They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Ali has been married four times and has seven daughters and two sons. He still tries to convert people to Islam, but its not the same. Muhammad Ali's birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. According to Islamic belief, Muhammad was the only person to see Heaven and Hell while still alive. Muhammad Alis public conversion to Islam, in 1964, was among the most defining moments of his remarkable life. Then, Muhammad Ali was named Cassius Marcellus Clay, and until her divorce, Sonji was addressed as Sonji Clay. Khaliah Ali (daughter with Aaisha Fletcher) Date of birth: 1974 The next year, his friend Sam Saxon introduced him to Malcolm X. Ali and Malcolm X became good friends and Malcolm was ringside when Ali defeated Sonny Liston in 1964 to become the world heavyweight champion. [13], In interviews for his 1991 biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, and his 1998 biography King of the World, Ali clarified that he no longer believed in the existence of the space platform or in Yakub anymore. [19], In his 2004 autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly, Ali revealed that he had developed an interest in Sufism. Apr 29. The Relationship of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, The Story Behind the Famous Ali-Liston Photo, 10 Things You Might Not Know About Jimmy Butler, Relationship With Malcolm X and Conversion to Islam, Vietnam War Protest and Supreme Court Case, Wives, Children, and Family Boxing Legacy, https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. And [one] thing in the paper [made] me keep the paper, and that was a cartoon. As memories are shared of Ali, the world can examine the relevance of Islam in the Black struggle. It did something to me. The platform contains bombs which would be dropped at Armageddon which would begin after a threshold in the earth's collective guilt had been breached. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has criticised US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering America. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. And it made sense.. By 2005, Ali had embraced Sufism, a strand of Islam that emphasizes a personal connection with . On November 14, 1966, Ali fought Cleveland Williams. His mother is a Muslim and his father is of Caucasian ethnicity. Ali married his fourth and final wife Yolanda, who went by Lonnie, in 1986. Resting Place: Cave Hill Cemetery. Ali said at the time (via Vice): Well I figured they would pressure me if I revealed it so I kept it quiet for about three years. In addition, he was known for his social message of black pride and black resistance to white domination and for refusinginductioninto theU.S. Armyduring theVietnam War. Ali traveled to numerous countries, including Mexico and Morocco, to help out those in need. When his beloved bicycle was stolen, a tearful 12-year-old Clay reported the theft to Louisville police officer Joe Martin (1916-1996) and vowed to pummel the culprit. I could never support hurting innocent men, women and children. My parents converted to Islam like Ali, and started their spiritual journey in the religion with the Nation of Islam. He wrote about it with pragmatism. Unable to compete professionally in the meantime, Ali missed more than three prime years of his athletic career. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}10 Things You Might Not Know About Jimmy Butler, Celebrities & Notables Running the Boston Marathon, 7 Facts About Gymnast and TikTok Star Olivia Dunne, Nat Sweetwater Cliftons First NBA Season, 8 Negro League Legends Featured in a New MLB Game, Get to Know NCAA Tournament Star Caitlin Clark, 10 Things You Might Not Know About Shohei Ohtani. Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting figures of the 20th century. Liston was widely regarded as the most intimidating, powerful fighter of his era. The U.S. Justice Department pursued a legal case against Ali and denied his claim for conscientious objector status. Citing his religious beliefs, he refused to serve. He embraced Sufi Islam and followed the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. When Liston failed to answer the bell at the start of the seventh round, Clay was indeed crowned heavyweight champion of the world. In his first title defense in May 1965 Ali defeated Sonny Liston with a first-round knockout. Then he retired from boxing, but two years later he made an ill-advised comeback and suffered a horrible beating at the hands of Larry Holmes in a bout that was stopped after 11 rounds. Nico Ali Walsh Wiki :- As per the sources, Nico Walsh belongs to a mixed ethnical background. Ali married his first wife, Sonji Roi, in 1964. The victory gave the 32-year-old Ali a title shot against 25-year-old champion George Foreman (1949-). His family was one of Makkah's most prominent families and belonged to the Quraysh tribe's Banu Hashim clan. The legs that had allowed him to dance for 15 rounds without stopping no longer carried him as surely around the ring. I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. Ali is buried at the Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville. Ali's biographer Remnick noted that it was unusual for Elijah to have given a "completed" Islamic name to Ali; most members of the Nation used X as their last name. He was the father of three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and Rahman Ali, and the paternal grandfather of Laila Ali. In 1990, he met with Saddam Hussein to help broker the release of Americans held captive after the invasion of Kuwait. The pretty woman walked into the Ringside Cafe in Louisville, Ky., and approached the three-time heavyweight boxing champion, who led her to a quiet corner. Mohammed: A Witness for True Islam", "Muhammad Ali: Five things you never knew about the boxing legend", "Muhammad Ali: America's First Muslim Hero", "Family, faith and magic tricks: My 40-year my mum called me bombaclart Ali", "Muhammad Ali: Why the boxing legend converted to Islam and refused to serve in the Vietnam War", "Muhammad Ali's Conversion to Islam Changed the World", "Muhammad Ali: Unapologetically Black, Unapologetically Muslim", "Timothy Gianotti The Imam whose on Muhammad Ali's last days and funeral", "Prof. Gianotti plans Muhammad Ali's funeral and memorial service", The Rumble in the Jungle (Foreman vs. Ali), The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay, I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali, Ferdie Pacheco (personal physician, cornerman), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religious_views_of_Muhammad_Ali&oldid=1142153372, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from June 2020, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from June 2020, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 20:18. Elijah Muhammad speaks during Saviour's Day celebrations, while Muhammad Ali listens (center, fore), at the International Ampitheatre, Chicago, IL, on Feb. 27, 1966. "After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. After his bike was stolen, Clay told police officer Joe Martin that he wanted to beat up the thief. "Ali did more to normalize Islam in this country than perhaps any other Muslim in the