FILE - In this June 24, 2015 file photo, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan speaks at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington. Farrakhan spoke of his own history with Muhammad Ali on Sunday, June 12, 2016 in Chicago, recounting the boxer's courage both in the ring and out of it, but lamenting the late heavyweight champion's shift toward mainstream Islam. (AP Photo/Glynn A. Hill File) (The Associated Press)
CHICAGO – Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is remembering Muhammad Ali and his own history with the late heavyweight champion.
In a Sunday speech at the Chicago-based movement's headquarters, Farrakhan detailed Ali's courage in the ring and his courage in standing up for his beliefs by refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War. That decision led to Ali being stripped of his title and prevented him from fighting for more than three years.
Farrakhan attended Ali's memorial service last week in Kentucky.
Ali was a Nation of Islam follower before he embraced mainstream Islam.
Farrakhan says Ali went against the wishes of the late Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammed by resuming his career after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor and he was allowed to fight again.
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