Farrakhism & Malcom X

- Contents -


1. COMPARISON: Islam & Farrakhanism ...
2. - God/Allah Alone .....................................
3. - Prophet/Messenger ..................................
4. - Last Day/Life Hereafter ...........................
5. - The Qur'an ...............................................
6. - The Bible .................................................
7. - Shahadah ..................................................
8. - Salah ........................................................
9. - Zakah .......................................................
10. - Sawm ......................................................
11. - Hajj .........................................................
12. - Lawful (halal); Unlawful (haram) .......................
13. - Authentic Hadith .............................................
14. Knowing the True Islam ........................................
15. AL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ: MALCOM X
16. His Pilgrimage to Makkah .....................................
17. Islamic Brotherhood ............................................
18. Legacy of Malcolm X ............................................


1. COMPARISON: Islam & Farrakhanism ...............................



ISLAM, and so-called "NATION OF ISLAM," are two different religions. The
only thing common between them is the jargon, the language used by the
both. "The Nation of Islam" is a misnomer; this religion should be
called Farrakhanism, after the name of its propagator. The religion of
Elijah Muhammad and W.D. Fard died with their death because their
officially and popularly elected successor, W.D. Muhammad, integrated
the community with the Muslim community at-large, following the Qur'an
and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Louis
Farrakhan joined W.D. Muhammad and gave his pledge of allegiance to him
after Elijah Muhammad's death; he later rebelled and broke his oath with
impunity, or without paying any expiation, and restarted "The Nation of
Islam."

Examine the following comparisons between Islam and Farrakhanism with
regard to the belief or practice in each:




Belief/Practice





2. - God/Allah Alone ..............................................

ISLAM: One Unique, never appeared in any physical form; hence, no
physical representation is possible. He is recognized through his 99
names.

FARRAKHANISM: "...Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard
Muhammad, July 1930; the long awaited 'Messiah' of the Christians and
the 'Mahdi' of the Muslims."




3. - Prophet/Messenger ............................................


ISLAM: Muhammad (S) is the last Prophet and the last Messenger. No
messenger or prophet will come after Muhammad (S).

FARRAKHANISM: Elijah Muhammad was a "Messenger of Allah." Are there any
more messengers or prophets to come? Not clear.




4. - Last Day/Life Hereafter ......................................


ISLAM: The life on earth as we know it will come to an end; it will be
followed by the life hereafter which includes physical resurrection of
the entire humankind, judgement and the life of paradise or hell.

FARRAKHANISM: "...BELIEVE in the resurrection of the dead - not in
physical resurrection, but in mental resurrection." "No already
physically dead person will be in the Hereafter; that is slavery belief,
taught to slaves to keep them under control." "When you are dead, you
are DEAD."




5. - The Qur'an ...................................................


ISLAM: It was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (S) between 610 and 632 C.E.
It is the last revelation of Allah to mankind.

FARRAKHANISM: Contradictory beliefs. On one side, "...BELIEVE in the
Holy Qur'an and in the scriptures of all the Prophets of God," and on
the other side, "We, the original nation of the earth ... are the
writers of the Bible and Qur'an. We make such history once every 25,000
years ... it is done by twenty-four of our scientists." "Both the
present Bible and the Holy Qur'an must soon give way to the Holy
Book..."


6. - The Bible ....................................................


ISLAM: It was revealed to prophets and messengers from Moses (alaihis
salam) to Jesus (A) but was corrupted. Authenticity of statements in the
Bible are judged by the Qur'an.

FARRAKHANISM: (See their beliefs above regarding the Qur'an)


7. - Shahadah .....................................................


ISLAM: It means what it says, that is, Allah is Unseen, He is the
Creator, the Sustainer. Mankind is accountable to Him Alone, and Prophet
Muhammad (S) of Arabia is the final and ultimate ROLE MODEL; no one can
substitute for him.

FARRAKHANISM: A cover up to deceive gullible Muslims. "Allah (God)
appeared in the person of Master W. Fard Muhammad," and Muhammad of
Arabia (S) was one of the prophets, not a role model for our times. The
real role model and lawgiver for our times is Elijah Muhammad.


8. - Salah ........................................................


ISLAM: Five times a day is required; SALAH (prayer) includes QIYAM
(standing), RUKU' (bowing), SAJDA (prostration), JALSA (sitting on the
floor) and recitations.

FARRAKHANISM: No five times daily SALAH (prayer); prayer, when done has
no RUKU' or SAJDA. Friday is a major congregational prayer day, not for
SALAH, but to say DU'A and to listen to a Minister.


9. - Zakah ........................................................


ISLAM: Required on accumulated wealth after having in possession for one
year above the NISAB (certain limits), as defined in SHARI'A (Islamic
law).

FARRAKHANISM: It is a tax as "poor due" on income, similar to income
tax. Who benefits?




10. - Sawm .........................................................


ISLAM: Fasting is required in the month of Ramadan, ninth month of
Islamic calendar.

FARRAKHANISM: Fasting is required in December only. Fasting in the month
of Ramadan is optional.


11. - Hajj .........................................................


ISLAM: Required once in a lifetime if conditions of finances, health,
and safety of travel are met.

FARRAKHANISM: No Hajj requirement. Farrakhan and his cronies take trips
to Saudi Arabia, and by the way, to Makkah for the main purpose of image
building and to raise funds from gullible rich Arabs.


12. - Lawful (halal); Unlawful (haram) .............................


ISLAM: Determined by Allah, the God Alone, announced in the Qur'an or by
the Prophet Muhammad (S), recorded in the authentic Hadith sources.

FARRAKHANISM: Determined by W.D. Fard and announced by Elijah Muhammad.
The Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (S) have no relevance nor authority with
regard to lawful and unlawful.


13. - Authentic Hadith .............................................


ISLAM: An indispensable source of Islamic beliefs and practices, the
only source after the Qur'an. Indispensable for the understanding of the
Qur'an itself.

FARRAKHANISM: Ignored, if not totally rejected by Farrakhanis. However,
the leadership, including Farrakhan himself, may invoke Hadith if it
suits their purpose to fool gullible Muslims.

[ -- M. Amir Ali, Ph.D. References for Farrakhanism quotes are given in
the author's article: ISLAM OR FARRAKHANISM. ]


14. Knowing the True Islam .........................................


There are many groups in America who claim to represent Islam and call
their adherents Muslims. Any serious student of Islam has a duty to
investigate and find the true Islam. The only two authentic sources
which bind every Muslim are, (1) the Qur'an and (2) authentic or sound
Hadith. Sometimes, Fiqh is quoted as a source. However, only that part
of fiqh is a true source and binding which quotes directly Qur'an and
authentic Hadith. All other parts of fiqh are opinions of learned
scholars. Since scholars are not prophets or messengers of Allah, they
are fallible people. Hence their opinions may be correct or may not be
correct; they do not become binding.

Any teachings under the label of "Islam" which contradict or are at
variance with the direct understanding of fundamental beliefs and
practices of Islam from the Qur'an and authentic Hadith should be
rejected, and such a religion should be considered a PSEUDO-ISLAMIC
CULT. In America there are many pseudo-Islamic cults, Farrakhanism being
one of them. An honest attitude on the part of such cults should be not
to call themselves Muslims and their religion Islam. Such an example of
honesty is Bahaism which is an off-shoot of Islam, but Bahais do not
call themselves Muslims nor their religion, Islam. In fact, Bahaism is
not Islam just as Farrakhanism is not Islam.

The foundation of Islam consists of TAWHEED, RISALAH, and AAKHIRAH. And
"five pillars" of Islam are SHAHADAH, SALAH, ZAKAH, SAWM and HAJJ. The
rest of the building of Islam consists of SHARI'A which includes HARAM
and HALAL, RIGHTS and DUTIES, MORAL CODE, CONVEYING THE MESSAGE,
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RULE OF ALLAH and EXCELLENCE in everything Muslims
do. Any claims of Islam should be judged on the criteria given in this
paragraph. If the foundation and pillars of a building are demolished
there is no building left. Such is the case with pseudo-Islamic cults,
including Farrakhanism. For details request the booklet, HOW TO PRESENT
ISLAM, A RATIONAL APPROACH by the author of this brochure.




