Muhammad Ali refused to be conscripted because of his religious beliefs.
 Unlike Muhammad, however, Ali was not the recipient of a divine revelation (wahy), though he is believed to have been guided by divine inspiration (ilham) in Shia theology
In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad, and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam

