Perspective. In february, the islamic world marks the 59th anniversary of the assassination of the muslim activist, thinker and revolutionary, known most popularly as malcolm x. This weeks episode will explore the life of malcolm, later known as alhaj malik alshabaz, and his contributions to raising the revolutionary awareness of black people in america, encouraging them embrace islam and reject degeneracy and his efforts to build solidarity across antiimperialist movements in the global south. First lets take a closer look into the background of the man himself, malcolm x. Born malcolm little in omaha nebraska on may 19th, 1925, malcolm x was the son of earlin louise helen little, and he was the fourth child of their seven children. Malcolms father, earl was local civil rights activist, advocating for americas long oppressed africanamerican people. When malcolm was just infant, the family was were forced to relocate to michigan due to threats from the koukluks clan in nebraska. In michigan, the family were also subjected to terror and violence by white supremacist groups, and when malcolm was just four, the family home was burnt down. When malcolm turn six, his father died in what was officially ruled a street car accident, though his mother louise believed earl had been murdered by racist white militants. After several years of trying to raise seven kids on her. Own and with meger income and her own Mental Health struggles finally taking its tole, louise had a mental breakdown and all seven of her children were divided and sent to foster homes across the country. Malcolm spent his adolescence being sent to several foster homes and was drawn into a life of crime. He had stated his intention to be a lawyer but was discouraged after racist School Teacher told him he of wouldnt amount to anything. Eventually malcolm found himself. In prison in his early 20s, sentenced to 8 to 10 years for lasany and breaking and entering, and it was in prison where malcolm underwent a total transformation of character, reading heavily about the tribulations faced by americas black people, stopping smoking and the eating of pork, and then embracing islam. He became enamored with the teachings of the nation of islam and dropped his surname, hence forth being known simply as malcolm x. After he emerged from in prison in 1952, malcolm was rising star in the nation and quickly cemented himself as one of the movements most electrifying and important figures. At this point, he had garned the attention of the fbi and Numerous Police departments, all of whom had place malcolm under surveillance, but this had no effect on malcolm as his infectious personality continued to attract converts to both islam as a religion and to the nation of islam as movement. Malcolm grew to prominence not only as a community leader, but on the international stage, where he built links with african Liberation Movements, International Politicians and held audiences with antiimperialist, revolutionary leaders like fidel castro, Gamal Abdul Nasir and kwamin kruma. Tragically, malcolm, whose name at this point was alhaj malik al shahbaz, was to be martered in 1965 at the young age of 39, after being shot at audibon ballroom in manhattan, new york, just as he was about to give a speech. Much speculation remains to this day as to the real perpetrators of his murder, but many point the finger at the agencies of the us regime, in particular, the fbi and the nypd, who were surveiling, threatening and harassing malcolm to increasingly intense degrees, but while the man may have been murdered, his ideas, his charismatic personality and his unwavering. Support for Liberation Movements from america to africa to asia continue to outlive him and inspire millions to this day. Now joining us on the show this week to discuss this historic personality and movement, are two very special guests. Firstly, im joined by dr. Musa ibrahim, the coordinator of the African Legacy forum, johannesburg. Dr. Musa is a panafricanist, author and the media and political activist based in africa, and were also honored to be joined by mizanur rahman, also known as mizan the poet, a britishbengali campaigner and antiracist activist who specializes in disentangling and seminating the processes and policies used against the press communities in the uk through workshops and articles. Assalomu alaykum and welcome to you both. If i could begin here with yourself, brother mizan. We just learned a little bit there about the life of brother malcolm x. Could we begin by asking you a personal level what he means to you and how hes inspired you in your worldview. Malcolm, my whole political activism is down to malcolm x. Um, i remember in my University Years i was going through transition of disillusionment and i was, i was particularly unhappy and disillusioned with the political world and the Education System as a whole, and i was looking for some sort of guidance, a spiritual, moral and philosophical, and i remember reading malcolms biography, and im thinking, and before i read it, i thought to myself, what can i learn from his life, and to be honest with you, malcolm was where a lot of us want to be, so when i the autobiography, i understood him more, more more him as a person, and he helped me develop my political activism in terms of how he was, how he engaged with politics and religion, thats the type of framework that i tried to use and engage on uh engage with myself, so for me malcolm was, hes the primary inspiration between my uh, in regards to my Muslim Identity and also my political identity as well, absolutely, and uh, if i could just say