The wife of Louis Farrakhan has died.
The Nation of Islam announced the death of Khadijah Farrakhan at the age of 90.
“The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan with deep sadness yet with profound gratitude to Allah informs you that his beloved wife of 72 years, the first lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah has returned to Allah (may Allah be pleased),” the Shura Executive Council said in a statement.
She will lie in state on Wednesday and Thursday at Mosque Maryam in Chicago with her janazah service held on Friday, followed by her interment, the Nation of Islam said.
Khadijah Farrakhan was born Betsy Ross. She married Louis Farrakhan, named Louis Walcott at the time of their marriage, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953, The Associated Press reported.
She converted to Islam in 1955, the same year he joined the Islamic movement, influenced by his close friend Malcolm X.
He became a leader in the Nation of Islam after the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965. Louis Farrakhan led the Million Man March on Washington, D.C. in 1995. Khadijah Farrakhan led the Million Woman March in Philadelphia two years later, the AP reported.
“A nation can rise no higher than its women,” she said at the event. “We focus on women but cannot lose sight that we must rise as a family -- men, women and children.”
She leaves behind her husband and seven of her nine children.
The couple’s oldest son, Louis Jr. died in 2018 and their son Joshua died in 2023, according to the AP.
The leader of the Nation of Islam marked his 93rd birthday on May 11.
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