The Nation of Gods and Earths

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The Nation of Gods and Earths, commonly known as the Five Percent Nation or the Five Percenters, is an African American social and religious movement. It was founded in Harlem in the late 1960s by Clarence 13X, who came to be known as Allah. The Five Percent Nation angered religious and political leaders, who viewed the group as a radical offshoot of the Nation of Islam, already seen by traditional Islam as heretical. This came with the Nation of Gods and Earths having stated their predicted coming, and their goal of seeking freedom, justice, and equality from economic, political, social, and religious injustices in the United States and the world over.

Contents

1 History
2 Teachings

2.1 Universal Flag

3 Philosophies of the Nation of Gods and Earths versus mainstream religion
4 See also
5 External links

History

The group was founded by Clarence 13X (Clarence Smith), who was deified by Five Percenters as Allah, and was also called the Father or Father Allah. He was given these terms because he originated the teachings that form the foundations of the Five-Percenter movement. Clarence 13X, a Korean War veteran and martial arts expert, was a member of the Nation of Islam, and attended NOI Temple #7 in Harlem, New York, where Malcolm X was a minister from 1960 to 1963. Following his questioning about the unique divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad being in opposition to the core teachings of the NOI, which taught of the divinity of all Black men, Clarence was disciplined by the group, and he was eventually excommunicated sometime in 1963. This led Clarence 13X to shed his Muslim name and beliefs, and to teach his own interpretation of NOI beliefs. He found success in late 1964, with the disenfranchised youth on the streets of Harlem, and won many young converts to his movement. The Five Percenters established a headquarters in Harlem, New York, known as the Allah School in Mecca, in 1967, with the help of the Republican Mayor of New York John Lindsay and his assistant, Barry Gottehrer.

The schism between Clarence and the NOI led to numerous non-violent and violent confrontations. The murder of Clarence 13X in 1969 remains unsolved, but has been blamed on a number of different culprits ranging from the FBI and the New York Police Department to the Nation of Islam. The murder was a blow to the movement, but according to the direct orders of Allah before his departure, some of Clarence’s earliest disciples, a group of nine men who were called the First Nine Born, carried on the teachings, and an acting leader role was assumed by Allah's good friend, Justice. In the years to follow, the Five Percenters gained a varied reputation, from being called an unruly group of Black teenage thugs—even categorized as a gang by some—to being known as outstanding members of and contributors to their communities.

From the late 1980s until today, many Five Percenters are found among the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest cities of New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, especially among the hip-hop scene. Led by The Poor Righteous Teachers , hip-hop artists such as Rakim, the members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Brand Nubian, Busta Rhymes, Nas, AZ, and many others had success spreading the theology of the Five Percenters, in part using the coded language of Supreme Mathematics, which represent universal law and order, and the Supreme Alphabet, which represent universal principles of life, ostensibly to forge solidarity with the inner-city youth through a common language. The main theme of the Five-Percenter doctrine that can be heard on hip-hop records is the teaching that the Original Blackman is God, the Original Blackwoman is the planet Earth, and through the inner esoteric powers of the Gods and Earths, the youth can transform and possess their true potential, which seems to overthrow the overbearing oligarchy by becoming just rulers of themselves. Many terms that originated as Five-Percenter jargon have been adopted into the hip-hop lexicon as well.

In recent years apologists and members of the Nation of Gods and Earths have claimed the organization to be a social movement, but it should be noted the great majority of scholarly articles and books on the subject classify the group as a religious movement. The Nation of Gods and Earths’ teachings advocate that the Blackman, which includes all non-white men, is God. The Five Percenters as a whole do not consider themselves to be racists. The official stance of the Five Percenters is that they are neither “anti-white nor pro-Black,” but are instead “pro-righteous and anti-devilish,” positioning a person's works over their skin color.

Many wonder how this type of teaching could have come about during the Civil Rights movement. The Five-Percent ideology must be understood in the context of opposing the ideology of white supremacy itself. Their teachings are intended to uplift the disenfranchised, regardless of their skin color.

Five Percenters also teach that Black people specifically, and the entire world population more generally, can be divided into three groups:

The 85%, who are the humble masses, mentally deaf, dumb, and blind to the truth about themselves and the world in which they live.
The 10%, who understand much of the truth but use it to their advantage to keep the 85% under their control through religion, politics, entertainment, economics, and other methods.
The 5%, who are the enlightened divine beings, having repossessed knowledge of the truth regarding the foundations of life and of oneself, and seek to liberate the 85% through education.

Note: These figures, according to most Five Percenters, are not meant to be exact but are instead meant to represent the public, the religious and political rulers, and the few truly enlightened people on earth, repectively. The numbers used point out common traits to identify the members of these three groups and can be fully understood using the language of Supreme Mathematics.

