What Malcolm X Taught Us

February 21 is the 55th anniversary of the assassination of the great African-American Muslim leader and human rights activist El-Haaj Malik El-Shabazz better known as Malcolm X. His life is an example of how we can redeem ourselves with the help of Allah (SWT) to become better human beings and Muslims.

Some credit Malcolm’s autobiography for attracting Americans toward Islam and for the continuation of Islam in the African-American community. Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali once said that he probably wouldn’t have been Muslim if it hadn’t been for Malcolm. He said, “Islam in America as we know it, wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Malcolm”.

His life and words serve as an inspiration and offer many lessons to us that we can incorporate in our own lives.

Pride in our appearance and self-worth

On having pride in your physical appearance, Malcolm stated on May 22, 1962, “Who taught you to hate the colour of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?”

Regarding self-worth, Malcolm X said on March 12, 1964 in New York, “We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”

Value of education and learning

Malcolm X knew the importance of education for the young generation in terms of creating self-respect and preparing for the future, “Education is an important element in the struggle for human rights. It is the means to help our children and thereby increase self-respect. Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

Learning and seeking knowledge does not mean to only attend a formal educational institution like a school or university but through reading, as Malcolm states in his autobiography, “I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading has opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.”

When asked in an interview about his alma mater, Malcolm replied, “My alma mater was books, a good library… I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.”

Searching and siding with truth

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” – Autobiography of Malcolm X

Malcolm went through dramatic changes within his short life of 39 years.  He went from a gifted student in his early years, to a dropout and full-time hustler. Time spent in prison forced Malcolm to re-examine his life, which initially led him to embrace the Nation of Islam, eventually rejecting it, and opting to convert to orthodox Islam, partly inspired by his experience in Mecca while performing the Hajj in April 1964. Upon realising that the teachings of true Islam had nothing to do with racism, Malcolm publicly and vocally rebuked the racist views that he had been encouraging for years.

“Despite my firm convictions, I have been always 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.”

Strive for Unity

After his new awakening when breaking off from the Nation of Islam and becoming an Orthodox Muslim and performing Hajj, Malcolm realised that he needed to work with others regardless of race to promote human rights.

“Ignorance of each other is what has made unity impossible in the past. Therefore, we need more enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, loves creates patience, and patience creates unity. Once we have more knowledge about each other, we will stop condemning each other and a United front will be brought about.”

The value of unity is an important lesson for all of us when pursuing common goals that it is sometimes necessary to work with others regardless of differences to achieve them.

The lessons I have highlighted through this column are only a few that we can learn from our “Black Prince” Malcolm X.  His life leaves us a legacy of resolve and impact and the lessons it teaches are those of self-esteem, humility, and forgiveness. Change can only happen when we change ourselves.