Muhammad Ali’s Significant Influence on Islam

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One of the best-known fighters in the world also went through some very tough times. He also stood for what he believed in and fought for his religious beliefs. This man is Muhammad Ali, who holds a very big title in the wrestling world as well as in the religion of Islam. His impact and dedication to Islam may have cost him a lot, but he always stood by it. Ali always stayed with his religion and never showed doubt in it, he spoke about Islam to make people aware that the assumptions they are making are wrong and he was risking his own life for preaching about Islam and equality rights.
Muhammad Ali’s life went from famous wrestler to broke criminal. The reason for this was because he switched to Islam and refused to obey the government’s requests due to his religion. Muhammad Ali’s life started January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky and was originally named Cassius Marcellus Clay. He started wrestling when he was 12 years old and became addicted to it. He would wake up early to run, stay after school until the gym closed at 8 and then would go to a boxing gym after that. (www.history1900s.about.com) Ali became a very successful and famous boxer. He won the Olympic gold medal in 1960 and then went on to win the heavyweight championship in 1964. After the championship though, he announced something the world wasn’t expecting; Muhammad Ali, previously known as Cassius Clay, declared that he had converted to Islam as well as changing his name to Muhammad Ali. His fans were not happy about this, but he stood by his religion. He was still fighting and continued to be successful, until the day he received a draft notice. The government was calling up Muhammad Ali to fight in the Vietnamese war, but he had to refuse because it was ...

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... promoting equality between different races. He always stayed dutiful to Allah and his religion was his main focus whereas fighting was his second. Muhammad Ali had great significance to Islam faith because he not only showed others that it wasn’t bad to be Muslim but he also spoke out about different issues and assumptions so that the world could know the truth. He helped with peace concepts that Islam had and was a great role model to future Muslim’s.

Works Cited

"Controversy." Www.ali.com. MGX Lab, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. http://www.ali.com/legend_boxer_controversy.php
"Muhammad Ali." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2013. 16 November 2013. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/muhammad_ali.html
Rosenburg, Jennifer. "Muhammad Ali." history1900s.about.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/a/muhammadali.htm

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