Hajj & Revolution, Part Two: Malcolm X at Oxford Union

“The young generation of whites, blacks, browns, whatever else there is, you’re living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there's got to be a change. People in power have misused it and now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built. And the only way it's going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone—I don't care what color you are—as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth."

Our previous article commemorated Malcolm X’s assassination by pointing to a largely forgotten part of his legacy: his revolutionary politics vis-à-vis the American government. It dispelled the notion that the “post-Hajj” Malcolm became a peaceful and agreeable integrationist, a Muslim MLK. Rather, Malcolm advocated direct confrontation with the structures of oppression in this country in defense of his people’s safety and rights. Moreover, his post-Hajj politics inspired a generation of African American Muslim revolutionaries, whose politics still hold important lessons for us today. 

Now, on the anniversary of Malcolm’s birth, we will look at the other side of his political legacy: how he dealt with friends and built alliances following his pilgrimage to Mecca. He laid out his views on this subject in great detail during his debate at the Oxford Union on December 3rd, 1964. Here, Malcolm presents revolution and brotherhood as two sides of the same political coin. That is, he offers uncompromising opposition to any political structure that would seek to harm African Americans as well as unqualified brotherhood to any person willing to join him in this cause. As we shall see, this political stance not only stemmed from Malcolm’s faith as a Muslim, but was also deeply Prophetic in nature. Malcolm, like the Prophet himself ﷺ, deals with friends and enemies alike by appealing to their shared humanity. The article will end with a reflection upon the fact that many American Muslims today are using this exact strategy quite effectively in opposition to the ongoing genocide of our brothers and sisters in Gaza.

Malcolm’s address at Oxford Union provides a description and a constant appeal to the fitra, our belief in a shared human nature that recognizes truth and falsehood as well as right and wrong. Malcolm does not use this precise term. However, he prefaces his speech by identifying himself as a Muslim who speaks first and foremost from the principles of Islam: “I am a Muslim. If there is something wrong with that then I stand condemned. My religion is Islam, I believe in Allah, I believe in Muhammad as the Apostle of Allah.” He then immediately connects his belief in God and His Messenger ﷺ to his politics and beliefs about humanity: “I believe in the brotherhood of all men. But I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who’s not ready to practice brotherhood with our people.” This statement shows the connection between brotherhood and revolution in Malcolm’s politics. Human equality is endowed by God. Those who are willing to practice it are welcomed as friends and allies; those who willfully oppose it consequently engage in oppression and are rightfully opposed. 

However, Malcolm demonstrates that one need not be a Muslim to recognize this equality or practice brotherhood with him. This is where his appeal to our fitra is the most clear. Malcolm believes that, because every human has this capacity to recognize what is right and true, he may reason and work together with anyone. Throughout his address, he makes frequent appeals to our shared humanity as something that allows us to see through the veils of racial division. In his defense of “extremism,” the term his hosts used to characterize revolutionary politics, he said, “If we look upon ourselves as human beings, I doubt that anyone will deny that extremism, in defense of liberty, the liberty of any human being, is a value.” When the debate turned toward the Congo Crisis, and the different ways that the British press covered white and African deaths, Malcolm argued: “when you begin thinking in terms of death being death, no matter what type of human being it is, then we all will probably be able to sit down as human beings and get rid of this extremism and moderation.” The audio recording of this event makes it clear that Malcolm was not speaking theoretically. These statements were direct appeals to his audience, many of whom erupted in applause at these statements, to join him as brothers and sisters in his efforts for basic human dignity. 

Malcolm exhorts his audience in a deeply Quranic way, calling upon them to reason and reflect from the deepest, most human parts of themselves. Moreover, the politics he articulates here is thoroughly Prophetic. At the moment of the Prophet’s ﷺ final revolution, the Opening of Mecca, he makes a similar appeal to brotherhood. This was a moment when the Messenger of God ﷺ came face-to-face with his enemies, people who had dealt with the Muslims in the most inhuman of ways, those who upheld a social and religious system he was intent upon overthrowing. In that moment, he asked them, “What do you say, what should I do with you?” They replied, “You are the son of our brother, a forbearing and merciful man.” He responded to them, “I say to you as Joseph said to his brothers: ‘No blame is upon you today. Allah will forgive you, for He is the most merciful of those who show mercy.” For Malcolm and the Prophet ﷺ alike, revolution was always a means to achieve full human brotherhood.

Many young American Muslims must be applauded for exercising this precise political strategy with the encampments that have emerged on university campuses across the country over the past months. Their calls for their schools to divest from Zionist enterprises have been uncompromising in their demands and clear in their use of humanitarian language. Some, like the Northwestern encampment here in Chicago, have been successful while many encampments have been destroyed by universities with the help of police. However, what has transpired in so many encampments seems far more important than the response to their demands. They have been places where young Muslims have displayed a form of leadership that has been firm in their demands to end structures of oppression while warm and inviting to those who show up in good faith. Students at the Columbia encampment reported “the sense of community and love they felt among the tents.” Jewish students at DePaul gathered at their encampment on a regular basis to pray. And many of us have surely seen the images of non-Muslim students praying alongside their Muslim brothers and sisters. 

These are more than feel good moments and photo ops. They are bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood that are opening the eyes of more and more Americans to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. There is now a genuine shift in sentiment towards Zionism in America, which our government itself attests to with its recent ban of TikTok, where much of Gen Z has learned about the crisis in Gaza, as well as its attempt to pass the “Antisemitism” Awareness Act, which would criminalize any substantial form of condemning Israel. If Malcolm taught us one thing, it is that opposition becomes the most intense when you hit your target.

May God elevate all those who strive in His path, ameen!