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People who have had an impact on Islam - amma - 01-25-2007
Hasan Al-Banna
Guilain Denoelcx
http://www.americanmuslim.org/1biography1.html
Hasan al-Banna was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood or Society of the Muslim Brothers, the largest and most influential Sunni revivalist organization in the 20th century. Created in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood became the first mass-based, overtly political movement to oppose the ascendancy of secular and Western ideas in the Middle East. The brotherhood saw in these ideas the root of the decay of Islamic societies in the modern world, and advocated a return to Islam as a solution to the ills that had befallen Muslim societies. Al-Banna's leadership was critical to the spectacular growth of the brotherhood during the 1930s and 1940s. By the early 1950s, branches had been established in Syria, Sudan, and Jordan. Soon, the movement's influence would be felt in places as far away as the Gulf and non-Arab countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Driving this expansion was the appeal of the organizational model embodied in the original, Egypt-based section of the brotherhood, and the success of al-Banna's writings. Translated into several languages, these writings have shaped two generations of Sunni religious activists across the Islamic world.
Like many of the Islamic leaders who followed in his footsteps, Al-Banna enjoyed the benefits of a modern education, but had been raised in a traditional Islamic environment. He was born in 1906 in Mahmudiyya, a small town in the Nile Delta. His father, a watch repairman who also served as prayer leader and Qur'anic teacher in the local mosque, had been educated at Al-Azhar. Author of a few works on Islamic jurisprudence, he instilled strong religious values into Al-Banna. Even as a primary school student, Al-Banna joined several religious societies dedicated to the promotion of Islamic standards of moral behavior. It was also at that young age that he became a member of the Hasafiyya Brothers' Sufi order. His early participation in dhikr circles and avid reading of Sufi literature help explain why he always saw the moral reform of the individual as a precondition to the Islamization of society.
In 1923, at the age of 16, Al-Banna moved to Cairo to enter the famous Dar al-'Ulum college. The four years that Al-Banna spent in Cairo exposed him to the political ferment of the Egyptian capital in the early 1920s, and enhanced his awareness of the extent to which secular and Western ways had penetrated the very fabric of society. It was then that Al-Banna became particularly preoccupied with what he saw as the young generation's drift away from Islam. He believed that the battle for the hearts and minds of the youth would prove critical to the survival of a religion besieged by a Western onslaught. While studying in Cairo, he immersed himself in the writings of the founders of Islamic reformism (the Salafiyya movement), including the Egyptian Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905), under whom his father had studied while at Al-Azhar. But it was 'Abduh's disciple, the Syrian Rashid Rida (1865-1935), who most influenced Al-Banna. Al-Banna was a dedicated reader of Al-Manar, the magazine that Rida published in Cairo from 1898 until his death in 1935. He shared Rida's central concern with the decline of Islamic civilization relative to the West. He too believed that this trend could be reversed only by returning to an unadulterated form of Islam, free from all the accretions that had diluted the strength of its original message. Like Rida at the end of his life — but unlike 'Abduh and other Islamic modernists — Al-Banna felt that the main danger to Islam's survival in the modern age stemmed less from the conservatism of Al-Azhar and the ulama (which he nevertheless criticized) than from the ascendancy of Western secular ideas.
Al-Banna urged the rejection of all Western notions, emphasizing instead the need to return to the foundations and original purity of Islam. Indeed, through the organizational skills he would soon demonstrate, Al-Banna did more than any other thinker during that time to contribute to the eclipse of Islamic refornism and modernism by Islamic fundamentalism. Upon graduating from Dar al-'Ulum in 1927, at the age of 21, Al-Banna was appointed as a teacher of Arabic in a primary school in Isma'iliyya. At the time, Isma'iliyya served as the capital of the British-occupied Canal Zone and hosted the headquarters of the Suez Canal Company (SCC). British military camps and the homes of the SCC's foreign employees were as much a part of this rapidly expanding new town as the wretched conditions in which the majority of the SCC's Egyptian workers lived. Al-Banna's first assignment thus heightened his resentment of what he saw as Egypt's military occupation, economic exploitation, cultural domination, and loss of dignity. It strengthened his determination to rid Egypt of British and, more generally, Western influences.
