Malcolm X And Religion Essay

Malcolm X was one of the most prominent civi right activists at the time. He preached Black Nationalism, where blacks separates themselves from the whites completely. He is often known as the intellectual, charismatic hero. Although, he was not always that faithful. He was a thug. A hustler. He committed crimes. How did a hoodlum, became a historical figure of Malcolm X? There was many events in his life that changed him, and shaped him to be that somebody. If we trace back his footsteps, his life as Malcolm Little, his life as a thug, his life as a inmate, and his life as a national minister of Nation of Islam, all contributed in creating him and his name of Malcolm X.

Other Muslims thought Malcolm was getting to powerful. One example of the conflicts Malcolm's power caused involved the leader of the Muslim Nation, Elijah Muhammed. Elijah Muhammed was said to have fathered two young women's children. Malcolm went to talk to the women. The women told Malcolm that Elijah always talked behind Malcolm's back, saying bad things. Malcolm's faith was shattered. He was with the Black Muslim religion for twelve years. He decided to try to take, and make his own Islam religion. Muhammed found out about this, and said that Malcolm could not preach for 90 days.

He becomes immersed in the night life and consumed with everything it has to offer. Just shy of being twenty-one he was sent to prison for 10 years. At this pivotal point in his life, he converts to the Black Muslim religion. The other crucial life altering event took place in 1963 when evidence was uncovered regarding the Honorable Elijah Mohammad’s human frailties and lack of moral character. This revelation prompted a holy journey that yet again changed Malcolm’s thought process that was evident at the end of his life.

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.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had a common purpose for African Americans; justice and equality. Illustrated through their speeches, Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” and Malcolm X’s “Talk to Young African Americans”, the two did not share techniques or ideas. Yet both men had the support of millions and millions of people.

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 Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley is an account of Malcolm X’s evolving perspective on racial justice. Malcolm X was a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam who advocated for black nationalism and separatism. The man who became one of America’s most powerful voices for African Americans was deeply affected by the terrors of racism, which shaped his view of social justice and the condemnation of the white man. The way Malcolm X narrates his experiences changes as his views on race change. At first, he wants readers to feel the destructiveness of racism, so he conveys his experiences through provocative language. When he aims to promote universal peace, he takes on a more optimistic tone. As a

Through his readings and new found religion, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X finds self-pride. He starts to become proud of who he is and where he came from. He realizes that before, all he was trying to do was act like someone he wasn’t and all it had gotten him was seven years in prison. The letters he got from Elijah Muhammad and his family encouraged all of this. He strives to admit his guilt, and “implore the forgiveness of God” (170). He would often “be startled to catch [himself] thinking in a remote way of [his] earlier self as another person” and marvel at how much he had changed (170). All the reading he did “awoke … some long dormant craving to be mentally alive” (179). His trip to prison opened up new doors for him because he gained knowledge that made him rethink his niche in life.

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 theme of religion is introduced in the autobiography during Malcolm’s time in the state prison of Massachusetts. While in prison, he started to study books in a small library. Later in 1948, Malcolm was moved to Norfolk Prison. There was little violence in this prison and inmates could debate and study freely. While in prison, Malcolm studied many books such as religion, history, literature, linguistics, and biology. Malcolm first heard about the Nation of Islam from his home when Reginald, his brother requested him to do so, and this became his first step into full conversion to Islam. Reginald told him about a spiritual leader called Elijah Muhammad who preached against the evils of white people and compared them as the devils.

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

Malcolm X was a man who supported violence in getting equal rights for black citizens. To do this, he assisted the national Muslim leader, Elijah Muhammad by sharing the Black Muslim beliefs throughout the United States. Malcolm X started many Muslim groups and worked hard to develop racial pride in his black listeners by recognizing the suffering whites caused by blacks. With the Black Muslims, Malcolm X practiced a vigorous self-defense against white violence. He also urged blacks to live separately from whites and prevented them from attaining their freedom. He affected his followers so much that when his followers would see white people they would often harass or hurt the white people. Through his travels in the Middle East and Africa, he began to realize and change his views regarding potential brotherhood between black and white Americans and rejected the view that all whites were devils. (Harris 99) He thought that one day his religion could unite people of all races. To do this he formed his own group, The Organization of Afro-American Unity. Many people, both black and whites admired his tireless efforts to build pride in blacks and whoever shared his dreams that someday everyone would be joined in brotherhood. Malcolm X was admired by many people because of his drive to unite the blacks and whites as one, but many people also condemned his as a hypocrite and traitor because of his change in views. Malcolm X

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

As he grows he develops his character. The teachings of the Nation of Islam that he receives in prison affect a further change in both Malcolm’s character and his view of white people. He simultaneously abandons his wild past and embraces a systematic hatred of whites. His attitude at the end of the work contrasts with his previous beliefs in what he now supports white participation in the struggle for black emancipation, whereas he earlier does not. Only after passing through so many phases and seeing the race problem from so many different perspectives is Malcolm able to settle on a philosophy which he truly

Malcolm X had a difficult childhood. His first memory was of the KKK burning down his home, his father was murdered, he watched his mother go through severe struggles, and he was taken by the state and placed into foster care. Everyone around him brought him down in some way, whether it was society, the state, his home life, or his teachers. His childhood and adolescence shaped him into the man that he became, truly beginning when his life had spiraled completely and he went to jail. He finally turned his life around when his brother wrote to him during his last prison sentence and told him about a new religion.