Shaykh Zahir Mahmood gives tribute to the champ and expounds on how Islam played a major role in his life and success.
June 10, 2016
Zahir Mahmood – A tribute to Muhammad Ali
AI: Summary ©
The history of Islam is discussed, including the story of the dead in the act of Islam, the success of the Islamist movement, and the significance of the story of the dead in the act of Islam. Ali, a successful boxer and athlete, was discouraged from pursuing his goals and eventually discouraged from pursuing his goals. The importance of Islam in modern times is also discussed, including the rise of Islam as a source of wealth and the use of it as a means of satisfaction.
AI: Transcript ©
bolano Mohamed while he was hired to heal mentally and so on if, you know you're muddied, well, that respective brothers,
elders, sisters, so I'm going to pull up
a last panelist, Allah
says in his book from Albuquerque la Musoma
that when some people depart from this dunya
the heavens and the earth Don't cry over. What is the reason for this? Because they have no connection with their equipment. They have no Eman. They have no good actions that the heavens quiet over, or the earth cries upon.
On the other hand, there are many people when they need this dunya the heavens and the earth cry over them.
Why would the heavens cry over somebody? Why would the earth cry over somebody? Because when a person has a connection with his creator, when a person does good actions, those good actions ascend to the heavens and the heavens accept those good actions. Why would the earth cry over somebody? The reason for this is that when a person lives on the earth, it has to do here is Roku, he prays, he has the knowledge to go out and he gives charity. The Earth has cried over this place. And this is why
when a person who is pious and beloved to Allah subhanho wa Taala leaves this dunya the heavens and the earth cry Oh, but very rarely do you find that the heavens and the earth cry over a person and the entirety of humanity cry over that purse. And one of these very rare exceptions was Mohammed on
that not only the heavens and the earth, but the entirety of humanity he touched. And this is what made him unique. You know, the day that Mohammed Ali passed away was the same day that we had our little hoodie and the opening of a new place. And I remember I woke up, I put my phone on. And I saw that Mohammed Ali had passed away in reality, you know, there's no part of us had been lost. As one brother said, It was as though a family member had passed away for those of my generation. And those were slightly older than me. hamadani was I, you grew up with Mohammed I, I still remember, I was still at primary school. When Mohammed Ali fought George Foreman, and he beat George woman that
entire day, I was happy. I still remember when he was beaten by Leon Spinks. And then you read the leonetti beat Leon Spinks. And you know, you had this, this love for this person.
And the truth is, that nobody will miss Mohammed Ali, in the current climate, as much as the Muslims will. Well, he was the face of Muhammad Ali. You know, you look at this man, for three decades, he's hardly uttered a word is hardly said a word. But he gave the Muslims a confident, you already knew that there was a man out there called Mohammed Ali and he was one of us, you know, as great as Mandela was.
And he sacrifices will most likely more than Mohammed it, there was a distinct difference. Man, there wasn't a Muslim, Muhammad Ali chose to be able to you felt that who and the Brotherhood with Mohammed army. And that was what was different about Muhammad Ali. You know, this was a man. So Pamela, and I must standing here to sanitize this man.
I will not say that he was a scholar who he was ashamed, or that his life was actually even flawless because nobody's life is flawless. But the teachings of Islam tell us two things, that remember the dead in a good manner. But more than that, and more importantly than that, Mohammed Adi, Ramadan, La La was a man who had so many good actions, that the little evil that he was drawn by his good actions. And this is what was different about this man, that he was exceptional. His actions were parallel. You know, he he
A change within society. What will you remember Muhammad Ali for? The man was good looking. He was flamboyant. He was witty. He was charismatic. He was an amazing athlete. He was the best boxer that ever lived. But that is not what you will remember Muhammad Ali only fought.
He transcended the sport. You had many other great boxes. You had Joe Lewis, you had Sugar Ray Robinson, you had Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, you had Hitman herder, sugar and lemon you had mike tyson you had made with all these were world champions. But the difference with Muhammad Ali was that his championship captivated the world. He was really the champion of the world. People loved Muhammad Ali, because the man was different. He transcended the support. And this is why, you know, he was a man who made people happy. Wherever he went, he made people have you seen all the videos, he's playing around with little children. He's helping people. He made his
people down, show them people that Afro Americans feel proud of their identity.
