Moorish Science Temple of America

religious sect founded by Timothy Drew in Newark, N.J., in 1913. He was believed by his followers to have been ordained Prophet Noble Drew Ali by Allah. A Holy Koran, the sacred text, was created out of his study of Oriental philosophy. The prophet's central teaching was that all blacks were of Moorish, and thus Muslim, origins. He advocated a “return” to Islam as the only means of redemption from racial oppression. Rigorous obedience to all laws was required, and certain foods were forbidden. Many of the sect's formal practices were derived from Muslim observance, and, in fact, the group was a forerunner of the Black Muslim movement (see Islam, Nation of). Drew died mysteriously during a period of internal strife, and the cult lost its impetus.