While he was exploring the city he met a man named Shorty, who was also from Lansing, in a pool hall. Shorty got Malcolm got his first job, as shoe shiner at a dance hall in Boston. The job, though, was more selling booze and reefer, and lining up girls for "johns", than shining shoes. That is where his life as a hustler began, and it went on for many years. He started off small; just having legitimate jobs and playing numbers, but then he got a job on a train which allowed him to live in Harlem a few nights a week. He decided to stay in Harlem for a while, so he quit his job on the train and lived there for a while. He began working at a bar, but soon he ditched all legitimate work for hustling (dealing drugs, working for pimps, bringing in johns, robbing houses). Eventually he became a drug addict and stopped caring about anything else. Throughout this phase he moved back and forth between Harlem and Boston. When he was in Boston things finally caught up with him and he was arrested with Shorty for robbery. He was convicted and sentenced to serve time in jail. .
It was in jail that his next major phase of life started; his religious phase. At first he told everyone he was Satan. His younger brother Reginald steered him towards Allah and the Islamic beliefs. He was really impressed with the religion and was introduced to Elijah Muhammad, who would be his mentor for many years. When he was released from prison he was very religious and wanted help the Islamic people and all black people in the United States. He stayed with this phase for many years until he was silenced by Elijah for breaking an Islamic rule. .
This is where the next phase of his life started. He remained a Muslim but had very different views than his mentor Muhammad. He felt that he was mislead by Muhammad and decided to start his own social institution called the "Muslim Mosque, Inc." He wanted to get a better understanding of other cultures involved in Islamic beliefs so he traveled to Mecca, and participated in the Hajj.