Happy Birthday to the late El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (formerly Malcolm X)

FROM MALCOLM X TO EL HAJJ MALIK EL SHABAZZ
The Transformation of Malcolm X

Written by Zameer Baber

Malcolm X was perhaps one of the most controversial elements in
the civil rights movement. In his early years, Malcolm X became a member of
Nation of Islam, a religion that borrowed basic ideas from the orthodox
teachings of Islam and combined with racist views regarding whites taught
by Elijah Mohammed. Malcolm X was a very influential and prominent priest
for the Nation of Islam. However, Mr. Mohammed and his Nation of Islam
turned against Malcolm when he questioned some of the beliefs and actions
of Elijah Mohammed. This uncertainty forced Malcolm to embark on a quest
over seas seas to find his true beliefs. Upon his arrival to Arabia, he
found a truly different society, where race played no factor on a person's
status (Davies, 98). This made a very positive change in Malcolm X's
beliefs. This unity of human kind had forced Malcolm to change many of his
ideas including his beliefs about the the solution to the racial problem in
America.

Malcolm X had his first religious enlightenment while serving time
for various crimes he had committed when he was young. While Malcolm was in
prison, he learned and adopted the teachings of Nation of Islam, a
religious sect of Orthodox Islam which believes in strict moral codes and
radical views about race led by Elijah Mohammed. By the time he left
prison, Malcolm had completely changed himself from a drug dealing burglar
to a religious priest for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X had completely
submitted himself to the racist teachings of Elijah Mohammed. It is through
the Nation of Islam and Elijah Mohammed's teachings that Malcolm developed
his radical views about race in America.

Under the teachings of Elijah Mohammed, Malcolm X had targeted all
whites and blamed them for position of blacks in society. He had referred
to whites as devils, who sought to lower the standards of blacks even more,
by bringing prostitution, liquor, etc. into black neighborhoods. (Life,
0:06:03). Malcolm X believed that complete segregation between blacks and
whites was the only answer to the racial problem in America. Malcolm felt
that all the actions committed against blacks in history was due the white
race in its entirety, and not because of specific individual actions (X,
238-239). He also believed that blacks should not only segregate but all
blacks should migrate to Africa, and establish a society there (Perry,
196).

Fifteen years after Malcolm embraced the Nation of Islam, he
started to question the religion. Allegations of sexual misconduct and
illegitimate children against Elijah Mohammed had arisen (Mack-Williams,
101). When Malcolm confronted Mr. Mohammed regarding the situation, Mr.
Mohammed admitted to his actions. Malcolm then began to question the
beliefs of Elijah Mohammed, and his involvement with the Nation of Islam.
During this time, according to Malcolm, Elijah Mohammed and other leaders
of the Nation of Islam grew increasingly jealous of Malcolm's success, and
created lies about Malcolm to discredit his name (X, 290). Malcolm finally
left the Nation of Islam in 1964.

Later that same year, in an attempt to find the true religion of
Islam, as it is practiced by the millions of followers around the world,
Malcolm embarked on a voyage that would ultimately change his beliefs,
life, and attitude about America. Malcolm X landed in Mecca, Arabia to
undergo the holy pilgrimage, an act that all well-to-do orthodox Muslims
are required participate in . This experience had a very positive impact on
Malcolm X. Despite the racial frustrations Malcolm carried, he wrote in a
letter to his wife,

"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the over
whelming sprit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all
colors and races here [Mecca].... this pilgrimage... has forced me
to re-arrange much of my thought patterns... and toss aside some of
my previous conclusions.... In the words and in the actions and in
the deeds of 'White' Muslims I felt the same sincerity that I felt
among the Black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana" (qtd.
in X, 339-340).

While racial hatred, in America, had forced blacks into the lowest depths
of society, Malcolm had encountered a land where the color of the skin
played absolutely no factor in any aspect of life. While Segregation in
America had forced blacks to survive in poorest of living conditions, the
white leader of Arabia had invited Malcolm to stay not only in his
extravagant palace, but in his own room (X, 333). While whites had beaten,
raped, and attacked blacks, while fire hoses were unleashed at black
civilians, while hungry dogs were released on black protesters, while white
supremacist groups like the KKK used violence to intimidate blacks, Malcolm
X had "eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass... while
praying to the same God with fellow Muslims, whose eyes are the
bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was
the whitest of white" (Malcolm X tape II, 1:38:48). It is from this trip to
Arabia, that Malcolm learned about the value of brotherhood He learned to
trust people, whites in particular. Malcolm learned the color of one's skin
does not reflect what kind of person you are, rather that ones actions
reflect the quality of a person (X, 333). He learned that coexistence can
and will work, something that Malcolm previously believed could never
happen. From this trip, Malcolm abandoned all his racist and segregational
views about the American society, and adopted the more Orthodox Islamic
approach of racial coexistence and equality.

