Source: USATODAY
Muhammad Ali can barely make a firm fist these days, let alone lace up a glove.
Yet half a century removed from when he shook the world and Sonny Liston’s
fortitude to become heavyweight champion and three decades on from the
sad denouement of his marvelous career, Ali still packs a punch.
He delivered one straight, devastating, written jab to Donald Trump on Wednesday.
While it won’t be a knockout blow to Republican presidential candidate Trump’s chances of reaching for the Oval Office, that was not its intention.
But the 73-year-old’s defense of the Islamic faith, the call for understanding and calm amid these roiling times, well, that was vintage Ali.
Once he made his points with rhyme, this time it was with reason.
“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,” Ali said in a statement.
He did not directly mention Trump by
name and he didn’t have to. His intention was as clear as those
rapid-fire tones he once used to bait opponents such as Joe Frazier and George Foreman,
a defiant and beautifully balanced retort to such Trump suggestions as a
national Islamic database and restrictions on Muslims traveling to the
United States.
These
are not political pages and there is no attempt here to debate the
merits or follies of the electoral contest that will twine through the
cycle of our lives over the next year or so.
However, there are factual elements at play. When President Barack Obama
used his address to the nation Sunday to preach tolerance towards the
Muslim community, his reminder that some of our “sports heroes” are
Muslims was instantly challenged by Trump. “Obama said in his speech
that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and
who? Is Obama profiling?" Trump tweeted.
It was a misstep.
Notwithstanding
that Trump has met Ali on several occasions, he should have needed
little reminding that “The Greatest” is Muslim. Heck, it has hardly been
a secret. Ali used the afterglow of his first great professional
triumph, beating Liston, to announce he was Muslim and was changing his
name from Cassius Clay. He was stripped of his title and banished from
the sport at the peak of his powers for refusing to fight in Vietnam on
religious grounds.
There are many Muslim athletes
in this country. Few chose to speak publicly about their faith this
week, and given the tinderbox of public sentiment and political furor,
it is easy to see why.
USA TODAY Sports reached out to more than a
dozen retired and active Muslim athletes over the past few days, to
question them over Trump’s stance. A rare few, such as Denver Broncos left tackle Ryan Harris, responded firmly. Others preferred to keep a dignified silence, as is their absolute right.
Ali
is not bound by such concerns. Not because he has a contract to protect
or sponsors to please or wishes to avoid distractions. Those things
never factored into his thinking to begin with – he was always this way,
a man of principled ideology whether you agreed with him or not.
“I
am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people
in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world,” Ali wrote.
“True Muslims knows the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic Jihadists
goes against the very tenets of our religion.
“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.”
Yes, it was Ali, back again,
speaking with his mind and his heart just like in the fight game’s
golden years. He is forever a champ but he is not a saint, he never was.
He could be cruel and dismissive and adulterous. But those intangibles,
those other redeeming factors, they carried such power. We thought that
was in the past, that he would while out his days as a beloved figure
and nothing more.
But then, in typical fashion, he rose again when
you least expected it, right when he had to, when there was an opponent
that was rolling with momentum and seemingly unstoppable.
Ali is an old man who has battled against Parkinson’s disease
for 30 years and no longer floats, not like a butterfly nor anything
else. But he stings like bee, just as sharply as ever, just as sweetly,
armored by the knowledge that his own conviction is the greatest weapon,
and the greatest shield, of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment