JEDDAH: Around 44 years ago, Muhammad Ali Clay visited the Kingdom to perform Haj in 1972.
But this was just not a religious visit. It was also nationalistic as he himself told one of the news agencies on that occasion. The agency said: “The visit of Muhammad Ali to the Kingdom has a nationalist touch. The exaggeration in this expression cannot be accurately described except by the hospitality this man got from the man of the street.”
Details of this visit were found by Al-Arabiya website in an article published by Tukri Abdullah Al-Sudairi with the headline “the coverage.” This was the cover topic of Al-Yamamah magazine in its issue number 185 of 1391H.
The article said that thousands of sports loving people went to the three airports where his plane landed, shouting and rallying around the Muslim hero. Wherever he went, he found people quickly gathered.
Al-Sudairi, justifying the Muslim hero’s welcome in the Kingdom, then said: “Why we welcomed him is very clear. This is because it is one of the important duties of the state of Islam and the capital of Islam to embrace all things Islamic as an achievement of our call for Islam, and any man, whatever is his value, would be greeted and welcomed in this country if he decides to enter into Islam.”
In a press conference in Jeddah, which was covered by all the newspapers of that time, Al-Sudairi described Clay as childish and chaotic. “He has some childish behaviors which matches with his high stature and strong grip, particularly when he recites poems with his rivals and talks to them on phone after one of the latest victories. With all of this, he is an attractive personality.”
Muhammad Ali Clay, during his visit, met the late Prince Faisal bin Fahad, who was then director general of youth care. The youth care organization had organized a number of programs while he was in Riyadh. He visited a number of sports facilities and met a number of sports personalities.
Al-Riyadh newspaper had published a photo of the international Muslim hero Muhammad Ali Clay during his visit to Riyadh. The photo showed the late Prince Faisal bin Fahad on far left talking to the international boxing icon, and in one of his hands was a cup of tea. On the left of Clay were the late Prince Fahad bin Salman and then-Prince Fahad bin Sultan, the then governor of the Tabuk region.
Al-Sudairi said that Clay’s visit to the Kingdom was a major media achievement in our country as the news agencies competed with each other to cover news of all his travels and visits to inform the people of the world. This was a media achievement even if it was not our objective, he came and we welcomed him.”
About embracing Islam by Clay, Al-Sudairi said that “those who wanted in the beginning ... to imagine that he was a man who wanted the limelight were silent when they found that this man has made extraordinary efforts to enlighten Muslims and cooperate with them in America. There is no doubt that any minority in a large society practices a kind of refusal and revolt against some values and understandings of the greater society where it does not find its full rights. But the refusal and revolt should be practiced on the basis of values which makes their impact.”
When the legend visited Kingdom...
When the legend visited Kingdom...
