In December of 1959, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad made the pilgrimage to Mecca Arabia. Received with love and admiration for his works, Muhammad traveled throughout the Muslim World, visiting Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Egypt; where Egyptian President Abdel Nasser offered to build the Messenger a palace, if he would move to Egypt. It was in the country of Sudan where Muhammad received his warmest reception. After speaking for only fifteen (15) minutes through an interpreter, the Sudanese people joy-filled frenzy nearly crushed the five feet seven inches and one hundred thirty-five pound Elijah to death, trying to shake his hand and hug him. He destroyed the lie that the Muslims in the East do not recognize the Nation of Islam. “The common Muslim may not recognize us, but the scholars and scientists of Islam, they recognize us,” Muhammad told Chicago journalist Irv Kupcinet.
Returning to his headquarters in Chicago in 1960, the Nation of Islam leader published the first edition of “Mr. Muhammad Speaks”, a weekly newspaper. In 1968, the Nation of Islam purchased a massive four-story, sixty thousand square foot building that served as the newspaper printing plant, cold storage, and tractor-truck storage. In the same year, the Salaam Restaurant and Your Supermarket opened. The Nation’s farms in Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama supplied most of the products. The Muslim followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad flourished during the 1960s. But their success was not without persecution at the hands of armed local police officers most notably in the Louisiana and California mosques. In Los Angeles, a Muslim brother, Ronald T. X was shot down in cold blood.
The influence of Muhammad could indirectly be seen and felt outside the Nation of Islam as new Black radical and nationalist groups dissatisfied with the progress of integration began to form, advocating self-help and Black power. People from around the world found their way to the doorsteps of Muhammad. Visitors from China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the continent of African came to see for themselves the miracles being formed by the man from Sandersville, Georgia with a third grade education. The F.B.I. in a document dated January 7, 1969, concluded that the Nation of Islam was the personal fielder of Elijah Muhammad and that they should wait until he dies and then infiltrate the Nation and change the philosophy.