ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the growth and vision of Elijah Muhammad’s separate school system, the University of Islam (UofI) schools. The history of Islamic schools in North America ought to begin with the Nation of Islam’s (NOI). Historical research often begins with a particular event and then traces backward to causing events. With the exception of a handful of articles and theses on the historical growth of either the UofI schools or the Clara Muhammad schools, few scholars have deeply explored the purpose of these schools, and even fewer have considered them in relation to each other or to the larger trajectory of Islamic schools in general. The history of Islamic schools in North America is most commonly traced back to the 1970s, when the first major wave of immigrant Muslims arrived. Few immigrant Muslim scholars recognize the NOI and its schools as part of the narrative.
