Assalaamu alaikum G-L,

Alhamdulillah and below is a forwarded article about Malcolm X
(Raheemahullah- may Allah have mercy on him). One of my favorite Malcolm
quotes:

"I know that societies often have killed the people who have helped to
change those societies. And if I can die having brought any light, having
exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer
that is malignant in the body of America -- then, all of the credit is due
to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine."- Malcolm X


Malcolm X - An Islamic Perspective

adapted from the pamphlet Malcolm X: Why I Embraced Islam by Yusuf Siddiqui.
Quotes taken
from The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley.


Malcolm X Timeline

May 19, 1925 - Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska

1940 - Drops out of school at age 15

1946 - Convicted of burglary and sent to prison

1949 - 1951 - Studies the Nation of Islam

1952 - Leaves prison, dedicates himself to Nation of Islam, changes name to
Malcolm X

Jan. 14, 1958 - Marries Betty X

Dec. 4, 1963 - Suspended from the Nation of Islam

March 1964 - Leaves Nation of Islam, starts the Muslim Mosque, Inc.

Apr. 22, 1964 - Makes his Hajj and becomes El-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz

Jun. 28, 1964 - Forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity

Jul. 17, 1964 - Speaks at the Organization of African Unity in Cairo

Aug. 13, 1964 - U.S. State and Justice Departments take notice of his
influence on African leaders at
the U.N.

Feb 21, 1965 - Al Hajj Malik assassinated in New York


Early Life

On May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm Little was born to Reverend Earl
and Louise Little.
Rev. Little, who believed in self-determination and worked for the unity of
black people. Malcolm was
raised in a background of ethnic awareness and dignity, but violence was
sparked by white racists
trying to stop black people such as Rev. Little from preaching the black
cause.

The history of Malcolm's dedication to black people, like that of his
father, may have been motivated
by a long history of oppression of his family. As a young child, Malcolm,
his parents, brothers, and
sisters were shot at, burned out of their home, harassed, and threatened.
This culminated in the murder
of his father by white racists when Malcolm was six.

Malcolm became a drop-out from school at the age of fifteen. Learning the
ways of the streets,
Malcolm became acquainted with hoodlums, thieves, dope peddlers, and pimps.
Convicted of burglary
at twenty, he remained in prison until the age of twenty-seven. During his
prison stay he attempted to
educate himself. In addition, during his period in prison he learned about
and joined the Nation of Islam,
studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed fully. He was released, a changed
man, in 1952.



The Nation of Islam

Upon his release, Malcolm went to Detroit, joined the daily activities of
the sect, and was given
instruction by Elijah Muhammad himself. Malcolm's personal commitment helped
build the organization
nation-wide, while making him an international figure. He was interviewed on
major television programs
and by magazines, and spoke across the country at various universities and
other forums. His power
was in his words, which so vividly described the plight of blacks and
vehemently incriminated whites.
When a white person referred to the fact that some Southern university had
enrolled black freshmen
without bayonets, Malcolm reacted with scorn:

     When I "slipped," the program host would leap on the bait: "Ahhh!
Indeed, Mr.
     Malcolm X -- you can't deny that's an advance for your race!"

     I'd jerk the pole then. "I can't turn around without hearing about some
'civil rights
     advance'! White people seem to think the black man ought to be shouting
     'hallelujah'! Four hundred years the white man has had his foot-long
knife in the
     black man's back -- and now the whit man starts to wiggle the knife
out, maybe six
     inches! The black man's supposed to be grateful? Why, if the white man
jerked the
     knife out, it's still going to leave a scar!

Although Malcolm words often stung with the injustices against blacks in
America, the equally racist
views of the Nation of Islam kept him from accepting any whites as sincere
or capable of helping the
situation. For twelve years he preached that the white man was the devil and
the "Honorable Elijah
Muhammad" was God's messenger. Unfortunately, most images of Malcolm today
focus on this period
of his life, although the transformation he was about to undergo would give
him a completely different,
and more important, message for the American people.


The Change to True Islam

On March 12, 1964, impelled by internal jealousy within the Nation of Islam
and revelations of Elijah
Muhammad's sexual immorality, Malcolm left the Nation of Islam with the
intention of starting his own
organization:

     I feel like a man who has been asleep somewhat and under someone else's
control. I
     feel what I'm thinking and saying now is for myself. Before, it was for
and by
     guidance of another, now I think with my own mind.

Malcolm was thirty-eight years old when he left Elijah Muhammad's Nation of
Islam. Reflecting on
reflects that occurred prior to leaving, he said:

     At one or another college or university, usually in the informal
gatherings after I
     had spoken, perhaps a dozen generally white-complexioned people would
come up
     to me, identifying themselves as Arabian, Middle Eastern or North
African Muslims
     who happened to be visiting, studying, or living in the United States.
They had said
     to me that, my white-indicting statements notwithstanding, they felt I
was sincere in
     considering myself a Muslim -- and they felt if I was exposed to what
they always
     called "true Islam," I would "understand it, and embrace it."
Automatically, as a
     follower of Elijah, I had bridled whenever this was said. But in the
privacy of my
     own thoughts after several of these experiences, I did question myself:
if one was
     sincere in professing a religion, why should he balk at broadening his
knowledge of
     that religion?

