Contemporary Issues

Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - said:

"It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it prevail over all other religions, no matter how much the disbelievers detest it." [Al-Qur'an 61:9]

We are given the good tidings in this verse that the future is for Islam, which gain dominance, ascendancy and rule over all other religions. Some people may think that this was fulfilled in the time of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and the Rightly-Guided Khulafah and the righteous kings - but that is not the case. Rather, only a part of this true promise was fulfilled then - as the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam indicated:

"Night and day will pass away until Al-Lat and Al-'Uzza are worshipped." So 'Aishah - radhiallahu 'anha - said: "O Messenger of Allah! I thought that when Allah sent down: 'It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it prevail over all the other religions, no matter how much the disbelievers detest it,' that it would be complete. He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "There will be of that what Allah wishes." [Related by Muslim (8/182) and also Abu Ya'la in his Musnad (Q. 216/2)]

A lecture given in the Support of the Final Messenger Seminar held in London, 2002.

The Prophet's name displayed
at the Aya Sofia, Istanbul

Introduction

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds. And may peace and blessings be upon be upon you, dear listeners.

I ask Allah to bless us all with his grace and mercy. Surely, He is the Most Merciful of all.

Dear brothers, one of our greatest sources of pride is our love of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) and our faith in him. He is our Prophet and we are his followers. Though we as Muslims believe in all of Allah's Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them all) and make no distinction between them, we also recognize that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the final Prophet and thereby the most favored of them all. The doors of Paradise will be opened for him and he is the way to Paradise for the people of our day and age, since no one who lives after his time and hears about him will enter Paradise without believing in him.

When history is discussed in American schools, a figure seldom mentioned is Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz, more widely known as the great American Muslim leader, Malcolm X; Malcolm gets lost in the pages of history books amongst such names as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, the individuals who seem 'less threatening' to America's traditional values. During my years in junior and senior high school, I always remember finding Malcolm's picture at the bottom of pages in history textbooks, with a small caption, usually alerting the reader that he was a Civil Rights leader who advocated 'a violent uprising against whites' - maybe not in the same words, but at least ones that leave the same negative impression.

In the early nineties American capitalism spawned lines of clothing sporting the 'X,' logo, worn by black youth throughout the country, which, while it informed many about his life, sadly made Malcolm into more of a commodity than revolutionary; the media found new interest in the sixties leader, and Spike Lee directed a movie about his life. Unfortunately, Malcolm's newfound fame tended to emphasize his violent past, not the transformation he experienced after his return from Arabia. It's hard to believe that Malcolm's modern portrayal is merely coincidence; while his formally anti-white ideology may appeal to some African Americans, its overemphasis is actually used by racist America to prevent people from getting to know the real Malcolm; the Malcolm that returned from Arabia not preaching that the white man is the devil, but that racial unity could be achieved, namely through the introduction of Islam to the American masses.

Why did America choose to forget the reformed Orthodox Muslim Malcolm, who was a supporter of equality just as much, if not more than King, and remember the prejudiced Malcolm? When discussing Malcolm X, many people have become so interested in the fury of his speech that they forget to look at the other side, and subsequently fail to see why he was really a threat to America, and the true reason he was assassinated.

If you mention the murder of Malcolm X to a common individual, someone who has simply heard of him and his beliefs, and inquire to him or her about its cause and who the perpetrators were, they would most likely say it was merely a quarrel between Malcolm and his former teacher, Elijah Muhammad, and that the perpetrators were three disgruntled members of the Nation of Islam, who were simply zealous defenders of Mr. Muhammad. But the death of Malcolm is much more complicated, and whether or not the N.O.I. was responsible for Malcolm's death, as we will discover later on, is really irrelevant; the cause of Malcolm's death was not his dissatisfaction and public criticisms of Elijah Muhammad, nor his heated approach to politics, exemplified in fiery speeches such as "The Ballot or the Bullet." The pre-Orthodox Islamic Malcolm, preaching that the black man is God and the white man the devil was not a threat, not even to the whites he was attacking. Malcolm X as a divider was nothing for white America to fear. What the white establishment feared, and even fears today, is Malcolm X the unifier; the Malcolm X who said, "The worst form of human being, I believe, is one who judges another human being by the color of his skin," and knew that there was a conspiracy to kill him, not because he proposed self-defense, but because he believed, "the only way to help the Black man in this country is unity among Black people and white people." [Clark 67, 181]

