Passage: Ali was born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore in 1974, in Oakland, California, the son of Phillip Gilmore (1956–1994) and Willicia Goines (b.1957). He was raised a Christian in Hayward, California by his mother, an ordained Baptist minister. His father was an actor who appeared on Broadway. Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the name of a prophetic child in chapter 8 of the Biblical Book of Isaiah.He attended St. Mary's College of California (SMC) in Moraga, California, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication. He entered SMC with a basketball scholarship and went by the name Hershal Gilmore when playing for the SMC Gaels. He became disenchanted with the idea of a sports career because of the treatment given to the team's athletes, and developed an interest in acting, particularly after taking part in a staging of Spunk. This later landed him an apprenticeship at the California Shakespeare Theater following graduation. After a sabbatical year working for Gavin Report, he enrolled in New York University's graduate acting program at Tisch School of the Arts, earning his master's degree in 2000.In 2000, he converted to Islam, changed his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community — a revivalist movement within Islam. In interviews, he has recounted numerous problems he has encountered at airports, with banks and otherwise in everyday life as an American Muslim since the September 11 attacks.

Question: What was Ali's real name?
Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore