Hearing Malcolm’s Voice Hearing Malcom’s Silence
By Suhaib Webb | 2026-01-16T02:50:19.305273+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Hearing Malcolm's Voice; Hearing Malcolm's Silence
Opening Supplications
Alhamdulillahi ta'ala nahmaduhu wa nasta'inuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati amalina man yahdihi allahu fala mudhillalah wa man yurlil falan tajida lahu waliyan murshidah wa ash'hadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah wa ash'hadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh salallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa ashabihi wa salim tasliman kathira.
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims."
"O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer."
"O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment."
Amma ba'd fa inna asdaqa al hadithi kitaab Allah ta'ala wa khayra al hadi hadi muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa salam wa sharra al umuri muhdathatuha wa kulla muhdathatin bid'ah wa kulla bid'atin dhalalah wa kulla dhalalatin finnar.
The Importance of Making Room and the Virtue of Charity
InshaAllah before we begin if the brothers can scoot forward inshaAllah that will be appreciated as the Quran says you know when there are gatherings that are crowded يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ (Quran 58:11) you know like if you make room inshaAllah Allah will make room for you and every inch that you pull forward is a sadaqa mashaAllah mashaAllah may Allah increase our sadaqa now mashaAllah that worked.
Black History Month and the Ummah's Foundation
These are important days this is black history month and we know that subhanAllah the ummah of the prophet rests on two incredible martyrs both of who were black. We know also that the strongest reports are that Sayyidina Adam from Udam which means black and also that the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam he described Sayyidina Musa as being a black person.
Addressing Anti-Blackness in the Muslim Community
We know that our community still faces the incredible hypocrisy of its own anti-blackness its inability to accept blackness and love blackness as a whole yet Allah continues to send spiritual and social, political and economic
agitators to wake us up from being intoxicated with the dunya and reminding us of our purpose. Jannah is not for the unjust and jannah is not for bigots and jannah is not for racists.
Commemorating Al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz (Malcolm X)
During these days especially yesterday we call to mind one of our greatest heroes in the annals of American Islam who subhanAllah, countless numbers of converts regardless of their color or social economic background have been able to find incredible spiritual motivation political bravery and commitments to a just economy and of course we're talking about Al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz rahimuhullah Malcolm X.
So I think it's very important during these times if you haven't read the autobiography by Alex Haley that is like highly commendable to do just in your own trajectory as a young person because there's so much there mashallah.
The Exemplary Nature of Great Figures
We know that great spiritual figures we tend to own them in a selfish way that's what makes them exemplary that's what makes them great. We all in our own shortcomings there may be drops of intersectionality between us and those people and before we talk about this person in brevity it's very important to remember that every hero and shero in the Muslim ummah is just a drop from the personality of Sayyidina Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
That's why Ahmad Shawqi the great poet said you know Jesus your brother oh Muhammad he called like the dead to life like physically Allah blessed him to bring resuscitate the dead right ya Allah. He said but oh you oh Muhammad if Sayyidina Isa brought resuscitated people physically it is you who resuscitated generation upon generation upon generation of people from spiritual death to becoming.
Spiritual Resurrection Through Faith
That's why Allah when Omar ibn Khattab accepted Islam Allah describes his Islam. Allah says in Surah Al-An'am:
"And is one who was dead [in heart] and We gave him life and provided for him light by which to walk among the people like one who is in darkness, never to emerge therefrom?"
For the one who was dead. Ibn Qayyim said Omar he wasn't physically dead he was spiritually dead so he brought him to life we resuscitated him with Iman.
The Importance of Listening to Black Narratives
There's a few lessons we can take from the life of our brother and we know that narratives are very important. Tomorrow mashallah at 11 o'clock we're going to be hearing from some brilliant black authors. It's very important to be a listener that's why the first quality of the Sahaba: we hear and we obey. Now people nowadays it's like I got something to say maybe I'm gonna listen to you maybe not but the best jeel the best generation.
It's very important that we listen to black narratives because in their narratives of trauma and success and love and the right to be angry there's a lot of intersectionality now with what we're facing through Islamophobia and our Islam in America rests through that narrative mashallah.
Lesson One: Drama as Preparation for Greatness
But there's a few lessons we can take and Allah reminds us to remember people remind them of the days of God remind them of the days of Allah. So there's a few reflections I'll share. I heard yesterday mashallah our brother Zahir Ali from the Brooklyn Historical Society last night in Harlem talking about the autobiography and it was like incredibly moving and powerful but there's a few points that I want to share that I heard.
The first is that often times the drama that you're going through and the madness that you're experiencing and the trauma that surrounds you that drama is just preparing you to be a director. And we think about the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam if you want to look at it socially the odds are stacked against him. He's born without a father he loses his mother. Allah says we found you an orphan. What was the percentage of survival of orphans during the time of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam?
The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam loses his family his grandfather. I mean really the opening of the seerah is how to manage tragedy. The seerah doesn't start like a Harry Potter story where everything is gravy and life is awesome and you're this special snowflake who doesn't have to work hard for anything but because you're so awesome you achieve awesomeness. The Prophet's life starts with the odds stacked against him to the point that he becomes a shepherd which was kind of looked down upon amongst the aristocracy of Mecca but we know he says later on every Prophet was a shepherd.
So every moment of tragedy that Malcolm experiences the difficulties that he faces through systematic and state-sponsored disruption just prepares him to be who he becomes. That's why Allah says in the Quran:
"... but perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you, and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you do not know."
You love something it's bad for you maybe you hate something it's good for you Allah knows and you don't know. So the first lesson is that difficulty and drama - Nas came from Queens, Shakespeare came from England, our greatest lyricist Kendrick comes from Compton, our most well-equipped skilled users of the English language didn't go to prep schools they went to the school of hard knocks. So we see that drama and hardship and difficulty perhaps we can appreciate the fact that Qada is like our personal trainer and it's just building our capacity for greatness inshallah.
Lesson Two: Leadership Demands Preparation
The second lesson that we learn from his life is that leadership demands preparation. It just doesn't happen it's not just a hashtag. So we see somebody who never allows that drama to be used as an excuse as his daughter says but he used hardship as a means to catapult him to be even more on his game to be more serious to be more focused. The more difficult the defenses are thrown at him the better he gets with his crossover. If they push him to the right he learns how to use his left hand.
I heard from his daughter that basically he like memorized dictionary in prison. He didn't allow difficulty to be used as an excuse subhanallah. Now we live in a time where people use success as an excuse and that's why Imam Ibn Ata'illah said:
ادْفِنْ وُجُودَكَ فِي أَرْضِ الْخُمُولِ
You know take time out to prepare yourself dig yourself he says in a deep deep earth plant yourself there because what's not planted what's not given time to grow and develop skills and foster the tools needed for the future will not bring fruit nor will it be ripe.
So it's certainly commendable for us to constantly be looking to improve ourselves to constantly be updating our skill set. Sayyidina Muhammad (ملسو هيلع هللا بلص - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
(Sahih Muslim 2570)
Whoever takes the time to improve their Islam their rewards will be amplified like anytime in their life. In another narration he said:
I promise a home in the highest levels of Jannah. So the idea of constantly using things around him that may have been negative as fuel for his passion and then investing in himself and preparing himself for leadership - it just doesn't happen.
Lesson Three: Denouncing Idolatry
There's a few other lessons that we can take quickly because they're very important to who we are and again these are personal reflections that tend to be of course from my lens it doesn't mean they're the truth history is a construction. But one of the things that he did I think that we fail to appreciate is that he denounced idolatry.
As a community we are commanded by Allah جل جلاله to call every single person if possible to لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ that is the best thing we can do first and foremost:
"Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him..."
Every prophet said it and of course there's different ways. Don't leave here now and go to halal guys and start yelling at people that there's only one God and give me the special sauce of course there's different ways to communicate that.
But whether it was through his initial denouncing of the white God that was crafted through western Christianity to continue to impose white supremacy on people in ways which are incredibly maniacal - that's why idolatry is forbidden because idolatry opens up the door to oppression and it does things to people's psyche.
The Impact of False Imagery of God
So initially he unconditionally denounced a white God. I remember growing up I asked my mom how come at our church God is white and at their church God looks like you know like Neo and she's like I don't understand. I said no like every church has a different color for God and she's like oh well you know that's not really God that's just like God what?
And we know it's very clearly mentioned in all sacred texts that there should be no imagery of God because it leads to fasad. And then later on as he embraces Tawheed he denounces also the idea of a black God. He continually sets forth a message which roots social emancipation in spiritual emancipation.
Freedom Through Servitude to Allah
That's what Ibn Ajeeba the great Sufi he said the greatest outcome of being a servant to Allah is Hurriyah is freedom from Dunya. How many of us were rocked by the Dunya but were not rocked by missing Fajr? How many of us like will lose our life if we can't play a certain game with our friends or we miss a sports game or something like that?
Last night I was watching the Celtics almost win and you know my wife was talking to me and for a moment I was like man but then I realized this is my wife man I don't care about Kyrie right. So luckily I caught myself before there would have been Yawm al Qiyamah up in my house man but I'm saying the Dunya and idolatry messes with priorities.
Lesson Four: Embracing Muslim Love
The third thing that he teaches us through the idea of embracing black love is Muslim love. We don't love each other. We have been so conditioned by the negative narrative that we believe we are not good but in the face of tremendous odds in the face of white supremacy which was running unabated and by the way is progressing in this country - nobody should think white supremacy is done no no it's metamorphosized it's now like on steroids.
But Malcolm in the face of that in the face of J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO and everything that's happening is able to embrace the love of his people and that's very important because the next lesson is the problem of the exemplary.
Lesson Five: Staying Connected to Your Community
The problem of being talented the problem of being successful the problem of being unique because uniqueness tends to drift someone away from his or her community. And in fact we may say yeah I used to live in that neighborhood but now I live in Brooklyn Heights. I used to live in that neighborhood now I live in the Hamptons.
But if someone loves their people they will not allow their talents to be co-opted by anybody and they will understand that when people say as Malcolm said you know I like this person he's responsible she's a responsible leader - no they're not responsible to anyone but God and their community.
Lesson Six: The Power of Righteous Mentorship
I was told by Ella Collins' son - of course we could never talk about Malcolm's story without mentioning the incredible black women that surrounded him. His wife Betty is often lost but there's a beautiful biography on the life of Betty Shabazz that people should read. His wonderful daughters who live in New York City and Ella Collins his sister.
When Malcolm - her son Ella Collins' son Yusuf told me that when Malcolm came to her and said yo, I'mma be Malcolm X I'm getting ready to do this - she made him take a vow of poverty. And that's the other lesson: who are the interlopers and mentors in your life man? It can't just be people that be around you and amplify what the dunya has to offer. That's a delusional friendship.
Real friendship are those who call me to Allah who remind me of my greater purpose. The secret of everything that moves is wallahu ala kulli shay'in qadeer. So his sister when he comes and discusses the idea of being Malcolm - commands and will not actually leave their home. I sat in the chair he sat in man it was incredible in their home where he lived in Boston and she said you must take a vow of poverty if you're going to lead the downtrodden.
Because we don't want you bought.
Allah says I have purchased the lives of the believers and I have purchased it for Jannah not for nearness to power or a cool banquet where you're eating some prawns and halal roast beef and being told how responsible of a leader you are. No no you care for the people you think about how the military industrial complex is being used by powerful states to destroy Yemen.
You can't sleep at night because you understand that the majority of people incarcerated in America for life have been incarcerated because they have not committed crimes that are violent. That bothers the believer. So Malcolm's soul is stirred but it's facilitated by the people around him.
Refusing Foreign Money with Conditions
I was told last night by a historian and now we see money coming in to the American Muslim community from outside from outside this country. Do you think that money is going to come to your pocket without conditions? Do you think that you're going to be invited to palaces without being expected to toe the line and sell out? You're delusional man.
He said to me that a foreign state approached Malcolm in 1962 or 63 and offered him a million dollars and he refused. A million dollars in 1963 is like 10 mil now. That's like keto money like that's big dough but he refused because he understood that he would be forced to compromise his call.
Summary of Key Lessons
So there's a number of lessons we can take but those are just a few I think that are very important now as the Muslim community sails through a tremendous turbulent time the tempest known as Donald Trump and all of the challenges that we face internally. And let me again emphasize the fact that he taught black love in the face of incredible incredible odds.
The Foundation of Faith: Love for One Another
And we will not succeed as the prophet prophesied unless we truly love each other:
(Sahih Muslim 54)
You will not enter paradise until you believe you will not believe until you love each other.
Closing Duas for Malcolm X and His Family
We ask Allah to reward the family of our brother our leader Imam Malik Shabazz. We ask Allah to bless his wife Betty to illuminate her grave. We ask Allah to bless his daughters and his extended family. We ask Allah to bless him with the highest level of Jannah the level of being a martyr for the truth.
We ask Allah to help us learn from the lessons of racial supremacy and the evil of power and anti-blackness to hear the voice of Malcolm as it settles in our heart to be allies against those things.
We ask Allah to unite us with our beloved Sayyidina Muhammad as we believed in him and did not see him.
I say this saying I ask Allah to forgive me and you so forgive him he is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Second Khutbah Opening
Lesson Seven: Calibrating Hope Through Action
Another important lesson that we learn from the life of this incredible leader and again I encourage each and every one of us to take some time to listen to some of his talks to reflect on the autobiography but not hold the autobiography as revelation. Because there is yesterday one of the historians said to us that there is great lessons to be learned in the silence of the autobiography as there are lessons to be learned in the voice of the autobiography.
But one of the great lessons that we take from the life of this person is hope. And often times we find ourselves as a community buying in to the notion that somehow we're not doing good or somehow we should give up like fatalism. We should lose any type of hope in ourselves but one of the things that he helped us understand is the importance of calibrating hope through strategy and action.
And as long as there was action there is hope. Surah Al-Kahf finishes this way:
You know, whoever hopes to meet God then let them do good.
