Religious Leader. The founder of Moorish Science Temple of America, he was born Timothy Drew in North Carolina. Adopted into the Cherokee Tribe, he worked as a circus magician, then traveled to Egypt where he studied under a priest who recognized him as a "prophet." He established his first temple in Newark, New Jersey in 1913. His Chicago temple was called the Moorish Science Temple of America. Ali taught that blacks are Moabites or Moors, for whom the promised land is Morocco. He died from TB after being released from prison.
Religious Leader. The founder of Moorish Science Temple of America, he was born Timothy Drew in North Carolina. Adopted into the Cherokee Tribe, he worked as a circus magician, then traveled to Egypt where he studied under a priest who recognized him as a "prophet." He established his first temple in Newark, New Jersey in 1913. His Chicago temple was called the Moorish Science Temple of America. Ali taught that blacks are Moabites or Moors, for whom the promised land is Morocco. He died from TB after being released from prison.
Bio by: David M. Habben
Advertisement
See more Ali memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