Teachings

Although some apologists for the NGE claim that doctrinally, the difference between the Nation of Islam and the Nation of Gods and Earths is more a matter of degree than principle, it is important to note that the original schism between the NOI and the NGE was Clarence 13X’s refusal to accept the sole divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad. In this way, the NOI is like other mystery religions substituting Wallace Fard Muhammad as the focus of worship. The NGE does not believe in an unseen mystery god, rather they view themselves as their own God (both individually and collectively the Original Man). Every Black or non-white man is God by birthright. Five Percenters sometimes refer to themselves as scientists, implying their search for knowledge and proof, and not beliefs and theories.

The teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths are passed on through oral tradition, much like the griots of west Africa. The advancement of a Five Percenter is based on his or her memorization, recitation, comprehension, and practical application of the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet—lessons written by Clarence 13X, and also 120 Lessons (a revised version of the Supreme Wisdom lessons of the NOI written originally by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad).

The basic teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths are as follows: Black people (or as some refer to themselves as the “Asiatic” Blackman*) are the original people of the planet Earth. Black people are the fathers and mothers of civilization. The science of Supreme Mathematics is the key to understanding man's relationship to the universe. Living out the culture of Supreme Mathematics is their natural way of life. Education should be fashioned to enable Black people to be self-sufficient as a whole. Each individual should teach another individual according to one’s knowledge. The Blackman is God, the Supreme Being. Children are the link to the future and they must be nurtured, respected, loved, protected, and educated. The unified Black family is the vital building block of the nation.

The usage of the description of Asiatic is in reference that civilization originated somewhere in the area of ancient Persia/Babylon (Iran/Iraq), between the Tigris-Euphrates rivers (according to religious teachings). This area is normally considered Southwest Asia (or middle-east)geographically, however most modern day Southwest Asians do not refer to themselves as Asians or Asiatics, but as their nationality (i.e. Saudi Arabian, Turkish, Iranian, Jordanian, etc. or simply Arabs or Middle-Eastern). Although there are Arabs living in Turkey, the greater part of the Turkish population is not formed by Arabs. The Turkish population is formed by those with Balkan origin; Anatolan Turks, who compose the bulk of ethnic Turks found in Anatola; Central Asian Turks, who remain a sizeable minority segment of the population that has been moving to Turkey for centuries; and Eurasian Turks from Russia and the Caucasus such as the Tatars and Azerbaijanis who have more recent ties with Turkic people. In Five-Percenter usage, however, the word “Asiatic” is broken down into something competely different from its dictionary definition.

Universal Flag

The Nation of Gods and Earths’ Universal Flag is the group’s official trademark, which consists of a sun, moon, star, and the number 7. According to its doctrine, it represents the Original Family as the following:

7—The number held sacred in many ancient and modern traditions. It symbolizes Allah (as the Blackman). In Supreme Mathematics, the number 7 represents God. The seventh letter, G, also stands for God in the Supreme Alphabet.
Sun—Another symbol of the male, the Truth, and the Light. The points around the sun symbolize the expanding universe.
Moon—The crescent moon symbolizes wisdom and Black women.
Star—The five-pointed star symbolizes knowledge and children as the beginning of a new sun.

Philosophies of the Nation of Gods and Earths versus mainstream religion

While the Nation of Gods and Earths uses terms that are similar to those used by traditional Muslims and have a small percentage of individuals among them who refer to themselves as Muslims, the Five Percenters and traditional Muslims have very little in common. Authors have labeled the Five Percenters as an Islamic group because of their origins from within the Nation of Islam, the terms they use, and because of their practice of not eating pork. However, they do not follow the restrictive laws of the NOI nor do they follow traditional Islamic teachings based on the laws written in the Qur'an or Muhammad’s Sunnah. The Five-Percent rebuttal to this has been that they are not a religious movement, and that as God themselves, the only one they must submit to is “self.” In traditional Islam, this is considered a heretical, blasphemous concept and a violation of the most basic Islamic tenets, since it is considered a grave sin to associate any human being or object with God. The official stance of the Five Percenters is that they are not Muslims nor are they bound to any religious laws.

Furthermore, the Five Percenters, in referring to themselves as Supreme Beings, point out that most, if not all, ancient scriptures allude to the anthropomorphic qualities of the gods of different religions, and that religious teachings over time have strayed away from this concept. The Five Percenters use ancient teachings that predate monotheistic religions to verify their deity status. Another defense for not adhering to modern-day religion is their claim that the teachings of all major prophets have been distorted over time, whether by translation into new languages or by intentional tampering. This can produce bigotry and zealotry in well-meaning believers. Thus, according to the Nation of Gods and Earths, it is better to study as many different religions and cultures as possible, to find the common truths in them, rather than focusing on the differences between them. This way, one finds his or her unique and most productive path to the Knowledge of Self. Traditional Islam also forbids any consumption of drugs or alcohol, but Five Percenters do not observe such restrictions.

External links