Religious leaders and self proclaimed (or those proclaimed by their followers) 'chosen ones' are always interesting ...
.... even if they usually are one shot wonders, and soon forgotten by history.
However some have back story mysteries, that make them especially read worthy. They don't have to be religious leaders to be the chosen one ... Adolf Hitler in Germany, the Kim il's in North Korea, or Chairman Mao in China for example, all believed themselves, or were proclaimed by their followers to be the great helmsman, the leader or even as demi-gods.
Lafyette Ronald Hubbard, founder of Scientology is one such character, whose life makes 'interesting' reading ...
... but his followers propensity for litigation and other actions, etc, and the sheer volume of websites covering his unusual tale, makes him of no particular interest for me to post on, or write about.
Another such character is Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of Mormonism .... again, a lot has been written about his life, and how he came to found his religion after he received some golden plates from the angel Moroni, near New York. So really not that interesting for a post ....
But then we come to Mr Wallace D Fard. His past is something of a mystery. He had claimed to one person that "My name is W. D. Fard and I came from the Holy City of Mecca". However he also answered to the names Mr. Wali Farrad, W. D. Fard, Professor Ford, Mr. Farrad Mohammed, Mr. F. Mohammed Ali, W F Muhammed (Wallace Fard Muhammad), amongst many other nom de plumes.
In 1957, the FBI tried to track down his background while investigating the Nation Of Islam and its then leader Elijah Muhammad, and initially tentatively identified him as being a Caucasian New Zealander, the son of Wallie Ford and his common law wife Hazel Barton-Ford ... but when no immigration records matched any of his many aliases, that line of search was abandoned in 1958.
In 1959 the FBI suggested, in a story published by the Chicago New Crusader newspaper, that Fard was a "Turkish-born Nazi agent who worked for Hitler in World War II." That Fard was in fact a "Muslim from Turkey who had come to the United States in the early 1900s. He had met Elijah Muhammad (the second leader of the Nation Of Islam from 1934 to 1975) while in prison … where the two men plotted a confidence game, in which followers were charged a fee to become Muslims".
But in August 1963, an FBI memorandum stated that they had not been able to verify his birth date or birthplace, and that "he was last heard from in 1934." However they always believed that there was strong circumstantial evidence that an ex convict named Wallie D Ford, had later changed his identity, to become the Nation of Islam founder Wallace D. Fard. The Wallie D Ford they had identified as Wallace D Fard, had a criminal record for assault with a deadly weapon, and violation of the poison act, and had been incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison on June 12, 1926.
His prison records indicated that he was born in Portland, Oregon on February 25, 1891, the white son of Zared and Beatrice Ford, who were both born in Hawaii. The evidence from the fingerprints and photographs taken from San Quentin Prison of Wallie D Ford, were matched with those of Wallace D Fard during the 1930's in Detroit.
However they were never able to prove this conclusively, and so his back ground remains something of a mystery. One that was still subject to debate by the authorities later on .... a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI, showed that in 1978, the matter had not been completely dropped and that Fard, apparently using the name Fred Dodd, had married in May 1914. He then abandoned his family in 1916, and moved to Los Angeles, using the name Wallie Dodd Ford where he was questioned by the draft board, stating that that he was born in Shinka, in Afghanistan in 1893.
By 1920 W. D. Ford was still allegedly Wallie D. Ford, and was now married to another woman named Hazel (whether he ever divorced his first wife Pearl, was not known), but his place of birth was now stated as New Zealand. Not apparently satisfied for long, it appears that he 'remarried' again in 1924 to one Carmen Trevino in Orange County, California. Once again its not clear that he ever divorced his earlier wives.
Between 1930 to 1934, a Wallace D Fard began by selling silks, door to door in Detroit, telling his Black American customers that the silks came from their 'home country' (Africa). These were people who had recently migrated from the segregated deep south of the USA, and therefore were not a highly educated audience.
He started to invite himself back to his customers houses to discuss his beliefs, at first using the Christian Bible, but soon he started denouncing the whites (despite his own apparently Caucasian descent and appearance), and started to promote the Quran as the only authority on religion. His following grew quickly, and they were eventually renamed as the Nation of Islam (NOI). However this growth coincided with clashes with the police over schooling for their children (school age children were sent to their University of Islam, rather than in the public schools), and even allegations of human sacrifice.
By 1934 his relationship with the movement he had founded was strange, in that the Temple People (a sect within the nation of Islam), had apparently identified the prophet, Mr. W. D. Fard, with the god Allah. This left room for a new prophet, a role into which the former Minister of Islam, Elijah Mohammed naturally fell into. Fard was now described in the NOI theology as "God in Person", the "Messiah", and the "Mahdi" (yet another Mahdi), and was recognised by Elijah Muhammad as being Allah (God).
At this point the final mystery emerged .... W F Muhammed seems to have simply disappeared. He almost never appeared to his followers during the final months of his residence in Detroit, and then not at all. Some reports state that the allegation that he encouraged one of his followers to engage in a ritual of human sacrifice, forced him to adopt yet another alias (the FBI think he had at least 58 aliases), and flee.
What happened to him next is not verified, but one chronicler, Karl Evanzz of the Washington Post, reported that Wallace D. Fard died in Chicago in 1971 at the age of 78.
There is a certain synchronicity between the lives of some of these religious movement founders .... but for some reason, these are never pointed out at the time of their rise to prominence. Perhaps all religions were actually founded in such a manner, but we have lost this in the mists of time.
 |
| Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah - One In A Line Of Proclaimed Mahdi's |
.... even if they usually are one shot wonders, and soon forgotten by history.