When Malcolm returned to his trip, he immediately started preaching
his new philosophy. He developed new ideas about race in America and how
its relation in the world, foreign policy and politics, and African
American unity.

Perhaps the greatest change in Malcolm's beliefs were his ideas
regarding relationships between whites and blacks. His conversion to
orthodox Islam had changed his views about Whites completely. In one of his
speeches after his Mecca trip, he writes:

"I am not a racist... In the past I permitted myself ... to make
sweeping indictments of all white people, the entire white race,
and these generalizations have caused injuries to some whites and
perhaps did not deserve to hurt. Because of my spiritual
enlightenment... as a result of my pilgrimage [to Mecca, Arabia]...
I no longer subscribe to make sweeping indictments of any one race"
( "Malcolm X", MSA internet site).

It is at this time Malcolm X had changed his name from the Nation of Islam
trademark of "X" to a traditional orthodox Muslim name, Malik El- Shabazz.
This change in his name probably signified his complete separation from the
Nation of Islam's radical philosophy about racial separation to orthodox
Islam's beliefs in racial equality. This is what Malik El-Shabazz said
about his new found religion: "When you become [a true] Muslim, you don't
look at a man as being black, brown, red, yellow. You look at him as being
a man" (qtd. in Decaro Jr, 72).

Mr. El- Shabazz practiced his new found philosophy.. After
Malcolm's separation from the Nation of Islam, he created his own
orginization called Muslim Mosque Inc., which abandoned the Nation of
Islam's anti-symetic views and called for black unity both in America and
abroad. (Myers, 158). Perhaps the most shocking difference between Muslim
Mosque Incorporated and the Nation of Islam was its views regarding whites.
According to Malik's friend, Dr. Mahmoud Shawarbi, Malik El-Shabazz wanted
whites to join his organization. In fact, Mr. El- Shabazz felt that it
would help his organization grow (DeCaro Jr., 249). This was a complete
reversal from his previous beliefs under the Nation of Islam where he not
only didn't trust whites, he referred to them as devils (Malcolm X
tape 2, 0:27:36).

In Arabia, Malcolm witnesses coexistence between all races. He
brought this positive ideology to America. In his years with Nation of
Islam, Malcolm called for complete separation of blacks and whites. He felt
that the only way blacks could exist the way they deserve to exist is if
they governed and lived by themselves (Malcolm X tape II, 1:11:19).
However, Malik El- Shabazz no longer believed this way, infact he
completely changed his views on this subject. Mr. Shabazz went as far as to
state that relationships between races was permissible saying, "...when you
are dealing with humanity as a family there's no marriage of intergration
or intermarriage" (qtd. in X, 424). Malik El- Shabazz truly felt unified
with the people of all nations who held common beliefs. He believed that
the solution to the racial problems lies in the mind of the people, not
segregation. Malik El- Shabazz had felt that that many of the whites in
America had developed a superiority attitude which dates back to the time
of slavery. This superiority attitude was the root of the racial problems
in America, and unless it is removed, theses problems could never be
solved. (DeCaro Jr, 1^9)

The way Malik El- Shabazz viewed other black organizations changed
as a result of his spiritual rebirth. Previously, under the Nation of
Islam, Malcolm X denounced all black leaders who supported "non-radical"
solutions to the racial problems in America. He argued, "...when the white
man wants to attack Negroes, they can't defend themselves, because [Martin
Luther] King has put this foolish philosophy out- you're not supposed to
fight or you're not supposed to defend yourself." Malcolm made direct
criticisms against Martin King and others like King (qtd. in Gallen, 139).
However, since the conversion to authentic Islam, Malik El- Shabazz looked
at other black leaders differently. On his trip to Mecca, Malcolm witnessed
a tremendous amount of unity of people, despite their differences. He had
felt that unity is what strengthened brotherhood. Malik El- Shabazz wanted
to bring this unity to America (Malcolm X tape II, 1:19:52). When Malik El-
Shabazz returned to America, he gave full support to all black
organizations, which wanted to achieve positive results. He began to set
the stage for working with Martin Luther King and perhaps other black
leaders (Curry, 5).