From the moment he arrived in Isma'iliyya, Al-Banna involved himself actively in the life of the community. He made an effort to become acquainted with the town's notables while reaching out to the broadest possible public. He conducted night classes for his students' parents and led informal discussions in the mosque, coffeehouses, clubs, and private homes. His basic message was that Egypt had lost its soul; it had become politically sub-servient and economically dependent because it had strayed from the path that had been laid down by God. The only remedy to the decadence of state and society was to reassert Islamic values and ways of life.
It was to spread this message that Al-Banna launched the Society of the Muslim Brothers in March 1928. At first, the society was only one of the numerous small Islamic associations that existed at the time. Similar to those that Al-Banna himself had joined since he was 12, these associations aimed to promote personal piety and engaged in charitable activities. By the late 1930s, it had established branches in every Egyptian province. A decade later, it had 500,000 active members and as many sympathizers in Egypt alone, while its appeal was now felt in several other countries as well. The society's growth was particularly pronounced after Al-Banna relocated its headquarters to Cairo in 1932. The single most important factor that made this dramatic expansion possible was the organizational and ideological leadership provided by Al-Banna.
He endeavored to bring about the changes he hoped for through institution-building, relentless activism at the grassroots level, and a reliance on mass communication. He proceeded to build a complex mass movement that featured sophisticated governance structures; sections in charge of furthering the society's values among peasants, workers, and professionals; units entrusted with key functions, including propagation of the message, liaison with the Islamic world, and press and translation; and specialized committees for finances and legal affairs.
In anchoring this organization into Egyptian society, Al-Banna skillfully relied on pre-existing social networks, in particular those built around mosques, Islamic welfare associations, and neighborhood groups. This weaving of traditional ties into a distinctively modern structure was at the root of his success. Directly attached to the brotherhood, and feeding its expansion, were numerous businesses, clinics, and schools. In addition, members were affiliated to the movement through a series of cells, revealingly called usar (families). The material, social and psychological support thus provided were instrumental to the movement's ability to generate enormous loyalty among its members and to attract new recruits. The services and organizational structure around which the society was built were intended to enable individuals to reintegrate into a distinctly Islamic setting, shaped by the society's own principles.
Rooted in Islam, Al-Banna's message tackled issues including colonialism, public health, educational policy, natural resources management, Marxism, social inequalities, Arab nationalism, the weakness of the Islamic world on the international scene, and the growing conflict in Palestine. By emphasizing concerns that appealed to a variety of constituencies, Al-Banna was able to recruit from among a cross-section of Egyptian society — though modern-educated civil servants, office employees, and professionals remained dominant among the organization's activists and decisionmakers.
As the society expanded during the 1930s, it quickly changed from a movement for spiritual and moral reform into an organization directly active on the Egyptian political scene. Concurrent with that transformation, radical tendencies asserted themselves within the organization. A "secret apparatus" (al-jihaz al-sirri) was formed that engineered a series of assassinations of enemies of the brotherhood.
Between 1948 and 1949, shortly after the society sent volunteers to fight in the war in Palestine, the conflict between the monarchy and the society reached its climax. Concerned with the increasing assertiveness and popularity of the brotherhood, as well as with rumors that it was plotting a coup, Prime Minister Nuqrashi Pasha disbanded it in December 1948. The organization's assets were impounded and scores of its members sent to jail. Less than three weeks later, the prime minister was assassinated by a member of the brotherhood. This in turn prompted the murder of Al-Banna, presumably by a government agent, in February 1949, when Al-Banna was still only 43 and at the height of his career.
Though the society never fully recovered from the loss of its charismatic founder, it survived. Since then, the brotherhood has remained a significant force in the politics of several Arab countries, either directly or through the movements it inspired. It appeals most to cultural conservatives who want their government and society to reflect and defend certain basic Islamic values and principles, and who favor a pragmatic and incremental approach to achieve these goals. The legacy of Al-Banna is thus still present, and will continue to shape the destiny of Arab societies in the new millennium.
People who have had an impact on Islam - amma - 01-25-2007
Sayyid Qutb
By Ahmed El-Kadi, MD
http://www.icna.org/tm/greatmuslim3.htm
Sayyid Qutb, the doyen of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun, had a very profound impact on the Muslim Arab youth coming of age since late 60s. Western writers in recent years have focused on him as one of the two most influencial Muslim thinkers of this century, the other being Sayyid Maududi. Qutb’s writings prior to 1951 are more of a ‘moralist’. It was after he was introduced to Maududi’s ideas, especially his emphasis on Islam being a complete way of life, and establishment of Allah’s order on earth as every Muslim’s primary responsibility that Qutb changed into a revolutionary. His two years sojourn (1948-1950) in the US opened his eyes to the malise of the western culture and non-Islamic ideologies.
After his return to Egypt he resigned his job in the Education directorate and devoted himself to the idea of bringing a total change in the political system. Ikhwan gained ideological vitality when Sayyid Qutb in his jail cell wrote a book in which he revised Hassan al-Banna Shahid’s dream of establishing an Islamic state in Egypt after the nation was thoroughly Islamized. Sayyid Qutb recommended that a revlutionary vanguard should first establish an Islamic state and then, from above impose Islamization on Egyptian society that had deviated to Arab nationalistic ideologies.
His subsequent 11 years behind prison walls gave him an opportunity to confirm what Maududi’s writing made him aware, and that is what convinced the secular Nasserites to condemn him to death on false accusations.
Other than Prophet Muhammad (s), the contemporary men who had great influence on me were my father, Imam Hassan al-Banna, and Shaheed Sayyid Qutb. The first two Islamic books that I studied as teenager were "Dirasat Islamiyya" (Studies in Islam, or Lessons in Islam) and Aladalah Alijtima’eyyah Fil-Islam (Social Justice in Islam) both by Sayyid Qutb. Although I have never met or seen Sayyid Qutb, I knew him (as most other Muslims involved with Islamic work) through his many books, like the two mentioned above, his great commentary on the Qur’an, Fithilal-el-Qur’an (in the Shades of the Qur’an), and other books.
Sayyid Qutb was born on 8 October 1906, in a village called "Musha" in the township of Qaha in the province of Assyout in Egypt. He entered the elementary and primary school of Musha in 1912 and finished his primary education in 1918. He dropped out of school for two years because of the revolution of 1919. His father was Haj Qutb, son of Ibrahi, and a well-known religious person in his village, and his mother was also a religious lady from a well-known family who cared about him and his two younger sisters, Hamida and Amina, and a younger brother, Muhammad. After completing his primary education in Musha, Sayyid Qutb moved to Cairo for further education where he lived with his uncle, Ahmad Hussain Osman. This was in 1920, when he was 14 years old. It should be noted that he memorized the Qur’an when he was about 10 years old in his village. He lost his father while he was in Cairo, so he convinced his mother to move with him to Cairo, where she died in 1940. After the death of his mother, he expressed his loneliness in several articles (Ummah, My Mother) published in the book, "Atatiaf Alarbaa" (The Four Lights), which his sisters, brother and he wrote.
In Cairo, he completed his high school education and enrolled in the teachers’ college, Darul Oloom, in 1929. In 1939 he qualified as an Arabic-Language teacher and received a Bachelor of Arts degree then joined the ministry of education. Very soon (about six years), he left his ministry job as a teacher and devoted his time to freelance writing. A factor leading to his resignation from the teaching job was his disagreement with the ministry of education and many colleagues regarding his philosophy of education and his attitude towards the literary arts.
From 1939 to 1951, an obvious switch in his writing towards the Islamic ideology was noted. He wrote several articles on the artistic expression of the Qur’an, as well as two books titled "Expression of the Qur’an" and "Scenes from the Day of Judgement." In 1948, his book "Social Justice in Islam" was published. In it he made it clear that true social justice can only be realized in Islam. In November 1948, he went to the United States to study educational curricula. He spent two and one half years moving between Washington DC., and California, where he realized the materialistic attitude of the literary arts and its lack of spirituality. He interrupted his stay in the United States and returned to Egypt in August 1950. Sayyid Qutb resumed his job as a teacher and inspector in the ministry of education before he resigned in October 1952 (again because of his repeated philosophical disagreements with the minister of education and many of his colleagues).
The period from 1951 to 1965 included his joining the Ikhwan (The Muslim Brotherhood). His ideas were quite clear about the fallacy of many of the prevailing social and political/economic injustices and the need for Islamic reform, and he became the chief editor of the newspaper of Ikhwan. During his period, several of his books appeared on Islamic ideology and Islam as a complete way of life. He was arrested when the Ikhwan was accused of attempting to overthrow the government in 1954 and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor. He remained in Jarah prison near Cairo for about 10 years after which due to his health condition, he was released when the Iraqi President, Abdul Salam Arif, intervened.
In 1965 he published his famous book, Mallem Fittareek (Milestones), which led to his re-arrest with the accusation of conspiracy against the Egyptian President, Abdul Nasser. He was tried and rapidly sentenced to death based upon many excerpts of his book, Milestones. There was quite an international uproar and protest in various Muslim countries with appeals to President Abdul Nasser to pardon Sayyid Qutb. In spite of several demonstrations and many objections in various Muslim countries, Sayyid Qutb was executed by hanging on August 29, 1966. He left behind a total of 24 books, including several novels, several books on literary arts’ critique, on the education of adults and children, and several religious books, including the 30 volume Commentary of the Qur’an.
Sayyid Qutb will always be remembered for his legacy of clearly defining the basic ideas of the Oneness and sovereignty of Allah, the clear distinction between pure faith and the association of partners with Allah (Shirk) overt and hidden, and the only hope for salvation of humanity. Sayyid Qutb was smiling when he was executed, showing his conviction of the beautiful life to come in paradise – a life he definitely and rightfully deserved.
People who have had an impact on Islam - amma - 02-27-2007
Khurram Murad
Khurram Murad was born in Bhopal, India in 1932, and migrated to Pakistan in 1948. He studied civil engineering at the University of Karachi (BEng. 1952), securing 1st place in the University, and went on to study in the University of Minnesota (USA) (MSc. 1958), he worked as a leading consulting engineer in Karachi, Dhaka, Tehran and Riyadh. Associated Consulting Engineers Ltd., with which he worked as a chief engineer and resident director, was responsible for the initial design and electrification of the extension of the Masjid al-Haram, Makkah and Khurram Murad played an important role in the formulation and implementation of the plans for extension of the Haram.
Khurram Murad's whole life, from early boyhood to his last moment, was dedicated to the service of the Islamic movement . He was initiated in the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bhopal, as a student and joined Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, Pakistan, immediately after his arrival in Karachi in November 1948. In the Jamiat he served as the President of the Karachi unit (1949-50) and as its Nazim-e-A'la (All Pakistan President) during 1951- 1952. After the conclusion of his student career, he joined the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan and served as its Amir at the important cities of Dhaka (1963-71), and Lahore (1987-89), as a member of Central Shura (working Committee) and 'Amila (Executive Committee) (1963-1996) and as its Naib Amir (Vice-President) (1987-1996). In 1992, he was appointed editor of the monthly Tarjumanal Qur'an, Lahore, the journal founded by Mawlana Abul A'la Mawdudi in 1932 and which has been the chief pace- setter for the Islamic movement in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Khurram Murad occupies a place of distinction in the intellectual firmament of contemporary Islam. A thinker, an orator and a prolific writer, he has been one of the architects of current Islamic resurgence. While his da'wah activities began in Pakistan, he has been involved in the promotion of the Islamic movement in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. As a teacher and a da'iyah his speeches and thoughtful orations have inspired thousands of young men and women all over the world. As chief of the training departments of the Jamiat, the Jamaat and as an active resource-person in training programmes in the UK and America, he played a key role in the character-building of the youth in the Islamic Movement.