Before beginning to discuss why Malcolm was a threat, I think it's important to outline the history of Islam in America, and the role that quasi-Islamic groups played in distorting the religion's image here. While many movements completely deviated from traditional Islam, in some cases only resembling Islamic belief in that they call their deity Allah, Islamic movements have existed in America for almost one hundred years. Although there were cases of individuals accepting Islam (notably Muhammad Alexander Russel Webb), the first Islamic movement to appear in the United States was in the 1920's, headed by the Noble Drew 'Ali, formally Timothy Drew. [Webb 1]

'Ali was born in 1886, and raised by a Cherokee Indian tribe. Highly interested in magic, at age sixteen he traveled to Egypt where he supposedly, " ... received self knowledge and direction from a priest, the last of a cult of High Magic practiced for centuries in the pyramid of Cheops," which later revealed to him, "The Circle Seven Koran." After returning to America, 'Ali claimed to have had a dream to create a new religion, " ... for the uplifting of fallen mankind." The Moorish Science Temple (MST) laid the groundwork for what would become, after 'Ali's death, the Nation of Islam. While Elijah Muhammad claimed to be a prophet of Allah, many of his ideas were borrowed directly from the MST, which is not coincidental since he was a former member. 'Ali taught his followers that blacks were "Moabites or Moors," a group of "oppressed sufferers" which are of an Asiatic race. Even given his racial theories, 'Ali still did not teach the racist theories his successor Elijah would; whites that joined the temple were simply referred to as Persians, and seen as spiritual equals with their black brethren. The Noble Drew 'Ali died in 1929 and the MST broke into several different fractions, the most notable of which was headed by Elijah Muhammad. [Selim 1-6]

Unfortunately, until Malcolm X's conversation to Sunni Islam, America's native population had no exposure to true Islam. By true Islam I'm referring to anything slightly within the folds of orthodoxy; even extremely liberal Muslims today would find fault in The Noble Drew 'Ali's version of Islam, which alongside its rejection of monotheistic belief (the basis of Islam itself,) rejected the Qur'an and also the finality of Prophet Muhammad. The MST was the first in a line of pseudo-Islamic groups put in America to intentionally deceive gullible would-be Muslims, who sincerely wanted to learn about the religion of Islam. 'Ali's story of enlightenment, which allegedly occurred in Egypt is far from believable, and reads like an Eastern tale not actual fact; one may wonder if 'Ali had actually ever been to Egypt. The shaky foundations laid for Islam in America were far from coincidental, and groups such as the MST and Nation of Islam were created by, if not government agencies, at least by staunch opponents of Islam to destroy its image in America amongst its common people. Although it may seem far-fetched, governments in the past have created religious movements in order to achieve a political means; the N.O.I. shares many characteristics with the Ahmadiyya sect, which was founded by Mirza Ghulam Qadiani in India. Mirza's family was connected to the British government, and interested in helping them maintain their colonial interests in the land; frightened by increasingly anti-British sentiments in India, Britain ordered that an, "Apostolic Prophet" be created that would, "subdue the spirit of Jihad in Muslims." Ironically enough, after Malcolm expressed his displeasure with Elijah Muhammad, a Pakistani named 'Abdul-Basit Naim, from the same Indian movement appeared speaking against him; even today the N.O.I. still uses the same Qadiani English translation of the Qur'an, and shares many beliefs with the Ahmadiyya movement, such as their disbelief in the finality of Prophethood. [Character 1, 3]

While the Noble Drew 'Ali's story of revelation only seems false, there is actual evidence to prove the illegitimate origins of the N.O.I. In his book Message to the Blackman, Elijah Muhammad claimed that:

Allah came to us from the Holy City Makkah, Arabia, in 1930. He used the name Wallace D. Fard, often signing it W. D. Fard, in the third year (1933). He signed his name W. F. Muhammad which stands for Wallace Fard Muhammad. He came alone. He began teaching us the knowledge of ourselves, of God and the devil, of the measurement of the earth, of other planets, and of the civilization of some of the planets other than earth. [Muhammad 5]

N.O.I. myth teaches its followers that W.D. Fard was the son of an Arab father named Alfonso, and a Jewish mother named Baby G; the N.O.I. believes that Fard was Allah in the human form on planet earth and that by his meetings with Elijah Muhammad, Elijah was therefore the "Messenger of Allah." The MST's belief in an Asiatic and non-Asiatic race is extended further by Elijah, who claims that Fard taught him that all non-White people on planet were black and dually coined Asiatic; white people were said to have been created by a mad black scientist named Yacub, and inherently evil. The theory that all non-Whites were actually black helped Elijah justify the extremely light complexion of Fard, who in actuality was a white man himself. An FBI report about Fard (real name Wallace Ford) contains his criminal record from 1926 when he was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, violating prohibition laws, and the sale of drugs. Also included in the report is his race listed as white, stating his place of birth as Portland Oregon, and the birthplace of his parents as Hawaii. [Wallace 4]

