Muhammad Ali: The Humble Servant Leader
This is the second installment of the chivalry series taken from the men’s only "Rijaal" discussion group I lead at Qahwa in ADAMS Center. Its skeleton is taken from the “Futuwwa” section of Imam Al-Qushayri’s Risalah.1
At 22 years old, Muhammad Ali became the youngest boxer to win the world's heavyweight championship. The year was 1964, in the heart of America’s racial segregation, and Ali’s boisterous interviews and repeated chant of his slogan was a form of protest; here’s a young Black man telling the world, “I’m the greatest!” But Ali’s protest did not stop there. Three years later, undefeated in defending his title nine times, Ali refused to be drafted into the military and became a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. Consequently, he was stripped of his title and prohibited from fighting for four years during the most integral part of his career.
Nothing compelled Muhammad Ali to take these ethical stances other than his beliefs and recognizing his weighty position's impact on others. He once said, "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."2 Thus, despite Ali’s celebrity and public criticism, his brazen confidence was more than just a professional calculation (to mess with his opponents’ confidence), it was intentionally a sociopolitical choice to uplift Blackamericans and those disenfranchised worldwide.3 He took this momentous duty upon himself, sacrificing everything for the sake of others.
“For the heavyweight champion of the world, who had achieved the highest level of athletic celebrity, to put all of that on the line—the money, the ability to get endorsements—to sacrifice all of that for a cause, gave a whole sense of legitimacy to the movement and the causes with young people that nothing else could have done. Even those who were assassinated, certainly lost their lives, but they didn't voluntarily do that. He knew he was going to jail and did it anyway. That's another level of leadership and sacrifice.”
Muhammad Ali was more than an athlete; he was a leader. He genuinely cared for others and selflessly exemplified prophetic chivalry for the world. The Prophet ﷺ “is concerned by your suffering, anxious for your well-being, and gracious and merciful to the believers”4 and non-believers.5 As mentioned in the last article, chivalry is to serve others sincerely, wherein we intentionally assume this duty and responsibility with complete autonomy. In doing such, like Ali, we must care about those whom we serve and be willing to sacrifice for their well-being.
Ironically, during Muhammad Ali’s exile from boxing, Robert K. Greenleaf wrote his seminal essay, The Servant as Leader. He said we can determine whether someone is a leader-first or servant-first by asking: “Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will he benefit, or, at least, will he not be further deprived?”6 Chivalry is servant leadership and is why the Prophet ﷺ is its epitome.
Imam Abul-Qasim Al-Qushayri said,
I heard the master Abu ‘Ali al-Daqqaq say: “No one has achieved perfection in chivalry, except the Messenger of God – may God bless and greet him – for on the Day of Judgement everyone will be saying, ‘Me, Me’, except the Messenger of God, who will be saying: ‘My community, my community!’”7
Prophetic leadership is a fundamentally different shift from egoism to altruism. Whereas Allah prescribed all humankind with khilafa (vicegerency) of the earth, He prescribed men specifically with qiwama (being caretakers) of women.8 How each of these should manifest today is increasingly more challenging to define and, while we may be able to kick the figurative climate-change can down the road for future generations to handle, men’s ignorance of qiwama affects our society today.
Dr. Mustafa Khattab translates the word “qawwamon”—the Quranic plural verb form of the word “qiwama”—in The Clear Quran as “caretakers,” but I find that translation is a bit reductionist. If you look into Arabic dictionaries, the synonym for qiwama is wilaya (authority). I believe that the subtle difference between “caretaker” and “authority”, although they are generally identical in meaning, is essential because it impacts the disposition men uphold—“caretaker” is a passive responsibility (e.g., babysitter) versus “authority” is an assertive responsibility (e.g., CEO). The responsibility men have of qiwama is not merely being the family’s financier but its leader. How that leadership looks like is precisely what I want to interrogate further because, as bell hooks said, “Life has shown me that any time a single male dares to transgress patriarchal boundaries in order to love, the lives of women, men, and children are fundamentally changed for the better.”9
Leadership is a very familiar concept today. Books spanning a multitude of nonfiction subgenres, from self-help to business and communication to psychology, are found on the shelves of every bookstore. There are entire websites and blogs and subsequent podcasts dedicated to “helping you master the best of what other people have already figured out,” as is the tagline to one of my favorites (Farnam Street). The problem with this is that it is not based on any epistemology (i.e., theory of knowledge), and not any metaphysics (i.e., theory of reality). If we are merely basing the success and failure of leadership on accomplishments, then one might try to pair Hitler with Mandella. Both accomplished their goals, and many people followed their leadership, except one led to extinguishing a race while the other led to freeing another.
