The Importance Of Muhammad Ali As A Global Islamic Icon

My article for Loonwatch

By Razaink

My heart is heavy with Muhammad Ali’s passing. I had planned to write an article on Muhammad Ali for a long time but just could not find the time or a good way to articulate it. As Dave Chappelle said Ali was “beyond royalty.”[4] So I hope and pray I can do him justice.

I will start by describing Ali as many already have, Ali was unapologetically Muslim and unapologetically Black, he was proud of both of his identities[5,6]. Ali is an inspirational figure to Muslims of all race’s across the globe. Ali especially has iconic status amongst many African Americans and in particular African American Muslims. People should accept the whole Ali if they want to truly appreciate who he was. There are numerous articles on Ali as a poet, activist, boxer and the great influence he had on many world leaders like Nelson Mandela and his resistance/critique of American imperialism. Articles that focus on these issues are important however my focus on Ali will be partly personal: what he meant to me as a young Muslim growing up in the West, Ali’s achievements, the global impact of Ali, and his life after boxing.

Professor Sherman Jackson’s remarks on Ali elaborated on how he reached people in the inner cities and the disenfranchised, “a whole generation of young, poor, inner-city youth, like myself, who saw him raise their core-values of loyalty, courage, ‘swag’ and a certain humility that could never be mistaken for timidity, to the level of a national emblem of black personhood.”[7]

Professor Jackson continues:

“But Ali had already made his mark in the deepest recesses of my sense of self.  I suspect that I speak for millions when I say that, Ali spoke to our pre-rational selves, where our identity, our pride, our hope, our courage, our fears, our basic sense of right and wrong and our sense of mission all reside… It is in this light that, even as a scholar of Islam, I remain profoundly aware and appreciative of the meaning, value and impact of Muhammad Ali; and I remain deeply touched and moved by his legacy.  Ali inspired us; and he filled us up.  He challenged us and showed us what it meant to fight and hit hard!  – inside and outside the ring – without bitterness, without malice and without apology.  Win or lose, his was the way of mellow perseverance.  Any doctrine and any ideology can travel on that wavelength.  Indeed, while Ali may be rarely quoted in the day-to-day religious affairs or ideological arguments of American Muslims, his very mention can straighten the back, still the hand and fire the resolve of any Muslim in any socio-political setting.”

Ali was known for popularizing beauty with Black identity at a time when the hegemonic discourse, much as it is today, promotes Eurocentric beauty standards as the norm. He was loud and unapologetic about his Black and Muslim identities.  It is ironic and a testament to the greatness of his legacy that even racists must celebrate Ali. Hopefully they take that as starting point to reflect and listen Ali’s advice, “I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”[90]

Some attempt to minimize Ali’s Black identity and others his Muslim identity. Ali, in his own words stated that his greatness was because of his Islamic faith.

“On my journey I found Islam.
If I were not a Muslim, I might not have taken all of the stands that I did.
If I were not a Muslim, I would not have changed my name or sought to
spread peace, and I would not have meant as much to people all around the
world.
If I were not a Muslim, I would not be the person that I am today, and the world would have never known Muhammad Ali.” [3,pg 57]

A prayer Ali would say after winning his court case against the draft, “Lord, millions of people are waiting for me to fail, but as long as You are with me, I can’t fail.” [8] In fact Ali was known for autographing pamphlets about Islam and handing them out[9], Ali in fact once remarked about wanting to proselytize for Islam.

Ali was undeniably and unapologetically proud of his Black identity.:

“I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get
used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours;
my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.” [10]

Boxing:

Boxing is a tough sport, it is tough on the body as many boxers struggled with damage done to their bodies or brain after many years being punched repeatedly. Most boxers in Ali’s time were lucky to make ends-meet. On average, a boxer would earn about $200-$300 as a monthly salary, and a fight could net as little as $100. Once you were a professional it still did not mean you would earn much more. After winning a professional boxing match, paying your team, medical expenses could reach somewhere between $5,000 -$20,000.  Take the case of Archie Moore, Ali’s former teacher whom he had to fight in Nov. 1962, something neither of the men wanted to do but had to so Moore could make a living[2,pg26].

