Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 by Edward E. Curtis IV (review)

164 Michigan Historical Review operations. Additionally, they reveal men who were proud of their accomphshments, who were grateful to have survived, and who treasured the camaraderie born through sharing difficult circumstances. The Midwest Goes toWar presents a straightforward narrative of the 32nd Division in action. Although the book is not the definitive treatment of an American division in combat, it provides a useful starting point for those interested in understanding how the United States fought the Great War. Richard F. Kehrberg Ames, IA Edward E. Curtis IV. Black Muslim Religion in theNation of Islam, 1960 1975. Chapel Hill: University of North Carohna Press, 2006. Pp. 256. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Cloth, $49.95; paper, $19.95. Edward E. Curtis IV provides us with a fresh, new perspective on the Nation of Islam (NOI) by adopting a rehgious-studies approach that focuses specifically on rehgious ritual, ethics, doctrine, and narrative. I must admit, however, that my first thought was: Not another book on the NOI! I had reason for concern since about ten or more books (by university presses) have dealt with one or another of the following aspects of the NOI in the past fifteen years: Malcolm X, Ehjah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, the NOI's relationship to Christianity, the NOI as amillenarian movement, and the role of black women in the NOI. There are several distinctive features of Curtis's book. First, he emphasizes that the NOI is both rehgious and Islamic, thereby challenging earher studies of the movement that argued that the group was a political organization masquerading as religion. Insisting on the Islamic nature of the NOI no doubt will cause consternation among Mushms and interpreters who have variously argued that the NOI is heretical, racist, and idiosyncratic. Curtis supports his argument about the Islamic nature of the NOI by showing that it combined various elements of Afro-Eurasian Islamic traditions, especially Sunni doctrines, with African American rehgious traditions to create a distinctive form of Islamic practice. Second, Curtis describes the meaning of the NOI's rituals and behefs to ordinary members. Although Ehjah Muhammad and his leadership are discussed, Malcolm X and other prominent leaders do not Book Reviews 165 take center stage in this book. The author uses awide array of sources: besides his critical use ofMuhammad Speaks, the weekly newspaper of the movement, he draws upon mainstream and black newspapers, African American memoirs, contemporaneous ethnographic accounts, and oral histories. One of Curtis's hopes is to invite "all those not part of the NOI to listen more carefully and compassionately" (p. 186) to the voices of everyday members. Third, the author demonstrates polysemy or the multiple meanings of texts, rituals, and practices to ordinary behevers. Curtis seeks to show that the NOI provided space and agency for its regular members by demonstrating that they were not mindless automatons, though the NOI demanded total commitment. So, for example, he emphasizes dissonant voices in Muhammad Speaks that did not ahgn with the official teachings of Muhammad. There is also a good discussion of the selective appropriation by many NOI members of elements of black culture condemned by Muhammad (e.g., jazz). Although Curtis does a very good job in general, more discussion is needed on the environment of the Midwest and Chicago, particularly in shaping the rehgious practices of NOI members. No adequate treatment is provided of how this new urban environment helped radically reformulate the worldview of these mosdy southern rural migrants. Nor is sufficient attention paid to the predominandy male membership of the movement, although Curtis does discuss gender and the NOI's rituals relating to constructing a "black Mushm body" through its prohibitions against certain kinds of food and sexual activities for black behevers. I cannot see how one can neglect the NOI's distinctive male majority in light of the overwhelming dominance of women in most other rehgious organizations in the United States. Finally, one of the more striking aspects of the identity of NOI members is their anti-Christian animus, constantly decrying the otherworldhness of Christianity, as if to indicate how deeply some blacks had imbibed the longstanding critiques of black Christianity by black critics, rehgious and nonrehgious ahke. Curtis does not...