MUHAMMAD ALI
(Former World Heavyweight Champion)
This page is a tribute to my hero, Muhammad Ali. Unlike any other sports figure, Muhammad Ali is not only known as the champion in the world of boxing, he is also the champion for many people in many issues. In the 60’s and 70’s, there was this vast, popular struggle for equal rights in States. He was heavily involved in the movement. Historians would say that Ali is just behind Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as the front runner for the reforms. His most popular action during that time was when he refused to be inducted to go to Vietnam, resulting in his boxing champion title being stripped off. He himself was jailed for quite some time for this action.
Another thing that he is famous for is being the champion for the Muslims, especially in his later life. During the 60’s, when Muslims were incorrectly known as Mohammedans in States and Islam is quite a rarity, he was there defending this religion and his right to practice it. Now, he can be seen going anywhere, officiating boxing matches or attending functions, with Quran in his hand to be distributed to the public. When September 11 happened and its implications in States were unbearable to the Muslims there, he came up in public to again defending Islam and reminding the Americans that their Muslim neighbors are not to be blamed.
There so many other good things I can write about Ali, but this page is not intended to be long. Finally, I pray that Allah gives Ali the patience he needs to face his Parkinson disease. When he got the disease, he uttered, “This is another way for God to tell me that I’m not the greatest, He is.” May Allah rewards him for all the good things that he has done, and forgive the sins he has committed. The following are the inspirational quotes came up from this great man.
The Top Ten Quotes
9. "It's not bragging if you can back it up."
8. "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
7. "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."
6. "Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name; it means beloved of God and I insist people use it when speaking to me and of me.''
5. "I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong. Ain't no Vietcong ever called me a nigger."
4. "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky. My name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me."
3. "I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."
2. "It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."
1. "We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for God is all that will last."
10. "Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
Refusing military induction based on religious grounds (1966)
