The Wailing Wall

The Wailing Wall (Hebrew: הכותל המערבי HaKotel HaMa'aravi), also The Western Wall or simply The Kotel, is a retaining wall from the time of the Jewish Second Temple of Jerusalem (see also Temple of Herod). It is sometimes referred to as the Wailing Wall, or as the al-Buraq Wall, in a mix of English and Arabic. The Temple was the most sacred building in Judaism. Herod the Great built vast retaining walls around Mount Moriah, expanding the small, quasi-natural plateau on which the First and Second Temples stood into the wide open spaces of the Temple Mount seen today.

In recent centuries, Jews were allowed little or no access to the site, such as when Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) ruled over it for 400 years (1515-1917), followed by the British Mandate of Palestine (1917-1948) and the Jordanian rule of Jerusalem (1948-1967).

Only when the Israel Defense Forces won a victory in the 1967 Six-Day War were Jews finally able to gain free access to the site.

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Holocaust denial

Holocaust denial is the claim that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust—did not occur in the manner or to the extent described by current scholarship.

Key elements of this claim are the rejection of any of the following:

• that the Nazi government had a policy of deliberately targeting Jews and people of Jewish ancestry for extermination as a people;
• that between five and seven million Jews were systematically killed by the Nazis and their allies; and
• that genocide was carried out at extermination camps using tools of mass murder, such as gas chambers.

Holocaust deniers do not accept the term "denial" as an appropriate description of their point of view, and use the term Holocaust revisionism instead. Scholars, however, prefer the term "denial" to differentiate Holocaust deniers from historical revisionists, who use established historical methodologies.

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Asceticism

Asceticism (Greek: askēsis) refers to the idea that a higher spiritual and moral state is attainable through the practice of self-denial. It is characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures such as cultivating power, engaging in sexual activity or consumption of alcohol. It is often accompanied with the objective of pursuing religious and spiritual goals.

Some non- Judaeo-Christian religions teach that salvation and liberation involve a process of mind-body transformation that is effected through practicing restraint with respect to actions of body, speech and mind. The founders and earliest practitioners of these religions (e.g. Buddhism, Jainism, the Christian desert fathers) lived extremely austere lifestyles refraining from sensual pleasures and the accumulation of material wealth. This is to be understood not as an eschewal of the enjoyment of life but a recognition that spiritual and religious goals are impeded by such indulgence.

Asceticism is closely related to the Christian concept of chastity and might be said to be the technical implementation of the abstract vows of renunciation. Those who practice ascetic lifestyles do not consider their practices as virtuous but pursue such a life-style in order to satisfy certain technical requirements for mind-body transformation. There is remarkable uniformity among the above religions with respect to the benefits of sexual continence. Religions teach that purifying the soul also involves purification of the body which thereby enables connection with the divine and the cultivation of inner peace. In the popular imagination asceticism is considered a sort of perversion (self-flagellation by birch twigs as the archetypal stereotype of self-mortification) but the askēsis enjoined by religion functions in order to bring about greater freedom in various areas of one's life, such as freedom from compulsions and temptations bringing about peacefulness of mind with a concomitant increase in clarity and power of thought.

The adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient Greek term askesis (practice, training or exercise). Originally associated with any form of disciplined practice, the term ascetic has come to mean anyone who practices a renunciation of worldly pursuits to achieve higher intellectual and spiritual goals.

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Founders of Modern Science

Science (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge') is a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as the organized body of knowledge gained through such research. Science as defined here is sometimes termed pure science to differentiate it from applied science, which is the application of scientific research to specific human needs.

The renewal of learning in Europe, that began with 12th century Scholasticism, came to an end about the time of the Black Death, and the initial period of the subsequent Italian Renaissance is sometimes seen as a lull in scientific activity. The Northern Renaissance, on the other hand, showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristoteleian natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine). Thus modern science in Europe was resumed in a period of great upheaval: the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation; the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus; the Fall of Constantinople; but also the re-discovery of Aristotle during the Scholastic period presaged large social and political changes.

Thus, a suitable environment was created in which it became possible to question scientific doctrine, in much the same way that Martin Luther and John Calvin questioned religious doctrine. The works of Claudius Ptolemaeus (astronomy) and Galen (medicine) were found not always to match everyday observations. Work by Vesalius on human cadavers found problems with the Galenic view of anatomy.

