adopted by The City Council
ofthe City of Chicago, Illinois
HONORING THE 135th ANNIVERSARYOF THE BIRTH OF PROPHET NOBLE DREW ALT
WHEREAS, Noble Drew Ali, the Prophet, first patriot and founding father of Moorish Divine National Movement started his life journey on January 8, 1886, in the State of North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, it was the Noble Drew Ali's belief that African Americans were all Moors, descended from the ancient Moabites thought to be inhabitants of Northwest Africa. He founded the Canaanite Temple in Newark, New Jersey in 1913 and established congregations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C, and Detroit, Michigan; and
WHEREAS, in 1925, he arrived in Chicago to establish the Moorish Science Temple of America as the headquarters of his Moorish Divine National Movement, destined to become a "network of alternative spiritualities that focused on the power ofthe individual to bring about personal transformation through mystical knowledge of the divine within." It was in Chicago that the Prophet built a civic organization to encourage his adherents to become better citizens; and
WHEREAS, as Prophet Noble Drew's work was predominantly religious, in accordance with the divine inspiration of God-Allah and the laws ofthe state of Illinois, the Prophet convened a meeting of his followers on July 20, 1928 to formally incorporate as the Moorish Science Temple of America, filing as a religious institution on August 1, 1928 with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds and declared to the Moorish Americans everywhere that Chicago, Illinois would be their new Mecca; and
WHEREAS, the Moorish Science Temple of America teaches that, until the coming of the universal Prophet Noble Drew Ali, although the resurrected Nation of Moorish Americans as a result of the 13th Amendment were emancipated from slavery in 1865, they had yet to reestablish and reunite themselves with the human family of nations; and
WHEREAS, from the Great Koran of Mohammed and guided by Allah, the Prophet Noble Drew Ali established that the five highest principles known to man were Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice. It is the mission of the Moorish Science Temple of America to propagate this faith and extend the learning and truth of the Prophet, now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that we, the mayor and members of the City of Chicago City Council, gathered together on this 27,h day of January, 2021 AD, do hereby dedicate the month of January as Moorish Science Month in honor ofthe 135th anniversary ofthe birth of this holy and divine prophet of God-Allah and his benevolent work of redeeming the Moorish Americans as well as uplifting fallen humanity worldwide.
Roderick T. Sawyer
Alderman - 6th Ward
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to Supreme Grand Sheik/Chairman Brother E. Braswell Bey of the Moorish Science of America Grand Major Temple # 1.