exact circumstances of his death are unknown, the Certificate of Death stated that Noble Drew Ali died from "tuberculosis broncho-pneumonia". Despite the official report, many of his followers speculated that his death was caused by injuries from the police or from other members of the faith. Others thought it was due to pneumonia. One Moor told The Chicago Defender, "The Prophet was not ill; his work was done and he laid his head upon the lap of one of his followers and passed out." Succession and schism The death of Drew Ali brought out a number of candidates to succeed him. Brother Edward Mealy El stated that he had been declared Drew Ali's successor by Drew Ali himself. In August, within a month of Drew Ali's death, John Givens El, Drew Ali's chauffeur, declared that he was Drew Ali reincarnated. He is said to have fainted while working on Drew Ali's automobile and "the sign of the star and crescent [appeared] in his eyes". At the September Unity Conference, Givens again made his claim of reincarnation. However, the governors of the Moorish Science Temple of America declared Charles Kirkman Bey to be the successor to Drew Ali and named him Grand Advisor. With the support of several temples each, Mealy El and Givens El both went on to lead separate factions of the Moorish Science Temple. All three factions (Kirkman Bey, Mealy El, and Givens El) are active today. On September 25, 1929, Kirkman Bey's wife reported to the Chicago police his apparent kidnapping by one Ira Johnson. Accompanied by two Moorish Science members, the police visited the home of Johnson, when they were met by gunfire. The attack escalated into a shoot-out that spilled into the surrounding neighborhood. In the end, a policeman as well as a member were killed in the gun battle, and a second policeman later died of his wounds. The police took 60 people into police custody, and a reported 1000 police officers patrolled the Chicago South Side that evening. Johnson and two others were later convicted of murder. Kirkman Bey went on to serve as Grand Advisor of one of the most important factions until 1959, when the reins were given to F. Nelson-Bey. Nation of Islam The community was further split when Wallace Fard Muhammad, known within the temple as David Ford-el, also claimed (or was taken by some) to be the reincarnation