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The Spiritual journey of Muhammad Ali

What was the Spiritual journey of Muhammad Ali?

When Cassius Clay converted from his Baptist Christian upbringing to join the Nation of Islam he told a press conference that "a rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing."

What was the faith though the worlds famous and iconic sportsmen? How did Islam shape his sporting life, his activism and his politics? William Crawley explores the spiritual journey of Muhammed Ali from the Christian origins to his famous conversion to the politically charged Nation of Islam and then his eventual embrace of orthodox Sunni Islam. William will hear how his faith changed and in later life he started to follow the more mystical Sufi Islam.

Presenter: William Crawley
Producer: Richard McIlroy
Mohamed Ali at the Royal Palace in Rabat Morocco (Photo courtesy of ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

27 minutes

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