Yakub is a 6,600-year-old Black scientist from Nation of Islam teachings who, in NOI theology, created white people through breeding experiments. Online, his name became an iFunny and Twitter meme format.

Where did Yakub come from?

The character comes from Lost Found Moslem Lesson No. 2, a 1924 Nation of Islam pamphlet by Elijah Muhammad based on writings by W.D. Fard. He first appeared as an internet meme reference on the Heartiste WordPress blog on January 8, 2015.

What does Yakub mean?

In NOI cosmology, Yakub is the name of the Black scientist credited with inventing white people and other non-Black and non-Asian races. Online, the name functions as shorthand for jokes about race creation and large-head photos.

How do you use Yakub?

People post images of Black men with oversized heads captioned as Yakub, make mock NOI fact-graphics about him creating white people, or share 'Doctor Yakub' photos showing him posing with his 'creations'. 'Yakub-maxxing' is used for enlarged-head photos regardless of NOI context.

Is Yakub still popular?

Usage spiked when the name trended on Twitter in April 2022 after D.C. police revealed a Yakub poster in a mass shooter's apartment. Posting slowed after that moment but the format still shows up in iFunny and Twitter circles.

Yakub

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Published October 29, 2026

Yakub is a figure from Nation of Islam teachings reimagined online as the Black scientist who engineered white people in a lab, and his name took hold as a running joke across iFunny and Twitter. He slipped onto the English-speaking web in early 2015 through fringe blogs before migrating to meme boards. By April 2022, 'Yakub' trended on Twitter after D.C. police released a photo of a Yakub poster hanging inside a mass shooter's apartment.

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Overview

Posters using the Yakub name typically combine an image of a Black man with a large or bulbous head and the premise that he engineered white people, with mock scientific captions attached1. A common 'Doctor Yakub' bit shows an older Black man standing beside white women or other 'creations,' played either as pride, horror, or deadpan announcement. Separately, 'Yakub-maxxing' refers to posting photos of people with Photoshopped or naturally oversized heads, including a widely circulated edit of streamer Tyler17.

Tone across these posts shifts by platform. iFunny users run the gag earnestly in the style of Nation of Islam fact graphics2, while Twitter posts lean into confusion humor, treating Yakub as a goofy mascot of racial grievance. Nobody outside NOI circles knows the backstory, so a straight-faced 'Yakub' photo tends to confuse first-time viewers, which is the point3.

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Origin & Background

Platform

WordPress (first online mention) / iFunny and 4chan (viral spread)

Date

2015

Yakub originated in Nation of Islam cosmology through writings by W.D. Fard, published by Elijah Muhammad in a question-and-answer pamphlet called Lost Found Moslem Lesson No. 2 on February 20, 1924. In NOI theology, he is a 6,600-year-old Black scientist whose breeding experiments produced white people and other non-Black and non-Asian groups8.

The earliest documented online appearance tied to the modern meme came from the WordPress blog Heartiste on January 8, 2015, which posted a photo of a Black man with an unusually large head shape alongside Yakub references1. A few months later, iFunny user HacksAndFactz_2015 posted a fact-style graphic on April 23, 2015 that attributed Yakub's experiments to the Greek island of Patmos, set against the Nation of Islam flag2.

How It Spread

Yakub appeared on iFunny and 4chan during 2015 and 2016, where posters assembled fact-graphics using NOI iconography and edits of Black men with large heads2. On September 11, 2021, iFunny user BenShapiro ran a 'face reveal' bit using streamer Tyler1 as proof of 'Yakub-maxxing,' a label for photos of enlarged heads whether Photoshopped or genetic7.

The meme spiked on April 23, 2022, after the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. tweeted photos from the fifth-floor apartment of Raymond Spencer, a 23-year-old Virginia man who shot four people near a northwest D.C. school before killing himself as officers arrived4. One image showed firearms alongside a Yakub poster on the wall, sending 'Yakub' trending across Twitter as users outside NOI circles tried to figure out who he was3.

On the same day, Twitter user @Real_Xi_Jinping posted 'What's with the Yakub.png on the Simpsons cloud background?' and drew more than 300 likes within two days5. Doctor Yakub formats followed, including an iFunny post by user free_twovie featuring an older Black man posing with two white women, captioned as the pair he had just created6.

Timeline

1924-02-20

Elijah Muhammad publishes Lost Found Moslem Lesson No. 2, the Nation of Islam pamphlet introducing Yakub as the Black scientist who created white people.

2015-01-08

The WordPress blog Heartiste posts a photo of a Black man with a large head shape and Yakub references, the earliest documented online usage tied to the meme.

2015-04-23

IFunny user HacksAndFactz_2015 uploads a Nation of Islam fact-style graphic about Yakub creating white people on the Greek island of Patmos.

2021-09-11

IFunny user BenShapiro posts a 'face reveal' meme using streamer Tyler1 to joke about Yakub-maxxing.

2022-04-22

Raymond Spencer shoots four people near a school in northwest Washington D.C. from his apartment and then kills himself as police arrive.

2022-04-23

D.C. police release photos from Spencer's apartment showing a Yakub poster on the wall, sending the name trending on Twitter.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Yakub post pairs a Black man with an exaggerated head shape (either real or Photoshopped) with text that credits him as the inventor of white people. Common conventions include captions in a pseudo-educational voice, NOI flag backgrounds for 'fact' graphics, or 'Doctor Yakub' photo captions showing him posing with his supposed creations. Yakub-maxxing posts often lose the NOI references entirely and focus on the enlarged-head visual gag.