A responce to your response

Submitted by Anum (Australia), Apr 14, 2007 at 02:35

AS what you see as negative i see as positive. MUHAMMAD ALI did a lot of good, even changed histroy for the better. when you stated "when he turned his back on his country" the country turned their backs on him first with all the racial hatred white people where giving to the blacks, dont you think "ALI" would turn his back in fighting the war in Vietnam"? to go into another country and kill other poor people and give aid to a war which was morally wrong is against the Islamic faith, and what he did was honourable.

and to go against a US government is just down courageous, why should he fight for America when America wasn't fighting for him and his people? they were against him in his conversion to Islam, their were against his new name, religion and colour and that was his own choice and own right to convert to Islam.. The nation of Islam would have advocated violence only as a defence against the violence white people started in the first place, the KKK,slave labour,racial murders and unjustice law where all started by the whites, dont you think the blacks would retaliate to it? and that was the only option for them to promote violence as a means to survive. You also have to look at the time this was all placed in, Ali doesn't think the same thoughts on some issues as he did back then. Ali deserved that medal as a symbol of PEACE and honour on what a great boxer he was in the ring and a great leader and representative of Islam he was out of the ring that medal was a token of APPRECIATION.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".