41 Facts About Clarence 13X

Clarence 13X was born in Virginia and moved to New York City as a young man, before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War.

Clarence 13X served in the group as a security officer, martial arts instructor, and student minister before leaving for an unclear reason in 1963.

Clarence 13X enjoyed gambling, which was condemned by the NOI, and disagreed with their teachings that Wallace Fard Muhammad was a divine messenger.

Clarence 13X concluded that all black men were divine and took the name Allah to symbolize this status.

Clarence 13X rejected the belief in an invisible God, teaching that God could be found within each black man.

Clarence 13X believed that they should be submissive to men.

Clarence 13X referred to himself as "Allah", which had become his preferred name.

Clarence 13X was released from custody after a 1966 ruling by the Supreme Court placed limits on confinement without trial.

Clarence 13X has been held in high regard by Five Percenters, who celebrate his birthday as a holiday.

Clarence 13X married a woman named Dora Smith in 1950.

Clarence 13X fathered another child, Otis Jowers, with Willieen in 1951.

Clarence 13X's responsibilities included teaching martial arts and serving on the Fruit of Islam security team.

Clarence 13X believed that the NOI's teachings were contradictory because they taught that God is black, but encouraged reverence of Fard Muhammad, who was not of exclusively African descent.

Clarence 13X was assisted by his friend James Howard, with whom he developed a modified version of living mathematics, "supreme mathematics", and an accompanying doctrine about letters, the "supreme alphabet".

Clarence 13X stated that the letters of the word "Allah" stood for "arm, leg, leg, arm, head", signifying the human body.

Clarence 13X named parts of the New York area after locations in the Middle East that are significant to Islam: Harlem was referred to as Mecca, and Brooklyn as Medina.

Clarence 13X taught his followers that he was an incarnation of God, and they each were gods.

Clarence 13X's followers were thus encouraged to look within themselves in their search for God.

Clarence 13X did not enforce the NOI's strict moral rules: One way that the group appealed to potential converts was by allowing many practices condemned by the NOI, including gambling, alcohol consumption, and drug use.

Clarence 13X strictly forbade the consumption of pork, arguing that pigs were similar to animals that are not eaten in the United States, such as rats and dogs, and hence should not be consumed.

Clarence 13X instructed his followers to memorize his teachings about the significance of numbers and letters.

Clarence 13X rejected the idea that God is invisible, which he felt weakened people.

Clarence 13X encouraged his followers to learn about and respect other spiritual traditions.

Clarence 13X taught that women were not gods, as he believed that they were created by man and did not possess creative power.

Clarence 13X spoke in favor of fathers' arranging their daughters' marriages and told women to embody submission by serving their husbands as God.

Clarence 13X was brought to Harlem Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Clarence 13X later claimed that he died and returned to his body a short time later.

Clarence 13X proclaimed his innocence and announced his intent to defend himself in court.

Clarence 13X told the judge that he was Allah, and that the city would face grave judgment if he were not released.

Clarence 13X posits that the delay was due to FBI involvement and argues that 13X was a political prisoner.

In November 1965, Clarence 13X was ruled incompetent to stand trial, and committed to the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, which placed him at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Clarence 13X proselytized to fellow inmates, converting one young white man, who later became a committed follower.

Clarence 13X instructed his followers to adopt names different from those used in the NOI, to differentiate their group.

Clarence 13X was commended by the city's leadership for his efforts, and they subsequently agreed to help him publish a book of Five Percenter teachings and portions of the Quran.

Clarence 13X later described himself as "neither anti-white nor pro-black" and saw some of his white contacts with the city as allies in the advancement of his teachings.

Clarence 13X's white convert was released from state custody and joined his teacher in Harlem during the February 1969 nor'easter.

Contrary to his radical reputation, Clarence 13X endorsed some conservative positions in the late 1960s, including capital punishment, respect for the US flag, and American involvement in Vietnam.

Clarence 13X blamed the NOI for the previous attempt to kill Clarence, arguing that they were angered by his claim to be Allah and thus above Elijah Muhammad.

Clarence 13X feared that he would be killed, and instructed his followers to remain strong if he died.

Clarence 13X was ambushed by three assailants, who fatally shot him while he was in the lobby of her apartment building, at 21 West 112th Street in Harlem, within the Martin Luther King Jr.

Clarence 13X did not leave behind a record of his teachings, and the group had few formalized tenets at the time of his death.