Oct 2, 2015

MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA — As Shahidah Sharif, an African-American Muslim, joined millions of fellow pilgrims from around the world on the hajj this year, she felt a renewed connection. To her own “blackness,” she says, but also to humanity as a whole.

“When the human family becomes more important than just myself and my needs, nothing can get in the way of building relationships,” she told The Associated Press in Mecca. “It doesn’t matter if we have different faiths, different races, different nationalities, I can find something in common with you.”

For American black Muslims, this year brought a significant landmark, the 50th anniversary of Malcolm X’s death. A year before his assassination, Malcolm X underwent a transformative experience on the hajj, seeing the potential for racial co-existence after witnessing, as he wrote, pilgrims “of all colors displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe could never exist between a white and a non-white.”

This year’s hajj, which ended Saturday, came at a time when the debate over race in the United States is at its most heated in decades, with the Black Lives Matters movement arising after the deaths of a number of black men at the hands of police were captured on camera and seen widely by the public.

: American Muslim women walk outside the grand mosque on their way to circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Jamila Rashid, 40, from Atlanta, Ga., circles the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Praying surrounded by people from all over the world, Rashid said she felt ìhow beautiful the human family is and that youíre all essentially human beings.î (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Zainab Nasir, 59, from Oakland, Calif., poses for a picture outside the Grand mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Nasir has six sons and a daughter. One of her older sons, Yusuf, is with her on the hajj. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Shahidah Sharif circles the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. As Sharif, an African-American Muslim, joined millions of fellow pilgrims from around the world on the hajj this year, she felt a renewed connection. To her own ìblackness,î she says, but also to humanity as a whole. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslims Zainab Nasir, left, Shahidah Sharif, Jamila Rashid, second left, and an unidentified friend walk outside the grand mosque on their way to circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. For American black Muslims, this year brought a significant landmark, the 50th anniversary of Malcolm Xís death. A year before his assassination, Malcolm X underwent a transformative experience on hajj, seeing the potential for racial co-existence after witnessing, as he wrote, pilgrims ìof all colors displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood.î (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Yaqutullah Ibraheem Muhammad, right, Shahidah Sharif, center, and an unidentified woman pray together during Sunday prayers at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Jamilah Jihad, who will makie her Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, poses for a portrait at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque , Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Imam Suleimaan Hamed, left, speaks to members of the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Rashad Abdul-Rahman holds a book at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Semeera Hassen prays during Sunday prayers at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Zainab Nasir, 59, from Oakland, Calif. walks outside the grand mosque on her way to circle the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Jamila Rashid, 40, circles the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Muslim men pray together during Sunday prayers at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Shahidah Sharif, who will be making her Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, poses for a portrait at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque , Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Jamilah Jihad, who will be making her Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, adjusts her scarf at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque , Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Imam Suleimaan Hamed, who will be leading a group on a Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, poses for a portrait at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Jamilah Jihad, who will make her hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, poses for a portrait at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque , Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: Shahidah Sharif poses for a picture outside the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The 38-year-old Sharif and her husband, Suleimaan Hamed, run Hajj Pros, a company based in Atlanta, Georgia, organizing hajj trips, and this year they came with a group of more than 30 African-Americans. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Ahmad Ali, who will making his first hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, poses for a portrait at the Atlanta Masjid of Al Islam mosque, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015, in Atlanta. Members of the mosque gathered to celebrate a group of pilgrims who will make the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

: American Muslim pilgrim Deborah Davis, 63, poses for a picture outside her tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Shahidah Sharif, 44, co-owner of Hajj Pros and communication director at Atlanta Masjid, poses for a picture outside her tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Abdul Rasheed, 54, poses for a picture outside his tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Guy Wallace, 64, poses for a picture outside the Grand mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Khalifa Abdul-Wali, 54, poses for a picture outside his tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Hassan Clark, 44, poses for a picture outside his tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Muslim pilgrim Zainab Nasir, 59, poses for a picture outside her tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Jamila Rashid, who a founding director of My World, a non-profit that teaches teens leadership skills and cross-culture citizenship in Atlanta, Ga. poses for a picture outside her tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Having just turned 40, she says the pilgrimage helps build her ìspiritual musclesî for whatever comes next in her life, so ìI’m really able to perform my purpose, understanding that God does not give you more than you can bear.î (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: American Habeebah Muhammad Abdul-Wali poses for a picture outside her tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. On her first hajj, she sought to ìpurgeî herself of negative feelings, to become more patient, to become a kinder person, ìbecause I’m getting over the hill, now it’s my time. I want to try to be good, stop making frowns. Trying to get that frown off your face.î (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

: Suleimaan Hamed, 35, CEO of Hajj Pros and Imam of Atlanta Masjid, poses for a picture outside his tent in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. ìPack your patience, and wear it,î Hamed always tells the Americans he guides on hajj. Patience is key to dealing with the hajj crowds. Another piece of advice: ìTake off your American glasses.î (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

The hajj journey of black Americans 50 years after Malcolm X

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