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Famous
Personalities of the Global Islamic Movement Throughout History
Malcolm X, born
Malcolm Little - Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha,
Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York
City USA) was a human rights activitist, renowned
speaker and initially a national spokesman for the
Nation of Islam.
He was also founder of the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the
Organization of Afro-American Unity when he switched to
orthodox sunni islam.
During his life, Malcolm went from being a drug dealer
and burglar to one of the most prominent black muslim
nationalist leaders in the United States; he was
considered by some as a martyr of Islam and a champion
of equality.
As a militant leader, Malcolm X advocated black pride,
economic self-reliance, and identity politics.
He ultimately rose to become a world-renowned African
American/Pan-Africanist and human rights activist.
Following a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm
converted to orthodox Islam.
On April 13, 1964, Malcolm departed JFK Airport, New
York for Cairo by way of Frankfurt. It was the second
time Malcolm had been to Africa. On the next leg of his
journey, Malcolm left Cairo for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
His status as an authentic Muslim was questioned by
Saudi authorities because of his inability to speak
Arabic and his United States passport. Since only
confessing Muslims are allowed into Mecca, he was
separated from the group with which he arrived and was
isolated. He spent about 20 hours wearing the ihram, a
two-piece garment comprising two white unhemmed sheets.
According to the Autobiography, it was at this time he
remembered the book The Eternal Message of Muhammad by
Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam and which Dr. Mahmoud Yousseff
Sharwabi had presented to him with his visa approval. He
called Azzam's son who arranged for his release. At the
younger Azzam's home he met Azzam Pasha who gave Malcolm
his suite at the Jeddah Palace Hotel. The next morning,
Muhammad Faisal, the son of Prince Faisal, visited and
informed him that he was to be a state guest. The deputy
chief of protocol accompanied Malcolm to the Hajj Court.
He was then allowed to make his pilgrimage.
On April 19, Malcolm completed the Umrah, making the
seven circuits around the Kaaba, drinking from the
Zamzam Well and running between the hills of Safah and
Marwah seven times. According to the Autobiography, on
this trip Malcolm viewed Muslims of different races
interacting as equals and came to believe that Islam
conceivably could erase all racial problems.
Less than a year later he was assassinated in Washington
Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.
Within days of Malcolm's assassination, questions were
raised about who was responsible for his death. On
February 23, James Farmer, the leader of the Congress of
Racial Equality, announced at a news conference that
local drug dealers, and not the Black Muslims, were to
blame. Others blamed the police, the FBI, or the CIA,
citing the lack of police protection and the ease with
which the assassins had entered the Audubon Ballroom.
In the 1970s, the public learned about COINTELPRO and
other secret government programs to infiltrate and
disrupt civil rights organizations during the 1950s and
1960s. John Ali, national secretary of the Nation of
Islam, has been identified as an FBI agent. Malcolm had
confided in a reporter that Ali had exacerbated tensions
between him and Elijah Muhammad, and he considered Ali
his "archenemy" within the Nation of Islam leadership.
On February 20, the night before the assassination, Ali
met with Hayer, one of the men convicted of killing
Malcolm.
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The
Khilafah Movement