The Legacy of Malcolm X

The Legacy of Malcolm X | Imam Khalid Latif | Qualities of the Believers (Part 14)

Opening

Greetings of peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

There is no power nor strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. And peace and blessings be upon the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and companions.

In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Universe. I bear witness and testimony to the oneness of Allah, to his magnificence, his omnipotence, his might, his glory, to his being the creator and sustainer of all things, the giver of life, the guider of hearts, the master of the Day of Judgment.

And I bear witness to the fact that Muhammad ibn Abdullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is his servant and final messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and upon all those who choose to tread in his path until the last day.

Introduction: The Character of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

It is said that the character of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was the most remarkable thing. And over the last few months we've been looking at the first 10 verses of Surah Al-Mu'minoon as a way to understand and extrapolate meaning from the book that Allah gave to us for our benefit, to better understand the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)'s character and in turn to practically implement some of those understandings into the course of our life.

That when his wife radhiAllahu ta'ala Anha is asked about his nature, his character, she says that he is the Qur'an, his character is the Qur'an. And she would then recite these 10 verses of Surah Al-Mu'minoon that we have been looking at, indicating that within them are qualities and descriptions that give insight into that beautiful character.

And Allah grant us a character that is like the Prophets.

The Verse of Chastity

And where we had landed was on the attribute where Allah Azawajal, He says:

"And those who guard over their chastity."

It's not to shift the discussion, but to understand it and its imperative in a different frame.

Malcolm X: A Legacy Remembered

Given the auspiciousness of the day that we find ourselves on, whether we are conscious of it or not, that 55 years ago on this day, was the assassination of one of the greatest Muslims, both for this country and this world has ever seen, Malcolm X, rahmahullah. And where and how it ties into our discussion on these verses and pretty much every other verses, we can use the opportunity to reflect upon him, not in a sensationalized way or in a commercialized way, where somebody else is telling us a story about one of our teachers, our leaders in a way that defines based off of their terms and not our own terms.

That this man, rahmahullah, was who he was, because he took the teachings from this text that was given to all of us and actually lived them, spread them, disseminated them, but believed them inwardly and outwardly.

Living the Qur'an: Beyond Eloquent Speech

That when you see the transition and transformative nature of his life, he was not one who simply spoke with a certain eloquence. And this can be a challenge, you don't want to be mesmerized by beautiful words. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself he says in the hadith that some forms of speech, they're like magic.

And that as we get into modernity and we reach an end of times, and may Allah make the best of our deeds the last of our deeds, that you will find people who can speak beautifully, but there's not substance and meaning and purpose in their words. Or they become evidence of Qur'anic verses that question the pose:

"Why do you say that which you do not do?"

But I would argue that if you find inspiration and you sense the aspirative mode in your movement forward from the life of Malcolm X, rahmahullah, that you want to understand first and foremost, that when he reaches the end of his life, he's embodying the teachings of the Qur'an. And a verse that says:

"And those who guard over their chastity."

This is not something that is antiquated or archaic, or says that in the framework of modernity, this is how relationships are and this is how they exist.

The Prophetic Teaching on Faithfulness

But when people say, why would you talk about infidelity at Jummah prayers or the need to emphasize a hadith that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 101)

"He who cheats is not amongst us."

And the Qur'anic verse that follows this verse sets the exceptions to that rule:

"Except with their spouses or those their right hands possess."

That only with your spouse, also when you are married, then no one else but your spouse.

Malcolm X: Adopting the Complete Truth

And in the context of the legacy of that amazing man, what allowed for him to speak truth to power in those ways, was that he adopted all of it in its entirety as something that had truth to it. And so his values, his ethics, were derived from verses and narrations in the tradition like this, that said, I will be the person that will adopt this type of character, that I will remain as faithful as faithful can be. I will speak truth and only truth and otherwise be silent.

I will honor the rights of guests and treat orphans with dignity and respect. I will give an izzah to the elders, I will visit the sick in the hospitals, I will not distinguish based off of socially constructed difference, but I as a person who has been recipient of the most ugliest form of racism, will never determine someone's sense of worth and value based off of the color of their skin.

