Faizel Patel, 2016-06-04
Former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has passed away.
The 74-year-old who was known as Cassius Marcellus Clay before he reverted to Islam in 1964 and became a Muslim, passed away last night in hospital in Phoenix, Arizona after a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Ali was admitted to hospital this week with respiratory problems.
Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky in January 1942. He was outspoken about religious freedom and racial injustice against young African Americans.
He began boxing as an amateur, and at the age of 22 promising boxing fans he’d “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” against Sonny Liston who he beat in seven rounds to win the world heavyweight championship in 1964 in a shocking upset.
Nicknamed “The Greatest,” Ali retired from boxing in 1981 with a record of 56 wins, 37 by knockout and five by losses.
In 1967, Ali refused to be conscripted into the US military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
In recent weeks Ali spoke out against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”
Ali will also be fondly remembered for visiting the Nurul Islam Masjid in Lenasia in 1993.
He is survived by his wife, the former Lonnie Williams, who knew him when she was a child along with hi nine children.
One of Ali’s famous quotes was: “This life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not bring me satisfaction. God gave me this illness to remind me that I’m not number one, He is.”
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