ask the same question to yourself, dr. Uh mursa. Again uh, what brother malcolm means to you a personal level and how hes also inspired your worldview and your activism . Bismillah, when i was 12 years old in 1986, the United States of america assisted by the uk, attacked my home country of libya, sending bombs and rockets on the two big cities of the country, bangazi. And tripoly killing dozens of children, women and men. I remember the following day at my local school, our teacher came in the class, talked about the empire, the evil american empire and how we must fight against it, and then he mentioned our brothers from within the belly the beast, so to speak, fighting with us to dismantle this evil. Entity we call american capitalism and the name he mentioned with picture was malcolm x. He said kids, look at this face and remember this name. This is a brother from africa who the circumstances led his ancestors to be captured inslaved in in the new world and he fought for freedom, for justice and he fought for. The unity between brothers and sisters from the global south everywhere. Since then i have always been inspired by the face and the name and the work of malcolm x, and every time i read of him, i read about him, i read his work and listened to his voice, i always understood that this man was a true revolutionary who is able to mobilize hearts and. Minds until this day, so michael x is a personal hero of mine, and he is for me a true inspiration, every time i feel down, i feel weakened, i feel, i need spiritual or intellectual help, indeed, i resort to him, i come back to him, just to stay with yourself, dr. Musa, youve spoken so eloquently there about brother malcolm and what. He means to yourself and so many people, but he also took a particularly uncompromising view on liberals and their fake solidarity with the black community in america. Are there any lessons that apply to today also . Oh, absolutely. There is something we need to remember, we should never put brother malcolm in a kind of nostalgic, romantic light. What he did the best for me was his praxis. He evolved throughout the years because he was engaged a daily level with the issues of the revolution and the people, the oppressed people, he. Wanted to help out, so he did not sit in his home or flat thinking and contemplating, he went out and he fought, and as he did that, he developed, he changed, he understood more, so when he started, he was a little bit, you know, in a narrow space, in a narrow thinking methodology, but as he got to know people, as he traveled, as he came to africa, as he met with the great leaders of african liberation, Arab Liberation, as he engaged with his brothers and sisters in the United States and abroad, he changed his ideas, he made them stronger, he understood the true nature of the fight, and he became an international icon, and this is my advice for myself and for everyone fighting for freedom and liberation. Do not sit on your fixed ideas, always engage with other people, go out and practice what you preach, and prepare yourself to change and evolve, because the beast is always evolving, the beast is always changing forms, so we need to stand tall and become intellectually open, emotionally open and come to new forms of resistance, these could. Artistic forms of resistance, political, on the ground, sometimes militant, and this is exactly the main lesson to take from malcolm, i think. Thank you so much, dr. Musa for such a indepth answer there, and brother mizar, if i can come back to you just quickly before we move to the next section, how did brother malcolms religious beliefs develop over time, what stances did he take in terms of his politicized islamic practice . Be that again are relevant for us today, its very important, so there were different phases of malcolms life, and each phases there was a different, he had a different view on religion, so before he became a member of the nation of islam, when we when he was known as malcolm little, he had very antagonistic view towards religion, he basically in his biographies and other books written about him, he basically hated religion, even though he comes from a tradition and his parents were very religious. Christian people and also they were also they were also antiracists in their time as well you know following the teachings of marcus garvy and you know other people at wb de boys and other people um even though malcolm hated religion he had that teaching within him instilled within him from from his parents especially when it comes to black liberation so that was the first phase so when he was malcolm little doing all the crime and stuff he was also known as satan because he hated religion hes hes a disparaged religion so much. However when he went into prison prison and he was introduced to the concepts of the nation of islam, it wasnt really the religious practices from my understanding that really drew him in, what was, what drew him in was the essence of reformation of becoming better, um, so thats the other phase where he actually started to change his view on religion in terms of when it cames to the practices of the nation of islam and his distorted view as taught by ford muhammad, so again that was another change where he where he saw himself become religious person, but not just a religious person, but a person who intertwined who infused concepts of black liberation and religious religion together, because he saw reformation as part and parcel of liberation as well at the same time, so that was the other ph, and then when he became alhaj malik shabaz, basically that was another