He was kind, unparalleled. You know, there's so many stories about his kindness. They say that his biographers mentioned that often he would tell the media not to report all his acts of kindness. Let me mention a couple of you. There was a girl from Britain,
who had spina bifida and she went to America, she went to meet somebody else. But you met Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Ali saw this girl in a wheelchair, he took off in June champions of the champion rim and it gave it to him.
Another case of he was watching the TV.
And what he is watching the TV,
he sees that there is a hole, which old people's home which they're gonna shut down. So what is Mohammed Ali do? He picks up the phone and he rings?
And he said, How much will it cost to keep the old people's home open? They say 100,000 pounds, he writes a check for 100,000 pounds and he gets it. See this was a man who made people happy. The purpose of the law and it was said that to smile is sadaqa What about that man?
Who made other people smile? What about that man who made other people confident? What about that man who he was an icon for people. He was there believe he was a moment. But you can only do this when you are self principle when you have some principles in your life.
When you are sure about yourself, and this is what Mohammed it was, he was principal, he was sure he had a dominant motivation. You know, he mentioned that you came back after winning the gold medal at the Olympics. And this was the time of segregation. And he says I went to
have some dinner at a restaurant which only served the whites
said I went in and I sat down
and they came up to me and the waiter came up to me and he said we don't serve niggas here
and Mohammed Ali with booty and he said that's okay because I don't eat them either.
He said they threw me on the street.
He said I went to the Ohio River. I took my gold medal which I want for my country and I threw it into the river. You know this was amazing. Why? Because symbols mean nothing if they do not serve a greater goal. What did that gold medal horse country mean? It meant nothing for Muhammad Ali if he wasn't equal amongst the other people. If for him it meant nothing.
And this is why the man was principled. He won the World Title beats me less than seven to one favor Sunday listen was they gave well how at? No charge seven to one. They beat him and he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Mohammed Ali Subhana Allah. Ramadan he passed away last week. You heard this medium though eulogies. The millions of comments in the millions of praise. But it was never like this. Go back 3040 years. This man like every revolutionary before he was demonized. He was despised Mandela, Malcolm X. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali. They were all despised.
The New York Times when he passed away, had a full front page. Crazy Mohammed Ali. This was the same New York Times
Which when he was sentenced for five years, they gloating upon the sentence.
When you change your name to Muhammad Ali, the vast majority of the media outlets refuse to call him Mohammed Ali. They call them Cassius Clay. Why? What was the difference? Because this man was a man who made the change who affected the general public. That's the reason. The establishment always hates people who will fight against the establishment. And if we anything that we learn from the life of Mohammed, it is that if you remain principled or lost power, the other day will come along with honor you the same papers, the same politicians. Now because the general public are praising have had no choice besides to praise it,
and then go with the flow. But this wasn't my hobby. This was his legacy. He made a change. Muhammad Ali was involved in the two most controversial things of his century. What was that? The Vietnam War
and the civil rights movement. Both of these things were the most controversial issue of a century. And he stood firm on both of them. Can you imagine? You are the world champion?
You can earn millions. And then you are drafted to fight in 1964. They signed him up.
They took a test that couldn't join the army. He failed. In 1965, when they were thinking about invading Vietnam, they know what the standard. So they call it a PR game. So Mohammed Ali was called up, he passed. And now they wanted to draft him. What did he say?
This was a time remember, this was a time when you stood up for what you believed. Not only were you demonized, not only were you in prison, but there was a possibility that you would be assassinated. But he stood for what he believed. What did he say? He said, The drop beans that they want to send, the white people want to send the black man to find some yellow people to support a country, which was stolen from the red people.
The draft means that white people want to send black people to fight yellow people to protect the country, which was stolen from the red people. And then he remained firm. You've seen his video where he said even if you shoot me, I will remain firm. Let me tell you one of his statements. When Mohammed Ali said, he said Why should I ask? Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles home and got bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam was so called legal people in new will are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights. My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother. Also DACA people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for poor for big, powerful
America.