However some have back story mysteries, that make them especially read worthy. They don't have to be religious leaders to be the chosen one ... Adolf Hitler in Germany, the Kim il's in North Korea, or Chairman Mao in China for example, all believed themselves, or were proclaimed by their followers to be the great helmsman, the leader or even as demi-gods.
Lafyette Ronald Hubbard, founder of Scientology is one such character, whose life makes 'interesting' reading ...
 |
| The Previous Incarnations Of Some Movement Founders Can Be Colourful |
... but his followers propensity for litigation and other actions, etc, and the sheer volume of websites covering his unusual tale, makes him of no particular interest for me to post on, or write about.
 |
| Joseph Smith Jr And His Meeting With The Angel Moroni |
Another such character is Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of Mormonism .... again, a lot has been written about his life, and how he came to found his religion after he received some golden plates from the angel Moroni, near New York. So really not that interesting for a post ....
But then we come to Mr Wallace D Fard. His past is something of a mystery. He had claimed to one person that "My name is W. D. Fard and I came from the Holy City of Mecca". However he also answered to the names Mr. Wali Farrad, W. D. Fard, Professor Ford, Mr. Farrad Mohammed, Mr. F. Mohammed Ali, W F Muhammed (Wallace Fard Muhammad), amongst many other nom de plumes.
In 1957, the FBI tried to track down his background while investigating the Nation Of Islam and its then leader Elijah Muhammad, and initially tentatively identified him as being a Caucasian New Zealander, the son of Wallie Ford and his common law wife Hazel Barton-Ford ... but when no immigration records matched any of his many aliases, that line of search was abandoned in 1958.
In 1959 the FBI suggested, in a story published by the Chicago New Crusader newspaper, that Fard was a "Turkish-born Nazi agent who worked for Hitler in World War II." That Fard was in fact a "Muslim from Turkey who had come to the United States in the early 1900s. He had met Elijah Muhammad (the second leader of the Nation Of Islam from 1934 to 1975) while in prison … where the two men plotted a confidence game, in which followers were charged a fee to become Muslims".
But in August 1963, an FBI memorandum stated that they had not been able to verify his birth date or birthplace, and that "he was last heard from in 1934." However they always believed that there was strong circumstantial evidence that an ex convict named Wallie D Ford, had later changed his identity, to become the Nation of Islam founder Wallace D. Fard. The Wallie D Ford they had identified as Wallace D Fard, had a criminal record for assault with a deadly weapon, and violation of the poison act, and had been incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison on June 12, 1926.
His prison records indicated that he was born in Portland, Oregon on February 25, 1891, the white son of Zared and Beatrice Ford, who were both born in Hawaii. The evidence from the fingerprints and photographs taken from San Quentin Prison of Wallie D Ford, were matched with those of Wallace D Fard during the 1930's in Detroit.
However they were never able to prove this conclusively, and so his back ground remains something of a mystery. One that was still subject to debate by the authorities later on .... a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI, showed that in 1978, the matter had not been completely dropped and that Fard, apparently using the name Fred Dodd, had married in May 1914. He then abandoned his family in 1916, and moved to Los Angeles, using the name Wallie Dodd Ford where he was questioned by the draft board, stating that that he was born in Shinka, in Afghanistan in 1893.
By 1920 W. D. Ford was still allegedly Wallie D. Ford, and was now married to another woman named Hazel (whether he ever divorced his first wife Pearl, was not known), but his place of birth was now stated as New Zealand. Not apparently satisfied for long, it appears that he 'remarried' again in 1924 to one Carmen Trevino in Orange County, California. Once again its not clear that he ever divorced his earlier wives.
 |
| W F Muhammed - Started As Wallace D Fard ... Maybe. |
Between 1930 to 1934, a Wallace D Fard began by selling silks, door to door in Detroit, telling his Black American customers that the silks came from their 'home country' (Africa). These were people who had recently migrated from the segregated deep south of the USA, and therefore were not a highly educated audience.
He started to invite himself back to his customers houses to discuss his beliefs, at first using the Christian Bible, but soon he started denouncing the whites (despite his own apparently Caucasian descent and appearance), and started to promote the Quran as the only authority on religion. His following grew quickly, and they were eventually renamed as the Nation of Islam (NOI). However this growth coincided with clashes with the police over schooling for their children (school age children were sent to their University of Islam, rather than in the public schools), and even allegations of human sacrifice.
By 1934 his relationship with the movement he had founded was strange, in that the Temple People (a sect within the nation of Islam), had apparently identified the prophet, Mr. W. D. Fard, with the god Allah. This left room for a new prophet, a role into which the former Minister of Islam, Elijah Mohammed naturally fell into. Fard was now described in the NOI theology as "God in Person", the "Messiah", and the "Mahdi" (yet another Mahdi), and was recognised by Elijah Muhammad as being Allah (God).
At this point the final mystery emerged .... W F Muhammed seems to have simply disappeared. He almost never appeared to his followers during the final months of his residence in Detroit, and then not at all. Some reports state that the allegation that he encouraged one of his followers to engage in a ritual of human sacrifice, forced him to adopt yet another alias (the FBI think he had at least 58 aliases), and flee.
What happened to him next is not verified, but one chronicler, Karl Evanzz of the Washington Post, reported that Wallace D. Fard died in Chicago in 1971 at the age of 78.
There is a certain synchronicity between the lives of some of these religious movement founders .... but for some reason, these are never pointed out at the time of their rise to prominence. Perhaps all religions were actually founded in such a manner, but we have lost this in the mists of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.