Muhammad Ali’s Religion, Arrogance, and the Understanding of Islam Among African Americans in the 60s

 

"I keep telling you, this man has no strength, no heart! I am smart, and I've proven it!"

Just then, David Frost, the promising journalist, steps in with his microphone:

"Congratulations..."

"Am I the greatest of all time?" the sweaty man cuts him off again. "Now everybody stop talking... Attention, I told you all of my critics I told you all that I was the greatest of all time. When I beat Sunny Liston. I told you today I'm still the greatest of all time. Never again defeat me never again say that I'm going to be defeated never..."

     The person who said these words is the same person who said, "When you're as great as I am, it's hard to be humble," and "I am the greatest, greater than anyone who has ever lived," "I am the greatest, in fact, I'm the greatest twice," "I'm so fast that when I try to turn off the light, I can get back to my place before the lights go out," "I'm young, handsome, fast, charming, invincible." This is the same person who repeatedly compared one of his opponents (even though they were of the same race) to a "gorilla" and used a machine-gun-like stream of demeaning words against anyone he saw as a rival: Muhammad Ali. He was the American Black boxer considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. His real name was Cassius Clay, but he was a nonconformist and unique personality who closely followed and personally participated in the efforts of Black people to protect their rights during the intense racism of the 50s and 60s.

     The life of Muhammad Ali, who died in 2016, is well known, enough to be the subject of films. The point we want to focus on here is his understanding of Islam and some of his interesting characteristics that don't seem to align well with the religion. Of course, when the topic is this, it's necessary to mention factors like the "Nation of Islam," "Elijah Muhammad," and "Malcolm X," which were part of the acceleration of the Black movements after the second half of the 20th century.

the person regarded as prophet
by Ali, Elijah Muhammad

     The Nation of Islam: As is known, the acceptance of people of the "Black" race as "human" in the "land of opportunity," the United States, isn't something that goes back very far. The "darkness" of skin color has been a problem for centuries in the West, and especially on the American continent. In this situation, one of the gathering places for Black people seeking their rights was the Nation of Islam, established by a dubious character named Wallace Fard Muhammad (and strangely enough, he was white). During Muhammad Ali's time, this organization, under the leadership of a person known as Elijah Muhammad, had an Islamic facade but was blatantly promoting Black racism. Some Black people, who were unwelcome everywhere white people were and were not even accepted into white churches, went overboard while trying to escape Christianity, which they saw as the white people's religion, and ran into the son of this poor farmer slave who was a prophet impostor (and their meeting places were similar to churches with cushioned seats, and things like prayer were nonexistent).

     The person known as Elijah Muhammad (real name Elijah Poole) shifted to what we could call a "radical racist" line by presenting himself as a prophet and claiming that the origin of all people was Black and that the Black race was superior. But the even more interesting part of the issue is that a smart and outspoken person like Muhammad Ali fell for this guy. In videos you can even find on social media (for example, in his statements after his match against George Foreman in Zaire), Muhammad Ali is seen shouting to the cameras, "There is no God but Allah, and Elijah Muhammad is his messenger!"... And of course, right after, he claims that he is the greatest of all time!

Nation of Islam

     Another figure of the era, who is still seen as an inspiration by millions, is Malcolm X. While Malcolm was in prison for disgraceful crimes, he became acquainted with the movement of the fake prophet Elijah mentioned above, and as soon as he got out, he followed him, just like Ali. However, Elijah's absurd theories gradually pushed him away from this community, and after he went to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in 1964, his ideas changed completely, and he left the Nation of Islam organization. He did leave, but in February 1965, he was assassinated by being shot at close range. Whether Elijah and the Nation of Islam were the perpetrators is still a source of confusion. In fact, Malcolm's (Malik el Shabazz) fiery sermons were very effective in Muhammad Ali's decision to join the Nation of Islam. After Malcolm left the organization, their relationship soured.

     Why did we write all of this? To better understand the environment Muhammad Ali came from and the people he associated with. In other words, this famous, sharp-tongued, talkative boxer, in reaction to white people, followed a group of people with corrupt beliefs whose purpose was unclear and openly called their leader a "prophet." Although there are some who say that "he later abandoned these ideas and became a Sunni," it is still unknown whether he was a "Sunni" in the sense we know. His stance was primarily a reactive one, a Black person embracing another religion as a reaction to the white people associated with Christianity.

     Of course, some contradictions are striking here. Most of the people Ali knocked down were Black people from poor neighborhoods who, like him, had suffered greatly from racism. At least as much as white people, his Black opponents got their share, and more, from his sharp, demeaning language and arrogant words. Furthermore, there was no part of the savagery called "Boxing" that was compatible with Islam. Because in our religion, it is not approved to hit any living creature, let alone a person's face. In fact, by his own admission, boxing is "a bunch of white people watching two Black people beat each other to death with pleasure."

     So, why did the conservative people of some Muslim countries (like Turkey), who were not very familiar with boxing, praise and glorify him, waking up at three in the morning to watch his matches, getting excited after every punch, and losing themselves when he knocked down his opponent? Because the things they could understand with the limited news sources of that time were that this distant Black man who fought by dancing on the screen was a Muslim, that he fearlessly shouted his Muslim identity, and that he was taking revenge on America, which was considered "the devil." Ali went far beyond being an ordinary activist, refusing to go to the Vietnam War, fearlessly shouting the hypocrisy of the white people who still hadn't gotten used to the abolition of slavery, and speaking to them from a high-and-mighty position... These were exactly the things that appealed to our complex-ridden mentality when it came to America and the West! In Turkey and similar countries, what caused the name Muhammad Ali to be placed side-by-side with the name "hero" was not his sport and his success in it, but this stance.