Multi-Faith Funeral Planned for the Late Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali, the three-time heavyweight champion who proclaimed himself "the Greatest," has died. He was 74. Ali died late on Friday at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, the family's spokesperson Bob Gunnell said. His funeral will take place in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.

Ali was admitted to hospital on Thursday with a respiratory problem - a move that was described at the time as "a precaution". However, reports emerged 24 hours later which said he had been placed on a life support machine and his family "feared the worst".

Ali had become increasingly frail since being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, aged 42, and in recent years had limited his public appearances. Earlier this month his brother Rahman Ali revealed that the condition was so advancedhe could barely speak or leave his house.

As far as faith is concerned, Ali converted to the Nation of Islam in the 1960s but gravitated to mainstream Sunni Islam in 1975. His faith was shaped by his experience of racial prejudice; Islam offered an alternative source of spiritual authority to an American Christianity that could be suffused with white bigotry. Taking a new name severed the bonds to his slave past. But whereas we tend to see Western conversion to Islam as wholly politically motivated, as an intellectual reaction to events, what's striking about Ali's faith is how personal, quiet and deeply felt it obviously was.

Ali will be memorialized June 10 at a multi-faith funeral set for his hometown of Lousville - and beamed globally via the internet. Eulogists at the arena sendoff for the man known simply as "The Greatest" will include ex-President BIll Clinton, journalist Bryant Gumbel and comedian Billy Crystal.

The 2 p.m. funeral at the KFC Yum! Center will be open to the public per Ali's instructions.

A private reception will follow, and the Cave Hill Cemetary burial of Ali will also be private following a procession through the streets of Lousville.

The family will hold a private ceremony on Thursday at a Louisville funeral home.

"He did not suffer, no," Gunnell continued. "It is very rough at this point for the family. All family members are having a rough time."

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