phase where he understood islam better, he started practicing the normative practices of islam and again became more internationalist, i would say the the thing that kind of. Intertwines both faces, his noi face and his sunni muslim face is that he had he taught, he sorry he didnt teach, he learned islam from what he understand islam to be, he learned it and he taught it, he had he had specific shakes, when he became a sunni muslim, he went to the Islamic Center of geneva and he spent a couple of months with tarik ramadans dad learning orthodox islam and understanding how to intwine politics and islam together, and whats interesting is uh, like dr. Musa. Saying he was constantly learning, he wasnt resting on his laurels. Now, of course, shaheed malcx was also known for joining the black Liberation Movement with the global fight against colonialism and imperialism. We can take a look now at how this came about. Malcolm x. In 1964, malcolmexs trip to north africa and the middle east brought him to palestine to the heart of the Arab Liberation struggle. Spending few days in gaza hosted by government. Officials and palestinian poet harun hashim rashid, he visited local institutions, hospitals and the khan yunis refugee camp where he bore witness to the everyday struggles of life under occupation. Soon after, he would pen his letter published in the egyptian gazette titled zionist logic, which confirmed the deeply Transformative Impact this trip had on his ideology and world view. Here he outlined the key issues with the zinanis movement which still stand today, including the problems with its religious claim to the land and its colonial roots, by describing the movement as new, well disguised. Extension of european imperialism, he encouraged african nations to wake up to the realities of this new form of colonialism, and to stand firm in support of the palestinian struggle. Historically, the black and palestinian Liberation Movements have always been deeply intertwied. Malcomex was one of the first many engaged in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, like the black panther party, that went to meet with and recognize the. Palestinian Liberation Organization after its creation in 1964, marking one of the first attempts to centralize resistance and gorilla efforts against the israeli occupation. Almost always it was those considered within the more radical fringes of the black Liberation Movement who drew a direct parallel between the quest for africanamerican freedom and global anticolonial movements, especially within the arab world, in order to build Trans National solidarity and a holistic understanding of liberation. Malcolm xs vision in particular, set a new standard for acceptable resistance outside the framework of nonviolence, which deemed any Armed Struggle as illegitimate, purely because of its methods. Even today, there are those who claim to seek selfdetermination for the Palestinian People whilst openly denying the right to grassroots resistance like mahmoud abbas, the current leader of the palesty. Authority, since its in statement under the oslo accords, the pa has progressively become an extension of the israeli entity, with many palestinians themselves holding it accountable for prolonging the status quo that enables the occupation. The reality has ignited ever growing support for the Palestinian Resistance movement, which is an embodiment of malcomexs revolutionary vision, that is to attain freedom by any means necessary. With its rise, macamexs world view has once again been brought to life, cementing the importance of armed resistance. Now, dr. Musa, if i can come back to you, uh, i guess you role, weve seen the role that faith has played in the life of malcolm in reforming him as a personality, in prison, of course, but what role does it play in Liberation Movements like that weve seen going on right now in gaz. Where the Palestinian People are really leaning into their faith in order to overcome and be steadfast during this time of great tribulation. Its very sad that even now in the year 2024 there are good people fighting for justice, for liberation who still import revolutionary ideas from outside of their culture, mostly they would become eurocentric in their. Look and they believe in a system of values that is foreign to the very society and the very people they are claiming, they claim they they are helping to liberate. This is major mistake and the life and work of malcolm x help us to see that clearly. If one wants to help their people to move forward and to stand tall against oppression then they must engage with the value system, with the religion, the culture, the history of those people, so for me, this is my advice to every young man and woman coming up and trying to open a new way for justice, whether its economic justice, cultural justice, political justice, do not separate yourself, look at what malcolm did, malcolm went on the streets, went to the universities, colleges, schools, he talked to everyday people, and he understood that their pain is intertwined with their spirit, with the way they saw the world, if you do not interact with that, then you will be seen as a foreigner, you will be seen as someone who is a stranger to the not just the feelings, the emotions of the people, but to their interests, their economic interests, political interests, so spirituality is not something to indulge with or indulge in. Spirituality is a tr to genuine weapon of change, spirituality helps us to gather people around the cause and ease their pain, but not to make them forget the pain, and within every religion, in