title:  Trump’s Trying To Attend Muhammad Ali’s Muslim Funeral – His Family’s Response Is Brilliant
text: Donald Trump, the GOP candidate who has been completely anti-Muslim for his entire presidential campaign and even proposed a ban on all Muslims from coming into the United States, has said that he wants to attend the funeral of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who happens to have been an openly proud Muslim.Not only has Trump perpetuated xenophobia and a deepening fear and hatred of Muslims in his supporters, but he has repeatedly insisted that everyone who follows Islam  hates us.  All things considered, it s baffling that Trump would want to be at a funeral where there will literally be thousands of Muslims. While it s not clear why Trump wants to go, Ali s family has responded to Trump s desire to attend the Muslim funeral on Thursday, and it s definitely worth sharing.Ali s family spokesmen Bob Gunnell said: Everything we re doing here was blessed by Muhammad Ali and was requested. Ali firmly believed in inclusiveness, and Gunnell said that the boxing legend would have wanted people from all different faiths to be at the service. While Gunnell couldn t confirm if Trump would actually show his face or not, he said Trump  would be welcome to attend. Saliha Shakir, a friend to Ali, said that the family knows the nasty things Trump has said about Muslims, but it wouldn t have stopped Ali from extending kindness in the face of hate. He would have wanted people to know that Islam is an inclusive religion, rather than the divisive one that Trump has portrayed it as. Shakir said: None of us care for [Trump s] rhetoric, but this is what Ali would have wanted. He would not have turned him away. This response shows a great deal of class, as Ali wasn t naive to Trump s Islamophobia. After Trump said he would ban Muslims from coming into America in response to a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, Ali spoke out about Islam and its true principles. I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion. We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody. And he also brilliantly called out Trump and those who try to make Islam out to be a violent religion: Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people s views on what Islam really is. Even after his death, Ali s values will live on. While it s not clear if Trump will attend Ali s Muslim funeral on Thursday or the interfaith services on Friday, he could really learn something.Featured image via Wikipedia and John Moore / Getty Images