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classify NoI founder Wallace Fard Mohammad
He was the original founder of the Nation of Islam in the US, an organization that mostly consisted of Muslim convert African Americans
It still isn't certain who or what he was, as his life was shrouded in mystery, and he constantly changed his name and identities, being arrested several times and remarrying several times in the early 20th century.
The most prominent theory is that he was of Pakistani origin, but others have been proposed, including Afghan, Arab, Greek and Turkish.
On March 23, 1908, papers announced that Turkish tamale vendor Fred Walldad had received a small house on wheels.[63] On September 8, 1908, Eugene papers announced a new lunchcart that would be opening adjacent to the cart owned by Fred the Turk.[64] Four days later, press reported that Fred had been ordered to move his hot tamale cart to a new location.[65][66] By September 15, it was reported that Fred the Turk had to abandon his cart due to the order and was now operating out of the back of a cigar store.[67] On September 18, "Fred the Greek", tamale vendor, was reported to have paid a license fee and it was announced his stand would resume operation at a new location.[68]On November 22, 1915, local papers announced that Dodd planned a vacation to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, noting it was his "first vacation in six years".[89] Papers described him as "the genial Turkish lad" who planned to go travel to New Orleans, New York, and Chicago.[94] On December 19, 1915, it was reported that Fred Dodd's night lunch wagon had been purchased at an attachment sale to satisfy a judgment of $132.07 held against Fred by a resident of Billings, Montana.[95]Dodd moved to Los Angeles, using the name Wallie Dodd Ford. A World War I draft registration card for Wallie Dodd Fard[4] from 1917 indicated he was living in Los Angeles, unmarried, as a restaurant owner, and reported that he was born in Shinka, Afghanistan, on February 26, 1893. He further reported that he was a resident alien and citizen of Afghanistan. He was described as of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair. On the draft card, "Ford" is written in parentheses in a different hand. At the bottom of the card, he signed his name as "Wallie Dodd Ford".[96]As of 1920, Ford was still living in Los Angeles as 26-year-old Wallie D. Ford, with his 25-year-old wife, Hazel E. Ford. In the 1920 United States Census, his race was reported as white, his occupation as a proprietor of a restaurant, and his place of birth as New Zealand. He provided no known place of birth for his parents nor his date of immigration.[98]
A marriage certificate dated June 5, 1924, was issued to Wallie Dodd Ford and Carmen Trevino (or Trevińo) in Santa Ana, California. Ford reported that he was a cook, age 26, born in Oregon and living in Los Angeles. Trevino was a 22-year-old native of Mexico also living in Los Angeles. Both provided their race as "Spanish"; Ford claimed that his parents, "Zaradodd" and "Babbjie", were natives of Madrid, Spain.[99]Ford was arrested again on January 20, 1926, for violation of the California Woolwine Possession Act,[97] and on February 15, 1926, for violation of the State Poison Act. After this second arrest, a Spanish-language paper in Los Angeles described him as a "street politician".[100] Ford was a sentenced to six months to six years at San Quentin State Prison on June 12, 1926.[101] According to San Quentin records, Wallie D. Ford was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 25, 1891, the white son of Zared and Beatrice Ford, who were both born in Hawaii.[102] Ford was paroled from San Quentin on May 27, 1929.[103]On August 15, 1959, the FBI sent a story to the Chicago New Crusader newspaper, stating that Fard was a "Turkish-born Nazi agent who worked for Hitler in World War II". According to the FBI story, Fard was a "Muslim from Turkey who had come to the United States in the early 1900s. He had met Muhammad in prison … where the two men plotted a confidence game in which followers were charged a fee to become Muslims."[117]Karl Evanzz, in his book The Messenger, postulates that Fard was the son of a Pakistani Muslim, then known as East Indians. He bases this theory on several indications:[58]
Fard spent time at the Ahmadiyya Mosque, a movement prominent in Pakistan and used translations of the Quran from Pakistanis.
The name Fard is a common surname in Pakistan as are other names he bestowed upon his followers such as Shabazz, Ghulam, and Kallatt.
Interviews with long-time Nation figures who met him or saw original photos of him such as Ozier Muhammad, Rodnell Collins (nephew of Malcolm X) and Wilfred Little indicate that Fard has Pakistani features.
Early teachings from Fard indicated a distrust and disdain for Hinduism.
The 2017 book Chameleon: The True Story of W.D. Fard by A. K. Arian studies the origin of the Nation of Islam founder.[124] One theory postulated is that Fard was of Afghan heritage. The 2019 book Finding W.D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam investigates a variety of theories about Fard's ethnic and religious origins, writing: "The people who actually met him, and the scholars who have studied him, have suggested that he was variously an African American, an Arab from Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco or Saudi Arabia ... a Turk, an Afghan, an Indo-Pakistani ... a Greek ... In an attempt to determine the origins of W.D. Fard, most scholars have relied on his teachings as passed down, and perhaps modified, by Elijah Muhammad. Some have suggested that he was a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America or the Ahmadiyyah Movement. Others have suggested that he was a Druze or a Shiite."[125] Morrow suggests that a background of Ghulat or extremist Shia Islam best fits with what is known of Fard.
Seems like he was a slippery fellow always trying to avoid the law. Where do y'all think he was from?
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