Re-named Elijah Muhammad and referred to him as God's Messenger, Poole established a new temple in Chicago, the city that would become the Nation of Islam's headquarters.

Elijah Muhammad had encouraged Malcolm in his ministry, appointing him the Nation of Islam's national representative. "I want you to be well known," Muhammad said, because "it will make me well ...

Elijah Poole, later to take the name Muhammad, had moved with his family to Detroit from Georgia in 1917 and worked in industrial plants. The Great Depression left him unemployed and despondent.