Approximately 1,000 years ago, modern science began to supplant superstition (the commonly held irrational beliefs emerging from ignorance or fear). What follows is a list of some of the "Founders of Modern Science" who were, with the exception of one, of the Christian faith. The links below provide information regarding each person's faith and contributions to humanity.

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Job

Job (Hebrew אִיּוֹב, Iyowb, "hated"), is a character in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible. In brief, the book begins with an introduction to Job's character — he is described as a rich, blessed man who fears God and lives righteously. Satan, however, challenges Job's integrity, and so God gives Job into Satan's hand, ending in tragedy for Job: the loss of his children, wealth, and physical soundness. The main portion of the text consists of the discourse of Job and his three friends concerning why Job was so punished, ending in God answering Job. Job is also a prophet in Islam.

Job had Seven sons and three daughters and

He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. (Job 1:3)

His sons took turns entertaining each other with feasts; each time they completed a cycle of feast days, Job sent to them and purified them, offering burn-offerings for each one in case any of them had cursed God in their hearts. He was "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. His good character is discussed in depth later in the book. (Job 1:1;4,5).

Satan asserts that Job does not really love God, but fears God for blessing. To show that this is not so, God tested Job by giving Satan power over his property and family. In rapid succession, Job is suddenly informed by four servants of four different tragedies to strike his household.

In one assembly of the angels before God, Satan also comes, having patrolled the earth.

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Huldrych Zwingli

Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus, a humanist scholar and theologian.

In 1519, Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmünster in Zürich where he began to preach ideas on reforming the church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted problems in the corruption of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images. In 1525, Zwingli introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the mass. Zwingli also clashed with the radical wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution.

The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwingli’s ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers.

They met at the Marburg Colloquy and although they agreed on many points of doctrine, they could not reach an accord on the doctrine of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

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Gates of Jerusalem

During the era of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, there were four gates to the Old City, one on each side. The current walls, built by Suleiman the Magnificent, have a total of eleven gates, but only seven are open. Until 1887, each gate was closed before sunset and opened at sunrise. These gates have been known by a variety of names used in different historic periods and by different community groups.

The New Gate (Arabic: Bab al-Jedid‎; Hebrew: HaSha'ar HeChadash‎) is the newest gate in Jerusalem's Old City Walls, built in 1898 to provide direct access to the Christian Quarter for the visit of the German Emperor William II.

It is also called the Gate of Hammid after the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The gate is located in the northwestern part of the wall and faces north.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when Jordan captured East Jerusalem (which includes the Old City of Jerusalem) it was sealed off. It was reopened again in 1967 after Israel's capture of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.

The Huldah Gates are the two sets of now-blocked gates in the south wall of the Temple Mount, which is also one of Jerusalem's Old City walls. The western set is a double arched gate (the double gate), and the eastern is a triple arched gate (the triple gate). Each arch of the double gate led into an aisle of a passageway leading from the gate into the Mount, and to steps leading to the Mount's surface; when the al-Aqsa Mosque was built, the old steps were blocked, and the eastern aisle lengthened so that new steps from its end would exit north of the Mosque. The triple gate is similar, though the longer aisle is to the west, and its third aisle, on the east, forms the western boundary of the vaulted area known as Solomon's Stables.

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Jericho

Jericho (Arabic أريحا , Hebrew ירחו Yĕriychow "city of the moon" from the masculine noun: ירח yareach "moon") - is a town in the West Bank, Palestine near the Jordan River.

The first mention of Jericho in the Bible is from Numbers 22:

1 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. -Numbers 22:1-3

Jericho has a population of approximately 19,000. It is believed by some to be the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the world. The current mayor of Jericho is Hassan Saleh.

The present city was captured by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. It was the first city handed over to Palestinian Authority control in 1994, in accordance with the Oslo accords. After a period of Israeli readministration, it was returned to the Palestinian Authority on 16 March 2005.

On March 14, 2006, the Israel Defense Forces took captive six inmates from a Jericho prison following a 10-hour siege. The IDF said the reason for taking the prisoners, who were wanted for participation in the assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi, was to keep them from being released. Both sides of the siege were armed and at least two people were killed and 35 wounded in the incident.