Lesson Eight: Justice and Prison Reform
The last lesson and this is something that I planned to talk about in the beginning but I felt it was important especially what's going on this weekend in New York. There are attempts to decarcerate New York to review the bail laws which unfortunately out of the 25,000 people in jail right now 70% can't afford to pay their bail.
You know, Imam Al-Qurtubi one of the great great jurists he said that it is an obligation upon the community to provide people money who need to get out of jail if they don't have that money subhanAllah.
This is also the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah rahim Allah and Imam Malik has a very famous statement of course where it is a communal obligation فَرْضُ كِفَايَةٍ to help people be freed from jail subhanAllah.
Not Judging People by Their Past
And that is that we need to be very careful about judging people especially based on their past. That's why the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is that you should not ask someone مِنْ أَيْنَ جِئْتَ like where did you come from because maybe they did something that was bad and before they met you they reformed themselves with Allah subhanAllah. Maybe they made tawbah before they saw you.
The Prison Industrial Complex
And we have to be weary of a prison industrial complex. We'll speak about this in the khutba in the future that the intersection of politics economics and bureaucracy come together to fashion a state now that believe it or not prisons are now being publicly traded in America. There's private equity in America. Target benefits from the prison industrial complex. Starbucks benefits from the prison industrial complex. Read about it it'll really impact you.
And you may come to the conclusion now of understanding why the projects are called the projects because it's a project. And for anyone who claims as Dr. James Cone talks about to be someone who's a believer it's not possible that they could divorce themselves from social responsibility and being dedicated to justice.
Corporate Interests and Mass Incarceration
This country unfortunately is being run by corporate interest and those corporate interests have made it fashionable to incarcerate especially young black men and people of color in this country in order to make money. That's horrible.
And then we understand the power of social conditioning. Why are we at the age of four introduced to shooting bunnies in pink suits and blasting people's heads off and listening to music whether death metal or other that encourage us to call women the worst names in the world to disrespect our parents to turn against our own values to become people who are groomed now for incarceration? How does that play out in a world of investment and money? We gotta wake up man.
Reflecting on Malcolm's Transformation
But can you imagine if Malik Shabazz was on Tinder right now and his history was there? I used to go by Detroit Red. I worked in Detroit had some odd jobs did some jobs on a train between Boston and New York City worked in Harlem for a minute as a street peddler. How many people would swipe right?
How often do we judge people who come into our community because of their pasts whereas we leave their past to God? The prophecy that everyone is forgiven in my ummah except those who expose themselves. That's why
even in marriage when someone asks you can you tell me about the dirt you did - absolutely not that's between me and God.
The Wisdom of Concealing Past Sins
And then what happens is well I wanted to be honest I wanted to tell him and then you tell him and then it's like he's not responding to my text anymore I don't know why or vice versa. She like she unfriended me and now I'm even blocked. It was just a misdemeanor but that's why the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا بلص said your past is between you and God and communities should be there to help people secretly heal from the pressures of their past.
The Power of Tawbah to Transform the Past
But we don't judge people from their past because as one of the scholars said the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا بلص said that tawbah changes the past and doing good changes the past. And we assume that Allah has turned their sayyidat as mentioned in Surah Al-Furqan to hasanat our own and others. Look how he uses them in a prophetic way to protect him from future mistakes and inspire him to greatness and to serve as a GPS for his life.
Satan tries to destroy us with our past because he knows inshallah that we have a great future.
Final Supplications
We ask Allah to bless us inshallah with iman. We ask Allah to make us people of justice and integrity and fidelity. We ask Allah to help us appreciate that our community is not just a linear historical community but that our community is one sanctioned by the one who exists beyond all physical laws subhanahu wa ta'ala.
We ask Allah to give us the bravery to love one another. We ask Allah to give us the bravery to have good suspicions and assumptions of one another. We ask Allah to give us the power to forgive.
We ask Allah to help turn our past mistakes into the energy used to rectify the future. We ask Allah to bless our students inshallah to ease their struggles and their challenges to provide them inshaAllah with the mental faculties for success.
Prayers for Various Groups in the Community
We pray for our brothers and sisters who may be struggling on the job with who knows, Michael Scott on steroids. May Allah protect you and bless you from that situation.
We pray for our middle age single brothers and sisters who go through a tremendous amount of mental anguish. May Allah bless you to find inshaAllah a wonderful spouse. May Allah ease your sense of loneliness and replace that inshaAllah.
We ask Allah to bless us to be sincere and honest servants to Allah. We ask Allah to give us tawfiq to guide us inshaAllah. We ask Allah to guide us in this world and in the hereafter.
Closing
"Glory to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe, and peace be upon the messengers. And praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds."