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Malcolm X: Who Is El-Haj Malik El-Shabazz?

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Who is El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz? No one knows him, but at the same time everyone does. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz is Malcolm X and although people may know what he has generally done throughout his lifetime and the impact he made, most don’t even know one the biggest factors of Malcolm X’s political fame. Malcolm X’s relation with Islam was one of the biggest factors in regards of his political stances and views. I will refer to Malcolm X as El-Shabazz in this essay to perpetuate the reality of Malcolm X being a Muslim. However, the name Malcolm X has deep significance as well because the “X” is used to convey the fact that the last name for an African American was given by slave owners, so in a sense African Americans’ last names are really …show more content…

While in prison El-Shabazz converted/joined the NOI and around 1952 he moved to Chicago to work with the organization. At this point in El-Shabazz’s life, he did not know or learn any of the basic traditions of Islam, nor was he taught all of them appropriately by his mentor Elijah Muhammad. El-Shabazz became the spokesman for the NOI, meaning he was speaking for Elijah Muhammad. El-Shabazz himself notes that every time he spoke to a crowd, he mentioned “The honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us.” As you can see at this current moment, Islam isn’t having an influence necessarily on El-Shabazz’s politics, but it’s merely whatever Elijah Muhammad is telling him to say and teaching the NOI to advocate for. The core belief of the NOI at this moment was African superiority, separation of African Americans from white Americans, and that white racism was forever established and there was no changing white peoples racist view on colored people. The foundation of the NOI was known as “Yacub’s History,” which believed that all humans were Black in the beginning of time itself and later on throughout time an evil man who was a scientist; Mr. Yacub created an evil race of people, which were the White. The whites then ruled over countless races and enslaved Blacks, but in 1931 …show more content…

Evidently this organization was not a civil rights organization, in fact El-Shabazz made many remarks towards Dr. King’s teachings and talked down on his peaceful fight for integration. It is not clear if El-Shabazz was told to make these comments, but it is very likely the NOI had an influence on these comments because the NOI was not for integration, but for separation. Obviously El-Shabazz is his own person and chooses to make his own choices, so the point that is not trying to be made is that El-Shabazz is being forced to say certain things or cannot make decisions on his own on beliefs. The point to be made is that the NOI is having a specific influence on El-Shabazz’s beliefs and that El-Shabazz is being the voice for the NOI rather than having all his personal beliefs being told. This is one of the reasons why El-Shabazz chooses to tear away from the NOI. During the March on Washington of 1963, El-Shabazz realized how many people came and saw the influence Dr. King had, so El-Shabazz thought that the NOI should join in with the civil rights movement, though clearly the NOI was not for this. There are many factors at play for which El-Shabazz left the NOI, in the end it is obvious that El-Shabazz had different views than the NOI and dived more deeply into the ethical issues of Islam for his

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He was later compensated with the post of clergyman of temple No. 7 in Harlem, which most biggest temple in the nation after the Chicago home office. His hard working and his conviction pulled lots of new member to the Nation of Islam, between 1952 to 1963 nation of Islam member grownup 500 person to the 30000 new individuals. Malcom X become very quickly one of the most important leader for the nation of Islam. In 1963 civil rights movement Malcom X found out that his mentor Elijah Muhammad has

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“An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad”, “Black Nationalism: A Search for Identity in America”, and “The Black Muslims in America” are some books that go into very descriptive detail to portray the person Elijah Muhammad was and how he used his religion, The Nation of Islam, to deliver his messages and gain followers as well as traction in his movements. These books proceed to enlighten the reader of the plight of African-Americans in the 20th century and how Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam was a sign of strength and fortitude which encouraged those within its reach to better themselves and their communities. Although the Nation of Islam helped a lot of African-Americans, its message also helped limit its reach from a lot of African-Americans, which is described in these books. In the 1st book, “An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad” written by Claude Clegg, Historian Claude Clegg proposes that Elijah Muhammad was one of the most influential black men of the 20th century.

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Malcolm read the teaching of Elijah Muhammad A Nation Of Islam Malcolm dropped his slave name little an choose X to represent his lost tribal name. At the time when he was given parole in 1952, he had already committed his self to the nation of Islam. He was a very charismatic person an powerful speaker who conveyed Elijah Muhammad teachings to the masses and was appointed national spokesmen. During that period membership was around 500 but skyrocketed to 30,000.

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Although this creates an immediate negative environment urging Malcolm to form his own views and eventually be led to create the Organization of the Afro-American Movement. The encyclopedia also notes that Malcolm’s

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Malcolm also avoided the NOI at all cost and he decided to not be in the organization anymore. So he terminated the organization and, he then started his own organization called the Muslim Mosque Inc. The Muslim Mosque Inc. was started four days after he left the organization. Soon later Elijah Muhammad was ordering guys to plant a bomb in Malcolm's X’s car, which was attempt and he found out.

