15,000 mourners attend Muhammad Ali’s funeral

World ex-champion shares Cave Hill Cemetery with KFC founder

With more than 15,000 mourners in Louisville, Kenturky, the United States (U.S.) to bid him farewell, former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Muhammad Ali, began his final journey yesterday in a blaze of glory.

The mourners began trickling in for Ali’s funeral shortly after the doors opened at 9:00 a.m. yesterday, three hours before the traditional Muslim service.

Ali, before he died, had insisted the funeral be open to all and they came from all parts of the world, young and old; black, white, Middle Eastern and Arabic. Some wore traditional Islamic attire, others blue jeans or business suits.

The organisers said the service was meant, especially, as a chance for Muslims to say goodbye to a man considered a hero of the faith in the U.S.

“Muslims hope the service for the Kentucky native will help underscore that Islam, under attack in recent months, is fully part of American life. Muhammad planned all of this,” said Imam Zaid Shakir, a prominent U.S. Muslim scholar, who led yesterday’s prayers. “And he planned for it to be a teaching moment.”

Ali, who died Friday at 74, famously joined the Nation of Islam, the black separatist religious movement, as a young boxer, then embraced mainstream Islam years later, becoming a global representative of the faith and an inspiration to Muslims.

“One reason Muhammad Ali touched so many hearts, he was willing to sacrifice the fame, the lights, the money, the glamour, all of that, for his beliefs and his principles. That’s moving and that touches people,” Shakir said.

An interfaith memorial service is planned for today, which will include representatives of several religions, including Jews and Christians. Muslim organisations are asking mosques around the country to participate by saying a special prayer for Ali this week.

All 15,500 tickets for today’s memorial at the KFC Yum Centre in downtown Louisville were claimed within an hour.
The memorials are taking place after a burst of assaults on U.S. mosques and Muslims following the Islamic extremist attacks last year in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the presidential election.

Organisers of Ali’s memorials say the events are not meant to be political.

Still, many Muslim leaders say they welcome the chance to highlight positive aspects of the religion through the example of the boxing champion, one of the most famous people on the planet.

“In this climate we live in today, with Islamophobia being on the rise and a lot of hate-mongering going on, I think it’s amazing that someone of that calibre can unify the country and really show the world what Islam is about,” said 25-year-old Abdul Rafay Basheer, who travelled from Chicago for the service.

“I think he was sort of the perfect person to do that.”

Muslims typically bury their dead within 24 hours, but the timeline is not a strict obligation, and accommodations are often made, either to follow local customs or, in the case of a public figure like Ali, provide time for dignitaries and others to travel. Ali died in Arizona, and time was needed to transport his body to Louisville, Gianotti said.

Gianotti said by phone that he and three others — two Phoenix-area Muslims and Imam Zaid Shakir, a prominent U.S. Muslim scholar, who led yesterday’s prayers — washed, anointed and wrapped Ali’s body within a day of his death.

The body is typically wrapped in three pieces of simple fabric.

“The idea is to remind those who are still alive that when you came to life, you were completely moneyless and you will leave moneyless. What matters is if you live a simple life or do good,” said Imam Yahya Hendi, the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University and a specialist in Islamic studies.

Ali’s body left the funeral home at 11:00 a.m. yesterday for the short drive to the Exposition Centre, led only by a police escort. A miles-long processional is planned for today before the memorial. It will pass many points in the city where Ali left his imprint, including a museum in his honour downtown, a boulevard named after him and his childhood home.

The boxing superstar will be buried today at the Cave Hill Cemetery, one of his city’s greatest wonders, which is already on the National Register of Historic Places and the final resting place of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Col. Harland Sanders. Ali’s tomb will undoubtedly become a draw for visitors from around the world.

“I think it will be a symbol of purity, a symbol of compassion, a symbol of commitment, dedication, conviction and perseverance under most difficult circumstances,” said Mohammed Babar, one of Ali’s fans, who hopes to visit the monument yearly in honour of his hero.

Ali always said he wished to be buried in his hometown, where he learned to box and fought his first fight; where he built a museum and the city named a street in his honour.

Ali will have a simple marker, in accordance with Muslim tradition and his wish to remain humble despite his outsized life.

•Culled from theglobeandmail.com