He also served as the Director General of the Leicester-based Islamic Foundation (www.islamic-foundation.org.uk) and was a household name among British Muslims throughout the seventies and eighties.
An author of over thirty works in Urdu and English, his thoughts have
influenced two generations of Muslims all the world over.
"Inter-Personal Relations in an Islamic Movement" (Urdu),
"Way to the Qur'an,"
"Islamic Movement in the West: Reflections on Some Issues,"
"Lam'at-e-Zandan," (Urdu),
"Shari'ah: The Way to God" and "Shari'ah: The Way to Justice,"
"Key to al-Baqarah",
"Quranic Treasures,",
"Gifts from Muhammad," (forthcoming),
"Who is Muhammad" (forthcoming),
are some of his major works. As a translator and interpreter of Mawlana Mawdudi, Khurram Murad has made his mark.
"Let us be Muslims,"
"Islamic Movement: Dynamics of Values, Power and Change,"
and "The Islamic Way of Life," (with Khurshid Ahmad)
are his major contributions. He also edited Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi'spioneering work, "Muslims in the West: Message and the Mission." Khurram also wrote over half a dozen books for children, edited and directed a video on "The Life of the Prophet Muhammad," and contributed dozens of scholarly articles to different journals and magazines. Over four hundred audio and video cassettes of Khurram Murad are in circulation in Pakistan and different parts of the Muslim World.
Khurram Murad was involved in Islamic da'wah and inter-faith dialogue in the West for the last twenty years. In this connection, he addressed dozens of conferences and seminars. His contributions in initiating and promoting strategic thinking on da'wah issues in Muslim countries as well as in countries where Muslims are in a minority have been immense.
As a leader of the Islamic Movement of Pakistan, which struggled for the democratic rights of the people, he was detained in prison without trial in 1964 in Dhaka for three months and was also a Prisoner of War for almost three years in India after the fall of Dhaka in December 1971.
His death came on Thursday 19th December 1996 (9th Sha'ban 1417 AH) at the Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.
People who have had an impact on Islam - amma - 02-27-2007
El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
By Sulayman S. Nyang, Ph.D.
http://www.icna.org/tm/greatmuslim2.htm
El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, or Malcolm X as he is better known among countless non-Muslim Americans, was a man of great intelligence and charisma. His life story goes back to his days as a young man. The son of a Garveyite (a follower of Marcus Aurelius Garvey) who remembered throughout his life the brutal manner in which White racists killed his father. Mr. Shabazz was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925, the fourth of eight children of Rev. Earl Little, a Baptist preacher from Georgia, and his wife, Louise, a West Indian woman who was light skinned enough to pass for White. Because of his background Malcolm Little imbibed much of the rage of suspicion of White America which his father felt before his murder. Condemned to live in a hostile American society without wealth or effective parental direction, Malcolm Little got lost in the wilderness of sin and crime. He got involved in a number of illegal activities which eventually landed him in jail. In his now famous autobiography, ghostwritten by Alex Haley of Roots fame, Mr. Shabazz paints a gloomy picture of life for a Black youth in those days of racial bigotry and Black victimization in American society. He tells us in the book that his life changed after his brother had introduced him to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. The message from this leader of the Nation of Islam was designed to de-inferiorize Blacks in the US who had been told repeatedly that their color and race condemned them to eternal damnation in America’s social system. According to Ron Karenga, the prominent African-American activist and essayist during the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s and 1970s, there are six aspects to the doctrine of the Nation of Islam, as advocated by Elijah Muhammad. The first and most fundamental "is the posing of Islam as the true religion of Black people and Christianity as the religion of their opposite and enemy, the White people." The second "is the contention that Allah (God) is in reality a Black man and the Black man is God." The third is that Black people "are a Chosen People who are righteous by creation and righteous by nature." The fourth is that "the White man is the devil himself." The Fifth is that "separation on the social and political level from White was a divine imperative." The sixth aspect of Elijah Muhammad’s theory stresses "the need for racial and Islamic solidarity throughout the world." He argued that, inspite of Euro-American machinations, people in the developing countries are destined to unite because they all belong to the Original People.
