Remembering Malcolm X

Some reflections on Malcolm X's 100th birthday

Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Malcolm X. My first contact with Malcolm X came at the tender age of nine. My father was watching a movie. My nine year old self was eager to watch whatever he was watching, as that meant I could stay up longer. That movie happened to be Spike Lee’s 1992 masterpiece, “Malcolm X.” As I watched that movie, I was moved. I had seen Muslims on TV before, but the Muslims on TV were different. They were criminals. They were threats to national security. They were nothing like the Muslims I knew around me.

Malcolm was like those Muslims I knew around me. But he was even beyond that. He was extraordinary. He was saint-like. He was much different from the usual set of Muslims I saw on TV. He was intelligent. He was composed. He was loved. He too critiqued America, but there seemed to be something almost patriotic about it. Despite his every effort to distance himself from the American project, there was something so American about him. Malcolm’s critique of America was an internal critique. That movie amazed me. When the movie was over, my father was surprised at my nine year-old self’s ability to stay up that long.

The next day, I asked if we could watch that movie again. And we did. We watched it again the day after that. That memory of Malcolm X sat with me for a few years until I was in middle school and saw my friend, Will, reading his autobiography. “I didn’t know Malcolm X from the movie had an autobiography,” I eagerly thought to myself.

I ran to my local library and checked it out. At just 11 years old, I devoured that book in a week. Much of that involved reading it late into the night. A few times, my mother even went into my room and told me that it was late and I had to sleep. The first time, I asked her if I could have a few more minutes to sleep. The next time, I turned off the lights and counted to 100. After that, I had safely assumed enough time had passed, and my mom thought I had slept. The time after that, I turned off the lights and migrated to the closet. It was there that I turned on the closet light and read Malcolm X there. It seemed that nobody knew, but I was being transformed. When I returned the book to the library, the librarian too seemed surprised. “This seems like quite the heavy read for an eleven year old,” she exclaimed to me. In a sense that book was heavy. After reading it, I was never the same.

Reading Malcolm was a spiritual experience. At nine, upon watching the movie, he taught me that Muslims are too a celebrated part of the American fabric. At 11, upon reading the book, he taught me immensely more. He taught me the importance of regimented spiritual practice and personal piety. He taught me how a Muslim must always be one who advocates for the marginalized and downtrodden of the world. He taught me sincerity. He taught me that one cannot understand America without understanding Black people. He taught me that one should always stand up for what is right, even if that means one has to give up his life for it.

That regimented spiritual practice and personal piety was profound. Malcolm X was previously a criminal and drug addict. Islam instilled in him a spirituality and sense of discipline that made him different. For him, that spirituality too had a material benefit. That regimented life helped clean him up and escape a life of drugs and immorality. But beyond the material world, it too helped him connect with God.

Upon joining the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X had a very close relationship with Wallace Muhammad, who would eventually become the influential reformer, Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. Malcolm described him as the most spiritual of the sons of Elijah Muhammad. Despite many of the materialist assumptions of the Nation of Islam, such as their denial of the afterlife for humans and a resurrection, perhaps it was Wallace who helped Malcolm grow spiritually despite that.

Malcolm taught that this life of regimented spirituality is available for anyone. It does not matter what someone’s past is. Even those who have lived a life of sin and crime have the ability to redeem themselves. But moreover, he taught how spirituality is not deprived of material objectives. The Prophet Muhammad taught us to love others just as we love ourselves. As Malcolm X was in this profoundly religious and spiritual journey, he never stopped being concerned about the condition of the marginalized. Islam for Malcolm was not just about the purification and rectification of the self, but also about the rectification of broader society.

When Malcolm went to Mecca, it was not just a religious experience. He was also pondering the condition of Black Americans. When Malcolm left the Nation, he still made clear that his newfound Sunni Islam did not compromise his Black nationalism. In a world where many religious people retreat from the world and do not concern themselves with the problems of society, Malcolm X brought those problems front and center. That concern for the marginalized was also not limited to his own. While he primarily spoke about the cause of Black Americans, Malcolm X also spoke out in support of other groups such as against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and other anti-colonial movements.

Malcolm X is also a symbol of sincerity. He spent 12 years in the Nation of Islam preaching his theology. After discovering that Elijah Muhammad was not who he thought he was, Malcolm left. This hurt Malcolm deeply. He had believed in all of his heart that such a man was a messenger sent from God. When that changed, Malcolm X courageously departed from that organization. Despite having previously believed in Black separatism, Malcolm departed from that view. Malcolm was someone deeply principled and firm in his beliefs. From that principled nature came a firmness in doing what he thought was right. But he also possessed a flexibility to accept his own imperfections and depart from any past actions he saw as wrong.

Malcolm is a symbol to so many different groups of people. Muslims in the United States and around the world embrace him. After the Quran itself, Malcolm’s autobiography remains the book that most influences America’s to convert to Islam. Black people in general, and Black nationalists and Pan-Africanists in particular around the world embrace him. Anti-imperialists and anti-capitalists claim him as one of their own. Prison abolitionists and education advocates cite him as an inspiration. He transformed hip-hop music, with abundant references to him in such music. Even Black conservatives claim his advocacy of Black economic empowerment as a means of escaping reliance on government programs.

In that sense, one can only say Malcolm is Malcolm. He is a man so special to so many different groups of people. There is something sacred about his story that brings so many different types of people in. Yet his story tells that of a life seemingly unfinished.

Malcolm died at the age of 39. It is mentioned in the Islamic tradition that a man reaches full maturity at the age of 40. Given that Malcolm’s life was one of constant changes and figuring out what is right, one can only wonder at what Malcolm would look like had assassins’ bullets not cut his life short. Less than a year ago, I had a dream of Malcolm X. He was dressed in a suit and tie, with the light beard that came to symbolize his post-Nation of Islam life. He stated to me that he never actually died.

As I woke up, I thought of this in the context of two traditions that Malcolm X is such an important figure in: Islam and hip-hop.

As God says in the Quran, “Do not say of those martyred in the path of God that they are dead. In fact, they are alive, but you do not perceive it.” (Quran 2:154).

I too thought about this in the context of Kendrick Lamar who said “The one in front of the gun lives forever.”

On this day, on his 100th birthday, we can only celebrate the gift that this man brought to the world. He may be physically dead, but Malcolm X still lives on. He lives in that young man who reads his Autobiography and then goes to his local mosque to take shahada. He lives in the young Black Marxist inspired by his critique of capitalism. He lives in the hearts of activists in the United States and around the world clamoring for justice in Palestine. He lives in the hearts of hip-hop artists and anti-imperialists and advocates of Black economic empowerment. He lives in the hearts of all those who love him.

Malcolm X lives too in my heart. On this day, I recite Fatiha for Malcolm X, and ask God that Malcolm X and I and all who love him be united together in the next life.