Fruit of Islam

The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is the security and disciplinary wing of the Nation of Islam (NOI).^[1] It has also been described as its paramilitary wing.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The Fruit of Islam wear distinctive blue, brown, or white uniforms and caps and have units at all NOI temples. Louis Farrakhan, as head of the Nation of Islam, is commander-in-chief of the Fruit of Islam, and his son, Mustapha Farrakhan Sr., is second in command as the Supreme Captain. The women's counterpart to the Fruit of Islam is Muslim Girls Training (MGT).

The Fruit of Islam draws its membership from male members in Nation of Islam mosques. All men registered in the Nation of Islam as members are by default a part of the FOI. All Nation of Islam mosques have a branch of the FOI headed by a local captain who is appointed by the local minister. While NOI does not release membership figures, estimates made in 2007 for total membership in the NOI range from 30,000 to 50,000.^[5]

^ ^a ^b Lincoln, Charles Eric (1994). The Black Muslims in America (Third ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-0-8028-0703-8. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
^ Callahan, Sharon Henderson (2013). Religious Leadership. SAGE. p. 636. ISBN 978-1-4129-9908-3. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
^ Jones-Brown, Delores D.; Frazier, Beverly D.; Brooks, Marvie (2014). African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-313-35717-6. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
^ Jones-Brown, Delores D.; Frazier, Beverly D.; Brooks, Marvie (2014). African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-313-35717-6. Retrieved 23 July 2020. From the start, the NOI was tightly organized, a fact most clearly seen in its creation of the elite "Fruit of Islam," a group envisioned by Fard as a paramilitary wing to defend the NOI against police attacks.
^ Lawrence A. Mamiya, Article on Louis Farrakhan in Encyclopædia Britannica 2007: also quotes at the high end of 50,000 in the NY Times on February 26, 2007

[Lincoln-1] Lincoln, Charles Eric (1994). The Black Muslims in America (Third ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-0-8028-0703-8. Retrieved 22 December 2022.

[2] Callahan, Sharon Henderson (2013). Religious Leadership. SAGE. p. 636. ISBN 978-1-4129-9908-3. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

[3] Jones-Brown, Delores D.; Frazier, Beverly D.; Brooks, Marvie (2014). African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-313-35717-6. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

[4] Jones-Brown, Delores D.; Frazier, Beverly D.; Brooks, Marvie (2014). African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-313-35717-6. Retrieved 23 July 2020. From the start, the NOI was tightly organized, a fact most clearly seen in its creation of the elite "Fruit of Islam," a group envisioned by Fard as a paramilitary wing to defend the NOI against police attacks.

[5] Lawrence A. Mamiya, Article on Louis Farrakhan in Encyclopædia Britannica 2007: also quotes at the high end of 50,000 in the NY Times on February 26, 2007

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