I mean, he came out of absolutely nowhere. He just claimed to be a prophet of Islam who had spoken to Allah. Nowadays, people claim to be Jesus reincarnated all the time - and no one believes them. And he seems to brainwash his followers into complete submission to his "word of Allah". Why would someone who was so holy, chosen by God, need to brainwash people to follow him? He should talk with such conviction that people believe him because it is true, not because it is repeated and screamed.
And why would he go against everything he was preaching, when he committed adultery? He was constantly preaching fidelity to ones spouse because it was commanded by Allah. And then he made the excuse that he was fulfilling God's prophecy. I personally don't believe this, but the Brothers and Sisters in his mosque did.
So he should have been fine. But he showed his guilt by plotting to kill Malcolm to "shut him up". Elijah could tell that Malcolm was becoming disenchanted and could possibly oust him as a fraud with the whole "prophecy" deal.
I know I was kind of ranting on and on about this. But I want everyone to know that this is just a feeling that I got and a possible explanation behind it. I fully respect anyones decision to follow Elijah Muhammad or the NOI. This is not an attack on the religion or its people.
In fact, I could just be reacting to the way Malcolm told the story. Because he saw something "shady" in Mr. Muhammad that could have influenced my thinking. This website is from the NOI in support of Elijah Muhammad http://www.noi.org/elijah_muhammad_history.htm after reading it, I feel that Elijah might have been totally telling the truth. Plus there is no denying his greatness as a civil rights leader.
Now I am even more confused then I was before. The spin on Malcolm's story tells me one thing, but the NOI website shows me another. So this entire post could be totally untrue - it is just speculation. :)
I agree. I find it hard to believe that someone can just pop out of the woodwork and say that they were sent by God or Allah to convert people to believe in them. I find it pretty ridiculous because if I said that, who would believe me? Which is exactly why I'm confused at why he's brainwashing others into following him. If Elijah was really sent by Allah, then he shouldn't need to brainwash others. Other people would just know in their heart that it was true. People wouldn't have their decision to follow a certain religion made up for them; they would make it by themselves with no influence from Elijah Muhammad.
ReplyDeleteallison,
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy that I read this because as I was reading through the book, I couldn't help but think the same thing as you. I think his views and claims of prophecy are very shady. However, I respect you for saying all of that but then being open-minded to reading the NOI article and letting your opinion be swayed. You voiced your opinion on the whole situation really well in this blog =).
rubes!