PHOENIX — This week, the world is mourning the loss of Muhammad Ali–a sports legend, global cultural icon, and, notably, a Muslim.

Some 14,000 people filled a large conventional hall adjacent to Freedom Hall arena, where Ali fought some of his early opponents, to view his closed casket and pay their respects on Thursday, June 9.

Thousands of free tickets were made available for fans to attend the service — a brief program of prayer, called a jenazah — honoring the global icon who was born Cassius Clay in Louisville. 

He changed his name in the mid-1960s after converting to the Nation of Islam. 

The media struck quite a different tone when Ali revealed his conversion to the Nation of Islam in 1964, soon after winning the heavyweight title. 

Rumors were spreading about the boxer’s close friendship with Malcolm X, a leader in the controversial sect. Was it true, a reporter asked the new champ, that he was a “card-carrying member of the Black Muslims?”

“‘Card-carrying.’ What does that mean?” replied Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay. “I believe in Allah and in peace. … I was baptized when I was 12, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m not a Christian anymore. I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.”

In the 1970s, Ali followed some Nation of Islam leaders into the mainstream of Sunni Islam. He would later clarify his beliefs.

“The Nation of Islam taught that white people were devils. I don’t believe that now; in fact, I never really believed that. But when I was young, I had seen and heard so many horrible stories about the white man that this made me stop and listen,” he said in 2004.

Ali died the evening of Friday, June 3 at a Phoenix-area hospital after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 74. 

The three-time world heavyweight boxing champion became perhaps the most well-known person in the world due to his athletic skills and his political and religious views against racism and war.

Despite his quiter personality in later years, Ali still stood up for the Muslim community, as the religion’s image grew hostile in the political spectrum. 

Last  December, he slammed Donald Trump’s proposal to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States.

“We as Muslims have to stand up against those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda,” Ali said. “They have alienated many from learning about Islam.”

He was equally critical of terrorists, saying days after 9/11 that “Islam is peace, and against murder and killing, and the people doing that in the name of Islam are wrong. And if I had the chance, I would do something about it.”

Many in the crowd at his memorial service wore traditional kufis or hijabs on their heads as speakers in both English and Arabic praised Ali’s dignity, courage, wit and selflessness.

At a time when Muslims in America are facing scorn and bigotry, the late boxing legend will be remembered as the true, peaceful face of Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, offered condolences to the family and loved ones of Ali and called him “a champion for peace and justice.”

“Muhammad Ali, a man who stood by his principles despite criticism and hardship, exemplified a true patriot and a true Muslim,” said CAIR National Board Chair Roula Allouch. “His strength, courage and love of humanity has been, and will continue to be, an inspiration to people of all faiths and backgrounds in America and worldwide.”

“Ali’s legacy as a champion for peace and justice will motivate generations to come to make our world a better place,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “To God we belong and to Him we return.”

The Islamic Society of North America, credited Ali for spurring momentum for Muslim organizations in North America.

“We would not have been able to achieve the … building of the Muslim community in North America without the help of leaders like Muhammad Ali. He was a bridge between the African-American Muslims and the Muslims coming from different countries as immigrants,” said Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America, which is the largest Islamic organization in the U.S.

ADC President Samer Khalaf expressed, “Few individuals in our lifetime have accomplished what Muhammad Ali has. He was a champion both inside and outside the ring. His willingness to take principled stances and champion equality, is an example for all of us. He will always remain in our minds and hearts as the greatest of all time.”

Ali served as an ADC Advisory Board Member since the inception of the organization in 1980. He was a regular supporter of ADC, and would visit the National Office in Washington, D.C. Ali was honored with the ADC Lifetime Achievement Award at a Special 50th Birthday Celebration hosted by ADC in 1992. 

The NAACP also released a statement on Ali, highlighting his career as an advocate for not only the Muslim community, but the African American community as well.

“A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 and the NAACP President’s Award in 2009, Ali’s accomplishments in the boxing ring are matched only by his record of humanitarian efforts and social activism. His fighting spirit went beyond the ring to encourage people to raise their aspirations,” the NAACP said in a statement. 

 “Ali opened The Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville to serve as a forum to promote respect, tolerance and understanding. At a time when anti-Islamic rhetoric has become all too common in our society and even in the campaign for president, Muhammad Ali represented a Muslim American who was beloved and respected by millions around the world.

President Barack Obama issued a profoundly emotional, honest statement on Ali.

“Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing,” Obama said. “But we’re also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.

In my private study, just off the Oval Office, I keep a pair of his gloves on display, just under that iconic photograph of him – the young champ, just 22 years old, roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston.”

Former president Bill Clinton released a lengthy statement about three hours after the passing of Ali was announced, on behalf of himself and his Democratic presidential hopeful wife Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary and I are saddened by the passing of Muhammad Ali,” the statement read. “From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again.”

The Bernie Sanders campaign followed, saying, “Muhammad Ali was the greatest, not only an extraordinary athlete but a man of great courage and humanity.”