Malcolm’s ambassadorial work in Cairo—and that is precisely what it was—stunned many of his American detractors. Others of us who had been close observers of the movement were not surprised. We knew that Malcolm has always maintained excellent relations with top Arabs at the United Nations. Few, if any, of these meetings were ever public. But they did occur and there is every indication that they are still going on. The road to Mecca was cleared long before Malcolm and Elijah left these shores; powerful pro-Nasser Arabs are quietly in Malcolm’s corner, and many Black Muslim bazaars open with the reading of cabled greetings from “Our Beloved Brother Gamal Abdel Nasser.”
The emphasis of orthodox Islam is universal love and brotherhood among men of all races. The central teaching of the Black Muslims is that all white men are devils and will soon be destroyed. It seems superfluous to point out the wide disparity between these two views. But both Muslim and Moslem worship Allah. And that—at least so the hajj committee said—is all that matters.
The answer to this ambiguity, I suspect, lies in the gangling structure of the Moslem hierarchy. Unlike, say, the Catholic Church, the Moslem faith is not a tightly knit, fully administered organization. I have talked with Moslems about all this, and while they would rather that Elijah did not say much of what he says, they are still smarting over the Christian Crusades and readying for the moment of truth with the Jews. The Black Muslims carefully describe themselves as “anti-Zionist” rather than as against the Jews. But herein, I suspect, is the resolution of the entire matter of Elijah’s relationship to orthodox Islam.
A high Islamic official in Cairo explained it to me in these words: “Of course your Black Muslims are improperly informed. But they are turning men to Allah, away from Christianity, toward Mecca. This is what we want; this is what we must have. We need new blood in western Islam. If Muhammad can give that new blood we welcome him. As for his teachings,” the official continued, “we will see to it that the correct view is given to the black man in America. Now the thing is to get them facing toward Mecca.”
Is This a True Religion?
Although Elijah has made his holy pilgrimage to Mecca, the debate over the religious validity of the Black Muslims still rages, with the movement’s critics holding to their charge that Elijah Muhammad teaches hate whereas true religion teaches love. A case can be made that these critics are doubly in error, first in their assumption that their own faith teaches universal love, and secondly in their conclusion—aided by news accounts—that the Black Muslims actually preach hatred of others.
Every religion is a closed network of believers; it has its dogma, its ritual, its gods. The followers of that faith are taught to love one another and are urged to proselytize sinners (outsiders) wherever they can be found. Most religions draw creedal, not racial, lines. Persons of any race may embrace the tenets of the faith and become members. However, this is not always the case and racial overtones have crept into major world faiths.
The late, and loved, Pope John flirted with immortality by coming to grips with the issue of racism in religion. Not only did he infuse the Church with the fresh air of universalism, but he halted a service because a priest violated—forgot, actually—His Holiness’ order that a reference to the Jews as a “perfidious people” be stricken from the Catholic prayer service. The pending second session of the ecumenical council may see the introduction of a proposal that would call on the Church to speak out against anti-Semitism. The proposal was not brought up in the first session because the Church fathers feared what the Arabs might say!
The Jews and the Protestants face essentially the same problems as the Roman Catholics. St. Paul rose to glory because he translated being a Jew from a biological to a spiritual proposition. Many Jews have not accepted that translation and they snicker when Sammy Davis, Jr., walks into their temple. Racism is such a fact of American Protestant church life that most major denominations are divided along racial lines. Then there is the question of religion and geography. The world’s major faiths were spawned in certain areas and took root among people of a common ethnic stock. Thus the followers of Buddha are apt to be Orientals; but for slavery and colonization all of the followers of Christ would be European. But for the same kind of cultural intermingling, Allah’s followers would be the peoples of Asia Minor and North Africa, and the black peoples below the Sahara would still be practicing the varied tribal and family faiths mentioned earlier in this essay.
But time and trouble make saints of everybody ... and universalism occurs only when feuding faiths clash on the plains of practical reality. Thus American Protestants now have a commission that is given over entirely to eliminating all anti-Semitism from the gospel of Christ. The Episcopal Bishop of California, James Pike, has gone so far as to suggest that we take down the cross as a symbol of our faith lest this encourage the teaching that the Jews killed Our Lord. This teaching—that the Jews killed Christ—is no longer fashionable as it was when I was baptized. Now one is told that the Romans killed Christ. And since the once-heathen Romans are now Christians—even though they are Catholics—I suppose this makes things better.