Editing Muhammad Ali (section)

===Religion and beliefs===
{{Main|Religious views of Muhammad Ali}}

====Affiliation with the Nation of Islam====
Ali said that he first heard of the [[Nation of Islam]] when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959 and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although he kept his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met [[Malcolm X]], who soon became his spiritual and political mentor.<ref name="Guardian Mitchell">{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Kevin |title=From the Vietnam war to Islam – the key chapters in Ali's life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/04/muhammad-ali-key-chapters |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=June 4, 2016 |access-date=June 5, 2016 |archive-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202190150/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/04/muhammad-ali-key-chapters |url-status=live }}</ref> By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in ''[[The Miami Herald]]'' just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the [[African-American Muslims|Black Muslims]] when he was 18.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19640207&id=XF4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=5091,2145696 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |title=Muslim Charge Clams Up Clay |date=February 7, 1964 |access-date=September 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828083315/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19640207&id=XF4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=5091%2C2145696 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Elijah Muhammad and Cassius Clay NYWTS.jpg|thumb|left|Ali (seen in background) at an address by [[Elijah Muhammad]] in 1964]]
In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black [[Muslim]]s at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership.<ref name="Guardian Mitchell" /> Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed [[Muhammad]] (one who is worthy of praise) [[Ali (name)|Ali]] (most high).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014063.html |title=He is simply ... The Greatest |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |work=ESPN |access-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-date=August 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813160258/http://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014063.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's [[Mosque Maryam]] or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Steinberg |first=Neil |date=June 4, 2016 |title=For a time, Ali called Chicago home |url=http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/steinberg-for-a-time-ali-called-chicago-home |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 5, 2016 |archive-date=June 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605203256/http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/steinberg-for-a-time-ali-called-chicago-home/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "[[slave name]]" and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn't choose it and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name".<ref name="Name origin">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014mvdx |title=History website, Muhammad Ali: "Cassius Clay is my slave name" |publisher=BBC |access-date=July 2, 2013 |archive-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628071251/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014mvdx |url-status=live }}</ref> The person he was formerly named after was [[Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician)|a white slave owner turned abolitionist]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yale.edu/2016/06/09/muhammad-ali-originally-named-ardent-abolitionist-and-yale-alumnus-cassius-clay |title=Muhammad Ali originally named for ardent abolitionist and Yale alumnus Cassius Clay |work=Yale News |first=Susan |last=Gonzalez |date=June 9, 2016 |access-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214192245/https://news.yale.edu/2016/06/09/muhammad-ali-originally-named-ardent-abolitionist-and-yale-alumnus-cassius-clay |url-status=live }}</ref> Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "he may have gotten rid of his slaves, but (he) held on to white supremacy."<ref name="Heritage">{{Cite web |title=Heritage of a Heavyweight |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-heritage.html?_r=1 |access-date=September 27, 2020 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615135238/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/ali-heritage.html?_r=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ali concluded: "Why should I keep my white slavemaster's name visible and my black ancestors invisible, unknown, unhonored?"<ref name="Name origin"/>

Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "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."<ref>{{cite news |title='I am America': Muhammad Ali's fight for civil rights |url=http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/06/05/06/23/muhammad-ali-s-other-fight-for-civil-rights |access-date=June 4, 2016 |agency=Agence France-Presse |work=9News |location=Australia |date=June 5, 2016 |archive-date=June 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605101019/http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/06/05/06/23/muhammad-ali-s-other-fight-for-civil-rights |url-status=live }}</ref> Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam.<ref name=Times64-03-09>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07E6DA1230E033A2575AC0A9659C946591D6CF |title=Malcolm X Splits with Muhammad |access-date=August 1, 2008 |last=Handler |first=M. S. |date=March 9, 1964 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=July 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720070810/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07E6DA1230E033A2575AC0A9659C946591D6CF |url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="National Review Feb 2016">{{cite news |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/431161/champ-and-mr-x |title=The Champ and Mr. X |work=National Review |date=February 29, 2016 |access-date=November 18, 2016 |archive-date=February 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201205952/https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/431161/champ-and-mr-x |url-status=live }}</ref> Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.<ref name="Soul of a Butterfly">{{cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Muhammad |last2=Ali |first2=Hana Yasmeen |title=The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey |year=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-7432-6286-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6G-Cy5c0GgC |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031224605/https://books.google.com/books?id=h6G-Cy5c0GgC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader [[Elijah Muhammad]], and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine.<ref name="thegrio.com">{{cite web |last=Garcia |first=Courtney |url=http://thegrio.com/2013/09/06/trials-of-muhammad-ali-highlights-boxers-anti-war-opposition/ |title='Trials of Muhammad Ali' highlights boxer's anti-war opposition |publisher=theGrio |date=September 6, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193949/http://thegrio.com/2013/09/06/trials-of-muhammad-ali-highlights-boxers-anti-war-opposition/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese."<ref name="tribune">{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/08/31/the-trials-of-a-chicago-director-making-muhammad-ali-doc/ |title=The trials of a Chicago director making Muhammad Ali doc |website=Chicago Tribune |first=Nina |last=Metz |date=August 31, 2013 |access-date=July 31, 2016 |archive-date=July 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723020015/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-31/entertainment/ct-ae-0901-fall-movie-profile-20130831_1_muhammad-ali-opposer-chicago-director |url-status=live }}</ref>

Writer [[Jerry Izenberg]] once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."<ref name="Hauser 2004" />

