[8] He rejected the previous deification of Wallace Fard Muhammad, accepted whites as fellow-worshippers, forged closer ties with mainstream Muslim communities, and introduced the Five Pillars of Islam into his group's theology.

Splinter groups which resisted these changes were formed after Elijah Muhammad's death, particularly under Louis Farrakhan, who would revive the name Nation of Islam (from Final Call) for his organization in 1978.

[18][19] He briefly studied Arabic as a youth under Jamal Shakir Diab, a Palestinian who was later hired by his father to teach at the MUI in Chicago.

The following day, on his 28th birthday, Mohammed was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone to begin a term for having refused induction into the United States military.

[30] Close also to Malcolm X, who the NOI had expelled, he found that by this time his viewpoints deviated significantly from those of his father, whom he no longer believed to be a prophet.

"[42] Similarly, via his various written works, Muhammad Speaks newspaper, and public speeches, he gradually introduced and explained Islam's Five Pillars.

[58][59] Warith Deen Mohammed received encouragement from the international Muslim community, yet the changes which he made within the Nation of Islam were not universally accepted.

[44][62] At the outset of the 1991 Gulf War, Warith Deen Mohammed became the only American Imam to issue a public endorsement of the US military bombing of Iraq.

The following year, in recognition of his military endorsement, the United States Congress and Pentagon honored WD Mohammed for his "loyal and unswerving religious leadership in support of our Nation during the difficult times during the Gulf War."

Still, on August 10, 2007, Mohammed repeated his frustration with the separatist stance of the current Nation of Islam, stating that its leaders had, "for the last 10 years or more,...just been selling wolf tickets to [threatening, without substance] the white race and having fun while they collect money and have fancy lifestyles.

[citation needed] Mohammed was intent on strengthening bonds between his movement and the wider American Muslim faith community as well as with followers of Islam abroad.

[69][70] In Geneva, Switzerland in 1985, he met with Dr. Muhammad Ahmad Al-Sharif, Secretary General of the World Islamic Call Society of Libya and Dr. Abdul Hakim Tabibi, an Afghan mujahid, to discuss areas of future cooperation with the World Islamic Call Society and the Muslim Community of America.

[71] He hosted Grand Mufti Abdullah Mukhtar, the leader of an estimated 60 million Muslims at Masjid Bilal, during his first visit to the United States in 1994.

[74][75] He was the special invited guest and keynote speaker at the "Inaugural Conference on the Growth and Development of Islam in America", held at Harvard University on March 3–4, 2000.

On May 23, 1976, he conducted a massive interfaith Spiritual Life Jubilee with the Peoples Temple in Los Angeles, California[77] and headlined with Jim Jones on the subject, "A New Heaven and a New Earth".

[85] On May 18–20, 1998, he attended the Conference on Religion and Peace which was sponsored by the Center for Christian, Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University in Auschwitz, Poland.

[82] In June 1998 he addressed the Muslim Friends of the Focolare conference in Rome, Italy,[86] in October of the following year, along with a 92-member delegation, he spoke before a gathering of 100,000 people in the Vatican.

[89] On October 29, 2001, Mohammed, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Pastor Robert H. Schuller, and members of the Parliament of the World's Religions participated in an "Evening of Religious Solidarity" at the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, Illinois.

[93][94] In April 1988, he participated as the representative of Muslim Americans in the "Political and Religious Leaders Campaign for Planetary Survivor" in Oxford Town Hall.

[96] In 1996, he participated in the "National Discussion on Race & Reconciliation" sponsored by the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.[97] In late 1997, he attended the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Teheran, Iran,[98] and he participated in The Religious Community and Moral Challenge of Poverty Round Table Discussion convened by former U. S. Senator Paul Simon in 1998 in Carbondale, Illinois.

[102] In 1996, he was invited to Egypt by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to address the Supreme Council of Affairs in Cairo on the theme "Islam and the Future of Dialogue between Civilizations".

[94] Also in 1995 he was selected as a President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) and addressed its governing board in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[40][46][105] In 1984, Mohammed went against the mainstream African American political establishment and opposed Reverend Jesse Jackson's run for the Democratic nomination for president.

[106] In 1985, to protest the Chicago probate court handling of an American Muslim Mission case, he organized a "Walk for Justice" that drew 500,000 participants.

[103] On September 10, 1990, he participated in the international conference on the "Current Situation in the Gulf", where he made his opposition to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait a matter of public record.

"[111] On behalf of the Muslim American Community, he donated $85,000 to Nelson Mandela to aid his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa during a personal meeting in Oakland, California on June 30, 1990.

[112] He told Islamica magazine in 2008 that he felt that the madhhab—the schools of thought within fiqh—were geographically influenced and should be regionally developed, suggesting that "I think we are gradually getting a sense of madhabs in America, especially those like me.

According to the Final Call newspaper, "The Janazah prayer service was delayed for close to an hour so the huge crowd that had assembled could be organized and situated.

[130] In 1992, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt honored Warith Deen Mohammed with "The Gold Medal of Recognition" for his religious work in the United States.

[104] On Saturday, September 3, 2005, the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) presented an award to W. Deen Mohammed in recognition of his outstanding leadership role in the American Muslim community at The Mosque Cares sponsored Annual Islamic Convention.