The Diary of Malcolm X: El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, 1964

by Malcolm X

soothed me—

“I’ve become used to the customs: eating with my hands, from the same dish as the others, drinking from the same glass & washing from the little pitcher of water & sleeping now on a mat, beneath the open sky, listening to the snoring pilgrims from every land all around me. (People all snore in the same language-smile). People from every rank, from king to beggar, are all here eating & sleeping alike—of every color & class—the Hajj equalizes all.”

“Mecca is surrounded by mts, the cruelest looking mts. I’ve ever seen. They seem to be made of the waste material from a blast furnace. No vegetation on them at all. The houses are old & modern. Some sections of the city are no different than when the Prophet Abraham was here over 4000 yrs. ago—other sections look like a Miami suburb.

that

double. The

Arabs are poor at public relations. They say ‘Insha Allah’ [God willing] & then wait, and as they are wai...

The Hajj is Islam’s best advertisement (selling point). If the Hajj alone were properly pictured to the outside world (taking first into account the psychology of the outside world) millions of converts would be added yearly to the ranks of the Muslims. Just as the Muslims here now see the necessity of modern roads, buildings, schools (even modernizing the Great Mosque itself) I pray they will also see the necessity of mod...

“The headwaiter at the Jeddah Palace before leaving for Hajj [said] ‘Have your mind only on Allah (Labbaika, etc)—or when I wa sitting there today; the secret hypocritical motive some have for making Hajj—just to be seen—how the man in India cried when he saw the picture of the Kaaba on Holy wall—he remembered his sins & it brought tears to his eyes (in his humility, God was washing his sins away) never do (give money even) to impress others, so what we do we do for ourselves—so we must be sincere with ourselves.

“I’m on the plane on my way to Medina at 11

am. Below is barren desert, sand & mts. as far as the eye can see. It is a 2-engine Arabian Airlines plane. The trip is supposed to take one hour. We were served cookies (soft drink companies do a thriving business in the Muslim world because the people here are non-alcoholic; in fact; most of the non-European world is non-alcoholic). “Alcoholism seems to be a product primarily of European culture. The worst (most dangerous habit among the Arab Muslims) is cigarettes. They smoke constantly, even on the Hajj. It’s one of the evils that the Prophet Muhammad didn’t put a taboo on, but only because smoking hadn’t yet been invented in his day. If he were alive, he’d ban it.

beyond

cannot be forced upon anyone.

“It is evening; we have just finished the Asha [dinner] prayers here at the Prophet’s Mosque5 [?] in Medina. There is no city more peaceful, no mosque more beautiful—I felt the power of Allah’s Spirit & Presence more so here than anywhere else I’ve been. Perhaps it is because the push of the crowds & the very strenuous rituals participated [in] at Jeddah, Mecca, etc. are now over. Never have I felt more relaxed, more at peace, or nearer to God than here today at Medina. This feeling that I have right now is in itself worth my entire pilgrimage. I haven’t really felt like this since ‘my prison years’ when I would spend days upon days in solitude, hrs. upon hrs. studying and praying. There is no greater serenity of mind than when one can shut the hectic noise & pace of the materialistic outside world, & seek inner peace within one’s self.”

for truth & justice. The very essence of the Islam religion in teaching the Oneness of God gives the believer genuine voluntary obligations toward his fellow men (all of whom are one family, brothers, sisters to each other)…and because the True Believer recognizes

“This affair impressed me even more than my trip to Mecca: youth from every where, face of every complexion, representing every race & every culture…all shouting the glory of Islam, filled with a militant, revolutionary spirit & zeal.”

States before returning to his teaching post

I spent most of

said

Fifi was knocking on my door as I came up the stairs_____We talked til 11 pm and she left. I went for a walk in the rain, alone and feeling lonely.”