The passing of Muhammad Ali

Hamza Yusuf on the Passing of Muhammad Ali

Opening and Condolences

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim wassalatu wassalamu ala sayyidina muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Wa salatu was salamu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam.

I want to extend my condolences to myself, but also to this entire ummah (أَعْظَمُ اللَّهِ أَجْرَكُمْ - A'adhamu Allah ajrakum). May Allah exalt your reward in the loss of really one of the great Muslims of our time and really, I believe, one of the great Muslims for all time and that's our brother, the great statesman, the great humanitarian, the greatest sportsman of the 20th century, Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali, may Allah have mercy on his soul, was an extraordinary human being, destined for greatness and recognized early on.

Early Signs of Greatness

His mother said that she knew God had plans for him. He learned to speak before he was one year old, which is very unusual for a child. He was gifted with incredible intellect, with extraordinary wit.

He was once in a restaurant and he was told that we don't serve Negroes here. And he said, that's perfectly all right with me. I don't eat them.

And I think that really exemplifies the incredible spirit of that man. Muhammad Ali Kalei, I think, in a more just time, would probably have been one of the great political scientists or intellectuals of our time. But he was born into an unjust condition for African-Americans and he made the best of that situation.

Beloved by Allah and Humanity

And I think one of the reasons why he's so beloved around the world, first and foremost, is because our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, if God loves somebody, that he announces it to the angels. And then he tells the angels to put that love of that person in the hearts of humanity. And I think that that's a proof that he was beloved by God, and that he was from the people of God.

His Journey in Islam

He entered into the nation of Islam, but he was so much bigger than any group. He never left his religion. He became an orthodox Muslim and he made it very clear that he wanted to be buried as a Muslim.

He was a devout and pious person that read the Quran. Those who knew him and were close to him knew that he was very committed to studying the Quran. Anybody that watches his talks can see the brilliance of the man, but also the deep humanity of the man.

A Pure Heart and Genuine Love

I think that he had a child's heart in its purity, that he genuinely loved people. And that love is what inevitably won even his enemies over. It's quite extraordinary that the people that he knocked down and defeated in the ring were some of the people that loved him the most, like George Foreman, who actually said that that was one of the most important things that ever happened to him, being defeated by Muhammad Ali.

His Character and Entertainment

All of the braggadocio that Muhammad Ali displayed, anyone that watches him knows that it was done just as a wonderful aspect of his entertaining nature, that he enjoyed to make people laugh and to make people feel good. He is a great loss for our community. He was committed to Islam until the end, and he was defending our religion against extremists.

Closing Supplication

So may Allah reward him, grant him the highest place in Jannah. My brother Haroon Sellers wrote that although he was impressed by the 37 men that Muhammad Ali knocked down, what's more impressive is all the people he lifted up.