Clay Ushered in the Disagreement

Between Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X

Cassius : “Malcolm was an intelligent man and a cheerful,

clever person who fascinated me with his exciting talks”

The faith journey which led Cassius Clay to embracing Islam was not an easy one. On the contrary, he faced during it a lot of difficult challenges, but he had a strong will and a firm determination to continue this journey till its desired goal which lied in his conversion to Islam.

Clay was well aware of the fact that if he were to announce his membership in "the Nation of Islam" he would put an end to his dream of winning the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, because he would be prevented from taking part in the championship fight, and from boxing all together, as he knew the extent of the whites’ hatred for Elijah Muhammad, the leader of "The Nation of Islam" then. Since there was mutual hatred between the whites and Elijah Muhammad’s organization, "The Nation of Islam" advised Clay to keep secret his membership for the time being, by not announcing his adhesion to it. Thus the leader of the organization explained to him that faith was a very personal matter that did not need an official announcement to prove it. Yet they were more interested than him in publicly announcing his membership of their organization at the appropriate moment.

Clay said : “My meeting with Malcolm X in Detroit in 1962, for the first time, was a turning point in my life.” This meeting was an important stage of the faith journey of Clay, it even put an end to his hesitation about joining "The Nation of Islam" ; the importance of this meeting lies in speeding up his decision to join “The Nation of Islam.”

Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, said : “My first acquaintance with Muhammad Ali was through my husband Malcolm X, as he talked a lot about Muhammad Ali. He told me that there was a young boxer who had attended many of their meetings in different parts of the country. He also told me that he had embraced Islam, and we were happy about that. Malcolm X welcomed Cassius’ joining of "The Nation of Islam", he loved Cassius very much and considered him as his younger brother. Malcolm X felt that it was his duty to help this young man have confidence in himself and in his own abilities, as well as stand on own his feet. He did not like to see the skills of this young man exploited by others. He also felt that this young man could achieve a lot if he was taken care of very well.”

Betty Shabazz went on to say : “My husband felt that his conversations with him should not be in contradiction with his role as a boxer, and Cassius should not announce the news of his joining of "The Nation of Islam". He felt that the issue of Cassius’ new religion should remain a very personal matter as long as the boxer desired, which would help him acquire a strong will.”

`AtaAllah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, said : “I don’t think at all that "The Nation of Islam" is a religious organization exclusively. When Cassius Clay -this was his name at that time- joined "The Nation of Islam" he went through political and social changes. As Clay was by nature a spiritual man and was always in contact with God, he wanted to be a member of an organization that was of equal weight with his blackness and his future ambitions ; "The Nation of Islam" was appropriate for this purpose. In some respects, it was a positive force, if offered the black youth -men and women alike-, who were victims of the ambient conditions, the opportunity to move forward and to have confidence in themselves and in their abilities. Yet, it destroyed other things in the name of constructing, and this is a way which I consider wrong.”

She continued : “The relationship between my father and Cassius was not a relation of mobilizing a person for "The Nation of Islam" ; a relation of mobilisation always starts with a meeting during which my father asks the person to join "The Nation of Islam", saying : ‘Why don’t you join me in this organization so that you could have a defined purpose in this life and a number of helpers for your family.’ But it was a friendship more than a relation of mobilization for an organization. My father was the best older brother for many.

When he met Cassius, he saw in him strength and greatness and wanted to offer him a strong defence for the future. My father loved Cassius like his brother, but when someone joined "The Nation of Islam", he became part of the organization ; furthermore, his loyalty went to the organization before going to a person, except for some with regard to Elijah Muhammad.”

Muhammad Ali said : “Malcolm was intelligent with a cheerful spirit ; he was a mature man. When he talked he fascinated me for hours with his exciting ideas. He introduced me to his wife and children; then, he sent me his friend Archie Robinson to work with me as Administrative Director. Archie started to have a look at my contracts and help in the management of the training camp, but anything that had to do with boxing, such as the choice of training associates, was taken care of through me or my coach Angelo Dandy.”

Othman Karim, known as Archie Robinson before his conversion to Islam and affiliation with "The Nation of Islam", said : “I was with Malcolm in a restaurant chatting away with one another when a big red car arrived. A young man got out of it and was surrounded by a group of people ; I wondered what was going on. This young man was none but Cassius Clay, who entered the restaurant. Malcolm said : ‘I want to introduce you to him, I think you should meet him’ I went to him, we shook hands and I left the restaurant. Malcolm and Clay started to talk as I left for home. The following day, Malcolm told me that the young man needed help and that I perhaps should help him. I amusingly replied that I didn’t play with amateurs, adding, that I had no knowledge of boxing except that I hated it. Malcolm looked at me angrily, so I knew then that he was not asking me to help Cassius, rather, he was telling me to do so. He said: ‘It is not a matter of boxing ; this boy is going to become one day the world heavyweight champion and he is going to join "The Nation of Islam". Do you understand what that means ?’ I replied : ‘yes.’ Then I started to talk to Cassius as if I were talking to a stranger.”

Karim continued : “Malcolm informed Clay that I was a brother who would stand by him whenever the latter was in need of advice. One or two days later, we had a meeting with Joe Glaser. I think that this is why Malcolm wanted me to be connected with Clay, for he wanted me to go with Cassius to that meeting. Joe Glaser was the president of the Boxing Union. He was not only a talented business manager for black artists and sportsmen, though he was a Jew, but also the biggest manager or organizer of shows, concerts and fights at that time. Whenever you talk about blacks in art and entertainment, such as Duke Arlington and Sara Fughan, etc…, you are talking about Joe Glaser and the music record companies. I knew him because I was the manager of an art company and he was the organizer of its shows. I can say that Joe was a man who kept his word. He won the respect of the black community. I went to the meeting and found that things were going in favour of Joe Glaser to gain his control of Cassius Clay. There were four people in the meeting: Joe Glaser, his wife Marva, Cassius and me. I didn’t waste time ; I looked at Joe and said :‘This boy is one of those whom you can’t take.’”

Some time later, the date of Cassius versus Sonny Liston fight was nearing and Malcolm’s presence in Clay’s camp started to be noticed.

Betty Shabazz said : “Elijah Muhammad asked my husband Malcolm X not to get closer to Cassius Clay because he might lose his next fight against Liston, for anyone, who saw Liston, might say that he would prevail and the whole fight would disappoint "The Nation of Islam". My husband and Elijah Muhammad were not on good terms at that time. My husband wanted to go to Florida – not as representative of anybody, but as an ordinary person to offer his personal encouragement to Cassius. Elijah Muhammad said to my husband, ‘If you go, your presence will be as that of an ordinary person, and you will not be in any way our representative, because it is impossible for Cassius Clay to defeat Sonny Liston in this fight in Florida.’”

Abdurrahman said : “When it was time for the fight between Cassius and Sonny Liston, Malcolm came and asked me whether it was possible for him to go to the stadium. I told him that he was aware of the fact that everybody knew who he was, and that it was better not to go, as he was disliked then. But Malcolm did not take my advice. He went to the stadium in an attempt to draw the media’s attention to him. The organizers of the fight threatened to cancel it, but Cassius was determined not to take part in the fight if the organizers sharply criticized "The Nation of Islam". Malcolm was ready to leave, but I told him, ‘Brother, don’t worry, they can’t cancel this fight because they want the money they get from organizing it. Money is the white man’s god’”.