As a convert to Islam who has never read a biography of Muhammad Ali before, I absolutely loved this book. While I have never read a book about Muhammad Ali specifically, I am a book worm and find myself staggered by alleged readers who claim that this book offers nothing new. Seriously? This generous memoir is told in the sincere, heartfelt voice of Rahaman Ali, younger brother to Muhammad Ali. When I saw it being offered to reviewers through NetGalley, I felt this was the memoir I had been waiting for--one written by a Muslim, a close relative to the man who has quite frankly been my hero for the last 40 odd years. When he died, I cried with a broken heart. May God have mercy on his soul.

The memoir moved me to tears in almost every chapter. Muhammad Ali continues to be a heroic figure to me for the way he symbolized what a Muslim convert should be and now his brother, Rahaman Ali, is also a figure whom I greatly admire. Muhammad Ali must have been one of the generous, kindest, most noble men I have ever heard of and whom my son (when he was four) had the great honor of meeting in his uncle's restaurant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

I learned so much that helped my understanding of the evolution of Islam in the USA. Four decades ago, I did not have such a great opinion of the Nation of Islam because of its ethnocentric attitude about Islam, that it should only be for African Americans. When Malcolm X went to Mecca and returned to change that perception, he was repudiated by the Nation of Islam.

However, this memoir made me understand that Muhammad Ali was truly supported in his career as a boxer by that Nation and perhaps this was the only way that Islam could have entered into America. Perhaps, in addition, a group like the Nation of Islam was the only defensive organization that could shield Muhammad Ali from the corruption rife in the boxing world, where the Mafia has held sway for so many decades. To read that as many as 2,000 members of the Nation of Islam were present at the boxing ring to keep the great boxer safe from attacks of all kinds really opened my eyes.

So much harm has been visited upon Africans who were brought as slaves to the New World that I understand better, now, that perhaps the emergence of the Nation of Islam was part of the convoluted path necessary for Islam to gain understanding and acceptance. It cheered my heart immeasurably to realize, from Rahaman Ali's words, that his brother Muhammad Ali always loved Malcolm X but had to stay away from him due to his obedience to the Nation. I believe the writer. Rahaman Ali is one of the closest people on earth to Muhammad Ali, now departed. I would not believe a third party writer on this matter. The author is a source who has my vote of confidence. Moreover, I appreciate the author's comments that he was sometimes taken aback at his brother's almost unending generosity to all comers, almost incapable of saying no to anyone. When I was listening, I felt that I could not compete with that kind of generosity and wondered if something is wrong with me(the is the way Muslims think--we are worried about the hereafter), so when the author admitted he felt his brother gave TOO much, I felt better. After all, they are both Muslims.

And I assure you that the narration is full of graceful rendering, beautiful inflections and nuances. Get out your hankies! I am a female and I loved every bit of it, even the parts about Muhammad Ali learning some techniques from martial arts to employ in his boxing technique.#MyBrotherMuhammadAliDreamscapeMedia #NetGalley