“Only a revolution of values in our nation will end male violence, and that revolution will necessarily be based on a love ethic. To create loving men, we must love males.”
–bell hooks, Will to Change, 11
After completing my undergraduate seminary studies, I had little to no leadership experience (especially as an Imam) when I first returned from Makkah. Still, I was blessed with mentors and teachers. My first position was under Shaykh Yasir Fahmy, and while technically my boss, we grew to have a deeper teacher-student relationship, and the wisdom he imparted is invaluable. One of his aphorisms, which still reverberates in my head, was, “Respect is commanded, not demanded.”
I vividly remember the scene—we were walking down Beacon Street in Cambridge, headed towards his apartment toward Harvard’s Divinity School, on a typical overcast Massachusetts morning. Shaykh Yasir spoke about the respect required to lead; it cannot be taken and must be earned. Al-Habib ﷺ, despite being well within his rights, never used his religious or social position (as a prophet, tribal noble, and governor) to establish social dominance. His way ﷺ was not by instilling fear, even with small children10 and disrespectful bedouins11 who disobeyed his instructions, but by leading with love and service.
Imam Al-Qushayri said,
It is said: “Chivalry is when you do not consider yourself superior to others.” Abu Bakr al-Warraq said: “The chivalrous person has no enemies whatsoever.” Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Tirmidhi said: “Chivalry means that you are your own enemy before God.” It is also said: “The chivalrous person cannot be an enemy to anyone [but himself].” I heard the master Abu 'Ali al-Daqqaq – may God have mercy on him – say: I heard al-Nasrabadhi say: “The Men of the Cave were called ‘[chivalrous] young men’, because they believed in their Lord without any intermediary.”12
Servant leadership is a duty and responsibility placed upon us by others, not a right we are entitled to, through whatever social contract we have between us—formal (e.g., via marriage) or informal (e.g., amongst peers). Serving is an honor Allah gifted us because it allows us to earn His pleasure, not because of something inherently in us. Therefore, with our intention to earn Allah’s pleasure and focus on ourselves, we “do not witness deficiencies in other than yourself, and believe your deficiencies to be manifest, although they have been concealed.”13 When in a leadership position, we should never see ourselves over those being served as if it were not for them, we would not have the opportunity to serve and earn Allah’s pleasure. 14
This perspective is also protective, both for us and for others. Prioritizing Allah and seeking His pleasure inevitably and necessarily leads one to humility—the middle ground between arrogance and insecurity.15 These two emotions are dangerous and antithetical to the prophetic model of chivalry. They are fueled by nafs (lower self), something hated by Allah16 and causes Allah to turn us away from Him,17 and, therefore, to forget who we really are18 (and should be). That is where both arrogance and insecurity lead to abuse and why we must actively choose to change and challenge these nafs tendencies by working towards theocentricity. Otherwise, we will not escape its impact.19
وَظُلمُ ذَوي القُربى أَشَدُّ مَضاضَةً Oppression of close family, a soul cannot afford,
عَلى المَرءِ مِن وَقعِ الحُسامِ المُهَنَّدِ And yet take the wounding pain of a sharp Indian sword
–Dhafr b. Al-Abd (d. 569 CE)20
Muhammad Ali is one of our American Muslim heroes and an example of a chivalrous leader. He tried to use his talents and fame to serve others and his family,21 and the quality of his sincerity is seen in the impact Allah blessed him with. For us men to indeed be chivalrous, we cannot skirt our responsibilities. We must embrace the duty of servant leadership, striving to earn Allah’s pleasure by uplifting everyone in our charge. If our ethic is rooted in sincerity and humility, love and service, then perhaps (by Allah’s grace), like Ali, we will have a Sadaqah Jariyah (ongoing charity)—people will refer to our lives for guidance years after we have left this world (as we are today). Ideally, as my mentors taught me, as Imam Fahim Shaibe taught them, “A real man gives more than he takes and gives more than he consumes.”
Al-Qushayri, Abu ‘Al-Qasim. Al-Qushayri's Epistle on Sufism: Al-Risala Al Qushayriyya Fi 'ilm Al-Tasawwuf. Trans. Alexander D. Kynsh. Suhail Academy Lahore, Pakistan: Kazi Publications, 2011.
