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Malcolm X's
The
following is Malcolm X's (al-Hajj, Malik al-Shabazz) who embraced Islam and sent
a letter to his assistants in Harlem during his pilgrimage to Makkah in April of
1964:
Never
have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true
brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this
ancient holy land, the home 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.
I have
been blessed to visit the holy city of Makkah; I have made my seven circuits
around the Ka'aba, led by a young Mutawwef (guide) named Muhammad; I drank water
from the well of Zamzam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of
mount al-Safa and al-Marwa. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I
have prayed on mount Arafat.
There were
tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors,
from blue-eyed blondes 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
and 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, irrespective of
their color.
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 is 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 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 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.
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
walls 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.
Never
have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and
unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American
Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a white man, a
United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel
suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be
a recipient of such honors - honors that in America would be bestowed upon a
King - not a Negro.
All praise
is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
Sincerely,
al-Hajj, Malik al-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
* Taken from The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
co-authored by Alex Haley.
Editor's Note: The compassion, selflessness,
brotherhood, and generosity that Malcolm (the Black American Man) encountered in
Makkah during his Hajj opened his heart to the true spirit of Sunni Islam. He
writes in his autobiography, "Because of the spiritual enlightenment which I was
blessed to receive as the result of my recent pilgrimage to the holy city of
Makkah, I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of any one race. I am now
striving to live the life of a true Sunni Muslim. I must repeat that I am not a
racist nor do I subscribe to the tenets of racism. I can state in all sincerity
that I wish nothing but freedom, justice and equality, life, liberty and the
pursuit of
happiness for all people."
Collected and Revised
By
Hamadi Al-Aslani
Manager of Editing and Translation
B.A. Islamic studies
B.A. English language
Jeddah Dawah Center
With the compliments of
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