Also consider Joe Luis, a great boxer who beat Schmeling in a rematch dealing a blow to Nazi propaganda about white superiority. Luis served in the army in WWII. Despite all he had done for America he was forced to fight much past his retirement due to tax problems with the IRS. The interest on Luis’s taxes kept accumulating so much that even his large earnings were only paying off the interest. Because Ali was such an entertainer he drew new levels of interest into the sport, changing income levels for boxers.

Early Life:

Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay. Ali grew up in the segregated south. For some perspective on the violent racism that was pervasive during that time, Emmett Till, a Black teen was lynched for looking/”whistling” at a white woman; his killers were let off by an all-white jury. Just a few minutes from Ali’s house in Louisville, Kentucky, a Black family, the Wades moved into an all-white neighborhood after a series of racist attacks on them in an attempt to convince them to move. When they didn’t move their house was blown up with dynamite forcing them to move.[91] Ali would often think about life, as he would describe it “I have always had a curious mind, I would think and wonder about things most kids my age would never pay attention to, I would look to the heaven and wonder about the creator of all things” and he would continue to wonder about man’s relationship with God.

A young Ali would wake up in the middle of the night looking towards the stars and waiting to hear revelation from an angel. Despite not receiving direct revelation Ali never lost his faith because of how strongly he felt it in his heart. Years later Ali would go on his journey to discover his life’s purpose. [3, pg 16] Ali remarks “that I have always been a spiritual person; God doesn’t speak to me in a voice. It’s more like a feeling, a sense of what I have to do.” [3, pg 61]

Around the age of 12 Ali’s bike was stolen, Ali decided to report it to the police, so someone directed him to Joe Martin. Ali stated half crying he wanted to beat up whoever stole it, so Martin told him “Well you, better learn how to fight. ” [3, pg 18]

This would begin Ali’s journey into boxing, eventually leading him to the Olympics where he would win a gold medal. Ali loved his gold medal, he took it everywhere, he was even told it was his “key to the city” by the mayor of Louisville. Ali thought that this would finally allow him to go where he could not go before, in particular, all the segregated places in downtown Louisville where Blacks were either not served or had to eat separately from whites. Ali tried to dine at a whites-only restaurant after being told that they don’t serve Blacks in much racist language, Ali made a sharp-witted reply “Well we don’t eat ’em.” When Ali and his friend Ronnie protested that he was the gold medalist, they still refused.

This experience showed Ali that even though he won his medal for America he still couldn’t eat in his hometown, and even if he could it would “only get me into the ‘Whites only’ place then what good was it ? And what about other Black people? ” The medal lost its value to Ali and so he decided to “lose it” in the Ohio river  [3, pg 39-41].

Relationship with Malcolm X:

While Ali was in High School he came across the Nation Of Islam, and their statements of Black pride, self-confidence, and discipline caught his attention to the point of writing a paper on them. Ali went to an NOI meeting after being invited by a man named Abdul Rahman, Ali did not join then but it left an impact on him[3,pg 62,85]. In 1962, Ali at an NOI event would hear Malcolm X speak and he would be completely captivated by him. Ali would recall that Malcolm X was funny and intelligent, before long they would become best friends and Malcolm a spiritual adviser/mentor to Ali.

Malcolm would help Ali focus on his strengths and help Ali to believe in himself. Before long the fight with Sonny Liston, who Ali challenged for the heavyweight title was coming up. So close was their friendship that Ali flew Malcolm along with his family to help him train for the fight. Malcolm would frame his upcoming fight with Sonny Liston as David vs. Goliath. Ali was a massive underdog and Malcolm was one of the few people who believed in him. When word got out that Malcolm X was with Ali the group sponsoring Ali said they would cancel the fight if he did not send Malcolm home, fire his Muslim cook, and stop contact with the NOI. Ali refused, remarking “I wouldn’t be who they wanted me to be. I was free to be who I wanted to be.” Later they would call back to say the fight was still on. Malcolm would advise Ali that this fight was about willpower and faith, not simply strength.[3,pg 75-77]

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