Essay on Leaders of the Nation of Islam

“I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil’”.

IN 1974, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad completed a 40 year period (1934-1974). The year 1934 , represents the time in which he was left on his own by Master Fard Muhammad. The completion of this period climaxed a historic Saviors’ Day address, when he spoke on “The Black God.”

With Malcolm's imprisonment ended the acceptance of the ghetto hustler and gangster life. In prison Malcolm had to find a new place to turn for acceptance. As his father did, Malcolm turned to religion. The religion he turned to, The Nation of Islam or more commonly known as the Black Muslims, were a group of African Americans who believed, among other things, that whites were the roots of evil. Malcolm became immersed in his religion. It seeped into every part of his life. "For the next years I was the nearest thing to a hermit in the Norfolk Prison Colony. I have never been more busy in my life" (173). Malcolm wrote many letters to family and friends about his new found faith and , most importantly, he found the acceptance he longed for with the teachings of Mr. Muhammad. This acceptance gave him purpose and after his release Malcolm became one of the foremost representatives of the Nation of Islam.

He developed a hate that tore him apart due to the racism and prejudice him and his family suffered at the hands of white Americans. After all the mess he got himself into, he hit a low point and ended up in jail. That is when he discovered the Nation of Islam. This religion made him pick up all the pieces and start a new life. However, over the years, Muslims began to get a bad name. Just as Islam’s image is misconstrued by the media as well as ignorance in the present time, for Malcolm X and the Muslims in his time, it was no different. In today’s media, Islam is always being accused of being a violent religion and for encouraging hate. Anything and everything related to terrorism is automatically linked to Islam. Many Americans, who do not have knowledge about Islam, see Muslims as violent, unpatriotic, and terrorists. Little do people realize that history is repeating itself. The media exploited Muslims intentions back then as well by calling them “hate-messengers” and “violent-seekers” (Malcolm X, 152). They also painted the same picture of Muslims being “fascist” and “anti-Christ” (Malcolm X, 152). They would display “Mr. Muhammad, me, and others speaking . . . strong-looking, set-faced black men, our Fruit of Islam ... white-scarved, white-gowned Muslim sisters of all ages... Muslims in our restaurants, and other businesses... Muslims and other black people entering and leaving our mosques...” in a television show titled

It would be the time spent in prison that would transform Malcolm and change him from a career criminal to the activist he would later be known as. He visited the prison library and read books on religion, philosophy, and history. He read and copied the entire dictionary acquiring the skills that would make him a powerful public speaker. He dedicated his time in prison to his own personal development and through his brother Reginald learned of the organization known as the Nation of Islam or the Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam is an Islamic religious organization founded by its leader Elijah Muhammad which promoted Black separatism from whites culturally, physically, politically and psychologically. Malcolm began to follow the preachings of Muhammad and practiced the religion devoutly, giving up drug use, alcohol consumption, as well as eating pork.

In 1961 James Baldwin met Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam movement at the time. The time Baldwin spent within the Christian Church prior to his meeting with Elijah helped him analyze what the Nation of Islam did for people. It allowed him to notice that everyone needed a gimmick to keep them out of the ghetto, “and it does not matter what the gimmick is” (Baldwin 301). Baldwin realized that the Christian Church was his gimmick, so the Nation of Islam would never do for him what the Christian Church had already done. Plus, some of the beliefs of the Nation of Islam were a little far fetched. The Nation of Islam did not function as a very credible religion during its

Eventually, Malcolm Little was caught and sentenced to prison for 10 years on robbery charges in 1946. While in prison, he heard about the African American religious group known as the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam was a controversial organization founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad. The organization was classified as a cult by many Americans and was known for its extremist philosophies. The main reason it attracted Malcolm Little though was because it was a large, powerful black organization. Malcolm Little was interested and decided to start making contact with the organization through letters. He eventually contacted the group’s leader Elijah Muhammad. Elijah wrote to Malcolm Little saying that blacks should not be ashamed of their skin color and that blacks were not inferior to whites; whites were the ones who put blacks down. For the first time in his life, Malcolm Little began to feel he could be a part of something. He thought he could actually be accepted and become a Muslim. While Malcolm Little was raised a Baptist, he never paid much attention in church and did not understand how singing and praying would make anything better. Now that Malcolm Little had been introduced to a religion and organization that pertained more to him, he was eager. When Malcolm Little was finally let out on parole after 8 years, he instantly became a member of the Nation of Islam and cleansed his

Instead of going to school to get a traditional education, he dropped out of school at fifteen and learned the ways of the streets. Malcolm associated himself with thugs, thieves, dope dealers, and pimps. He was convicted of burglary at age twenty and remained in prison until he was twenty-seven. During his prison sentence, he became a changed man. He educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam, studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. Elijah taught Malcolm how history had been “whitened by the white man” (p.184) and he echoed “the black convict’s lifelong experience” where “the white man is the devil,” (p. 186). This thought process encouraged many black inmates to discover the Nation of Islam.

