Years ago, after a decisive battle, the victors were left in a dilemma as to what should be done with the prisoners. Some argued that they should be asked for ransom. Others argued to kill them. However, the leader amongst them came up with a new solution: let the literate prisoners provide literacy to the illiterate victors as a ransom. This story occurred after the aftermath of Battle of Badr and the leader mentioned here is the Final Prophet of God, Muhammad ﷺ.
The first revealed verse and God’s first command to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was to read: “Read! In the name of your Lord….”
The Prophet ﷺ built the first Muslim society with knowledge circles in which God’s Sacred text was read and memorized. This legacy of learning endured for centuries, as eager Muslims risked their lives on perilous journeys to connect with world-renowned scholars, including the Greco-Roman. The Islamic civilization established some of the most elaborate and prolific libraries, with several still preserved to this day.
Today, this precedent is more important than ever. We are losing interest in books. A Gallup poll shows Americans read nineteen books a year in 1999 and thirteen books a year in 2021, the second year of the pandemic when people were still home. The number of books read by college graduates has also declined over the past twenty years. What is important to note is that we have easier access to books than ever before but are reading less!
Also how you read matters much more than how much you read. As David Mikics highlights in his book “Slow Reading in a Hurried Age”: The age of Digital Distraction throws up unprecedented challenges in the face of readers. We are primed to scan and skim, to get the gist of an opinion and move on; we are obsessed with speed. We want fast downloads, moment-to-moment news, the latest tweet”
The legacy build upon Reading Habit! Malcolm Little to Malcom X
What made Malcolm X so special ? He was able to transform himself from a criminal-minded individual to a politically and socially conscious leader through self-education while serving a 10-year prison sentence. He engaged in drug dealing, gambling, racketeering and robbery and by the age of 21 he was convicted of burglary and sent to 10 years of imprisonment.
When Malcolm X was in prison he quickly became frustrated at not being able to express what he wanted to in letters, particularly those to Elijah Muhammad. So he began frequenting the Norfolk Prison Colony library, where he started copying the entire dictionary out word for word, down to the punctuation marks.
Everyday he would copy one page of the dictionary and read it back aloud. This enriched his vocabulary and allowed him to understand the meanings of words he otherwise wouldn’t have known. Likening the dictionary to a miniature encyclopedia, he “learned of people and places and events from history” with each page, finding the first references to the philosophies and teachings he would later devour.” (Basic Writings, 15 Books Malcolm X Read in Prison – Radical Reads)
Through his readings, Malcolm learned about the atrocities committed against black slaves and the subsequent degradation of the black people after slavery.
Why did Malcolm X wear glasses? Because he literally wore his eyes out reading in prison.
“Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.” In the book, he describes reading by the glow of a corridor light at night, feigning sleep every hour when the guards made rounds. He read anything and everything on African history he could find, as well as Oriental philosophy and Asian history, particularly in regards to the rise and fall of white power.” (Basic Writings, 15 Books Malcolm X Read in Prison – Radical Reads)
“I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long-dormant craving to be mentally alive…My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America.” And when later asked by an English writer, “What’s your alma mater?” he simply replied, “Books.”” (Basic Writings, 15 Books Malcolm X Read in Prison – Radical Reads)
💬Quote of the Week
A room without books is like a body without a soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
🧭Weekly Compass
📚 The first Command Book Club by Zaytuna College has carefully selected books that, God willing, will stimulate the mind and soften the heart, bringing us closer to realizing the universal truths established by our Creator.
The levels of Reading: How to Read a Book: The Ultimate Guide by Mortimer Adler
🧠Food for Thought
📖Read & Rise
📚 Book Summary: Triple Your Reading, Memory and Concentration in 30 minutes
📃Article: What Reading Does To Your Brain
🎨 Infographics: How to read faster
📺 Youtube Video: I tried Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Mindblowing Results!
💉Weekly dose of Inspiration
The Autobiography of Malcolm X : In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement.
🛠️ Tools for Thought
Matter: is a powerful read-it-later app. One of the best in business. The internet is full of things you want to read – articles, newsletters, Twitter threads, PDFs etc. Matter pulls everything you want to read into one beautiful place.