On Mohammad Ali

My condolences go out to anyone who loses a friend or family member. Any civil person has those who love him or her. Ali was mostly civil and it's okay for those close to him cherish his memory. However, I take issue with Cassius Clay (aka Mohammad Ali) in being idolized. True, he seemed like nice enough a guy and was likely a good citizen. Americans come up short on selecting heroes and Ali is no exception!

I'm not a boxing fan so I could care less who is "the greatest". I don't evaluate a person's merit on who they can hit in the face the hardest... and brags about it.  Those heroes who I value the most are those with the most generous and loving heart. I didn't see a loving person in Ali. I saw a narcissist, but that's not my point. It's who he is that bothers me!

Ali, or Clay, was raised a Missionary Baptist. I don't know if he ever claimed to be born-again, but he did "die again". He converted to Islam.  I believe proselytes to Islam are all deceived! God still holds us responsible for falling to deception. That's what sin is all about. Most sins are pardonable. This one is not!

Ephesians 4:29 "...grieve not the holy Spirit of God..."

The most grievous sin to God is "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" :

Matthew 12:31 "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."

Blasphemy is the lack of reverence of the One True God. Allah is NOT God! That is important! He calls himself God (Arabic Allah), but his essence is not God. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No one even claims Allah to possess those personalities. Hence, he is a false god!

Mohammad Ali blasphemed against God. Because God has grace to give thousands of chances for redemption, Mohammad Ali by his own profession has received God's justice. I hate it for him and his family, but according to scripture, not me, Ali is in eternal hell right now. I just have trouble idolizing a person who turned his life over to the devil and rejected Jesus.  There is no way to save him now and I am sorry for that, but I didn't write doctrine; God did.

Ali was not only a Muslim, but he was a universalist as well. His statements reveal that his beliefs are that all gods are Allah. That is at odds with Christianity and since he abandoned Christianity, that is no surprise! Jesus is not essential to Ali and indeed Jesus was not "the Christ" in Islam. I'm sorry, for all of you whose feelings get hurt by truth, but eternal life is not obtainable without Jesus Christ's propitiation of his own blood for our sins. Islam does not believe that and Ali refused to accept that atoning blood.

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

 You see, it takes trust in Jesus to obtain eternal life. Without Jesus one is damned to hell for eternity. Simply put, I prefer my heroes to be godly men who don't keep company with the devil! That's not Mohammad Ali. That's not Cassius Clay!