Because 1964 threatens to be a very explosive year on the racial front, and because I myself intend to be very active in every phase of the American Negro struggle for human rights, I have called this press conference, this morning in order to clarify my own position in the struggle; especially in regards to politics and nonviolence.
In the past I thought the thoughts, spoke the words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that day is over. From now on I speak my own words, and think my own thoughts. Internal differences within the Nation of Islam forced me out of it. I did not leave of my own free will. But now that it has happened, I intend to make the most of it. Now that I have more independence of action, I intend to use a more flexible approach toward working with others to get a solution to this problem. I do not pretend to be a divine man, but I do believe in divine guidance, divine power, and in the fulfillment of divine prophecy.
I am not educated, nor am I an expert in any particular field, but I am sincere, and my sincerity is my credentials. I’m not out to fight other Negro leaders or organizations. We must find a common solution, to a common problem. I am going to organize and head a new mosque in New York City, known as the Muslim Mosque, Inc. This gives us a religious base, and the spiritual force necessary to rid our people of the vices that destroy the moral fiber of our community. Our political philosophy will be black nationalism. Our economic and social philosophy will be black nationalism. The Muslim Mosque, Inc. will remain wide open for ideas and financial aid from all quarters. Whites can help us, but they can’t join us. There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves. ……
Our fight is known and respected worldwide. Incidentally, there’s a little white man who follows me wherever I go. I wonder who he’s working for? If I was a betting man, I’d say CIA. What’s your guess?….
Today, with thousands of others, I proclaimed God’s greatness in the Holy City of Mecca. Wearing the Ihram garb I made my seven circuits around the Kaaba; I drank from the well of Zem Zem; I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat where the Ark landed. It was the only time in my life that I stood before the Creator of all and felt like a complete human being.
You may be shocked by these words, but I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass and prayed to the same God with fellow Muslims whose eyes were blue, whose hair was blond and whose skin was the whitest of whites. And we are brothers, truly; people of all colors and races believing in One God and one humanity. Once before, in prison, the truth came and blinded me. It has happened again…
In the past, I have permitted myself to be used to make sweeping indictments of all white people, and these generalizations have caused injuries to some white folks who did not deserve them. Because of the spiritual rebirth which I was blessed to undergo as a result of my pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of one race. I intend to be careful not to sentence anyone who has not been proven guilty. I’m not a racist and do not subscribe to any of the tenets of racism. In all honesty and sincerity it can be stated that I wish nothing but freedom, justice and equality: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people.
One of the unique characteristics of the authentic jama’ah is the fact that it would draw its major contemporary inspiration from the likes of Iqbal and Malcolm X. It is true, of course, that neither Iqbal nor Malcolm X was not an ‘alim (religious scholar) in the traditional sense of the term since neither was subjected to the intellectual training of rigid, traditional, conventional, Islamic scholarship (i.e., the Dar al-‘Uloom). But this was precisely the reason why they were able to succeed where so many others failed.
Malcolm’s unique achievement was the matchless integrity, courage, and intuitive insight with which he turned to Islam to challenge the godless oppressive White World Order.
Imran Nazar Hosein, One Jama‘at - One Ameer: The Organisation of A Muslim Community in the Age of Fitan.