====Conversion to Sunni Islam====
In Hauser's biography ''Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times'', Ali stated that he was not a Christian as he thought the idea of God having a son sounded wrong and did not make sense to him, stating, "God don't beget; man begets". However, he still believed that even good Christians or good Jews could receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hauser |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6aaV0p8jaeUC&q=beget |title=Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times |year=1992 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-77971-9 |language=en |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031224606/https://books.google.com/books?id=6aaV0p8jaeUC&q=beget#v=snippet&q=beget&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION MUHAMMAD ALI, A BLACK MUSLIM, ATTENDS THE SECT'S SERVICE TO HEAR ELIJAH MUHAMMAD... - NARA - 556247.jpg|thumb|Ali attending a [[Saviours' Day]] celebration in 1974]]

In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream [[Sunni Islam]] to [[Warith Deen Muhammad]], who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. He said some people did not like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it, and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.<ref name = "Soul of a Butterfly 85">{{cite book |title=The Soul of a Butterfly |first1=Muhammad |last1=Ali |first2=Hana Yasmeen |last2=Ali |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=85 |year=2013}}</ref>

Ali had gone on the [[Hajj]] pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater [[Spirituality|spiritual]] awareness.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.emel.com/article?id=109&a_id=1722&c=32 |title=Muhammed Ali's Pilgrimage to Makkah (''sic'') |magazine=[[Emel (magazine)|Emel]] |issue=17 |date=February 2006 |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-date=September 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914052923/http://www.emel.com/article?id=109&a_id=1722&c=32 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mashable.com/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-retirement-video/ |title=Muhammad Ali had a thought-provoking response when asked about his retirement plans |website=[[Mashable]] |last=Bryan |first=Chloe |date=June 4, 2016 |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-date=September 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910021714/http://mashable.com/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-retirement-video/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.<ref name="timesofindia">{{cite news |last=Rajeev |first=K R |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/Muhammad-Alis-visit-was-Kozhikodes-knockout-moment/articleshow/52597630.cms |title=Muhammad Ali's visit was Kozhikode's knockout moment |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=June 5, 2016 |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610005305/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/Muhammad-Alis-visit-was-Kozhikodes-knockout-moment/articleshow/52597630.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a [[religion of peace]]" and "does not promote [[terrorism]] or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are [[Extremism|racist fanatics]] who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, after the [[November 2015 Paris attacks]], he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic [[jihadists]] goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/muhammad-ali-face-real-islam-160606040559103.html |title=Muhammad Ali: The face of 'real Islam' |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |date=June 6, 2016 |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217133837/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/muhammad-ali-face-real-islam-160606040559103.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He also developed an interest in [[Sufism]], which he referenced in his autobiography, ''[[The Soul of a Butterfly]]''.<ref name="Soul of a Butterfly" /><ref name="CNN Lane 2016">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/28/sport/muhammad-ali-five-things-boxing/ |title=Muhammad Ali: Five things you never knew about the boxing legend |work=CNN |date=April 28, 2016 |access-date=November 18, 2016 |archive-date=November 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182246/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/28/sport/muhammad-ali-five-things-boxing/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Telegraph March 2016">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2016/03/02/family-faith-and-magic-tricks-my-40-year-friendship-with-muhamma/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2016/03/02/family-faith-and-magic-tricks-my-40-year-friendship-with-muhamma/ |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Family, faith and magic tricks: My 40-year friendship with Muhammad Ali |work=The Telegraph |date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=December 13, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored ''The Soul of a Butterfly'' with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of [[Inayat Khan]], which contain Sufi teachings.<ref name="On Being June 2016">{{cite news |url=http://www.onbeing.org/blog/omid-safi-muhammad-ali-unapologetically-black-unapologetically-muslim/8735 |title=Muhammad Ali: Unapologetically Black, Unapologetically Muslim |work=[[On Being]] |date=June 9, 2016 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220165249/http://www.onbeing.org/blog/omid-safi-muhammad-ali-unapologetically-black-unapologetically-muslim/8735 }}</ref><ref name="Beliefnet Hana Yasmeen Ali interview">{{cite news |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2005/02/muhammad-alis-new-spiritual-quest.aspx? |title=Muhammad Ali's New Spiritual Quest |work=[[Beliefnet]] |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220230116/http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2005/02/muhammad-alis-new-spiritual-quest.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as [[Grand Mufti of Syria]] Al Marhum Al Sheikh [[Ahmed Kuftaro]], [[Hisham Kabbani]], Imam [[Zaid Shakir]], [[Hamza Yusuf]], and Timothy J. Gianotti, who planned his funeral.<ref name="Timothy Gianotti - The Imam whose on Muhammad Ali's last days and funeral">{{cite news |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/studies-in-islam/people-profiles/timothy-gianotti-0 |title=Timothy Gianotti – The Imam whose on Muhammad Ali's last days and funeral |work=[[On Being]] |date=June 9, 2016 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=September 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927115036/https://uwaterloo.ca/studies-in-islam/people-profiles/timothy-gianotti-0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Prof. Gianotti plans Muhammad Ali's funeral and memorial service">{{cite news |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/studies-in-islam/news/prof-gianotti-plans-muhammad-alis-funeral-and-memorial |title=Prof. Gianotti plans Muhammad Ali's funeral and memorial service |work=[[On Being]] |date=June 9, 2016 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=September 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927114950/https://uwaterloo.ca/studies-in-islam/news/prof-gianotti-plans-muhammad-alis-funeral-and-memorial |url-status=live }}</ref>