islam, for example, yes, some people might find some reactionary elements that do not fit, if you like, the needs of the revolution, but a great religion like islam has many revolution. Progressive elements that call for justice, call for change, and the genuine revolutionary man or woman can indeed build on the great history of islam, the great heroes of islam to bridge any gap with people and to actually unite people from different colors, different backgrounds and give them that hope, true hope, not false, because of course as you now brother, the system of oppression is very good at producing false hopes, but the hope that people get from the history of their culture, of their religion can be powerful, real, genuine weapon to unite people, make them stand the pain of this very oppressive system and move forward, and malcolm did that in many beautiful ways, he started with his very narrow vision of religion, and then he enlarged. This vision and made it truly revolutionary and truly uniting uh for the people. Absolutely doctor and really incredible there to hear such such an eloquent answer that touched on so many things and particularly that unity of causes which leads us perfectly to what i wanted to ask you which was malcolm uh lent into this concept of internationalism we heard earlier him his trips to africa and really trying to marry those uh struggles in africa, in palestine, with the struggles domestically in the u. S. , what can we today learn about that and applying those internationalist principles . I think its very important to understand that, especially when it comes to malcolms upbringing, because his parents were garvites, they had that kind of internationalist leaning anyway, so malcolm kind of absorbed that and basically amplified that aspect of his of his childhood and and of his learning, uh, of his of his upbringing, now malcolm never stopped learning, he never. Stopped observing the world and as dr. Musa said, he was he was always a learner, he was always, he would always interact, and one of the things that you know we have to understand is that his political ideas were always evolving as well at the same time, um, so if you read lee and tamara pains book, the dead are arising, they interviewed people who knew malcolm who said that by the time he when he became alhaj malik shabas, he started adopting a more socialist understanding of politics and the system today and internationalism as well. So i think he the evolution, his understanding of how the political system works was always evolving or he was always learning, but i think theres one key concept that is that we have to understand and that as people who are engaged politically we have to try and absorb as well, because when he went to talk to the united nations, when he went to talk to heads of state, when he went to talk to important people, he always said that im here on behalf of the 22 million black people in america, he always situated him. Himself with the oppressed class, with his people, he never forgot where he was from, wherever he was, he always situated himself as part of the oppressed class, whereas nowadays we have leaders from our community that dont really situate themselves from where we are, they situate themselves from a class level where they see themselves as above, malcolm never saw himself as above, he saw himself as part of the people he was representing, and i think that is very important and that is something we must inbew within us. Selves as well, and i think its interesting as well, weve seen in this latest uh, genocide against the Palestinian People a similar type of internationalism, youve seen brothers uh coming together from lebanon, from yemen, from iraq, from iran, from other countries, different religious views or different world views and yet theyve all built this sort of axis, which leans into that, and its important that people understand that its not a nationalist struggle, its a global, its a global struggle that crosses these boundaries, brother mizano, i think we could shout about this for hours, i know we. Good with dr. Mousa as well, so we have time for today, but thank you so much for uh joining us and thank you as well at home uh for watching uh, you can join us again next week for another edition of eye on islam. A damming report indicates that bets from terrorism in africa have skyrocketed more than 100,000 percent during the socalled us war on terror. The study by the African Center for strategic studies revealed that during 2002 and 2003 when the us was just beginning its decades long war, total of just nine terrorist attacks were counted throughout all of africa leading to only 23 casualties, but after two decades of us intervention in africa with a purported aim of helping the continent in counter terrorism, deaths from takfiri, violence in africa increased to 23,322 last year, reaching a record level of lethal violence. So what exactly are us troops doing in africa if theyre not fighting terrorists as they claim . Crisis, devastating wars, terrorism, the israeli lobby, crackdown, diplomacy, us israeli genocide against palestinians. First of the headlines this hour 141 days after the start of the us israely genocide in gaza, the killing and destruction campaign against palestinians continues with death doll nearly 30,000. Their leader slams was hypocracy regarding the ongoing bloodshed in gaza condemning the us repeatedly vedoing un resolutions to stop the onslot, and on the second anniversary of the Ukraine Russia war, moscow once again says the west is prolonging the conflict by its financial and military support for kiev