l power, specifically Allah, had planned for him to be caught breaking the law because the coincidental circumstances that led to his imprisonment (and the repercussions of his imprisonment) were too much for Malcolm to accept as chance alone. However much he would like to believe otherwise, it was his own decisions combined with the decisions of others and pure chance that resulted in the years Malcolm X spent in penitentiary.Malcolm X chose to believe that his removal from the Nation of Islam, a decision by a man whom Malcolm believed to be a prophet of Allah, was part of his destiny more than a result of his actions. “The Honorable” Elijah Muhammad, a man who claimed to be a prophet to Allah (God to those of Islamic faith), had told Malcolm X early in their relationship that they would one day be separated from each other. Malcolm accepted this as prophecy, but one might notice that Elijah was in a position to make this “prophecy” come true. It did not take Allah to sever Malcolm’s ties with the Nation of Islam. Elijah could tell that Malcolm would one day rise to a power greater than his, and Elijah provided a means to both add to his public image and have another “prophecy” become truth. Malcolm chose to believe Elijah’s “prophecies.” Malcolm fooled himself into the simplistic, irresponsible notion of fate.It had always occurred to Malcolm that he would die violently at the hands of an enemy. Malcolm was choosing to “constantly walk in danger” (pg. x) through the way he disregarded his public image and how he’d abandoned politics. Although his death was a tragic loss of a good man who did not deserve to die, his behavior caused his death. Malcolm X’s “fate” was really only the outcome he knew would be a result of his stand for the American Negro. Malcolm had known of this “destiny” since he was an inmate and was alw...