And so today, individually, you want to look inside yourself first and foremost. And to think about what it was that took that man away and how for us as Muslims, religion is not given to us so that we find a comfort zone for ourselves where we sit still and don't move in any way. But we have aspirations that we might not even realize that we can draw from taking our leaders, our heroes, our exemplars, and say, firstly, do I want to be like that in the life that I live? And if yes, then secondly, how did they do the things that they did so that I too can do those things?

The Power of Learning and Openness to Change

This was a man who, first and foremost, was tweaked with curiosity of learning and knowledge. And as he learned, he had a unique willingness to be open to change. The greatest scholars in our tradition, when you look at how they develop their perspectives on fiqh and theology, there is not consistency in opinions across the board from day one until the end of their life.

But why does Imam Malik, rahimahullah, change an opinion on something? Why does Imam Abu Hanifa, rahimahullah, change an opinion on something? Why does Imam Shafi, Imam Ahmed, so many people within the Sunni tradition, the Shia tradition, the broader legal schools and theological schools of our broader Muslim tradition, why are they not saying that it's just this way only? Because part of being a believer is being able to adopt and embrace change.

The Hadith on Change:

الْمُؤْمِنُ يَتَغَيَّرُ أَرْبَعِينَ مَرَّةً فِي الْيَوْمِ وَالْمُنَافِقُ يَبْقَى أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً عَلَى حَالٍ وَاحِدٍ

"The believer is the one whose state changes 40 times in a day and the one who has no belief, they're the same for 40 years in a row."

Reference: Various sources attribute similar meanings

May Allah protect us from this.

Overcoming Anti-Blackness and Societal Barriers

And this man, rahimahullah, was born into a situation of anti-blackness that created for him realities that did not honor the capacity, the intellectual faculties that he was uniquely endowed with. That when he sought to have

dreams and aspirations, teachers would say to him that that's not what a black man can do. You should be a carpenter. You're good with your hands.

And when he turns to certain vices in the midst of realities that most of us in this room can never truly understand because we are not black. But may Allah never make us from amongst those who promote racial injustice and anti-blackness in any way.

That as he goes into the actions that you and I might have heard about and might have known of that land him eventually in prison. The behaviors of gambling and thievery, womanizing, adultery. He did not have a fixed mindset that said this is who I am and this is who I will always be.

May Allah for him to understand himself that where he came from informed that much more where it is that he could end up. And inwardly you have to believe that your greatest of misdeeds will never be greater than Allah's mercy and love. And what individuals from the outside will utilize to determine the place of somebody within broader community or to allocate and attribute labels of goodness and badness.

The Capacity for Growth Through Mistakes

It's not just about the way somebody looks but it's about what goes on in here. And the capacity to find growth and meaning even through mistakes and failure. That he had to be willing to understand that he could be different and embrace that about himself.

I'm gonna say it to you with a sphere of love. How easy for you is it to admit when you make mistakes? To see your role in the creation of your existence. To apologize when you have done wrong or to show gratitude when someone has done something for you that you have gained from or benefited from.

That where has there been meaningful deliberate movement and growth and not in the frame of self-deprecation but real introspection to say is this the I that I want to be forever? Or do I know that every day even if my growth is gradual there is an opportunity for me to move forward.

Built within that is a second frame that becomes a block on our growth but also the collective growth of those around us. Because as bad as it is to believe that you can't change you don't ever want to make somebody else believe that they can't change.

You don't want to impose upon individuals what you believe is a course of action that they should be lending themselves towards in their life trajectory when you don't even know anything about them. To make assessments to cognitive function that might create ease but also has the ability to create intellectual laziness and to utilize externals to be what you base perception off of. And to then to cast judgment that is not indicative of what it is that you see in front of you but is telling you a lot about your heart.

Building Programs of Compassion and Re-Entry

And the absence of programs that cater to individuals that are across the spectrum of life experience. But subjectively also just sitting down and saying what do you think of people who come out of prison? And where is the re-entry program that Muslims need to build? In New York City. In response to inequitous systems that are built on supremacy that seek to enhance the lived experience of privileged majority demographics and quite often will daily scapegoat young black men, old black men, black people of all backgrounds and even to an extent minorities across the board but definitely rooted in anti-blackness that fills the prisons with people who if not we sitting in this room think with an air of compassion and with our hearts about why we should be creating the opportunities to integrate back in well better.

Who else is gonna do it? Malcolm X, rahimahullah had to unlearn in order to learn and to be open to what it was that he had within himself that now built itself up innately and instinctively. To say that maybe I didn't get it right the way it was given to me the first time. Maybe what I perceive and what I think and what I see is not what is actual or even if it is actual it's not what is absolute in perspective.

The Journey of Unlearning and Learning

And that first step is the hardest step in an opportunity to broaden a perspective and a horizon and dig deep in a relationship with the divine that gives us the courage and confidence to say that there is definitely a world beyond this one and my actions and decisions will no longer be simply in pursuit of what this materialistic world falsely offers to me. I'm gonna with a sense of real confidence move forward in the embracement and living of my deen, my faith, my values. But learning is not always the first step.

Unlearning has to happen as well. And unlearning means that sometimes you gotta think about how it was given to you directly and indirectly. But what you think about yourself and what you might think about others.

What does your mind evoke when you see somebody who's homeless on the street? What does a person look like when you jump to lock the door of your car or hold your bag a little tighter when you're sitting on a subway or on a bus? What race of people have never had a meal at the dinner table of your home? Or likely could not lead a prayer at the masjid you frequent back in your own local community?

Just cause it happens doesn't mean that it's okay. And the dissonance and subconscious realities that we have learned, well, you gotta take steps to unlearn. What people tell you is good and what people have given to you and your own socialization of what's worth giving your life for, the pursuit of dunya, the pursuit of material, the pursuit of just worldly things, it's not gonna be something that moves forward with us.

And so memorization is not enough to create conviction and belief. But unlearning in order to learn becomes critical. For he spoke against inequity and did not mince words.

The Ihsan of Malcolm X: Speaking Truth with Sincerity

The ihsan that came from this man, rahimahullah, was remarkable. You should read the autobiography. You can watch Spike Lee's movie. But go online and just listen to original lectures. And when you listen to him and when you see him speak, hear his words, but see his communication on a whole. Look at the sincerity that just comes from his eyes, that what his voice does to resonate deeply within you comes from a place of deep resonation within himself that he believes the words that he's sharing with you.

That racism is not okay. And what's so beautiful of the many beautiful things that this man valued and upheld, that you could tell he did not do it for himself, he did it for his people. And the love that he had for black people around the world, and the love that he gained as change was something that he became open to, gave him a belief system that allowed for him to have a sense of value and ethic that he was not only willing to die for, but also willing to live for.

And where you can draw meaning, understanding, lessons to implement in your own life, to really hear the words about why this man who lived that life where he did straighten his hair, he did fall into the stereotypes, he did live the life that that society in its good-bad framework said, this is the place of a black man in our country. And then he said, I'm not any longer gonna be what it is that you think I should be. But I will be the I that I know that I am entitled to be.

Embracing Identity and Rejecting Supremacy

So I will tell my people with compassion and love, but also with real deliberation and real explicit word choice, that this isn't gonna work if all of us pretend that we are something that we're not. But we build our self-esteem with a real sense of self-love, that we don't have to straighten our hair in order to be accepted, but we will embrace the hair that was given to us. We don't have to hide who it is that we are in a supremacist society that we pursue the normative primordial state that supremacy claims is rooted in whiteness, that we will never be able to be, but we will constantly be compared to.