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Lot

In the Bible, Lot (לוֹט "Hidden, enclosed, covering") was the nephew of the patriarch, Abraham or Abram. He was the son of Abraham's brother Haran. (Gen. 11:27)

Lot followed his uncle from Haran. He accompanied Abram and his family in his journeys to Egypt.

When Abram traveled to the Land of Canaan at the command of God, Lot accompanied him. (Gen 12:1-5). Abram had always a great affection for him, and when they could not continue longer together in Canaan because they both had large flocks and their shepherds sometimes quarelled (Gen 13:6,7), he gave Lot the choice of his abode. Lot went southeast to plains near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the land there was well watered. (Gen. 13:10-12).

About eight years after this separation, Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked the kings of Sodom and the neighbouring cities, pillaged Sodom, and took many captives, including Lot. Abraham armed his servants, pursued the confederate kings, and overtook them near the springs of Jordan. He recovered the spoils they had taken and brought back Lot with the other captives. Abraham was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, but refused even a shoelace.

In Gen. 19, when God decided to overturn and destroy the five cities of the plain, he sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. The men of Sodom sought to rape (in some translations, meet) the angels (Gen. 19:5). Lot offers the men his virgin daughters instead (Gen. 19:8), but the men are not interested.

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Tribe of Benjamin

The Tribe of Benjamin (בִּנְיָמִין "son of my right hand" but in some rabbinical Judaism traditions "son of the south") is one of the Hebrew tribes of Israel, founded by Benjamin (below), son of Jacob. (see also sons of Jacob).

The book of Judges 19-21 describes an episode in which all of the rest of Israel attacks and defeats the Benjamites in the battle at Gibeah, in retaliation following a disgraceful incident. To complete the defeat, all the civilians, including women and children, in the Benjamite towns and villages are then killed, and the other tribes vow that they will never allow their women to marry benjamites ever again. however, so as to not exterminate a tribe of Israel, they then provide four hundred virgins, spoil from another town they have massacred, as wives to the Benjamites, and also allow them to raid a festival and carry off some of the women.

21The tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, had the following cities:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba—twelve towns and their villages. 25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem see Joshua 18:8, 15:63, 2 Sam 5:6), Gibeah and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans. -Joshua 18:21-28

Later, when the kingdom of Israel was divided, the Tribe of Benjamin joined with the Tribe of Judah to form the kingdom of Judah, while the other tribes formed the reduced kingdom of Israel which was subsequently conquered and the people exiled. Benjamin was very much the minor partner, as the ruling house of David came from the far more numerous and powerful Tribe of Judah. Thus it was the Tribe of Judah who in time became identified with the entire people of the southerly Israelite kingdom, and gave their name to the Jews.

Notable members of the tribe of benjamin include the judge Ehud, Israel's first king saul, and the apostle Paul.

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Anti-Zionism

Anti-Zionism is often characterized by opposition to the establishment of, existance of, or development of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, as a Jewish state.

While "anti-Zionism" is not defined in modern dictionaries, its use dates back to at least 1902, and it was regularly used in the 1920s and 1930s in relation to events in the British Mandate of Palestine, when some Arab organizations opposed Jewish immigration to the area.

The earliest biblical reference to Zion is found in the book of 2 Samuel:

Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 2 Sam. 5:7.

So, Zion is the City of David. The City of David is the original site of Jerusalem from the time of King David. It lies South of the Temple Mount and is surrounded by hills on all sides, hence where it says in Psalms, "Jerusalem with hills around her". The water source of Temple of Solomon Jerusalem, the Gihon Spring, lies here.

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Beersheba

Beersheba (Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע‎, Be'er Sheva, Arabic: بئر السبع, Bir' as-Sabi) is the largest city in the Negev desert of Israel. It is often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev." In 2005, when the population reached 185,000, it became the sixth largest city in Israel.

Beersheba is the administrative centre for the southern region of Israel and home of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Soroka Medical Center, and the Israel Sinfonietta Beersheba.

Beersheba has grown considerably since the founding of the state in 1948. A large portion of the population is made up of Jews who immigrated to Israel from Arab countries after 1948, and newcomers from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. Beersheba is surrounded by a number of satellite towns: the mainly Jewish Omer, Lehavim and Metar and several Bedouin towns, the largest of which are Rahat, Tel Sheva and Lakiya.

There are several etymologies for the origin of the name "Beersheba":

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Edom

Edom (אֱדוֹם), a Hebrew word meaning "red", is a name given to Esau in the Hebrew Bible (see Gen. 25:30), as well as to the nation purportedly descended from him. The nation's name in Assyrian was Udumi; in Greek, Idoumaía; in Latin, Idumæa or Idumea.

The Edomite people were a Semitic-speaking tribal group inhabiting the Negev Desert and the Aravah valley of what is now southern Israel and adjacent Jordan. The region has much reddish sandstone, which may have given rise to the name "Edom". The nation of Edom is known to have existed back to the 8th or 9th Century BCE, and the Bible dates it back several centuries further. Recent archeological evidence may indicate an Edomite nation as long ago as the 11th Century BCE, but the topic is controversial. The nation ceased to exist with the Jewish-Roman Wars.

The Edomites may have been connected with the Shasu and Shutu, nomadic raiders mentioned in Egyptian sources. Indeed, a letter from an Egyptian scribe at a border fortress in the Wadi Tumilat during the reign of Merneptah reports movement of nomadic "shasu-tribes of Edom" to watering holes in Egyptian territory.

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Jacob

Jacob or Ya'akov, (יַעֲקֹב "Holder of the heel"), later known as Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל "Prince of God") is the third Biblical patriarch. His father was Isaac and his grandfather was Abraham. His story is told in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was born 20 years after Isaac and Rebekah were married, at which time his father was 60 (Gen. 25:26), and Abraham, 160 years old. He and his twin brother, Esau, were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by most biblical scholars as a mark of his studiousness in the "tents" of Torah.

During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22).

According to Rashi, whenever Rebekah passed a house of learning, Jacob would struggle to get out; whenever she passed a house of idolatry, Esau would struggle to get out.

Fearing that she was carrying one rather schizophrenic child, Rebekah questioned God about the tumult and learned that two children were in her womb, who would become two very different nations.

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abortion

An abortion is the removal or expulsion from the uterus of an embryo or fetus, resulting in or caused by its death. This can occur spontaneously as a miscarriage, or be artificially induced through chemical, surgical or other means.

Commonly, "abortion" refers to an induced abortion procedure at any point in the pregnancy; medically, it is defined as a miscarriage or induced termination before twenty weeks gestation, which is considered nonviable.

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And Genesis 9:6 sharply distinguishes between animal life and the life of man who is made in the image of God, teaching that, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.".

6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Such passages of the Bible are not taken in a proof-text manner by Christian tradition (that is, they are applicable to the question, although they do not mention abortion), but as illustrations of a basic ethical principle of the created order — a unity of instruction, or "Christian worldview". And this provides for a principle, which forms the basis of the modern Christian prolife movement. Scripture condemns the shedding of innocent human blood.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. Genesis 38:27

The biblical insight into the order of things is that man is distinct from, and above an animal; and man is uniquely subject to God, whereas animals are given to man; and an unborn child is human and known to God.

1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. (Isaiah 49:1,3 ESV);

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13).

Therefore, even an unborn child is protected by God, as made in the image of God because it is human (an issue distinct from all speculations of "when life begins").

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Philistines

The historic Philistines (פלשתים Hebrew פלשתי Pĕlishtiy) were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. Their origin has been debated among scholars, but modern archaeology has suggested early cultural links with the Mycenean world in mainland Greece (descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan, Strong's H6430 - Pĕlishtiy). Though the Philistines adopted local Canaanite culture and language before leaving any written texts, an indo-European origin has been suggested for a handful of known Philistine words.

If the Philistines are to be identified as one of the "sea peoples", then their occupation of Canaan will have taken place during the reign of Rameses III of the twentieth dynasty, ca. 1180 to 1150 bce. Their maritime knowledge presumably would have made them important to the phoenicians.

