In a 132-word statement, the 73-year-old legendary boxer opined that political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that the misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

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Ali, who converted to Sunni Islam in 1975, also called on Muslims to 'stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda.'

The three-time world heavyweight champion, who is currently suffering from an advance stage of Parkinson's disease, made a scathing attack on the Islamic extremists, saying that 'true Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.'

Ali further said that the Islamic extremists have alienated many from learning about Islam, adding that there was nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world.