Malcolm X, Muhammad, and The Madhab of the White Jesus
Theological Gatekeeping and the Collapse of Taghutic Clerical Legitimacy
“There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times.
— Eulogy of Malcolm X, Ossie Davis, New York City - February 27, 1965
There is a particular kind of warning that resurfaces whenever Malcolm X is invoked seriously within Muslim discourse. It typically sounds cautious, even devout. It goes something like this:
“Malcolm was admirable, but don’t forget—he wasn’t divinely guided.”
“Don’t treat him like he’s above criticism.”
“Remember, he wasn’t one of the Prophets.”
“He wasn’t even a scholar or Ulema”
At first glance, these may seem like reasonable theological points. But in context, they function as something entirely different: a rhetorical tactic to deflect, downplay, and discipline the rising influence of Malcolm X as a moral compass for a generation increasingly disillusioned by silent scholars and compromised leadership.
Let’s name this for what it is: a subtle attempt to redraw the lines of authority. A soft weak dismissal disguised as theological humility.
No One Mistook Malcolm for a Prophet: The Palest of Straw Men
These types of statements pretend to correct some widespread error - as if Muslims are worshiping Malcolm or treating his words like scripture.
But ABSOLUTELY no one is making that claim and the vast majority of black Muslims are absolutely clear on the differences between a prophetic leader and the Prophet Muhammad(ﷺ).
What’s really happening is this: more and more people are turning to Malcolm because his life embodied truth-telling when others chose silence or worse, willing complicity with the evolving Taghutic institutions and systems that took the life of his father in the first place.
Because his clarity cuts through the fog of their anemic intellectual posturing, political ambiguity and their anti-black hypocrisy.
The people issuing these reminders aren’t afraid that someone will think Malcolm is infallible.
They’re afraid that too many of US will start measuring today’s scholars by his standard.
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”
— Malcolm X, Speech in Los Angeles, 1963
The Real Reason They Invoke “Fallibility”
When someone reminds you that Malcolm was not perfect, what they are really doing is planting doubt - suggesting that his critiques of racism, empire, and religious complicity should be taken with caution or skepticism. But this same reminder is never issued when classical scholars are cited.
Why is it never brought up when spiritual poets or mystics are quoted. Only when a Black man who directly challenged white supremacy, religious cowardice, and state-aligned clerics is held up as a standard.
This isn’t about balance. It’s about boundaries - specifically, boundaries that protect their fragile claims to theological and Islamic authority.
“You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says it.”
— Malcolm X, Speech in Detroit, 1964
The White Policing of Black Authority, Spiritual Agency and Authenticity
Let’s be honest. These warnings are rarely issued when other historical figures are held up as examples. No one steps in to remind the ummah that Rumi wasn’t a prophet. Or that al-Ghazali was fallible. Or that modern-day celebrity scholars have their own human limits. The warnings only seem to surface when Malcolm X is taken seriously.
That tells us everything we need to know.
The problem isn’t that Malcolm’s legacy is misunderstood or overstated. The problem is that it’s too clearly understood - and too inconvenient for those who have made peace with injustice and dressed it in Islamic language.
“If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.”
— Malcolm X, Speech in Detroit, 1964
Malcolm Was Not a Prophet- And That’s Why He Was Prophetic
Malcolm never claimed to be a prophet. But what he did become was something far rarer in our time: a man whose sincerity, sacrifice, and spiritual transparency aligned him unmistakably with the Prophetic path. His authority did not come from titles or institutions. It came from his clarity, his courage, and the fact that he told the truth when it cost him everything.
His authority also came from something the scholars who try to dismiss him cannot replicate: his honesty about his own transformations. Malcolm never hid his transitions. He didn’t revise his past. He laid it bare - because he believed growth, struggle, and reformation were the foundations of real leadership.
And this is precisely what many of today’s so-called scholars fear. Because most of them have not endured a tenth of what Malcolm endured. They haven’t struggled as he struggled. They haven’t sacrificed what he sacrificed. From the safety of whitewashed institutions and sanitized seminaries, they issue warnings—telling us not to follow Malcolm too closely, not to learn from his “mistakes,” not to take his journey too seriously.
But they say this not because they have surpassed him.
They say this because they’ve never even stood where he stood.
They have not faced what he faced. And they will never rise as high toward the example of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as he did—because they have not walked the road of truth with their lives on the line. They have not paid for their convictions with blood. They have not spoken truth to power when it meant isolation, betrayal, or martyrdom.
“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.”
— Malcolm X, Speech in Harlem, 1964
What They Really Mean Is: Do Not Follow This Man
The subtext of these warnings is simple: distance yourself. Don’t quote him too much. Don’t trust him too deeply. Don’t compare us to him.
Because if you do, you might realize that he stood where most of them refused to. That he spoke truths many of them were too afraid to utter. That he paid the price for his principles while others sought safety in silence.
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
— Malcolm X, Speech in Detroit, 1964
(Not The) Final Word
These warnings aren’t about protecting theology.
They are about protecting position.
They reveal the panic of men whose platforms are built on proximity to wealth and whiteness - who cannot bear the presence of an…
African American Awliyah
Whose very life exposes how small and self-serving their religiosity has become.
They warn us not to idolize Malcolm—because they know that if we actually followed him, we would see right through them.
And their pulpits.
And their platitudes.
And their carefully measured alliances with the very systems Malcolm called out as false gods.
“Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did, you would know him. And if you knew him, you would know why we must honor him: Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood!”
Eulogy of Malcolm X, Ossie Davis, New York City - February 27, 1965