Malcolm X

Americans often say that Malcolm X was Ў°the angriest Negro in AmericaЎ± (p. 366). They assume that Malcolm X emphasized only violence to the white and separation of the black from the white. However, is this assumption about Malcolm X really true? Not, at all. The image of Malcolm X as an icon of Ў°black powerЎ± is not a truth but a myth made by media. Although I grant that Malcolm X had been a radical activist who had tried to improve life of the black and to separate the black from the white before quitting the Nation of Islam, I still argue that Malcolm X eventually realized that the white and the black could exist together with harmony under GOD, Allah, after Hajj.

While orthodox Islam is completely a religion, the Nation of Islam is a religious socio-political organization not merely a religion. As a socio-political organization, the Nation of Islam aims at improving life of the black rather than worshiping GOD. Although the believers in the Nation of Islam would probably insist that the Nation of Islam is a religion which worships Allah and emphasizes AllahЎЇs saying, QurЎЇan, I still believe that the Nation of Islam uses Islam as a tool to progress the black society rather than it merely believes it. For example, Malcolm X states, Ў°Imagine, being a Muslim minister, a leader in Elijah MuhammadЎЇs Nation of Islam, and not knowing the prayer ritualЎ± (p. 326). In addition, in the later part, he writes, Ў°I couldnЎЇt understand what was being saidЎ± (p. 325). The fact that even Malcolm X who was one of the most important ministers of the Nation of Islam, did not know how to pray properly and read Arabic in which QurЎЇan was written definitely shows that its main interest is the life of the black rather than Islam. As a solution to improve life of the black, the Nation of Islam suggests that the separation of the black and the white is the best way to solve racial discrimination and eventually improve the blackЎЇs life. For instance, in Ў°Message to the Blackman in America,Ў± Elijah Muhammad states, Ў°WE BELIEVE this is the time in history for the separation of the so-called Negroes and the so-called white Americans.Ў± While working as a minister of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was so absorbed in its theology that he often went to TV and radio shows to spread its argument of the separation. Especially, Malcolm X loved its historical analysis about racial discrimination. The Nation of Islam states, Ў°WE BELIEVE that the offer of integration is hypocritical and is made by those who are trying to deceive the black peoples into believing that their 400-year-old open enemies of freedom, justice and equality are, all of a sudden, their Ў®friends.ЎЇЎ± Having suffered from the white, Malcolm X thought that the white had been the evil who always tried to exploit the black. However, after the scandal of the adultery of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X was disappointed and realized that the Nation of Islam was not different from the white society, and he finally quit it and decided to go on Hajj.

During Hajj, Malcolm X realized that the Nation of Islam he had believed in without doubt was quite different from orthodox Islam and that the separation which the Nation of Islam had constantly argued was