recorded his presence at rallies led by Malcolm X. The early 1960s were a turbulent period for the NOI; unrest was caused by conflicts between leaders Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. Around that time, Clarence 13X became disenchanted with the organization, although the root of his qualms is not known. NOI members have offered contradictory accounts of the events that caused his exit and whether he left voluntarily. 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. Dora Smith elected to stay with the group, prompting the couple's separation. Before leaving the NOI, Clarence 13X had begun to doubt their teaching that Wallace Fard Muhammad was a divine messenger. 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. Clarence 13X concluded that divinity was found in all black men, rather than in a single person. Several times before he left the NOI, he was censured by leadership for these assertions. His friend John 37X elected to leave with him. Malcolm X also left the NOI in 1963 and remained on good terms with Clarence 13X. Clarence 13X did not join Malcolm X's newly created group, Muslim Mosque, Inc. Founding the Five Percenters After leaving the NOI, Clarence 13X and John 37X continued to study the group's teachings, sometimes while smoking marijuana. They assumed new names: Clarence 13X took Allah, and John 37X, Abu Shahid. 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. He referred to this system as "living mathematics". During its development, he was imprisoned on firearms charges. 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. He was assisted by his friend James Howard, with whom he developed a modified version of living mathematics, "supreme mathematics", and an accompanying doctrine about letters, the "supreme alphabet". The development of these systems, considered a "divine science" by adherents, may have been influenced by the teachings of Sufism; like some schools of Sufism, they found esoteric meanings in