Chicagoans trek to Louisville to say goodbye to Muhammad Ali

Abrar Quader hopped a bus at midnight.

Habeeb Quadri packed up his wife and three children and drove overnight.

Both Chicago area men were bound for Louisville Wednesday, to attend funeral services for global icon Muhammad Ali in his hometown.

Not because they’d ever met him, but because of what he stood for, a hero of their Muslim faith.

“Growing up, I was introduced to his lessons by my mom, dad and grandparents, who are immigrants from India. He had a special place in their hearts. And I saw him at a mosque in Chicago when I was a child,” said Quader, 41, of Rogers Park, a lawyer who is Muslim.

“It was truly a home-going, very spiritually fulfilling. The audience was electric,” Quader said after exiting the KFC Yum! Centre Friday, where the champ was eulogized over the course of four hours by clergy of diverse faiths, and by his family, celebrities and politicians.

“There were moments when the audience just spontaneously started chanting, ‘Ali! Ali!’ It was really amazing, really moving. People were laughing. People were crying,” Quader said.

Ali, who died last Friday at 74, was memorialized over the course of two days by both the humble and the great. Some 18,000 attended this Friday’s service, while another 100,000 lined the streets during a 19-mile procession.

A day before, Quader joined some 14,000 attending the traditional Muslim Jenazah service at Freedom Hall. Quadri, who also attended both services, said it was important to him for his three children, ages 11, 9 and 7, to bear witness to people’s love of Ali for qualities not always rewarded.

“I took Thursday and Friday off work to go. It was historical, just the range of individuals who came from all over the United States to pay their respects,” said Quadri, 41, of Morton Grove, a school principal.

“At the Jenazah, I met people from all over, Muslims and non-Muslims, of all ages, race and faith. I’ve never seen any other famous individual where you had such diversity, and people from all over the world, come and honor him,” he said.

“For my children, who might not have understood why I had them come with us for this five-hour drive, it gave them to understand that this was not just a sports figure, but a human being who touched so many people’s lives, an individual who was very strong, physically, but also a hero with strength of character and resilience,” Quadri added.

Jonathan Eig, 52, of Lakeview, also drove down Wednesday, for similar reasons, and a significantly different one: For the past three years, Eig, an author, has been writing a biography of Ali, and while Ali hasn’t granted interviews in some 10 years, Ali’s family has given him entre.

“I spent time with all three of his wives, his current wife, his past two wives, and friends and family. I’d been kind of getting to know them over the last three years,” Eig said. “On Thursday, I spent most of the time walking around, observing moments like when Louis Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson spoke to each other. For so many people who were not Muslim to be attending a Muslim service, I thought it was extraordinary. Everybody was really respectful.”

At Friday’s service, Eig said he was most moved by the farewell given by Ali’s wife, Lonnie Ali.

“She obviously lived with and loved the man, but she really told his whole life story in five minutes, in a way that expressed not just her admiration but her love,” Eig said. “She seemed to understand she was sharing him with the world all throughout their marriage, and that’s got to be hard, but she did, and she shared him gracefully. She gave the best eulogy of the day.”

Rainbow PUSH founder and civil rights leader Jackson had flown down early in the week. After Friday’s service, he summarized the two-day celebration of the three-time world champion boxer this way: “He’s gone full journey from being reviled to being revered and embraced. He mastered his art, but he used the platform differently than others.”

The funeral celebration, planned by Ali himself, were “an awesome ecumenical event where Jews, Christians and Muslims came together under one big tent,” added Jackson. “It was a fitting tribute to him. Muslim fear mongering has been disgraced by the significance of this event.”