Speaking previously about the legendary professional boxer, Will said: “There’s no doubt that he was a great boxer”. MSG publicist John Condon asked Kalinsky for examples of his work, and the photographer had only one roll of film to show.
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Thursday’s service lasted less than an hour at a convention hall near the Freedom Hall arena.
“The Nation of Islam played a big role in the early religious disciplines in Muhammad Ali – his sense of sacrifice, his values”, Jackson said.
Yet Muslim leaders and many faithful at the service say it represents a chance to demonstrate the beauty of the religion through the legacy of Ali, one of the most famous people on the planet.
“He was a Muslim, too”, Ansari explained of his fandom of Ali. “It has brought us a nagging sense of sadness”, he said, wondering aloud “if God will ever grace us again with anything that comes anywhere close to the majesty that was Muhammad Ali”.
The second of Ali’s four wives said that if her late husband were alive today, she would tell him: “Thank you for the handsome adventure and journey”. The first was never to bet against Muhammad Ali, and the second lesson was to never bet again!
Ali’s family denounced the people who tried to sell tickets to the funeral, calling it a “despicable act” and pointing out that Ali had wanted his funeral to be a free event that was open to everyone.
He travelled the world as a boxer and speaker, and inspired Muslims around the world.
Beginning as an Olympic gold medalist and winding his way through one of boxing’s greatest eras, Ali would make an immeasurable mark on the civil rights movement throughout the 1960s and 1970s that reached well beyond his career as a boxer. Up until 1970, most Muslims in the United States were part of the Nation of Islam, just like Ali.
Muslims arrive for the beginning of an Islamic prayer service for Muhammad Ali at the Kentucky Exposition Center on June 9, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. He said Ali “impacted the world”. People said you were too old, washed up, and there was no way you could deal with a power puncher in his prime like George Foreman.
The attendees at the service were young and old; black and white; Muslims, Christians and Jews. Some wore traditional Islamic attire, others blue jeans or business suits.
The Jenazah service lasts only about 20 minutes, with people customarily standing in lines as they recite the prayers.
More recently, Ali responded to Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the US.
Family spokesman Bob Gunnell issued a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday, insisting the selling of the tickets went against the heavyweight champion’s final wishes.
Muslims have traveled from all over the world to pay tribute to Muhammad Ali. Three days of funeral proceedings began Wednesday with a downtown festival called “I Am Ali”. It will be broadcast on TV and streamed online.
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The memorials are taking place after a burst of assaults on US mosques and Muslims following the Islamic extremist attacks a year ago in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the presidential election.
