ICNA Chicago: 'The Life of Malcolm X'

Source:ICNA Chicago- from a documentary about Minister Malcolm X.

“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.” Malcolm X

Islamic Learning Foundation* Presents:

THE LIFE OF MALCOLM X… a class

Taught By: Imam Siraj Wahhaj

Saturday February 3rd ~ 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Location: Islamic Foundation 300 W. Highridge, Villa Park, IL 60181

Register: http://www.ymsite.org/mx or http://www.ICNAchicago.org

Registration Fee: $10 Student, $20 Adult

Includes course materials, multimedia presentations, lecture, food, interactive web forum, and articles.

Details: Covering the life of Br. El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X), with special emphasis on his last years and some of the many lessons we need to extract from his life.

S p o n s o r e d b y :

-Islamic Learning Foundation islamiclearningfoundation.org

-Young Muslims http://www.ymsite.org

-ICNA Chicago: http://www.icnachicago.org

“I am and always will be a Muslim. My religion is Islam.” Malcolm X

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X

*Islamic Learning Foundation is a department of ICNA and Young Muslims”

From ICNA Chicago

Malcolm X, represents to me many ways what the American Dream and what that is and should be. Someone who started from very rough beginnings, essentially came from nothing and worked his way up in life. And got so far, that people actually saw him as a threat, or his message of freedom and responsibility, not just for African-Americans, but for all Americans, as threats.

By the time Minister Malcolm died, he believed that people should be judged as people. Who moved towards Dr. Martin King when it came to civil rights. By the time he died, even as a young man he was in prison and at one point was even a racist who saw all Caucasians as racists or “White Devils”, and not just as people and not just the people. And not just the racists, but all Caucasians.

But once Malcolm left prison and left the Nation of Islam, he got himself educated and started hanging out with Caucasians that weren’t racist and believed in similar things. And learned better and that perhaps he could work with them so they could all accomplish the same things. That all Americans should be treated equally under law and not be held down because of their race.

I wrote a post arguing that Malcolm moved to believing in racial tolerance a few months ago. But Malcolm X’s message was about freedom and responsibility, that people shouldn’t expect to be given things, that if we wanted to achieve anything in life and be successful, that we had to go out and achieve those things and not settle for failure.

Malcolm believed that people, shouldn’t settle for poverty, or anything else. That the way to avoid these things, we’re to go out and get ourselves educated, work hard and be productive. Rather than expect government, or anyone else to hand us those things. Which is why I believe if Malcolm X were alive today, he would be a Classical Liberal Democrat or Conservative, not exactly registered to either party. But he would have that mindset, that people shouldn’t expect government, or other people to take care of themselves. But they needed to be able to do that for themselves, if they expected to be successful in life.

Had both Malcolm X and Martin King lived a natural life (meaning they didn’t die at a young age and lived into their senior years and not have been murdered, or killed, but died through natural causes) America would be a much different country and not just for African-Americans. Both of them would’ve helped a lot of people who weren’t free to live their own lives. Be able to achieve those things for themselves by preaching the message of individual freedom and personal responsibility through education. 

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