get these nets
Veteran
I spoke about this before....U see Malcolm could have used a "spin doctor" approach because in Islamic law a man is permitted to have a number of wives. That wasn't the case for Elijah Muhammad but behind the scenes that could have spun it that way, yes.
But lets you and I have a real conversation here......I wil always give Elijah Muhammad a pass..why? Because lets be real here..at some point Elijagh Muhammad looked at what he created...A movement all over America where Black men are militant and have pride and Black women are clothed and are all about performing their maternal duties. Elijah Muhammad started feeling himself. He felt like a God. So he's in his 50's and these young pretty followers are wosrhipping him like a god, he got gassed. Hey it happens. Lets put moral responsibility to the side because its easy to point fingers. The man got caught up in his power. Was it wrong? yes but he gets a pass for all the good he did. Malcolm saw this and that was his justification for trying to spin it(Me personally I think Malcolm knew more then he revealed about the situation) The other ministers flipped on Malcolm because he was seen as a traitor and u just said it yourself, when ex communicated the followers will listen....So that came with it but when Malcolm went on that same whitemans media to denounce the NOI, thats when he allowed the floodgates to open....U on the same whitemans platform that once hated u now denouncing the NOI. The whole situation was just a big mess...But dont forget, we cant look at the actions of a few and subject them to the whole, Malcolm said it himself he'd kill in an illegal manner for Elijah Muhammad and that was totally against their rules.
So its understandable how Malcolm could have members turn their backs on him and totally abandon the rules all for the sake of Elijah Muhammad.
There are Islamic and Old Testament verses an stories that he could have used to spin doctor it. In the auto bio, he mentioned David/ Bathsheba and the story of Lot. David slept with a widow after sending her husband to certain death. It doesn't get any more grimy than that. Yet, David gets a pass in the Bible, so it was a good example.
I can't argue against your take on Elijah. My take is that he took advantage of a series of young women who were his personal secretaries.Once is a mistake, after that it's a pattern. Impregnated all of them. then once they were pregnant, had them excommunicated from the NOI. When Malcolm discussed the truth with him and offered to help, Elijah turned around and betrayed him. Ministers with whom Malcolm had confided in, LIED about the conversations...which led to the decision to excommunicate him.
The betrayal at the hands of Elijah and the ministers runs contrary to what the NOI espouses...Morality aside, these are not the actions of decent people.
As far as Malcolm being willing to kill for Elijah...I'm certain that there exists Islamic text justifying killing..or protect the Imam.(old testament verses may justify killing enemies) Be hard pressed to find text justifying bearing false witness against a fellow Muslim.
Malcolm was the MAIN reason that the NOI made the rapid expansion when it did. He pushed for the aggressive recruitment of members, whereas before the NOI had an "Allah will send us members" approach. Malcolm was directly responsible for the amount of money that Elijah Muhammad was making, the lifestyle he lived and that the other ministers were living. Malcolm was himself poor and honest, never taking a thin dime that wasn't his. Being the public face of the NOI, to the mainstream media and destroying reporters and "foes" on tv helped recruit many to the NOI.
I do think that Malcolm was seduced by media attention, but the NOI benefited greatly by his expert use of the print and tv media.
As you showed with the audio, there existed a time after he was silenced when Malcolm was humble and asking for reinstatement. I believe that the threats against his life were BEFORE him discussing Elijah's business in mainstream media .In fact the death threats might have directly prompted him to air everything out. In the auto bio.....he mentions a close friend in NOI telling him that he'd been given the job and refused out of loyalty...not long after Malcolm was removed from NOI. Now he realized that not only were they LIARS but that they would drive followers to kill him based on those lies.
I can't argue against the positive that the NOI has done, and as far as I'm concerned...what happened with Malcolm X was an internal organization issue.