Ali, Noble Drew (1886–1929)

NOBLE DREW ALI (born Timothy Drew), founder of the Moorish American Science Temple, was born in North Carolina. During the first decade of the 20th century, Ali migrated to Newark, New Jersey, where he preached the principles of a new black nationalism in homes and on the streets. Ali, a contemporary of Marcus Garvey, did not call for emigration to Africa by black Americans. Instead, he urged African Americans to become knowledgeable about their African heritage and to become Muslims to overcome racial oppression in the early 20th-century United States.

According to the teachings of the Moorish Science Temple, Drew, before changing his name, embarked on a pilgrimage to North Africa where he was given a mission by the King of Morocco to bring the teaching ...