After Mohammad Ali passed away, Donald Trump quickly expressed his condolences on social media.
“Muhammad Ali is dead at 74! A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!” Trump tweeted.
A few months before his death, Ali had commented on the presidential race after Trump proposed a temporary ban on the entry of Muslims to the United States.
“Our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam,” Ali, a Sunni Muslim, wrote, according to NBC, “and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is.”
Ali’s statement and Trump’s proposed ban were made in the wake of the Paris attack, in which Islamic State gunmen killed 130 people, and in the wake of the San Bernardino mass-shooting.
Ali called on moderate Muslims to stand up to the radicals who he says exploit Islam for their personal gain.
“We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda,” Ali wrote. “They have alienated many from learning about Islam.”
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