In Louisville, Ali seen as face of 'real Islam'

Yahoo – AFP, Sébastien Blanc, 5 June 2016

Moroccan King Hassan II (R) decorating Muhammad Ali during a ceremony

 in the Royal Palace in Rabat on January 15, 1998 (AFP Photo/Abdelhak Senna)

Louisville (AFP) - At a time when Muslims in America are facing scorn and bigotry, the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali should be remembered as the true, peaceful face of Islam, residents of his hometown say.

On Sunday, two days after the three-time heavyweight champion known simply as "The Greatest" died at age 74, hundreds of people filed past his childhood home in Louisville, now a museum dedicated to his remarkable life.

Mourners leaving flowers and other mementos remembered his sporting prowess and his activism, but also spoke of Ali and his Muslim faith -- he converted in the mid-1960s -- and how his example can help dispel stereotypes about Islam.

"As a Muslim, I think it's definitely important for us that we have such a person in the respected world that's known to everybody, that gives us a good image," said Hamza Shah, a doctor in Louisville, where Ali grew up and first started boxing.

"With the stuff going on these days, most of the time, you see in the media there's a bad image of Muslims," Shah said.

"The one person we can definitely get a good image of was Muhammad Ali, and he portrayed what the real Islam is."

Since early 2015, attacks by Muslim extremists in Paris, San Bernardino, California, Brussels and elsewhere have fueled animosity among some Americans toward the Islamic world.

Visitors line up to visit and pay respects the Muhammad Ali Childhood Home 

Museum on June 4, 2016 in Louisville, KY (AFP Photo/Michael B. Thomas)

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, now the party's presumptive nominee, has seemingly co-opted that hostility for political gain, on Sunday even suggesting a Muslim judge could be biased against him in US courts.

Trump sparked outrage at home and abroad in December when he suggested a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

"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'

When he learned that Ali, who abandoned his given name Cassius Clay when he converted to Islam in 1964, had died, Syed Hussein Shaheed -- a Chicago imam -- said he dropped everything to head to Louisville.

Shaheed was traveling with several other men, all dressed in white and wearing caps.

"He was famous for multiple reasons, but the biggest was that he became Muslim," Shaheed said as he and his group contemplated an art installation at the Muhammad Ali Center, another place in Louisville where fans have gathered.

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 said.

"He didn't want to kill anybody, he couldn't do it and he did not want to support people who were killing people in a wrongful way," the imam said in reference to Ali's refusal to serve in the US armed forced in Vietnam.

That decision cost Ali his heavyweight title, years of his career and nearly landed him in prison.

Key dates in the life of heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali (AFP Photo/

Jonathan Storey)

"He stood up as a man of truth, and Muslim countries look to people who not only are truthful but also compassionate and merciful."

'Devout Muslim'

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, Ali sharply cautioned Americans against categorizing all Muslims as extremist killers.

"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 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.

He shook up the world, and the world's better for it. Rest in peace, Champ. pic.twitter.com/z1yM3sSLH3

— President Obama (@POTUS) June 4, 2016

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."