Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. (born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam

Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...

 (NOI). He served as the minister of major mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 and Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad

Elijah Muhammad was an African American religious leader, and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975...

, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. After Warith Deen Muhammad

Warith Deen Muhammad

Warith Deen Mohammed also known as W. Deen Mohammed or Imam W. Deen Muhammad, was a progressive African American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revivalist and Islamic thinker who disbanded the original Nation of Islam in 1976 and transformed it into an orthodox mainstream Islamic...

 disbanded the NOI and started the orthodox Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic group American Society of Muslims

American Society of Muslims

The American Society of Muslims was a predominantly African-American association of Muslims which was the direct descendent of the original Nation of Islam. It was created by Warith Deen Mohammed after he assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad. Imam W...

, Farrakhan started rebuilding the NOI.