(June 9, 2016 at 4:26 pm)paulpablo Wrote:

(June 9, 2016 at 4:07 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: The last was a rhetorical question. Your complaints, as I've already noted, are devalued by the absence of contextual understanding on your part.

I notice you ignored the first question. Not very surprised by that fact, though.

I don't know enough about his life to know how courageous he was against the Nation of Islam, so I can't comment on that.

Oddly enough, you already have.

I saw Muhammed Ali's casket driven around his hometown today on TV and Al Jazeera has a story about his "traditional Muslim funeral". But I've heard that Muslims believe in burying their dead within 24 hours of death and he died a week ago. So either he didn't follow this Muslim tradition or it was a mock casket being driven around today. I thought it was strange.

(June 7, 2016 at 7:17 pm)Rayaan Wrote:

(June 4, 2016 at 12:05 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: One of the most important things to remember about Ali, both as a man and as a boxer is that he missed 4 of his prime athletic years where he was stripped of his title because of draft dodging and his principled stance against the war. He also softened on most of his goofy religious views that he had when he was younger while he aged.

I disagree on that point.

Muhammad Ali was always a Muslim after he converted. Naturally enough, he continued making references to God, Islam, his beliefs, etc. in public even as he aged.

Examples:

- In 1981, when he was asked in an interview whether or not he has any bodyguards, he said that he has only one bodyguard - and that is God.

- Muhammad Ali's Hollywood star is the only one that is on the wall and not on the floor. He said, "I bear the name of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and it is impossible that I allow people to trample over his name."

- He strongly criticized Donald Trump's ban on Muslims. He also said, "I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion."

- Regarding his illness, he said: "God gave me this illness to remind me that I'm not number One, He is."

I'm sure there are plenty more.

I didn't say he stopped being a Muslim, I say that he softened on his goofy religious beliefs. Remember that early on he was part of the nation of Islam, which is mostly considered heretical by mainstream Muslims anyway. Amoungst their beliefs is that white people are inheriently evil and were created by a scientist called Dr. Yaku. If that's not goofy I don't know what is. Later in life he didn't have these beliefs and embraced a much softer form of Sufism.

I also think it's super ironic the Muslim pride in Muhammad Ali. Mainstream Muslims consider both Ali's original belief in the nation of Islam to be heretical and the same goes for his later embracing of Universal Sufism. It's only heresy if it's someone you don't like already I guess.