Noble Drew Ali Biography Essay

Early Life
The early life of Noble Drew Ali is a very mysterious one. Not much information is known about his true childhood and life growing up. He is remembered as an extremely influential figure to the black community. He was believed to been born Timothy Drew on January 8, 1886 in North Carolina. Studies show that he was either the son of two former slaves who were adopted by a tribe of Cherokee, or he was the son of a Moroccan Muslim father and Cherokee mother . Apparently, his mother died when he was still a young boy, and left him to live with his abusive aunt. His aunt who beat him occasionally, threw him into a blazing furnace once, but Allah saved him from the flames and from being death. An early claim from Thomas states that his
He left the shores of the United States and begin to travel the world, all the way to Africa. Some claims state that he became a merchant seamen and was shipped out, others claim that he became a magician. Some accounts question whether he even left the States at all. While traveling, supposedly he met an Egyptian priest of a cult. This priest whom he met called Ali out to be “a Reincarnation of Jesus”. He trained him through magic. He changed his name to Noble Drew Ali and returned back to the United States to teach. He founded the Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913 in Newark, New Jersey. It was based on the belief that all African-Americans were descended from Moors of North Africa; therefore, they were Islamic by faith. Ali combined elements of Islam, Buddhism, Ancient Egypt, as well as the teachings of Confucius, and Biblical and Koranic prophets to create what became known as Moorish Science. Ali soon left the city of Newark because he was beginning to agitate people with his teachings and views on the African-American race. His loyal followers and believers followed him wherever he went. He placed congregations in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Detroit. In 1925, he settled in Chicago because he felt that it was “closer to Islam”. From his teachings and beliefs Ali created the Holy Koran, which was a 64 page scripture of his religion. Overtime, the religion continued to grow although they were constantly harassed by law