Khalilah Ali

Personal life

Born Belinda Tolona Boyd in 1950, she married Muhammad Ali on August 17, 1967, at the age of 17. She was born a muslim, However Muhammad Ali, converted to Islam before their marriage in 1964 after becoming world heavyweight champion. Her uncle Imam W.D. Muhammad was the one who gave her the name Khalilah Ali (meaning fighter of Islam) in honor of her desire to stand up for women's rights. She was still, for a time, called Belinda by old friends and family. She had four children with Ali and two children from her second marriage, 5 girls and 1 boy all together, Maryum "May May" (born 1968), twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970), and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda married Robert Walsh and has a son, Biaggio Ali (born in 1998) After ten years of marriage, Khalilah divorced Ali.

Khalilah remarried in the 1980s.

Career

She studied karate, and by 1977, earned a third degree black belt. Khalilah studied under Jim Kelly and Steve Saunders. She eventually earned her ninth degree black belt. She is the first muslim woman graduate from the Muhammad university of Islam number 2. She went to capital hill and successfully took the name “muslim” off of the travel band in 2017. She is an author that writes award winning children books to teach etiquette and manners. She is also a motivational speaker, making appearances at churches, Moss, Temples, colleges and universities.

She appeared on the cover of Ebony Magazine seven times. She appeared in the Jane Fonda film The China Syndrome.