Death of a Nation

"Christians and Muslims, we have to break down the artificial divisions that divide us and come together as a family."

Normally they're a presence at this intersection in West Las Vegas—Lake Mead and Martin Luther King. Afternoons and weekends, you'll see them, in groups of two to five, tightroping along the median and waiting for the traffic light to turn red. When it does, these men, dressed in bow ties and natty suits, go to work. They might try to sell you some incense, or a "world famous bean pie"—made from navy beans—or a copy of the Final Call, the Nation of Islam's oracle, which usually bears the smiling visage of its controversial figurehead, Louis Farrakhan. If you're not interested, they'll nod and bid you good tidings, "God bless."

But I don't see them here today. Nor at any of the intersections where they usually peddle their wares and, if you look amenable to it, their black-man-is-god strain of Islam. No one's one at the local headquarters, Muhammad Mosque #75, on D Street. Calls go to an answering machine inviting the community to Sunday prayer. Capt. Elijah, a high-ranking member who reports to the local leader, Minister Duke Muhammad, promises to set up a meeting that never happens.

Meantime, on February 19, in Detroit, months after prostate cancer forced him to cede leadership of the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan gave what was billed as his final speech. Less controversial than his former self, the 73-year-old violin-playing firebrand was still cantankerous: "What should they do about a man [President Bush] lying to the American people, deceiving the members of Congress, prosecuting an unjust war? Is that not only reason to impeach him, but to set down his whole administration?"

But this Farrakhan—nearly 12 years removed from organizing 1995's successful Million Man March—was also mindful of his mortality: "My time is up. The final call can't last forever."

Nor, it seems, can the Nation.

With more blacks converting to traditional Islam, increased collaboration between the Nation and orthodox Muslims, Farrakhan taking a back seat and no charismatic leader to take his place, some wonder if the Detroit speech wasn't a curtain call on 76 years of black separatism packaged as religion. (Ishmael Muhammad, the youngest of Elijah Muhammad's 21 children, is seen as successor material.) Another quandary: a half-century after Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali infused the group with mass notoriety and appeal (they magnetized legions to the Nation before converting to orthodox Islam), and in a world defined by religious rifts, ethnic and cultural strife, isn't the Nation's separatist push trivial, archaic?

Today, the group is in uncharted territory. Unlike the national NAACP, which has survived a musical-chairs style of leadership—president Bruce Gordon resigned over the weekend, citing differences with the board—the Nation has been defined by its leaders. Thus the question.

Good luck getting answers about its future from the group. No word from the Chicago headquarters. No word from local Mosque #75. Years ago, Benjamin Chavis Muhammad (who converted to the Nation of Islam after being pushed from leading the national NAACP) told me the group would endure because it stood on sound principles. Now a hip-hop activist, he's since dropped the Muhammad.

The members of the Masjid As-Sabur mosque on H Street and Morgan haven't logged the frequent walking miles of Nation members, but they're getting close. For months now, Fateen Seifullah, the imam, or spiritual leader, and others have walked through gang-infested neighborhoods, showing positive images of black men.

The mosque has become a safe haven from the gangs, drug dealers and prostitutes. Some young men study in an airy room slated to become a full-fledged learning center. Seifullah wears the look of a proud father. In his office are tomes of Islam.

"There are definitely efforts to move the Nation to the mainstream. They're fasting during Ramadan, when it used to be only in December," Seifullah says. "This community came from the Nation in the '70s, so we've had good relationships for a long time. Some of our members have gone over there, and some of theirs have come over here."

Now that the world's eye is trained on Islam—the results of 9/11—Seifullah says Muslims must ignore factionalism and align under one Islam. Leaders recognize the need for unity, he says, but some followers have been slow to respond. What's unequivocal, he says, is that the days for race-baiting are over. An estimated 40 percent of American's 6 million Muslims are black. "We've evolved as a people. We don't need to be spoon-fed other doctrines."

Over on Lake Mead and MLK, their favored befriending/sales grounds, still no sign of bow ties. Doors are locked at the D Street headquarters. Though they were out of sight, I'm sure they'll remain a community presence.