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. Deen Mohammed changed the name of the Nation of Islam to the "World community of Islam in the West" in 1976, and then to the "American Muslim Mission" in 1981 and then to the "American Society of Muslims".

The group largely accepted beliefs and practices based on mainstream Sunni Islam, abandoning many of the distinctive claims of the founders of the Nation of Islam. W.D. Mohammed retired as the leader of the association in 2003, and established a charity called The Mosque Cares.

After the 1975 death of Elijah Muhammad, his son Warith Deen Mohammed took over leadership of the Nation of Islam. He quickly rejected many of his father's views, including black separatism and belief in the divinity of Wallace Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. He was "determined to bring it into conformity with mainstream Islam". In 1976 he changed the name of the organization to World Community of Islam in the West. In 1981 it changed again to American Muslim Mission, a name that was retained until 1985. Finally it settled on the American Society of Muslims.

In 1977, Louis Farrakhan resigned from Warith Deen's reformed organization, and with a number of supporters decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad. Over time Minister Farrakhan regained many of the Nation of Islam's original National properties including the flagship National Headquarters Mosque #2 (Mosque Maryam) in Chicago, IL.

On September 10, 1978 in an address in Atlanta, Georgia, Warith Deen Mohammed resigned from his position as Chief Imam of the World Community of Al-Islam in the West and appointed a Consultative Body of Imams (A'immah) to oversee the activities of the Community. Upon his resignation W. D. Mohammed pledged to serve as an ambassador at large for the community. This was his first step in separating his ministry from the narrow confines of the Nation of Islam/World Community of Islam. The original Council of Imams, according to Imam Muhammad, would consist of the 6 Imams over the Regions and it would have an accountant as a financial adviser, an attorney as a legal adviser and one of the headmasters over the schools to advise on education matters. The council would have at least two Imams affiliated with his leadership who were from outside of America who were over Islamic Studies departments. Also, extra support and protection for the council would come from every Imam in good standing. Each would have the power to criticize.

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