Someone on Reddit found the postcard above that was written and sent by Malcolm X from Kuwait back in 1964. Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure in the US during the civil rights movement. Following his exit from the Nation of Islam, he took a pilgrimage to Mecca and during that time, he also traveled to Kuwait, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Casablanca.
The postcard above was one of 16 postcards that were auctioned off in 2016 and were sent by Malcolm to Gloria Owens, who was the secretary at Muhammad’s Temples of Islam where he was a minister alongside Louis Farrakhan. The postcard reads:
Greetings from beautiful Kuwait. Since I’ve seen what a mess can be made of things by narrow-minded people, I’m still traveling, trying to broaden my scope.
Until just a few moments ago I had no idea Malcolm had visited Kuwait. I’ll try and see if I can dig up anything from his trip but for now, if you want to see a higher resolution version of the postcard above, click here.
Thanks Ayr909!
16 replies on “Postcard Sent by Malcolm X from Kuwait, 1964”
Cool find
Beautiful Kuwait <3
How cool!! By coincidence I just watched One Night in Miami on Amazon Prime
would newspaper archives have more info?
Yeah if he was well known then I’m sure local newspapers might have covered it. He was in Kuwait in December 1964, if National Library was open I’d have popped in and checked to see if they had a newspaper archive for that month/year and flipped through it.
FYI, Malcom X and the Nartion of Islam are NOT considered Muslim by the overwhelming majority of Muslims. They use the name, but they are considered heretics by almost all mainstream muslims. They believe that they had a prophet called Elijah who died in 1975, and this is what voids their claim to mainstream Islam.
In addition, they have a highly racist set of beliefs that defy mainstream islam which is blind to color and race.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Muhammad
Malcom-x exited Nation of islam , which contributed to his assassination , he visted Saudi for hajj which changed how he viewed islam and called elijah on that
Malcom X have exited the Nation of Islam and converted to Sunni islam shortly before his death.
He’s not the only one btw, many African Americans who joined the NoI later converted to actual Sunni islam like Muhammad Ali.
The thing is, the Nation of Islam started as a movement for civil right activists but quickly degenerated into a cult. Africans Americans were interested in islam during that period because they tried to rediscover their identity and history from even before being enslaved and transported to North America during the 13 colonies period. And many of those enslaved African Americans were in fact originally from West Africa and most likely Muslim (Empire of Mali legacy) but those beliefs and cultural identity was heavily suppressed by the European enslavers and plantation owners who force converted black people to Christianity.
There’s a remarkable story of an educated muslim African who was enslaved by force and abducted into South Carolina:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-the-autobiography-of-a-muslim-slave-is-challenging-an-american-narrative
Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam because he disagreed with its teachings and the actions of Elijah Muhammad.
You’re absolutely right about the Nation of Islam. They were sometimes present on my university campus in the U.S. and it was ridiculous how they would change their pitch depending on who they were talking to. Seeing me as an Arab Muslim they tried to give me their racist spiel about the white man being the devil but I would make it clear that their teachings have nothing to do with genuine Islam. And at the same time others were stopping white guys and leaving out the fact that they (NOI) consider whites to be devils. Malcolm X was inspirational because he was brave enough to see and admit to the errors of his ways.
The one person from the 20th century whom I would have most like to have met – in particular after his pilgrimage to Mecca. Few people take the opportunity to correct themselves after seeing the truth like El-Malik El Shabazz did in his last few months. For that I commend him.
Wow. This is incredible.
Kuwait in 1964 that he visited was not the same Kuwait as it is now. Interpret how you wish.
wow, i never knew that. Hope there’re some articles in the old newspapers
Check:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2016/aug/24/malcolm-x-handwritten-postcards-auction-pictures
thats the link I have in the post…