The memorial of ‘The Greatest’, Muhammad Ali has begun with a Muslim prayer service to honour the legendary boxer in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
The two-day funeral was planned by Ali in the years before his death, according to a family spokesman.
Ali wanted the Muslim prayer service, known as a Jenazah, to be “a teaching moment”, according to Imam Zaid Shakir, who is leading the service.
Muhammad Ali, “The Greatest”, died on Friday aged 74.
More than 14,000 people have tickets to the event at the site of Ali’s last fight in Louisville in 1961.
American Muslims attending the service and watching on TV say they hope that the public prayers will help Americans to become more familiar with Islam and its practices.
He travelled the world as a boxer and speaker, and inspired Muslims around the world.
Ali “was willing to sacrifice the fame, the lights, the money, the glamour, all of that, for his beliefs and his principles,” Imam Shakir said in his address to the packed auditorium after reciting prayers over Ali’s coffin.
The funeral will continue on Friday with an interfaith memorial service and procession through Louisville passing key locations such as Ali’s childhood home, and a museum dedicated to him.
