By Stephanie Ward
Fort Worth, Texas
At the Sparks Resilience Conference, Muhammad Ali’s daughter challenged perceptions about Islam, reflected on her father’s compassion, and urged an audience to use its voice when it matters most.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Maryum “May May” Ali, daughter of legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, captivated an audience Saturday, October 24, at the Sparks Resilience Conference, held at Texas Wesleyan University.
Speaking about her father’s legacy, her Muslim faith and the responsibility to confront injustice, Ali challenged attendees to use their voices, talents and creativity to bring about change.
For nearly an hour, she held the audience’s attention without throwing a single punch.
Ali shared stories about a father the world knew as “The Greatest,” but whom she knew as a man of faith, compassion, conviction and extraordinary generosity. Her presentation, “Creating Lasting Change Through Compassion and Courage: Lessons From My Father,” was more than a collection of memories about one of the world’s most recognizable athletes. It was a call to action.
Ali challenged her audience to question what they hear, speak out against injustice, extend kindness to strangers and recognize that everyone has a platform, regardless of fame or fortune.
She also took on a subject she believes is too often misunderstood: her Muslim faith.
Challenging misconceptions about Islam
Ali spoke openly about the way Muslims are portrayed in the media, particularly the association of Islam with violence and extremism. She told the audience that these portrayals frequently conflict with the teachings she knows and practices.
Islam, she explained, forbids the killing of innocent people. She described religious teachings governing warfare, including principles of self-defense and the obligation to stop fighting when an aggressor stops.
She also spoke about common ground between Islam and Christianity, explaining that Muslims recognize and revere Jesus as a prophet and honor the Virgin Mary. She acknowledged the differences between the faiths, including Christian beliefs about the divinity of Jesus, while emphasizing the importance of respecting those differences.
Ali believes many misconceptions survive because people never have the opportunity to ask questions. Rather than allow uncertainty and suspicion to grow, she encouraged people to speak openly with Muslims about their religion in settings where they feel comfortable asking difficult questions.
Her concern was particularly urgent given what she described as rising anti-Muslim hostility. For Ali, these conversations are not merely theological. They are about how people treat one another, especially when fear and prejudice begin shaping public opinion.
The price of standing by your convictions
For much of the world, Muhammad Ali was the heavyweight champion whose speed, confidence and remarkable skill transformed boxing. But his daughter reminded the audience that some of his greatest acts of courage took place outside the ring.
When Ali refused induction into the military during the Vietnam War, he faced enormous public criticism. He was stripped of his heavyweight title and lost his ability to compete professionally during years when he was at the height of his athletic career.
He could have remained silent. He could have protected his earnings, his popularity and his career. Instead, he stood by his religious beliefs and his opposition to the war, even when doing so came at extraordinary personal cost.
His daughter believes that example carries a lesson for the present moment.
Everyone has a voice, she told attendees. Everyone has talents, creativity and opportunities to influence the world around them. An artist can create. A writer can write. A musician can sing. A teacher can educate. People without national audiences can still make a difference in their communities.
The question is whether they are willing to use those abilities when something needs to be said.
The Muhammad Ali the public rarely saw
Some of the most revealing moments came when Ali described her father’s encounters with ordinary people. Muhammad Ali’s celebrity opened doors around the world, but his daughter remembered a man who paid attention to people who had very little.
She recalled acts of spontaneous generosity, including his willingness to stop and help strangers. In one story, she described a roadside encounter during a snowstorm. In another, she recalled his willingness to help people facing financial hardship, including paying someone’s rent.
These acts were not simply for publicity, she explained. They reflected how her father believed people should live.
His children were expected to adopt the same values. Having a famous father did not excuse them from treating people with dignity. Nor did it relieve them of the responsibility to help others.
Ali said her own interest in social justice and social work grew out of watching those everyday acts of compassion. She learned that service wasn’t reserved for wealthy philanthropists or internationally known figures. It was something anyone could practice.
Faith, hardship and the final chapters of a champion’s life
Ali also reflected on her father’s experience with Parkinson’s disease and the role his faith played in how he approached his declining health.
She spoke about the Islamic understanding that hardship can encourage spiritual reflection, humility and a deeper awareness of the temporary nature of life. Her father, she recalled, did not always see suffering simply as punishment.
She described watching him confront his illness with grace, drawing on beliefs that encouraged him to examine his life and relationship with God.
The athlete once celebrated for his dazzling physical abilities had to navigate a world in which those abilities gradually diminished. Yet his daughter remembered the person beyond those limitations. Faith, generosity and concern for others remained central to her understanding of him.
A poem, a generation and the responsibility to speak
Toward the end of her presentation, Ali turned to poetry. She introduced a poem alongside projected images that included Marvin Gaye and other influential figures. It was another way of connecting art, history and social responsibility.
Marvin Gaye’s work addressing social conditions represents an era when popular artists used their creative influence to confront the issues surrounding them. Ali’s message was that this responsibility did not end with an earlier generation.
The need for writers, performers, artists and ordinary citizens to examine injustice and speak through their work remains.
She also expressed concern about the future of educational opportunity, particularly the consequences for Black students if access to higher education continues to narrow.
Fewer opportunities to earn degrees, she warned, could mean fewer opportunities to enter professions, build careers and participate fully in the institutions that shape society.
These were not separate concerns in her presentation. Education, faith, compassion, artistic expression and civic responsibility all connected to the example her father had set.
The legacy beyond the championship belt
There is a particular power in hearing a famous person’s story told by someone who knew him before the cameras arrived and after they disappeared.
Muhammad Ali belonged to the world, but he was also a father who taught his children how to treat people.
For May May Ali, his legacy is not measured only in championship belts, historic fights or memorable declarations. It lives in the decision to help a stranger, the willingness to challenge a misconception, and the courage to speak when silence would be easier.
Her appearance at the Sparks Resilience Conference asked attendees to consider what they might do with their own place in history.
The champion’s daughter had come to Fort Worth with stories about her father. She left the audience with a question that reached well beyond his extraordinary life:
What are we willing to stand for, and what will we do with the voices we have?
