Impact of Four Sudanese Thinkers on Malcolm X
29 January, 2016KHARTOUM (SUDANOW)—DR. Mohamed Wagie-Allah Ahmed, in a booklet written in Arabic and republished in 2012, cast light on four Sudanese influencing factors on the thought of black African-American leader Malcolm X (1925-65).
He begins with a brief biography of the Black Muslim revolutionist who, according to the author, despite his short life, left behind an immortal legacy. Without ignoring the efforts of Dr Martin Luther junior, it can be asserted that it was Malcolm X who has diverted the course of ethnic relations in America to the current course, inspiring the Black Americans self-confidence and pride that made them struggle for liberation, self-independence, acquisition of their rights and contribution to the development of the society.
Malcolm X was able to convince, during his lifetime, about 40,000 Americans to convert to Islam and the wonderful ideological and literary legacy that was contained in a book that was published after his death titled "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" until now persuade Americans- both White and Black- to concert to an Islamic faith that is free of racist impurities.
This book is so widely read that it has been published more than 50 times, it is a curriculum in numerous universities and is taught in an abridged form in many intermediate and secondary schools. Besides, any bookshop contains at least five books on Malcolm X. In general, the Black American leader has inspired wide admiration and respect and no sarcastic criticism has been written about him after his death like the unfair criticism he was dealt during his lifetime.
Dr. Wage-Allah wrote about four Sudanese thinkers who had a direct or indirect influence on Malcolm X.
The indirect influence on Malcolm X was made by Dous Mohamed Ali, of a Sudanese mother and an Egyptian father, and Ahmed Hassoun, while the direct influence of the Black Muslim leader is attributed to Majid Sati, and Ahmed Siddeik Osman.
Dous Mohamed Ali:
Malcolm X derived teachings of Dous Mohamed Ali from his father Earl Little who was a disciple of Marcus Garvey, a Black American leader who met Ali in London where he stayed for two years during which he served in African Times and Orient Review that was established by Dous Mohamed Ali, got adequate training and was supplied by Ali with abundant information on the African history and culture.
In that magazine, Ali wrote many articles on the Sudanese 1924 revolt led by Ali Abdul Latif against the British rule and about leaders of African revolutions and about Black American leaders, including Garvey.
On his return to the United States of America, Garvey founded United Negro Improvement Association and established a newspaper named Negro World in which he published in-depth research articles on histories and cultures of Black peoples which had an extensive impact on the Black Americans and made many of them proud with their origins. Among those who were influenced by those articles was Elijah Muhammad who met Garvey in Detroit in the late 1920s and early 1930s and joined the Association which, under Garvey leadership, fanned struggle of the black workers of Detroit factories during the great recession years. Elijah also got during that period some elementary Islamic tenets such as the belief in Oneness of God, and other concept Garvey obtained from his mentor Dous Mohamed Ali. Elijah later on developed those Islamic concepts from Farid Mohamed and others but he had never comprehended full and pure Islamic teachings until his death in 1976. Yet he passed much of those teachings over to Malcolm X by correspondence while the latter was in prison and after Malcolm was released, Elijah appointed him in the leadership of the Nation of Islam until 1964 when disagreement arose between them.
Sheikh Sati Majid:
The second indirect influence was through instructions by Sheikh Sati Majid, the Sheikh of Islam in America in the 1920s, who was a Muslim preacher from Dongola, north Sudan, where he learnt the Holy Koran by heart. He then went to Egypt where he studied a little in Azhar before travelling to Britain and then to the United States of America where he engaged himself in a campaign responding to a propaganda campaign by Christian missionaries distorting the image of Islam.
Upon arrival in New York in 1904, Sati commenced activities with the help of Yemeni and Turkish and other Muslims he met there and founded a number of Islamic societies and he managed to allay some of the missionaries' anti-Islam campaign and win a number of both White and Black Americans to the rank of Islam.
Sati then began rectifying the mistaken beliefs of the Nation of Islam of Elijah Muhammad and the Islamic Temple society of Noble Drew Ali who both proclaimed prophesy. Sheikh Sati also campaigned against the Gadiaeen and Bahaeen organizations which were engaged in marring and misrepresenting the image of Islam. As regards the Nation of Islam, Sati exchanged numerous correspondence and viewpoints on the beliefs of that group cautioning its leader against the danger of his assertions.
Elijah Mohamed appreciated the benefits he had gained from Sheikh Sati's wisdom and addressed him politely and respectfully in one of his hand-written messages, saying: "We are your sons in the Islamic faith. Our numbers in the Muslim rank have increased and are still increasing, thanks to God. I will never forget your wise and beneficial words which helped us a great deal and which will be our torch for the future."
Elijah Muhammad, however, could not put aside his racist ideas but, as was recently put by his bodyguard Murad Muhammad, he was fully aware of the fallacy of those ideas but used them as a tool for mobilization of the Blacks against the Whites.
"Elijah's message was to teach the Islamic faith but to free us from drugs, alcohols, prostitution and degeneration, waiting for somebody to turn up in the future to teach us the Islamic tenets. It is true that we could not comprehend his message at the time but now we have begun to understand it," Murad said.
Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun:
The direct influence on the thinking of Malcolm X was from Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun al-Salafy (the traditionalist), a former leader of Ansar Al-Sunnah (followers of Prophet Muhammad's tradition) movement in Sudan. Sheikh Hassoun maintained intimate liaison with international traditionalist groups, making use of his command of the English language he gained from his long service in the Post Department before independence of the Sudan. The Mecca-based League of the Muslim World, due to his command of English, appointed Sheikh Hassoun as an instructor in what was then under construction and known as Muhammad's Temple Number 7 in Harlem, New York, where Malcolm X served as Speaker. Sheikh Hassoun met Malcolm X and became his Sharia guide and assisted him in understanding the main concepts, principles and provisions of the Islamic Sharia. This assistance was badly needed by a Muslim who grew up in a Western environment like the case of Malcolm X.
Sheikh Hassoun always accompanied Malcolm X, advised and explained to him the Sharia rules, attended rallies the Black African-American leader addressed, appeared with him of the rostrum and pictured with him. It was puzzling that the American newspapers and magazines always referred to the man in pictures with Malcolm X as a person from any country, except Sudan, although he posed in a white Jallabiyah and a turban wrapped in the Sudanese fashion. He was close to Malcolm until the latter's death when Sheikh Hassoun washed, wrapped and buried him in the Islamic style.
Ahmed Siddeik Osman:
Ustaz Ahmed Siddeik Osman, acting on behalf of the Geneva-based Islamic Center, delivered a speech in which he said the entire world identifies Malcolm X as a hero and a martyr who died in defense of the faith. He also wrote articles in the American newspapers, refuting the press misrepresentation of Malcolm X and explaining the ideological developments that occurred in the thought of the Black American leader freeing him from the racist ideas.
Upon listening to a lecture by Malcolm X in the Black Muslims Mosque No. 7 in New York one Sunday, Osman was astonished by the misunderstanding shown by Malcolm of Islam. He took the platform and began to correct the mistaken ideas when the listeners stood up in defense of their leader, who was considered as the second most eloquent speaker in the US after Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. An open-minded Malcolm X stopped the listeners and listened to the criticism by Osman.
Osman must have criticized on that occasion a belief by Malcolm X, like the majority of the Black Muslim Americans, that all people were black and some of them committed grave crimes for which they were cursed and transformed by God into a white race. Malcolm upheld this racist belief until his last days in life when he went to Mecca for pilgrimage where he saw Muslims of all colors performing religious rites and eating together without any form of discrimination.
He remarked in a famous message to a number of his friends that during the 11 days of pilgrimage that he shared the same eating dish, the same drinking pot and the same prayers with all Muslims of blue eyes, blonde hair and white skins. Malcolm added in that message that he felt towards those white people the same feeling he had towards Muslims from Nigeria, Ghana and Sudan.
This change was due to the remark by Osman during that lecture and to the letters Osman later on exchanged with Malcolm X.
It was Osman who paved the way to Malcolm X for travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage, introducing him to Egyptian Muslim preacher Mohamed Yusuf Shawarby, who was director of Islamic Center in New York and to former Arab League Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Azzam. Osman, by introducing him to such Islamic personalities, intended to help Malcolm get true Islamic teachings. These contacts and the invitation to Mecca were arranged after Malcolm deserted the Nation of Islam.
During the pilgrimage as an official guest of the government of Saudi Arabia, Malcolm had the opportunity to have audience with late King Faisal, then a prince, who advised him to read Islamic Sunni literature and explained his opposition to the racist ideas of Elijah Mohamed.
Ahmed Siddeik Oman from Halfa of the northern-most Sudan, arrived in the US in the 1950s to complete his secondary schooling that he began in Sudan and due to his brightness, he was granted a prize from the Herald Tribune for the secondary school students. Then he got scholarship from several American universities and obtained the PhD and became a lecturer in those universities.
Beside those learning accomplishments by Dr. Ahmed Siddeik Osman, according to Dr. Wagie-Allah, there remain highly prominent his efforts for guiding Malcolm X and freeing him from the racist ideas he had been entertaining.
*** Dr. Mohamed Wagie-Allah is an Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khalifa University, UAE.
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