Fruit of Islam

The Fruit of Islam is one of the original institutions of the NOI, created by its founder W. D. Fard in 1933, shortly before his final disappearance. The men, mostly young, active members, were considered the "fruit" of the new nation. At the time the FOI was created to help defend the members of the NOI and all others. It existed until the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975. When Warith Deen Muhammad took control of the NOI he disbanded the FOI. The organization was then reorganized by Louis Farrakhan when he reestablished the NOI. ==NOI security agency==

In 1988, the NOI created a separate security agency using members of the FOI. The agency received contracts primarily to patrol and staff public housing complexes in tough urban areas like Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles and received at least $20 million in the 1990s for security work. NOI Security had notable successes in Washington, D.C., projects particularly, but had difficulty in others and faced opposition by some members of the United States Congress and the Anti-Defamation League, among others. It also faced scrutiny from federal agencies for racial and gender preference in hiring and from the Internal Revenue Service for failure to withhold taxes from employees. ==Mission statement==

The FOI says its mission is to "teach civilization, and teach what they know to those who do not know". An NOI website urging men to enroll in the FOI describes members as "brave fighter[s] for Allah" engaged in "a unique war for the very heart and soul of a people". The site explains, "The responsibility of the F.O.I. is that of a head of house: protection, provision, and maintenance of the Nation of Islam (all Original People). The F.O.I. are militant in the sense that our operations are done as a unit". ==See also==