Son of boxing champ Muhammad Ali invites Donald Trump to 'step into the ring' for religious freedom fight

The 44-year-old son of late boxer Muhammad Al is 'stepping into the ring' against President Donald Trump with a religious freedom campaign.

Using the hashtag #AlivsTrump, Muhammad Ali Jr and his mother Khalilah Camacho Ali are launching the campaign after he was detained at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when returning from Jamaica.

Salon reported last month that Ali was challenged returning from a Black History Month event when he was challenged by a border agent with the question: 'Where did you get your name from?' He was separated from his mother and detained for two hours.

'Immigration came up to me and pulled me aside and asked me my name first and I said "Muhammad Ali". And he said, "What religion are you?" And I said, "Muslim".'

He was then subjected to questioning, even though Jamaica was never one of the seven 'travel ban' countries, the travel ban was on hold, he was born in Philadelphia and uses a US passport.

Camacho Ali said: 'There shouldn't be a travel ban. If I don't speak up now, they're going to keep harassing us.'

Ali and his mother believe they were targeted because of their religion.

'We, as a family, have been fighting this for a very long time. We are going to continue to fight for religious justice,' his mother told Associated Press.

The late boxing champion Muhammad Ali was a lifelong civil rights campaigner who converted to Islam.

The campaign quickly began to trend on Twitter:

News
18 church leaders arrested in China as part of crackdown
18 church leaders arrested in China as part of crackdown

Christians in China have long faced harassment from the authorities.

Less than half of American adults say religion is important - study
Less than half of American adults say religion is important - study

Despite less than half of Americans ranking religion as an important part of their daily life, America is still more devout when it comes to religion than its economic peers, such as the United Kingdom or Germany, new data from Gallup shows.

Report shows huge contribution of faith communities to Welsh society
Report shows huge contribution of faith communities to Welsh society

The Evangelical Alliance has produced a report showing the impact that faith communities are having in Wales.

Church historian highlights challenges and opportunities for evangelicalism in a changing world
Church historian highlights challenges and opportunities for evangelicalism in a changing world

A leading church historian has warned that the public image of evangelicals is being distorted by US politics, even as the movement experiences rapid growth and renewed vitality across the Global South.