Wallace Fard was born in Mecca in about 1877. After emigrating to the United States he founded the he Nation of Islam, a black nationalist and religious organization based in Detroit, Michigan.

Fard argued that blacks (he objected to the term Negroes) should reject Christianity as it was the religion of white slaveowners. He gave his followers Arabic names and told them to prepare for a race war.

Fard mysteriously disappeared in June 1934. He was replaced as leader of the Nation of Islam (sometimes called by Black Muslims) by Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad, claimed that Fard was Allah (God) and that he had selected him as his messenger.