• The Nation of Islam claims that its founder, Fard Muhammad, who appeared mysteriously in Detroit on July 4, 1930, was the incarnation of Allah (God). Traditional Islam teaches that Allah cannot assume physical form.
• The Nation of Islam elevates blacks (and, often, other non-Caucasians) above whites, who are considered "blue-eyed devils." The NOI also believes whites were created by a renegade black scientist named Yacub. Neither the Koran nor any other Islamic teaching mentions Yacub. The Koran says Allah created the human race "from a single male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so ye may know each other, not that yet may despise each other."
• After the 1975 death of Elijah Muhammed, who led the Nation since the early 1930s, the movement has taught that he was a prophet, or "messenger," of God. Traditional Islam teaches that God revealed His existence to a number of prophets--including Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus--but that the last of these prophets was Muhammad, who received God's final revelation.