Apparently, Elijah Muhammed had become threatened by Malcolm's
charismatic appeal, and he feared he might lose his leadership in the
movement. After a pilgrimage to Mecca as well as visits to several
newly independent African nations, Malcolm returned to America ready
to start a movement of his own. Although he believed more strongly
than ever in Islam, he came to feel that several of the teachings of
the Black Muslims were erroneous. One reason was that in Mecca he had
worshipped with people from all races. As a result, he no longer felt
that the white man, per se, was the "devil":
"In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white
people. I never will be guilty of that again--as I know now that some
white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being
brotherly toward a black man. The true Islam has shown me that a
blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites make
blanket indictments against blacks."
Malcolm intended to continue teaching Islam in America, and he
insisted that a religious faith was a help to any political movement.
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