Mohammad Ali’s Reactions Towards Trump’s Remarks Over ‘Muslim Bar’ Entering US
KABUL: (MEP) Boxing legend Muhammad Ali strongly censured Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, calling on Muslims “to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda.”
“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,” said the American former professional boxer in a statement on Wednesday as Trump was facing more pressure in the US political system over a proposal to ban Muslims entry into the United States.
He added, “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’s statement Wednesday, first reported by NBC News, did not identify Trump by name but was directed at “presidential candidates proposing to ban Muslim immigration to the United States.”
Anti-Islam comments peaked among US conservatives particularly after deadly terrorist attacks by Daesh Takfiris shocked Paris.
The champion fighter referred to the massacres, saying, “I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”
President Barack Obama, in a televised address to the nation Sunday night, called on Americans to reject discrimination, saying, “Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes.”
On Twitter early Monday, Trump asked, “What sport is he talking about, and who?” — even though Trump has met Ali several times, and even received an award named after the former heavyweight champion in 2007.
The 73-year-old Ali, who was born Cassius Clay, converted to Islam and changed his name in 1964.