     Those orthodox Muslims whom I had met, one after another, had urged me
to meet
     and talk with a Dr. Mahmoud Youssef Shawarbi. . . . Then one day Dr.
Shawarbi
     and I were introduced by a newspaperman. He was cordial. He said he had
followed
     me in the press; I said I had been told of him, and we talked for
fifteen or twenty
     minutes. We both had to leave to make appointments we had, when he
dropped on
     me something whose logic never would get out of my head. He said, "No
man has
     believed perfectly until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for
himself."



The Effect of the Pilgrimage

Malcolm further continues about the Hajj:

     The pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj, is a religious obligation
that every
     orthodox Muslim fulfills, if able, at least once in his or her
lifetime.

     The Holy Quran says it, "Pilgrimage to the House [of God built by the
prophet
     Abraham] is a duty men owe to God; those who are able, make the
journey." (3:97)

     Allah said: "And proclaim the pilgrimage among men; they will come to
you on foot
     and upon each lean camel, they will come from every deep ravine"
(22:27).

     Every one of the thousands at the airport, about to leave for Jeddah,
was dressed
     this way. You could be a king or a peasant and no on e would know. Some
powerful
     personages, who were discreetly pointed out to me, had on the same
thing I had on.
     Once thus dressed, we all had begun intermittently calling out
"Labbayka!
     (Allahumma) Labbayka!" (Here I come, O Lord!) Packed in the plane were
white,
     black, brown, red, and yellow people, blue eyes and blond hair, and my
kinky red
     hair -- all together, brothers! All honoring the same God, all in turn
giving equal
     honor to each other. . . .

     That is when I first began to reappraise the "white man." It was when I
first began
     to perceive that "white man," as commonly used, means complexion only
     secondarily; primarily it described attitudes and actions. In
America,"white man"
     meant specific attitudes and actions toward the black man, and toward
all other
     non-white men. But in the Muslim world, I had seen that men with white
     complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever
been. That
     morning was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about
"white"
     men.

     There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They
were of all
     colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were
all
     participating in the same ritual displaying a spirit of unity and
brotherhood that my
     experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between
the white
     an d the non-white...America needs to understand Islam, because this is
the one
     religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my
travels in the
     Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in
America
     would have been considered white -- but the "white" attitude was
removed from
     their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere
and true
     brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespecitve of their
color.



Malcolm's New Vision of America

Malcolm continues:

     Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual
insights into
     what is happening in America between black and white. The American
Negro never
     can be blamed for his racial animosities -- he is only reacting to four
hundred years
     of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads
America up the
     suicide path I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with
them, that the
     whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities,
will see the
     handwriting on the wall and many of them will turn to the spiritual
path of truth -- the
     only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism
inevitably must lead
     to. . . .

     I believe that God now is giving the world's so-called 'Christian'
white society its
     last opportunity to repent and atone for the crimes of exploiting and
enslaving the
     world's non-white peoples. It is exactly as when God gave Pharaoh a
chance to
     repent. But Pharaoh persisted in his refusal to give justice to those
who he
     oppressed. And, we know, God finally destroyed Pharaoh.

     I will never forget the dinner at the Azzam home with Dr. Azzam. The
more we
     talked, the more his vast reservoir of knowledge and its variety seemed
unlimited.
     He spoke of the racial lineage of the descendants of Muhammad (PBUH)
the
     Prophet, and he showed how they were both black and white. He also
pointed out
     how color, and the problems of color which exist in the Muslim world,
exist only
     where, and to the extent that, that area of the Muslim world has been
influenced by
     the West. He said that if on encountered any differences based on
attitude toward
     color, this directly reflected the degree of Western influence.



The Oneness of Man Under One God

It was during his pilgrimage that he began to write some letters to his
loyal assistants at the newly
formed Muslim Mosque in Harlem. He asked that his letter be duplicated and
distributed to the press:

     Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming
spirit of true
     brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in
this ancient
     Holy Land, the House of Abraham, Muhammad, and all the other Prophets
of the
     Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and
spellbound by
     the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.
. . .

     You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this
pilgrimage, what I
     have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my
     thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous
conclusions.
     This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have
always been a
     man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new
experience and
     new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which
necessary to the
     flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent
search for truth.

     During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from
the same
     plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the
same rug) --
     while praying to the same God -- with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were
the bluest of
     blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the
whitest of
     white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the
"white" Muslims,
     I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims
of Nigeria,
     Sudan, and Ghana.

     We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one
God had
     removed the "white" from their minds, the 'white' from their behavior,
and the
     'white' from their attitude.

     I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the
Oneness of
     God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man
-- and cease
     to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their "differences"
in color.

     With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called
"Christian"
     white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to
such a
     destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from
imminent
     disaster -- the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that
eventually
     destroyed the Germans themselves.