In an attempt to understand the spiritual journey of Malik Shabazz, we must examine how he related to these ideas of Mr. Muhammad and the manner in which his life changed following his encounter with the orthodox Islam.
Malcolm Little, the convert to the Nation of Islam, changed his name to Malcolm X and became a strong and forceful champion of Mr. Muhammad’s philosophy. His efforts at proselytization took the message of the Nation of Islam to every nook and corner of the Black community in the United States. Malcolm X, as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, was perhaps the most potent force behind the publicity of the Black nationalist religious body in the United States and overseas. His speeches in colleges and universities and on television and radio galvanized a large number of young Blacks in American ghettos. Many of these Blacks would later embrace the NOI philosophy and become active defenders and promoters of their adopted faith. Malcolm X’s activities on behalf of the NOI created a tense atmosphere in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At the time in US history the civil rights movements was bent on desegregating American life and society. In order to do so a coalition of Blacks and Whites was needed. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference formed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, were the advocates of change. They had earlier scored a victory over the segregationists when the US Supreme Court struck down racist laws which mandated separate educational facilities for 40 percent of US school children located primarily in the southern states. Entering the field of struggle around this time, Malcolm X taught Black Americans his master’s message: "Blacks and Whites cannot live together and agitation for integration is suicidal." This message reverberated in the firmaments of Black debates throughout the lifetime of Mr. Muhammad. Although the followers of the NOI were not prominent in Black leadership circles, the visibility and dynamism of Malcolm X gave the NOI more attention than its members warranted at the time. Many analysts of the civil rights movement saw the message of Malcolm X and the NOI as an alternative to Dr. King’s message of change without violent struggle. Infact, on many occasions the White liberals reminded conservative Whites of the ominous future of American should the two races settled their differences violently. This perception of the NOI and its national spokesman, Malcolm X, gave the followers of Mr. Muhammad a bad name and a bad press. The liberal White press such as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post dismissed Malcolm X as a "hatemonger," and a "troublemaker."
This image of Malcolm X underwent a change only in the last two years of his life. In November 1993, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X made a statement which soon drove a wedge between him and Mr. Muhammad. He was reported in the US press as saying that the slaying of the US President was a clear case of "the chickens coming home to roost." To Malcolm X the US was a violent society and violence had for long been unleashed against Blacks. When the President himself could be gunned down in cold blood by an assassin you have nothing else to say in defense of America.
Although Malcolm X tried to clarify the meaning of his statement, the NOI leadership saw it as an act of disobedience to their supreme leader, Mr. Muhammad. A 90-day suspension was imposed on Malcolm X and the conservative elements who disliked his style of operation saw this penalty as a way of bringing him down. Much speculation has centered on the factors responsible for the conflict between Malcolm X and his teacher, Mr. Muhammad. Some analysts like Karenga have attributed Malcolm X’s break with NOI to jealousy and rivalry in the higher echelon of the movement. These analysts believe that the "chickens coming home to roost" statement of Malcolm X was used merely as a pretext to eliminate him; that the US authorities were mindful of these internal rivalries and they used this weakness to heighten tensions in the ranks of NOI. Regardless of one’s interpretation of events around this time, however, the fact remains, that Malcolm X’s future in the NOI was doomed because Mr. Muhammad was no longer sure of his loyalty, and his aides in Chicago who were opposed to Malcolm X, took advantage of their proximity to the supreme leader to separate them from each other.
From the perspective of a student of Islam in the US, this development in the relationship between Malcolm X and Mr. Muhammad set the state for the emergence of a new Malcolm X; that is to say, the break with Elijah Muhammad resulted in Malcolm X’s reexamination of the entire NOI philosophy. Several major changes in Malcolm X took place during the time.
