Khadijah Farrakhan, ‘first lady of Nation of Islam’ as wife of famous pastor, dies at 90
Khadijah Farrakhan, the longtime wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, died Saturday. He was 90 years old.
“Mother Hadijah” worked alongside her provocative and charismatic husband for decades, helping to lead religious and sociopolitical movements that embraced Black self-reliance. His home base was Maryam Mosque on Chicago’s south side, where the couple lived.
“Minister Louis Farrakhan announces with deep sadness but also with deep gratitude to God that his beloved wife of 72 years, Mother Hatice, the First Lady of the Ummah of Islam, has returned to God (may God bless him).” Statement of the Shura Executive Council in question.
Her death came just seven months after devotees celebrated Khadijah’s 90th birthday. The statement stated that funeral services will be announced.
Cami Maryam remembered Farrakhan as a “loyal follower” with “a precious soul, a sweet heart.”
R&B artist ZaRio Son Rise remembered her in a post on Facebook as “a true queen, a woman of integrity, and one of the greatest examples of dignity, faith, loyalty, and grace our generation has ever witnessed.”
Khadijah Farrakhan, born Betsy Ross, married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, on September 12, 1953, in Boston. The two had nine children. Their eldest son, Louis Farrakhan Jr. died in 2018and his son Joshua Farrakhan died in 2023.
Khadijah Farrakhan converted to Islam in 1955; That same year, her husband joined the Chicago-based movement after being heavily influenced by fellow Bostonian Malcolm X. The couple changed their names around this time.
Louis Farrakhan stepped into the organization’s leadership void shortly after Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Among his most notable achievements was the Million Man March on Washington in 1995.
Two years later, Khadijah Farrakhan spoke before a gathering of America’s Black women in Philadelphia called the Million Women’s March.
“A nation cannot rise higher than its women,” he told the crowd. “We focus on women, but we cannot lose sight of the need to rise as a family of men, women and children.”
