Clarence 13X
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Clarence 13X, born Clarence Jowars Smith (February 22, 1928–June 13, 1969) in Danville, Virginia, is the founder of the Nation of Gods and Earths, and is referred to by members of that group as Allah or The Father.
After serving in the Korean War, Clarence joined the Nation of Islam after learning that his wife had converted to the group. He became a member at Temple Number 7 in Harlem, New York where Malcolm X was a minister. (The 13X indicates that he would have been the 13th person named Clarence to join that temple.) Clarence would be well-known there for his martial-arts skills, and speaking ability, leading him to become a member of the Fruit of Islam and a student minister. However, he would begin to question the NOI teaching of Wallace Fard Muhammad, who was believed to be Allah. This was on account of the NOI teaching that Allah existed apart from man, while the Nation of Islam’s lessons clearly stated that the Blackman was God, which is against the beliefs of traditional Islam.
Clarence 13x was reprimanded by the Nation of Islam, and he left the organization, changing his name to Allah in 1963. This led him to preach his own version of NOI teachings in the streets of Harlem and, later, other cities, gaining supporters among the youths attracted by his speaking style. Smith used the Nation of Islam's beliefs to teach that any Original Man, Black, brown, or yellow, could become God through living a life of righteousness and that people of other races could similarly become civilized people.
In order to spread his message, he devised systems reminiscent of mystical traditions, which he called the Supreme Mathematics, a series of principles attached to the numbers 0–9; and the Supreme Alphabet, a series of principles associated with the letters of the Roman alphabet. In this system, Islam is less a religion than a numerology that can break down ordinary words through linguistic gymnastics.
Clarence 13X was assassinated in a Harlem housing project in 1969. Following the murder, which remains unsolved to this day, any vestige of hierarchy among Five Percenters entirely disappeared, but his teachings were maintained and disseminated by his early students.
Five Percenters teach that Clarence 13X and his teachings, or the Allah's World Manifest as they term it, will live on as long as their message is being spread.