I am not I ain't got no quarrel with the Vietcong. They never called me nigga. They never nitch me. They didn't put the dogs on me. They didn't rob me of my nationality rate my mother and father, shoot them. But what how can I shoot the poor people? Just take me to jail. We know these are famous quotes on Mohammed Ali. But let me tell you another quote, which isn't as famous as these. Mohammed Ali said this his conscious and his religion would not allow him to go this all Mohammed Ali said. He said,
war is against the teaching of the Holy Quran. I am not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or the messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars award of any unbelievers. See, this is the thing. Mohammed Ali ended up broke,
stripped of his title,
but he was principled. And that's what we need to learn in today's time that we need to remain principle. Muhammad Ali just did a fight for the black people.
You you hear about Muhammad Ali's fight for the black people, because it's trendy now. But that wasn't the case. Muhammad Ali for for even the Palestinians.
You have not seen one picture of Muhammad Ali's thoughts regarding the Palestinians, Mohammed Ali in 19.
74 walked into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
And then in the interview, Mohammed Ali said, he said in my name in the name of all the Muslims in America.
We support the Palestinian struggle for their homeland and the throwing out of the Zionists. If Mohammed Ali was alive today,
you know what they would have called him they would call him an anti Semite. He would have if he was a part of the Labour Party, he would have been suspended. But this is a cause that you will never hear about. Muhammad Ali, you heard I'm sure you've heard how Mohammed Ali negotiated with the Iranians to release a American journalist, where he went to Saddam Hussein to negotiate the release of 15 Americans where he spoke to the radicals in Pakistan who was holding Daniel Pearl. You heard this, this is a mainstream media. But one thing that you will never hear about even Mohammed Ali called up the Israeli government.
He called out the Israeli government and he said that that free the 700 hostages that you have and the prisoners that you have in Lebanon, and this is how he defined he said free my brothers. The reporters say that his were turned down the meeting was this was the fight even the Israelis didn't want to get involved
at the center of all this What was it? At the center of all this was what at the center of all this was Mohammed and his religion is be this connection with Allah subhanho wa Taala this was what motivated Mohammed Ali, more than anything else will have an audio or the video going around. We have a lady sitting in arena. Eight minutes that arena is full and they asked him what are you gonna do after you retired from boxing for eight minutes the magnet gives
amazing entire arena of non Muslim and is giving them down towards Allah subhanho wa Taala there's a story
with three UK models in white Mohammed Ali to his to this flat to the hotel room. And they call Mohammed Ali and Muhammad Ali goes through their room and the case manager stays until three o'clock in the morning Mohammed Ali called them towards a slump
how many were turned down three British or three models per se.
And he walked out to that room and he said to his manager food and good night and food and they thought they were gonna call me for something else. But I did something else. Muhammad Ali. This is what he did for Islam. I mean, this is what Islam before Mohammed Ali but what did Mohammed Ali do for Islam,
the province of Allah Allah He was allowed to say
that this D will reach where this day and night reach it will reach every home the home which is made out of mud help the homeless are made up to here. It will reach every single home this deal will
there be no exaggeration to say that many home was never heard about Islam, heard it to Mohammed.
Many home was never the name of Muhammad was never mentioned. It was mentioned through the Baraka of Muhammad Ali. This was a man when they said that they wanted to put his name on the Hall of Fame.
So Pamela, you know, I was reading an interview with Mohammed Ali was asked, he was asked Who is the man that you would like to meet the most in the dunya.
Muhammad Ali said 900 Salalah. That's the man. The woman has a lot to say to the Sahaba there will be people who will be my brothers. They will have never seen me.
They will never see.
But they would give whatever they own their wealth and their families to meet me. One of these was Muhammad Ali bagnato la la when they said to him that we will place your name on the Hall of Fame. There was any of us do you think we would have put any conditions down?
There was a condition with Mohammed Ali. What was that condition? That condition was that he would allow them to put his name but not on the floor because this was the name of his beloved some a lot of them. You will have to put his name on the wall. I was powerful. Pamela says Ron, what are
what are
they said oh we have raised
You're thicker. Anybody who touches them with the thicker of the Messenger of Allah, Allah will elevate their status. And it's only justice where all the other stars their name is on the floor
that Mohammed Ali's name is on the wall. Why? Because he's shown greater than any other smartphone.
