In Memories. Muhammad Ali : Rumble in heaven as you did on Earth

 

He is the most famous Muslim American ever, and indeed, a black man whose commitment to anti-racism led him to Islam.

Muhammad Ali knew he was the greatest before he hoisted his first championship belt. The heavyweight icon from Louisville, Kentucky, born Cassius Clay, rose to prominence at a transformative impasse of American history.
And in the early morning of June 4, 2016, passed away at an impasse just as critical.
Ali's 74 years of life is far more than a narrative about boxing's greatest champion. But an unparalleled American life that reveals the nation's turbulence and tides, domestic struggles and foreign strife.
While raising his fists in the ring against his sport's most formidable adversaries, Ali never relented to raise his voice against racial segregation and anti-blackness, war and fear of Islam outside of it. That was at a time when all four were at a boiling point in the United States.
The only three-time lineal heavyweight champion in boxing's history, Ali's 56 wins and five losses tally is only outshined by his record outside of the ring. 

Eyes on the prize

Ali was a dissident well before he embraced Islam. After winning the gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games, the 18-year-old Clay tossed the medal into the river.
Fiercely critiqued for this act, Clay did so in response to being denied service at a "whites only" restaurant.
Before his first pro bout, Ali took on long-reigning heavyweight "Jim Crow" and the racial segregation that denied a gold medallist - who represented the US at the Olympic Games - dignity at home.
This foreshadowed a defiant and courageous commitment to racial justice that expanded as his professional career advanced.
Unlike the athletes that came before him and the sportsmen of today, Ali leveraged his athletic profile to amplify his political voice.
Instead of seeking endorsements, Ali capitalised on his "brand" to condemn institutionalised anti-blackness in the US, white supremacy, and manifest destiny at home and abroad. 

Ali offered a model of religious pride for Muslims at a time of heightening Islamophobia, and especially for non-black Muslims, a perpetual reminder that Islamic piety cannot be reconciled with racism.

After knocking out the indomitable Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964, and claiming the heavyweight crown at the tender age of 22, Ali again did what at the time was deemed the unthinkable.
With the world's eyes on the young champion, Ali joined the Nation of Islam at an impasse when the faith, and its two leaders - the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X - were absolutely reviled.
But, the newly named Muhammad Ali was not interested in being a conformist champion. He dodged comparisons with Joe Louis and contemporary Floyd Patterson, and reigned over the heavyweight division and the American imagination with a defiant and revolutionary blackness that helped redefine sport and society.

Fear of a black radical

Ali was a poet. He famously recited verses before his bouts, oftentimes predicting the very round he would dispatch his opponent.
For boxing fanatics - like me - Ali was even more poetic as a pugilist. A heavyweight with the agility of a lightweight, the feet of a ballet dancer, and the reflexes of a cat, Ali redefined what it meant to be a heavyweight. He also redefined what it meant to be a heavyweight champion. 


Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in December sparked outrage when he suggested a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

Muhammad Ali kisses the Holy Black Stone during his pilgrimage to Mecca

"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda," Ali said in a sharp rebuke to the Trump proposal.
"I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."

'Man of truth'

"He stood up as a man of truth, and Muslim countries look to people who not only are truthful but also compassionate and merciful," Chicago-based imam Syed Hussein Shaheed said.
Ali was respected throughout the Muslim world - from Pakistan to Indonesia, from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia and across Africa - for the values he espoused and promoted, the imam added.
That message of tolerance and compassion was celebrated Sunday at an interfaith prayer service in Ali's honour at the Islamic Center in Louisville.
"At a time when a candidate for the most powerful position in the world encourages us to fear those who are different from us, we need the voice, we need the presence of Muhammad Ali," said Derek Penwell, who leads a Christian church in the city.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, Ali sharply cautioned Americans against categorising all Muslims as "extremists".


"Islam is a religion of peace. It does not promote terrorism or killing people," he said.
"I am angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims, permitting the murder of thousands."
He repeated the message in his December response to Trump, saying: "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion."
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who is fighting Hillary Clinton for the right to face Trump in November, said on Saturday that Ali was not only an elite athlete but a champion of civil rights, and a true believer in Islam.
"To all of Donald Trump's supporters who think it is appropriate to tell us that they love Muhammad Ali but they hate Muslims, understand that Muhammad Ali was a devout Muslim who took his religion very seriously," Sanders said.
Ali's funeral will be held on Friday in Louisville, and will be preceded by a public procession.
The interfaith service will be led by Imam Zaid Shakir, a close friend of Ali and co-founder of Zaytuna College, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the US, who will lead the Muslim funeral prayer.
Former President Bill Clinton, TV journalist Bryant Gumbel and actor Billy Crystal will be among those giving a eulogy for Ali at the service.

Muhammad Ali prays at a press conference before his fight against Ken Norton