“30 of Muhammad Ali's best quotes”. USA Today. June 5, 2016. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2016/06/03/muhammad-ali-best-quotes-boxing/85370850/.
Muhammad Ali said, "I've always wanted to be more than just a boxer. More than just the three-time heavyweight champion. I wanted to use my fame, and this face that everyone knows so well, to help uplift and inspire people around the world. I've made my share of mistakes along the way but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven't lived in vain." See Ali, Hana. “My dad, Muhammad Ali”. CNN. June 19, 2011. https://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/19/ali.fathers.day/index.html
Quran 9:128.
Allah said, “But [Prophet] are you going to worry yourself to death over them if they do not believe in this message?” Quran 18:6.
Greenleaf, Robert K. The Servant as Leader. Newton Center, MA: Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1973. 7.
Al-Qushayri, Epistle on Sufism, 237.
Quran 4:34.
hooks, bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 2004. 10–11.
Al-Qushayri, Epistle on Sufism, 237.
AbuMadyan (d. 594/1198) said this in his famous poem “The Sweetness of Life.” See The Way of AbuMadyan: Doctrinal and Poetic works of AbuMadyan Shu’ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari. Compiled and Edited by Vincent J. Cornell. Cambridge, UK: The Islamic Texts Society: 1996. 162.
On this topic, IbnAjiba (d. 1224/1809) said, “Witnessing your neediness is the best of your moments in two respects. The first is that it is a realization of [your] servanthood and veneration for [God’s] lordliness and in this lies your dignity and perfection, for it is to the degree that you realize servanthood outwardly that you venerate the consciousness of God’s lordliness inwardly. Or you could say that your inward freedom is in proportion to your outward servanthood … Whoever humbly deems himself to be lower than he actually is, God will exalt higher than he actually is.” See Ibn Ajiba, Ahmed. The Book of Ascension to the Essential Truths of Sufism. Translated and Annotated by Mohamed Foud Aresmouk and Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2011. 98. Originally in IbnAjiba, Ahmed. Iqadh Al-Himam fi Sharh Al-Hikam. Cairo, Egypt: Dar Al-Marifah. 235.
Imam Al-Ghazali speaks about this, in his Ihya Uloom Al-Din, regarding the teacher and the student. He said, “The first job [of the teacher] is to treat them as he would his children. … The second is to follow the Messenger ﷺ. So, do not seek any recompense for teaching and do not intend by it any reward or thanks. Rather, teach for the sake of Allah and seeking His closeness. Do not see one’s self any position above [the student], even if the position forced upon them, but see the merit is in them. Therefore, make your goal their hearts because you gain Allah’s closeness by planting knowledge in [their hearts]—like the one who tills your land so you can farm the land for yourself, your benefit increases with the benefit of the [person tilling]—so how could you claim your position and reward with Allah is more than the students? If it were not for the student you would not acquire this reward.” See Al-Ghazali, AbuHamid. Ihya Uloom Al-Din. Jeddah, KSA: Dar Al-Minhaj, 2013. Vol. 1, 206–7.
IbnQudama Al-Maqdisi. Ahmad b. Abdul-Rahman. Mukhtasr Minhaj Al-Qasidin. Damascus, Syria: Maktabah Dar Al-Bayan, 1978. 231.
Quran 16:23.
Quran 7:146.
Quran 59:19.
hooks, Will to Change, 59.
Al-Azhari Al-Hasani, Ahmed Saad. Contemplating The Quran: A Thematic Thirty-Part Commentary on the Noble Quran. Translated by Asim Yusuf and Noor Yusuf. Ihsan Education Ltd, 2018. 68; For the whole poem, see https://www.aldiwan.net/quote246.html
He said, “I tried to be the greatest boxer in the world and a good parent, too. I had instant feedback on my success as a boxer. Often, parents don’t really know if what they are doing is right or wrong until their child is grown and it is too late to change any of the decisions. Whatever my failings as a parent, I am very proud of all my children. It wasn’t easy for them to make their own way with such a controversial and public father.” See “Everything you need to know about fatherhood…in Muhammad Ali quotes”. Esquire Middle East. Accessed December 1, 2023. https://www.esquireme.com/culture/46593-everything-you-need-to-know-about-fatherhoodin-muhammad-ali-quotes