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The
following is Malcolm X’s (al-Hajj, Malik al-Shabazz) letter
to his assistants in Harlem during his pilgrimage to Makkah in
April of 1964:
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'aba, led by a young Mutawwaf
(guide) named Muhammad; I drank water from the well of the Zamzam.
I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of mount
al-Safa and al-Marwa. I have prayed in the ancient city of
Mina, and I have prayed on mount 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 al-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
*
Taken from The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
co-authored by Alex Haley.
Editor’s
Note: The compassion, selflessness, brotherhood, and
generosity that Malcolm encountered in Makkah during his Hajj
opened his heart to the true spirit of Sunni Islam. He writes
in his autobiography, “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.”
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