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Perhaps because of the turbulent and occasionally violent history of his and other black Muslim sects, both Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam are secretive, verging on paranoid. When correspondent Sylvester Monroe arrived at Farrakhan's Chicago mansion last week, aides searched Monroe as he came in, again when he returned from a brief trip to his car and once more as he entered a Nation of Islam school -- even though he had been accompanied from the moment he left Farrakhan's home by the same aide who had searched him before. Simply to attend a service at the Nation of Islam Temple No. 7 in New York City, reporter Sharon Epperson was frisked and her pens were examined to see whether they concealed knives. Nation of Islam women also checked her lipstick, compact and wallet. Questions about such basics as the group's size -- estimated at 30,000 to 200,000 members -- and budget are routinely deflected, as are questions about the family life and background of Farrakhan and his aides.
He is so protected that it is hard to be sure, but he seems scrupulous about following dictates of conventional Islam -- no pork, no alcohol -- plus his sect's own rule of only one meal a day, an extension of the daytime fasting during conventional Islam's month of Ramadan. He speaks fluent Arabic, as he demonstrated by performing an Islamic prayer call in Syria while accompanying Jackson on a mission to secure the release of downed U.S. airman Robert Goodman in 1984. His mansion mingles massive concrete panels with delicate stained glass, marble floors, crystal chandeliers and a fountain between the living and dining rooms. But he shares it with several aides as well as his wife of 36 years, Khadijah (formerly Betsy), and some of their nine children.
The sect has mosques or temples in 120 cities. All ministers are appointed by Farrakhan. Male recruits earn their way up in the Fruit of Islam, where they are given military-style stripes and ranks but do not carry weapons. In contrast to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Christian invocation to turn the other cheek, however, Nation of Islam leaders favor vigorous self-defense.
In addition to "manhood training" classes to learn the history of the black man, the code of discipline of the Nation of Islam and rules about how to behave and dress (coat and bow tie at virtually all times), men must prove themselves by selling the sect's newspaper, the Final Call, on street corners. Their sales totals directly affect their standing. In some cities, recruits still sell the group's trademark bean pies.
Fruit of Islam members often appear mild-mannered, yet they simmer with antiwhite rage. Sharod Baker, a Columbia sophomore involved with the Nation since he was 14, is a diligent student and former volunteer tutor. His mother remembers his adolescent anger when he first joined the sect, but she believes he outgrew it. Friends remark on how he differs from the hostile image of the Fruit of Islam. But when his mother and friends are not around, Baker admits his fury at whites is unrelenting. "I don't think there's anything wrong with saying I hate them. They have caused me harm over and over, and I wish they were dead." Farrakhan's preaching, Baker says, reinforces his resentments. "His point is to make you angry so maybe you'll be motivated to change things."