Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the most widely-read newspapers ever produced by an african american organization”. Today it says “black muslim newspaper published in the united states”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Defunct American newspaper Image from the FBI monograph of the Nation of Islam (1965): Typical Front Pages of Cult Newspaper”. It now reads “Defunct American newspaper November 26, 1965 cover featuring”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Muhammad Speaks was one of the most widely-read newspapers ever produced by an African American organization. Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad began the publication in 1961. Its first issue bore the title Some of this Earth to Call Our Own or Else . A weekly publication, it was distributed nationwide by the NOI and covered current events around the world as well as relevant news in African American communities, especially items concerning the Nation of Islam itself. The paper was sold door-to-door and on street corners by Nation of Islam members ( Fruit of Islam ), at select newsstands in major cities and in the temples of the Nation of Islam. In his The Autobiography of Malcolm X , activist Malcolm X claimed to have founded the newspaper, but this has not been independently confirmed. According to the current Nation of Islam, Malcolm X helped create Mr. Muhammad Speaks , a different newspaper distributed locally in New York City. In addition to NOI-based ventures, Elijah Muhammad had used the nation's African-American press to publicize the organization and his views. In the 1950s his regular column in the Pittsburgh Courier , at the time the nation's largest black-owned newspaper, generated more letters to the editor than any other feature in the newspaper. Following the death of Elijah Muhammad, his son and successor Warith Deen Muhammad renamed the newspaper Bilalian News in 1975. The title was a reference Bilal ibn Rabah , the first known black African follower of the prophet Muhammad. It was renamed once more in 1981, becoming Muslim Journal . There are a number of publications that hold claims to continuing in the tradition of the original paper, notably the The Final Call , but the Muslim Journal which currently operates out of Homewood, Illinois is the direct successor to the Muhammad Speaks Newspaper. Muslim Journal is a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 294375938.
The opening as it stood in 2015 14 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Muhammad Speaks , now known as the Muslim Journal , was one of the most widely read newspapers ever produced by an African-American organization.It was the official journal of the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad .After Muhammad's death it was renamed several times.A number of rival journals were also published, claiming to continue the message of the original.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 651810889.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Muhammad Speaks was one of the most widely read newspapers ever produced by an African-American organization. It was the official newspaper of the Nation of Islam from 1960 to 1975, founded by a group of Elijah Muhammad 's ministers, including Malcolm X .After Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975, it was renamed several times after Warith Deen Mohammed moved the Nation of Islam into mainstream Sunni Islam, culminating in The Muslim Journal .A number of rival journals were also published, including The Final Call under Louis Farrakhan, claiming to continue the message of the original.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964467700.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Defunct American newspaper Image from the FBI monograph of the Nation of Islam (1965): Typical Front Pages of Cult Newspaper Muhammad Speaks was one of the most widely read newspapers ever produced by an African American organization. It was the official newspaper of the Nation of Islam from 1960 to 1975, founded by a group of Elijah Muhammad 's ministers, including Malcolm X . After Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975, it was renamed several times after Warith Deen Mohammed moved the Nation of Islam into mainstream Sunni Islam, culminating in The Muslim Journal . A number of rival journals were also published, including The Final Call under Louis Farrakhan, claiming to continue the message of the original.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1165609795.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Defunct American newspaper Image from the FBI monograph of the Nation of Islam (1965): Typical Front Pages of Cult Newspaper Muhammad Speaks was a Black Muslim newspaper published in the United States. It was one of the most widely read newspapers ever produced by an African American organization. It was the official newspaper of the Nation of Islam from 1960 to 1975, founded by a group of Elijah Muhammad 's ministers, including Malcolm X . After Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975, it was renamed several times after Warith Deen Mohammed moved the Nation of Islam into mainstream Sunni Islam, culminating in The Muslim Journal . A number of rival journals were also published, including The Final Call under Louis Farrakhan, claiming to continue the message of the original. African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1281738900. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “one of the most widely-read newspapers ever produced by an african american organization”. Today it says “black muslim newspaper published in the united states”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Defunct American newspaper Image from the FBI monograph of the Nation of Islam (1965): Typical Front Pages of Cult Newspaper”. It now reads “Defunct American newspaper November 26, 1965 cover featuring”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
one of the most widely-read newspapers ever produced by an african american organization
Now
black muslim newspaper published in the united states
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