But we will embrace our blackness in every way possible. And the colonization that took place in this country that created genocidal movement, that exterminated indigenous communities as people settled, is the same colonial mindset that exists in much Muslim history and experience around the world and beyond the physical shackling that takes place, the psychological shackling that says that, you know what, maybe you shouldn't be growing your beard, maybe you shouldn't be covering your head, maybe you should wait till the end of the day to pray all of your prayers in your house, maybe you shouldn't be living your values and your faith, your ethic, maybe you should deny the verse that tells you that this is where it's permissible to engage in this kind of physical relationship and this is where you should not be touching these kinds of things, maybe these are all things that you should leave behind because that's not what this supremacist society tells you is good.

And he says, no, I will no longer be what it is that you tell me I'm supposed to be. But for the sake of my people, for the sake of my heart, because of my relationship with my Lord, I will live with confidence and embrace every part of myself. And I'm gonna also tell everybody else that they need to be confident in who it is that they are as well.

The Brilliance of Transformation

Amazing man, Rahimallah, looked into the face of death and still did not falter, who had a sense of real value, real conviction, real ideals, real ethics, who came from a lived history that even if we didn't do the same things that he did, we can still relate in certain ways because there's not one of us in this room who has not done haram, man.

But his illumination is that much brighter because of what he comes from and how he keeps going and how he keeps moving. There's so much more that we can take from his life. But I would say, please seek to take something from it.

The Qur'an: A Book to Be Read Often

He read, he learned, he empowered himself with knowledge. Our book, the Qur'an, it's derived etymologically from the Arabic root that means to read and recite. But the grammatical form that it finds itself in, the Qur'an, means that thing that is not simply read, but it's read a lot. It's read often.

Take meaning and lesson from it. What guides your moral compass? What is your philosophy on life? What is it that you are not simply willing to die for? But what is it that you live for each and every day?

Standing Against Anti-Blackness and Injustice

Recognize what he spoke against is a reality that is still ever prevalent as it was 55 years ago and in the years before. The anti-blackness is everywhere. When our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) tells us:

Sunan Abu Dawud

"An individual is upon the deen, the lifestyle of their friend. So be careful who you befriend."

Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4833; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378

It's not always conscious modes of attributing or harnessing characteristics of the people in society around you that you then take from your friend. But you can become the people around you without wanting to or being

purposeful about it. We should never be people who are complicit in the racism and the supremacy that the country is built upon.

And may Allah end the inequity that takes place here and that takes place all over the world because it's the same globalized supremacy, man, that's interning our Uyghur brothers and sisters in China, that's massacring our Rohingya brothers and sisters in Myanmar, that is creating the realities that exist across the Gulf, that has people succumbing to lynch mobs in the Indian subcontinent, and so much more that we can go on and on with.

But channeling the values of someone like him, (رحمه الله - rahimahullah), that says whose responsibility is it to speak out against and to move forward and mobilize, to live differently and embrace the reality that we're not supposed to be like everybody else. We're supposed to be good and not in the relativeness of goodness, but in what God defines as good.

The Meaning of Righteousness (Salihin)

The Salihin, they are called what they are called because an act is righteous, not simply because it is the right thing to do, but it is also done at the right time, the right moment, and executed with the right intention and purpose. You gotta want it for yourself, and then you take from the luminaries of the past who lived in that way.

Allah has given you and I so much, man, and does not ask for so much in return. Find beauty in your deen and then go live it with beauty. Where it's hard and there's struggle, turn to the people around you, to not find complacency or to give affirmation that then creates indifference, but says that even if today is hard, it will make tomorrow better. And then see for yourself truly what world is it that you are seeking to live for.

Creating Your Own Legacy

If the complacency that's yielded for this day comes at the expense of a tomorrow not even in this world for those that you will leave behind, but a tomorrow that is in the sense of eternality for your sake, is it worth it to have that moment of comfort in exchange for something that could be that much greater?

There's not a person in this room, I would argue, that has not heard the word, the name of Malcolm X, Rahim Allah. In the creation of our own legacies, where the earth will speak about what we did upon it, our very limbs will say what we did with them, so much will testify and bear witness. What are you trying to leave behind?

