|
By
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
Makkah, Hijaz
When
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was in Makkah, he wrote a letter to his
loyal assistants in Harlem... from his heart:
Never
have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit
of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and
races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad
and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past
week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the
graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.
I
have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Makkah, I have made my
seven circuits around the Ka`bah, led by a young Mutawaf named
Muhammad, I drank water from the well of the Zamzam. I ran seven
times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah.
I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt.
`Arafat.
There
were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They
were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned
Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual,
displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in
America had led me to believe never could exist between the white
and non-white.
America
needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that
erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in
the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people
who in America would have been considered white-but the white
attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I
have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by
all colors together, irrespective of their color.
You
may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this
pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to
rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss
aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult
for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who
tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new
experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open
mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in
hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.
During
the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from
the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same
rug-while praying to the same God-with fellow Muslims, whose eyes
were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and
whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the
deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt
among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.
We
were truly all the same (brothers)-because their belief in one God
had removed the white from their minds, the white from their
behavior, and the white from their attitude.
I
could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept
the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality
the Oneness of Man-and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm
others in terms of their “differences” in color.
With
racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called
“Christian” white American heart should be more receptive to a
proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be
in time to save America from imminent disaster-the same destruction
brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the
Germans themselves.
Each
hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual
insights into what is happening in America between black and white.
The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial
animosities-he is only reacting to four hundred years of the
conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads
America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences
that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger
generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the
handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the
spiritual path of truth-the only way left to America to ward off
the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.
Never
have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more
humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been
heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be
called in America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an
ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed.
Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a
recipient of such honors-honors that in America would be bestowed
upon a King-not a Negro.
All
praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Sincerely,
Al-Hajj
Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
(From
the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X with assistance from Alex
Haley, the author of ROOTS)
Malcolm
X saw and experienced many positive things. Generosity and
open-heartedness were qualities which were impressed on him by the
welcome which he received in many places. He saw brotherhood and
the brotherhood of different races and this led him to disclaim
racism and to say: “I am not a racist... In the past I permitted
myself to be used... to make sweeping indictments of all white
people, the entire white race, and these generalizations have
caused injuries to some whites who perhaps did not deserve to be
hurt. Because of the spiritual enlightenment which I was blessed to
receive as the result of my recent pilgrimage to the Holy City of
Makkah, I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of any one
race. I am now striving to live the life of a true Sunni Muslim. I
must repeat that I am not a racist nor do I subscribe to the tenets
of racism. I can state in all sincerity that I wish nothing but
freedom, justice and equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness for all people.”
|
