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Boxing
legend Muhammad Ali with young Afghan girls
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KABUL,
November 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Former world heavyweight
boxing champion Muhammad Ali – at the end of three-day humanitarian
visit to Afghanistan – urged the young people of the country to
maintain their Muslim faith, study hard and take up sport.
"I
say these things as I prepare to leave your beautiful country, where it
has been both an honor and a pleasure to spend the past three days in my
role as the United Nations messenger of peace," said Ali in a
written message delivered Tuesday, November 19, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
"This
is a trip which I had been looking forward to for so long, and I am
pleased to say that it has exceeded my expectations.
"I
want to thank you, my young friends, for showing me how strong you are
in spite of the hardships your country still faces. You must keep that
strength. You must continue to hope for a brighter tomorrow."
On
Monday, November 18, the 60-year-old boxer, who suffers from the
degenerative Parkinson's disease, paid a surprise visit to a sports club
where he amazed his Afghan fans by lightly sparring with local boxers,
said AFP.
He
also toured a girls' school in Kabul as a guest of the U.N. Children's
Fund and a women's bakery run by the World Food Program.
Ali,
who arrived in Afghanistan Sunday, November 17, was visiting the
war-torn country as a United Nations peace messenger to highlight its
ongoing need for aid after 23 years of conflict.
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Ali
amazed his Afghan fans by lightly sparring with local boxers
at sports club |
In
a brief sightseeing trip around the capital city shortly before his
departure, he visited the imposing ruins of the Darlaman palace,
destroyed during fighting on the outskirts of Kabul, where he met with
Douran Zahir, grandson of the former Afghan king.
Ali,
who held the world heavyweight title between 1964 and 1967 and again in
1974, remains a popular figure in Afghanistan.
Ever
since he embraced Islam, Ali has been a great ambassador to his faith.
Ali has supported the spread of Islam in America and the world. He has
had paid visits to many Islamic centers in different states, raising
funds for these centers and giving support to poor communities.
He
was elected by different sports and media organizations as the best
sportsman in the 20th century.
The world loved Muhammad Ali who has made an art of the violent sport of
boxing. He would ‘float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’
It
was that same art, though, that plagued him with Parkinson's disease.
