Malcom X p348-373

The chapter of Malcolm X's autobiography I read told all about his travels deep into Africa. He clearly came to Africa with much hatred for the white man, but while there he came to realize that simply blaming the white man wasn't going to solve any of their problems. He talks about how different the people in Africa feel towards white people. They don't have the same hatred, in fact they are able to peacefully co-exist with each other. Another thing I took notice of were the events that he attended. Malcolm X was a celebrated speaker to the African people at every event he attended. The last thing I say I would have to admire about Malcolm X in this chapter was his conflict with Cassius Clay. Malcolm X was afraid to be seen publicaly with Clay because Clay was an avid follower of Elijah Muhammad, and he was afraid that the media would bring up questions of Clay leaving Elijah Muhammad for him. Out of respect and to avoid major controversy, Malcolm X distanced himself from Cassius Clay when in public. I think Malcolm X's views are very interesting because he can be militant one second and peaceful another, I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way.

Nation of Islam

Class,

You can view a brief history of the Nation of Islam by going to NOI.org. To answer Dylan's question about where the doctrines of the NOI come from, here is a clip from their website:

In 1931, the Master was preaching this Great Truth of salvation when He met a man named Elijah Poole in Detroit, Michigan. He chose him to be His Divine Representative in continuing this most difficult task of bringing truth and light to His lost and found people. For 3 1/2 years He taught and trained the Honorable Elijah Muhammad night and day into the profound Secret Wisdom of the Reality of God...

...When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad asked Him to identify Himself He replied that He was the Mahdi. He signed His name in 1933 as Master Wallace Fard Muhammad...

Here, we see the use of the title of "Mahdi". From what you've learned this semester, how does this help the cause of the NOI? Could Fard or Elijah Muhammad have accomplished what they did without the claim of Mahdi? Feel free to post answers to these questions or ask any further questions you may have.

Hamitic Myth

Class,

I did a bit of research to help clarify Tanner's question brought up today in class about the origins of the Hamitic Myth. Here's what I found; please feel free to keep posting comments and adding to the information provided:

HAM IN THE BIBLE (Genesis 9:20-27)

20) And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21) And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22) And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23) And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24) And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25) And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26) And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27) God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Malcolm X pg1-44

One of the most interesting things that I found in reading these first couple chapters was the fact that both black and white people were prejudiced against black people to varying degrees. I thought it was very interesting that the black people found those who were shining shoes in the statehouse to be the most deserving of respect. This is probably mostly rooted in the fact that black people were allowed to succeed in life only so far as they didn't mess up the existing order of things. For example, Malcolm's father was not bothered until he started preaching about things that might possibly be giving black people cause to rise up against the whites. For this he was ultimately killed. Even though he was quite obviously murdered, the life insurance company still called his death a suicide. Though Malcolm's family very much needed the life insurance money, they were unable to receive it simply because of the color of their skin.

Islam Metal Heads

This lecture at the the bookstore last thursday was quite unexpected and original. Basically the lecturer traveled throughout different islam communities in different nations to investigate an underground movement that is going on in todays islam communities and making a difference...its a fusion of politics, islam and heavy metal rock. The lecterer wrote a book on it called Heavy Metal Islam. What is happening is the youth of islam are turning to Heavy metal to make political statements in nations that are very conservative and opressive. Because the movement is so underground they are able to really say how they feel and speak out against the government without the government really knowing.... the author said"its a way of articulating a political space where there is no political space" being that the movement is so underground the can say what they want. The reason Rock and Rap are important to study in these communities is that is is a window in to a sea of change going on underground, it exposes how people are able to be militantly progressive and politically engaged while still being islamic and not being fooled completely by westerners. The author made it that last point clear, that even though the heavy metal music has roots in western music, this music was clearly distinct and the creators were not trying to be westerners. When the author then asked why they choose heavy metal rock of all the music they could have choosen for the message the answer he got made sense..."our lives are heavy metal,we live in a community with little hope, a bad economy, and a corrupt authoritarian regime...Brittany Spears Pop and Bon Jovi is not going to cut it(for this type of message)."

Extra Credit

I attended the extra credit lecture in the Bookstore last week and I enjoyed it. Before going to the lecture I was a bit curious on how the speaker was going to tie Islam and Rock & Roll into one topic. He simply explained that the younger generation are finding their voice through rock & roll. Some of the kids were saying that they didn't even feel comfortable walking around their communities due to the way they looked. To fix that problem they decided to walk around at night time with the rest of the kids. Most of the kids were from poverty and the music that they were fans of, wasn't only music, it was their livelihood. I really enjoyed the lecture and the videos he showed....

Extremism

I believe that this reading on extremism in Islam can be applied to all religions of the world. The message givin in this reading by Mr. Kurzman rings 100% true in my mind and should probably be red by every religious minded person, especially the extremists of the world, but unfortunatly the people who need it most will probably never read it. The main message of the reading is clear, Extremism in Islam is bad as it will actually turn people away from the religion, even if some extremist practices are allowed according to the Quran. This seems just natural logic to most but for Mr. Kurzman his proofs throught the reading are so well formed and true that I dont see how anyone at the end of this reading can make a valid argument against him. First he brings up the point that other religions that have tried exreamism in there practices have been wrong. So he is stating the obvious...learn from others mistakes, dont be a fool. He makes point that being extreme ( far from the center) natually makes you unbalanced. An especially good proof he puts forth( called the first defect) is that "excessiveness is too disagreeable for ordiary human nature to endure or tolerate", this is a major point because if the natural tenteny for man is against extremism, how is any extremist movement going to last in the big picture of things...mostly it just makes people hate you. This is also his secong defect - excessiveness is shortlived. His third defect is that if you practice extremism then you will, in regards to islam, negelct your other obligations as a person. this can also be seen in other forms of extremism non-muslim related...if you are so busy with any one thing in life you will eventually neglect other duties that you have as a person. His points on bigotry made in paper are in fact so universal that i shall now make it a point to keep his arguments in mind when i do come across a bigot myself. I feel that this reading is also important because the worst consequence of extremism in islam is what is currently occuring right now in America. Because of extremism most Americans no very little of the truth about islam and instead prejucice notions based on the most extreme of extremist practices have formed following the twin tower bombings. It is now a widespead prejuice practice to associate a muslim with being a terrorist. So the very extremists trying to help themselves by practicing extremism in the long run have unfortunaly hurt not only themselves but the whole of muslims in the world.