was now the messenger of Allah (biography.com). For forty-one years Muhammad spread the word of the Nation of Islam, slowly but steadily attracting new members (biography.com). Muhammad transformed the religion from a small fringe group into a large, complex organization that sparked controversy along with its new importance (biography.com). Elijah Muhammad was born Elijah Robert Poole in Sandersville, Georgia on October 7, 1897 to William and Mariah Poole (biography.com). One of thirteen children, he had only the benefit of a third-grade education before being forced to help support his large family through sharecropping (discovertheetworks.org). At an early age, Muhammad witnessed extreme prejudice and violence towards African Americans (biography.com). After the lynching of a friend in 1912, Muhammad fled his parents' home a year later (danielpipes.org). In 1917 Muhammad met Cara Evans and married her in 1919, together they had eight children between 1921 and 1939 (danielpipes.org). In 1923, seeking better employment and a more tolerant environment, Muhammad moved his family, his parents, and his siblings to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked in an automobile factory (biography.com). In 1931 Muhammad met Wallace D. Fard, a former salesman who preached a new...... middle of paper......about Islam intact, Muhammad, or simply “The Prophet,” is widely remembered for having transformed a small temple into a national movement with hundreds of thousands of devoted followers, culminating in an irrevocable effect on black culture and U.S. history (blackhistorynow.com). For forty-one years Muhammad spread the word of the Nation of Islam, slowly but steadily attracting new members (biography.com). Muhammad transformed religion from a small fringe group into a large, complex organization that sparked controversy along with its new importance (biography.com). His legacy intact within the Nation of Islam, Muhammad, or simply “The Prophet,” is widely remembered for transforming a small temple into a national movement with hundreds of thousands of devoted followers, culminating in an irrevocable effect on black culture and on U.S. history ( blackhistorynow.com).