Title: 7th Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman, Moorish Science Temple of America
Temple: Temple No. 1, Chicago, Illinois
Death: November 1997
Predecessor: Bro. D. Bailey El
Successor: Bro. E. Braswell Bey
- Percy Davis El is the seventh Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman in the line of succession from Prophet Noble Drew Ali
P. Davis El carried Noble Drew Ali’s Temple through the years during a time when the teachings to unlock your ancient identity could have collapsed under mismanagement, illness and neglect.
P. David El avoided all three and never broke…
Here is his story…
Two Men, One Law, One Truth
P. Davis El first crossed paths with Emmanuel Braswell Bey inside a group of Moors operating at 957 E. 75th Street in Chicago — an unauthorized group, now known as simply 957.
Both Moors studied Noble Drew Ali’s laws and teachings side by side — two men sharpening their understanding on the same stone before either of them knew what the movement would ask of them.
It was during those studies that P. Davis El and Braswell Bey arrived at a conclusion that most Moors then — and most now — still have not reached.
In Act 1 of the Divine Constitution and By-Laws, the Grand Sheik and Chairman is one person holding two titles.
Not two men. One…
The implications essentially would have rewrote everything 957 believed about how the Temple was supposed to be governed.
957 did not receive it.
Both men were pushed out.
After being excused from 957, P. Davis El and Braswell Bey did not scatter. Their households closed ranks.
They held Holy Day meetings and Sunday Schools as two households united by what they had found in Noble Drew Ali’s instructions — waiting for the next door to open…
Temple No. 1
The call came from Braswell Bey: “I think I found Temple No. 1.”
Soon afterwards Bro. Braswell Bey, P. Davis El and their households received an invitation from a sister inside The Temple to a picnic hosted by Temple No.1, Noble Drew Ali’s original Temple.
They went. Temple No. 1 received them. P. Davis El began attending meetings — and never stopped.
The Seventh Supreme Grand Sheik
Inside Temple No. 1, Supreme Grand Sheik D. Bailey El recognized what P. Davis El carried.
Bailey El appointed him Assistant Grand Sheik.
The movement had been watching him build for years. Bailey El made it official.
In 1992, D. Bailey El was removed from office and Percy Davis El was confirmed to the position of Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman of the Moorish Science Temple of America — stepping up as the seventh in the line of succession from Prophet Noble Drew Ali.
One of his first acts was structural.
P. Davis El moved to fill the most essential vacancies on the Supreme Grand Council — rebuilding the institutional body that Noble Drew Ali’s Divine Constitution and By-Laws demanded.
Among his appointments: Emmanuel Braswell Bey, named Assistant Grand Sheik.
Two men who’d studied Noble Drew Ali’s law in that building on 75th Street now sat at the head of Noble Drew Ali’s Temple — and governed it exactly the way the Prophet instructed.
What the Prophet Said, the Way the Prophet Said Do It
P. Davis El lived with illness throughout his years as Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman. It never kept him away. He came to Temple and conducted meetings regardless of how he felt. When the sickness required it, he sat down after the meeting was over — but the meeting always happened…
Sister P. Newton El, who served alongside him, described him plainly:
“a very kind man. An excellent Supreme Grand Sheik. A man who believed in doing just what the Prophet said, the way the Prophet said do it. He did not deviate.”
In November 1997, P. Davis El passed away.
Emmanuel Braswell Bey was confirmed as the eighth Supreme Grand Sheik and Chairman of the Moorish Science Temple of America — the office P. Davis El carried until his body gave out — but his faithfulness never did…
If you are reading this today, it is in part because P. Davis El refused to let the teachings of Noble Drew Ali perish in the grave with his remains…
As more details about P. Davis El’s life are uncovered and verified, this biography will be updated to reflect the full record.