Muhammad Ali was initially raised as a Baptist[1] before his high-profile conversion to Islam.[2] In the early 1960s, he began attending Nation of Islam Meetings. There, he met Malcolm X, who encouraged his involvement and became a highly influential mentor to Ali. Ali, who was named Cassius Clay after his father, first changed his name briefly to Cassius X and then finally to Muhammad Ali in 1964.
In later years, Ali moved away from the Nation of Islam and its racially separatist ideas to embrace "true Islam." In 2005, he adopted Sufi Islam. He was particularly influenced by Sunni-Sufi beliefs, which he continued to hold until his death in 2016.
- ^ Hauser, Thomas (2004). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. London: Robson Books. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-86105-738-9. OCLC 56645513.
- ^ Mitchell, Kevin (4 June 2016). "From the Vietnam war to Islam – the key chapters in Ali's life". The Observer.