Muhammad Ali

(gentle music) -

Narrator

His devotion to Islam increasingly shaped his daily routine. He prayed five times each day, facing Mecca, called friends to discuss the differences between religions, and distributed autographed pamphlets that he hoped would help correct common misperceptions about his faith. When he traveled in the Muslim world, massive crowds greeted him as Muhammad Ali Clay, to distinguish their hero from thousands of faithful Muslims also named Muhammad Ali. (crowd cheering) During a goodwill visit to Pakistan in 1987, Muhammad and Lonnie visited schools, hospitals, and mosques. They delivered canned milk to an Afghan refugee camp along the border and encouraged guerrilla fighters there, in their long struggle to evict the occupying Soviet army from Afghanistan. He needed love like he needed air to breathe, so the people did probably more for him than he did for them, if not at least equal. So he was so grateful for the love they gave. He was so grateful for that. -

Narrator

In 1989, he was on the road more than at home, visiting England, Senegal, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia. In April, he and Lonnie made a pilgrimage to Mecca during the holy month of Ramadan. Ali had visited Mecca before, in 1972, but now admitted that he hadn't fully appreciated its significance and acknowledged that his commitment to his religion had long been imperfect. "I fit my religion to do whatever I wanted, "I did things that were wrong "and chased women all the time. "Everything I do now, I do to please Allah." One of my father's favorite sayings was rivers, lakes and streams all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, but they all contain truth. He always taught me that there's only one truth religion, and that's the religion of the heart, he would say, and as long as you do right and you treat people right, I believe you'll go to Heaven no matter what you call your religion.