Why Cassius Clay Converted to Islam

Cassius Clay was the world heavy weight boxing champion when he was drafted to serve in Vietnam with the US Army. At that time military service was compulsory in the USA and everybody had to spend time in the army. This was called the draft. Clay refused to be drafted to go to Vietnam and as a punishment his boxing title was taken from him. This embittered him and he felt the white race was always treating the Negroid race in a demeaning manner. In addition he wanted to cock a fist at the white racial supremacists. Clay in his child hood had grown up in an era of racial segregation and this had told on his psyche. Moreover he felt the church had done nothing for the blacks and he thought it best to convert to Islam. America was shocked when Clay converted to Islam and took the name Mohammed Ali. From then on he taunted the white race and asked them to put a fighter against him. There is no denying that Ali was a great boxer and he retained his boxing titles on the strength of his ability. In fact he is the only boxing champion in the world to have won back the heavyweight crown 3 times. Ali gave up boxing after some time , but he continued to believe in Islam. In fact many celebrity men like Cat Stevens also converted to Islam. These conversions are brushed aside by the American government, but the fact is the blacks are disenchanted with the church, which stood as a passive onlooker when racial policies were at their peak. 12320