Malcolm X becomes a Baha'i

manav95

Banned
The POD is simple: Malcolm doesn't come into contact with Elijah Muhammad and doesn't join the NOI. Instead, he meets a member of the Baha'i faith and is attracted by the religion's teachings of racial and religious equality, especially after having been discouraged from continuing his schooling due to racism from his white teachers. He joins the Faith and becomes an ardent, effective spokesman for it in America, especially among blacks. How does this affect the Civil Rights movement, as Malcolm X skips the extremist phase of his career with the NOI and never becomes a black nationalist due to his Baha'i beliefs? Would the Baha'i faith also grow faster in this TL as well, especially among blacks fed up with racism among so many white Christian congregations?
 
I guess one place to look for answers to your last question is to see if there's any evidence that Malcolm X was an effective spokesperson for the NOI, in terms of bringing in converts. Did he personally have an impact? Sad to say I'm ignorant on this fact myself.
 
He trained many of the young warriors, even Farrakhan himself. I can see Malcolm trying to become The guardian of the Baha’i faith. Bahabullah himself saw racial equality as a key of his faith.
 
There is a much, much higher chance that he lives to a ripe old age.

I am kinda curious what impact he'd have on the culture of the Baha'i Faith in the US, but this is such a radically different life path for him that the Malcolm X of this ALT would likely be a very different man.

I can see the Baha'i Faith growing faster due to *Malcolm's involvement, but I have difficulty seeing it growing much faster. In part, because it was growing extremely rapidly from a low base already in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

fasquardon
 
If, via Malcolm, Baha'i gains a popularity among blacks, that might effect African American attitudes toward the persecution of Baha'is in Iran and elsewhere, similar to the way the NOI at times supported Muslim groups and regimes elsewhere in the world.
 
If, via Malcolm, Baha'i gains a popularity among blacks, that might effect African American attitudes toward the persecution of Baha'is in Iran and elsewhere, similar to the way the NOI at times supported Muslim groups and regimes elsewhere in the world.

The Baha'i Faith already had some popularity among blacks, for obvious reasons. So what you mean is "more popularity".

And I've been told that until the Falklands War (which put white American Baha'is on television, since there were several Baha'is of American extraction in the Falklands), the Baha'i Faith was seen as a religion for brown people (since so many prominent Baha'is in the US came from the Middle East). I wonder if this Malcolm X is as famous as OTLs, will the Baha'i Faith have a stronger association with being non-white?

fasquardon
 

manav95

Banned
There is a much, much higher chance that he lives to a ripe old age.

I am kinda curious what impact he'd have on the culture of the Baha'i Faith in the US, but this is such a radically different life path for him that the Malcolm X of this ALT would likely be a very different man.

I can see the Baha'i Faith growing faster due to *Malcolm's involvement, but I have difficulty seeing it growing much faster. In part, because it was growing extremely rapidly from a low base already in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

fasquardon

It would probably be a lot more Afrocentric as opposed to attracting both blacks and white hippies. There would be an even greater emphasis on social justice and fighting for civil rights; perhaps Martin Luther King and other Christian ministers active in the civil Rights movement convert to the Baha'i faith.

Malcolm X would probably be just as energetic and vocal as he was an NOI member. Given that he left the NOI and became a far less radical mainstream Muslim, he probably would have advocated black self-sufficiency and self-determination from the start, albeit being far less hostile to white people than he historically was.
 
An interesting question here is, would Malcolm have even been as well known if he'd preached a more inclusive, loving message? I don't know for a fact, but I'd imagine that a large part of his appeal was the fact that he was representing an unquiet, uncivil and frankly pissed off feeling that many in the black community could relate to. If he converts to the Baha'i faith, would he just be seen as another kind of MLK and therefore not have the same level of notoriety?
 
It would probably be a lot more Afrocentric as opposed to attracting both blacks and white hippies.

I have great difficulty seeing the Baha'is in the US not picking up a good number of whites. More what I'd expect is a slightly different Baha'i culture in the US and a different external perception.

fasquardon
 
If, via Malcolm, Baha'i gains a popularity among blacks, that might effect African American attitudes toward the persecution of Baha'is in Iran and elsewhere, similar to the way the NOI at times supported Muslim groups and regimes elsewhere in the world.
Perhaps a Baha’i, Zoroastrian alliance to call attention to their common persecution.
 
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