Noble Drew Ali's “Clean and Pure Nation”

In the 1920s, the theology, racial history, and healing ways of the Moorish Science Temple of America mediated racial uplift and contemporary health concerns. In 1927, Moorish Science Temple founder Noble Drew Ali created the Moorish Manufacturing Corporation to market his line of healing teas, tonics, and oils. The historiography of the Moorish Science Temple often overlooks these products, but when put in relation with Ali's concept of Moorish identity and the group's approach to physical and spiritual health, these products emerge as material expressions of foundational Moorish Science Temple beliefs. Ali's dedication to keeping the Moors racially distinct and religiously clean and pure were mutually reinforcing and interpenetrating concerns. Furthermore, his vision of the Moorish nation and its material culture reflected larger trends in health, consumerism, and theological expression within American religious history.