Ali
the Man, Ali the Fighter
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
Overseas visitors
in the US generally don’t perceive American
blacks as particularly impressive. Often, they
see them through the prism of the dominant white
culture. Stereotypical images flash by of crime,
drugs, jail time, school drop-outs, and out-of-wedlock
births. Paradoxically, however, the American black
community has produced some of the most significant
and influential Americans of the 20th Century.
Malcolm X immediately
comes to mind. A brilliant man whose ambitions
were paralyzed by the racism of the time, he turned
to crime, only to find salvation while in prison
through Islam. An early proponent of the Nation
of Islam’s exclusivist and separatist ideology
of Black Nationalism, Malcolm X evolved into a
true Muslim as a consequence of performing Hajj
which, for him, was a moment of epiphany. He had
the greatness and grace to rise above himself
and embrace the universality of Islam which he
witnessed first-hand in Mecca. He was condemned
in his life by the white establishment and shunned
as well as by the mainstream black community who
were too scared to follow an anti-establishment
and “un-approved” figure. 30 years
after his assassination, he was honored by President
Clinton by having a US postage stamp with his
picture on it to mark his legacy. His autobiography,
as told to Alex Haley, still makes a compelling
read. Nelson Mandela openly acknowledges the inspiration
he derived from the persona of Malcolm X.
Minister Louis Farrakhan
is another. Originally a world-class violinist
of Caribbean background, he became a leader of
the Nation of Islam, eventually turning to Islamic
orthodoxy after a life-threatening bout with cancer.
When I opposed the US-led war against Iraq during
1990-91, I was asked to lead a delegation to Farrakhan’s
headquarters in Chicago. We found him equipped
with a formidable intellect and eloquence, but
felt at the same time that his brilliance would
be limited by hubris and by the compulsions of
his constituency. Nonetheless, Farrakhan - arguably
contemporary America’s most compelling orator
- went on to launch the nation’s biggest
ever rally, the Million Man March of October 16,
1995, at Washington, DC, where he told the black
man to stand up and be counted.
But the most pivotal
figure may be Muhammad Ali. Voted as the Sportsman
of the 20th Century, Ali’s life itself is
an emblem and a microcosm of America’s civil
rights struggle of the 20th Century. Influenced
by Malcolm X, Ali too was shunned when he embraced
Islam, and was willing to sacrifice his boxing
ambitions on the altar of his convictions. Today,
Ali is an American icon.
The most recent
testimony to that fact was an opening of a new
show entitled “The Greatest of All Time:
Photographs of Muhammad Ali” at Govinda
Gallery, next to Washington’s famed Georgetown
University. The photos were by all-time great
sports photographer, Neil Leifer, which featured
key images from Leifer’s extensive archive
of photographs of Ali, including the classic image
of Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston in May
1965.
Many a summer ago
in 1978, not knowing how to squander a Sunday,
I drove to Ali’s mountain hideout at Deer
Lake, Pennsylvania, where he was training for
his bout against Larry Spinks -- a generation
junior to Ali in age - in an unprecedented attempt
to become the first man to win the heavyweight
boxing champion crown of the world for the third
time. It was stunning to see how many Caucasian
admirers of the great man had flocked to this
hilly and remote training site. It showed that,
first and foremost, Ali was a heart-winner. Ali
was visibly moved to receive a Pakistani visitor
and personally invited me to witness his fight,
which I unforgettably did in New Orleans.
It is no coincidence
that all of these men were imbued with and influenced
by Islamic values, and that all discovered that
Islam transcends communal, sectarian, and ethno-national
boundaries. All of them fought against odds which
would ordinarily terrify the pragmatic and the
cautious. Their fight had a liberating effect
far beyond the confines of their own community.
It had a universal resonance and a message: you
don’t quit, you fight the good fight and,
ultimately, class prevails.
