The Soul Of A Butterfly (14 page)

One of the nicest things that I ever heard a person say about me, came from Dick Gregory …

the representative

OF FAITH AND LOVE

(TO MUHAMMAD ALI)

Ali injected God into the arena. Whenever you saw Ali at the end of a fight, before he said anything else he would give all praise to God. He injected Religion. He injected Faith. He injected Belief. And that turned my grandmother on and my great-grandmother on. Even though he was a Muslim, he turned on the Baptist church and church people like nobody had ever turned them on before
.

And I’ll tell you something else. If people from outer space came to Earth and we had to give them one representative of our species to show them our physical powers, our spirituality, our decency, our warmth, our kindness, our humor, and most of all our capacity to love – it would be Ali
.

Dick Gregory

The Secret of God is revealed

Through the knowledge of Love

a higher

CONSCIOUSNESS

One thing that has always amazed me

is how many people question the

existence of God. They are always

searching for proof
.

WOULD YOU BELIEVE
a man who told you about a store that ran efficiently without any manager or salesperson to look after it? Would you believe that the store was protected from robbers without someone to look after it?

Suppose a man told you that he had seen a big factory where everything was running smoothly, without any owner or manager. Suppose he insisted the factory had been built all by itself, that even the machines had just appeared out of thin air and were now running like clockwork, producing wonderful products.

Or would you believe that an electric bulb could generate light all by itself? Could even the great philosophers convince you that the fabric from
which
your clothes are made had not been woven by human hand or by machine, but had woven itself? If we find these examples unbelievable, how could we possibly believe that the universe works so precisely without a creator?

Why does disbelief come so naturally to us, while belief takes such effort? Faith comes naturally to us in many areas of life. For instance, when a person becomes ill and is unable to treat himself, he goes to the doctor. When the doctor explains the cause of his illness and the method of treatment, the patient trusts the doctor and takes his advice. In matters of the law, we do the same; we take the advice of our attorney.

In education, we have faith in our professor’s knowledge and field of expertise. We accept him and put our trust in him. We do this because we know he is trained in this profession. Belief comes effortlessly.

When we watch a car driving down the street, we know it is not operating on its own. There is someone behind the wheel steering it in the right direction.

Yet many people still question whether or not there is a greater power behind the creation of all life.

It is true that it is more difficult to believe in things that cannot be seen or touched. But this is the very essence of faith—believing in the things the eyes cannot see. Nothing bad will come out of having faith in God, so why not believe? You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

the evidence of
GOD

In the midst of life’s turmoil and

confusion, there are signs of God’s

existence all around us on earth
.

WHEN IT RAINS
we sometimes see a rainbow. Moisture and light cooperate to create a stairway to heaven. We witness the seasons come and go in perfect timing. We watch as summer fades into fall, and fall into winter. Then we watch as the snow melts away and spring appears. Just as we trust that the seasons will change, we must trust that we can weather the storms of life. When God is present, nothing can prevail against us.

All we have to do is trust and believe.

how my faith

has

CHANGED ME

Islam has changed my life in every way
.

It pulled me up and kept me clean

as a human being
.

ISLAM HAS MADE
me the man I am today. I do not drink alcohol, eat pork, gamble, smoke, or seek revenge against any other human being. Islam taught me that living a clean life physically, mentally, and spiritually elevates a person’s mind, enabling him to see the world in a new light.

Some people hold on to hatred, revenge, and prejudice. But there comes a time in every person’s life when he has no choice but to forgive or he will be consumed by bitterness.

We live in a material world that places too much value on possessions. Although I’ve been fortunate financially, my true wealth is within.

There was a time when I placed great value on the heavyweight crown, but that was before I had the religious convictions that I have today. One of the greatest lessons Islam taught me is how to recognize what is truly valuable in life.

WHAT IS REAL

IF SOMEONE ASKED
me what in life I considered real, I would have to say that for me, the only thing that is real is the spiritual. Only God and love are real. Pain, sickness, old age, even death, cannot master me because they are not real to me. Fame, wealth, and material things are empty and meaningless without a developed spirituality. We give them value and importance in our lives. But we must be careful not to value them too much at the expense of what really matters in life. Honesty, integrity, kindness, and friendship are the true treasures we should be seeking.

The key to peace of heart and mind is approaching life not with a determination to gain wealth and fame for comfort and glory in this life, but rather with a goal of realizing spiritual development. If you keep a positive mind and an optimistic outlook on life, negativity loses its power to make you unhappy. God’s love is universal. He is with us always. Let Him guide you and you will never be lost.

fear

MANY PEOPLE SAID
I was afraid to go to war. The truth is it was tougher to stand up for my religious beliefs against the United States government and millions of people who turned against me for my decision than it would have been to go to war. The government offered me all kinds of deals. They told me I would never hold a gun. They told me I would give boxing exhibitions and that I would never come near a battlefield. Even if this had been true, I still couldn’t go. They wanted to use me to lead other young American men into the war. They didn’t seem to realize that to take their “deal,” I would have had to denounce my religion, my faith, my beliefs. But I was free and I was determined to be true to myself and God. If I had turned my back on my religious beliefs, my life would have been like a ship without a rudder on the open sea. Nothing could be more frightening to me than to try to live without my faith.