     They asked me what about the Hajj had impressed me the most. . . . I
said, "The
     brotherhood! The people of all races, color, from all over the world
coming to gether
     as one! It has proved to me the power of the One God. . . . All ate as
one, and slept
     as one. Everything about the pilgrimage atmosphere accented the Oneness
of Man
     under One God.

Malcolm returned from the pilgrimage as El-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz. He was
afire with new spiritual
insight. For him, the struggle had evolved from the civil rights struggle of
a nationalist to the human rights
struggle of an internationalist and humanitarian.



After the Pilgrimage

White reporters and others were eager to learn about El-Hajj Malik's
newly-formed opinions
concerning themselves. They hardly believed that the man who had preached
against them for so many
years could suddenly turn around and call them brothers. To these people
El-Hajj Malik had this to say:

     You're asking me "Didn't you say that now you accept white men as
brothers?"
     Well, my answer is that in the Muslim world, I saw, I felt, and I wrote
home how my
     thinking was broadened! Just as I wrote, I shared true, brotherly love
with many
     white-complexioned Muslims who never gave a single thought to the race,
or to the
     complexion, of another Muslim.

     My pilgrimage broadened my scope. It blessed me with a new insight. In
two weeks
     in the Holy Land, I saw what I never had seen in thirty-nine years here
in America. I
     saw all races, all colors, -- blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned
Africans -- in true
     brotherhood! In unity! Living as one! Worshipping as one! No
segregationists -- no
     liberals; they would not have known how to interpret the meaning of
those words.

     In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people.
I will never
     be guilty of that again -- as I know now that some white people are
truly sincere,
     that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man. The
true Islam
     has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong
as when
     whites make blanket indictments against blacks.

To the blacks who increasingly looked to him as a leader, El-Hajj Malik
preached a new message,
quite the opposite of what he had been preaching as a minister in the Nation
of Islam:

     True Islam taught me that it takes all of the religious, political,
economic,
     psychological, and racial ingredients, or characteristics, to make the
Human Family
     and the Human Society complete.

     Since I learned the truth in Mecca, my dearest friends have come to
include all kinds
     -- some Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and even
atheists! I have
     friends who are called capitalists, Socialists, and Communists! Some of
my friends
     are moderates, conservatives, extremists -- some are even Uncle Toms!
My friends
     today are black, brown, red, yellow, and white!

     I said to my Harlem street audiences that only when mankind would
submit to the
     One God who created all -- only then would mankind even approach the
"peace" of
     which so much talk could be heard...but toward which so little action
was seen.



Too Dangerous to Last

El-Hajj Malik's new universalistic message was the U.S. establishment's
worst nightmare. Not only was
he appealing to the black masses, but to intellectuals of all races and
colors. Now he was consistently
demonized by the press as "advocating violence" and being "militant,"
although in actuality he and Dr.
Martin Luther King were moving closer together in outlook:

     The goal has always been the same, with the approaches to it as
different as mine
     and Dr. Martin Luther King's non-violent marching, that dramatizes the
brutality
     and the evil of the white man against defenseless blacks. And in the
racial climate of
     this country today, it is anybody's guess which of the "extremes" in
approach to the
     black man's problems might personally meet a fatal catastrophe first --
     "non-violent" Dr. King, or so-called "violent" me."

El-Hajj Malik knew full well that he was a target of many groups. In spite
of this, he was never afraid to
say what he had to say when he had to say it. As a sort of epitaph at the
end of his autobiography, he
says:

     I know that societies often have killed the people who have helped to
change those
     societies. And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed
any meaningful
     truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in
the body of
     America -- then, all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes
have been mine.



The Legacy of Malcolm X

Although El-Hajj Malik kenw that he was a target for assassination, he
accepted this fact without
requesting police protection. On February 21, 1965, while preparing to give
a speech at a New York
hotel, he was shot by three black men. He was three months short of forty,
the age of maturity
according to the Qur'an. While it is clear that the Nation of Islam had
something to do with the
assassination, many people believe there was more than one organization
involved. The FBI, known for
its anti-black movement tendency, has been suggested as an accomplice. We
may never know for sure
who was behind El-Hajj Malik's murder, or, for that matter, the murder of
other national leaders in the
early 1960s.

Malcolm X's life has affected Americans in many important ways. His
conversion must have had an
influence on Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace Muhammad, who, after his
father's death, led the Nation
of Islam's followers into orthodox Islam. African-Americans' interest in
their Islamic roots has flourished
since El-Hajj Malik's death. Alex Haley, who wrote Malcolm's autobiography,
later wrote the epic
Roots about an African Muslim family's experience with slavery. More and
more African-Americans
are becoming Muslim, adopting Muslim names, or explor- ing African culture.
Interest in Malcolm X
has seen a surge recently due to Spike Lee's movie, X. El-Hajj Malik is a
source of pride for
African-Americans, Muslims, and Americans in general. His message is simple
and clear:

     I am not a racist in any form whatever. I don't believe in any form of
racism. I don't
     believe in any form of discrimination or segregation. I believe in
Islam.


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