Muhammad Ali is dead at 74 years old. In the next few days, there will likely be a lot of looking back at Ali's athletic career — as one of the best boxers to ever live. But Ali was also Muslim, and in the last few months of his life, he refuted some of the Islamophobic rhetoric that has permeated the current presidential campaign.
Specifically, in December, a few days after Donald Trump suggested that there are no Muslim sports heroes, Ali struck back at the Republican presidential candidate's call to ban all Muslims from entering the US.
Ali said, in a statement first provided to NBC News, titled "Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States":
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One of Muhammad Ali's final public statements refuted Donald Trump's Islamophobia |
We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.
Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our 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.
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One of Muhammad Ali's final public statements refuted Donald Trump's Islamophobia |
But it's also a bit tragic that we seem to expect prominent Muslim figures in the US to apologize for the actions of a few violent extremists who don't represent the majority of Muslim Americans.
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