In egypt, a people called the "peleset" (or, more precisely, prst), generally identified with the philistines, appear in the medinet habu inscription of ramesses iii, where he describes his victory against the sea peoples, as well as the onomastica of amenope (late twentieth dynasty) and the great Papyrus Harris (papyrus harris i), a summary of ramses iii's reign written in the reign of Ramses IV. Nineteenth-century bible scholars identified the land of the philistines (Philistia) with Palastu and Pilista in Assyrian inscriptions, according to Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897).

The Philistines occupied the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath (1 Samuel 6:16-18), along the coastal strip of southwestern Canaan, that belonged to Egypt up to the closing days of the nineteenth dynasty (ended 1185 bce). The biblical stories of Samson, Samuel, Saul and David include accounts of philistine-israelite conflicts. The Philistines long held a monopoly on iron smithing (a skill they possibly acquired during conquests in Anatolia), and the biblical description of goliath's armor is consistent with this iron-smithing technology.

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Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam (NOI) (Arabic: أمة الإسلام‎, Ummah al-Islāmu) is a religious Black Supremacist group founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black men and women of America. NOI also promotes the belief that Allah will bring about a universal government of peace.

From 1978 to the present, Louis Farrakhan has been the leader of a reconstituted Nation of Islam, the original organization having been renamed and dissolved by Warith Deen Muhammad. The Nation of Islam's National Center and headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is also home to its flagship Mosque No. 2, Mosque Maryam.

The original Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad also known as Master W. D. Fard Muhammad (1877-1934 or later). The Nation of Islam teaches that W. Fard Muhammad is both the "Messiah" of Christianity and the Mahdi of Islam. One of Fard's first disciples was Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), who led the organization from 1935 through 1975.

The original Nation of Islam was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad also known as Master W. D. Fard Muhammad (1877-1934 or later). The Nation of Islam teaches that W. Fard Muhammad is both the "Messiah" of Christianity and the Mahdi of Islam. One of Fard's first disciples was Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975), who led the organization from 1935 through 1975.

By the time Elijah Muhammad died in 1975, there were 75 centers across America.

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Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יְהוּדָה) in the times of the Hebrew Bible, was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin after the Kingdom of Israel was divided, and was named after Judah, son of Jacob (Israel, see sons of Jacob). The name Judah itself means "Praise of God."

Judah is often referred to as the Southern Kingdom to distinguish it from the Northern Kingdom (the Kingdom of Israel) after the division of the Kingdom. Judah's capital was Jerusalem.

After the death of king Saul (2 Samuel 2:1-11), around 920 BCE, Jeroboam led the revolt of the northern tribes, and established the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 11-14), consisting of nine tribes: Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Menasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad (and some of Levi), with Samaria as its capital.>. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Joshua 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah.

For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. For the following eighty years there was no open war between them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. After the destrution of Israel, Judah continued to exist for about a century and a half until its final overthrow in (586 BC) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2 Kings 25:8-21), an event which also saw the destruction of the First Temple.

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Malcolm X

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. His detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska. By the time he was 13, his father had died and his mother had been committed to a mental hospital. After living in a series of foster homes, Malcolm X became involved in the criminal underworld in Boston and New York. In 1945, Malcolm X was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison.

While in prison, Malcolm X became a member of the Nation of Islam. After his parole in 1952, he became one of the Nation's leaders and chief spokesmen. For nearly a dozen years, he was the public face of the Nation of Islam. Tension between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam, led to his departure from the organization in March 1964.

After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He traveled extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East. He founded Muslim Mosque, Inc., a religious organization, and the secular, black nationalist Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year after he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in New York.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929–April 4, 1968) was a Baptist minister and American political activist who was the most famous leader of the American civil rights movement. King won the Nobel Peace Prize before being assassinated in 1968. In 1977, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by Jimmy Carter. For his promotion of non-violence and racial equality, King is considered a peacemaker and martyr by many people around the world. Martin Luther King Day was established in his honor.

King was born in Atlanta, Georgia (on Auburn Avenue) to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. (Birth records for Martin Luther King Jr. list his first name as Michael, apparently due to some confusion on the part of the family doctor regarding the true name of King's father, who was known as Mike throughout his childhood.) He graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1948. At Morehouse, King was mentored by President Benjamin Mays, a civil rights leader.

Later he graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. In 1955 he received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Boston University.

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