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Rumble in The Jungle: 40th Anniversary
MUHAMMED ALI AND ALI MUHAMMED
Part 1:
Last night I watched Ali,1 a 2006 biographical drama starring Will Smith as the legendary boxer and American icon Muhammad Ali. The film begins when Ali was known as Cassius Clay, winner of an Olympic gold medal. Cassius Clay grew-up in America`s South, where segregation was the norm and where blacks were still occasionally lynched by white racists. No wonder, then, that the young boxing champ was attracted to the radical Nation of Islam, and, for a while, became a close friend of the controversial Malcolm X.
When Clay, now re-named Muhammad Ali(1942- ), took a stand against the Vietnam War, and refused to be drafted into that conflict, his troubles really began. The Establishment set about stripping him of his championship and his dignity.
Part 1.1:
This outspoken boxer presented a new and bold image for African Americans at the time, brimming with confidence and eloquence. He quickly captured the heavyweight title, and charmed sports fans with his charismatic personality, but his friendship with political leader Malcolm X, and association with the controversial Temple of Islam, began to sway opinion against him.
Director Michael Mann portrayed the many aspects of Ali's larger-than-life existence: his romantic complications, his religious dedication and political beliefs all pulling the gifted athlete in different directions. The star-studded cast included: Jon Voight as Howard Cosell and Jamie Foxx as Drew 'Bundini' Brown, Ali's longtime corner man.1 I leave it to readers with the interest to find out more about this film, and watch it, if they have not done so already.
Part 2:
Back in the 1950s, during the years 1955 to 1959, I began to hear more and more about Alí Muḥammad Shírází(1819-1850). He was the founder of Babism, and one of three central figures of the Baha'i Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz Persia who, at the age of twenty-four, on May 23, 1844, symbolically claimed to be the promised Qa'in or Mahdi. After his declaration he took the title of Báb, meaning "Gate".
He composed hundreds of letters and books, often termed tablets, in which he stated his messianic claims and defined his teachings. These teachings constituted a new sharí'ah or religious law. His movement eventually acquired tens of thousands of supporters, was opposed by Iran's Shi'a clergy, and was suppressed by the Iranian government, leading to the persecution and killing of thousands of his followers, called Bábís. In 1850, at the age of thirty, the Báb was shot by a firing squad in Tabriz.2-Ron Price with thanks to 1SBS TV, 13 December 2013; and 2Wikipedia.
Part 3:
The Rumble in the Jungle was an historic boxing event in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). Held at the 20th of May Stadium on the night of October 30, 1974 (4:00 am), it pitted the undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th. This week is the celebration of the 40th anniversary of that event.
In October 1974 I was a tutor in education studies at what is now the University of Tasmania. My time was occupied with 60 hours a week of those responsibilities, with the demands of a wife-to-be and her two daughters then 8 and 3 years old, and tasks in the Tasmanian Baha'i community, then 50 years old, 1923 to 1974.
Part 4:
Charisma was writ-large across
the personalities of these 2 men.
I've known about the Bab for 60
years, & Muhammed Ali for 50.
Because I was moved by the story
of these men, I have written these
words, a contrasting summary of
their lives, one of which found its
home in Sunni Islam....and one of
which was born in Shi'ah Islam, in
that Ithna-Ashariyyih sect of that
Shaykhi school which became, by
degrees, a world religion, the 2nd
most-widespread religion on Earth.1
1 According to the Encyclopedia Britannica
Ron Price
15/12/'13 to 26/10/'14.
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