Shabazz's enlightenment in Arabia changed his attitude regarding
the solution to the racial problems. Since Malik El- Shabazz gained a sense
of unity with the people of the world, he no longer felt that the racial
problem existed only in America. He felt the civil rights cause should be
addressed as human rights and should be treated as a human problem, not
just a national one (Davies, 104). In that regard Malik El- Shabazz
presented proposition to sue the United States for violating human rights
in front of the United Nations (Curry, 5). However, because of the mind-set
of the black community in America at the time, the proposition had minimal
support. In addition this movement was completely stopped as a result of
Shabazz's assassination.

Malik El- Shabazz also made direct criticisms against Elijah
Mohammed and the Nation of Islam. He believed that the religion of Nation
of Islam is a completely different entity than Orthodox Islam, and Elijah
Mohammed was a fake. Regarding the Nation of Islam and Elijah Mohammed,
Malcolm writes:

"For 12 long years I lived within the narrow minded confines of the
straight jacket world created by my strong belief that Elijah
Mohammed was a messenger direct from God... and my faith in what I
now see to be a pseudo-religious philosophy that he preaches. . . .
I shall never rest until I have undone the harm I did to so many
well-meaning, innocent Negroes who... now believe in him even more
fanatically and more blindly than I did (Malcolm X Quotes,
Internet). This passage reflects Shabazz's new beliefs regarding
the Nation of Islam, Shabazz's previous religion. He had felt that
the Nation of Islam was blinding many blacks, which in turn could
hurt the human rights movement."

Malik El- Shabazz, not only criticized the Nation of Islam, he preached for
many blacks to convert from Nation of Islam to Orthodox Islam. Malcolm had
insulted the Nation by calling it "cult like" (De Caro Jr., 166). An action
that threatened Elijah Mohammed and his Nation of Islam. El- Shabazz had
felt that this threat may lead the Nation of Islam to inflect violence, in
particular, against himself. (DeCaro Jr., 254). El- Shabazz was correct. On
February 21, 1965, Malik El- Shabazz was assassinated while delivering a
speech in New York. Three Nation of Islam leaders were convicted and
sentenced for the killing (Myers, 196-197).

Malik El- Shabazz had said, "My whole life has been a chronology
of changes" (Malcolm X Quotes, Internet). El- Shabazz had three main stages
in his life. As Malcolm Little, he was a drug addict and a criminal. As
Malcolm X, he had transformed from a petty thief to a prominent priest for
the Nation of Islam . He taught racial hatred and radical views on solving
the racial problems in America. As Malik El- Shabazz, he had transformed
from preaching segregation to preaching racial unity and equality. If
someone was to hear the beliefs of Malcolm X and hear the beliefs of
Malcolm as Malik El-Shabazz, they might beleive that Malcolm and Malik were
two entirely different people, with drastically opposing views. Perhaps
what made Malik El- Shabazz so great was that bettered himself by
acknowledging his mistakes, learning from them, and was committed to
teaching the lessons of his mistakes to others, so others could better
themselves.
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Sources:

Curry, George E. "The Last Days of Malcolm X." Emerge Feb. 1995: 1-5. SIRS
Researcher Article 49.

Davies, Mark. Malcolm X: Another Side of the Movement. New Jersey: Silver
Burdett Press Inc., 1990.

DeCaro Jr., Louis A. On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm
X. New York: New York University, 1996.

Gallen, David. Malcolm X: As They Knew Him. New York: Caroll & Graff
Publishers Inc., 1992.

Life and Death of Malcolm X. Dir. James Washington. Narr. Kingston Ducoeur.
Simitar Entertainment, 1992.

Mack-Williams, Kibibi. Malcolm X. Florida: Rourke Publications Inc., 1993.

Malcolm X. Dir. Spike Lee. With Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett.
Warner Bros., 1992.

Moritz, Elke. Malcolm X Quotes. http://www.unix-ag.uni
kl.de/moritz/daten/afroamer/mxquotes.aa. Online. Netscape. Internet. 30
April 1996.

MSA. Malcolm X. http://www.csun.edu/~hbcsc103/malcolmx.html. Online.
Netscape. Internet. 5 May 1996.

Myers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. New York:
Scholastic Inc., 1993.

Perry, Bruce. Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America. New
York: Station Hill Press Inc., 1991.

X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Random House Inc.,
1965.
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