All Thanks is to Allah, Only the Mistakes Have Been Mine

While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem” ­­ - Martin Luther King Jr.

            While many of you may be familiar with Malcolm X, I write this post in a bid to adequately express what his legacy means to me and his incredible story of reform inspired me to empower myself and embark on a process of internal cleansing in order to become a better person.

            I read the autobiography of Malcolm X for the first time in my life in the eleventh grade at a time of turmoil in my life. I was in a process of grieving an intense loss and was also trying to construct for myself an identity which I could feel content and tranquil with. At this point, I was immersed in shallow materialistic pursuits which would distract me from Islam or any other concept of personal responsibility and accountability. I was remotely disconnected from religious rites though I did participate in them and would regularly visit mosques with my family.

            As I devoured the autobiography of Malcolm X, I began to see tremendous parallels between his early life and the life that I was living at the time. Malcolm was involved in many criminal pursuits which culminated in him serving a lengthy prison term. He had won many awards and accolades at school, but dropped out when told by his eighth grade teacher that he would amount to nothing because of his skin colour. While I have never been in trouble with the law, I was doing incredibly poorly in school and knew that I had a great deal of potential that would perish if I did not take decisive action in altering my life and my attitude towards spirituality.

            While it is easy to watch clips of Malcolm X and assume that he had attained a high level of education, he never received formal schooling past the eighth grade. Rather, whilst in prison he memorized a large portion of the dictionary and enrolled in the debate club in order to practice his newfound flexibility with the English language. He also began a process of moral upheaval as he joined the black supremacist movement called the Nation of Islam. This movement gave him a strict set of guidelines which allowed him to refrain from all of the social vices prevalent in society. Finally, he realized that the crux of the message of the Nation of Islam (Black Supremacy) was wrong and the leader of the movement was actually engaged in the same evils which he prohibited his followers from partaking in. At this defining moment, he split from the movement and the leader and formed his own group which was dedicated towards equality and civil rights for his people.

            Before I summarize why I am so endeared towards Malcolm, I want to relate an anecdote which he shared in one of his speeches. As he was slated to speak at the Harvard Law school forum (the most prestigious law forum of his time), he passed by a window in the school. From this window, he saw a building which his accomplices and him had hid one time after they had committed a burglary. He relates that he began to break down in tears and realized that only by the blessing of Allah had he been freed from his life as a criminal and taken to the highest echelons of American academia as a featured speaker.

            The message of Malcolm is a message of internal change and revolution. Malcolm was an ex-convict who was involved in some of the most egregious moral and physical crimes known to man. However, he was able to reform himself and become the greatest civil rights champion of his era. This inspires me to change myself and work towards becoming an advocate of my people. After all, Malcolm was killed while in service to his community. Malcolm was also incredibly lost before he implemented the teachings of Allah in his life.  Likewise, we are all lost without Allah. When I see someone who I feel is in a tremendous loss, I remember that I too would be immersed in the tremendous ills that soil our society. These above reflections permeated my heart after I finished the autobiography and aided me in altering the course of my life towards a better path. I owe Allah (swt) a tremendous debt for enabling me to find this book which allowed me to connect better with Him and His divine message. As our noble Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever is not thankful to the people is also not thankful to Allah”. I am forever thankful and indebted to Malcolm and his legacy for inspiring and empowering me!