In the first of the "Portrait" event series, which deals with the lives of personalities who have left their mark in our recent history, Rector Recep Şentürk told the life story of Malcolm X. “Why does Malcolm X matter?” In the interview he started with the question, "Malcolm X is one of the most important human rights defenders of our age" and stated, "He is a person who set an example not only for Muslims and Americans but also for the whole world."
Prof. Şentürk stated that today's Muslims make the mistake of thinking only about their own country or just Muslims, whereas Islam is a religion that appeals to the universal, and explained the reason for the low growth of personalities like Malcolm X with the following words: “In our time, universal leaders like Malcolm X are rarely catching up. This is because of imitation. We need to get rid of this imitation before we can say anything new. That's what Malcolm X has accomplished.” Expressing that the most important lesson we will learn from Malcolm X is the transformative power of Islam, Şentürk continued: “If you become a true Muslim, you will find this power within you. Malcolm X explained how black Muslims could be freed from slavery with this power.”
Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk talked about the great transformation Malcolm X went through during the Hajj with these words: “Malcolm X sees that the Islamic life he saw during the Hajj is not the same as the Islam he learned in America. He realizes that whites and blacks worship in the same row and sit at the same table. As a result, he writes a letter from Mecca to New York. In this letter, he states that the solution to the problem of racism is 'in Islam'. Rector Şentürk explained that the Islamic Civilization is a human civilization with examples from the life of Malcolm X.
