Born: 1951, Chicago, Illinois
Title: Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, Moorish Science Temple of America
Temple: Temple No. 1, Chicago, Illinois
Succeeded: Bro. P. Davis El, 7th Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, Moorish Science Temple of America
- The eighth Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman in the line of succession from Prophet Noble Drew Ali — a position he has held for nearly three decades
Emmanuel Braswell Bey holds the highest office in the Moorish Science Temple of America as Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman.
He has devoted his entire life to uncovering the secrets of his ancient identity and has helped countless others discover theirs — with Drew Ali’s expansive teachings…
From Bronzeville to Kingdom Hall and Beyond
Braswell Bey was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. His father Toy was Moorish by descent. His mother was Choctaw.
Bronzeville raised him — coal-heated flat above a grocery store, his father Toy treating him like a man before he was one, his mother raising him in the ways of Jehovah’s Witnesses and setting him on a collision course with organized religion that would take decades to unfold.
By 12, his oratory inside the Kingdom Hall moved entire congregations to their feet — a gift his mother was certain would make him the greatest minister they had ever produced. By his mid-teens he walked away from it entirely and spent the years that followed searching — Black nationalist literature, the Concerned Black Students club, dashikis, nearly joining the Black Panthers until his father drew the line.
He married Mary Juanita Foster in 1971 and eventually followed an opportunity to finish his degree in community nutrition and dietetics at the University of Arkansas — Juanita and their two daughters relocated with him.
In Arkansas, he cut hair on weekends and waited tables at a country club in a white jacket and bow tie to keep them afloat.
But the degree was never the destination. Something deeper was pulling him, and he knew it.
The Object of His Search
Braswell Bey came back to Chicago in 1975 — degree in hand, wife and two daughters with him, but still with a cultural and spiritual void.
The answer came through a childhood friend named George who handed him a strange small “book.” It was the Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple of America.
Braswell Bey read the first chapter alone on the seventh floor of his apartment. He was hooked — completely and immediately.
On February 12, 1978, he walked into what he had been told was the “Grand Major Temple” at 957 E. 75th Street and gained entry. He was 27 years old. This group of Moors would later become known simply as 957 — after the address.
What he found inside was a nearly empty room — decimated roof, a reception area that fit 10 or 11 chairs. It didn’t slow him down. He was hungry for knowledge.
It was inside 957 that he first crossed paths with Bro. P. Davis El — the man who would later play a prominent role inside of the Moorish Science Temple of America..
They studied together on the laws and teachings of Noble Drew Ali, two men building their understanding side by side before either of them knew what the movement would ask of them.
At this point, Braswell Bey had been practicing Moorish Science for years — yet he had no clue, three single letters on a piece of paper were about to cause a massive pivot in everyone’s lives…
The “Bey” on the Bulletin Board
Walking through Chicago State University one afternoon, a name on a bulletin board stopped him cold — Diane O’Neal Bey. The “Bey” on her name matches his — he instantly recognized she was a Moor!
He went to find her immediately but she was out to lunch. He left word with her coworkers: her brother had stopped by.
After several attempts to reach her at work, they finally crossed paths. He immediately introduced himself as a member of Temple No. 1. Before he could say another word, she cut him off…
“No… I’m from Temple No. 1” — she insisted.
She had never seen his face there a day in her life. He had never seen hers either.
This was the first time Braswell Bey heard that 957 and Temple No. 1 were not the same.
She invited him and his family to a picnic hosted by Temple No. 1. He went. The members received him.
He returned to the next meeting. And the one after that. Soon he was regularly attending meetings. At this point, P. Davis El had made his way from 957 as well.
In 1985, Braswell Bey formally joined Temple No. 1.
Bro. D. Bailey El was the Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman at that time. Supreme Grand Sheik D. Bailey El soon appointed Bro. Davis El as his Assistant Grand Sheik.
Inside Temple No. 1, Braswell Bey found what 957, nor any other organization could ever give him.
He sat with elders who had carried the movement through its most turbulent decades, listened, took notes and — for the first time — read actual letters from Prophet Noble Drew Ali — preserved by “The Guardians” of the MSTA’s historical records.
When Braswell Bey read those letters, everything began to add up for him — he was able to connect the dots of The Moorish Science Temple of America — and his lost ancient identity…
He was finally certain he had found Noble Drew Ali’s original Temple.
This was Temple No. 1.
The Eighth Supreme Grand Sheik
In 1992, D. Bailey El was removed from the office of Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman.
P. Davis El assumed the office — and one of his first acts was to appoint Braswell Bey as his Assistant Grand Sheik. The movement had been watching him build for over a decade. Davis El made it official.
In November 1997, at the passing of Bro. P. Davis El, Emmanuel Braswell Bey was confirmed as Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman of the Moorish Science Temple of America — the eighth in the line of succession from Prophet Noble Drew Ali.
A Nation on the Rise
Under his leadership, the MSTA expanded beyond Chicago for the first time in decades — establishing authorized Temples and Study Groups across the nation — Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama and Oregon.
The MSTA’s national membership registry now carries over 1,200 verified members, each documented under the authorized body he leads.
He extended the reach of Noble Drew Ali’s records and teachings through Amexem — appearing on camera, granting documentary access and lending the authority of his office to the work of making Noble Drew Ali’s teachings discoverable for all.
The high science of Noble Drew Ali’s lessons empowered Braswell Bey — and thousands of others — to unlock the secrets of their ancient identity.