Malcolm X and His Contribution to African-American Muslims

This essay discusses the life of Malcolm X and his contribution to African-American Muslims, including his role in the Black Nationalist movement and the Pan African movement.

Running head: MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
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MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
Introduction
The essay will highlight the Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X and his contribution to
the African-American Muslims. Prior to discussing Malcolm X, the essay will first analyze the
definition of a Black Nationalist leader. Then, the essay will talk about the influence the leader
has had on the Pan African movement.
Black Nationalism refers to the political thought type that aims to encourage, progress
and maintain the race identity of the black people (Rickford). The activism revolves mostly
around the political, economic and social empowerment of the black community. The essay will
discuss such a political and social movement by Malcolm X for the African-American Muslims.
Discussion
Malcolm X was an African-American and a Muslim human rights activist who was active
during the civil rights movement. He is known best for his advocacy, which became quite
controversial, for the rights of the black people. While some people devoured him for speaking
out against the white Americans and their atrocities against the black people, others thought that
he propagated racism. Malcolm X had a struggling life with his father being murdered and
mother being sent to mental asylum. His teenage years were spent in foster homes and in 1946;
he was charged with larceny and other crimes and sent to prison. He spent 10 years of his young
life in prison where he joined the the Nation of Islam (NOI). Within a very short time, Malcolm
X became one of the group’s most powerful leaders especially after he was released on parole in
1952. He advocated for the separation of black people from the white American community and
black supremacy. Zoe Colley discusses about the rise of African-American protests in the prisons
that also gave birth to the Nation of Islam. The author states that the American prisons acted as

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MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
the “locus of black protest and the African-American prisoner as an important, but largely
overlooked, actor within the black freedom struggle” (Colley). Thus, it is understandable that
Malcolm X rose from those prisons and became a strong leader advocating the rights of the black
people.
Malcolm X however rejected the idea of a civil rights movement because he felt that it
propagated racial integration owing to his association with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm also
expressed pride in some of the social achievement s of the country especially the free program of
drug rehabilitation (Mbughuni). Nonetheless, he soon became disillusioned with the group and
he renounced it to embrace Sunni Islam. After his separation from the NOI, he started advocating
racial integration and disowned racism. He then founded the Organization of Afro-American
Unity (OAAU) and the Muslim Mosque, Inc., to give impetus to the pan African movement
including the African-American Islam (Alhassen). After completing hajj, he came to be known
as El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. During his time in the prison, he was exposed to NOI founder
Elijah Muhammad who was a very learned man (Crawford). Malcolm was highly influenced by
his knowledge in both religion and politics. After being released from the prison, he wanted to
pass on this religious and political knowledge to the people he had known from the streets prior
to his imprisonment. Most significantly, he wanted to “confront those in power about the
injustices that were perpetrated upon black people”. In 1965, the members of the NOI
assassinated Malcolm.
The influence of Malcolm X was not limited to the African-American Muslims only as it
reached other parts of the world as well. He was at the center of the hip-hop culture of America.
His influence reached as far as Austria. In the 1990s, almost three decades after his assassination,
the thoughts of Malcolm X inspire the young people especially the ones belonging to the Islamic

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Group of Upper Austria. The IGOO is an organization based on social movement found in 1995
(Farid). As Farid Hafez states, the teachings of Malcolm X influenced the lives of these young
people in giving “meaning and mobility to their lives” (Farid). As Theresa Perry notes in the
book titled Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity, Mlacolm X was a
powerful debater who used to shut the mouths of those with extensive knowledge and expertise.
As a Muslim, the author writes, he was very devoted and an effective recruiter as well. When he
was released from prison in 1952, there were four “temples of Islam” in the country and
Malcolm X, “a passionate and zealous Muslim tripled the membership of the Detroit temple”
(Perry). This shows that his influence on the African-American Muslims was very strong.
The African-American Muslims found a leader in Malcolm X as he preached the
teachings of NOI and then later as a Sunni Muslim. The NOI teachings that he promoted
included the supremacy of the black people, treating white people as devils, imminence of the
demise of white race. While some people feared his teachings and designated him as a
hatemonger, others found him as the strongest propagator of African-Americans because he
spoke about their rights and interest, and the atrocities that the white had carried out. The haters
hated him because he was probably the first Black Nationalist leader who spoke aggressively and
openly against the whites. However, it is important to understand that the background from
where Malcolm belonged, had faced the highest level of atrocities by the whites, the Harlem in
New York. Apart from that, his days in prison and association with NOI further made him
aggressive in his thoughts.
Conclusion

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MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
Therefore, it is clear from the discussion that the African-American Muslims have been
greatly influenced by Malcolm X. In the essay, the life of Malcolm X has been briefly discussed.
The discussion found that Malcolm had to face hardships when still young and even went to
prison where his thoughts were actually shaped. The essay further found that the influence of
NOI on Malcolm made him aggressive and a great orator at the same time. His religious
teachings and social thoughts reached the countries beyond America.

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MALCOLM X AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS
Works cited:
Alhassen, Maytha. "The “Three Circles” Construction: Reading Black Atlantic Islam through
Malcolm X's Words and Friendships." Journal of Africana Religions 3.1 (2015): 1-17.
Colley, Zoe. "“All America Is a Prison”: The Nation of Islam and the Politicization of African
American Prisoners, 1955–1965." Journal of American Studies 48.2 (2014): 393-415.
Crawford, Malachi D. Black Muslims and the Law: Civil Liberties from Elijah Muhammad to
Muhammad Ali. Lexington Books, 2015.
Hafez, Farid. "From Harlem to the “Hoamatlond”: Hip-Hop, Malcolm X, and Muslim Activism
in Austria." Journal of Austrian-American History 1.2 (2018): 159-180.
Mbughuni, Azaria. "Malcolm X, the OAU resolution of 1964, and Tanzania: Pan-African
connections in the struggle against racial discrimination." The Journal of Pan African
Studies 7.3 (2014): 177.
Perry, Theresa. Teaching Malcolm X: Popular culture and literacy. Routledge, 2014.
Rickford, Russell. We are an African people: Independent education, Black power, and the
radical imagination. Oxford University Press, 2016.