“Malcolm’s split from the Nation of Islam was not only due to his disappointment and disillusionment over Elijah Muhammad’s out-of-wedlock children and his disgust and anger over the financial and moral corruption of N.O.I. officials in Chicago; it was also the result of his growing belief that the Islam taught to members of the Nation was not compatible with the Islam of the Holy Qu’ran. “By the early 1960s,” Ma said, Malcolm had become convinced of the need for our Afro-Americans to have a stronger connection with orthodox Islam. He knew that this could never happen as long as the N.O.I. was teaching that Elijah Muhammad was a divine being. As he moved closer to a more Sunni traditional Islam, the crew in Chicago became more and more agitated, considering this a threat to their financial well-being, since the members’ belief in the divinity of Elijah Muhammad kept the money pouring in. This religious side of Malcolm is too often ignored or downplayed by those who write about him. In doing so, they have to dismiss his own words when he declared: “I don’t pretend to be a divine man, but I do believe in divine guidance, divine power, and in the fulfillment of divine prophecy.” ” —Explaining why Malcolm X split with the Nation of Islam Seventh Child: A family memoir of Malcolm X, by Rodnell P. Collins [nephew of Malcolm X] with A. Peter Bailey (Page 143)
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 15:27:08 +0000
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