Moorish Science Temple

A religious movement founded in the early 20th century by Noble Drew Ali, which blended Islam, nationalism, and identity claims in which converts asserted a Moroccan (Moorish) identity as a way of rejecting US-black racial subjugation. Distinct doctrines, such as limiting membership to African Americans, made it an early and influential matrix for later proto-Islamic black nationalist groups.

Claims that use this term

• Moorish Science Temple converts claimed a Moroccan identity to escape US blackness
• Heretical doctrine limited Moorish Science Temple membership to African Americans