So they took my title, my financial security, and they tried to take my freedom. But they could not take my dignity, my pride, or my faith, because those were solid, real, and constant in my life.

PARENTHOOD

I TRIED TO
prepare my children for the challenges they would face as adults by teaching them what I’ve learned about life and religion. As parents we try to shield our children from the dangers of the world. We want them to have a good life, and we want to prevent them from making the mistakes we did. But although our children come into the world through us, they do not belong to us. It is our job to raise them and guide them, not control them, and to love them no matter what.

When my youngest daughter, Laila, told me she was going to be a boxer, I thought she was joking. When I found out she was serious, I was scared that she might get hurt and scared of the many other dangers she would face in the violent and unpredictable world of boxing. But she is independent and opinionated, like me, so I knew that she would make her own way. I told her that whatever she decided, I would support her. It turned out that she was very good. I tease that she got her talent from me, but I know that it takes more than talent to accomplish what she has. The hard work and determination were all hers.

Someone once asked me why I love children so much, and why I like to hug them. I told him that I always felt a special connection with children; they bring such joy to our lives with their innocence and sense of wonder. When I’m around children I feel closest to God; they are so open and honest.

I didn’t get to hug and kiss my kids enough when they were growing up. Between the demands of boxing and the traveling I had to do to earn a living, I did not have enough time with them.

I’ve been married four times and I have nine children. I try to stay on good terms with the mothers of my children. Children must be free to love both of their parents and not have to take sides to defend one parent against another. Even though I could not live with all my children, I knew it was very important that I acknowledge my love for each of them and be available to them if they needed me. I tried to do this but I know I didn’t always succeed.

* * *

I didn’t have any children with my first wife, Sonji. Maryum, Muhammad Jr., and the twins, Jamillah and Rasheda, were from my second marriage, to Belinda. The kids were still young when we divorced, and there were weeks at a time when I didn’t see them, even when we were living together, because of the traveling or training for a fight. After we separated, our children went to live with Belinda’s parents in the suburbs of Chicago, and I visited them as often as I could. Sometimes I would watch cartoons with them on Saturday mornings. One of their favorite shows was
The Adventures of Muhammad Ali
. We would go out for breakfast and spend time just being together. Some of my favorite memories are of time I spent with my children. It seems such a miracle that they are mine.

I would tell my children that I loved them, and that no matter where I was in the world, I would be thinking of them and would always be their daddy. I think the biggest price my children and I paid for the demanding work I had was the loss of being with my children during too many important milestones in their lives, too many of the ordinary day-to-day times, when memories are built and life occurs.

Veronica, my third wife, and I had two children together, Hana and Laila. When Veronica told me she wanted a divorce, it was very hard for me, but we remained friends. In the beginning, I was afraid that when she remarried, some other man would take my place with the girls. I visited the girls as often as I could, but of course it wasn’t the same as living with them.

I can still feel the pain and sense of loss from not being able to wake up
in
the same house with my children, and not being there when they got home from school. I hated being separated from them.

Even before the divorce, Hana never wanted me to leave. One time, when she was only five years old, I had to leave to train for a fight. Hana was crying and said something that was hard for me to hear. She said, “You’re not my daddy. You’re Muhammad Ali.” She said that I was only her daddy when I was home with her.

In 1986, I married Lonnie, my current wife, who had lived across the street from my mother in Louisville. Her mother and mine were good friends. Lonnie and I have a son, Asaad, whom we adopted when he was a newborn.

After I moved to Michigan with Lonnie, we would fly all of my children to the farm for summers. We called this time “Camp Lonnie” because she did all the work, organizing and keeping it interesting. This was not an easy task; it took a lot of time and energy. But Lonnie did it because she knew how much it meant to me. Not only did we have my children here, but we also had my friend Howard Bingham’s two sons, and two of Hana’s and Laila’s friends as well. I don’t know how Lonnie did it, but I will always be grateful to her. Bringing all my children together, even for brief periods, was the best gift she could give me.

I have two daughters from other relationships, Miya and Khaliah. They were also very much a part of my life. I didn’t want my children to grow up as strangers or to compete with each other. Sometimes I feared that because I
was
not married to the mothers of Miya and Khaliah, and because the girls never lived with me, they might feel less connected to me. This was especially true of Miya, because she has a lighter complexion than me and favors her mother in her appearance.

Because we didn’t live together, Miya was teased at school and around her neighborhood. Khaliah didn’t have the same problem because she looks a lot like me and Mama Bird. I remember an occasion when Miya’s mother, Pat, telephoned me and explained that Miya’s classmates and other children in the neighborhood were saying that Miya was not my child. They told her that she didn’t look like me, and that they had never seen us together. So, I flew to New Jersey, where she lived.

I picked up Miya the next morning and we drove to school together. I sat through each of her classes, and when school was out we drove home. Then we walked up and down the neighborhood streets holding hands, so everyone could see that she was my daughter and I was her father.

A favorite dream of mine has always been to have all of my children living together in one home. I always wanted them to know each other, to be friends, and to love one another.

Each of my children is unique and talented in his or her own way. God has blessed me. I’m a lucky man.