America's Muslim uses his image as a call for peace
by Greg Hazley

In the days following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the focus of federal law enforcement agencies and the world at large turned toward the Muslim community, as a strict, fundamental interpretation of Islam was believed to have motivated some of its followers into performing the suicide terror attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Among the celebrities, politicians and other prominent faces that were summoned to the World Trade Center site to boost the morale of a wounded nation, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani requested the presence of Muhammad Ali, to serve as a spokesperson and a genuine American symbol of Islam.

The three-time heavyweight champion boxer who devastated opponents with his right hook and captivated the world with his flamboyant personality, accepted the Mayor's request and, donning an "FDNY" cap, offered his words and prayers in defense of his adopted religion: "Islam means peace, and I couldn't just sit home and see Muslims be blamed for these problems," he said in the wake of dozens of reports of bias attacks in the New York area against Muslims.