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About the Author:
Lord Headley al-Farooq (Rt.
Hon. Sir Rowland George Allanson) was born in 1855 A.D. and was a leading
British peer, statesman and author. Educated in Cambridge, he became a peer in
1877, served in the army as a captain and later on as Lieut. Colonel in 4th
Battalion of North Minister Fusiliers. Although an engineer by profession he had
wide literary tastes. One time he was the editor of the "Salisbury
Journal". He was also the author of several books, most well known amongst
them being: A Western Awakening to Islam. Lord Headley embraced Islam on 16th
November 1913(8) and adopted the Muslim name of Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq.
The Lord was a widely travelled man and he visited India in 1928.
It is possible some of my friends may imagine that I have
been influenced by Muslims; but this is not the cause, for my present
convictions are solely the outcome of many years of thought. My actual
conversations with educated Muslims on the subject of religion only commenced a
few weeks ago, and need I say that I am overjoyed to find that all my theories
and conclusions are entirely in accord with Islam.
Conversion, according to the Koran, should come out of free choice and
spontaneous judgement, and never be attained by means of compulsion. Jesus meant
the same thing when he said to his disciples: "And whosoever shall not
receive you nor hear you, when ye depart there ... (St. Mark, vi, 2).
I have known very many instances of zealous Protestants who have thought it
their duty to visit Roman Catholic homes in order to make 'converts' of the
inmates. Such irritating and unneighbourly conduct is, of course, very
obnoxious, and has invariably led to much ill-feeling -- stirring up strife and
tending to bring religion into contempt. I am sorry to think that Christian
missionaries have also tried these methods with their Muslim brethren; though, I
am at a loss to conceive, why should they try
to convert those who are already better Christians than they are themselves? I
say 'better Christians' advisedly, because charity, tolerance and
broad-mindedness in the Muslim faith come nearer to what Christ himself taught
than do the somewhat narrow tenets of the various Christian Churches.
To take one example: the Athnasian Creed, which treats the Trinity in a very
confusing manner. In this Creed, which is very important and deals conclusively
with one of the fundamental tenets of the 'Churches', it is laid down most
clearly that it represents the Catholic faith, and that if we do not believe it
we shall perish everlastingly. Then we are told that we must think
of the Trinity if we want to be saved - in other words that the idea is of a God
whom we in one breath hail as merciful and almighty and in the very next breath
whom we accuse of injustice and cruelty, qualities which we would attribute to
the most blood-thirsty human tyrant. As if God, Who is before all and above all,
would be in any way influenced by what a poor mortal 'thinks of the Trinity'.
Here is another instance of want of charity. I received a letter -- it was of
my leaning towards Islam -- in which the writer told me that if I did not
believe in the Divinity of Christ I could not be saved. The question of the
Divinity of Christ never seemed to me nearly so important as that other
question: 'Did he give God's message to mankind?' Now if I had any doubt this
latter point it would worry me a great deal, but thank God, I have no doubts,
and I hope that my faith in Christ and his inspired teachings is as firm as that
of any other Muslim or Christian. As I have often said before, Islam and
Christianity, as taught by Christ himself, are sister religions, only held apart
by dogmas and technicalities which might very well be dispensed with.
In the present day men are prone to become atheists when asked to
subscribe to dogmatic and intolerant beliefs, and there is doubtless a craving
for a religion appealing to the intelligence as well as to the sentiments of
men. Whoever heard of a Muslim turning atheist? There may have been some
cases, but I very much doubt it.
There are thousands of men -- and women, too, I believe -- who are at heart
Muslims, but convention, fear of adverse comments, and desire to avoid any worry
or change, conspire to keep them from openly admitting the fact. I have taken
the step, though I am quite aware that many friends and relatives now look upon
me as a lost soul and past praying for. And yet
I am just the same in my beliefs as I was twenty years ago; it is the outspoken
utterance which has lost me their good opinion.
Having briefly given
some of the reasons for adopting the teachings of Islam, and having explained
that I consider myself by that very act a far better Christian than I was
before, I can only hope that others will follow the example -- which I honestly
believe is a good one -- which will bring happiness to any one looking upon the
step as one in advance rather than one in any way hostile to true Christianity.
From "Islam, Our Choice"
My
Journey To Islam: Malcolm X, but
really El-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz
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.
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 YorkEarly 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.
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 white 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.
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."
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 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.
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.
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.
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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