Militant Spirituality

MARVIN X:

a radical spirit

Marvin X was born May 29, 1944 in Fowler, California, near Fresno. Marvin X is well known for his work as a poet, playwright and essayist of the BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT or BAM. He attended Merritt College along with Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. He received his BA and MA in English from San Francisco State University. Marvin X is most well known for his work with Ed Bullins in the founding of Black House and The Black Arts/West Theatre in San Francisco. Black House served briefly as the headquarters for the Black Panther Party and as a center for performance, theatre, poetry and music.

Militant and Spirituality
from Toward Radical Spirituality, Black Bird Press, 2007 (c) 2006 by Marvin X (El Muhajir)

Catch Marvin X in Concert at the Black Repertory Group Theatre, Sunday, Aug 27, 4pm. Music by Elliott Bey Savoy, words of meditation by Suzzette Celeste, poetry by Ptah Allah-El, Ayodele Nzinga, Opal Palmer Adisa, and Tureeda. Donation $20.00. Say "Peace," if you have no money. Benefit for the University of Poetry and Hug a Thug Book Club. Call 510-472-9589 for tickets or information. The Black Rep is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley (one block south of the Ashby BART). Email:mrvnx@yahoo.com.


Militant Islam originates in the abject and abysmal failure of moderate Islam to address the political oppression throughout the Muslim world. Nearly every Muslim regime is a model of failure in addressing the economic, educational and social problems of the billion plus Islamic world.

Many Muslim nations are still suffering the ravages of colonialism and her sister neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism allows the oppression to continue with indigenous political leaders who are sometimes more repressive than the former colonial masters.

Little or no opposition is allowed. Little or no freedom of speech or assembly is permitted. The oil wealth of Muslim nations is the property of royal families or presidents for life. All this has occurred under mainly secular regimes of moderate Muslims or under conservative Islamic nations. Such reactionary activity has forced a generation of militant Muslims to arise seeking social justice and cultural dignity as Islamic people.

Militant Muslims have no desire for the western way of life that is promoted by the secular regimes, including western style democracy, although they desire freedom, justice and equality. Actually, the oppressive regimes only give lip service to democratic ideals to appease the west, while they continue repression and the theft of national resources. Egypt is the best example of an oppressive Muslim state with pseudo strides toward democracy. The more they make moves toward democracy, the more they repress. President Mubarak's son is poised to continue pharonic democracy.

What should be made clear is that the problem of occupied Palestine is not the main reason for the rise of militant Islam. Yes, all Muslims are horrified at the oppression of the Muslim brothers and sisters in occupied Palestine, but they are more horrified at the oppression in their respective nations that are as repressive as Israel, if not more so. Did not Jordan kill ten thousand Palestinians? Did not Syria kill an entire town of rebellious citizens?

With ten million Muslims in France, what is their future in a country that recently praise its colonial heritage. More than likely, the Muslims will probably be expelled from Europe as were the Moors in 1492--history has a way of repeating itself.

Young Muslims must resist political backwardness in Europe and elsewhere, especially in Arab lands. Moderate Islam has no answers to the conundrum of the Muslim world. Their ritual passivity and collaboration with Western interests shall not continue unabated. The world waits for no one. Like Poland in WWII, the moderate Islamists may have waited too long. Moderation will allow the Israel/Palestine problem to linger another fifty years. But if Militant Islam persists, like the Crusaders, the Jews will ultimately be forced to depart the Holy land, despite their possession of nuclear weapons.

And the putrid Muslim political regimes will persist another half century, if the moderates have their way. Their meaningless ritual prayers and hollow haj to Mecca to kiss the black stone does not relieve the pressure of boots on the necks of the masses. So let the militants arise and challenge injustice everywhere, from the bastions of colonialism in Europe and America, to the rotten, corrupt Muslim nations in Africa and Asia.

Paris burned because the moderates have done nothing. London bridges were bombed and the twin towers fell because the moderates said nothing, heard nothing and did nothing, leaving their people in poverty, disease and ignorance.

Let the militants have their day, perhaps they are misguided and suicidal, but at least they know persecution is worse than slaughter. After all the blood and bones, maybe we shall have inched forward to freedom, justice and equality. The entire Muslim world should celebrate the resistance of Hizbullah in Lebanon. They may lose the battle, but surely they have already won the war, for if nothing else, they have ingratiated themselves into the hearts and minds of the Muslim world, a world greatly in need of inspiration and human dignity