Nation of Islam influencing boxer Muhammad Ali

Nation of Islam influencing boxer Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is one example of Muslim Athletes that had a positive influence in the Islamic world, and teach that the arrogance and wealth is useless without a strong faith and belief[1].

American boxer, Three times World Heavyweight Champion, embraced Islam in 1965. "I have had many nice moments in my life. But the feelings I had while standing on Mount Arafat (just outside Makka, Saudi Arabia) on the day of the Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage), was the most unique. I felt exalted by the indescribable spiritual atmosphere there as over one and a half million pilgrims invoked God to forgive them for their sins and bestow on them His choicest blessings[2].

Mr. Muhammad became Ali's business manager in 1966, a couple of years after the boxer formally converted to Islam. He replaced the Louisville syndicate that launched Ali's career. For the next 25 years, he negotiated fights for Ali and coordinated his role as a fundraiser and public face for the Nation of Islam.

"He let Ali be Ali," said Thomas Hauser, author of 1991's "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," meaning Mr. Muhammad did not try to clean up Ali's sometimes outrageous persona. "He never tried to curb Ali's inclinations, which was largely good."[3]

Mr. Muhammad secured multimillion-dollar purses for Ali as he fought and won three heavyweight titles and became the most-recognized athlete of his generation. Mr. Muhammad could demand almost anything for a fight or appearance, and both he and the Nation of Islam were rewarded with a healthy cut of the action[4].

"I think he genuinely cared about Ali. But he was also interested in making money for himself," Hauser said[5]

Ali's wife, Lonnie, gradually took over her husband's business affairs, and Mr. Muhammad and the boxer severed ties in the early 1990s. In 1993, Ali sued Mr. Muhammad, alleging a foundation that used the boxer's name improperly used his signature in fundraising letters and other work intended to promote Islamic causes. The lawsuit was settled the next year when the foundation changed its name[6].

Mr. Muhammad's son Elijah Muhammad III said the issues that sparked the lawsuit were the work of his father's underlings, and that there was never any real rift between Ali and his father.

Mr. Muhammad had his own successful business career in fields from real estate to food service to Chicago park concessions[7].

For many years, a close associate was Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the politically connected fixer who was convicted in June of fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering.

That relationship ended badly and is now the subject of a lawsuit claiming Rezko looted trusts set up by Mr. Muhammad, Morris said.

Born in Detroit, Mr. Muhammad grew up in Chicago and was taught at home before becoming his father's business manager.

An energetic entrepreneur, he established a string of businesses for the Nation of Islam, renovating buildings and managing a bakery, a restaurant, and dry-cleaning establishments, then training others to take over, his son ...