He's shown greater than any other star. And this is why Mohammed Ali, his name is on the wall.
But by his own admission, what was the greatest?
What was the greatest fight of his life? He had fight in the ring. He had fights with the government. And then his final fight with Parkinson. He said, This is my greatest fight in my life. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, an amazing nation. He says, Allah has appointed a certain place for a believer.
And sometimes he can't attain that status through his actions. So what Alon does is that Allah subhanaw taala gives him a trial, and tribulation. So because of that trial and tribulation, he can attain that status. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that if a person falls, ill, and he can no longer do those good actions that he used to once upon a time they do. Allow it still right those actions for him, like he used to do them before. Can you imagine
the stages that Allah had before the Mohammed Ali, for 32 years, I lost power that I gave him this deep villain tating illness. Why? Because a lot of wanting to give him a rank measure lasted as long as a person is ill. His status is elevated, his rank is elevated, and his sins are forgiven. Can you imagine having a debilitating illness for 32 years? Can you imagine his status? So Mohammed Ali said
that my greatest fight in my life is with Parkinson's. But then he goes on to say, amazing thing.
He says, Now you can live alone in Laos, he says alone with no burden, the sole positive ability, a low enough burden of possibility. And then he says, maybe my lord is testing me. He wants to see if I will carry on praying alone. Well, can you imagine 32 years, your hands shake?
You find it difficult to do Whoo. For all those who say Muhammad Ali is your role model for all your hard men out there who say Mohammed Ali is your role model, the man have a left Islam with pockets in the 32 years. revinate mentioned in an interview with Mohammed Ali, he said I interviewed him when he had his hockenson they say when I pray my five times a lot every day,
when I'm praying my flight types a lot every day. Because I remember
I remember Carradice, I remember hereafter.
This was a man who he was central to him.
He never went for went his Salah. And this was a man, which is the highest level of a believer can have a revival of
a war with that to be happy with what Allah has decreed.
for 32 years, can you imagine what he must have dreamt about what he could have achieved, but for 32 years, he had this debilitating illness, but he was happy with the loss decree for him. He said to me, mom's a champion once. He said nobody ran their mouth like I run my mouth. And then our side.
No man ran his mouth like I run my mouth. And then Allah silence me. He said, I'm fine with that. For and then my talk. And by Allah By Allah, if you want to see a man, you know, you say this action, that a man's action that unmanned action outlive its existence. If you want to see a living example of this, it's Mohammed Ali. for 30 years, he's been off the scene, but he's still the most beloved man on the face of this earth.
They call him the greatest boxer greatest for turn of the century, or go further, there has never been a sportsman in the history of humanity, who was as popular and influential as Muhammad Ali. And then most likely, never will be.
But
But everything goes in knowledge in a logical way.
This man love. Why do you and we love this man? And I say, why should we love him? I said, we love you because a lot of us
that is the reason the rest of your law said.
He said when Allah loves the person,
Allah says to the angels
love this man for is essentially Jupiter in love this man who I love this man.
And then he goes to all those in the heavens. And he says to those in the heavens, he says, Love this man, because a lot of this man
and then Allah puts his love and acceptance in the heart of the entirety of humanity.
Muhammad Ali is loved.
And we love him here. Because he was no player was power.
He was the face of Islam. In a time
when people frown on on the name of Islam, people only had good things to say about Muhammad Ali.
But like everything else, in 911, he went in
to have a low income
to allow me return
we made to our last panel of Darla
grant, the champ genital photos. May Allah subhanaw taala elevate the status. May Allah, Allah when he placed in his grave, make it a Roosevelt agenda, a garden from the gardens of China. And for us who are left behind. Let me just finish with three things or possibly four things.
If you want to take something from Mohammed Ali's life, these are the things one is his bravery.
And he stood for principles, even when the entirety of humanity was against
that he was kind, he was caring, he was affectionate.
He made people feel good about themselves, nurture this within yourself.
And the third thing that he was a true
he was a Muslim.
And it was Islam and his Deen which motivated may allow us to make our Deen the source of our motivation. May Allah subhanaw taala keepers united in dunya May Allah reunited delicate love