Alwaght- The world is mourning the death of legendary boxer Mohammad Ali who is remembered as a champion of peace especially when he refused to be drafted into the United States army which had invaded Vietnam.
The three-time heavyweight boxing champion passed away at the age of 74 late on Friday at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona.
Ali had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.
Ali defied the military draft at the height of the Vietnam War and lost three and a half years from the prime of his career.
The death of Muhammad Ali, set off a torrent of tributes from sporting stars, civil rights campaigners and ordinary fans eflecting how the Muslim champion transcended barriers of race and expectation.
He died with four of his daughters gathered at his hospital bedside in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was being treated for breathing difficulties.
His daughter Hana Ali encapsulated what many saw as his unique combination of strength and tenderness, describing her father as a "humble mountain”.
"And now he has gone home to God. God bless you daddy. YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!" she tweeted.
“I think millions of boxing lovers around the world would feel empty losing a legend like him. There will be a very long time until there will be another legend such as Muhammad Ali, a legend that embraced peace,” said Vietnamese boxing coach Nguyen Van Hieu.
"Everybody knew that the Vietnam war was a nonsense war. I read his bio and have much respect for him knowing he decided to give up his title and face jail time refusing to take part in that war."
A spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ali was “far more than a legendary boxer; he was a world champion for equality and peace. With an incomparable combination of principle, charm, wit and grace, he fought for a better world and used his platform to help lift up humanity.”
In a statement, the head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation said the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former South African president regarded Ali as his boxing hero.
“Nelson Mandela, a boxing enthusiast most of his life, acknowledged Ali as his boxing hero. Madiba had great respect for his legacy and spoke with admiration of Ali’s achievements,” said Sello Hatang, the foundation's CEO.
He first came to prominence winning a gold medal at the age of 18 at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the heavyweight division as Cassius Clay.
He became world champion four years later, winning the title from Sonny Liston.
Soon after that he converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, rejecting what he described as his slave name.
At the height of his powers he refused to serve in the US Army – then embroiled in the Vietnam War – as a conscientious objector.
"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong - no Viet Cong ever called me nigger," he said at the time.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today offered condolences to the family and loved ones of Muhammad Ali and called him “a champion for peace and justice.”
CAIR added that, “The three-time world heavyweight boxing champion became perhaps the most well-known person in the world due to his athletic skills and his social, political and religious views against racism and war”.
The Muslims community in America will especially miss Ali as he was more than a sports figure or a celebrity to our community. He was a source of pride to so many Muslim Americans for so many different reasons.
Ali’s spiritual journey to Islam began in 1964 when, with the mentorship of his then close friend Malcolm X, he joined the Nation of Islam. At the time NOI was more focused on being a black nationalistic movement and less about following the tenets of mainstream Islam.
But by 1975, Ali left NOI and became a part of Sunni Islam. In 1989, Ali went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, fulfilling an important pillar of Islam. And in 2005, as his daughter explained, Ali embraced Sufi Islam.
Indonesian-born and now New York City-based Imam Shamsi Ali shared a sentiment felt by many: that Ali was “our hero and our pride. Not only a boxing champion, but also a hero of social justice and human equality.”
Congressman Andre Carson (D-Ind.), who like Ali converted to Islam as an adult, commented that “Muhammad Ali served as an example of service and self-sacrifice for generations of Muslim Americans.”
To many African-American Muslims, Ali offered a connection in terms of both faith and race. Kameelah Rashad, the Muslim chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania remarked, “As descendants of enslaved Africans, great individuals like Muhammad Ali remind us of the enduring resilience, faith and joy of our ancestors.” Rashad noted poignantly, “Ali remains for me a symbol of what it means to be unapologetically Black and Muslim in America.”
In the wake of the deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by two ISIS-affiliated terrorists, presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.
In a public statement titled, “Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States,” the boxing legend reiterated his decades-long stance that Islam was a religion of peace, and that people, in this case Trump, should not be exploiting it for political points.
“We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda,” Ali said. “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.”
The sports and cultural icon further spoke out about how terrorists like those in Paris and San Bernardino have “perverted” the public’s views of Islam.
“Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, 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,” he said.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world.
