Malcolm X: Remembering A Famous But Controversial Muslim

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 19 May 2023 “If you have no critics, you'll likely have no success.” “Stumbling is not falling.” “There is no better teacher than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” “You can't separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, Malcolm X was 39 when he was gunned down ------- Malcolm X, an American Non-White Who Later Embraced Islam Today, May 19, is the Birth Anniversary of Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabaaz). Despite his controversial stand and views (diametrically opposite to those of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.), there's no denying the fact that he remains one of the foremost non-white figures in modern Islam whose life and charisma influenced the great pugilist Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, or yet another boxer Mike Tyson, who also converted to Islam. While reading his autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (French-language edition), I stumbled upon a pithy, profound and prophetic quote by him, "The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” What Malcolm X stated more than six decades ago is true in the context of current Indian media. A fabricated and exaggerated narrative on Muslims is being dished out by the print as well as visual media day in and day out. A particular community is being demonised and the gullible masses, unable to discern on their own, are under the impression that whatever (negative) is being said about Muslims is true and unerring. In recent times, the conventional print and visual media has degenerated into social media, which's the most diabolical form of media. There's a rather recent term in modern journalism, ' agenda-based news' (ABN) which is a blatant violation of journalistic ethos and ethics. Two recent news items can be cited: Padlocking graves in Pakistan to protect the bodies of the deceased females from 'rapists' and a few Muslim youth trying to offer a green Chaadar to Trimbakeshwar Temple of Mahadeva in Nasik, Maharashtra. Media has projected it in a very casual and twisted manner, giving an impression that Muslim miscreants tried to defile the temple. Unscrupulous media folks didn't try to ascertain the facts that this has been a tradition for more than 100 years. Muslims have been offering chadar to this temple which underlines the composite culture of India. What happened in the US during the Civil Rights Movement and how the black leaders were wrongly projected by the US media, the same is happening in India when the media is simply contributing to creating a Hindu India and decimating a whole community on the basis of its faith. This is pathetic and at variance with truth and integrity. But in these adulterated times, who cares for truth, values, integrity and honesty? Alas, every word has become a has been. It must be mentioned that it was the media in the US that continued to vilify Malcolm X even after his assassination on February 21, 1965. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/malcolm-x-controversial-american-muslim-/d/129809 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism