Noble Drew Ali

Drew Ali
Drew Ali in 1925
Born	Timothy Drew (1886-01-08)January 8, 1886 North Carolina, United States
Died	July 20, 1929(1929-07-20) (aged 43) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Cause of death	tuberculosis and bronchopneumonia[1]
Resting place	Burr Oak Cemetery
Spouse	Pearl Drew Ali & Mary Drew Ali

Noble Drew Ali, possibly born as Timothy Drew or Thomas Drew, (January 8, 1886 – July 20, 1929), was an American religious leader who, in the early 20th century, founded a series of organizations that he ultimately placed under the umbrella title, the Moorish Science Temple of America; including the Canaanite Temple (1913–1916), the Moorish Divine and National Movement (1916–1925), the Moorish Temple of Science (1925–1928), and the Moorish Science Temple of America (1928 onwards). ^[2][3] Considered a prophet by his followers,^[2] he founded the Canaanite Temple in 1913 while living in Newark, New Jersey. From there, he made his way westward and eventually settled in Chicago between 1922 and 1925. Upon reaching Chicago, his movement would gain thousands of converts under his instruction.^[3] Upon the murder of a rival Moorish Science Temple leader, Drew Ali was arrested (but never charged) and sent to jail; he died on July 20th, 1929, shortly after being released.

It is traditionally held that Drew Ali founded the first officially state-registered Islamic organization in U.S. history, and was the first American-born Islamic religious leader.^[4] Although the Moorish Science Temple of America has largely declined, Drew Ali's legacy is significant because of its influence on the founding and ideology of the Nation of Islam. From a Sunni Islamic perspective, Drew Ali's Islamic teaching inroads are generally held as no more than a romanticized history. This is because there is no evidence that he taught the Sunni-fiqh 'tarbiyah' (aka Islamic-pedagogical) prerequisite, salat (prayer), sawm (fasting), or even directly quoted the Quran of Muhammad, in any of his literature. In fact there was a negative ruling in Sunni Islamic law given by a recognized authority (fatwa) against assertions that Drew Ali taught Islam by Sunni-tarbiyah standards.^[5]