Boxing legend Muhammad Ali passed away on Saturday, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
He’ll be missed as a great sportsman, a compelling character and a powerful political activist. And for Muslims around the world, the loss is especially significant.
Unapologetically Black
— Aisha S Gani (@aishagani) 4 June 2016
Unapologetically Muslim
Unapologetically the greatest pic.twitter.com/7sbVda7kRW
After converting to Islam in the 1960s Ali became a strong voice against injustice and oppression, and his faith played a huge part in that struggle.
He insisted on being called by the name he chose
Muhammad Ali was Cassius Clay before he took on the name he became known by. He changed his title after joining Nation of Islam, a religious movement associated with the African American political struggle, in which Malcolm X was a key figure.
Many Muslim converts choose to change their birth name to an Islamic name, and Clay publically became Muhammad Ali after he won the World Heavyweight title in 1964. After that, he was insistent that he be called by his chosen title: when sports writers and opponents in the ring continued to call him Cassius, he strongly objected.
During this iconic fight with Ernie Terrell, Ali can be seen taunting his opponent, shouting “say my name” between punches – Terrell, the defending champion, had refused to call him by it before the fight.
And he was vocal about why he was Muhammad Ali, not Cassius Clay
Switching to an Islamic name has religious significance but for Ali there was a deeper meaning too.
His birth name was given him by a history of slavery and oppression – the white name of the slaveholders that owned his father. Becoming Muhammad Ali was about resisting those historical shackles. “Clay was a white man’s name, it was a slave’s name, and I’m no longer a slave,” he said.
He nearly sacrificed his career for his principles
Ali’s career began to peak just as the USA was going to war in Vietnam – a brutal war that’s estimated to have claimed more than one million lives. Like many young men, Ali was called to fight, but instead of taking the draft he refused, becoming one of the country’s most visible and respected conscientious objectors.
His objection to the war was based on solidarity with the people of Vietnam, and the fact that the persecution and oppression of black people in America continued to be a much larger problem in his life. “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong,” he said. “No Viet Cong ever called me n****r”. As a result of his stand he was stripped of his titles, fined $10,000 and confronted with controversy and hatred from many sectors of US society.
His answer to the question of what he’d do after boxing
When a British schoolboy asked Ali what he’d do when he retired, he probably wasn’t expecting a ten-minute speech on the soul, spirituality and what comes after death. But Ali wasn’t one to shy away from difficult subjects, and his response confirmed his status as a preacher as well as a sporting great.
سئل #محمد_علي_كلاي عن ماذا سيفعل بعد إعتزاله فكان الرد غير متوقع .https://t.co/WSjsr7eRNb
— أبو مرزوق (@Abo_Mrzoq) 4 June 2016
“We need somebody in the world to help make peace,” he said. “This is not the life now… your real self is inside you, your body gets old… your body is just housing you self and spirit”
His thoughts on whether he was in danger of being assassinated
Ali was well known for his fighting talk – attacks on his opponents that, for some, seemed to cross a line into offensive or threatening behaviour. But as his career continued Ali became an articulate and thoughtful interviewee, who wasn’t afraid to explore deep subjects in public.
In this talk with British interviewer Parkinson, he spoke eloquently about religion and the way it influenced his sense of fate and vulnerability.
To see how low the bar in US politics is, contrast the rhetoric of Trump with a certain Muslim American athlete: https://t.co/22i6okP57H
— Sayed M. Modarresi (@SayedModarresi) 4 June 2016
“Not one soul leaves without the permission of our lord God, and not one soul leaves," he said. "I have one bodyguard. He has no eyes though he sees, he has no ears though he hears.”
One of his final statements took on Islamophobia
Donald Trump was one among many celebrities to recognise Ali’s life and death online. But the boxer probably wouldn’t be too happy at Trump’s opportunism. In fact, one of his last statements was speaking out against Trump’s Islamophobic policies and rhetoric.
Muhammad Ali is dead at 74! A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 June 2016
In a statement originally released to NBC last year – just a few days after Trump said he didn’t recall any great Muslim athletes and following the Paris attacks – Ali broke his usual silence on political issues to slam the Islamophobic comments.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world,” he said. “We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.”
