LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: There are still a few tickets left for Thursday’s Muslim prayer service to honor Muhammad Ali. But there are none left for the interfaith memorial on Friday.
Nearly 14,000 people are expected to be in Louisville, Kentucky, for the prayer service.
Muslims have traveled from all over the world to pay tribute to the legendary boxing champion. A fellow Muslim who shares the same name traveled from Bangladesh to honor the boxing great, who stayed at his home during a visit in the 1970s.
Mohammad Ali arrived in Louisville on Wednesday with no hotel reservations and found a local family to take him in.
The other Ali from Bangladesh says the champ stayed at his home in 1978 and always referred to him as his twin brother.
Organizers say the service, or Jenazah prayer, is open to all, but meant especially as a chance for Muslims to say goodbye to a man considered a hero of the faith. It will be streamed live online.
US Muslims hope the service for the Kentucky native will help underscore that Islam, so much under attack in recent months, is fully part of American life.
Ali famously joined the Nation of Islam, the black separatist religious movement, as a young athlete, then embraced mainstream Islam years later, becoming a global representative of the faith and an inspiration to other Muslims.
Nearly 14,000 people are expected to be in Louisville, Kentucky, for the prayer service.
Muslims have traveled from all over the world to pay tribute to the legendary boxing champion. A fellow Muslim who shares the same name traveled from Bangladesh to honor the boxing great, who stayed at his home during a visit in the 1970s.
Mohammad Ali arrived in Louisville on Wednesday with no hotel reservations and found a local family to take him in.
The other Ali from Bangladesh says the champ stayed at his home in 1978 and always referred to him as his twin brother.
Organizers say the service, or Jenazah prayer, is open to all, but meant especially as a chance for Muslims to say goodbye to a man considered a hero of the faith. It will be streamed live online.
US Muslims hope the service for the Kentucky native will help underscore that Islam, so much under attack in recent months, is fully part of American life.
Ali famously joined the Nation of Islam, the black separatist religious movement, as a young athlete, then embraced mainstream Islam years later, becoming a global representative of the faith and an inspiration to other Muslims.