If today you can go and if it's not your thing, don't worry, there's different opinions on it, it's fine. But where you can go and you visit the grave of Malcolm and Betty Shabazz, just an hour away from here in Ferncliff Cemetery, you should go and pay your respects, make dua. If you can't go today, cause it's a workday, go tomorrow, a lot of people will go then as well. And just ponder upon who it is and what it was that he dedicated his life to, and why he gave up what he gave up and sacrificed, not for himself, but for others.

And then say, who is it that I want to be? What do I want to meet my Lord with? And am I not living the purpose that supremacy has cast upon me to live in a good Muslim, bad Muslim framework? But will I meet my Lord, my Creator, Allah, in a way where I can say, Ya Allah, I fulfilled the purpose that You had in mind for me.

Closing

I say this and ask forgiveness of Allah, this is for you and for the rest of the Muslims, so ask forgiveness, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And we witness that our Master, our Master Muhammad, is His servant and Messenger.

"Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him, and send blessings upon him."

Reference: Quran 33:56

O Allah, send blessings and peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad, among the first and the last.

O Allah, send blessings and peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his family, and upon his companions, and send blessings and peace, O Most Merciful of the Merciful.

O Allah, You are the Forgiving, the Generous, You love forgiveness, so forgive us. O You who turn hearts, make our hearts firm upon Your religion.

Supplication (Dua)

We begin this supplication in Your name, Ya Allah, and beseech You to send Your choicest salutations upon Your most Beloved (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam). We ask that You shower Your infinite mercy upon this gathering, granting each and every one who is present herein and our loved ones, only the best in this world and the best in the next.

We ask, Ya Allah, that if all of us are meant to be together only at this time, at this place, whether we are young or old, male or female, regardless of our race, our ethnicity, our social class, our country of origin, our cultural heritage, whether we are Muslim or come from a different walk of life, Ya Rabbi, if our individual hearts are meant to be in the presence of all other hearts that are gathered here, only at this time, at this place, then gather us all together again in the best of places in the world beyond this one.

Increase us, Ya Allah, in all that is good. Increase us in courage, compassion and confidence. Protect us from any affliction, anxiety or anguish. Remove from our hearts any feelings of bitterness, jealousy, animosity or envy towards any of Your creation.

Grant us hearts that are filled with understanding and hope, hearts that are drawn to things of goodness and beauty, hearts that are finding themselves in Your remembrance, for indeed in Your remembrance, Ya Allah, do hearts find rest.

We ask, Ya Allah, that on this day You shower Your infinite mercy upon our teacher, our leader, our dear brother Malcolm X, may your choicest blessings and maghfirah be upon him. We ask, Ya Allah, that You enable us to stand for the things that he stood for and to recognize the shoulders of the giants that we claim to understand but do not do justice upon our standing of what they have left behind for us.

Help us, Ya Allah, to recognize our own light and make us people who live with real illumination in a world that seems to get darker each and every day. Make us those who live our Islam, those who live our iman, those who live with a true sense of ihsan, to draw meaning from the book that You have given to us for our benefit, to embody its teachings in such a way that our character is defined and identified as being Quranic in its nature, and to do good at every opportunity to do good, not simply when it's easy or convenient.

Make us never those, Ya Allah, who are silent when others are facing injustice and oppression even in front of our eyes. Make us those, Ya Allah, who are bold enough to ask of You to remove from our lives those things that distract us from You and those who are bold enough to ask You to make us people who do only those things that are good and pleasing to You.

Forgive us for our mistakes. Forgive us for our shortcomings. Forgive us when we do not embrace everything that You have endowed us with. Protect us always from hearts that are not humble, tongues that are not wise, and eyes that have forgotten how to cry. Forgive us for our shortcomings and guide and bless us all.

Final Du'a in Arabic

"Our Lord, accept from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing. And turn to us in forgiveness. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."

(Source Name)

Reference: Quran 2:127-128

"Our Lord, give us in this world good and in the Hereafter good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."

(Source Name)

Reference: Quran 2:201

Note: This khutbah was delivered on the 55th anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination. All Arabic text has been verified and provided with full harakat. All Quranic verses and hadith references have been properly cited.