He was born in Virginia and moved to New York City as a young man, before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War.

One way that he distinguished his group from his previous faith, was by rejecting dress codes or strict behavioral guidelines—he allowed the consumption of alcohol, and at times, the use of illegal drugs.

After joining the group, he studied the NOI's doctrines and quickly progressed within their organizational structure, possibly thanks to skills learned in the military.

His departure has been variously attributed to doubts about the NOI's theology, violations of their moral code, objections to the luxurious lifestyles of their senior leadership, or Malcolm X's distrust of him.

He believed that the NOI's teachings were contradictory because they taught that God is black, but encouraged reverence of Fard Muhammad, who was not of exclusively African descent.

[c] After reading an NOI book with 34 riddles, known as the "Lost-Found Lessons", John 37X concluded that numbers represented specific concepts, such as knowledge or wisdom.

[18] While John 37X was in prison, Clarence 13X taught a system of beliefs he referred to as "supreme wisdom", which he saw as the core of Islam, to groups of young men.

[9] He named parts of the New York area after locations in the Middle East that are significant to Islam: Harlem was referred to as Mecca, and Brooklyn as Medina.

[28] Clarence 13X taught that there was an inherent greatness in those of African descent not found in Europeans and their descendants, echoing statements made by Elijah Muhammad.

[31] He strictly forbade the consumption of pork, arguing that pigs were similar to animals that are not eaten in the United States, such as rats and dogs, and hence should not be consumed.

[23] Owing to their belief that black men are gods, the group allowed its members to make choices about clothing and most aspects of diet.

The assistants were assigned to spread the group's teachings to younger people, many of whom took African names, including some from non-Islamic societies.

[41] Eventually, Clarence 13X stopped identifying himself as a Muslim, and spoke out against the reverence of Fard Muhammad, casting him as a "mystery God".

[47] He spoke in favor of fathers' arranging their daughters' marriages[6] and told women to embody submission by serving their husbands as God.

Clarence 13X also experienced conflict within his family: his children did not revere him, and hostility quickly developed between core Five Percenters and some of his sons when Willeen Jowers brought them to visit him.

[50] In a 2007 study of the Five Percent movement, American journalist Michael Muhammad Knight speculates that this caused his followers to see him as a Christ figure.

The New York Amsterdam News reported that Clarence 13X had threatened to kill white children if his group did not receive a government subsidy.

[40] That year, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover described Clarence 13X as a "Harlem rowdy", and feared that he would form ties with more dangerous groups.

In 1967, Hoover described him as a potential threat to President Lyndon B. Johnson,[40] and sent a detailed folder about him to the United States Secret Service.

They left, and began to vandalize nearby buildings, and blocked the street near the former headquarters of Muslim Mosque, Inc. More police arrived and subdued Clarence 13X after an altercation, bringing him into custody with several of his followers.

[62] After a 1966 decision (Pate v. Robinson) by the Supreme Court of the United States, limits were placed on the confinement of mentally ill criminals, causing many to be released.

Prompted in part by concerns voiced by the New York Police Department (NYPD), the mayor dispatched one of his aides, Barry Gottehrer, to meet with Clarence 13X.

Belying his fearsome reputation, Clarence 13X had a congenial meeting with Gottehrer, during which he requested more bus routes and school funding.

[64] The city provided buses for Five Percenters to travel to a Long Island park, and with help from the National Urban League, obtained an abandoned storefront for use as a school.

[67] They have not reprinted the entire book, owing to a passage in which Gottehrer relates that Clarence 13X offered to allow him to sleep with his teenage daughter.

[73] Contrary to his radical reputation, Clarence endorsed some conservative positions in the late 1960s, including capital punishment, respect for the U.S. flag, and American involvement in Vietnam.

Clarence 13X was then allowed to visit a juvenile detention center to speak to young Five Percenters and won some concessions from the institution's leadership.

He was ambushed by three assailants, who fatally shot him while he was in the lobby of her apartment building, at 21 West 112th Street in Harlem, within the Martin Luther King Jr.

The Daily News connected his murder with the recent death of NOI activist Charles Kenyatta, casting them as part of a "Muslim War".

[81] NYPD investigators suspected that he was killed by members of an extortion ring, possibly connected to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.