Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali

Great documentary. As a muslim, it hurt me seeing all those people fall into the cult of the self proclaimed messenger Elijah Muhammad. The nation of islam was a cult, and its leader was a weak, insecure and perverse person who manipulated Ali and Malcolm X for his own ego and power. Seeing him talk, with his inflated ego, made my blood boil. That man abused islam for his own benefit, he took something pure and created from it something as vile and dirty as the nation of islam, and for that I will not forgive him.

The thing I would have liked to see more of, however, was Malcolm X's journey to Mecca. On this journey he encountered many things that conflicted with his own vision of the world, and apart from his bravery and confidence, Malcolm's most admirable quality in my eyes was his willingness to overthrow his ideologies and adapt his beliefs to the world he saw; a world that became clear for him on his journey to Mecca. This is where Malcolm's part as an intellectual truly rises. He doesn't cling onto his ideologies when it's the easier thing to do; he could have made it big were he to stick with the nation of islam. But he chooses not to, purely for his own moral reasons. That's greatness.

I am sure Ali saw through the lies as well, but to him boxing came first at the time, and he probably didn't want the same happening to him as happened with Malcolm. It still hurt to see him talk about his friend like that.

Just like Malcolm X, Ali saw his beliefs in the nation of islam challenged and changed after his journey to Mecca, where he met other muslims. I find it fascinating that both of these giants had their eyes opened after the exact same spiritual journey. In a way I find it beautiful and tragic, that Ali had the same realisations because of the same events, only to be too late. I wish the documentary focused more on all of this.