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Throughout the Autobiography of Malcolm X there are several key events the bring out the central ideas of the text. Some examples of the key events was when Mr. Ostrowski lectured Malcolm, when Malcolm was in jail and he learned the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and when Malcolm made his pilgrimage to Mecca. A closer look at the central ideas would show that they build on one another. When Malcolm was going to school his teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, told home to give up his dream of being a lawyer,” Malcolm, one of life’s first needs is to be realistic.

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While King’s non-aggressive civil rights movement was extremely structured and led by organized protests, Malcolm X’s aggressive civil rights movement was less formally organized but many participants were influenced by his strong rhetoric. Malcolm X believed that his goals should be accomplished by any means possible, even if it meant that African-Americans needed to employ aggressive tactics in order to protect themselves. Malcolm X, who converted to the Nation of Islam while in prison during the late 1940s, worked with the nation’s leader Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X’s conversion was one of the main things that differentiated him from Martin Luther King; while King preached Christian messages, often involving peace and love, Malcolm X preached Islamic messages, often involving justice and respect. Malcolm X believed that African-Americans were never going to get what they wanted by working with white society; he believed that African-Americans had to work alone.

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The Wahhabi and Salafist movements have become increasingly influential throughout the Middle East and the world. They have been an integral part of the dynamic religious conflict in the Middle East and have helped propagate the current terrorist movements throughout the world. To understand what makes these movements so popular, we must revisit the roots of Wahhabism and Salafism and their similarities and differences. Wahhabism was founded by Mohammed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century. Wahhabism “stresses the absolute sovereignty of God.”

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By the early 1960’s the Black Muslims/Nation of Islam membership had grown significantly and Malcolm X continued to be the face of the activist group. According to a New York Times article in 1963, Malcolm X was the second most sought after speaker in the United States and in June of the same year lead the Unity Rally in Harlem. After his speech “God’s Judgment of White America,”(The Chickens Come Home to Roost) where Malcolm in response to a question regarding the recent assassination of President John F Kennedy stated that the President’s death is a direct result of “chickens coming home to roost”.

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He arrived in Birmingham with the hopes that the white religious leadership in the community would see the pressing nature of their cause and serve as the channel that would allow their grievances to reach the power structure. He had high hopes that each member in the church would understand their issues and try to help their fellow christian brothers with their fight for a much needed change, but again he was disappointed. “In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities” (MLK 7). He then continues to say that the churches conformity to the status quo and their negligence of the civil rights movement has made the contemporary church weak. King then writes of his disposition with the church, asking “Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?”

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Due to Malcolm X’s struggles in his early life, he dealt with an internal anger and resentment towards the white race, which lead to him rebelling and acting out. When Malcolm X was only 6 years old, criminals murdered his father and sparked an internal flame of hatred. His anger convinced him to commit various crimes such as stealing. This acted as a way to rebel against his family and the white community; he would not accept going unnoticed, nor would he accept others as they treated him as inferior. Not only did young Malcolm steal, but he also fought frequently with his family members.

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Malcolm’s speeches acted more as instruments of provocation than conversion. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign, Malcolm’s campaign around the country was a direct assault and it was difficult to see any oppressor that will tolerate such. This obviously accounted for the many police brutalities, imprisonment and deaths among the black race. Malcolm X symbolized black dominance and self-respect, he was one of the greatest forces that shaped the current understanding and interpretation given to conflict and violence in the world politics today. If Malcolm were to live in this era, he would be labeled as a terrorist (http://malcolmx.com/).

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However, after his pilgrimage to Mecca, his beliefs changed and he came back to the United States with ideas of a peaceful revolution. “The true brotherhood I had seen had influenced me to recognize that anger can blind human vision,” he said. “America is the first country ... that can actually have a bloodless revolution” (1). Malcolm’s relations with

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Without Malcolm, the White people would have not favored Martin Luther King Jr. over other Civil Rights leaders. Towards the end of Malcolm’s life, Martin Luther King Jr. began to become more like Malcolm in a militant way. Martin Luther king Jr. “was also re-evaluating his presuppositions and was moving toward a greater understanding of Malcolm X, especially regarding black pride, separatism, and White America’s lack of commitment to genuine black equality” (Cone, 1992, p. 256). These transformations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas, likely led him to accomplish the revolution of Civil Rights. Although, this is a possibility, it is extremely unrealistic.

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Malcolm rose quickly and became the prime minister of Temple 11 in Boston a temple in which he founded. He was then given the No. 7 Temple located in Harlem. Temple No. 7 was the largest and prestigious temple known for the Nation of Islam after the headquarters in Chicago.

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