15. AL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ: MALCOM X .............................


Twenty-five years after his death, Malcolm X, Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz,
still towers above the statue of liberty. He refuses to die. Wherever
injustice and oppression takes place, his smiling face and
uncompromising message fill the atmosphere.

Yes, they killed the body but not the spirit. When he was alive, Brother
Shabazz was the most feared man in America. And, the most loved. The
situation hasn't changed.

For the deprived and the oppressed African-Americans, Brother Shabazz
continues to be the hero, the inspiration that makes it possible for
them to maintain their sanity and dignity in a vile society which can't
stop despising them.

We, as Muslims, are often angered to see Br. Shabazz identified as a
Black Nationalist rather than a Muslim. While the anger is justified, we
must understand that people generally emphasize the aspect of a leader's
life which is in harmony with their own aspirations. While some
African-Americans will continue to invoke the nationalist side of Br.
Shabazz, it is for us to see that his Islamic personality is projected
to the world!




16. His Pilgrimage to Makkah .......................................


When he was in Makkah, Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz wrote a letter to his
loyal assistants in Harlem... from his heart:

"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit
of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races
here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all
the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have
been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see
displayed all around me by people of all colors.

"I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my
seven circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad,
I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and
forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al Marwah. I have prayed in
the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat.

"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They
were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans.
But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of
unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to
believe never could exist between the white and non-white.

"America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion
that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in
the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who
in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was
removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before
seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together,
irrespective of their color.

"You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this
pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to
rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside
some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me.
Despite my firm convictions, I have always been 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.

"During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from
the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug -
while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the
bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was
the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white
Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African
Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.

"We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God
had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior,
and the white from their attitude.

"I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the
Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the
Oneness of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in
terms of their 'differences' in color.

"With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called
'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven
solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to
save America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon
Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.

"Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual
insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The
American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is
only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the
American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do
believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites
of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see
the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual
path of truth - the only way left to America to ward off the disaster
that racism inevitably must lead to.

"Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel
more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been
heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be
called in America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador,
a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I
have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such
honors - honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King - not a
Negro.

"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.

"Sincerely,

"Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz" (Malcolm X) (From the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
MALCOLM X with assistance from Alex Haley, the author of ROOTS)

Malcolm X saw and experienced many positive things. Generosity and
openheartedness were qualities which were impressed on him by the
welcome which he received in many places. He saw brotherhood and the
brotherhood of different races and this led him to disclaim racism and
to say: "I am not a racist... In the past I permitted myself to be
used... to make sweeping indictments of all white people, the entire
white race, and these generalizations have caused injuries to some
whites who perhaps did not deserve to be hurt. Because of the spiritual
enlightenment which I was blessed to receive as the result of my recent
pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, I no longer subscribe to sweeping
indictments of any one race. I am now striving to live the life of a
true Sunni Muslim. I must repeat that I am not a racist nor do I
subscribe to the tenets of racism. I can state in all sincerity that I
wish nothing but freedom, justice and equality, life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness for all people."

Malcolm X was vehemently anti-White. That's the way he was taught as a
'Black Muslim.' But his trip for Hajj changed all of that. He came to
see that all men are equal, regardless of their color. True anti-racism
is color blindness. That is what he preached on his return to the United
States. And that is why he was assassinated. While he preached
separatism, keeping people aware of color differences, that was OK.
Blacks vs. Whites is an acceptable dialect. But when Al-Hajj Malik
El-Shabazz started to preach the Oneness of God and the equality of
races, and was prepared to act in any lawful (halal) means necessary, he
had to go: Truth vs. Falsehood is an unacceptable dialect.

Islam believes in the unity of the human race. Islam says that all
mankind are the creatures of One God, they are all equal. Division of
color, class, race or territory are sheer illusions; and ideologies
which are based on such distinctions are the greatest menace on earth.
Humanity is one single family of God, there can be no sanction for these
barriers. Men are one and not White or Black, Aryan of Non-Aryan,
Occidental or Oriental.

