Mourners of All Faiths Attend Traditional Muslim Funeral for Muhammad Ali
Nahed Ahmed Zeead, 51, of Iraq, takes part in the jenazah, an Islamic funeral prayer, for the late boxing champion Muhammad Ali in Louisville, Kentucky, June 9, 2016.
Thousands of people — black and white, Muslims and Jews, old and young — packed Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, Thursday for a traditional Muslim funeral for Muhammad Ali.
The boxing legend, who was known by billions around the world, died last week at age 74 after a long fight against Parkinson's disease.
His service was held in the same place in Ali's hometown where he fought his first professional match in 1960, shortly after his gold medal triumph at the Summer Olympics in Rome.
In the Islamic tradition, Muslim men and woman prayed in separate groups as Imam Zaid Shakir led the service.
IN PICTURES: Muhammad Ali: A legend and a cultural icon
Muhammad Ali: A Legend And A Cultural Icon Dead at 74
1/21Boxing legend Muhammad Ali stands with his wife Yolanda as he is introduced before the welterweight fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in this May 1, 2010 file photo.
2/21FILE - Muhammad Ali, world heavyweight champion, punches speed bag at the Folk Art Center in Manila, Philippines, Sept. 29, 1975, as he prepares his title fight on October 1 with Joe Frazier.
3/21FILE - Muhammad Ali speaks to Muslims holding a book called "Towards Understanding Islam" written by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi in London, Britain, May 1966. Ali died late Friday in Phoenix, Arizona, June 3, 2016.
4/21FILE - The Beatles, from left, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison take a fake blow from Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, while visiting the heavyweight contender in Miami Beach, Fla., Feb. 18, 1964.
5/21FILE - Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is escorted from the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston by Lt. Col. J. Edwin McKee, after Ali refused Army induction, April 28, 1967. Ali died at age 74, June 3, 2016.
6/21FILE - Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali exclaims "Why me?" when informed his draft board in Louisville, Ky., had reclassified him 1-A in the draft, Feb. 17, 1966. Ali surrounded himself with youngsters from his neighborhood as he told of his feelings in
7/21FILE - U.S. boxing great Muhammad Ali poses during the Crystal Award ceremony at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2006.
8/21FILE - Spray flies from the head of challenger Joe Frazier as heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali connects with a right in the ninth round of their title fight in Manila, Philippines, Oct. 1, 1974. Ali has died, his family said, June 3, 2016. He was 74.
9/21A visitor is interviewed in reaction to the death of heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali at the "I Am The Greatest, Muhammad Ali" exhibition at the O2 arena, which hosts high profile boxing fights in London, Saturday, June 4, 2016.
10/21Former boxing great Muhammad Ali is given the Courage Award by singer Whitney Houston at the GQ Men of the Year awards show in New York in this October 21, 1998 file photo.
12/21World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali visited the pyramids area, rode a horse and a camel and shook hands with the Bedouins who guard the huge monuments there, May 30, 1966.
14/21FILE - President George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to boxer Muhammad Ali in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 9, 2005.
15/21Retired boxing champion Muhammad Ali waves after he received the Liberty Medal for his humanitarian work, during a ceremony at the National Constitution Center, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
16/21FILE - Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston, shouting and gesturing shortly after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw, in Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965.
17/21FILE - Young heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, points to a sign he wrote on a chalk board in his dressing room before his fight against Archie Moore in Los Angeles, predicting he'd knock Moore out in the fourth ro
18/21FILE - World heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, right, and Black Muslim leader Malcolm X in New York City, March 1, 1964. Ali died Friday in Phoenix, Arizona, at age 74.
19/21FILE - Muhammad Ali, former world heavyweight boxing champion, toys with the finely combed hair of television sports commentators Howard Cosell before the start of the Olympic boxing trials, in West Point, N.Y., Aug. 7, 1972.
20/21FILE - An Oct. 30, 1974 file photo shows Challenger Muhammad Ali watching as defending world champion George Foreman goes down to the canvas in the eighth round of their WBA/WBC championship match in Kinshasa, Zaire.
21/21Boxing great Muhammad Ali waves to the crowd during the opening ceremony of the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, in this September 25, 2010 file photo.
"This is about ... sending him off in the very best of fashion and honor his memory, live his memory and love each other as he would wish," the imam preached.
Worshippers and admirers called Ali the true face of Islam — one that promotes peace and tolerance of people of all faiths.
Two days of services
Ali will be remembered again Friday at a public interfaith memorial service in Louisville.
Former President Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal, whose accurate impersonation of Ali often left the champ doubled over with laughter, will deliver eulogies.
Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett will read a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama, who will remain in Washington to attend his daughter's high school graduation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Louisville to attend Ali’s funeral, but changed his mind suddenly and decided to leave Thursday evening without appearing at Friday’s funeral. Erdogan did not provide a reason for his early departure, but did confirm to VOA that he would not attend the funeral.
The service will be televised live.
Pall bearers for the funeral will be: Will Smith, the actor who portrayed Ali in the movie of his life and a family friend; John Grady, a cousin; Ibn Ali, a nephew; Komawi Ali, former brother-in-law; Jerry Ellis, brother of Jimmy Ellis, Ali's former sparring partner and former heavyweight champion of the world; Lennox Lewis, former heavyweight champion of the world; Jan Wadell, a cousin; John Ramsey, a family friend.
Embraced Islam
Ali was born Cassius Clay, but he cast off what he called a "slave name" when he embraced Islam in 1964.
His conversion came with a price. Many sportswriters and the conservative boxing community were slow to embrace his new name, and still called him Clay well into the late 1960s, infuriating him.
Ali also refused induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War because of his faith, saying he had "no quarrel" with the Viet Cong.
This cost him his heavyweight titles in 1967, and he was banned from professional boxing until the Supreme Court overturned the ban in 1971.
VOA's Turkish service contributed to this report. Some material for this report came from AP and Reuters.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
