Title: Second Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, Moorish Science Temple of America
Tenure: November 1934 – October 1935
Predecessor: Brother Edward Mealy El — First Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman
Successor: Brother E. Walton Bey — Third Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman
- Bro. William Morris El was the second Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman of the Moorish Science Temple of America — second in an unbroken line of succession initiated by Noble Drew Ali, the founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America
- Assumed the office in November 1934, during one of the most contested periods in MSTA history — five years after Noble Drew Ali’s passing, with large numbers of Moors having abandoned the temple to scheme for power and clout
Brother William Morris El occupies a fixed place in the lineage Noble Drew Ali established — and the reason your ancient identity is no longer lost…
Here is that record…
The Succession Noble Drew Ali Put in Place
Noble Drew Ali, founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America, passed away on July 20, 1929. In the years that followed, large numbers of Moors abandoned the temple and outside groups pressed claims to his name, his records and his authority.
Noble Drew Ali had built the succession before it was needed.
At the First Annual National Convention of the MSTA in October 1928, he appointed Brother Edward Mealy El as Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman — the first to hold that office — and appointed Brother William Morris El as Assistant Grand Sheik.
Both designations were Noble Drew Ali’s own. The authority was direct.
Mealy El held that office through court challenges, through the scheming of outside groups and through years of sustained pressure on the movement.
Then Mealy El’s health failed.
Unable to continue in the capacity of Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, the office had to be passed forward. Noble Drew Ali’s movement demanded it.
Morris El’s Rise to Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman
Brother William Morris El assumed the position of Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman in November 1934. He became the second link in the line of succession Noble Drew Ali himself had established.
The available record indicates that Brother William Morris El had been positioned within the MSTA’s leadership structure prior to Mealy El’s incapacitation — a placement that traced its authority back to Noble Drew Ali’s own designations for the movement.
The Guardian Who Held the Foundation
While Brother William Morris El held the office, Sister Delia Mealy El — wife of the first Supreme Grand Sheik — stood as guardian of everything the MSTA was built on.
Noble Drew Ali’s original letters. His founding records. The documents that proved the movement’s legitimacy and lineage.
She kept them locked in a safe in her home.
She refused every demand to surrender them. She was jailed for that refusal. She still refused.
None of it moved. The foundation stayed intact.
Removal From Office
Brother William Morris El served from November 1934 to October 1935 — approximately eleven months. He was expelled from the office.
The circumstances behind his removal are currently under investigation and this record will be updated when confirmed.
What did not change: the succession. E. Walton Bey received the office next. The line Noble Drew Ali built did not break.
The Line That Kept Your Identity Alive
Noble Drew Ali said:
“This is an Everlasting Movement, founded by The Prophet Through the will of ALLAH To redeem His People from their Sinful ways.”
An everlasting movement requires an unbroken line. Brother William Morris El was the second link in that line.
From Morris El the office passed to E. Walton Bey, to W. Harlan Bey, to O. Lewis El, to D. Bailey El, to P. Davis El, and to E. Braswell Bey — the eighth Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, serving today.
Every link connects to the one before it. Every one connects back to Noble Drew Ali.
The identity that was stripped from your ancestors during slavery — buried under “Black,” “Negro,” “Colored” — was never destroyed. It survived. It survived because a line of men held this office across nearly a century, passing it from one to the next, unbroken.
Brother William Morris El is the second link in that chain.
That line is the reason the ancient history deliberately buried by your oppressors is still here to be uncovered. The miseducation ends here.
As more details about Brother William Morris El’s life are uncovered and verified, this biography will be updated to reflect the full record. Get on the Amexem notification list to be notified when updates are made.