Islam is based on the universal brotherhood of man and practices
universal brotherhood of man. But the importance of this concept is of
great value as it is the only solution to national and international
problems. This is said to be the age of freedom and restoring unto every
man his dignity, and despite all the phenomenal changes in the political
stage of the world, our age is still unable to think in terms of human
dignity, and this is the dark specter of social concern of our time.
For, despite man's conquest of space and mastery over the forces of
nature, man has not been able to rid himself of the primeval prejudice
of race and color. The stark reality of our time has brought in its
trail a great desolation and frustration as we find ourselves face to
face with chaos, wars, the miserable conditions of living of the masses
of mankind and the exploitation of one nation by another, and this leads
to selfishness, fear, hatred; class, tribe and race discrimination; and
subsequently the division of man against man is the order of the day,
even in the so-called Socialist countries.

Islam's greatest contribution to mankind was the abolition and
extinction of distinction based on race and color. The Holy Qur'an
declared:

"Mankind were one community, then they differed among themselves, so God
raised Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners..." (Al-Qur'an
2:213)

"O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female; and made you
into nations and tribes, that you might get to know one another. The
noblest of you, in the sight of God, is he who is the most righteous.
God is All-Knowing and Wise." (Al-Qur'an 49:13)

>From the above verses, it is clear that the whole of humanity from its
diverse races, was originally one, deriving its existence from One
Creator and that all barriers that separate humanity by race and color
must vanish and the superiority of a person be judged by his conduct
only. A good Muslim considers himself a fusion of all races. Anyone who
enters into the fold of Islam becomes part and parcel of this
fraternity, forgetting all pride and prejudice. On the basis of this
principle, Islam seeks to build an intellectual, moral, ideological and
international society, as against the existing tribal, racial,
linguistic and national societies, which have turned the world into a
racio-color holocaust.




17. Islamic Brotherhood ............................................


"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality
of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of
mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia,
perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the
power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and
tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and
west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an
indispensable condition." (H.A.R. Gibb, WHITHER ISLAM, p. 379)

"The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the
outstanding achievements of Islam and in the contemporary world there
is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic
virtue..." (A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL, New York, p. 205)

"How, for instance, can any other appeal stand against that of the
Moslem who, in approaching the pagan, says to him, however obscure or
degraded he may be 'Embrace the faith, and you are at once equal and a
brother.' Islam knows no color line." (S. S. Leeder, VEILED MYSTERIES OF
EGYPT)


18. Legacy of Malcolm X ............................................


Malcolm X was born into Christianity as Malcolm Little and died in Islam
as Malik Shabazz. This is something to think about and is an expression
of his legacy. Malcolm X went through the transition period of the
religion of the "Nation of Islam," a religion of American origin
borrowing some terms from the Muslim culture of the East. For
information about differences between Islam and the so-called "Nation of
Islam" request the brochure "Islam and Farrakhanism Compared" and the
booklet "Islam or Farrakhanism" (for a donation ) from III&E, P.O. Box
41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129.

It appears that Malik Shabazz went through five stages in his short
life. The first stage was his childhood under the shadows of his
religious parents. The second stage was his adolescence to youth until
his moving out to Harlem, NY. This was a rowdy and irresponsible stage
of his life which eventually landed him in prison. The fourth stage of
his life was in the "Nation of Islam" which was not real Islam. In the
"Nation of Islam," on one side, Malcolm was a very disciplined man; on
the other side he became a black racist, a separatist and a demagogue.
In the fifth and final stage of his youthful life, Malik Shabazz reached
the apex which he could only achieve in real Islam, not in the cultist
"Nation of Islam." Malik Shabazz entered the real Islam as a result of
his journey to Makkah (Mecca is a misspelling). In Islam he became
moderate and conciliatory. He shed his racism.

The legacy of Malcolm X is the real Islam taught to us by the Prophet
Muhammad of Arabia, not the racist cult of the "Nation of Islam,"
presently lead by Louis Farrakhan and others who branched out of the old
following of Elijah Muhammad. However, Elijah's son, Wallace D.
Muhammad, now known as Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, moved away from his
father's religion. He is coming to the real Islam adopted by Malik
Shabazz for which Malcolm was assassinated. Malik Shabazz shall be
remembered by all Muslims as a martyr for the cause of Allah.