One might ask, why would the government or some agency desire to distort the image of Islam in America? Islam, unlike Christianity, is a detailed system that not only encompasses spirituality, but economics, politics, and nearly every facet of life. Black people, as Malcolm emphasized in speeches such as the "Ballot or the Bullet," were not actually seen as citizens in the United States; at least they were not granted the rights of American citizens. Islam provides a means by which an oppressed individual can counteract the system in which her or she lives; if the white man has his system, then the black man can implement his own system. So accepting Islam for the African American is not only a way of forming a unique spiritual identity, but a way to form social independence. Since many African slaves were Muslims before their arrival in America, an African American attraction to Islam, even as early as the 1900's was quite conceivable. Even before Malcolm and before the N.O.I., America had a reason to fear Islam; if black people were to become socially independent and accept an ideology that truly separated them from Western civilization, whites could no longer exploit blacks. One of the points in the "Ballot or the Bullet" was that segregation was beneficial to the white man, since it was not truly separated; blacks and whites were living in different neighborhoods, but it was the white man who controlled the economics of the "segregated" areas; it was whites who were still the authorities. Islam, if implemented, would have a community self sufficient, not only economically but judicially. In some Southern states the number of blacks outnumbered that of whites; if independence were achieved in these areas perhaps separate black states could have been formed. America feared true Islam amongst blacks because they feared losing control; inserting fake Islamic ideologies was a means to quench an African-American thirst for knowledge, but at the same time dilute Islam so that it was not too powerful.

The N.O.I. was not an enemy to America; it was to America what the Ahmadiyya were to the British - a means to tame a potentially serious problem. Elijah's organization achieved two goals for the US government; first, it put a falsified version of Islam into the black community, which even after traditional Islam arrived would always be present to create conflict, making it more difficult for unification to occur. Second, the Nation made Islam appear as the "black only" religion, and scared whites away. Malcolm didn't die because of his disagreement with Elijah alone, but because by his acceptance and propagation of Sunni Islam, he counteracted two goals the N.O.I. hoped to achieve. With his popularity and rhetorical skills, he was able to attempt undoing the damage Elijah had done to the image of Islam in the US; and by denouncing the N.O.I.'s racist ideologies, separating them completely from Islam, he would potentially be able to not only unite blacks under Islam, but good-spirited whites as well, especially the younger generation of the 60's who were more accepting of new and different ideas. Concerning his acceptance of whites in his newly formed Muslim Mosque Inc. organization, Malcolm said that it was open to people of all ethnicities, but the problem was, "we haven't found any white people who want to be Muslims." [Clark 182] In another interview with Milton Henry, Malcolm advised him to make blacks aware of orthodox mosques in the Detroit area, emphasizing that Islam could bring "racial harmony and unity" between blacks and whites, if only they would seek Islam in its true form. [Quoted in Decaro 264]

By accepting Orthodox Islam, Malcolm instantly won the support of Muslims not only in the United States, but also around the world. This further made Malcolm a threat to the US government since he was no longer only a black man preaching in Harlem, but a person with worldly influence. In a letter from Cairo, Malcolm emphasized that his being in Africa was a "direct threat to the entire international system of racist exploitation" and that by internationalizing the African American struggle a foundation was being firmly set, "and no one can hardly undo it." [Quoted in Decaro 264] As early as 1956 Malcolm understood the importance of diplomacy when he stated, "A new world order is in the making, and it is up to us to prepare ourselves that we may take our rightful place in it." [Quoted in Gallen 95]

Malcolm appeared to be aware of the plot to distort the image of Islam in America; in an interview with a Saudi magazine, Malcolm expressed sharp criticism of the N.O.I., as well as Zionists in America, that were "hindering the presentation of true Islam to the African American community in their distinctive ways." Malcolm labeled the N.O.I. as a "racist philosophy," deceptively labeled as Islamic in order "to fool and misuse gullible people," stating that Elijah " ... hates Negroes and he wants to see them spill each other's blood, even kill each other." [Quoted in Decaro 240, Clark 183]

