Historical Spotlight - A Hajj Letter from Malcolm X

Malcolm X has his head shaved as part of the Hajj

In April of 1964, Malcolm X left the United States on his first extended trip aboard.  He visited Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Ghana,  Liberia, Senegal, Morocco and Algeria.

He made the pilgrimage or hajj to the Holy city of Makkah that every Muslim seeks to complete, which entitled him to the use of "El Hajj" in his name and he became known in the Muslim world as El Hajj Malik El Shabazz.

The Hajj solidified his journey towards traditional Islam and embracing a more inclusive and universal practice. It was a transformative experience that fundamentally shifted his worldview. The following excerpts are taken from letters written from abroad.

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Jedda, Saudi Arabia 
April 20, 1964

    Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by the 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 graciouness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.

     Last night, April 19, I was blessed to visit the Holy City of Makkah, and complete the "Omra" part of my pilgrimage. Allah willing, I shall leave for Mina tomorrow, April 21, and be back in Mecca to say my prayers from Mt. Arafat on Tuesday, April 22. Mina is about twenty miles from Mecca.

     Last night I made my seven circuits around the Kaaba, led by a young Mutawif named Muhammad. I drank water from the well of Zam Zam, and then ran back and forth seven times between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah.

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

     America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases the race problem from its society. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with, people who would have been considered "white" in  America, but the religion of Islam in their hearts has removed the "white" from their minds. They practice sincere and true brotherhood with other people irrespective of their color.

     Before America allows herself to be destroyed by the "cancer of racism " she should become better acquainted with the religious philosophy of Islam, a religion that has already molded people of all colors into one vast family,  a nation or brotherhood of Islam that leaps over all "obstacles" and stretches itself into almost all the Eastern countries of this earth.

     The whites as well as the non-whites who accept true Islam become a changed people. I have eaten from the same plate with people whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blonde and whose skin was the whitest of white - all the way from Cairo to Jedda and even in the Holy City of Mecca itself--and I felt the same sincerity in the words and deeds of these "white" Muslims that I felt among the African  Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.

     True Islam removes racism, because people of all colors and races who accept its religious principles and bow down to the one God, Allah, also automatically accept each other as brothers and sisters, regardless of differences in complexion.

     You may be shocked by these words coming from me, but I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experiences and knowledge unfold it. The experiences of this pilgrimage have taught me much, and each hour here in the Holy Land opens my eyes even more. If Islam can place the spirit of true brotherhood in the hearts of the "whites" whom I have met here here in the Land of the Prophets, then surely it can also remove the "cancer of racism" from the heart of the white American, and perhaps in time to save America from imminent racial disaster, the same destruction brought upon Hitler by his racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.....

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 car, a driver and a guide, have been placed at my disposal, making it possible for me to travel about this Holy Land almost at will. The government provides air conditioned quarters and servants in each city that I visit. 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, 
El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz  (Malcolm X)