The Autobiography Of Malcom X

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In these days, it is obvious that religion has greatly affected people; it is able to spiritually transform individuals who strive to find true meanings of their religions. In the case of Malcom X, the experience in prison helps him to open his eyes by making him think outside the confined mindset, and the journey to Mecca endows him with new vision: he previously advocates Black supremacy, but he later gives importance to integration of two races: Whites and Blacks. However, it is questionable whether Malcom X tries to use religion as a means to enforce his political activism. On the other hand, in Holy Days, after going through turning point of her life, Sheina immerses herself into Hasidic society by learning how to relish everything that …show more content…
When he is imprisoned in Massachusetts prison, Malcom X believes that he is imprisoned due to his personal relationship with a white woman. By that time, relationship between whites and blacks is considered illegal. As a consequence, his personal hatred against Whites grows gradually, and he finally decides to support for Black supremacy. Additionally, during his time in prison, he realizes that the racism is not only aimed at him, but it is also aimed at Blacks in general. From here, he opens his eyes to political activism and feels a need to advocate for Black independence and try to reclaim Black pride and masculinity. When he joins Nation of Islam(NOI), he starts to relate all good things happening in America to the Black people and all bad things happening in the world to White people. Furthermore, Malcom X tells the members of Nation of Islam that there is no such thing as peaceful revolution, meaning that black members in Nation of Islam must make a violent revolution to gain equality. From then, it is obvious that Malcom X uses more of his political activism than religious doctrines of Nation of Islam to bring the change in …show more content…
In chapter 5 of Holy Days, Lis Harris, the author, asks Sheina what is her motivation of becoming immersed into Hasidism (Harris 111). Sheina states that she becomes interested in spiritual matters in 1968, when a train kills her cousin by colliding with the car. Because she cannot accept their death, she starts to learn about reincarnation, which explains how souls move from one body to another body. For Sheina, reincarnation seems to answer many of her questions (Harris 111). Therefore, she decides to commit herself into Hasidism and relates everything she does in religious way. Furthermore she does not try to evade the commandments by finding rationales for not doing them (Harris 113). While most Jews avoid practicing ritual bath, thinking that it is one of the old customs, Sheina believes that the ritual bath is one of the most important rituals of Judaism. Jewish law clearly points out that people should build a mikvah, ritual bath, before they build a synagogue. even though women are treated unequally in Hasidic society, she does not question about this treatment but accept it as God’s will. In chapter 6, Harris finds out that Orthodox married women are not allowed to stay in contact with their husbands during their menstruations. For example, in Anatomy of the Sacred, Livingston claims that the presence of women can be
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