The Nation of Islam strongly disagreed and forbade its members and especially Malcolm X from taking part in the political scene (Litwack pg 7). Malcolm knew that if the black population continued to act as a separate community while also avoiding political action, they would never achieve equality. The Nation of Islam strongly disagreed and forbade its members and especially Malcolm X from taking part in the political scene (Litwack, pg 7).  These differing viewpoints and the growing jealousy of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm’s mentor and leader of the Nation of Islam, were the fundamental reasons not only for him leaving the Nation of Islam but for the entire tone of  “the Ballot or the Bullet” speech (Haley, pg 1).

Malcolm studied the teachings of the leader of the Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad, who advocated an independent black state. The Nation of Islam was based on a theology adapted from several models: traditional Islamic teachings principles of Black Nationalism, and economic self-help programs that addressed the needs of African Americans living in urban ghettoes. Unlike traditional Islam, which rejects all forms of racism, the Nation of Islam declared that whites were the "devil by nature," and that God was black. However, the Black Muslims predicted that in the near future a Great War would take place in which whites would be destroyed and black people would rule the world through the benevolence of Allah, their creator. To prepare for this new order, the Nation of Islam stressed personal self-restraint, opposed the use of drugs and alcohol, and organized economic self-help enterprises that eventually included farms, food stores, restaurants, and small businesses.

The Nation of Islam’s answer to the issue of unfair treatment of Blacks in America is best depicted by Wright in his essay, “[w]hite people had come to lead, as well as control, much of the movement for civil rights. Malcolm X, against this state of affairs, demanded that organizations for black men’s improvement – like those of the Jews by Jews and Irish by Irish – be black supported and black led” (Wright 105). The Nation of Islam felt

Before Mecca when Malcolm was still a part of The Nation of Islam he was taught the principles of racial hatred and separatism. Their beliefs were based on that the race known as “white” were to be considered as “ devils”. Malcolm quickly believed in their leader Elijah Muhammad and began to rise quickly through the ranks becoming a national celebrity. But, it was soon after this that Malcolm found out the truth about his leader. He found out that

Nation Of Islam is a very interesting religion. Did you know that followers of the religion also supported black separatism, which means they did not want to be accepted with white people. Also, some famous people were affiliated with Nation Of Islam. Muhammad Ali was one of them, in 1959 he attended one of the meetings. He kept on attending the meetings while hiding from the public. During the meetings he met Malcolm X and he became Muhammad’s spiritual and political mentor. Eventually, he became of a member of the group where he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. The group currently has between 20,000 and 50,000 members. Today, I will be discussing the Nation Of Islam. I am Muslim but not very familiar with Nation Of Islam and I am interested in learning about it. I will discuss the history of the religion, the beliefs, and the relevance and controversy it has currently.

The objective of this research paper is to examine literature to gain an enlightened perspective into the idea of the “Islamic State” in regards to the Middle East and other traditionally Islamic territories. To gain this insight the theories and ideas of noted Islamic scholars like Maududi, Tahtawi will be probed and analyzed. Tahtawi in particular is a scholar of importance in regard to the idea of the nationalism and the “nation state” in Islam. The ideas he acknowledged and adopted from his travels from France are key to look at. However, it is necessary to play homage to the practice/idea of “democracy” or in Maududi’s case “TheoDemocracy”. These theories and the themes for an Islamic state were bred under liberal societies as well as democratic functioning states for Tahtawi, but these tools were given to man already in Maududi’s view. What did Islamic scholars like Tahtawi and Maududi believe the benefit and advantages would be from pursuing their models for governance under Islam and eventually an “Islamic State”?

Muslim nations face a crisis of leadership, which affects both them and their relationship with other countries. In Muslim society the leader embodies both political and moral authority. Yet even the best-known thinkers who comment on Islam, like Professor Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama, have failed to identify the importance of Muslim leadership.