About the same time as Malcolm's travels around the world, the Ahmadiyya Pakistani 'Abdul-Basit Naim began speaking out against Malcolm in the Nation's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks. Naim advised members of the Nation not to make Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage that Malcolm had just completed,) stating that only Elijah Muhammad, Islam's "rightful leader" can advise "whether or not they should take adequate interest in the ... ritual at this time. The venerable Messenger alone, again, should have the privilege of scrutinizing and passing judgment on qualifications of the intending pilgrims, if any." Apparently fears were beginning to grow that after visits to Arabia, other members of the Nation would see the falsehoods in Elijah's doctrine, and begin to experience true Islam as Malcolm had. Naim goes on to advise Muslims that being confronted with certain "peculiarities" in the "old" world of Islam will only confuse and perplex them. [Naim 1, 10] Naim's strong support of the N.O.I., as a Pakistani, and not to mention his religious affiliation, which is that of the Ahmadiyya, could cause one to ponder if he was not a funded agent of some group himself. In another article, Naim even goes as far to say about Malcolm, " ... having studied his motives, moods and moves as carefully and closely as circumstances permitted me during the past thirteen months, I find him positively undeserving of and unfit for the role of a Muslim leader in America." [Naim 7]

Sadly, America seems to want to forget Malcolm X; except for his short-lived fame a few years ago, popular culture deemed him not important enough anymore. The American monster grins because instead of reading about Malcolm, young children are indulged in the lives of Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks at school. If America is truly about self-made-men, then I don't know what individual could be more worthy of the title than Malcolm X; a person who gave himself what many would consider the equivalent of a Ph.D. in a jail cell, with no professor or guide, and whose speeches were filled with fact and emotion.

There's always existed a debate concerning who killed Malcolm: the Nation, or the US government? That's an erroneous question; the N.O.I. killed Malcolm for the government, and the government killed Malcolm because they hated its people too much to let them live beautifully, with the guidance of someone as great as Malcolm X, who if alive today wouldn't even be called Malcolm, only Khalif Malik: leader of the Islamic Republic of America.

Bibliography

1. The Character of Mirza Ghulam Qadiani (the founder of the Ahmadiyya Cult) <http://irshad.org/idara/qadiani/mirzachr.htm> (18 April 2001)
2. Clark, Steven, ed. February 1965: The Final Speeches. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1992.
3. Decaro, Louis A. Jr. On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
4. Gallen, David. Malcolm A to X: The Man and His Ideas. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1992.
5. Muhammad, Elijah. "The Coming of God and the Gathering Together of his People." Message to the Blackman.
6. Naim, 'Abdul-Basit. "Thinks U.S. Muslims Should Aid Islam at Home Before Pilgrimage to Mecca." Muhammad Speaks 14 April 1967.
7. Naim, 'Abdul-Basit. "Pakistan Muslim Advises: March On Under the Messenger's Banner!" Muhammad Speaks 5 February 1965.
8. Selim, Ustad, and Arif Hussein Al-Camaysar. "History & Catechism of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America." 1992.
9. "Wallace D. Fard." Federal Bureau of Investigation <http://foia.fbi.gov/fard/fard1.pdf> (18 April 2001).
10. Webb, Alexander Russel. "Islam in America, 1893." Islam in America <http://salam.muslimsonline.com/~azahoor/webbamer.htm> (18 April 2001).

The Believers Described

Allah - the Blessed, the Most High - says, whilst describing the qualities of the Believers:

"The Believers, men and women, are protectors of one another."

"Indeed the Believers are but brothers."

The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam describing them said:

"The Believer is a mirror to a Believer. The Believer is a brother to a Believer. Guarding him against loss and protecting him in his absence."

He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam also said:

"The Believer to the Believer is like a solid building, one part supporting the other."

"Therefore - O brother - you are a mirror for your brother and a brick from amongst the bricks in the wall - being built upon the brotherhood of iman (faith)."{qluetip title=[1]}Ad-Da'wah ilallah wa Akhkaq ad-Du'at (p. 32) of the Shaykh - the noble Scholar - 'Abdul-'Aziz ibn Baz{/qluetip} There is no doubt that this bond of iman - established upon the foundations of correct 'aqidah (belief) and correct manhaj (approach) - necessitates that: "We all work together as required by Islam as sincere brothers - not due to partisanship, nor sectarianism - in order to realise that which is of benefit to the Islamic Ummah and to establish the Islamic society that every Muslim aspires for, such that the Shari'ah of Allah is applied upon His earth."{qluetip title=[2]}Fiqh al-Waqi' (p. 24) of Shaykh Nasir ad-Din al-Albani{/qluetip}

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'bah, led by a young religious guide (mutawaf) named Muhammad, I drank water from the well of the Zam-Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. as-Safa and al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. 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 behaviour, 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 El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)

(s) Quoted from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Penguin Classics