Muhammad Ali in Islam
MUHAMMAD ALI
IN ISLAM
From the book, "THE DANCING MASTER", by N. Hamid
Muhammad Ali performing prayer
Photo by Walter Iooss, Jr. - Sports Illustrated
One reason why some people had problems with Muhammad Ali was because of his religious beliefs. I have written this page, called "Muhammad Ali in Islam", in an attempt to explain and clarify some of the problems with Ali's beliefs (of that time period) from the point of view of the social circumstances, from the misunderstandings of people, in general, and from what Ali, himself, did not know at the time was incorrect in his beliefs. I begin this section on Muhammad Ali in Islam from the most important aspect of his belief - - the concept of God.
In the early 1960's, Muhammad Ali belonged to a group called the Nation of Islam. He was introduced to this organization, either directly or indirectly, through Malcolm X, and both men gave their allegiance to the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. Elijah claimed to have been taught by someone named Wallace Fard Muhammad, whom Elijah referred to as "Master Fard". Herein lies the first and most critical problem with Muhammad Ali's beliefs at that time (circa 1962-1963). Elijah believed that God, whom the Muslim world correctly refers to as Allah, came to Earth in the person of Master Fard Muhammad. This was an immeasurable mistake because, in Islam, there is no such belief as God manifesting Himself in any person, nor in any thing. Not only is it foreign to Islam, but it is the very opposite of the concept of God in Islam.
The second major mistake was the totally erroneous belief that Elijah Muhammad was the Messenger of Allah (God). Again, Islam is very clear in its system of belief that Prophet Muhammad of Arabia, who lived more than 1400 years ago, was the Messenger of Allah (God) and the last of the Prophets. So this was another critical error with Muhammad Ali in Islam.
A third problem with the belief system of Muhammad Ali in Islam, at that time, was some of the general teachings of Elijah Muhammad. In the Nation of Islam, as it was called, Elijah Muhammad taught that black people were gods and white people were devils. It becomes instantly clear, then, why some people would have a problem with Muhammad Ali. While this ideology was very wrong and, again, foreign to Islam, we must, however, take a look at the circumstances which made some people believe in such a false concept. It is quite true that many white people were not exactly treating black people as their equals, to say the least. Racism was rampant in the United States with the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremist group, along with others, terrorizing, torturing, and murdering black people at will. How often were black people found hanging from trees, or burnt at a stake, or cut in half on railroad tracks, all at the hands of some racist white people? Did not Muhammad Ali see and hear these reports quite often? Look at the differences in those days in educational quality, job opportunities and economic and housing standards between white and black, primarily as a result of racism. Were these effects of racism not evident in Muhammad Ali's time? Was not America's portrayal of blacks through its white-owned media quite negative? The times were racially charged. Some of Elijah's teachings, when delivered by such an eloquent and gifted speaker as Malcolm X was, could often be made to almost sound believable during a time of violence, segregation, and Jim Crow laws when Elijah's erroneous ideology was backed up by true and accurate accounts of white brutality against black people. Muhammad Ali was trapped in that time frame. He was not as much the promoter of the ideology as he was a victim of the circumstances and the times. Some disliked him because of his beliefs, but some also hated him, also, simply because he was black. So while the teachings contained many false ideas about gods and devils, and heaven and hell being right here on Earth, not everything which came out of the mouth of Muhammad Ali was false.
A racist is always an enemy to the idea of man living in harmony with other races. In that light, Muhammad Ali saw 'white' America (but not every individual white person) as his enemy. Conversely, he saw non-whites as his brothers and sisters, who shared his suffering with him from an oppressive enemy. Included in that brotherhood were the Vietnamese people. He saw them as victims of America's racism and arrogance. It is in this light that we should then try to understand why Muhammad Ali said, when told that he was going to be drafted, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong." And also that, "No Vietcong ever called me 'Nigger'." In view of the social circumstances of that time, this profound statement made perfectly good sense. The U.S. government was telling Ali to take part in a war where those whom he saw as his opposers were sending him to kill those who were not his opposers. Look at what Ali, himself, had to say in reference to this draft:
So now Muhammad Ali was disliked for being black, for his religious beliefs, and for his position on the draft.
This portion of Ali's biography, however, is called "Muhammad Ali in Islam", so I will finish by focusing on that theme. It is necessary, in order to be fair, to point out that while some of Muhammad Ali's prior beliefs, which offended people, were not the correct beliefs in Islam, many in the United States were against even the most correct teachings and practices of Islam. This was true then, and it is still very true even to this day. And Muhammad Ali cannot be blamed for that. The people for whom this holds true must be blamed. Prejudice is the fault of no one except the one who does the pre-judging, especially without knowledge.
To correctly see Muhammad Ali in Islam is to first see where he was, and why his beliefs were as they were at that time, and take note of the incorrect parts. Secondly, one must see how Muhammad Ali in Islam evolved from belief in a "man-god" (and we seek refuge from such belief) and from belief in a self-proclaimed messenger, into one who came to understand that the basic foundation of his religion, Islam, is that "Nothing deserves to be worshipped except Allah (the Creator), alone, who has no partners, and that Prophet Muhammad (born in 570, died in 632) is the last Messenger of Allah." In 1975, Elijah Muhammad died, and with him died the incorrect beliefs which had been ascribed to both he and Fard Muhammad. Muhammad Ali learned that his past beliefs had some false elements, mixed in with some very good socially uplifting elements, so he dropped the false parts, kept the good, and moved into more mainstream, orthodox Islam. No longer can he be blamed for harboring anti-white rhetoric or racially inflammatory teachings. Those days are long gone and Muhammad Ali in Islam has a new meaning. It is belief in the Oneness of God, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers (all of them), in the Day of Judgment, and in the Ultimate Will of God. That is Islam. And it is in this light and this light, alone, that we must now view Muhammad Ali in Islam.