history of the United States," Sherman Jackson, the Muslim scholar . His record-setting boxing career, unprecedented flair for showmanship and stands on civil rights made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century. In his later years, Ali embraced Universal Sufism also known as Sufi Order Inyati. Two days later Clay shocked the boxing establishment again by announcing that he had accepted the teachings of the Nation of Islam. Khan was an Indian-born musician and Sufi master who lived from 1882 to 1927, according to the International Sufi Movement. Over the next 30 months, at the peak of his popularity as champion, Ali fought nine times in bouts that showed him to be a courageous fighter but a fighter on the decline. Born Cassius Clay Jr., Ali changed his name in 1964 after joining the Nation of Islam. In 1978 he lost his title to Leon Spinks, a novice boxer with an Olympic gold medal but only seven professional fights to his credit. When he told his parentsRasheda Ali, his mother and Ali's daughter, and Bob Walsh, his dadthat he wanted to put on the gloves and step into the ring, he got plenty of pushback. Although he remained free on bail, four years passed before his conviction was unanimously overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on a narrow procedural ground. Explain, she instructed him, why you embraced Islam in the first place. But he never became embittered enough to quit or to engage in violence., Clinton spoke about how Ali found self-empowerment: I think he decided, before he could possibly have worked it all out, and before fate and time could work their will on him, he decided he would not ever be disempowered. Ali was arrested, and the New York State Athletic Commission immediately suspended his boxing license and revoked his heavyweight belt. Even after Ali converted to Islam, he still held onto his belief in God, just by another name, like his mother taught him. Ali grew up at 3302 Grand Avenue in Louisville's West End and was introduced to boxing at a young age by a city policeman after the boy's bicycle was stolen. Muhammad Jr. has a wife named Shaakira and they are both parents to Amerra and Shakira. The three-time heavyweight boxing champion, who passed away on June 3 at age 74, spent 15 years as a Black Muslim (as the Nations members were often called) before converting to Sunni Islam. I cannot be beaten! Few people have heard about the profound ways Ali's faith has evolved over the years. As Ali went public with his NOI affiliation, Malcolm split off from the group after Elijah Muhammad forbade the Civil Rights leader from speaking publicly. The Nations founder, Elijah Muhammad, gave him the name Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali later said, "My mother is a Baptist, and when I was growing up, she taught me all she knew about God. Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. Ali married his second wife, 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, in 1967. Boyd and Ali divorced in 1976. [20] Around 2005, Ali adopted Sufi Islam, and announced that out of all Islamic spiritual schools of thought, he felt most strongly inclined towards Sufism.[21][22][23][24][25][26]. He had nine children, most of whom avoided the spotlight of which Ali was so fond. Clay infuriated devotees of the sport as much as he impressed them. They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didnt put no dogs on me, they didnt rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. [27][28] According to Ali's biographer and friend Davis Miller: Sufis believe that to purposely harm any person is to harm all of humanity, to harm each of us and to damage the world. Everyone thinks of Ali as the best athlete ever, activist, great person. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [15] In an interview for his 1991 biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali commented: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, [Wallace] learnt from his studies that his father wasn't teaching true Islam, and Wallace taught us the true meaning of the Quran. On October 30, 1974, Ali challenged George Foreman, who had dethroned Frazier in 1973 to become heavyweight champion of the world. And that sounded right to me so I followed Wallace, but not everyone in the Nation felt that way. Muhammad Alis mother was his greatest supporter despite their separate spiritual paths. Elijah Muhammad typically gave "completed" Islamic holy names only to longstanding members of the Nation, who had been with the organization for decades, as a mark of honor. After graduating high school, he traveled to Rome and won the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics. Other recipients of the award have included include Ella Fitzgerald, Venus and Serena Williams, Kerry Washington, Spike Lee, John Legend, Rihanna, and LeBron James. Muhammad Ali received guidance from Sunni-Sufi Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Almarhum Asy-Syaikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, and Dr. Timothy J. Gianotti, who was at Ali's bedside during his last days and ensured that his funeral was in accordance with Islamic rites and rituals.[29][30]. His life story is told in the documentary film I Am Ali (2014), which includes audio recordings that he made throughout his career and interviews with his intimates. Clay was a decided underdog. Muhammad Ali converted to Islam in the early 1960s. Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Clay went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class. Malcolm X even assigned an associate to help manage Clays day-to-day affairs. Allah has opened the door for him in paradise, she tells TIME. Ring Magazine named Ali Fighter of the Year five times, more than any other boxer, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He represents the time of our struggle in the dark and a time of confusion in us, and we dont want to be associated with that at all.. An Olympic gold medalist and the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times, Ali won 56 times in his 21-year professional career. One of Alis greatest regrets and he said as much is that he never patched things up with Malcolm, that he never told Malcolm how important he was to him. Like Malcolm X before him, Ali left the Nation and embraced the more mainstream Sunni Islam in 1975 following the death of Elijah Muhammad. The next year, his conviction was vacated by the Supreme Court. By age 18 Clay had captured two national Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union national titles and 100 victories against eight losses. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. Son of Odessa Clay Older brother of Muhammad Ali. Banned from boxing for three years, Ali spoke out against the Vietnam War on college campuses. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [b] Ali claimed he had seen the platform on several occasions. They are Rasheda, Jamillah, Maryum, Miya, Khaliah, Hana, and Laila. It was in this fight that Ali employed a strategy once used by former boxing great Archie Moore. In 1964, Malcolm X brought his family to visit Clay while he trained in Florida for his February 25 title fight against Sonny Liston.
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