The son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad will be speaking at the Fairmont Hamilton next week.

Imam W. Deen Mohammed, who succeeded his father as leader, and led the organisation into the wider body of Islam will speak at a free public event at the Fairmont Hamilton at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, November 19 and a Jumuah Prayer Service at 1.15 p.m. that day.

The theme is: "Celebrating our Commonalities in Society and working to solve our differences."

Cromwell Shakir, spokesman for the Masjid Muhammed in Bermuda, said Malcolm X was in Imam Mohammed's home so much when he was growing up that they came to think of each other as a brothers.

"They were both advisers to each other. Imam Mohammed was the one who encouraged Malcolm X to go to Mecca," Mr. Shakir said.

In 1964, Malcolm X went on a holy pilgrimage or hajj, to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was after this hajj that Malcolm X returned to America and changed his name again to Malik El-Shabbaz.

Imam Mohammed was chosen to lead the Nation of Islam after his father died in 1975. He has since worked to bridge the gaps between different world religions.

"Imam Mohammed respected his father and was brought up in his teachings. As a youngster he was encouraged to read every book in his father's library. But the more Imam Mohammed read, he found he could not accept many of the things his father taught," Mr. Shakir said.

"It did not sit well with him that the devil was the white man, that the black man was God. Or that God was black because he was the first man," Mr. Shakir said.

He said that Imam Mohammed was excommunicated from the Nation of Islam. Current leader Louis Farrakhan assumed power in his wake.

"His father knew that if his son continued to teach, it would create a separation in the direction of the community. He could not allow his son to teach so he excommunicated him. Like at one time Malcolm X was excommunicated."

But Mr. Shakir said Imam Mohammed thought Malcolm X was "dynamic and intelligent and respected his quest for knowledge, whatever he was thinking, thought he would have to take it until he was satisfied. So he told him to see Mecca".

"Before his father (Elijah Mohammed) passed away, his father recognised that the Nation was never going to continue the way it was going. He also grew to understand that what he taught was not good enough. His teachings were to bring respect and dignity to African-Americans," he said.

He said that Imam Mohammed's father heard a speech he had given in Los Angeles and realised his son was "aware and capable of taking the Nation of Islam to the next level (of Orthodox Islam)".

Imam Mohammed will arrive on the Island on November 17 and depart on November 20.

Mr. Shakir also said that Malcolm X and Imam Mohammed had discussed many things and were "very equal".

"They were equally respectful of each other. Malcolm was a freedom fighter.

"W.D. Mohammed was a man who saw God for who He was, not just contributing to the black community. Black and white were created by God. He has been wrestling with that his whole life.

"And the world is now looking at him."