Nation Of Islam Research Paper

During the early 1960's, Elijah Muhammad became known as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and was well on the way to establishing governmental order for black people. He always showed tremendous love for the black community.

After being released in June 1954, he became minister of the New York Temple No. 7, where he met his future wife, Betty Sanders. For two years Malcolm heard rumors of Elijah Muhammad having illicit affairs with serving girls, fathering illegitimate children, and Nation of Islam ministers living luxurious lifestyles at the expense of the Nation (Crime and Investigation Network 2). These practices were in direct conflict with the Islamic beliefs; therefore, left Malcolm feeling betrayed by Muhammad. On March 14, 1964, Malcolm publicly announced his split with Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. He then formed his own movement, the Muslim Mosque, on March 13, 1964. Many of his friends then urged him to take a Hajj, or a pilgrimage, to Mecca. He took their advice, and traveled there in April, 1964. On his return, he changed his name once again to El- Hajj Malik El- Shabazz.

Now a free man, Malcolm X traveled to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, to expand the movement's following among black Americans nationwide. “Malcolm X became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and

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.

This path was guided by is mentor, Elijah Muhammad. This bond was shattered when Elijah betrayed the rules of the Nation, pushing Malcolm to leave and travel to Mecca. It was at Mecca that he found traditional Islam, and therefore the idea of equality between races. Malcolm returned to the U.S. and preached a new plan for a peaceful revolution that produced

Later Malcolm's father had been murdered by the same Clan furthering his distrust for the white American race. After Malcolm had moved to Harlem, a small neighborhood of New York, he had turned to a violent and crime-filled lifestyle. Malcolm had soon been arrested and sentenced to jail, imprisoned Malcolm opened eyes so to speak, making him realize that there was much more to live for than what he had chosen, so Malcolm had used his jail time effectively reflecting on his harsh decisions to turn his life around for the better, also reading and educating himself by books. Malcolm had become heavily influenced by his inmates, converting to the Nation of Islam. Upon Malcolm's release, he was a better, smarter, changed man with much to bring to the Black community he loved dearly. He started off his new life journey under the wing of a man named Elijah Muhammad, his Islamic minister. Malcolm and Elijah had started off on the wrong foot so to speak and soon found himself in big trouble with the cult. Malcolm had issues following the strict guidelines of the cult so much so that Elijah ordered one of Malcolm’s friends to hotwire his car into explosion upon

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 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.

He started out doing well in school, despite all the humiliation he went through because he was black. As he grew older, however, he turned to crime in order to get back at whites for the pain they caused him in the past. After a burglary incident, he was arrested and converted to Islam in prison. He educated and taught himself about the religion so that once he was released from prison, he could tell other people about the new person he became as a result of his conversion. Although he did incorporate his religious views into his speeches, his main focus was equal rights for blacks. He also spoke of the ways that white people deceived blacks into their ways of life, how blacks are controlled by the evil white man. He worked toward making his audience realize that they were mindlessly following whatever the whites followed. He says, “...[Elijah Muhammad] teaches us the importance of moral reformation, a knowledge of self”(Black Central). The leader of the Nation of Islam caught sight of Malcolm’s works and made him the official spokesperson for black Muslims. He was extremely involved with all of Elijah Muhammad’s works and teachings from playing this role. However, some dealings with the Nation of Islam and especially Elijah Muhammad caused Malcolm to depart from his religion. He had found that Elijah was lying to him and tried to have him killed, and

Essentially, the group believes in the racial superiority of blacks, a notion supported by a complex genesis fable, which includes an envious and evil white scientist who put a curse on blacks. The faith became a focus for Malcolm’s fury about his family’s treatment at the hands of whites (specifically the Ku Klux Klan), the lack of opportunities he had as a young black man, and the psychological damage of systematic racism (Ferran, 1992). There, in prison, he converted to the Nation of Islam (McGill, 2011). This group is commonly considered to be an extremist radical group of African Americans. In order to educate himself, Malcolm spent extensive time reading books within the prison library and even, memorizing a dictionary. Additionally, he sharpened his legal skills by participating in debate classes. Following tradition, he replaced his last name with an “X,” a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their familial names to have originated with white slaveholders (Mamaiya, 1).

Malcolm graduated the eighth grade, but by the age of fifteen he dropped out of school and began running the streets. Malcolm began to make friends with drug dealers, thieves, and pimps. By the age of twenty, Malcolm was convicted of burglary, he then served seven years in prison. While in prison Malcolm, furthered his education. During his prison time, his brother Reginald would visit and discuss his recent encounters with the Muslim religion. His brother Reginald belonged to the religious organization the Nation of Islam. By the time Malcolm was released from prison, he had undergone a transformation from a criminal to a religious priest, for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm had become a student of Elijah Mohammed teachings. Through these teachings Malcolm developed individual views about race in America and around the world. The more Malcolm learned about the teachings, the more he despised white citizens and he blamed them for the struggle of African Americans.

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.

Despite his dismal upbringing, Malcolm was able to graduate from his junior high school at the top of his class. He was aspiring to become a lawyer, but after one of his teachers told him that trying to be one was, "no realistic goal for a nigger", he decided that school was not for him and moved to Boston for awhile and made a living working a number of jobs, none of which were permanent. Eventually he would find himself working as a waiter at a restaurant called Small's Paradise in Harlem, New York. It was at this time that Malcolm Little began using and then selling drugs and even committing burglary. In 1946 he would be arrested for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison. It was during his stay at the Charlestown, Mass. Prison that he would make maybe the most significant change of his life. Malcolm would begin studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of a small cult-like Islamic group that called themselves the Nation of Islam, he also began to study the Koran (the Islamic holy book). It was during these long years in prison that Malcolm was able to educate himself fully and came to the conclusion that he wanted to join Elijah and the Nation of Islam and fight for equality between blacks and whites.

After Malcolm separated from the Nation of Islam, part by choice but part by force, he had to turn elsewhere for the acceptance and purpose, which all African American males needed at this time. With his national prominence he formed a new organization. This organization would be the last place he found acceptance because of his untimely death. His organization, the Muslim Mosque Inc., he