>One of my really great friends used to be in The
>Nation of Islam but I'm afraid to approach the subject because
>he left it and I don't want to put our friendship in
>jeopardy.

Hmmmm...my high school mentor was a teenager in the NOI when Malcolm X was gunned down. He left the Nation when Malcolm X was killed and became a true Muslim. I am not Muslim but he taught me so much.