After his break with Elijah Muhammad, he changed his name to Malik el-Shabazz. The Muslim honorific title El-Hajj would later be added to his name after his trip to Makkah to perform the Hajj. The new Malik Shabazz also chose the mainstream Sunni Islam as his religious creed. In doing so he became the vocal denouncer of his former master and his teachings. He confessed to several audiences around the US and abroad that his activities and speeches gave greater visibility to the heretical teaching of the NOI. He told his audiences that now that he has seen the light of true Islam, he would do everything to teach, elucidate and pass on the true teachings of Islam to African-American. This new mission of Mr. Shabazz endeared him to the small minority of African-American Sunnis who had previously seen him as an agent of a diabolical movement and a perpetrator of the greatest sin in Islam, shirk (associating partnership with Allah). By traveling to Makkah for Hajj and by perceiving the collective legitimization of the leaders of the Muslims on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Shabazz developed a new image in the Muslim world. He, in turn, also provided greater visibility to orthodox Islam in the United States. Although orthodox Islam was know to many African-Americans who embraced Islam because of Mr. Shabazz’s teachings and lectures, one could argue that the transformation of Malcolm X into a veritable orthodox Muslim leader created the atmosphere for the development of the various African-American Muslim groups. Three of these groups that have embraced Mr. Shabazz as a brother and a hero of orthodox Islam in America are the Darul Islam Movement, the Islamic Brotherhood, Inc., and the Islamic Party of North America. In its tow publications al-Jihadul Akbar and al-Taqwa, the Dual Islam Movement defended Mr. Shabazz from the vitriolic attacks of the NOI and other Black nationalist groups who saw Mr. Shabazz’s decision to join the international Muslim community as a deviation from the real problems of Black people in the US. Several articles appeared also in al-Islam, a mouthpiece of the Washington-based Islamic Party of North America, and The Western Sunrise, an organ of the Islamic Brotherhood, Inc. based in New York.
The transformation of Mr. Shabazz not only put orthodox Islam in the public eye, it also heightened the subterranean conflicts that were raging in the small community of African-Americans who called themselves Muslim. Mr. Shabazz’s embrace of orthodox Islam and the lectures he gave in his last years, together built a bridge between the tiny fraction of Sunni Muslims inside the African-American community and the emerging immigrant Muslim community. Before Mr. Shabazz’s trip to Makkah, the immigrant Muslim community was neither well organized nor assertive about its faith in Islam. It consisted essentially of two main groups, namely the assimilated early immigrant families from the Middle East, Southern/Central Europe and South Asia on the one hand, and the international students from Muslim countries on the other.
Indeed the early 1960s served as an important benchmark in the history of Islam because it was during this time that Sunni orthodoxy went public through Mr. Shabazz’s mosque in Harlem, and the international students from the Muslim world began to build up the Muslim Student Association. It was the progressive development of these two ideas that has led to the present situation. Today the ideas for which Mr. Shabazz is known have become concretized in the efforts of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, Elijah Muhammad’s son and successor. Since 1975 Warith Deen Mohammed has transformed the organization of his father into a veritable Sunni Muslim body of believers. This act of restructuring of beliefs and practices within the NOI has led to fragmentation among the old members. There are several successor groupings to the NOI. The first and most important is the one under the leadership of Warith Deen Mohammed himself. Its position on religious and secular matters is stated in the group’s publication, Muslim Journal. The next most important group is the restored Nation of Islam under the leadership of Minister Louis Farrakhan. The rest of the breakaway groups are led by Silas Muhammad of Atlanta; John Muhammad of Detroit and Khalifa Emmanuel Muhamad of Baltimore. A New York group called Five Percenters is also a competing organization. Each of these successor groups to the original NOI is now represented in one or more US cities. The followers of Warith Deen Mohammed are the main link between African-American Sunni Muslims and the growing body of immigrant Muslims in the US.
Having said it all, there are several remarkable things about Malik Shabazz that come to my mind as we commemorate his assassination nearly 25 years ago.
He was a bold, articulate and charismatic speaker and was a good example of a man determined to get himself out of the mire of poverty and illiteracy that condemns a majority of American Blacks to a life at the bottom of the society.
He was an African-American whose discovery of Elijah Muhammad’s teachings channeled his pent-up hostilities towards Whites in a manner which led to his self-discovery; and he was a man courageous enough to accept his mistakes, as reflected in his self reversal on the NOI view that the White man is the devil.